𝔠𝔞𝔠𝔬𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔰, jake portman

17 | UNDER ATTACK

CACOETHES
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN !

Jake watched as the hollow swallowed Miss Avocet whole, her feet disappearing down its throat before it licked its lips devilishly. It peered in at the peculiars through the broken window, eyeing them all hungrily. Miss Peregrine's words echoed in Jake's mind as he still lay on the floor with the crossbow aimed.

Protect them.

The peculiars, however, watched the window warily, trying hard to spot even a glimpse of a shadow. But nothing was there. Everyone stood there, their weapons readied, waiting for Jake's command.

The wall around the shattered window was suddenly smashed as the hollow made its way inside, looking around at the various children. Jake sprung up, standing directly in front of Imogen with his back to her. The twins hugged each other in fright and Emma grabbed Imogen's hand, both of them were very thankful for it.

Enoch suddenly took a brave, yet stupid, leap forward in front of Jake, unknowingly right in between Jake and the eye eating monster. "No! Enoch, get back!" Jake yelled, but his shouts were in vain when Enoch was suddenly lifted into the air. Imogen shrieked, whilst Jake tried to aim the crossbow at the ever moving hollow. The hollow continuously swung Enoch around in a way that Jake couldn't shoot the thing, or he would be in danger of shooting Enoch.

The hollow suddenly swung Enoch into a window at its side, and then into a mirror on the wall opposite. Imogen winced every time, and Jake frantically followed his movements to try and shoot the hollow. Poor Enoch was being thrown left, right and centre, into paintings, mirrors and windows as Jake struggled to get a good shot.

"Go! Get to the attic!" Jake shouted over his shoulder to the peculiars. Immediately, Bronwyn spun round and pushed the barricaded doors open. The children ran out of the open doors frantically, and Imogen was last. Before jumping out, she stood on the sofa, staring through squinted eyes at the shadow of the hollow. She glanced from Enoch, to the shadow, to the lighting, until she got herself an answer. With one swift movement, Imogen drew back her arm and threw her garden rake around the area of the hollow's leg. She held back a cheer of joy when it stopped soaring, suspended in the air, followed by a monstrous shriek of pain. She smirked before running after the peculiars.

The hollow finally held Enoch still, two long, snaking tongues making their way to Enoch's eyes. Finally, now having a clear shot, Jake shot at the hollow. It hit the monster in the shoulder, causing it to drop Enoch and fall back into various pieces of furniture in the corner.

Imogen, who heard the ruckus, turned around and stopped running. Had something gone wrong? Was Enoch okay? Was Jake okay?

She soon got her answer when Olive, Jake and Enoch came running around the corner towards her. "Go, come on!" Jake yelled at her, grabbing her hand and dragging the girl along with him as they ran from the hollow. She felt something brush her back, and for a minute she thought she was in trouble, but then it clicked.

"Elijah! Go help the children!" Imogen exclaimed, pushing at his invisible body. She felt his reluctance but, soon enough, he swooped ahead after the younger children.

The four teens ran up the stairs as fast as they could, desperate to get away from the hollowgast hot on their heels. They could hear its monstrous, gruesome, chilling shrieks as it pursuited them, but was never quite close enough. Jake suddenly let go of Imogen's hand, turning around and locking shut the doors behind them before he followed Imogen up into the attic.

"All right, uh...crap! It's almost reset!" Jake exclaimed, looking out one of the windows of the attic. The sky was pouring rain, very fitting weather for the peculiars' mood, but not so fitting for an escape.

"Fiona, is there anything you can do with that tree?" Jake asked Fiona as she peered out the window next to him.

"Yes." She confirmed, beginning to climb out and onto the roof.

"Be careful." Jake warned. Fiona slid down the roof before making her way to a tree that was particularly close to the edge of the roof. The whirring of planes could be heard in the distance. "We're going through the windows. Let's go! Quickly!"

Immediately, the peculiars set to work in climbing out of the windows and sliding down the roof tiles. "I'll hold the door!" Imogen shouted, holding her hands out at the two doors, which were bending on their hinges from the hollow's blows, so that they would stay put. With every hit the hollow took at the doors, Imogen's hold on the doors got a little weaker. Imogen swallowed thickly in panic when the wood of the door began to break severely, and that's when she let go and ran back to the windows.

"Imogen! Come on, hurry!" Jake almost screamed at her as she ran to the window he was at, just as she began climbing out, something warm and wet wrapped around her ankle and pulled her back.