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

Chapter 94

"Through clouds of dust and vapor I saw two creatures taller than houses trying to murder each other." {Jacob Portman, pg 397 book 3}

JACOB POV

He could just lift his head enough to see Bentham standing in the channel with his eyes ablaze. Cones of white hot light were beaming from his sockets and Jake could just make out a tinkle of glass dropping to the ground. Then he realized what had happened – Bentham had taken a vial of ambro.

Jake put everything he had into sitting up as Bentham went to each crevice and examined them – as if he could see them. Then Jake realized exactly what he'd taken, who's soul had been in the ambro. It was his grandfather's soul, the small piece he'd removed decades ago, the one he'd been saving for this moment. He could see the jars now, he could do what Jake did.

Bentham was running now, as best he could. He'd spied the other large urn and was heading right for it, when he reached it he tipped it over as its blue liquid hissed into the channel and began circulating toward the spirit pool. When the urn's liquid made it to the pool the water began to rage and another column of bright blinding light shot up toward the ceiling.

"WHO IS TAKING MY SOULS!" Caul bellowed from the corridor as he began to worm his way back into the chamber. Jake had caught up to Bentham and tackled him before he made it to the pool. With Jake being as weak and dizzy as he was he was just a match for the old and brittle Bentham.

"Listen to me." Bentham said, "I've got to do this. I'm the only hope you have."

"I'm not listening to anymore of your lies!"

"He'll kill us all if you don't let me go!"

"If I let you go you'll just help him!"

"No I won't!" Bentham cried, "I've made so many mistakes. . but I can make them right if you let me help you."

"Help me?" Jake asked half astonished and half sarcastically.

"Look in my pocket, my vest pocket. There's a paper in it, one I carry always just in case. It's a recipe, show it to the ymbrynes, they'll know what to do."

Then a hand reached over Jake's shoulder and snatched the paper. He spun to see Miss Peregrine who Caul had batted into a wall before he'd gone after the others. She was back to her human form, battered but otherwise alright. She read the Old Peculiar words on the paper then her eyes flashed to Bentham.

"You're certain this will work?"

"It worked once. I don't see why it shouldn't again. And with even more ymbrynes. . . "

"Let him go." Miss Peregrine told Jacob.

"What?" he asked shocked, "But he's going to –"

She put a hand on his shoulder, "I know, I know." She helped Jake stand up and Bentham headed again for the spirit pool. The vapor was gathering into the shape of a giant almost as large as Caul but with wings. If Bentham reached the pool in time Caul would have a worthy challenger. Caul had just about made it out of the tunnel now but even he knew what the diffusing power in the room meant.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"There's no time to hide." Miss Peregrine said pulling Jake to the ground, "Play dead."

When Caul finally wriggled out of the corridor the vapor had already begin funneling into Bentham and suddenly the younger weaker brother was already rocketing up to twice his original height. When the two did clash there was a sound like the bombs that had fallen back in London. With Caul occupied Miss Peregrine helped Jake stand and they ran for the exit, only a few steps into the tunnel they ran right into Emma and Olive, the latter with a flame in her hand. No one spoke, there wasn't time and Jake was more than happy to simply let Emma pull him into the darkness.

MILLARD POV

When they saw Emma, Jake, Olive and Miss Peregrine reappear there was a loud cheering, even though most of it was drowned out by the thrashing sounds coming from the chamber.

"I saw him shoot you." Aurora said looking to Jacob, "By what miracle are you alive?"

Jacob tugged the collar of his sweater, "The miracle of peculiar sheep wool." Then the room shook and rocky debris fell like a pebbled rain over them.

"What is that?" Millard asked not sure what had made Caul give up the chase after them.

"Bentham took the other ancient soul." Jacob explained, "He's fighting off Caul but we have to move. Even though they're too big to reach us they can still bring this place down on our heads."

There were murmurs of agreement, they had to get out of the library then out of this loop. They all continued running – some hobbling – as Addison guided them with his lantern. With the dog's sense of smell they made it back the way they'd came but the sound of the giant brothers battle only got louder even as they got further away almost as if the pair were still growing. How big could they get, and how strong? Millard assumed that during their fight other soul jars in the room were getting smashed, their remains dripping into the channel and filling the spirit pool, feeding and making Caul and Bentham even more monstrous. Would the Library of Souls bury them? Would it be their grave, their prison? Or would it crack open like an eggshell and birth these horrors into the world?

They finally reached the grotto exit and dashed into the orange daylight. They were moving as fast as they could, now halfway to the loop exit when the ground shook so violently they were all thrown off their feet. Millard tried to angle his body so Aurora would fall into him and she angled herself as well so not to crush Mira. Millard had never been near a volcano when it erupted but he imagined it would have been similar to the thunderous boom that echoed from the hills behind them. Everyone had turned to see acres of pulverized rock flying into the air and then clear as day were the screams of Bentham and Caul. They were free of the library now, having torn through the ceiling and untold depths of stone until they reached daylight.

"We can't wait any longer!" Miss Peregrine cried as she picked herself up and took out a crumbled sheet of paper. "Sisters, it's time to close this loop!"

"Won't that turn them into hollows?" Asked Miss Wren.

"A hollow's no problem." Jacob spoke up, "but last time someone collapsed a loop this way, didn't it make an explosion big enough to flatten half of Siberia?"

"The ymbrynes my brother coerced into helping him were young and inexperienced." Miss Peregrine explained, "We'll do a better job."

Over the hill a giant face rose like a second sun, Caul was as big as ten houses now and in a terrible voice he bellowed, "ALMAAAAAAAAA!"

The ymbrynes shooed the children a good distance away as they gathered together. They looked like a mystical secret society as Miss Peregrine read from the paper. "According to this once we start the reaction we'll have only a minute to escape the loop."

"Will that be enough time?" Miss Avocet asked concerned.

"It'll have to be." Miss Wren said grimly.

"Perhaps we should get closer to the exit before we try." Suggested Miss Glassbill.

"There isn't time." Miss Peregrine insisted, "We have to –"

The rest of her sentence was drowned out by a distant but thunderous shout from Caul, his words gibberish now, his mind likely melting from the extraordinary stress of rapid growth. Bentham hadn't been heard from in a few minutes and Millard wondered if he'd been killed.

"Wish your elders luck!" Miss Peregrine shouted to them as she and her sisters formed a tight circle and joined hands. Miss Peregrine spoke in Old Peculiar and the others repeated her words in unison. It went on for a little more than thirty seconds during which time Caul had started to climb his way to them. Then the ymbrynes finally unclasped their hands and broke their circle and moved to the children. Where the women had been standing a crack was splitting open in the ground, the clay falling away quickly, widening the sinkhole – the collapse had begun.