Hey, so I just noticed that I never really talked about the structure of Part Two. So, it has been a pain for me to write this because I have my copy of MPHFPC annotated and books marked near Pigment's chapter segments by my side all the time. Dialogue is taken directly from the books, while (Y/N) adds her own commentary, which also affects the other characters. This way, you get that exact story, with minor changes to the plot to be funny. I also keep the page numbers of dialogue used at the bottom of each chapter as well, just in case you want to follow along, or know how far into the book we are. See you later!
This was Abraham Portman's kid. Grandkid, actually, but it was still a surprise. I looked at Emma to see her reaction, but she pretended it didn't affect her. I just had my arms folded, and was watching the situation play out.
"That's a lie!" Emma cried out. "You think I don't know what you are? I wasn't born yesterday-let me see your eyes!"
Okay, this was going on far too long. This was not my Emma; right now she was acting hysterical. I know that Abe was a hard topic for her to swallow, and hearing that Abe moved on without her, broke what little she had left, but she was so strong.
"I am! They are!" Jacob tried to stretch his eyes out bigger.
Emma stood on her toes, and tried examining his eyes. They were unusually blue, sure, but other than that they were normal. Not even the best contact lenses could look like that. Emma stomped her foot like she was a little kid.
"No, your real eyes! Those fakes don't fool me any more than your ridiculous lie about Abe!"
"Em, you can't actually believe that he's a Wight," I tried to tell my friend. "I know you're mad, but you're going too far now. You have no right to accuse this kid of being a Wight, especially seeing how scared you're making him."
"Look, I'm not a," Jacob faced me, and looked like he was trying to soak in what I just said. " a whatever she just said. I can prove it!"
Emma looked back at me as well, as if I was the judge of all of this. I waved at her to give him a chance, and her gaze softened. She hesitated before talking again.
"Then prove it," Emma said. "Or I'll water the grass with your blood!"
"She won't do it," I assured Jacob. "I wouldn't let her."
Jacob didn't seemed relieved by this news, but quickly began fumbling with his jacket pockets. He pulled out a letter, and showed it to Emma and me. It was from Miss Peregrine, addressed to the one and only Abe Portman. There was even a lovely photo of The Bird attached to it, inviting Abe to come back to the loop.
"It seems official to me," I said as a way to break the ice, but Emma began her pouting again.
"That doesn't prove anything!" Emma said.
"Hey, no!" I fought back. "You are not allowed to act like this, especially after everything we've gone through. Just because you're mad that Abe left you doesn't mean you can-"
"You don't know what it's like to be abandoned!" Emma yelled. "Abe was my family, and-"
"Yes, I do!" I said. "Heather was all I had, and I held her dead body in my arms. Don't you dare talk to me about what it is like to miss someone you love, because I can't bring Heather back."
Emma became silent, and I wipe my tearing up eyes. This was not a subject I brought up often.
Then we heard angry voices come from the streets. A hoard of angry drunk men were gathered, and seemed to be looking for someone. Emma turned to Jacob, and asked, "What's this? What've you done?"
"You're not the only person who wants me dead."
Emma looked back at me. I looked around the street, and found the Smith's house. By this time of day, they should be across the town, and they typically left the door unlocked. And this was where I promised Millard to meet him in five minutes. I told Emma to let go of her hostage, and I led them to the house.
It was as evil as I remembered it being. But hey, their dog was cute.
I immediately went over to their window, and closed the curtains. Emma threatened Jacob some more, then helped me check for the drunks to leave. Jacob obviously wasn't taking any of it too well, and was frozen to the spot that Emma sat him in.
"What year is it?" Jacob asked. "I'm serious."
Jacob was finally catching on, then. I smiled, and turned towards him. I opened my mouth to tell him the date that I had memorized by heart, and looked to make sure Emma wasn't going to yell at him some more. Instead, she just looked at him strangely.
"It is the 3rd of September, 1940," I answered.
His eyes grew wide, and he stood up. Jacob's legs obviously didn't get the notice, since they died on him right as he tried to run. The poor boy passed out not even two steps into his escape, and I sighed.
The door to the house swung open, and Millard walked in. He had his black leather journal in hand, and quickly closed the door. I still couldn't believe he abandoned us during the walk to Cairnholm so he could retrieve his journal. I had this place memorized by now, so why did we need it?
"Why is the new guy passed out on the floor?"
* * *
"He must be a Wight," Emma was telling Millard. I already filled him in on everything, and was currently sitting on the sofa with the dog, happily petting my problems away. "Why else would he be snooping around the house like a burglar?"
"Because he wanted to know why his Granddad sent him here, I believe," I said. Soft dog, precious dog. My new favorite animal.
"Seems as if the boy doesn't know why, either," Millard said. "You say he didn't even realize he was in a loop?"
"See for yourself," Emma said as she gestured towards Jacob. "Can you imagine any relative of Abe's being so perfectly clueless?"
"Maybe Abe didn't want his family to know," I piped in. "If I were in Abe's position, knowing full well that peculiarness isn't a fully genetic thing, I wouldn't risk putting my family in danger."
My dog (I decided I was going to kidnap him after all of this) then left my side, and trudged over to Jacob and licked his face. I smiled at the thought that he was caught listening in on our conversation because of a dog.
He didn't hear the part where I made fun of him for wearing a Beatles shirt earlier on, did he? Because I have never met a guy who thought the Beatles were tough; they were always seen as a girly, boy band in my day!
"'Morning, sunshine," I said.
"That was quite the performance you gave earlier," Emma said while sarcastically clapping. "I particularly enjoyed the fainting. I'm sure the theater lost a fine actor when you chose to devote yourself instead to murder and cannibalism."
Wait, what?
Millard grabbed a cup of water, and made his way over to Jacob. It actually made my day to see Jacob's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates at the fact that a floating cup of water made its way to him. It was probably a much nicer introduction to Millard than the one I had gotten from him years ago. Millard and I laugh about it now, sure, but it was still a traumatizing experience for me.
"Have some water," Millard said. "Can't have you dying before we get you back to the headmistress, now, can we?"
Jacob reached for the cup, and when he tried to take it, he nearly dropped it when Millard let go.
"He's clumsy," Millard snorted.
"He's right here, you know," I pointed out.
"You're invisible," Jacob said, as if he was just noticing it. Wow. Right now would have been a great time for Emma to do her new sarcastic clapping.
"Indeed," Millard said with a smile. (I could tell he was smiling by the way his voice became more cocky. It was actually kind of cute.) "Millard Nullings, at your service."
"Don't tell him your name!" Emma cried.
I simply ignored her, and made my way to Jacob. I stretched my hand out for him to shake, and smiled kindly. "I'm (Y/N) (L/N)- it's a pleasure to meet you, Jacob. I'm sorry about all of this."
"And the girl who keeps trying to kill you is Emma Bloom," Millard continued. "She's a bit paranoid, as I'm sure you've gathered."
Suddenly, we heard voices booming from outside, as the drunks came back. Emma hushed everyone to be quiet, and I ducked so my shadow couldn't be seen in the curtain. I waved at Emma to do the same, when she said, "What's happening?"
"They're searching the houses," Millard replied. "We can't stay here much longer."
An idea popped into my head, and I snapped at Millard to get his attention. Oh, it was brilliant!
"Millard, look at page 204 in your journal!" I quietly shouted. "In a couple of minutes, we could technically walk out of the door and not get caught."
Millard flipped through his book, and gasped. He finally got it.
"(Y/N) is right," he said happily. "Something big is going to happen soon; big enough to distract everyone. This is the best opportunity we'll have for hours."
Everyone got ready to leave, and Millard had the door cracked open. We waited for the noise, and just like yesterday, the sound of hundreds of engines going off sounded. The group booted it outside, and the drunks were all staring in the opposite direction that we needed to go.
"Oh, (Y/N), I could kiss you right now!" Millard shouted.
I didn't know how to respond. I mean, it wouldn't have been the first time he kissed me due to an adrenaline rush, but that was years ago. We don't even talk about it, anymore. We never talked about it, actually, but it didn't matter. I tried to push away the feeling of responding to Millard, saying, "I think you should!" or "I'll remind you to do that later."
"Okay, I think that's enough from you two lovebirds," Emma grumbled, and she grabbed Jacob and pulled him to her.
She was telling him something, most likely a threat, but I honestly didn't care. I threw my arms around Millard, and hugged him tight.
"I told you our studies weren't useless!" I chirped at him.
Then, the four of us ran back to the house, and away from the drama.
For now, of course.
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