Untouchable (A Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Story)

Chapter 25 🦔

I had arrived in Miss Peregrine's study, taking extra care that I didn't lose the letter to the wind. It was vital that I get this to her. After all, I had to know what was going on with Dimitri. He's my best friend and he's like a second brother to me. If something happened to him, I'd never forgive myself. I would feel like a part of me was dying. My heart was running a mile a minute in my chest as I waited for her to come up with results. The suspense was killing me. When it felt like I couldn't take any more, the headmistress called me in.

"Miss Schaeffer," she said to me, "why did you bring me this?"

I lifted my head at her statement. "It's from a friend of mine. I think he might be in trouble. Could you please figure out what's wrong?"

"Yes, of course." Her fingers traced the paper slowly and carefully, like a snail minus the mess. Her eyebrows went up as she skimmed through the letter, trying to find anything of interest. Finally, her eyes left the paper and focused on me. "Has your friend been exhibiting any strange behavior lately?"

Not that I could think of at the moment. Dimitri seemed completely ordinary in my mind; just a guy that's really hot and all of the girls are after. He's the last person I would expect anything weird to happen to. Of course, my parents never expected weird stuff to happen to me either when I was a little girl and look at me now. What if he's... no, there's just no way! That's when I remembered something very important.

In one of his letters, Dimitri said that ever since I left for my trip, normal meals wouldn't sustain him and he's had to eat everything in bulk. The strangest thing about that is the fact that he says he hasn't gained any weight. Plus, now that I have a closer look at the paper, I see that the illegible words actually look more like scribbles, as if someone was in a hurry when they were writing the letter... or their arms were moving really fast.

Then, it hit me. I told the headmistress my theory. "Dimitri's become the Flash!" I said really fast.

"He's what?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but... I think he might be peculiar. He's been acting really weird lately and... I think that might be the reason why."

She examined the page for a third time and finally came up with a decent hypothesis. "You may be right, Miss Schaeffer. I've heard of peculiars who have shown signs similar to what he is going through right now when their peculiarity manifested."

"So... that could mean that he's in trouble!"

I could feel it. Dimitri could be in danger. If he is indeed peculiar, he might be taken away and experimented on, or worse, killed by Hollows. I had to do something, and fast.

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I rushed back to the hotel and started packing up my things as fast as I could. I had to get back to America to help my friend! My hands were a blur as I piled my clothes in the suitcase. As I worked, Katie jumped on my bed, scowling at me. "And what do you think you're doing?" She said with a hint of annoyance. I rolled my eyes as I placed another shirt heavily into the bag.

"I'm going home to help Dimitri."

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Of course I'm sure. Dimitri was the first person to accept me for who I am; the first friend I ever had. I can't just abandon him like that. Plus, he could be in danger."

"If you think you should go and help him, I'll go with you."

Katie's bright green eyes were shining with determination as she spoke. I haven't seen her with that expression since, well, ever.

"And I'm coming, too!" Said a voice from the door. Without warning, I felt a large shift in weight as something landed on my back. Lance! "Luna will wait for me. Besides, Dimitri is like my big brother and I don't want to lose him."

"Then it's decided: Tomorrow, we're going back to Philadelphia to help Dimitri."

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The next day, Lance and I payed a visit to the loop to say our goodbyes to everyone there. He and Luna hugged each other. A blush crept across his nose as she kissed his left cheek. They are just so cute together. I, on the other hand, was in tears when I was talking to Victor.

"Do you really have to leave?" He asked, his voice sounding all choked up.

"Yes. If Enoch were in trouble would you go to help him?"

The gleam in his eyes faded as he stared at the ground. "I would, but... I don't want you to leave."

His words didn't surprise me in the slightest bit. After all, he did love me very much.

"What if you're like Abe? What if you never come back?!"

"Don't ever say that!" I said in a serious tone. "It makes me feel like you're doubting my love for you. You're my everything, Victor. Dimitri is like a brother to me. You have nothing to fear from him. Come here. I've got something for you."

As our lips met in a goodbye kiss, I felt the rest of the world melt away as if none of it was ever real. For me, our love is the realest thing I've ever felt. The beauty of it was enough to make flowers jealous. The moment I broke away, I was left wanting more. His kisses are like magic!

"I'll see you soon," I said as I left the loop. I took Lance's hand in mine as we went to get our things. As we got on the boat to leave, I few tears were still falling. I didn't want to leave Victor, but I couldn't be a bad friend either. Don't worry, Dimitri! We're coming!