Behold! The glory of my boredom!
I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing. :3
~April 20~8:05 AM~Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters~
I hesitated outside the big door. Logan stood only a step-and-a-half ahead of me, clearly much more at ease about this than I was. He rapped on the door a couple times, then pushed it open. "Hey, Chuck. I brought the Kid up for ya."
"Thank you, Logan. Let her in. And if you wouldn't mind shutting the door behind you...?"
I grit my teeth and walked foreword, Logan patting my shoulder as I passed. The door clicked shut behind me. "Hello, Tessandra. You look tired- didn't sleep well? Were the ladies keeping you up?"
I forced a polite smile, intending to lie and say it was just the nerves of being in a new place. But, then again, this guy wasn't exactly a shrink, so he couldn't really try any typical shrink stuff. "I didn't sleep. New place, strange sounds, sometimes too quiet. I started thinking, and if I think too long I think things I shouldn't and then I can't sleep at all. Partly the girls' fault."
"Mmhm." He was quiet for a moment. "Does this have anything to do with the jacket you lost?" I tensed up against my will. "I thought so. Well, though I can't bring it back, I can promise you that we will do everything in our power to make you more comfortable here." His wheelchair scuffed on the floor. "Please, have a seat. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you, if you don't mind too terribly."
Several choice responses came to mind. I bit them back and settled in the chair in front of his desk. "I really appreciate your accepting me here," I started.
"But you don't want to stay." He cut in. I bit back a vicious snarl. "You don't want to get attached again. You're afraid of losing control and putting people in danger-"
I practically flew out of the seat, backing away. "How the fuck do you know that?" I hissed, clawing for the door. I needed an escape route, fast.
"My apologies. I'd assumed someone would tell you. I am a telepath, dear. It's part of how I help the children in my care solve their problems, grasp their mutations, control them. It's often our personal demons of the past that prevent the control and growth of our abilities. It also makes me privy to important details that may otherwise be left out."
I fought another hiss, even as panic mixed into the words gathering in my throat. I was right I was fucking right they know they know He KNOWS-!
"Please, calm down, Tessandra! You'll hurt yourself!" His wheels rolled again, moving towards me.
"Don't you dare!" I spat, choking down the panic. That was the most important rule hed taught me, never panic, never let it control you. "You stay over there, and stay the fuck out of my head!" He stopped, and for a few long moments the only sound I could make out was my own labored breathing. My mind scrambled for the lessons my dad had beaten into my head since I was young- Stay calm, Keep control, poker face. Breathe in, breathe out. One, two. Easy. Simple. MY heart was still beating wildly.
"Tessandra?"
It took a long two minutes before I let my legs give and sank to a crouch against the door. Every few seconds, my breathing would hitch and I'd take another slow, deliberate breath to even them out again.
"I understand that confronting your past is difficult. I apologize- I should have asked before delving into your thoughts, unguarded though they were. You might be surprised to know you are not the first to react so severely to my power, or my bringing up thoughts they thought they had kept to themselves. But I have never shared anothers thoughts without their consent, and I don't intend to start now. Nothing we talk about will be brought up around anyone else. I only want to help you. Will you please come back and sit with me?" I shook my head violently. He sighed. "I didn't think so. Are you calm enough that I could get you to talk to me?" I gave no answer.
Those wheels squeaked again, then settled. "Is there anything I could do to convince you that you don't need to fear me? Something that could get you to let me help you?" Another long silence. A sigh. "Alright. Well, I will clear up a few things, then. Yes, I do know about your past- at least what you were thinking about while you confronted Logan last night and while you sat at the fountain. Your thoughts project unusually well, possibly because you've not come across a telepath before. I know about the attack that killed your brother. I know that you tried to run away. I know about your father, and how much he meant to you- how much he still means to you." He hushed me. "Calm down. It's only fair you know. I know how you learned of your power, as well, and how much it scares you. If there is anything I can do- anything any of us can do- to help you get your life back, I promise you that we will do it."
I swallowed a pathetic sound. "I-I just really need t-to get outside. Please." MY hand was already scrambling for the doorknob before he gave any response, and as soon as the door was open wide enough to escape I was running down the hall. It didn't matter where I was going, not at first- it didn't even cross my mind that I might be lost until I had rounded the fifth corner and could no longer hear anyone in the mansion. My step faltered, and after a few seconds, I hit the wall, slid to the floor, and worked on quieting my breathing.
~8:25 AM~Unknown Location~
"He's not the best with Traumatized Tennagers, is he?" Psyche gave a pleased harumph, glancing towards Magneto. "She's in a panic, but working out of it. Should I act now?"
A moment of deliberation. "...No. We aren't prepared to take her yet. Is there anyone approaching?"
"Yes. Two teens."
"Good. Use her panic to mask your presence- their fear will make quite the rift. And use something... subtle, to keep her from trusting him."
"Yes, Sir."
He turned to his other men- Bear, lounging in the corner, Brain, working on his little project, and Sabretooth, leaning on the wall, looking ready to pounce. "Gentlemen, It's time to prepare for the arrival of our key player."
~8:27 AM~Xaviers School for gifted Youngsters~
I could hear the footsteps approaching. Every soft tap made me even more tense, until I was wound tighter than a broken rib. For a short moment I coul hear them talking about some homework assignment as they walked past the junction of my hallway and theirs. Please, just walk past, I hoped in vain.
"Hey, isn't that the new girl?" A soft soprano cut in.
My heart started pounding again. I sucked in a breath, held it as long as I could. They came closer. "Hey, Are You Okay?"
"Stay away."
Their footsteps paused. "What happened?" A tenory voice this time. They started again.
"I said, stay away!" I spat, clawing at the wall to get upright. Their footsteps kept coming. MY heart leapt into my throat, pounding out every other sound-
A hand touched my arm and I jerked away, nearly falling again. For a second I heard only silence, then suddenly I could see. A large section of ceiling had collapsed, completely blocking the hallway. I stared in shock and horror. No... no, no, no, No, NO!
My legs reacted first, and I was off again, clutching my blindfold like a lifeline, even though my eyes were shut so tight I could feel the strain in my muscles. Down a hallway, up another, halfway down the stairs and over the banister when it took too long. Every step hit so hard I could tell where I was going without having both feet down. A doorway to the left- big and fancy, definitely to outdoors. I burst through them out onto the grass of the lawn. Think, Tess- Where can you go? What's around?
The woods, a thought answered almost immediately. It had been wide and sprawling, a perfect backdrop for the storybook-reminiscent mansion I almost hadn't fully registered. Lots of space. Perfect. I hadn't been still for two seconds and I was off again. I hadn't done so much running in a while- I could feel the jagged sawing of air through my lungs, the achey burn in my legs. It felt good. I focused on it, forcing the emotions out of my heart, the thoughts out of my head. Step-step-step-step- In- step-step-step-step- Out. The coil of muscle, the springy snap to propell me forth. I hadn't just run since dad, and Max. So many relexes I'd lost when I stopped running, all coming back.
"You don't need your eyes. Listen. Feel it. You can run better blind than anyone can, period."
Past one tree, then another, then three, and between two growing too close together. I was rusty.
Running face-first into a thick, hard-barked oak tree supported that.
I lay flat on my back amidst a carpet of leaves in various stages of decay, face scrunched up in pain, the hand clutching my blindfold resting over my nose, for a long time. As the pain faded, I acknowledged that the panic was gone as well. My heart had calmed, beating normally, and my breathing was a bit raspy, but even. I had heard him. That was the first time in a long time I'd heard him so clearly, not to mention hearing him without the emotions that usually followed. If he could see me now, I thought irritably, he'd glower and give me that loud frown he used whenever I messed up something he knew I could do well.
The forest around me was quiet. There were a few rustlings out further, probably a hundred feet or so, but nothing got more than twenty feet. It was peaceful, and here I was an intruder. A stranger. Disrupting their daily routines. A smile took my face against my will. Scared of me... just like I was afraid of the mansion. Irrational, but they were anyways. I couldn't keep running away. Dad... would have been ashamed of me. Living like a gypsy.
The small rustlings went quiet again, and Now I could hear the appraoching footsteps. I'm not ready for people, I groaned to myself. I rolled to my stomach, in same move shrinking down, shifting, until fur covered my body. A quick glance reassured me that they were still in the distance. I bit down on the fabric of my blindfold and sprung off in what I assumed was left of my original direction.
~9:33 AM~
Logan cursed as yet another bramble clung to his pantleg. Of all the places the kid could have run, she picked the wilderness. He didn't blame her, he would have done the same, but still. Was it neccessary for there to be so many damned weeds?
The school was in a bit of an uproar. After the building had stopped tremoring, they'd found the collapsed hallway, with Jonah and Megan dazed nearby. They'd explained how Tess had freaked out and brought down the roof, then left Jean and two young telekinetics to do what they could for the mess. Kim, a tiny thing who could turn invisible, had quickly piped up that she'd seen Tess run into the woods, and being the one she trusted most (not that that was saying much) Logan had been elected to hunt her down. Scott had insisted he help, and taken off into the woods where Kim said she'd seen Tess, leaving Logan to hunt through the rest of the woods.
The asshole would never make it through a survival class. He'd have to talk to Chuck about that, see if he could get it in the curriculum.
He ducked under a branch, senses searching for a familar sound or smell or a sign she'd been through. Another bramble snagged his leg and he yanked it loose, leaning against a tree. Said tree hissed.
He tilted his head back, watching a small bundle of white jump up to a higher branch, a wad of black fabric blocking most of her mouth. "How long have you been in the trees?" She hissed again. "Come on. You've been out here for almost an hour." She scrunched closer to the trunk as he reached up, tiny paws gripping the branch precariously. They stared eachother down for a long minute. He leaned closer.
Her paw flashed out to scratch him before she leapt for another branch, barely landing before pouncing off again.
Logan swore for the millionth time and followed. She was quick, he admitted, and she knew how to work the trees to her advantage, but her snow-white fur eliminated any chance for cameoflage. He would lose sight of her for a few seconds, then catch the flash of white careening off in another direction and correct his path to keep up, half expecting her to either dissappear or fall from the canopy and break a leg, or worse. Just when she seemed to be tiring out, she came to a stop, turned on the too-thin twig she'd landed on, and launched in the opposite direction.
Exhasperated, he yelled to her, "What are you running from?!" The silence of the forest answered him. He couldn't hear the branches rattling anymore.
A long sigh. "Fine," he muttered, "just keep running."
~9:57 AM~
He was giving up. I could see him from my perch, hidden behind a flourish of leaves, and he was done running. Now, he was walking in roughly the direction of the school, his words still echoing in the treetops. What are you Running From?
Didn't I want to be alone? I hissed at myself. That's why I was running, wasn't it? Why are you sad? You were running from him, and now he's leaving. Mission accomplished. Now you're alone. All... alone...
I don't want to be alone again.
One little jump, then another, and another, and when I was closer to the ground I let my bones shift and muscles twist until I was human again and dropped the rest of the way, landed wobbly on my feet, tying the blindfold tight over my face. His footsteps stopped. Silence.
"What are you running from, Tess?" A small rustle of leaves. "From the school? From Chuck? From People?"
My throat wouldn't cooperate- my attempt to speak came out a choked breathy sound. I swallowed hard. "I... I don't know anymore." He made an irritated noise and my heart stuttered. "I just... I thought I wanted to be alone... but I don't. I can't. I can't be alone again."
More footsteps. A hand on my shoulder, not leaving when I flinched. "You won't be."
~End Transmission~
OVER 2000 WORDS FUCK YEAH
This entire chapter, for the most part, was not part of my original draft of this story. As you can tell, these things get better the longer they ferment in my head. I like it. Makes me feel awesome.
I've considered maybe having a friend help me type up my written copy for your comparison. Just so you can see how much I tweak and change and replace.
Reviews? Pretty Please? Like for real?