A peculiar tale

We're Peculiar?

Jake's POV:

Emma and I walk down to the beach, where she gestures to a small boat. Together we climb in and we go out to sea. When we get out in the sea, she stops the boat and then stands, she then unzips her dress and starts to pull it off. I look away, in discomfort. Once she pulls the dress off, she then jumps off the boat. I jump up.

"OH! EMMA! Your shoes! Lead shoes!" I exclaim while pulling some of my clothing off. Once I get down to my shirt and boxers, I jump in the water after her. I watch as she descends in the water, and I swim down after her. She then blows some air out of her mouth, and the bubbles travel up. Then two of the larger ones go around my head, where I can suddenly breathe. I swim down after her, into what looks like a massive ship. When she hits the floor of the ship she holds her hand out for me, and I take it and look around. It seems to be a large banquet area, where there are skeletons sitting on the tables. We swim through the room together, into another, smaller room. I hear a bang behind me, and Emma has landed on the floor again and is pushing the door closed. She then turns to face the room again, and she blows out air from her mouth. I watch as the water disappears from the room, and then I am pushed back into the door, as the air reaches me. The water then disappears from the room and my bubble around my head bursts.

"Welcome to my secret hideout." She says, walking away from the door into the middle of the room.

"How did you-" I start.

"Air. It's my peculiarity." She explains. "It does what I want." We then walk to the bar in the room, and have a moment of silence where we both look to each other. She then snaps out of it and walks around the back of the bar. "Jake, before your grandfather retired, he asked me to keep this safe." She says, bringing out the box from my childhood. The one filled with the peculiar pictures from the bedtime stories. She opens it and I twist it around to get a better look. I open the wallet in there and see the map.

"This is my grandpa's old map." I say.

"It shows you where the loops are." Emma explains. I nod and then look through the photos. There are many of the people with the white eyes, and I search for the man I saw that night. As I go through, I find him.

"That's him. That's the man I saw." I say, Emma looks at the photo. "Who is he?"

"That's Barron. He's the leader." She says.

"The leader of what?" I ask. She looks reluctant to tell me. "Who are these people?"

"Bad people. Bad peculiars." She says. "Abe dedicated his life to hunting them down. These are the ones he never found."

"What do you mean, hunting?" I ask. She looks down for a moment, as if deciding what to say.

"They raided loops. Whole homes full of children left for dead." She says. "Abe took lives to save lives. He only retired when you were born to protect you, and then your sister when she came along."

"From what?" I ask. She hesitates and looks away.

"If I tell you the rest, you have to promise not to run away." She replies. I nod. "Jake, you belong here."

"You know I don't." I tell her. "I'm not like you. I'm just ordinary."

"No, you're not." She replies. "Jake, only a peculiar can enter a time loop."

"No. That can't be right." I reply. "I would know."

"Fine." Emma replies. She then looks to her watch. "Then I'll show you something else."

She puts the box away and we make our way back to the house.

~*~

"Hurry, you'll miss it!" Emma exclaims, where she was floating up a wall, holding onto the ivy so she didn't float away. I climb up and stay next to her. "Ymbrynes usually pick the perfect day to create a loop. But Miss Peregrine had to make this one in a rush." She says, while I see Miss Peregrine walking down the hill. She was holding a crossbow and stood in front of a shape on the grass- which I couldn't make out.