Chapter Text
Enoch stared up at the ceiling, then back at his desk, where his unfinished homunculi were laying around.
It had been like four months since the final battle against the wights, four months since he and the others had come back to their house at Cairlhom, along with Noor and Portman.
Since the whole thing had ended, Miss Peregrine had become more permissive with them in terms of things that they could acquire and learn from the future, for example, in Enoch´s case, Portman had gotten him a walkman.
An artifact where music could be heard with something called earphones, Portman had asked for it in the mail, from an antique shop, along with some cassettes with music that he thought Enoch would like, and he had asserted, honestly.
Portman had gotten things for all of them, he had gotten some toys for Claire and Olive, a camera for Emma (Even though they had broken up, they were still friends, Enoch still grimaced a little when he remembered that he had been kind of the reason why they split up, before he chuckled a little), history books for Millard, some books about flowers for Fiona, a telescope for Hugh (who had recently gotten into the hobby of watching stars), some weights for Bronwyin, and a sewing machine for Horace.
The life on their loop had also turned less monotone, thanks to the machine that Caul´s brother had made, Enoch couldn't remember his name, after all, the point was that the machine could transport them to various loops, including tourists ones, so they had gone in some trips from time to time.
Enoch wondered if with that machine, system or whatever, he could go to his past loop. Maybe he could go someday and just laugh at his past loopmates faces when they see him again, show them that he helped to save the peculiar world.
Or maybe they were already dead, who knows, maybe the loop had been attacked, he had never bothered in finding out how his past loop was doing after what happened.
He looked at his homunculi, then at the jars with hearts on the desk, on the shelves, even on the floor.
It looked like a psychopath worked there. Even though it was just Enoch. He sighed.
Whatever, he got up, kicking away a bottle that had some red paint on it, when it hit the floor, the red paint spilled on the ground, it looked like blood.
Enoch looked at the window in his bedroom, his reflection was like always the same.
His dirty blonde hair had grown a little when he and the others had their intern clocks restarted, he had also grown a few inches, his powder blue eyes stared back at him as he scanned his face, pale, like a corpse´s. He put his hand on the scar he had on his left cheek, he had gotten that on the final battle, when he had tried to protect a younger peculiar.
He scoffed and looked away, like always, he was ugly. That was a fact he had accepted a long time ago, his crooked nose was one of the things that made that even more so clear, along with the scar.
He wasn't sure if he could keep going like that for the rest of existence, looking at himself and seeing a broken shadow of what he was before.
Enoch looked at the clock on the nightstand, it was almost five o clock. Time to go to Devil's Acre.
Now that Devil's Acre was getting basically renovated and remodeled, all the crime was starting to go down little by little. He himself had helped a little with that by reanimating corpses of victims in trials. That was basically his job now, something that also helped to break the monotony of eternal life.
He walked towards the building that had been designated as the Law building, he had to go there to pick up some documents for an upcoming trial, where he had been tasked with reanimating the corpse of a man that had been murdered allegedly by his coworker.
Miss Peregrine had also asked him to go to a shop and buy some new quills and tint. The others had also come to their respective tasks, except for Olive and Claire, lucky ones.
Jacob and Noor were the ones that had all the fun, they went to missions from time to time, to other loops and did good citizen shit deeds. For example, they had arrested Frankie, the leader of a peculiar gang in America, who to Enoch´s mortification had taken a liking to him when she captured him along with the other idiots on their mission to take Noor to a loop.
Franke along with some other members of her clan had been put behind bars by Jacob, Noor, along with some other older peculiars from other loops, the Ymbryne council had decided to start an organization conformed by the oldest peculiars so they could go on this kind of missions to help other syndrigasts wherever and whenever they could. Lucky them.
Enoch wished he could also go on those missions, not really to help, well, that was good, but more like so he could prove that…
Whatever.
He walked down the streets of Devil's Acre. The remodelations was not that good, because it was a loop, but some changes could be made.
“Is that him?” he heard someone say behind him, he discreetly turned his head around to look at some peculiar kids, they were from a new loop made by an Ymbrine that had just come out of training, he couldn't remember if her name was Miss Robin or Miss Rook.
“Yes, it is the boy that is a dead raiser” said another boy.
Enoch sighed, being a dead riser was not common, not even in the peculiar world, in fact, dead raisers were pretty rare, it was one of the peculiarities that was less likely to be around.
He was used to it.
The staring, the whispering, the recoiling, like he would attack someone at any time.
It was fine.
“Hey! Do you make a habit of talking about people behind their backs?” he asked, not turning to the kids, he heard them yelp and walk away. That's what he thought, some other peculiars that were also wards from other loops looked at him.
He shrugged and took out the walkman, put on the earphones and hit play before he kept walking.
‘I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me, and I walk alone’
He was used to walking alone, he was unapologetically himself, sarcastic, and kind of mean if he was honest.
‘I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one, and I walk alone
I walk alone, I walk alone
I walk alone, I walk a-’
He didn't have friends, at least he didn't feel like he had friends. No one understood him, which was fine, no one ever did.
‘My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes, I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then, I walk alone’
He did yearn a little for someone that did understand him, but he always blew it up when he opened his mouth and started talking. It was kind of like a defense mechanism, people rejected him, he rejected them back, and when there was the possibility that someone would try to understand him, he rejected them before they could reject him.
He put the documents on his bag and walked down the stairs, and then back to the outside. The trial would be next week, so it was fine, now he had to go to the shop and buy what Miss Peregrine told him to.
He walked around the block, then he entered a shop with a crooked sign. He looked around and took some quills and tint, walked to where he was supposed to pay and paid. He startled when he heard noise outside, he turned around after putting the purchases on the bag, and, oh, of course. It was Emma, making fire figures to entertain some fellow peculiar children, he scowled.
Fire was dangerous. Fire was dangerous and yet he was the only that people-
He inhaled and exhaled.
Whatever, he went out the shop and walked around Emma´s fan club, before he kept walking faster so that Emma wouldn't see him
“Mr. O’ Connor!” Enoch turned around, it was Miss Raven “I could use some help, can you please carry some of this boxes inside that boulding?” she pointed at the building next to them, then at the cardboard boxes that were at her feet.
Enoch groaned and said “Fine”
He went there and picked up a box, it was very heavy, he came into the building and ofcourse, Hugh and Horace were helping there too.
He kept taking more boxes inside, finally he put the last one down next to a table, and was ready to go when Hugh put his hand on his shoulder for a second before taking it away and saying “Horace is looking at you”
Enoch rolled his eyes, he turned his head toward Horace, prepared to see him with his judgemental gaze that he always sent Enoch whenever he was covered in blood, clay, or whenever he was Enoch, anyways.
But when he turned around, Horace was just smiling goofily at him, and staring at him with heart eyes. Enoch raised an eyebrow and looked behind him, he was the only one there so, alright, Horace was looking at him, he turned to him, and yes, Horace was still looking at him. Enoch scoffed and walked away, idiot.