A Motherly Love - MPHFPC

|Chapter 15|

"It's movie time!" Bronwyn shouted, waiting for the others in the living room. For a reason or another, she was really impatient for tonight's movie.

Everyone sat at their respective places, Miss Peregrine being the last one to arrive. Willow didn't dare to look at her, they hadn't spoken to each other since their last interaction in the kitchen this morning. Willow took a small glance at Horace and, by extension, watched how Alma was looking.

      She had a poker face, her eyes were a little more narrowed than usual and her arms were folded on her chest. She was leaning against the doorframe, her eyes fixed on something in front of her. Her eyes back on Horace, Willow noticed that something was bugging him, he seemed worried and almost... scared. When the young woman saw Alma's head drift in her direction from the corner of her eyes, she shifted her gaze back on the wall that was used as a screen.

The projection started, staring Horace and a tailor in the first scene. Enoch rolled his eyes, he was bored of always seeing clothes here and clothes there in Horace's dreams. Willow tried to keep her attention focused on what was shown, but all she wanted to do was to look behind her shoulder to see if Alma was looking at her. And she was. The ymbryne couldn't help but stare at her little protege, hoping she'd look at her too.

      Miss Peregrine wasn't paying attention to the movie, so when all the children gasped, it got her out of her trance and she looked back in front of her. The headmistress jumped a little when she saw the entrance of the cave, a silhouette that she knew too well standing in front of it. At the following scene, her doubts were confirmed: Barron was the one who was entering the cave.

"Barron.." Willow whispered, her eyes widely open. She immediately felt a chill run down the back of her neck.

Nine pairs of eyeballs turned their attention to Miss Peregrine, only Willow and Horace weren't looking at the headmistress. Everyone was afraid that Barron would find the loop and kill them all. Everyone was silent, the projection now showing the old mansion destroyed, in ruins, until Millard stormed into the room. No one had noticed that he wasn't there. He told everyone that Miss Avocet was awake and Willow and Emma shared a look, both getting up at the same time.

      With the rumour that Emma told Willow earlier, the situation with Miss Avocet and now the dream, the girls really wanted to know what it all consisted of. They ran to another room of the house where the other headmistress was, soon followed by Miss Peregrine and the rest of the children. Willow sat next to Miss Avocet and she started to ask her a lot of questions without leaving her enough time to answer.

"Miss Fernsby, dear, don't drain Miss Avocet like that, she's already exhausted." Miss Peregrine put her hand on Willow's shoulder what made the young woman shiver. It was their first interaction since their little argument this morning.

Willow got up, still avoiding Alma's gaze, and she offered an apology to Miss Avocet. The headmistress chuckled a bit and said it was fine before she answered the girl's questions.

"Your right, if I'm here, it's because something did happen at my loop." Her tone was serious, so was her face and Miss Peregrine sat next to her, a concerned look painted all over her face. "It's Barron, he intends to find the most loops to kill all the peculiars. I tried to save my children, but it was too late: his hollow friend had already.. killed them."

"Come here dear." Miss Peregrine wrapped her arms around Miss Avocet and she rubbed her back gently.

The older bird was crying softly in Alma's embrace and Willow found herself wishing that she was the one Alma was hugging. Shaking the thought away, Willow got outside, followed by Emma. She asked what she was doing and the young woman answered coldly that she needed to be alone.

      The truth was that she had to think about what she could do to protect her family. Barron was coming for them, that was sure, but Willow didn't know how she could stop him. She felt like she had to do it, by herself. Emma returned inside and Willow got out of the loop. She made her way to the destroyed mansion and she climbed on a stone wall offering views of the ocean. Willow crossed her legs and rested her chin on the palms of her hands, not caring if she would fall.

      That's when she saw something moving far far away from where she was. She couldn't quite distinguish what it was, but a rational thought crossed her mind: it was Barron. Willow was sure it was him, even if she couldn't really see it.

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Hey, I hope everyone is doing good! Since I have some chapters written in my drafts, I decided that I'd update this story. I hope you're gonna like the plot, I tried to finish with a mysterious sentence, idk. Anyway, have a good day/night and thank you for reading!
〜 M <3 〜