Miss Peregrine's House for Peculiar Children

Chapter 1

"You ever feel like nothing you do matters? You leave footprints on the beach and somehow, they are gone. Like it's just today, over again. They say that your teen years are for making friends and having fun. Which made me feel even worse."

I was rearranging the packs of adult diapers in the supermarket I worked at, when I saw someone coming near me. I turned and saw Amy, my childhood friend. We were close at that time, before I was given my wolves and she became jealous.

"Hey, Amy. It's Jacky. Do you remember me? I'm in your math class. We used to be friends." I told her, making her look at me. I could see the envy and the jealousy still there. 'She didn't change…'

"Hey, don't forget your adult diapers." she said to her group of friends, throwing them a pack and making me worry. 'Please, don't.'

"Yeah, right." the boy who caught the pack said, before throwing the pack back and making all the others fall back. I put my hands in my hair before lowering them, letting out a defeated sigh. They went away, Amy turning back to give me a strange look. 'As if she can feel sorry for me after all this time…'

"Jacky!" I heard someone calling my name. I turned to see Shelley, my colleague, coming toward me. "It's a phone for you." she told me, pointing at the office. I went to answer, knowing it was important since everyone knew not to phone me while I was working. I reached the phone and brought it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, Jacky. It's my, mom. Can you do me a favour and check on your grandfather when you're done working?" I heard ma's voice answering me.

"Okay, no problem. But, shouldn't pa be the one to check on grandpa?" I asked her, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Your father can't move, you see. He's working at his book." she told me with an exasperated sigh. I nodded, before remembering that she couldn't see me.

"Okay, I will check on grandpa, and maybe, I'll stay over for the night. Do you need my help at home?" I inquired, hoping to get a 'no' for answer.

"No, you can stay over, just take care of him. Please. You are the only one he wouldn't mind getting help from." she told me. 'Yep, I already knew that…'

"Okay. Bye ma." I told her, getting a 'bye' from her before she ended the call. I put the phone back down and exited the office. I went back to my job, putting the packs back in order once again. Time just didn't seem to pass. When it was time to go home, I was incredibly tired and bored. I went to Shelley. She usually picked me up to go to work and brought me back home, since we were neighbours and we worked at the same supermarket.

"But that day, everything changed."

"Thanks again, Shelley." I told her as we got into her car. She waved me off and started the car. We drove to the dog sitter's house, where I usually left my two beautiful wolves before I went to work. The dog sitter was the best in the city and she'd been on the army for a while, before she left to become a dog sitter. We came to the house and, before I could even get out of the car, my two pets came running to greet me. They were two big wolves: one was a black furred male with red eyes, his name was Jabez, from Hebrew, it meant 'sorrow'; the other was a snow white furred female with blue eyes, she was Tikvah, her name was Jewish for 'hope'. My grandma gave them to me as a present for my sixth birthday. They were new-borns at that time, meaning they were now ten years old. It didn't look like it though, as they were always full of energy. They were really big. They came up to my waist with their backs, their heads coming up to my chest when kept high. They jumped around me, knowing not to jump on me as they were also too heavy for me to stand.

"Hello, there." I fondly told them, they were the only ones, apart from my grandfather, that were able to make me smile with really happiness. I was used to give fake smiles to people, even to my own parents. I knew it was a terrible thing to do, but I always felt different from them. I had a deep bond with my wolves, deeper than a normal bond between pet and human. I couldn't remember a time when I couldn't hear my wolves speak. Not the normal speak with phrases and so on, but one with feelings and emotions, words were rare. When I was young, I told this to my parents. They laughed at me and told me that animals couldn't speak. But, when I told my grandparents, they believed me. Grandma even told me she too could hear them. From that moment, I became even closer to my grandparents. I considered them my real parents. When my grandmother died, two years later, I felt as if a part of me was gone too. Grandpa and I became even more closer. But then, grandpa started showing symptoms of dementia. I was heartbroken.

"Have you been good?" I asked my wolves, feeling their happiness and contentment.

"They have been like angels, as always." A voice told me, making me raise my eyes from my pets to the dog sitter, Jennifer. She was smiling at the sight of me and my little ones.

"That's good to hear." I told her, getting out my wallet from my bag. I took out a 100$ banknote and gave it to her. She was really cheap. She made me pay 100 $ for five days, food included. She took them with reluctance, since she wanted to be paid only 75 $, but I insisted for it to be 100 $.

"Thanks. See you next week." She told me, waving at me as I brought my babies to the car, where Shelley was waiting from me with a small smile.

"Yeah, see you." I told her. I then got the wolves in the back of the car and got back in the passenger's seat. Shelley then started the car once again and we went to my grandpa's house. As she drove, Shelley didn't stop smiling, giving me a look every now and then.

"You know. I've known you for the past two years and the only time I see real joy on your face is when you are with your pets." she suddenly told me, causing me to look at her.

"Oh. I guess it's because they are my companions and my grandma's last present." I told her, a small sad smile on my face. She nodded at me.

"So, how come you have to go deal with your grandpa?" Shelley asked me, after a while. The wolves were dozing in the backseat. I looked out of the window.

"My dad couldn't get out of work." I told her, my voice cold.

"I didn't think he worked." she told me, making me nod. 'Many people think that.'

"You know, I'm... I'm just gonna call grandpa." I told her, before taking out my phone and dialling his number. I knew it by heart.

"Hello, this is Abe." a rough voice answered.

"Hey, it's Jacky." I told him, before being interrupted.

"No, don't come here. Listen to me. It's not safe! Stay away." he told me, making me frown. The wolves woke up and looked at me. 'They probably felt the spike in my emotions.'

"Grandpa, did you take your pills today?" I asked him, my voice soft and sad.

"The key! To my gun cabinet... it was in the drawer. And now it's gone!" he told me, his voice full of anxiety. The wolves raised their heads, looking at the phone.

"Yeah, Dad took it. All right. For safekeeping. It's okay." I told him, trying to calm him down. "I'm coming over with the wolves." I told him. 'Maybe this will reassure him a bit.'

"Your father thinks I should to fight them without a gun?" he asked me, before ending the call. I stared at my phone, not knowing what to think. I then put it back in my bag.

"God bless him. What's his deal? Alzheimer?" Shelley asked me.

I shook my head before answering with "Dementia.". We stopped talking after that. The ride was long and we had to stop once to let the wolves move a bit. As we got close to the neighbourhood where my grandpa lived, fog started to appear. Shelley slowed down. Suddenly, a man appeared in the middle of the street. Shelley had to steer the car at the last moment, as not to run him over. We both were scared, knowing just what could have happened if Shelley hadn't been fast enough to avoid him. As we passed him, I looked back to see him. I froze. White eyes. My wolves started growling and baring their teeth at the man. I turned back at tried to calm them down.

"That guy gave me the heebie-jeebies." Shelley told me, her smile nervous.

"Yeah, I think it did the same to my pups, I can't get them to calm down." I told her, not stopping petting their heads. 'What's wrong, sweethearts?'

When we arrived at my grandpa's house it was already dark. I got out of the car and helped my pups out. I started walking to the door, my babies following after.

"Holler if you need me." Shelley called out to me from her car. I nodded at her, before going to the door and knocking. The wolves were agitated. They didn't stop looking around, they kept even closer to me. They usually were very calm every time we went to grandpa's home. After not getting an answer, I started getting worried. 'He always answers the door. Especially when he knows I'm coming over.'

"Grampa!" I called out, hoping he would come to open the door. I still heard nothing. The pups started shaking so I looked down at them and saw them with teeth bared. I got a bad feeling and took out my keys, opening the door and finding the house upside down. I looked around, letting the wolves in as I entered. They started sniffing around before they both went to the back door. I followed them and saw the screen door destroyed. I followed the pups out of the house to see them staring at the fence, which was ripped in half. I turned around and went to the side of the house, where I could see Shelley.

"Shelley!" I called out to her, making her get out of the car. She came closer.

"What's going on?" she asked me, worried.

"Someone broke in!" I told her, my voice starting to get shaky.

"I have a 38 in my car, you wait there." she told me, before going back to her car. I wanted to do as she said, but I couldn't. I turned back to my wolves to see them near the fence, sniffing at something on the ground. I reached them and saw a torch on the ground. I took it and felt it wet. I turned it on and pointed the light at my hands to find them covered in blood. My own blood ran cold at that. 'Grandpa! Oh God! I need to find him!'

I lowered my hand to the wolves so that they could sniff the blood.

"Come on, sweethearts. Find grandpa for me." I ordered them with urgency. They felt my emotions and started sniffing around, before Tikvah suddenly raised her head and howled. She ran off, followed by Jabez and myself. When we reached her, she was with her head down. I looked at what she was sniffing and saw my grandpa.

"Grandpa!" I called him, kneeling down beside him. Jabez was on my right, looking down and whimpering, Tikvah doing the same on the other side of grandpa. He was lying face down on the ground, arms raised. I turned him around but, when I looked at his face, I let out a yelp and sat back on my heels. This caused the pups to growl. My grandfather's eyes were missing. 'Who could have done that?! What the fucking hell is going on?!'

I took out my phone, dialling 911 as soon as I could with my trembling hands. My breath was short and fast. Jabez got closer to me, trying to calm me down a bit, and leaned to my side, his head resting against mine. I put the phone to my ear.

"911, what is your emergency?" I heard the operator.

"911? Yeah I... I need the para-medics to 2040 Palm Circle. My grandpa..." I tried to tell them, before my grandfather's hand shot up to take my left one. I yelped again, letting the phone fall on the ground. I could hear the woman on the other asking me for my emergency. My wolves got closer to him, both licking his cheeks.

"Grandpa." I breathed out, before leaning over him.

"You have to get away from here. Please, listen. Go to the Island..." he told me, his voice a whisper. I held his hand in mine, trying to let him know I was there with him. I could hear the woman on the phone telling me the para-medics were on their way, but I couldn't care at the moment.

"Find Emerson... The postcard... go to the loop... September 3rd, 1943." he whispered, his breath getting slower and raspier.

"It's okay, just... just don't move. There's an ambulance coming." I told him, sobbing. I knew what was happening, I was losing my grandpa, the one man who had been a father to me, more than my real one had ever been. I couldn't stop crying as I held tighter on his hand.

"I know you think I'm crazy. But the Bird will explain everything." he said.

"No, I don't think you're crazy, I never did." I told him, shaking my head.

"Will you do this, Tygryscu? Promise me?" he asked me. I could barely hear his voice.

"I promise, yes..." I told him, nodding.

"I thought I could protect you. I should have told you years ago." he told me, making me furrow my eyebrows.

"Grandpa! Tell me... tell me what?" I asked him but, before he could answer me, I felt his hold loosen and saw his chest stop moving. I froze. "Grandpa… Grandpa!" I called, starting to shake him. I didn't want it to be real. I laid my head on his chest, trying to hear his heartbeat, but I heard nothing. I raised my head again and looked at him. I started caressing his cheek, hoping that he would wake up and start laughing. 'No… Please no, please… Not him… Not again… You already took away my grandma… Don't take away my grandpa…please…'

I let myself fall onto his chest and started to cry. I hugged him, not wanting to ever let go. Suddenly, there were growls, deep and angry. I raised my head, not letting go of my grandpa ad I did, to look at my wolves. They both were looking toward the direction we came from. I looked over at the trees and saw them moving. There was no wind. 'Maybe it's what killed grandpa…'

As I stared, I saw a big head among the tree branches. It had no eyes and a large fanged mouth and, from its mouth, there were tentacles coming out. I froze, remembering grandpa's old stories about monsters. 'They were real…'

As it came toward us, I saw Shelley come running to me. The monster raised his arm and opened his mouth, tentacles shooting out.

"Shelley, behind you!" I screamed. She turned and shot. I looked up to see the monster getting wounded but it was able to escape. My wolves made to follow it but I stopped them. I couldn't lose someone else. I once again lowered my head down. His body was getting cold, which reminded me that this is not a nightmare, it's real. I felt my breathing getting faster, my entire body trembling. My wolves howled to the sky as I screamed. My tears flowing out and my heart full of pain. I couldn't think. I couldn't talk. I just bawled. And screamed. And trembled. I rocked back and forth as I cried. My hands were fisting on his clothes. My screams stopped, my throat dry and hurting. My cries got worst and I started having problems breathing. I started seeing black spots in my sight, then darkness took over and I gladly let it.

I woke up in my room. As I sat up, my babies came running on the bed. They started licking my entire face and neck. I put my arms one around each and held them tight to my sides. My throat was raw and my head was killing me. But the worst thing was my heartache. I felt my chest heavy. I recalled what happened and suddenly started crying once again, my pups licking my tears away. I heard the door of my room open and raised my head. My ma was there, looking at me with wet red eyes. She came to me and sat on the bed. She hugged my close to her chest and laid down, taking me with her. Together, we cried for our loss. Ma was close to grandpa, she thought of him as a second father figure. I fell asleep in her arms, listening to her heartbeat as my wolves laid down on the bed, near our legs. The next time I woke up, I was alone in my bed. Tikvah and Jabez were still sleeping. I sat up and moved closer to them, lying down where my legs had been as I slept. I put my arms around them and brought them close to me, breathing in their calming smell. I then moved up and got off the bed. I changed in my pyjamas and went to take a glass of water. I didn't care whether it was day or night. I didn't care how much time I spent sleeping. I just took my glass of water, ignoring everything and everyone.

"Jacky," I heard a voice call. I turned and saw ma looking at me with worried eyes. "when you are ready, you should tell the police what you saw. Also, the funeral will be held in less than a week time." she gently told me. I nodded and went back to my room. I changed into the clothes I had when I found grandpa. I didn't have the energy to think about what to wear. I let the wolves sleep and went back to the living room. I saw pa opening the door and two men, police, came in. I set in the armchair while they went to sit on one of the sofas. I told them everything that I saw, everything. The men told us that my grandpa had a heart attack and that dogs ate his eyes. 'What a bunch of shit they are saying.'

I nodded, not wanting to hear any more of their idiocies and pa showed them out. I moved my eyes to the glass of water I still held in my hand. 'How can people be so blind to what is really out there…'

"Jacky, sweetie, your mother and I thought that, maybe, you could go to someone to talk about what you saw. They might help you, you know. It might be good for you if-" my pa was saying before I interrupted him with a glare.

"You want me to go to a psychologist?" I hissed out at him, eyes hard. He nodded before saying "It might help.". I shook my head at him, before mobbing my eyes to ma. She was glaring at pa's back. 'She didn't agree with him…'

I nodded and went back to my room with my glass. I put it on the bedside table and laid down between my wolves. I cried once again, thinking about how my grandparents would have believed me. I fell asleep, an empty feeling in my chest. This last week was full of sorrow and empty. The day of the funeral I dressed up in black. I put black foulards around my pups' necks and we went to the cemetery. The function was short. As they put him in the ground, I felt my breathing starting to get short once again. I waited until everyone was gone before going near the tombstone. It was my grandmother's tombstone. It was large enough for two names, as my grandparents wished to be buried together. I knelt down in front of it and hugged it. I felt my wolves coming up behind me and lying down at my sides. I wept. I felt so alone. I felt as if I was an orphan now.

It had been a month since my grandfather passed away. I fell into a depression not long after his burial. I got out of it thanks to my pups. They didn't leave me alone a second. I was always with them and this also helped my powers to grow. I now could understand their language and could communicate with them. I also found out that I could see through their eyes and other things. It felt as if I was in their bodies. The first time was an accident. I was lost in my own mind when I suddenly saw myself petting my black fur. The next moment I was back in my body and looked at Jabez with wide eyes. Since then I trained, with their permission, to enter their bodies and now I could be in both of their bodies at the same time, even if it was incredibly tiring. I also started researching that creature I saw in the woods, probably the same that killed my grandpa. As of now, I didn't find anything on them. I also started going to the psychologist, Ms. Golan. I told her about my family and my life, without outing my powers or those of my grandparents. My wolves were hostile toward the psychologist, making me wary of her. I knew not to doubt their instincts.

'And here I am, pretending to be normal…'

"There was no one there." I told Ms. Golan, telling her about the night my grandfather died.

"May I say Jacky... that considering that this was only a month ago, I think you're doing exceptionally well." she told me with a gentle tone. My pups were lying down on the floor at my feet, their eyes never leaving my psychologist's form.

"Apart from being crazy?" I asked her with sarcasm. 'Even though I know I'm not…'

"Having nightmares and anxiety doesn't make you crazy." she told me with a smile.

"And what about seeing things which aren't there?" I questioned her, curious to hear what she would answer.

"Actually, in dramatic situations it's not at all uncommon. Your subconscious mind draws an image from a movie, or..." she said before being interrupted by me.

"It was a story." I stopped her, making her nod at me to continue. "My grandpa told me stories when I was a kid. About monsters that he fought in the war." I explained to her, trying to make it look like I didn't believe in that anymore.

"So, there you go. He was brutally attacked. And in your head the man who did it was inhuman. A monster." she told me. I could hear the smugness in her voice, even if it was barely there. 'She's probably happy that she could find a reasonable explanation for my problems.'

"It wasn't a man though. The cops said that dogs scratched up the screen door. And he chased them off into the woods. And the coroner said he had a heart attack. And the cops said that dogs go for the soft parts. They DNA tested the fork and head. Animal DNA. So, that's case closed." I explained once more, trying not to cry at the idiocy.

"He sounds like an extraordinary gentleman. Were you very close?" she asked me. I started telling her about my childhood, making sure to avoid the parts where my powers where mentioned.

-Jacqueline is 6 years old-

I was sitting in mama's lap as I heard papa talk. The puppies were sleeping on the carpet.

"Puerto Rico. Here. There is a lake where the water glows in the dark. And a secret tunnel. That's where I hid from the monsters." he told me, pointing at a place on the map. Mama gave me a piece of red paper so that I could put it on the island papa was pointing.

"He used to babysit me together with my grandma, I called them papa and mama." I told the psychologist. "And, when I was with them, I felt special".

I heard the door open and turned to see ma and pa coming in.

"Abe. Autumn. It's like 11 o'clock. What is she doing up?" ma asked them as she came close to kiss my forehead. Mama smiled at me and caressed my hair as I spoke.

"I'm going to be an explorer. Papa and Mama are helping me for my first voyage." I exaltedly told my ma. She smiled as she went to the bedroom where she slept with pa. Pa was seated on the couch, looking at the TV.

"Everything has already been discovered, sweetie." pa told me without turning. I became sad at his words. Mama hugged me.

"Pay no attention to your father." she told me, before kissing my cheek and making me smile. Papa took me in his arms and mama went to their room.

"He knows bubkiss. Come Tygryscu, off to bed." papa said, as he brought me to my room. He put me to bed and tucked me in, before sitting at the end of the bed with his legs lying near my side. Mama came in with the puppies and put them under the covers, each one on a side of me. She smiled and kissed my cheek once more before going out, wishing me sweet dreams and kissing papa on the cheek as she went.

"Can you tell me a story?" I asked papa, looking at him and bringing the puppies on my chest, where I hugged them close.

"The usual?" papa asked me, making me nod. "Okay. Once upon a time there was a little boy." he started.

"Where are the pictures?" I asked him, interrupting the story. He nodded, saying "Pictures.", and sat up. I too sat up with the puppies still in my arms and waited for him to take them.

"Once upon a time there was a little boy called Abe." papa started telling the story once more.

"That was you." I interrupted him again.

"That was me." he nodded. "And he lived in a lovely children's home on a little island near Wales. Where the sun shone every day. The Headmistress, Miss Peregrine... was very clever and she smoked her pipe." he told me, as he pretended to hold a pipe in his hand.

"She could turn into a bird." I interrupted him again.

"Mmm." he hummed and nodded. "It was a home for special children. Like Bronwyn... and Victor. They were both as strong as ten men. And Hugh. Hugh had bees living inside him." he told me.

"Where is Emma?" I asked him, wanting to hear about the girl I was named after. "She could float." I told him, making him nod at my words.

"She was lighter than air. She had to wear special shoes made of lead to keep her from floating away." he explained me.

"And Enoch? Where is he? And Olive?" I asked him.

"Ah. Enoch was a necromancer. He could bring to life dolls and clay figures with the hearts of the animals. He always preferred to be alone, except for Olive. Olive was his adopted sister, she could harness fire. They both came from families that were scared of them. When they met, they saw how similar they were to one another and asked Miss Peregrine to make them siblings, after they got to know each other better. She, of course, was happy to see her children getting along and so, she accepted." he told me, making me nod.

"Where are they now?" I asked him, curious.

"They're still on the Island, I believe. My mom and papa sent me there to live with the special children. And now Tygryscu, time to sleep." he told me, before tucking me back to bed, the puppies sleeping on my chest.

"He used to call me Tygryscu. It's Polish, for little tiger. Couldn't have picked a less appropriate nickname, I was always a chicken." I explained to the psychologist.

"Why your mom and dad send you away?" I asked him. "Where we lived in Poland, it was not safe. There were monsters." he told me, making me sit up once more.

"What kind of monsters?" I asked him with wide eyes.

"Huge ones. With long arms and no eyes. And tentacles like this." he told me, mobbing his fingers to mimic tentacles.

"The dumb thing was, for years I actually believed his stories." I told the psychologist. 'Because they were real.'

-Jacquelin's is 10 years old-

"And a th... this is Millard, he's invisible." I said as I showed a picture of him to my class. They all started laughing, Amy's laugh was louder than the others'. I cried... When I came home, after being greeted by my puppies, I took the chest where the pictures were and gave it back to grandpa, who was seated on the sofa. I sat down too.

"My teacher says they are trick photos." I told him, my voice sad.

"And did you believe her?" grandpa asked me.

"Pa says probable you found with junk stores some place that you were traveling." I told him, tears in my eyes.

"I would never lie to you, Tygryscu." he told me, looking at me with sad eyes.

"About the home... the monsters. Pa told me." I said, my tears finally falling from my eyes.

"Your father knows very well I went to live in the children's home." he told me, his voice low.

"He said there anywhere monsters in Poland. Just not the kind with tentacles. He said you got sent away to Wales because there were bad people. People who wanted to kill anyone who was different." I told him, sobbing.

"I do not want to talk about this anymore." he told me.

"He said children were special. But not the way you said." I told him. He looked at me and hugged me, sitting closer to me.

'And that's when I knew everyone else was wrong about grandpa and grandma.'

"That is what happened." I told the doctor. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was time for me to go. I stood up, my babies doing the same, as did the psychologist.

"Thank you for opening up to me and telling me your story." she told me as we shook hands. I exited and walked home with my wolves by my sides.