A Peculiar Time in 1944 - A Millard Fanfic (Miss Peregrine's Home) #wattys2020

Chapter 73

Hello again peculiars! I'm apologizing now for this chapter because I'm worried it will make you sad, so be warned! I even got feels revising it for errors.

"Better, I think, to take your souls and start again fresh." {Caul, pg 382 book 2}

They'd ended up falling asleep on that bench, Millard's back to the wall, Aurora's head on his shoulder. They were only disturbed when Hugh ran in and shook them awake, his words snapped them right out of their sleepy minds and woke them immediately.

"Come quick! Miss Peregrine's about to change!"

They followed after him at a quick pace and crowed into the little room with the other children and sideshow freaks. Millard saw that Miss Wren's rocking chair had been tipped over and the table of vials had been pushed aside. In the center of the room were the two ymbrynes. At some point in the night Miss Wrens' gentle massage had turned into something that resembled a wrestling match and an exorcism. Miss Wren was on her knees as she pinned Miss Peregrine. Her hands were covered in thick falconing gloves and Althea stood on a table nearby holding a net on a pole. Miss Peregrine squawked and flailed with her talons, but no matter how hard she thrashed Miss Wren wouldn't let go.

The others looked on in mixed degrees of horror and shock at seeing such a violent display but Millard watched eagerly, he'd never seen the process which took an ymbryne from bird to human and the intellectual side of him wished he had a notebook and pen with him to document the experience. It seemed the bird half of Miss Peregrine had so thoroughly dominated her nature that it now refused to be driven away without a fight.

For such a frail old lady Miss Wren was giving Miss Peregrine quite a clobbering. But then the bird jabbed at Miss Wren with her beak and Miss Wren's grip slipped and with a flap of her wings Miss Peregrine nearly escaped. But Miss Wren was quick and managed to catch Miss Peregrine by her hind led and thump her down against the floorboards again. They weren't used to seeing their ymbryne treated like this but Althea looked up to them with a smile and nod that seemed to say Almost there, just a little more.

Both women seemed exhausted now but Miss Peregrine more so, her human nature now winning out over her bird nature. She lay on the ground with her wings sprawled gasping for air, her feathered chest heaving. Miss Wren took her hands off the bird and sat back on her haunches.

"It's about to happen." She said, "Come on, Alma. Come on sister, come back to us."

Althea stepped down from the table and held up a sheet. They all waited in suspense as strange noises came from behind the cloth. An expulsion of air, a sound like someone clapping once, then Miss Wren jumped up and took a shaky step backward.

"No, this can't be." She said looking frightened. Althea had dropped the sheet in her shock and they all saw a human form curled up on the floor. It wasn't Miss Peregrine, it wasn't even a woman, it was a man. He was curled up with his back to them and slowly started to stir, uncurl and finally stand. While Miss Wren gaped at him and grasped for something to steady herself the others began to shout.

"Who are you?"

"What have you done with Miss Peregrine?"

Slowly, the man raised his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes. Then for the first time he opened them. Millard pushed Aurora behind him, not sure what he was shielding her from just knowing that he had to get her away from the man, because anyone with those white soulless eyes meant pain and suffering. He heard a scream and realized it came from her as she gripped the coat he wore, keeping their bodies close and burying her face in the back of his shoulder. The man smirked and spoke very calmly.