How Peculiar

Chapter Three

The three knocks seemed to resonate throughout the apartment and they sent chills down Tom's spine. Caramel jumped up and began to growl. Tom slowly backed away from the door, his breathing becoming ragged and uneven. Remembering Theodora's texts, he ran to his room and basically threw open his window.

"Help!!" He screamed. Two lines of seemingly silk shot into his room and stuck to his wall. He jumped and his eyes grew wide. A girl then shot in, pulling herself along the lines. Tom stared in awe. Her hair was brown and pulled back into a high ponytail. She wore ripped jeans and a Spider-man hoodie. Tom could only gape. This girl had just come through his window! She turned to look at him, her hazel eyes meeting his. She quickly scanned the room. Her face was one of the most serious he had ever seen.

"Let's go." She said, reaching for Tom's arm but he yanked it away.

"I'm not going with you! I don't even know who you are!" He yelled. Her eyes flicked around in slight panic. "What the hell is happening?! Who are you?!" With that, she leapt forward and slammed him into the wall, planting her hand firmly over his mouth.

"Keep your voice down!" She whispered harshly. Backing away and removing her hand from his mouth, she poked her head out the door. Caramel trotted into the room. "Sophie!" The girl exclaimed. Caramel wagged her tail and a glowing light seemed to absorb her as her shape began to change. A dog no longer stood in front of them instead, it was a young woman.

She had fair colored skin, warm ginger hair with caramel highlights. Her eyes mirrored Caramel's, melted chocolate pools. She wore a cotton-candy pink sweater with white baggy pants that had colorful designs on them. Tom's mouth dropped wide open. As he was about to say something, a banging sounding on the front door distracted him. The first girl's eyes grew wide with fear.

"We have to go. Now." She said urgently. The 'used to be Caramel' girl nodded. The light absorbed her again and she was then a bird. The bird took off and flew out the window. The other grabbed Tom's hand and pulled him over to the window. "Please trust me, Tom. I promise I won't drop you." He gave a small nod. She slid out the window and stood on the small ledge. Taking her hand and following her lead, Tom stood on the ledge. His legs shook as he looked down at the drop below him.

"Hold on tight. If I end up with a casualty on my hands, especially yours, Theo will kill me." He nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist tightly. She put one arm around him. "If you start to slip, just tell me." He gulped. A large boom sounded from inside the apartment. With that, she jumped, taking him with her. He screamed. A silk substance shot from her free hand and stuck to the side of a building. He squeezed his eyes shut and listened as the wind whipped past them.

After what felt like forever, Tom felt her land on solid ground. He opened his eyes to find them in front of a large stone building. Placing his feet shakily onto the ground and letting go of her, he stood up on his own. Taking his hand, she led him up the marble steps where she pushed open the doors and brought him inside.