Book One: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (My Remake)

Chapter 27~Slipped

The world was an ocean of dark. Sound had escaped all life, and everything turned cold. But then I pushed away from it, my limbs vigorously fighting against everything when crash! it all came back. The beacon had just gone over my head and was making its way back around, allowing me to witness, for a brief moment, the chaos that whipped around. Emma was a ways away from the island, searching desperately for her beloved mistress, while Jacob was not far behind, trying to catch up. Dusk had fallen by now, and the lights and explosions that illuminated the smoke filled sky were gone, the edge of a bright full moon in its place.

I focused my thoughts - the cage, that's right. I need to find the cage with the blinking red light. My eyes darted about, hoping for a glimpse of such light, when a behemoth of a wave emerged from the side and crashed against my temples, sweeping me under.

This is too much. I can't - then I broke surface, and those thoughts quickly subsided, but still remained there, striving at the back of my head. Somehow, I'd drifted farther away from the lighthouse and was almost by Jacob who was splashing water everywhere as he swam toward the girl who had started to yell for her headmistress.

"Miss Peregriiine!" I heard Emma shout. "Miss Advoceeet!" She began turning in circles, desperately searching beyond the chaotic waves. "Please!" her voice cracked as she screamed into the open air. "Where are you?!" She was breathing hard enough that I could hear it past the breaking waves and paddling around me. "Miss Peregrine!" she screamed so loud that it pierced through the bitter wind.

"Emma! Emma, stop," went Jacob, who had gotten near her with me in close pursuit. "Just take a quick break, you're overworking yourself."

"No! Shut up! I have to find Miss Peregrine," she cried as she began to stroke away.

He outstretched his arms and wrapped them around her.

"No! No, I need to save her! I need to save Miss Peregrine!" she blurted as she struggled away from him, kicking and flailing until her tired body finally succumbed and she crumbled away in his arms.

"Emma, I'm sorry." He hugged her tight. "I'm sorry," he muttered into her hair.

Heavy sobs broke out of her, and she buried her face into his neck. "No. No, she can't be gone. She just can't."

Just as I was about to reach them, another wave struck me from the front this time, sending myself spinning under the water, thrashing about to get back to the surface. The world felt dizzying and bright again, the edge of my bandage starting to unravel. I shut my eyes tight, waiting for it all to be over. Then my mind went to Miss Peregrine - could she really be gone? Trapped in a cage and lost at sea? It was heartbreaking, yet terribly familiar. Everything was familiar, come to think of it. The wave, the ocean, the stakes. My life was being put on replay, forcing me live out that evening.

As I felt my body get kicked around by the ocean, my eyes refused to open, and my heart beat picked up until it was nothing but a blur. Then everything seemed to stop; the sound of the crashing waves above, gravity pounding me around through the water, the feeling of overwhelming dread. Everything. It was almost like freedom. Almost. But then it all rushed back so quickly, it felt like drowning. Suddenly, a pulsing heat emerged from the edge of my face followed by a pain cutting through my body like a knife.

After what seemed like a lifetime, I felt my head break through the surface and I quickly wiped away the saltwater in my eyes, coughing, before touching my cheek. Blood dabbed at the hand, but I could feel more running out from multiple gashes that covered my face, as well as the hole at the side of my head. I tried to wipe it away, only spreading the mess and getting it all over my hands. My head pounded. The cold tickling at my feet didn't mix well with the warmth invading my face and head. It all felt wrong. The world went dizzy again, but I didn't feel like fainting. I held my head, only realizing that I'd been screaming the whole time. Emma and Jacob were staring at me, swimming toward me - their mouths wording something I couldn't hear.