Home again.

Chapter Seven

After dinner I went up to my room. I didn't want to go out for loop reset, I didn't want to do anything. I was drowning in guilt. I took my shirt off and lay down in my bed, I kicked all my quilts onto the floor; I didn't deserve them.

I stood up and looked down at my shirtless body, I could barely recognise myself. I had muscles...abs? I suppose all this fighting- aside from possibly forever damaging my mental state- was somewhat good for me.

There was a knock on my door.
"Wait a second!" I quickly whipped on a t-shirt and opened the door. There was no one there but I've lived with these people long enough to know there actually was someone there.
"Millard," I said "what ever you have to say, make it quick. I need to be alone." I tried closing my door but as I was reaching out for the handle, I hit something, I hit Millard.
"Watch it!" He snapped.
"Sorry! I thought you had already come in!"
"No." He replied. "I just wanted to remind you the watch out for you know who in your dreams tonight." And with that he walked out of my room and closed the door. I had completely forgot about Caul, I suppose I was just too caught up in my break up to trace my attention to anything else. My head was spinning.

I lay back in my bed. I felt drunk. My room started to rotate my head was going dizzy, I felt my eyes start to sting and my eyelids go all heavy. I was going to sleep.

A familiar voice was calling on me, I was still asleep.
"Jacob, Jacob." The voice sang in a ghostly way. The voice sounded so familiar but I couldn't quite put my fingers on who it was. I knew it definitely wasn't Caul though.
"Jacob." It sang again. It was Myron Bentham.
"What do you want!" I said, shouting into darkness. In the distance, I could see a skinny figure start to appear. It was Bentham in his human form. I waited a bit for him to get closer before I started to talk again.

"Why are you here, in my dreams?" I asked him when he was close enough to hear me without having to shout.
"I've come to warn you." He replied. "I've come to warn you that Caul is back. Well not Caul as such, his soul. Only you can actually stop him, but you will need help. He is powerful lad, he can possess bodies of the dead."
"I think he's already got to your wee friend there."
"Victor." I mumbled under my breath.
"Yes, that's the one."
"You said I was the only one how could stop him, how?"
"Somehow, you need to capture his soul in a soul jar, I have plenty of those back at my house, and get it back where it belongs. You need to get it back to the Library of Souls."
"How do I get his soul in the first place?"
"I don't exactly know how but I do know you will be able to do it. I suppose it's like when you first leaned how to talk to hollowgausts. When the time is right, it will just come naturally."
"Even so, how would I get back to the Library of Souls, that loop is closed now and this time there is no way of reopening it."
"Your a librarian lad, you will always be able to find your way back to Abaton."
"But how!" I cried out. There was no answer.
"BUT HOW!" I screamed at the top of my lungs but it was too late, he was gone.

I woke up panting and sweating, everyone was surrounding me.
"Told you he wasn't dead." I heard Enoch say.
"We knew he wasn't dead!" Hugh replied. "He was screaming like the world was going to end!"
"W-w-what's happening." I started to say after I caught my breath.
"You started to scream, in your sleep and no one could wake you up for the life of us. Miss Peregrine informed me.
"Yeh, I even tried slapping you!" Enoch added.
"Sorry for the nosebleed by the way." With that, I touched my nose to feel a stream of almost dried blood.
"What was your dream about?" Millard asked curious to know if it was about Caul: which it was.
"It was about Caul, he's back."
"But that's impossible!" Emma shouted. "He's dead."
"I know, I know and he still is. It's is soul that's back."
"Mr. Portman, what did Caul say to you?" Miss Peregrine asked.
"It wasn't Caul I talked to, it was Bentham."
"What did he say?" Bronwyn questioned.
"He told me that I was the only one who could kill him, for good this time and, well, Caul's soul is currently inside Victor."
"Yes, I knew it!" Millard yelled.
"Sorry, sorry, that was inappropriate." he said due to the fact everyone was staring at him.
"Come to think of it, has anyone actually seen Victor since dinner?" Hugh asked.
"Shit, he's gone." I said. I never swore in front of everyone so I got some disapproving stares.
"We have to find him." I continued "and we have to start looking now because the longer we leave it, the less chance we have of finding him."