{ Edited - 30th April, 2024 }
I was known as the girl who never backed down from a challenge, always ready to stand tall again. However, Barron suddenly rolled to his side, causing me to stumble to the ground. As I lifted my head, a wave of fear washed over me as I saw Barron approaching with a loaded gun, ready to take aim. He fired two more shots, hitting my left ankle, and the pain was so intense that I couldn't help but cuss and scream.
"Arg! Bloody children!" He spun around with a scowl on his face, looking out at the ocean before turning back to me. He yanked my arm, pulling me up to stand, then swiftly wrapped his arm around my neck while aiming the gun at my head. Without warning, he shoved me towards the edge of the steep hill. I could only wince in pain. "Come any closer and I'll shoot her!" he shouted.
As I peered down at the beach, I saw the children running around. Suddenly, Barron raised his gun in their direction. However, my attention was diverted by a large object heading straight for us. Reacting quickly, I ducked down, allowing Barron to bear the full force of the incoming projectile.
As I looked up, I witnessed the flying object soaring directly above me before it struck Barron in the face. He stumbled backwards, letting out a loud scream. I tried to crawl away, but my ankles were forcefully pulled back. Unexpectedly, Barron lifted me onto his shoulders and headed towards the birdcage, effortlessly grabbing the handle with his free hand.
He walked into the lighthouse and began ascending the winding stairs. I believe we were only halfway up when I heard Jake and Emma's voices. "JAKE! EMMA!!" I yelled.
Barron suddenly halted and began firing at them, but unfortunately, he missed his targets. Within a matter of seconds, the entire staircase of the lighthouse began to tremble vigorously. Suddenly, I heard a loud clanging noise echoing down the steps, causing me to startle. Barron, in frustration, started swearing loudly. He swiftly wrapped his arm around me, ensuring that I couldn't slip away or take any action to aid my escape. Without wasting any time, he hurriedly ascended towards the top.
As we reached the summit of the lighthouse, the blinding light greeted us. Barron tightly held onto my waist as he cautiously circled around the immense brightness, positioning himself away from the entrance. Suddenly, my eyes caught sight of Jake on the left, gripping a gun. The moment he spotted us, he menacingly aimed it directly at Barron.
"Let them go, Golan!" Jake said calmly.
Barron swiftly dashed in the opposite direction, catching me off guard. To my surprise, Emma appeared, clutching a spray can and a lighter. Without hesitation, she aimed the can at the flickering flames and unleashed a burst of spray, causing a massive blaze that engulfed both Barron and me. Reacting swiftly, Barron swiftly changed course, never loosening his grip around my waist.
"Stop!" Jake yelled.
Barron lifted the cage and allowed me to slide down from his shoulder. Suddenly, he crouched down and swiftly wrapped his arm around my neck, pulling me up forcefully. I clung to his arm, wincing in pain as I struggled to stand. He shook the cage and tightened his grip, causing me to gasp for air.
How did things end up like this? Mr. Barron, a man I considered a close friend. The person who helped me when I fell from the tree? The one who always made sure I got home safely? The one I confided in when I needed someone to listen... And now, my former close friend is attempting to kill my other friends and has taken me captive to torture and abuse me, essentially holding me hostage.
"Barron! Please! You're starting to scare me," I choked.
I saw the storm raging around me, wondering if it would be dangerous to strike myself. I'm aware that electricity can move, but it could also reach the cage holding the birds, and I couldn't take that risk. I had to wait until he was no longer touching the cage before I could proceed. I needed to mentally prepare and charge myself up in the meantime.
"Is this what you want?" Barron shouted, "Go ahead! Burn me, the Ymbryne's will burn too! Shoot me I will throw the cage off this lighthouse and break Kira's neck so she's out of her misery!" He warned.
"Not if I shoot you in the head first!" Said Jake.
Barron laughed "You couldn't fire a gun if you wanted to. You forget I'm intimately familiar with your poor, fragile Psyche. It'd give you nightmares," Everyone froze for a few good minutes or moments.
"Just put the cage down, release Kira, and come with us, nobody else has to get hurt," Jake said calmly again.
"I don't know. . . if Millard doesn't make it, I might reconsider that," Emma came a little closer, lighter and spray can ready in her hand.
"You want to kill me, fine, get it over with. But you'll only be delaying the inevitable, not to mention making things worse for yourselves. We know how to find you now. More like me are coming, and I can guarantee the collateral damage they do will make what I did to your friend seem downright charitable." Said Barron loosening his arm a bit, enough for me to gasp for air.
"Get it over with? Who said it would be quick?!" Emma snapped.
"I told you, I'll kill them" Barron brought the cage a little bit closer to him.
"I'm eighty-eight years old! Do I look like I need a pair of babysitters? I can't tell you how long we've been dying to get out from under that woman's wing! I swear you'd be doing us a favour," Emma took a step closer again.
The Peregrine falcon screeched in offence. 'Emma, you are incredibly fortunate that I am currently confined behind these bars. Otherwise, I would have escorted you to your room by the ear.'
"You're full of shit!" Barron snapped. I headbutted his face very hard.
"Go to hell you obese two-faced twat!" I snapped back at him.
Jake and Emma both stepped closer. "Tell us what you want with those Ymbrynes, and maybe she'll go easy on you," said Jake nodding over to Emma.
"We only want to finish what we've started, that's all we've ever wanted," said Barron.
"You mean the experiment? . . . You tried it once and look what happened. You turned yourselves into monsters!" Emma raised her voice.
"Yes, but what an unchallenging life it would be if we always got things right on the first go, this time we'll be harnessing the talents of all the world's best time manipulators like these two ladies here. We won't fail again. We've had a hundred years to figure out what went wrong. Turns out all we needed was a bigger reaction" Barron explained.
"A bigger reaction?" Jake repeated.
"Last time you blew up half of Siberia!" Shouted Emma.
"If you must fail, fail spectacularly," He quoted again.
"It doesn't matter, Kidnap all the Ymbrynes you want. They'll never help you!" Emma snapped.
"Yes, they will, that's why we have your beloved Miss Peregrine's daughter here, to motivate them. They'll do it or we will kill the Ymbrynes one by one, and if that doesn't work, we'll kill Kira and then you, one by one, and make them watch." He chuckled to himself.
"You're insane!" Jake said.
"No! What's really insane is how you peculiars hide from the world when you could rule it - succumb to death when you could dominate it - and let the common genetic trash of the human race drive you underground when you could so easily make them your slaves, as they rightly should be! . . THAT'S INSANE" He started to shake the cage violently.
"STOP IT!!!!" Emma shouted.
"Ah, so you do care," He shook the cage even more, then he turned around and searched for something in the darkness then he looked back. "You want them? HERE!" He pulled back and swung the cage at Emma's face.
I had to restrain Barron's arm to prevent him from considering snapping my neck. Suddenly, I found myself pushed against the fence surrounding us in the lighthouse. Glancing down, I saw the children gathered on the beach, managing just fine without adult supervision.
I looked back just in time to witness Emma crouching down once more, letting out a cry. Barron, resembling a discus thrower, kept the swing going until the cage soared over her head, then let go. It slipped out of his grasp and over the railing, flipping end over end into the darkness.
He raised me up and placed me on the edge, gripping me tightly. I mustered up the strength to call forth a lightning bolt from the raging storm to hit me, and it struck just as Barron pushed me off the edge, sending me into free fall.
As soon as my hands were free, I instinctively brought them in front of me. It seemed like the intense electricity had caused the handcuffs to explode. Realizing that I was dangerously close to hitting the ground with no means to break the fall, I knew it could either kill me or knock me unconscious. Regardless, my body would eventually roll off the cliff and into the water, leading to my demise either by the fall or drowning. Each passing second brought a wave of drowsiness, and just before I crashed into the ground, I slipped into a deep sleep where I couldn't feel a thing. It's highly likely that I passed out due to the immense energy exerted during the wild storm.