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

Chapter 74

"We are everywhere. Accept that." {Police Wight, pg 389 book 2}

Ten soldiers marched them out of the loop at gunpoint, past the carnival tents and sideshows, down the alley and into the disguising room. They passed the racks of clothes and continued into the underground. Caul was no longer with them, he'd stayed behind with the rest of the wights and had parted ways with them saying he was sick of their faces but would 'see them on the other side'. From there they passed through the changeover and forward in time. The tracks were all metal now and the lights in the tunnels were different, long tubes that glowed green like Aurora had never seen before. When they came out onto the platform it was empty of refugees, really empty of all people. The circular staircase was now some sort of sleek set of stairs that moved on their own. A large rectangle hung from the ceiling and read TIME TO NEXT TRAIN: 2 MINUTES. It took Aurora an eternity before she realized why it looked so familiar. It looked like a bigger version of Jake's cellular telephone, the one he'd shown them on the beach that day in Cairnholm. Then a shudder of fear went through her. They were in the present, which meant they could age out. Some of the others seemed to have this realization too but for most it seemed their captivity was more pressing as the wights could kill them long before they could get grey hair and liver spots.

The soldiers corralled them in the middle of the platform to wait for the train, then they heard hard shoes clicking against the floor approaching them. When they turned they saw three policemen heading their way and Enoch called for their attention which earned him a punch to the gut and he doubled over which made Olive squeak in fright. Then the closest policeman lifted his glasses and smirked as they all cowered from his white eyes. Normals started to fill the station and the soldiers pressed in on them. When the train pulled in and the doors opened more normals came spilling out. Before more could get on the policemen shoved them aside and cleared the car as the soldiers pulled them forward.

There was just enough confusion that Sergei, his wrists thin enough to slide free of his cuffs, decided to run for it. A shot rang out, then another and the folding man tumbled to the ground. The crowd of normals panicked, screaming and scrambling to escape. The soldiers tried leading the peculiar children into the train but now were also having to push and shove through the running normals. When one bumped into the wight holding Aurora an unseen force pushed her across the platform where she fell behind a bench and hit her head against the concrete floor. She tried to sit up and blink the world back into focus but only another second later an ear shattering sound filled the underground. Joel-and-Peter, she realized, someone must have pulled them apart. She covered her ears and stayed on the ground where she was as the train's windows, lights and the screens all shattered. There was a moment of pure black before emergency lights kicked on and Aurora looked up just in time to see a glimpse of the others inside the train at gunpoint surrounded by the wight soldiers and policemen. Then the train sped off into the darkness and she realized it had taken Millard with it.

oOo oOo oOo

She felt the tears stinging at her eyes, she could feel herself shattering from the inside, like a black hole had opened up in her center and was slowly sucking her into it. Then she saw something that made everything freeze. Next to the bench where she'd fallen was a rubbish bin that had been tipped over in the chaos, the trash that had spilled out onto the floor appeared to move on its own. It looked like something was kicking it aside as it walked but there was nothing to see, she knew it couldn't be Millard, he'd never walk like that like he was. . . was. . . stalking. It reminded her of how a lion would walk while following a gazelle. But the only prey here was peculiars which meant the invisible predator was a hollowgast.

She bit her lip trying to keep her crying locked inside her, tried to keep her breathing even as the monster seemed to walk by her. If she strained her ears she could hear its footfalls. Then it stopped, she heard a low hiss by her head and felt –and smelt – its terrible breath as it blew the loose hairs from her face. This was how she was going to die, a painful slow death as a hollow consumed her. Her hands were shaking and she'd closed her eyes as her muscles clenched in fear freezing her to the spot where she lay on her stomach.

Then there was a noise from across the platform and she didn't feel the hollow's breath anymore. She cracked her eyes open and saw Jake, Emma and the peculiar dog Addison squeezed into a phone booth across from her. Addison was trying to wake Emma and Jake was on his cellular telephone but he didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation, his eyes wide as he looked at the hollow. Then Aurora heard its footfalls again as it moved away from her. Like any predator it was choosing the larger meal and would much rather devour three peculiars instead of one. She knew she should take her opportunity and run but her muscles were still locked up and without Millard she simply didn't have the will to run. After all where would she run to? She had no idea where her friends were taken and nothing else in the world mattered if she didn't have Millard. Besides, she was in the present and would probably be aged out by the end of the day.

Then the phone booth tipped to the side and the screech of bending metal echoed across the platform. The hollow pulled it side to side until it broke off the floor. Then it looked like the booth levitated, though she knew the hollow was lifting it. Six inches, a foot, then two then it came crashing back down as the window panes shattered leaving nothing between the others and the hollow. Then she saw Jake stand, though whether he was standing or had been lifted she couldn't tell. Then his eyes bulged as he stopped breathing, Aurora bit her lip harder drawing blood as she watched her friend in pain but it only lasted a second. Jake gasped, taking in a lungful of air as his feet returned to the ground. He helped Emma to her feet and the moment the blonde saw Aurora she came running toward her.

"The – the hollow-"

"It won't hurt us." Emma said pulling her up, "I don't know how, but Jake's handling it."

Then everything came crashing back for her and she fell back to the ground sobbing. Emma knelt beside her rubbing her back in comfort.

"They took him." she cried into the girl's shoulder, "He's gone, they'll kill him before the train pulls into its next stop!"

"You can't think like that."

"Why not! You know its true!"

"It's the shock talking Aurora, you're overwhelmed. You need to calm down and think rationally." She took a few gasping breaths between sobs but the tears didn't stop, "Look, we know they want their souls, Caul said himself killing Althea was a waste so we know they'll keep them alive. Its grim but it buys us time to get them – if we can." When her tough love didn't help she tried another approach, "And if he is dead, you have to carry on. The last thing Millard did was push you down so the wights couldn't get you. You have to honor the chance he gave you by refusing to quit, not now not after we've lived through so much."

The crying subsided but her breathing was still irregular. She looked across the platform to Jake who was still on his cellular.

"No. I'm like Grandpa. I have what Grandpa had." He said, he must be talking to his family, "I hope I'll be able to come home, someday. But there are things I have to do first. I just want you to know I love you and Mom and I'm not doing any of this to hurt you." There was a pause while the person – his father – responded on the other end. Aurora thought about everything Jake had given up to help them. Throughout their journey he'd been so strong but it must have killed him to be away from his family, to be away from his own time even, but he stayed strong.

"No, Dad." Jacob said into the device, "I'm peculiar." He said it with pride as he bravely hung up, cutting himself off from his way out of this mess. If he could do that for his family then she could do that for Millard, she had to.

END HOLLOW CITY