Hello.

~Narrator's POV~

It as a beautiful Spring afternoon in the city of Bayville, California. The sun was shining, the sky was clear and there was a peacefully warm breeze in the air. Children of all shapes and sizes ran around the playground and chatted to each other. Making friends and having fun.

Well… All except one.

Sitting upon a lonely swing-set was a lonely girl around the age of 8 years old. She wore a hooded jacket, so you couldn't see her face, a pair of khaki pants and black sandals. From her shadowed face, you could see a pair of glowing green eyes and strands of dark brunette hair. Watching the other children playing in the playground. Why this child was sitting on her own? Nobody dares to speak why, because she was feared, shunned, isolated from everyone else.

A boy kicked a ball away from the other kids and the ball rolled toward the lonely girl's feet. The other children froze and silenced, uncertain of what was going to happen next. They turned to the lonely girl.

The lonely girl picked up the ball and took a step forward from the swing-set. She looked at the other children. Her watchful eyes turned sad and regretful. Hesitant, she extended the ball toward the other children and spoke in a soft voice, "Here..."

The other children gasped and turned to run away from the girl, screaming and crying for help. The girl just stood, with the ball in her hands, alone. She lowered her head in hopelessness, until a small stone came flying toward her. The stone hit the girl's head and she fell to her side.

"Freak!" A voice shouted from a distance.

The girl looked over and saw more children, picking up stones from the ground. These children weren't the same children that ran away from the girl. These children were older, and angrier.

"Go back to where you belong! Demon!" Another child shouted, as he threw another stone at the girl.

This stone hit the girl at the side of her torso. The lonely girl didn't retaliate or respond. She let these angry children throw the stones at her. 'It makes them feel better about themselves.' She thought sadly.

Finally, the children were stopped by a car coming down the road and stopping near the park. The driver's car door opened to reveal a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes exiting the car and running toward the lonely girl. The woman helped the girl to her feet and took her to the car. The children shouted as the car drove away from the park.

*Later That Evening…*

The woman and the lonely girl sat at the dinner table, just outside of the kitchen, alongside a mid-aged man and a younger girl, around 7 years old, with a striking resemblance to the woman. They were eating a plate of chicken pot pie with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables.

"So… How was your day at the park?" The man asked the lonely girl.

The lonely girl just lowered her head and said nothing. The woman looked at the lonely girl with sad eyes. The man and the other girl frowned.

"You have to learn to speak up for yourself, Ellie. No-one will want to be your friend if you don't say anything to them." He told the lonely girl, Ellie.

"Elliot. You don't know that." The woman argued.

"Ellie doesn't need to say anything." The younger girl spoke up, "Have you seen her face? She's a freak!"

"Sam!" The woman shouted, "Don't make fun of your sister like that!"

The man, Elliot, shook his head and sighed, "No, she's right, Lorraine." He gestured to Ellie, who had her head hung low, "Look at her. What kind of a child do you think she is? She doesn't belong here. You're a fool to think we can keep her."

The woman, Lorraine, was lost for words. Ellie sighed and left the table, to walk up the stairs to her bedroom. Ellie closed the door and climbed over her bed, looking out the window. 'Is it true?' She thought to herself. 'Do I not belong here? Do I deserve what I receive? The fear? The anger? The hatred?'

Ellie looked up at the twilight sky, only to see the shining stars and the luminous moon watching her. Ellie waved at the moon and the stars and rested her head against the pillow on her bed, only to hear her mother and father arguing once again. Ellie closed her eyes, hoping that tomorrow will be better.

Later, that night, Ellie woke up to the smell of smoke coming from the other side of her bedroom door. There was banging, shouting and screaming. The door opened to reveal Lorraine in front of a hot orange glow coming from the hallway. Lorraine ran into the bedroom and helped Ellie out of bed.

"Ellie, you need to get out of here." She told her oldest daughter, "Find your sister and go to this address." She gave Ellie a small sheet of folded paper, "Find a man named Charles Xavier. He'll take care of you. Now go!"

Lorraine pushed Ellie out of the bedroom and into the burning hallway. Ellie looked at the sheet of paper and put it in her pocket. She ran down the hallway, toward another door on her right, dodging the flames that crept around her. Ellie opened the door, to find her younger sister leaning out the window and shouting, "She's in here! Up the stairs! She's in here!"

Ellie pulled Sam away from the window. Sam looked at her older sister and smirked, "It's too late now. You can't run anymore."

Ellie grabbed Sam's wrist and pulled her to her feet, then lead her out of the room. But Sam forced her wrist out of Ellie's grip, "I'm not going anywhere with you, Demon. For all I know, you could be leading me to my doom. Because that's what you are! A demon! A monster! A freak!"

Angry, Sam picked Ellie up and threw her out of the bedroom window. Ellie looked at the ground and closed her eyes to brace herself for the impact. To her surprise, her body was enveloped by a cloud of indigo mist and she disappeared before she could hit the ground. A nanosecond later, Ellie reappeared behind the tree close to the house. Ellie opened her eyes, gasped and looked around to find herself not falling and she safe and sound on the ground.

The house burst into flames and Ellie ran away from the burning house before anyone could see her or the authorities and fire department could arrive. Ellie ran down the road and stuck to the shadows of the night as much as she could. She looked at the piece of paper and opened it. Written on the piece of paper was a name 'Charles Xavier' and an address in Bayville.

Ellie stopped at the park to catch her breath and recollect on what just happened tonight. Raiders attacked and set the house on fire. Lorraine sacrificed her life to save Ellie and Sam, but Sam refused to leave, called the raiders inside and threw Ellie out of the window. And Ellie used a new ability to get herself to safety.

Ellie leaned back against a tree, sat down, hugged her knees close to her chest and started crying into her knees. She couldn't bare to believe what has happened in one whole day. She thought things would look up, but they just got worse and now her family was gone.

Suddenly, there was a sound of shouting from a distance. Ellie looked over her shoulder and saw the angry raiders running toward the park, lead by her younger sister. Tears ran down Ellie's eyes, as she stayed near the shadow of the tree, hoping not to be spotted.

Just then, everything fell quiet and still. Ellie turned to see that the raiders and her younger sister have stopped in their tracks, just a few feet away from the tree, with blank looks on their faces. Like their minds have been wiped clean and their fear and anger is gone.

"Hello, Eleanor Carter." A gentle male voice spoke from behind the group of people.

The people stepped aside and revealed, at the other side, was a middle-aged man in a wheelchair, slowly approaching Ellie with a kind smile. Ellie emerged from the shadow of the tree and turned to the man. The man was bald with dark brunette eyebrows and brown eyes. The man's presence was warm and welcoming. Like a father or a person who understands.

"Are... Are you Charles Xavier?" Ellie asked in her soft voice.

The man nodded with a smile, "Yes, I am." Then he assured, "I am not here to hurt you, Eleanor. I'm here to help you."

Ellie removed her hood.

"Ellie? Ellie, wake up! It's time to get ready for school."

Ellie woke up with a small moan. Now 15 years old and a high school student, living in the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, with a couple of friends to boot.

Ellie sat up and stretched. She performed her morning routine of brushing her teeth, brushing her dark brunette hair, put on her black-framed glasses, and got dressed into a white t-shirt and black overalls and black boots. She put on a black choker with an amethyst pendant. Ellie pressed the button on the back of the pendant and her demonic appearance disappeared and was replaced by an image of a normal girl with pale Caucasian skin, dark brunette hair and green eyes.

Awake and ready for the day, Ellie exit her bedroom and made her way down the hallway and down the stairs into the dining room.