Thin Ice (MPHfPC Fanfic)

Chapter Thirteen:

The voice echoed from down the hall and seemed to crash around the room.

Everyone looked around wildly. It was a man. Not Miss Wren. Not another Ymbryne.

"Who's there?" I wasn't sure who called it out, but it wasn't me. I was still in shock, my only peculiar way of knowing, defending, gone. The ashes were still stuck on my fingers, cold and yet hot on my skin.

A man emerged from the hallway, a gun in hand. Before I could blink, Miss Peregrine swiftly stepped in front of us and reached for her pocket. But before I could blink for a second time, there was a click and Miss Peregrine collapsed. The room erupted into chaos.

Everything was a blur next, but a few clicks later and we had half of our group lying on the floor. Only me, Jake, Emma, and Horace were still standing.

I had snapped out of my stupor, but it still took me a few seconds to realize that everyone was merely asleep, hit with some sort of dart. But Miss Peregrine and Bronwyn seemed to be fighting whatever was in it, fingers twitching and eyebrows furrowing.

The man had his dart gun still pointed at us. He had pupils, though I wasn't sure if they were contacts or not.

"You're going to come with me." He said. There was little to do but comply, as almost everyone had been put to sleep. There was no way we could escape.

The wight picked up Miss Peregrine and forced us out the door. Then he locked our friends in. I assumed other wights would come to get them. I refused to think that a Hollow might just eat them instead.

"Get in a line," The man growled at us. We got in a line and he pushed us down the hall, through the tunnel, and out onto the street.

There was a wight there, along with what looked like a moving van. The man nodded at him and the wight set into the tunnel. Then the man prodded us into the back of the van and shoved Miss Peregrine in after us.

Then he closed the doors.

There were no windows, so we couldn't tell what time it was or where we were going.

We sat for a long time, in the dark. I know it wasn't really the time to worry about crushes and romance, but Horace was sitting right next to me. He was shaking, so I put a hand on his knee. The little contact felt like exhilarating energy, and it made my heart patter. He didn't pull away. After a decent amount of time, he relaxed even more.

We sat in worried silence and only after a few hours had passed did we say anything.

"What'll we do?" Jake said it.

"I don't know," Emma replied. "When will Miss Peregrine wake up? There's a lot we don't know."

"What did she have in her pocket?" I asked.

Emma fumbled through Miss Peregrine's pocket, lighting a small flame at the end of a finger like a candle.

"A feather... a cheap-looking pocket-watch, most likely because ymbrynes have to leave their clothes and things behind when they travel, and... that's it."

"Could that man have been a normal?" I wondered.

"I dunno, But getting out of this is... It's impossible," Horace said, miserable. "It's hopeless."

"No, it's not," I said. "We'll get through this."

"If only I could believe you." Horace sighed.

But for some reason, I was feeling more hopeful by the second.

"No, we will," I said, insisting. "I know it."

"How?" Horace said. "You don't even have your book."

But my fingers were starting to tingle again and I removed my hand from Horace's knee. I raked both my hands through the air , like I had before. And, like before, long, orange threads swirling with words burst out of the tips of my fingers.

"Whoa," We all said it at the same time.

I twirled my hands around and the threads started to curve around each other. I settled into a rhythm of dips and tugs, weaving an object with the glowing strands. I wasn't sure what I was making at first, but it slowly turned into a book. It looked like it had been dipped in sunlight. Then it turned solid, dropping into my hand, the threads disappearing from my fingertips and the book returning to its normal emerald green.

But then my eyes grew heavy and my mind turned cloudy and everything went dark.