“He’s coming…”
Head’s snapped towards he bed. The girl turned her head to look at Sparks. The various occupants that had run for the room as the commotion started took a step back in fear. The girl’s eyes were black, edge to edge black, with a disturbing suggestion of stars in their depths…
“He’s coming for you…”
Sparks grabbed the girl’s shoulders. “Who? Silence, who’s coming?” she asked, her rising hysteria apparent in her voice.
“You know…” she said, with strange harmonics sounding in her voice. “You KNOW…” This seemed to exhaust the tiny child, and she passed out, collapsing from the redhead’s grasp.
Sparks stood up. “I’ve gotta get out of here…”
“What?” Xavier snapped. “You’re going nowhere, Edele, until we’ve sorted this out.”
“I’ve gotta get out of here…” she repeated, like a mantra.
Thunder rolled, a fitting accompaniment to the eerie atmosphere of the room. No-one dared speak, until Sparks broke the tension by striding out of the room and, beginning to run, made her way towards the staircase.
Torn between aiding Silence and stopping Sparks before she did something stupid, he paused. “I need the others,” he muttered to himself. Gizmo stared at him, then ripped her glove off. Bright blue, crackling electric flew over her hands. She placed one hand on the alarm clock on the bedside table and sent a shock of current down the wire to the mains. Seconds later, every alarm in the house went off,
startling even the soundest sleepers awake.
~
Sparks wrenched the front doors open, immediately becoming drenched by the horrendous storm. She managed just a few steps before being thrown back into the building, hitting the stairs. Dazed, she looked up to see the one person she most and least wanted to see.
Snake.
~
The residents of the mansion reached the top of the staircase to see Sparks drag herself up and, labouring with every step, pull herself up the stairs. A flash of lightning illuminated the young man below her, a man with pale skin, short, spiky blonde hair and an appearance as ragged as the girl he was following. Another flash showed him to have scales in random patches on his face and arms, and a dangerous smile revealed elongated canines. Ice green eyes with no whites and a slit pupil gave a disconcerting yet scarily attractive gaze. It seemed the man lived up to his name.
Snake reached the landing at the same moment as Sparks, and grabbing her by both arms, he pulled her towards him. He tenderly kissed her before throwing her to the floor at his feet. A voice screamed “Stop it!”, making him pause and look up. He strode to the speaker, pulling him out of the doorway he had been standing in, away from the other mutants. As the X-men moved forward, he playfully said, “Nuh-uh! None of that! Clara, stop them.” When the girl hesitated, his voice lowered, dangerously. “Clara… don’t make me angry. You know what will happen if you do…”
Clara closed her eyes, as if to shield herself from what she had to do. The X-men and children alike found themselves unable to move, halted by the girl’s telekinetic mutation. She turned her head away from them, simply saying, “I’m sorry. He’ll hurt me if I don’t…”
“That’s right,” he sang out. “You’ll be punished…”
He looked at the boy still held in his grasp, then back at the assembled mutants. “Are you all such martyrs?” he wondered aloud. A sound behind him made him turn. Sparks had hauled herself to her feet and was leaning against the wall, her breath rasping in her chest. “Leave the boy alone.” It was no more than a hoarse whisper, but Snake’s eyes narrowed angrily. “Why?” he demanded. “You’ve never cared before…” His gaze flickered to Pyro and back to Sparks. He smiled, slowly. “I see. New boy.” Turning to the dark-haired boy he said, almost conversationally, “You do realise she’s a slut, don’t you? She’s not a whore, but she’ll willingly turn you over for the next pretty boy with a bit of cash in his pocket…” He slammed Pyro into the wall and hissed, “Was she worth it?” before grabbing him by the neck, blocking his airway.
Unseen by Snake, Sparks had moved behind the tall blond boy and grabbed his arm, pulling it back so hard it must have been close to snapping. When Pyro hesitated, she picked him up by the front of his shirt and threw him to where the other mutants were standing, helpless. In doing this, her grip on Snake weakened, and using his free arm, he threw her to the floor and pinned her there. As if simply reprimanding her on clumsiness, he said, “Really, Eddy, I thought I’d taught you better than that… don’t you even know how to break someone’s arm?” he grabbed her arm, and dragged her upper body off the floor. His fist tightened around her arm as he said, “I do,” and closed his fist.
Her scream of pain echoed through the silent building. It was followed by a bellow of rage from many of the mutants, forced to watch such a brutal beating on a teenage girl. Snake kissed her again, roughly this time, before releasing her, and she fell to the floor, cradling her arm against her body. A burst of ice across his face levered him halfway up – Clara could not hold their powers, only their bodies. During this slight respite, Sparks managed to curl one leg up to her chest, kicking out savagely at the man above her, who jumped backwards, moaning in pain.
She jumped to her feet, and kicked out again, a kick that left him flailing at the tall flight of stairs. As he fell, his arms reached out, and he grabbed the weakened girl and they fell together.
By the time Clara had released them and they had flown down the stairs, he was gone.
Sparks pushed herself up on one elbow. She looked around at them all before whispering, “I’m sorry,” before falling limply to the ground.
~
Pyro walked into the infirmary, accompanied by Gizmo, Clara and a reluctant Silence. The eight year old Silence burst into noisy tears at the sight of her beloved ‘Eddy’ beaten and unconscious on the bed before them. A spreading bruise occupied a large part of her face and her arm was too big and heavy in the ugly cast. Refusing all attempts at comfort, the distraught girl flew from the room, stumbling with every step. Clara hurried after, and Gizmo stroked a strand of flame hair before following the rest of her ‘family’. Pyro looked to Jean, the question plain in his eyes.
A wearied sigh escaped Jean’s lips. “I’ve done all I can, John. I can’t promise you she’ll be all right. I can’t promise you anything…”
Chapter One
Gotta Be Quicker Than That…
“You’ve gotta be quicker than that…”
He whirled around. He thought he’d lost her two streets ago! He flew down the only exit available to him – and realised his mistake too late.
Dead end!
A sinister laugh came from the opening of the alley. The girl was walking towards him. Slowly, so slowly, she began to clap her hands, a sound even worse than the laugh. Desperate, he searched for a way out. Any way out.
She’d stopped clapping.
Terrified, he turned to face her.
“Now, the way I see it, you got two choices, Rich Boy. You can give me your wallet, your cell phone and, oh yeah, the flashy watch too, or…”
She paused.
“What… what’s the other way?”
Her voice changed from playful to dangerous. “You don’t wanna find that out. Trust me.”
There! A ladder to the upper levels! He grasped for it, his hopes rising… when she grabbed his shoulder, pulled him down and slugged him across the face.
“That’s the other way,” she told his unconscious body.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jimmy was tired. Join the force, they’d said. Be a Man, they’d said. Do good for the Community, they’d said. Well, they’d never said anything about patrolling in the freezing rain, through the worst part of town, in the middle of the night…
Wait a sec! There was one of those punk kids, the ones with all the attitude. Thought they could cheat the law, did they? He’d deal with her…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The watch was better standard than she’d thought. Bloody hard to get off as well…
* Click *
“PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”
Turning, she raised her arms, dropping the Rolex as she did so.
“I am arresting you on a charge of assault.” The cop strode towards her, his partner wheezing by his side.
“You have the right to remain silent…” The younger cop grabbed one of her arms, wrenching it around in its socket.
That. Was. IT!
With her free arm, she elbowed the ageing cop in the stomach, then punched the other in the face, already running as they fell.
The last thing they saw before losing consciousness was the teenage girl, sparking tiny flames as she turned the corner…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“…the mutant is still at large, and is to be considered highly dangerous. DO NOT APPROACH. If seen, contact the police immediately with all details…”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sparks stomped through the town centre. She couldn’t believe she’d been chucked out of the Box – maybe she should’ve been happy with the one lift, instead of going back to the club for more.
“The mutant is incredibly strong and much faster than any human.”
Her head snapped up. She stared at the TV in the shop window with total amazement. The smarmy bastard had reported the attack! And there, for the whole of New York City to see, was her face, glaring back from the screen. Of course, the artist had gone far over the top, giving her feathers for hair, and flames rolling off her clothes. Still, it was recognizably her.
She had to get out of here!
Fast.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Pass it here! Pass it here!”
“He shoots…”
“And the ball goes flying over the wall. Great.”
“I’ll get it, I’ll get it…”
Quickly teleporting to the other side of the wall, he began pulling back branches and leaves, in a vain attempt to find their one and only basketball. Pulling on one branch, he let it snap back in shock, straight into the now familiar face from the news. Terrified, he vanished.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Storm dropped her books, startled, when one of her students materialized in front of her.
“What have I told you about using powers out of lesson time…” she began, when she was interrupted by an unstoppable stream of semi-coherent words.
“The Girl’s outside… she… no feathers!.. but she’s in the bushes… and they said she was dangerous… so I came to tell you… what are we gonna do?”
“What girl?” Storm’s eyes widened with sudden understanding. “The girl off the news?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sparks struggled upright. The kid had no doubt run to tell… the place would be swarming within moments. It was too early! She thought she’d have time to escape…
With a resounding crash that made her cling to her head, the gates flew open, and two men came running out. She started to run, but her usual speed was not forthcoming. Working together, the men picked her up, holding feet and arms, completely immobilising her.
Struggling, she hit her head against the stone wall, disorienting her. The men, sensing her current state, quickly manhandled her inside, the doors, rooms and corridors blurring into one seamless journey, while a haze obscured her vision…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Her eyes opened, just in time to see the door hiss shut behind the two men. She was alone in this windowless, colourless room, full of blinding lights and hard surfaces. Furious, she flung herself at the door, straining to find a way out.
When her futile efforts to open the door only resulted in an aching arm, she slid to the floor in frustration, glaring at the wall.
Suddenly, the door slid open, making Sparks jump. She looked up, but saw no-one there. She sneaked up to the door, and no-one was to be seen in any direction. Lighting a cigarette to steady her nerves, she picked a corridor at random. So intent on getting out of here, she didn’t notice the almost invisible cameras placed at intervals along the wall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
This was easy! Sparks could see the exit. She sauntered down this final corridor, her hand reaching out for the door handle… when, inexplicably, her hand jerked round and pushed open the door next to it.
“Hello, Edele.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Confronted with this redheaded, glaring girl from the streets for the first time, Xavier wasn’t surprised the police had accused her of mugging. The children of the streets often resorted to desperate measures in desperate times, and, by the looks of things, this one hadn’t eaten in days.
“Do sit down.”
“My name is Sparks.”
“As you wish. My name is Professor Xavier. Sit down, Edele, do. And have some food.”
She looked as if she was about to protest again, yet decided against it as he uncovered the tray of steaming hot food. Discarding any arguments as a waste of eating time, she sat down, and began to devour everything in front of her.
As she stuffed forkful after forkful in her mouth, the Professor leaned back in his chair to look at her. The long, red-blonde hair, full of tangles and one or two leaves was long due a wash, and the long black coat was so old as to seem brown. The baggy blue jeans seemed far too long for her, but seemed to have had plenty of wear already – they were full of rips and holes. Using her hands to make sure she didn’t miss any scrap of food, she ripped off a chunk of bread and raised it to her lips before raising her eyes and realising his silent scrutiny. She raised her eyebrows, stuck out her tongue and wolfed down the remains of the meal. As if to prove a point, she lifted up her legs to put her feet on the desk, revealing big, black boots to complete the image.
When he gave the feet a pointed look, she slowly removed them, looked at him and sighed.
“Watcha want, mister?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Well, most people won’t feed up a street brat like me for free. You must want somethin’. What is it? A robbery, some dirt on a top notch, protection? Whatever it is, if I can’t give it to ya, I know someone who knows who can.”
“Edele – “
“Sparks.”
“Sparks… I don’t want anything from you… you’re obviously starving, and I just want to see you well-fed for once.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, well, a year ago, when things weren’t so harsh, I woulda said I don’t take charity. Now, though… I know betta.”
The Professor sighed. “How would you like to stay here? We take in plenty of mutants as badly off as yourself…”
“I can take care of m’self…”
“I thought you said you knew better…”
Sparks looked into the man’s eyes. Having made dealings with many of the mean guys on the streets, she knew what to look out for. This guy… this guy didn’t have any of them. All she could see in his eyes was compassion, and a genuine desire to lift her from the slums of New York…
“All right, then. I accept yore gen’rous offer…”
He smiled.
“But…” she added, archly.
“Yes…”
“I ain’t stayin’ here without my kids…”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Logan slammed the parking brake on, giving a sideways glare at the girl that had forced him to come down to this shady part of town. She grinned back at him, knowing full well what that look was for.
“If it makes you feel better, I can guarantee that no-one’s gonna nick this car…”
“How the hell can you do that?”
“Easy…”
She stepped out of the car and bent down by the wheel on the driver’s side.
“You might need to replace the hubcap once we’re gone…”
Reaching into her coat and pulling out a knife that would have been automatically confiscated had the Professor known about it, she scratched something in the middle of the metal. She stood back, admiring her handiwork, as Logan pulled himself out of the car and slammed the door.
He looked at the smirk on her face and said, “You do know that you’re gonna be the one explaining this to Cyclops…”
Logan tilted his head to one side for a better look at the wheel. “What is that?”
“It’s my gangs symbol. The F cut through by an S stands for the Freak Show. We’re a gang of mutants. Powers really give you the edge out here…”
Logan grimaced and followed the girl as she strode up an alley.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The three girls jumped up as the door was thrown open and tensed when they saw the imposing man before them.
“It’s ok, he’s with me.”
Sparks swooped in, sweeping up the youngest of the girls in her arms.
“Pack your stuff, we’re leaving. I’ve found us new digs.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Logan threw the last bag in the trunk as a scream of rage split the air from the room upstairs.
“Sparks, where the **** are you?”
The two girls already in the car shivered in fear at the sound of that voice.
Logan saw Sparks shut her eyes and place the girl in her arms on the back seat. She shut the door, quietly, and began to walk towards the building.
Logan spun her around to face him. “What the hell are you doing?” he hissed.
She smiled. “Someone’s gotta keep Snake happy. Don’t worry.” She looked at the three girls in the back of the car. “Take care of my girls.”
Logan tightened his grip on her arm. “Get in the car.”
“You don’t understand… He’s stronger than you, stronger than me… If he comes down and finds you trying to leave with his only source of cash… You won’t make it to the end of the street.”
More thuds were heard from above, then the sound of a door slamming.
She turned her eyes to Logan. “He’s coming.” She wrenched the car door open, and narrowed her eyes. “Now, get them out of here.”
When Logan still hesitated, she forcibly shoved him into the seat.
“I can take care of myself, hero. You wouldn’t be any use to me – I’m stronger than you can ever be. I wouldn’t fit in at your precious school – I’m a *****. Now, get the hell outta here before I get really pissed…”
She slammed the door, narrowly missing his fingers. When he still hesitated, she snapped out one word – “Gizmo!” The eldest of the three girls ripped off her gloves and slammed the car with her fists. As the car started and slowly began to move, Sparks grinned and said, “You do realise she doesn’t know how to drive. You’re gonna have to take over sooner or later…” As the car accelerated, he turned his head to look at her over his shoulder and said, “We’ll be back. You won’t have to stay with him forever.”
She gave an ironic smile and said, “I’d like to believe that.” Without a single backward glance to the car, she turned, and ran back into the building.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The X-men looked around the small, dirty, deserted room. It had been completely stripped of anything of value, and the only inhabitants now were a couple of forlorn cockroaches. Frustrated, Logan slammed the door as they walked away.
Jean turned to look at him. “It wasn’t your fault, Logan. We can’t save every mutant.”
Chapter Two
See Ya Around
“OMG, Tiffany, I can’t believe you danced with that guy… He’s, like, a total geek…”
As the sound of the girls’ voices faded away, a crash could be heard from a cubicle in the girls’ toilets of the Box.
Knocking away the rest of the glass with a nearby branch, Sparks jumped through the hole. The two of them had run out of money two days ago, and there was no way she was going to try another mugging. Checking her appearance in the mirror as she walked past, she glided onto the dance floor, looking for a likely candidate…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Pyro gazed up at the club’s sign, suddenly not so sure he wanted to do this. But, remembering the words he’d thrown in Bobby’s face about the Iceman’s ‘All American Teenness’, he knew he had to stay out all night, if only to prove his point.
Sneaking in round the back was not pleasant – somebody had obviously already found that too much fun can lead to vomit – yet he hadn’t had the guts to steal money as well as sneak out, so this was the only option available.
As soon as he got inside, he felt better. This was ‘Cocktail Night’, with free drinks on offer, even if they did have dorky names like ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Taste of the Tropics’. After downing a couple of these, he felt more confident even on the tiny drop of alcohol that was all the manager allowed in the freebies.
As he walked out onto the dance floor, he couldn’t help but stop and stare at a girl just walking out from the girls room. He didn’t know why he couldn’t look away – she wasn’t beautiful, with a nose too long to suit her face, and murky green-grey eyes – yet there was something about her that attracted him to her. She looked in his direction, caught his eye and grinned. That grin broke the spell, and he was able to glance away – but not for long. As he looked back at her, she began walking towards him. Before he had a chance to panic about what to say or what to do, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Wanna dance?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
This was easier than she’d thought! Within 5 seconds of being here, she’d already snared a victim, who was cute into the bargain. As they danced to the slow song that was playing, she slid her hand down his back and into his pocket. He opened his eyes to look at her – did he suspect she was a pickpocket? – so she quickly distracted his attention. With her free hand, she stroked his cheek, and leaned in for a kiss…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He was in heaven. This girl sure knew how to kiss! Not wanting it to end, he kissed her back, deeply. The sudden silence as the music cut made them both jump back, and his jaw fell in shock as he realised his dance partner was covered in tiny flames…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Quicker to react than the boy, she was half-way to the door when the first cry of “MUTANT!” began. Already outside, she heard the fight start. Not sure why she didn’t leave him to fend for himself, she leaned back in through the open door, grabbed his hand and pulled him after her. Within a few minutes, the drunken mob was completely lost, and she turned to face him now on the relative safety of the rooftops. Feeling obliged to honesty after that display, she reached into her jacket and handed him back the contents of his pockets.
“Sorry about that. I only wanted to pick your pocket. If I’d know it would have had quite such a… spectacular effect, believe me, I would have picked someone else…”
She walked over to the edge of the roof and swung onto the ladder. She looked at him, unsure of what to do next. She sighed. Why couldn’t she just leave this guy alone? “Come on. I’ll get you home.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Pyro didn’t know what to think. This had started out as just a night of fun, then an angry mob had chasd him for three blocks. Now the girl who had caused the mob had just admitted to being a thief, but was now helping him. He jumped down from the ladder and, without even giving him chance to catch his breath, she had hailed a cab and shoved him into it. The guy in the drivers seat saw the girl and grinned. “Complimentary drive tonight?”
“Thanks Joe.” Turning back to Pyro, she said, “He’ll take you wherever you wanna go. My advice – go home. Go to bed and don’t let your parents or whoever find out what went on tonight. People can be a bit funny about their kid getting chased by a mob…”
He grinned, but, as she leaned back out of the cab, he said, “Will I see you again?” then inwardly winced at how stupid that sounded – they hadn’t exactly been on a date!
She laughed. “See ya around,” she said, clicking her fingers at the cabby and slamming the door. It wasn’t until after he’d been driven away that he realised she’d had a flame balancing on the end of her finger as she urged the driver on…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Scott sat up in bed in frustration. It was too hot! He couldn’t sleep, not in this, so he gave up trying and decided a walk in the gardens might cool him down.
He walked down the corridor towards the stairs when he heard a thump from above him. Now this had to be investigated…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sparks inwardly cursed when she slipped from the skylight into the loft. How was she to know the rain had made the frame impossible to hold onto? She brushed herself off, freezing when she saw a dark, shadowy figure at the doorway. Before she had a chance to react, he’d hit something on the wall and she was falling…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Scott hadn’t hesitated when he’d seen the intruder in the loft. Xavier had just got these installed – time to try them out! He hit a button on the wall, which opened a hole in the floor, leading straight down to the lower levels…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It seemed she’d been falling down this cushioned tunnel forever… when the end finally appeared… back in the room she’d ended up in the first time she’d come in the mansion.
Not again…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Pyro looked up from the TV as Scott strode past. Wondering what was up, he followed the taller man. He slammed the opening mechanism for the lift, then looked up at Pyro. After a moment of deliberation, he jerked his head at the lift, a clear invitation for the boy to follow him.
The lift travelled down to the lower levels, and Pyro looked at Scott out of the corner of his eye. Scott gave him a sidelong glance and smiled ruefully. “You wanna know what’s up?”
Pyro silently nodded his head. Scott kept it short and concise. “Intruder. Sent him down below. Gotta see what he is before we decide what to do. You might as well learn some more about the lower levels…”
Pyro grinned. At last, they’d stopped treating him like a little kid…
“Might stop you sneaking down there and breaking something.”
Or maybe not.
~
They walked into a tiny, softly lit room. There was only one window, looking onto a white box room. A tiny figure was crumpled on the floor, but, as they watched, it picked itself up and brushed itself down. It was then he realised it was the girl from the other night. She removed her coat, obviously checking for injuries. He put his hand to the glass, and her head snapped up. She dropped the coat in a heap on the floor and slowly walked to the glass, looking puzzled. She put her hand to the glass where his hand was, yet didn’t seem to recognise him or even see him. He looked at Scott. “Can she see me?”
Scott grinned, and Pyro saw him flick a switch marked ‘Two-way system’. She suddenly jumped back, and Scott’s grin widened. “Now she can.”
The girl grinned and gave him a conspiratorial wink. Scott looked at the boy next to him. “Do you know her?”
~
Sparks looked up as the door hissed open, and smiled as the two mutants walked into the room. The taller of the two, wearing red shades walked straight up to her, confrontationally.
“Why were you here?” he demanded. As she couldn’t be bothered to make up something, she told the truth.
“Stealing.”
“Why?”
“Hungry.”
“Wait a sec… You’re that street kid we had in a few days ago, aren’t you? I thought you ran off with Snake?”
“Prison. Are you done?”
The man threw up his hands in disgust and walked out the door. She shrugged into her jacket and followed, whispering “Hey, hot stuff,” on her way past to the boy from two nights ago. She stepped out of the door, seeing the guy with the shades waiting for her. She took a cigarette out of her pocket, placed it between her lips and clicked her fingers, causing a tiny flame to flare up on her thumb, which she used to light the fag.
Scott looked at the cigarette. “Looks like you’ve learnt some new tricks.” She grinned and took a drag, exhaling the smoke in a long stream as they began the walk up to the Professor’s office.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Hello again, Edele. It’s been, what, four days? You can’t seem to keep away from us. Your forays seem to have been unsuccessful… what are you really here for?”
Upon seeing her glare, Xavier dismissed John and Scott with a look and turned back to the young girl with a question in his gaze.
She sighed. “Ok, so I came to see my kids. But, y’know, you’ve got decent stuff, I could easily hock it, and which idiot touched Clara?”
Turning to the large crack which encompassed most of the left wall, Professor Xavier gave a slight smile.
“Ah. That would be Mr. Summers. He gets on well with most children. He only steadied her when she was about to fall…”
“She’s a powerful telekinetic who’s powers were brought on by abuse. How’d you think she’d react?”
“Yes, we are aware of their history now. The eldest, Gizmo, filled us in. I must say, Silence is a fascinating case…”
A scream ripped the air. Sparks was already out the door before it ended. Professor Xavier reached the door to see her race up the stairs before she left his field of vision. He hurried to the elevator, wondering what on earth could be wrong…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Confused, Sparks paused in the corridor, unsure of where the scream had come from. A second scream broke her hesitation – still undecided on which room the screamer was, she began to throw open doors at random, searching until she found what she was looking for.
She stopped in the doorway, shocked at how quickly Silence’s fit had escalated – she was never this bad! Running to the bed, she grabbed the girl’s arms, trying to calm her, then almost dropping them again in disbelief – the arms were covered in the bruises caused by drugs injections! Stunned, she sat back, useless, as a hand was laid on the younger girl’s forehead, and her spasms stilled. She looked up at the Professor, tears shining in her eyes. “Drugs…” she whispered. “That bastard gave her drugs…”
“He panicked…” Sparks jerked at the sound of the voice, and turned to face the speaker, Gizmo. “You weren’t at home, and you can normally calm her down. I tried to stop him, but then he did this…” she held up an arm, showing a scar that reached from the base of her middle finger, and travelled over the back of her hand and up her arm. “He used glass so I couldn’t fry him…”
“I’m going to kill him…”
Before the Professor could register any shock in the conviction of this statement, his attention was drawn back to the bed by a murmuring from Silence. “What? I thought she never spoke!”
Gizmo raised an eyebrow. “Hence the name. She only speaks when she predicts.”
“Predicts?”
“It’s her mutation,” said Sparks. “She can see the future.”
Chapter Three
Gotta Get Out of Here
“He’s coming…”
Head’s snapped towards he bed. The girl turned her head to look at Sparks. The various occupants that had run for the room as the commotion started took a step back in fear. The girl’s eyes were black, edge to edge black, with a disturbing suggestion of stars in their depths…
“He’s coming for you…”
Sparks grabbed the girl’s shoulders. “Who? Silence, who’s coming?” she asked, her rising hysteria apparent in her voice.
“You know…” she said, with strange harmonics sounding in her voice. “You KNOW…” This seemed to exhaust the tiny child, and she passed out, collapsing from the redhead’s grasp.
Sparks stood up. “I’ve gotta get out of here…”
“What?” Xavier snapped. “You’re going nowhere, Edele, until we’ve sorted this out.”
“I’ve gotta get out of here…” she repeated, like a mantra.
Thunder rolled, a fitting accompaniment to the eerie atmosphere of the room. No-one dared speak, until Sparks broke the tension by striding out of the room and, beginning to run, made her way towards the staircase.
Torn between aiding Silence and stopping Sparks before she did something stupid, he paused. “I need the others,” he muttered to himself. Gizmo stared at him, then ripped her glove off. Bright blue, crackling electric flew over her hands. She placed one hand on the alarm clock on the bedside table and sent a shock of current down the wire to the mains. Seconds later, every alarm in the house went off, startling even the soundest sleepers awake.
~
Sparks wrenched the front doors open, immediately becoming drenched by the horrendous storm. She managed just a few steps before being thrown back into the building, hitting the stairs. Dazed, she looked up to see the one person she most and least wanted to see.
Snake.
~
The residents of the mansion reached the top of the staircase to see Sparks drag herself up and, labouring with every step, pull herself up the stairs. A flash of lightning illuminated the young man below her, a man with pale skin, short, spiky blonde hair and an appearance as ragged as the girl he was following. Another flash showed him to have scales in random patches on his face and arms, and a dangerous smile revealed elongated canines. Ice green eyes with no whites and a slit pupil gave a disconcerting yet scarily attractive gaze. It seemed the man lived up to his name.
Snake reached the landing at the same moment as Sparks, and grabbing her by both arms, he pulled her towards him. He tenderly kissed her before throwing her to the floor at his feet. A voice screamed “Stop it!”, making him pause and look up. He strode to the speaker, pulling him out of the doorway he had been standing in, away from the other mutants. As the X-men moved forward, he playfully said, “Nuh-uh! None of that! Clara, stop them.” When the girl hesitated, his voice lowered, dangerously. “Clara… don’t make me angry. You know what will happen if you do…”
Clara closed her eyes, as if to shield herself from what she had to do. The X-men and children alike found themselves unable to move, halted by the girl’s telekinetic mutation. She turned her head away from them, simply saying, “I’m sorry. He’ll hurt me if I don’t…”
“That’s right,” he sang out. “You’ll be punished…”
He looked at the boy still held in his grasp, then back at the assembled mutants. “Are you all such martyrs?” he wondered aloud. A sound behind him made him turn. Sparks had hauled herself to her feet and was leaning against the wall, her breath rasping in her chest. “Leave the boy alone.” It was no more than a hoarse whisper, but Snake’s eyes narrowed angrily. “Why?” he demanded. “You’ve never cared before…” His gaze flickered to Pyro and back to Sparks. He smiled, slowly. “I see. New boy.” Turning to the dark-haired boy he said, almost conversationally, “You do realise she’s a slut, don’t you? She’s not a whore, but she’ll willingly turn you over for the next pretty boy with a bit of cash in his pocket…” He slammed Pyro into the wall and hissed, “Was she worth it?” before grabbing him by the neck, blocking his airway.
Unseen by Snake, Sparks had moved behind the tall blond boy and grabbed his arm, pulling it back so hard it must have been close to snapping. When Pyro hesitated, she picked him up by the front of his shirt and threw him to where the other mutants were standing, helpless. In doing this, her grip on Snake weakened, and using his free arm, he threw her to the floor and pinned her there. As if simply reprimanding her on clumsiness, he said, “Really, Eddy, I thought I’d taught you better than that… don’t you even know how to break someone’s arm?” he grabbed her arm, and dragged her upper body off the floor. His fist tightened around her arm as he said, “I do,” and closed his fist.
Her scream of pain echoed through the silent building. It was followed by a bellow of rage from many of the mutants, forced to watch such a brutal beating on a teenage girl. Snake kissed her again, roughly this time, before releasing her, and she fell to the floor, cradling her arm against her body. A burst of ice across his face levered him halfway up – Clara could not hold their powers, only their bodies. During this slight respite, Sparks managed to curl one leg up to her chest, kicking out savagely at the man above her, who jumped backwards, moaning in pain.
She stood, legs apart, confident once more. “Even with a broken arm, I can still kick your ass…” With her undamaged right arm, she deflected the futile punch and kicked out again, a kick that left him flailing at the tall flight of stairs. As he fell, his arms reached out, and he grabbed the weakened girl and they fell together.
By the time Clara had released them and they had flown down the stairs, he was gone.
Sparks pushed herself up on one elbow. She looked around at them all before whispering, “I’m sorry,” before falling limply to the ground.
~
Pyro walked into the infirmary, accompanied by Gizmo, Clara and a reluctant Silence. The eight year old Silence burst into noisy tears at the sight of her beloved ‘Eddy’ beaten and unconscious on the bed before them. A spreading bruise occupied a large part of her face and her arm was too big and heavy in the ugly cast. Refusing all attempts at comfort, the distraught girl flew from the room, stumbling with every step. Clara hurried after, and Gizmo stroked a strand of flame hair before following the rest of her ‘family’. Pyro looked to Jean, the question plain in his eyes.
A wearied sigh escaped Jean’s lips. “I’ve done all I can, John. I can’t promise you she’ll be all right. I can’t promise you anything…”