Iridescent ¤ Millard Nullings

¤ 2 ¤

The door swung open before Melaina could even lay a finger on it. A tall woman stood scarily over her, even though she smiled. She had dark hair pulled into a neat top knot, with a black coat over a black dress, with black button up shoes. An eerie way of dressing.

"Hello there, Miss. Who are you might I ask?" The woman asked.

"I-um, I'm Melaina Castor, ma'am. Or, no wait, Laina. My name is Laina," Laina said, shuffling back slightly. She hated asking for anything from anyone. She had hated every single orphanage she had ever been to, but assumed a random one hidden on some tourist destination wouldn't leave another burden on her shoulders.

"Right then," The lady said, observing her. "Come inside dear" 

Laina stepped in hesitantly, not sure if she should be trusting to this dark woman. She followed her into a study, it was filled with bookshelves and extravagant antique looking items. She gestured Laina to sit in a floral patterned chair. 

"Now, Miss Castor, have you any idea where you are?" 

Laina looked around. 

"In a house? An orphanage?"

The woman nodded, and sat before her. 

"That is correct, somewhat. Do you know what type of orphanage?"

"One for orphans."

She smiled and stood up, walking over to a tea pot sitting upon a tray. Grabbing two cups, she came and set the tray between them. 

"Well, that's right, Laina. But these orphans are different, just as you are. They are what we call peculiar. Their peculiarity is what makes them special. What makes you special, Laina?"

Laina looked away with uncertainty. Are those people still looking for me? Is this woman going to turn me in?

"Who told you anything?" She asked, furtively looking at the door. 

The woman just laughed, handing Laina a cup of tea, which she graciously took. 

"Alright, I shall tell you of myself first. I am what you would call a ymbryne, and my job is to look out for the peculiar's safety. You may call me Miss Peregrine. A ymbryne is a lady who can transform herself into a bird, in my case it is a Peregrine falcon. I take in people like you, who's ability is highly frowned upon, you must have just found that out. I make a loop, which is where everything is safe for us. Now, what makes you special, Melaina?" She said, smiling at her encouragingly. 

That was enough for her head to explode. But everything that has happened in the past month has made her head want to explode.

"I take power from colors, I suppose," She replied, hoping she wouldn't laugh at her and tell her she's insane. 

"You suppose? Demonstrate it for me," Miss Peregrine said, motioning out towards the room. She leaned against her desk, hands clasped together as she watched the girl walk delicately around the room.

Laina looked for something easy. She didn't want Miss Peregrine to know that she had a sheet horribly dyed with a multitude of colors, so she wanted to find something tangible around the room. The curtains of the large window were a vivid red. 

"I-um, red is like heat and fire," Laina said, grabbing the cloth firmly in her hand. She turned back to stand in front of her, then flicked her hand so that a flame erupted from her palm. 

"That is very interesting. Could you do other colors?" Miss Peregrines looked very intrigued. 

Laina looked around the room. She delicately touched a grey chair cover, and touched a blue book. Laina turned one hand down, so water streamed from her hand, and swirled the water up with the other. 

"Grey is air, blue is water," She said sheepishly. 

"My dear, that truly is remarkable! I haven't ever seen anything so extraordinary! Is it only the elements?" Miss Peregrine said, jumping from her chair and looking her closely in the eye. 

"Oh, uh, no ma'am. With purple I can control minds, I can control emotion with pink, orange I can teleport around. And I'm not exactly sure what other colors there are."

Miss Peregrine looked at her with great wonder then went back to her chair. Laina followed, sitting back in the chair, feeling extremely uncomfortable. She gingerly touched the bruises that formed on the back of her hand, quickly hiding them with her shawl.

"You look very young, and you seem to have had much practice. How?"

"I've had a lot of alone time, I suppose," She replied.

Miss Peregrine smiled at the young girl. She hadn't ever seen anything like her. Laina was capable of so many things already.

"How old are you, Laina?"

"What's the day and year?"

"September 3rd, 1941."

"Why, I'm not alive!" Laina looked at Miss Peregrine with disbelief.

"Oh, deary me. The actual year is 1972," Miss Peregrine said, looking past Laina at the two calenders tacked onto the cream colored wall. "And it is September 3rd, 1941 here, going back to what I was saying about the loop. I created this loop on that day, just before a bomb struck our home. It is April 6th in real time."

Laina's eyelids fluttered shut as she let out a shaky breath. This was all far too odd for it to be reality, but she knew that it had to be true. She turned around in her chair to look at the calender once more. It did, indeed, look as if it were from her time period. She looked back at Miss Peregrine, head cocked to the side.

"I'm seventeen, as of yesterday. I was born April 5th, 1955."

Miss Peregrine scribbled something on a notepad, nodding and laying the pen down.

"Your accent is obviously not one of Europe. How did you get here?"

This was true, Laina was American. She had tried to make herself have a Welsh accent when she first arrived, but found she failed miserably in it.

"I came from America a year ago. I tried to ditch everything I had to make a clean slate for myself. I had hopped on a couple of boats and booked it here, after I exposed myself accidently to a girl at school," Laina shuddered at the memory of what happened, fearing that Miss Peregrine would ask what had happened.

"I see," Miss Peregrine said, standing and smoothing her black skirt. "I believe you have been questioned quite enough, wouldn't you say? Enough with the telling, you'll learn more by showing. There are many other children here, like you. But they are asleep, you came at a rather odd time. Let me show you to a room."

"A room? Do I have to pay?"

Miss Peregrine chuckled as she stuck a pipe between her lips. "This isn't an inn, Laina. It's your home."

Laina nodded and followed the woman up the wooden stairs. They went down the hall and Miss Peregrine stopped at one of the closed doors. They went inside where Laina found four periwinkle walls, a twin sized bed with a white comforter, and a lovely stained wardrobe. It was more than Laina ever had.

Before Laina could combust with tears, Miss Peregrine laid a hand on her shoulder, telling her to take a bath and have a nice night. After she left, Laina covered her mouth and cried the happiest of tears. She did a small jig before going to run her hand over the smooth wood of the wardrobe, then going to hop onto her bed. The comforter was incredibly soft and poofy. Laina looked around her new room through her tears and thought to herself

I have a home!