A Peculiar Girl (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children fanfiction)

Chapter 1

It was a quiet car trip from her house in a small suburban town in Wales to the port. Eleonora didn't know where they were going but Marion seemed to know exactly where she wanted to be. Eleonora looked at the water near the ferry they were about to board, the event in the kitchen still present in her mind. She would ask her mother.

"Mum?" Eleonora asked.

"Yes?"

"When I found you, the food was burning in the oven and I took it out. My hands got burnt and as soon as water touched my hands, the burns disappeared-" Eleonora started before her mother put a hand over her mouth.

"Don't talk about it here, Nora. I promise, I will explain everything to you but you need to wait until we are somewhere safe" Marion said, looking everywhere around them in caution.

Eleonora didn't understand what was happening, she always thought her mother was paranoid but she had never seen her so afraid. Eleonora saw everyone was looking at her, she was still in her pyjamas, barefoot and her hair probably looked like a rats nest.

"Let's go to the ferry, Nora, I have a bad feeling" Marion told her daughter, taking her luggage in both her hands and walking ahead. Eleonora quickly followed suit, turning uneasy as soon as they started to walk in wood instead of ground, even if there was a calmly feeling about having the ocean underneath the dock.

Once in the ferry, they sat in the open part, Eleonora trying not to bomb her mother with questions about what had just happened. The girl had an active mind and was very curious, so keeping the questions to herself was quite difficult.

They heard a screech, and they both looked up, it was a bird, Eleonora could almost say it was blue, but the lack of sunlight could be playing tricks with her mind.

"Peregrine" Marion muttered to herself but Eleonora heard it.

"What?"

"Uh, the bird, it's a peregrine falcon" Marion said quickly.

"I didn't know you knew about birds" Eleonora told her mother.

"Well, I've always loved falcons" Marion said and turned her opinion to the ocean.

The ocean breeze felt like glory to Eleonora, feeling the water droplets in her face. Eleonora have always loved the sea, that's why her mother almost always moved to countries that had access to the sea. Eleonora have always attended swimming classes as well as soccer, she loved both of them.

"We're almost there, Nora-" Marion started but was interrupted by a man's voice.

"Yes, we are. I have to thank you, Ms. Peregrine. You have brought us right where we wanted"

Eleonora and her mother turned around to see a tall man with white eyes. Marion also saw the hollow next to the man, which her daughter ignored.

"My name is Marion Strange" Marion said sternly. Her dark eyes looking coldly at the man. Her dark indigo hair was pinned in a complicated up-do and her perfect eyebrows were in a frown.

"Ah, yes, I remember now. You married that neurosurgeon. So sad some wild dogs killed him, right?" The man said, smiling evilly at the two Strange women.

"Mum? What is he talking about?" Eleonora asked her mother in fear.

"Let the adul-" the man began but Marion hushed him sternly.

"You don't talk to my daughter, Mr. Goldin" Marion said glaring at Mr. Goldin with her pointer finger raised. The man shut up and looked like a sad puppy, "now Eleonora, us adults are talking. Take your luggage and stand over there" Marion said, pointing at the front part of the ferry, which was closest to the water.

"I hope you will go looking for your sister, Marion" Mr. Goldin said smiling.

"I won't guide you to her, Goldin" Marion said seriously.

"Well, I guess your daughter's life doesn't mean much to you then" Mr. Goldin said.

Marion turned to look at her daughter, who was just watching from afar the conversation between her mother and Mr. Goldin. Almost on top of her was the hollow, preparing to attack Nora, who was oblivious of the monster inches away from her.

"Nora, watch out!" Marion yelled at the young girl.

Out of instinct, Eleonora closed her eyes and brought her hands from the sides of her body to in front of her face. When she opened her eyes again, there was what seemed like an ice wall in front of her with a small crack in front of where her head was. From the ice, she could see the shadow of her mother, Mr. Goldin and something that she hadn't seen before. It was the almost nonexistent but it was there. She put her hand in the ice out of instinct and put pressure in it, making it break in hundreds of sharp shards. Eleonora took a step back as the shards impaled themselves in what she guessed was the owner of the dim shadow she had seen.

"Mum?" Eleonora asked nervously.

"Nora, darling, use the water-" Marion started before being thrown roughly to the floor by Mr. Goldin.

"Now, don't do anything stupid, girl" the man with white eyes said.

In a normal situation, seeing your mother being thrown to the floor by a strange man would make anyone clench their fists. But this was not a normal situation, in fact, it was a very peculiar situation. So instead of balling her fists, Eleonora's hands started twitching slowly with her fingers extended. The young girl threw her arm forward and a whip of water blasted Mr. Goldin and the invisible figure backwards to where people were watching almost in fear.

Eleonora ran to her mother and helped her up while the invisible monster and Mr. Goldin were distracted. Marion was clutching her right arm with the left one.

"Who is he?" Nora asked her mother frantically.

"I don't have time to explain, Nora. Just know that he is not good. Don't trust anyone that stares at you and most of all, don't trust anyone that has white eyes. You are not normal, Nora- we are not normal, we are what people might know as peculiar, it is our peculiarities that keep us safe but also puts us in great danger. I'm going to send you somewhere safe, Nora. I need you to find Alma Peregrine, she'll keep you safe-" Marion said as quickly as she could.

"No, Mum, you always say you'll never leave me-" Eleonora said with tears in her eyes, knowing that her mother aimed to leave her.

"Sweetie I know, but I can't go with you this time. You have to trust me now. Now, when I tell you, I want you to run to where your luggage is and don't let go. Remember, search for Alma Peregrine" Marion said, taking out a pocket watch she always carried with her and started turning it.

The hollow had already stood up but for some strange reason was waiting for Mr. Goldin to wake up and tell him what to do. It was quite rare the occasion in which a hollow didn't attack a peculiar the moment they saw it. No one knew the reason to this hollow's weird behaviour. Finally, after five minutes, Mr. Goldin stood up and marched towards the two Strange women that were turning their backs at him.

Finally, Marion finished whatever she was doing with her pocket watch and put it on the floor, telling Eleonora to step on it and break it. Eleonora was hesitant about it, knowing the glass would cut her feet but Marion insisted and as mentioned before, Eleonora knew better than to disobey her so she stepped on it with all her force, and as she suspected, the glass cut her foot. Marion kicked the pocket watch towards where Eleonora's luggage was. The air around it was distorted.

"Now, Eleonora, go!" Marion yelled at her daughter as she felt Mr. Goldin's hand grab her forearm and the hollow making its way to Eleonora.

The girl ran with an aching and bleeding foot to her luggage. She barely had time to take a grip on her trunks before she started to feel as if she was being sucked into a tube, like she had read apparating felt like in Harry Potter. All the image of the ferry and its occupants started to disappear.

The last thing Eleonora saw before the whole ferry disappeared before her eyes, was her mother turning into a dark indigo peregrine and attacking Mr. Goldin with her talons.

What happened to her perfectly normal life?