Thin Ice (MPHfPC Fanfic)

Chapter Eighteen:

We rushed toward the noise. But before we even got there, a wight came running from the opposite direction. He didn't seem to even notice us, just ran past, panting, with a panicked look in his blank eyes.

We looked at each other, but then we kept going. Soon, we came into another fork.

"You two should take the right hallway," Jake said, pointing at Horace and me. "Emma and I will take the left."

"Sure," I said, fine with the plan. "Be careful."

We split up.

Now I was all alone with Horace. My heart thumped so loud, I was sure Horace could hear it.

"Just so you know," Horace said all of a sudden. "In case we don't make it out of this... I like you, August. Like, LIKE-like, like-"

"I do too." I admitted, stopping his stammering. We were both smiling and blushing. My heart skipped a beat.

"Wh-" Horace started to say, but was interrupted by a crash, farther down the hallway. We were yanked back to the present. "What was that?"

"I dunno." I answered.

"Well, maybe hold out your hands."

"No," I said. "I'll hold them out when I can see who I'm aiming them at. I don't want to hurt anyone I care about."

He still looked really worried, so I said "Don't worry. I'll be careful."

"Yeah, I definitely don't want you dead. Or hurt." My heart fluttered at this comment.

I led him down the hall. There were a couple more smaller crashes. We crept along. I kept my arms in their odd position, but my muscles were tight, ready to snap up at the slightest sign of an enemy.

A crash came from the room next to us.

Horace tried to open the door, but it was locked. I touched the lock and it disappeared, letting the door swing open.

And there she was.

Miss Peregrine was out of breath, her hand over her eyes, leaning against the far wall. A chair and small table were tipped over.

"Miss Peregrine?" I asked.

"August?" It was the first time I had ever heard her call me by my first name only. She looked up. "Where is everyone else?"

"We don't know where everyone else is," I said. "Jake and Emma are in the next hallway over."

"Then find them. Get out of here."

"Not without you." I said. She shook her head sadly.

"No," She said. "I can't."

"Why not?" Horace asked.

"I'm not safe." The ymbryne slid down the wall, looking too tired to stand. "Go find them. Get away."

"No!" I said. "We're not leaving without you!" I took a step toward her and then the world started to bend, like the floor was turned against me, like I was on some twisting roller-coaster, then everything snapped back to normal. I took a moment to recover from the dizzying affect and found myself a foot away from where I had been a split-second before.

"Oh." Horace said. I turned just in time to see him faint.

"See?" Miss Peregrine said pointedly, miserably. "Just get everyone to safety."

"What was that?" I asked. It reminded me of my own peculiarity.

"I don't really understand it." She answered. "But something changed..."

"It felt like... Like something I can do."

Miss Peregrine looked up. "Oh, really?"

"Yes," I said. "Look."

I reached for the fallen chair. When I touched it, the chair started to vibrate, then glitch, and then it simply winked out of existence.

Miss Peregrine stared at the spot the chair used to be, then looked at my hands. When she had stopped, she looked at me. "Anything else I should know about, Miss Perine?" It was nice to hear her sounding more like her usual self.

I explained about the blue strands, then the incident with all three colors of threads.

"That is most strange..." Miss Peregrine said. "When did these 'blue strands', as you call them, start?"

"The day after we got here."

Miss Peregrine's already-pale face turned even paler.

"What?" I asked.

Before she could answer, however, we heard a large group of people heading our way.

"Hide!" Miss Peregrine hissed. I sort of pushed Horace with my feet (because I still couldn't touch him with my hands) to the corner where the door would cover us if it was open. The steps grew closer to the door. My heart beated uncontrollably.

And then the door burst open.