A/N: Hey guys! This story features my OC, Elise! I would like to think there isn't any x men or OC like her. Read on, and review!
Chapter 1: Elise
"Okay, Elise, you can do this!" the young girl muttered to herself, looking in the Broadway-lighted mirror. Looking in the mirror, the girl appeared to have dark, brown hair that was up in two, curled buns, and striking blue eyes, with skin paler than the moon; freckles under her eyes and across the bridge of her nose. She was wearing what looked a lot like clown makeup, her face covered in white makeup (not that she needed it) and black little diamonds drawn under her eyes, along with dark red lipstick. She could hear the announcer moving on to the next act, and even with hearing the ringmaster's kind description of her, her hand still shook as she put on her dramatic stage makeup.
"And please give a round of applause for Montreal's own, Elise Rusé!" exclaimed the loud voice from the circus speakers. The girl took a deep breath in, and exhaled slowly. Taking a last look in the mirror, a smile spread on her face, not quite meeting her eyes, which looked tired and sad. "Remember what Maman said, vous êtes le meilleur du meilleur." she said softly to herself. With that, she left what appeared to be the dressing room, and made her way into a tunnel that led her to the tent.
A few minutes later, the young girl, dressed in harlequin clown-looking apparel, stepped into the ring, walking with flamboyant, yet elegant steps. Despite her confident and proud appearance, anyone who was looking could tell there were undertones of fear to her gate, as her smile threatened to falter and her eyes shifted nervously to the one place she knew he would be, as he always was. In a seat in the very back of the rows of bleachers in the tent, sat a man with pitch black hair and cold blue eyes, a nasty smirk forever engraved into his face. To any other girl, he would have looked attractive, maybe even dreamy, but she couldn't help but tremble when she saw him.
Quickly jerking her head to focus on her act, she raised her chin to make herself look poised and in control, in other words, the girl she wished she still was. She heard a few catcalls in the audience, obviously belonging to the men who got drunk off of the watered down alcohol the circus sold in its concession stands. She didn't blame them; she realized the way that she looked wasn't completely modest. The dress was extremely short, her thigh-high striped and checkerboard tights accentuating her legs and the tight, corset style of the bodice revealed her cleavage in the most uncomfortable of ways. To the audience, she was not a 16 year old girl forced into this profession, but eye candy they paid to see.
The band started to play the unoriginal, stereotypical circus music, and she lifted her gloved hands high in the air, the signal she was ready. A trapeze swing slowly made its way down, and she reached for it with a look of determination. Much to the audience's surprise and appeal, the swing flew up incredibly fast. The young girl, not knowing how to react since this was never done before, let out a yelp and gripped onto the swing for dear life. The audience merely laughed at her response. The swing was jerked back again, and the girl flew off, barely hanging onto the device. She looked into the mechanic's box where the circus was controlled, and saw the familiar group of men laughing hysterically. Realizing this was no accident, tears strolled down her face at a rapid pace. These men were going to hurt her, with full intent of doing so. The swing, which had carried her high into the tops of the circus tent, suddenly released. The girl screamed and screamed, letting out hysterical sobs as she clung on with all her might to the wooden seat. She fell to the ground with a loud thud, only making the crowd laugh louder, and she relinquished an agonized scream of pain.
A burning feeling erupted all over her body as she tried to sit up. Luckily, nothing seemed to be broken, but the overwhelming soreness she felt was unbearable. As she got up, she stumbled back to ground, and suddenly felt a hard, baseball like object hit her right in the chest. Scared out of her mind, she looked down, and a red, mushy substance covered her abdomen. She took a shaky hand and wiped it, and suddenly felt a rush of relief when she realized it wasn't blood, but let out a sob of humiliation and anger when she saw what it was.
A tomato.
More and more rained down on her from the audience, as the rambunctious and obnoxious laughter from the crowd rose in volume. She attempted to cover her face with her bruised arms, but it helped none, as the tomatoes seemed to continue hitting her endlessly. "S'il vous plaît, arrêtez! Je vous en supplie!" the girl screamed.
Suddenly, a wave of anger rolled through her body. How dare these people hit her! How dare they humiliate and embarrass her! Moaning in pain, one last cry of plea escaped her mouth, which only earned her another handful of tomatoes to be thrown at her. The girl closed her eyes, her mouth set in a straight line, and hands clenched at her sides. "ARRÊTEZ, ARRÊTEZ, ARRÊTEZ!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. The crowd stilled, and a mutual gasp was shared amongst the audience. The girl looked down at her hands to see black, force field-like glove surrounded her hands.
Confused and scared, she tried to shake them off, when several explosions set off in the direction in which her hands were aimed. The audience started to scream, quickly scurrying to the exits. The chaos only grew, as police sirens and firetrucks were heard in the distance. The girl, who was now covered in soot and dust from said explosions, as well as the injuries that were a result of the fall, clumsily started to run out of the tent. Sobs escaped her throat without control, and she couldn't breathe. Her head throbbed, she was dizzy and sore, and she was confused and lost. What was going on? Was she dreaming? Was this some sort of sick joke?
Out of nowhere, she ran into a hard, strong figure. Moaning, she looked up from her place on the ground, to see it was him. She could identify his dark hair and icy blue eyes anywhere. "Je suis tellement désolé! C'était un accident! Je ne voulais pas de mal à personne!" she begged, as she backed away hurriedly, still on the ground. The man grabbed her with brute force, lifted her up, and threw her onto the ground. "You pathetic, disgusting, atrocious piece of filth. You stupid swine, you ruined everything! How dare you risk my reputation! You deserve all of this, you freak of nature. I hate you with every fiber of my being!" he shouted, kicking her roughly in the stomach, making a yelp escape her mouth.
"Papa, s'il vous plaît, pardonnez-moi! Quelque chose ne va pas avec moi, j'ai besoin d'aide-!"
"Shut up, you stupid bitch. I am not your father, I never was, and if you ever, EVER, call me Papa again, I will beat you so badly, you will be lucky if you are dead. Les autorités will be here any moment now. Don't even bother running, they will find you." he interrupted with one last kick to her abdomen. The girl screamed, and the man took off into the night.
With him gone, she hurriedly gathered herself, looking for a place to hide. Gripping onto her side, she half limped, half ran, into an alley not too far away from the circus' dumpsters. "S'il vous plait," she prayed, "S'il ya un Dieu, s'il vous plaît aidez-moi."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Professor Xavier slowly removed Cerebro's helmet from his head, closing his eyes. "Did you find her, Professor?" exclaimed Kitty. Jean, who had read the Professor's mind, pinched the bridge of her nose in sadness. "Yes, Kitty, I did. It appears the situation appears worse then I feared. She is in grave danger of being discovered by the authorities, and is badly injured. Tell the others to suit up, everyone, even the New Mutants. We will need all the help we can get." He said sadly. Kitty nodded her head, and ran off to tell the team.
Jean laid a hand on Professor's shoulder. "She's going to be alright, isn't she?" she asked softly. He softly laid his hand on top of hers comfortingly. "I wish I knew, Jean. I wish I knew."
