Sunshine

Chapter 1

I was his Sunshine, but being peculiar, it was never meant to be.

"Wait for me," my adopted sister Olive yelled, running after me. I had lived with her family for years after they found me in an adoption center, where I had been left by my mother who couldn't take care of me. We were chasing after a bird, a Treecreeper, which had caught Olive's eye.

"I'm telling you, Cora, there's something special about that bird," she said, catching up to me.

"What do you mean, special?" I asked her.

"Like us, that kind of special," said Olive. I gasped. Olive and I were what we liked to call special. Olive could levitate, we had to keep her to the ground by putting bricks underneath her shoes to keep her the ground. Running was not her cup of tea. I was telepathic.

I knew everything about everyone and I could tell if someone wasn't telling me something or if they were lying. I tried not to do it but it's hard to ignore the thoughts of others.

Basically, Olive and I reluctantly ran away from home to follow this bird which Olive thought was trying to tell us something.

"Split up!" I screamed at Olive, "We'll meet up later!" Olive and I were being chased by a man- no not a man, a monster. He looked fairly human but he wasn't. His white eyes gave it away. Olive ran in one direction and I in the other. I looked over my shoulder at the man. He had pursued my sister because she was the slower runner, a much easier prey.

Tears streamed down my face, who knows when I'd see Olive again, if I was to. And then I saw it. I thought that it was just a figment of my imagination, or a hallucination. I blinked but the Treecreeper, the one Olive and I were chasing just the other day.

I ran after it until I reached a close. Living in Edinburgh, you'll find a lot of them. This one however, I'd never seen before. The bird disappeared down a passage that I hadn't noticed. I slowed down and walked, for I was too exhausted to run any longer. A door at the end of the corridor was slightly ajar. I carefully opened it and walked into a beautiful foyer.

"You've arrived," said a woman in her forties.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"I'm Miss Treecreeper and welcome to my home for peculiar children," she said with a smile.

"Where's my sister?" I asked, tears brimming my eyes.

"I received word from one of my fellow ymbrynes in Wales, she found your sister and took her in," said Miss Treecreeper, "Miss Peregrine has requested that I bring you to her immediately."

"How will we get to Wales from her, it's pretty far," I said.

"I have my ways," Miss Treecreeper said, before tapping me on the head.

I felt a weird melting sensation and before I knew it, I was a bird.

"Marcy dear, would you please reset the loop while I'm gone?" Miss Treecreeper shouted up the stairs.

"Yes ma'am," called a girl.

"Miss Warbler is an ymbryne in training," Miss Treecreeper explained, though I was still confused, "Follow me."

In a flash, Miss Treecreeper transformed into a bird and flew out the door. I struggled to keep up for this was my first time flying. We flew across Britain for a few hours before crossing over open ocean. Before long, Miss Treecreeper swooped down into the woods on a small island. She flew into a small tunnel, a cairn.

When we reached a dead end we came out to a whole new place, the weather had changed miraculously. I flew after the bird out of the woods to an old nineteenth century manor. Miss Treecreeper rapped on the door with her beak. The door opened to show a middle aged woman with dark hair and a black dress. She led me inside and Miss Treecreeper flew away, back to Edinburgh, I presumed.

"Upstairs, in the first room to your left, I left some clothes for you," said the woman," Oh how rude am I, I am Miss Peregrine. To change back to human form, just imagine yourself as a human again."

I nodded my thanks and flew up the stairs. I was able to change back into a human. I can understand why Miss Peregrine wanted me to change up her. It seems that when you change into a bird, your clothes don't follow suit.

I dressed quickly and walked down the stairs. I wasn't paying attention so I didn't notice a boy standing in the hallway. I slammed full force into him, tripping. The boy caught me before I could fall on my face.

"Thank you," I said quietly. I looked at the boy. He was attractive enough, with dark brown, almost black hair. I couldn't see his eyes, for a pair of goggles covered them.

I walked past him, down the stairs. "There you are, Miss Elephanta," said Miss Peregrine, "You look exhausted so I'll tell you what you need to know in the morning, you are just in time for dinner though."

"I heard someone say my name," said a familiar voice, "Cora!" shrieked Olive, running into my arms.

"Olive," I shouted excitedly, giving her a hug. She was alive and, by the looks of it, she was perfectly fine.

Dinner was amazing. Some of the children brought out platters of goose, salmon, and cod. Everyone shared their peculiarities for Olive and I. Emma was pyrokinetic, Fiona was phyllokinetic, Millard was invisible, obviously, Enoch could reanimate or animate anything, Victor and his sister Bronwyn were extraordinarily strong, Horace had prophetic dreams, specifically nightmares, and Hugh had bees in his stomach. He was the one I ran into earlier. I almost felt bad for him, having to sit by himself at a table in the corner, so his bees wouldn't bother anyone.

After dinner, Miss Peregrine invited everyone outside to watch the changeover. It had been explained over dinner. Miss Peregrine instructed us to put on the gas masks in the closet.

We went outside to see bombs, tons of them, raining down on the island. The other children were chanting, though I couldn't make out what they were saying. Finally, a bomb catapulted downwards towards us. I panicked and hid behind Enoch.

"Relax Sunshine," he said with a smile, "You'll be fine."

How could you be fine if a bomb is going to blow up, killing us all. As it was falling, I realized that it was going to land on the giant topiary of Adam, right next to us. Before it could split the topiary right down the middle, it stopped in midair. And then it disappeared, the rain no longer falling, the planes, no longer in existence.

Enoch put his arm around me, laughing, "I told you it would be fine and I was right."

I groaned and walked back inside. I went into my room that I shared with Fiona and Olive. I got changed into the nightdress that was neatly laid out on my bed. I went to the bathroom down the hall to get ready. I put my hair into braids before leaving.

"Do you want to come with me to say goodnight to everyone?" Fiona asked me quietly. I nodded and followed her to Emma and Bronwyn's room.

"Night Emma, good night Bronwyn," I said giving them both hugs.

"Please, call me Wyn," said Bronwyn, "Everyone else does."

Next was Victor, Enoch, and Millard's room. Victor pulled me into a tight embrace and kissed my forehead. I hugged Millard and Enoch and went down the hall to Horace and Hugh's room.

"Sweet dreams," I said to them.

"They're not going to be sweet," said Horace frowning, "When they're coming from me they're going to be awful."

I kissed his forehead and ruffled the younger boy's hair.

"Hey!" complained Horace, "Mind the hair!"

"It just gets messed up anyways," said Hugh, backing me up, "Good night Cora, night Fi."

Fiona blushed before scrambling out of the room. I kissed Olive and crawled into my bed.

"You like him don't you," I said to Fiona, "Hugh?"

Fiona nodded, still as red as a tomato, "Since we were around seven, so thirteen years," she said.

"You guys are twenty, but you look no older than seventeen," I said completely shocked.

"Miss P will explain it to you in the morning, Good night," Fiona said, yawning.

I rolled over and fell asleep almost instantly.