Life or Death

Flashback

I stood at the door, watching my friends walk arm in arm in the direction of the village. Those poor people were in for one heck of a nasty day, but thankfully they wouldn't remember any of it the next day after reset.

Hearing someone clear their throat behind me, I turned around. Miss Peregrine was standing there with crossed arms and a ticking pocket watch in hand.

I winced, "Sorry Miss Peregrine. I was coming. I just wanted to see them off."

She smiled, "I know you were, but time is of the essence! Please tell me I won't have the police knocking on my door later at least."

"Um..."

Shaking her head with a slight grin she gestured for me to follow her back into the depths of the house.

I walked behind her into a little room full to the brim of disorganized and strewn about papers. I had been in here many times, but it never failed to astound me how messy it truly was.

"You know the drill Isabelle."

I nod. I had been here to assist her many times before. I made my way over to one side of the paper filled room. It was a more difficult task than it seemed, to make one's way from one side of the room to the other.

Kneeling down, I picked up one file on top of a tedious stack and opened it.

Peculiar Mishaps, it read it neat handwriting. Peculiars have been persecuted for a long time and it's not to say that we've never been caught before... The writing went on to explain some common mistakes peculiars made that might give them away.

I turned to the shelf behind me and placed it in its correct place. I picked out another and so my task began.

After sorting through about fifteen files, I opened one that was old and ragged. A slip of paper fell out and I picked it up, turning it over to see its content.

It was not writing at all, but rather a photograph. It showed a group of men and women standing side by side, all with straight faces. Another telltale feature about them was their unnatural white eyes. They were wights.

My hand started to shake. It was wights who had murdered my father. Miss Peregrine had explained that to me after she found me. I suddenly found myself not in the disorganized file room, but in my old house. My father was standing at his desk, reading a letter from a colleague of his. His eyebrow was furrowed and he looked alarmed.

"So you've found Miss Osprey's loop have you?" he murmured.

As he read farther he seemed more than simply alarmed. He looked scared, a look I usually didn't see him wear.

"Izzy, we need to go. Now."

"Go where?" I asked curiously.

"Somewhere far away from here, that's for certain," he replied. "But we have to move now."

A deafening bang echoed throughout the house just then. I jumped as it echoed again. My father looked afraid.

"Izzy listen to me carefully. I want you to go out the back door and run. Don't stop. Run."

"No. Not without you."

He smiled sadly. "Don't you worry, I'll be along. You have to go now though. Run Izzy, run."

I hesitated for a moment more before turning on my heel and dashing out of the study. Two men were standing in the doorway to our house, the door hanging off its hinges. They made eye contact with me and I ran, just as my father had said.

"Get her," one of the men commanded firmly. "I'll find her father."

I ran until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I punched and kicked, but there was nothing I could do. I turned and saw his white eyes staring at me and screamed.

Suddenly I was back in Miss Peregrine's house, in the disorganized room. She was standing over me with sad eyes.

"It happened again?" she asked.

Nodding I stood. "It hasn't happened for at least a year now though."

I used to have flashbacks and nightmares every day when I first arrived. Now I barely had them, but certain things still could trigger them.

"Why don't you get some fresh air. I can finish up here."

I left without another word and stayed outdoors until dinnertime.