Hello readers, Romyevolutionlover here. I hope you like this story. It's from an old story I wrote for my speech class and I revised it for this story I wrote this at the beginning of the summer and decided to finally post it. There is only a tad bit of Romy in this story but there is a little. And if anyone can help me with the accents I would just love that. Thank you.
Summary: Rogue has always had an internal struggle with others nightmarish memories. But what of her own demons that plague her. In this story she comes face to face with one of her demons and has to face some past transgressions.
Disclaimer: I do not own X-men, Marvel, or the Sandman's Lullaby. I wish I did but the only way that would happen is if hell froze over. I don't see it happening anytime soon.
R&R And Enjoy.
The darken scenery surrounded her, overwhelming her senses. She felt as if she were floating through water, drifting through nothingness on her way to who-knows-where. She felt numb, empty, alone, wanting someone, something, or even her psyches to comfort her but nothing did. For once she was alone, with no one and no pieces of others' personalities to persecute her, and the silence of it all felt like purgatory. "Did Ah died?" she amused out loud "Cause this is wha' hell must beh lahke."
Rogue landed on solid ground, the feeling of cold, hard metal surfacing beneath her feet. Goose bumps rose on her skin as the ground sent chills tremorring through her spine. The Goth looked around, seeing only nothingness in all directions. The only things that she could visibly see were the two white stripes of hair that framed her face and her hands. The stripes seemed to glow against the darkness that seemed to surround everything; they were the one only part of her that clearly showed that she was a mutant. And then there were her hands. Her hands were bare, with no gloves to cover them, making her feel naked and exposed. She was dangerous without her gloves, a menace to society. She was more dangerous than a loaded gun for she was a vampire, a soul sucker; and with every soul she stole, she had to keep, even though she never wanted them in the first place. Her only instinct told her to move so she stepped forward, knowing that at times trusting instinct was safer than trusting logic. Then again nothing of this was logical; nothing of this made sense at all to Rogue.
Rogue felt as if her feet were lead as she walked along no definite path, each step was like treading through mud, making her more and more tired. As she walked on, she began to hear the sound of rattling chains. She looked around and saw a line of people, chained together by rusted shackles, moving in the opposite direction that she was heading. The shackled souls were people of all sizes and ethnicities. And all of them were familiar.
The one leading them stood out the most. It was a boy no older than Rogue, herself, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a slight tan and varsity jacket for Caldecott County High school football; it was Cody, the first person she ever absorbed. Rogue's breath caught in her throat when she saw him as unwanted memories of her first absorption entered her mind. Behind Cody stood a man in his mid-twenties with a dirty blond mullet, both his ears were pierced, and he wore a red sports jacket. 'Julien' she thought remembering her brief encounter with the Cajun prince of the Assassin's Guild. (1).Following Julie were others that she recognized, Arcade and people from the concert (2).All of them stared ahead, as in a trace, drool escaping from some of their lips. Each stepped simultaneously, one inflamed and gory foot in front of the other, heading towards, what seemed like hell, leaving a trail of blood behind them.
Gradually, the ground beneath her feet began to change. The burning cold metal turned to gravel, the rocks digging into the calloused ivory flesh. Soon, the gravel changed into grass, the soft green blades tickling her bare feet. And before long the grass changed into sand just as she reached water's end, the warm blood colored waves lapsing over her toes, stinging the raw flesh.
The blood-red sea looked endless, just like everything else in this decrepit world. Fog surrounded everything, covering the water with a blanket. Old decaying buildings rose out of the water as if a city once stood where this ocean is now. Black birds circled a dying sculpture, letting out a cry that made her heart skip a beat. The breeze had a smell of burning debris. It looked like the apocalypse; everything was chaos.
Through the fog came a voice, humming a melody, so hair rising that it made Rogue's skin crawl. A raft came floating through the fog, drifting towards the shore. On the raft sat a boy, with his legs in the water. It was only when the boy reached shore that she had seen him clearly. He couldn't have been more than five years old. He wore a large black t-shirt that hung off his left shoulder with no shoes to cover his blacken feet. His skin was so pale that it was nearly translucent and when he looked at her that she noticed that he had no eyes, just hollow sockets that had blood trailing out of them and down his face. Rogue shivered at the sight.
The boy stepped off the raft and walked over to her. He tilted his head to the side, his mouth slightly ajar. He reached his chubby little hand towards Rogue seeking comfort. "Will you come with me? I want to show you my home." the boy said, his voice echoing against the bloody waters.
She shook her head, "Ah-ah can't, ah'll hurt you." She nearly whispered. Rogue pulled her hands to her chest, staring at the deadly weapons. They looked so innocent. "Ah'm dangerous. Lahke a vampire."
The boy just smiled. An eerie giggle escaped from his lips, causing Rogue to shudder. "You couldn't hurt me even if you wanted to." He simply stated. The near translucent hand still hung in the air, waiting for support. Taking a deep breath Rogue reached and grasped his hand slightly shocked that her powers didn't activate: that there was no pull.
As soon as they were aboard the raft it jerked out towards the ocean, as if the raft was connected to a chain being dragged to its destination. The boy started humming the melody from before sending more chills up Rogue's spine. The song floated through the air as the little boy sang,
"Sandman come to me tonight, Comfort me 'till morning light,
As darkness falls and shadows gloom, I bid you welcome to my room,
Rest your bones beside my bed, Lay your hands upon my head,
Cast your spell - a slumber deep, And stay beside me as I sleep,
If I should die before I wake, I grant to you my soul to take."(3)
They drifted further and further out to sea when something bumped against the raft. Rogued looked and saw a headless body floating in the blood-red ocean. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the clothing. The body had a pink shirt that slightly overlapped the yellow tank top with jean capris. On the neck or more like what was left of the neck there was a necklace. "Kit-Kat…" the whisper escaped her lips. Rogue hand seemed to have a mind of its own as it began to drift towards the body when the raft collided with something again As they drifted further out more and more headless bodies filled the sea, each, she soon realized, was a mutant she absorbed. Soon the raft halted to a stop, unable to go any further. Rogue felt as if she couldn't breathe, her stomach churned, as tears fell freely from her emerald eyes. She hugged herself, nails digging into her arms as if trying to wake from this nightmare.
Rogue looked down at her feet, trying to avoid looking at the bodies and, for the first time, saw the raft beneath them. She reeled backwards nearly falling off the raft for she noticed that the raft was made from skulls, some still with faces that stared in fright, silently screaming at me. Two yellow eyes gawked at her, the eyes of her brother, mouth ajar in silent pain. On one of the skulls sat a pair of ruby-quartz glasses and beneath cooper hair stared a pair of red on black demon eyes. All the gazes seemed to accuse Rogue, pleading for help. It was then that Rogue let out an ear-splitting scream, causing the birds to fly from their perches. The boy merely stood up, grinning, still humming his song.
The child of death turned towards her and stopped singing and simply smiled. "What do you think?" he asked, spreading his chubby little arms in front of him, indicating to the chaotic terrain.
"Whah tha fuck do ya wan' with meh?"Rogue screamed at the smiling demon child.
The boy just smiled, as a scythe appeared in his small chubby hand "I wanted to show you my home. I made it just for you." he smiled; one of his front teeth was missing.
"But whah (why)?" she whispered, falling to her knees, tears falling down her face.
"For everything you did. Every sin you ever committed. Every soul you stole. And even for the life you stole." He pointed to the dying statue that stood out of the water. The statue was of a screaming woman trying to pull her hand way from what was causing her pain. Rogue recognized her as Mystique; the woman who cause her so much agony. The same woman she pushed over a cliff. Rogue's breathing seemed to stop as a scythe appeared in his chubby little hand."This is your repentance." He raised his blade, a giggle escaping from his lips. "This is your damnation, Anna-Marie." All Rogue could do was let out a bloodcurdling scream as he swung the blade. Just as the edge of the scythe began to cut into her neck she was jolted awake, by a pair of large hands.
"Shh, shh Cherie. Its okay ,everyt'ings gonna be alright." Gambit's voice said soothingly.
"R-Remy?"Rogue could still feel the edge of the blade against her neck. Her heart was beating wildly against her ribcage and her breathing was erratic. Remy pulled Rogue close against him, hugging her to his chest. Her fingers knotted themselves with his shirt, holding on for dear life.
"Yeah, Petite, it's moi. Everyt'ing's gonna be alrigh, jus' relax." He pushed the white matted strains behind her ear with a gloved hand. She could vaguely smell the spices, aftershave, and the late-night cigarette that lingered on him.
"Remy, it was horrible. Everah one was dead, it was mah fault." Rogue mumbled into chest, barely loud enough for him to hear. Tears were streaming down her face, soaking his shirt. She felt so vulnerable and weak. "It's all mah fault."
"Non, shh, mon coeur. No one's dead. It was all un bad dream. Ya didn' do anyt'ing, Roguey, everyone's alrigh'." he reassured her, whispering into her hair.
"Rogue," Rogue turned her head and saw the small Valley girl standing at the end of her bed. "Are you okay? You were screaming." she asked stepping closer. Rogue was slightly taken back by the lack of likes in her sentences.
Before she could answer Kitty, Logan busted through the doors. "Stripes, you okay?" he inquired before he saw who else was in the room. A menacing growl rose from his throat. "Gumbo, back to your room."
Gambit just chuckled. "Don' seem like the fille wan's Remy to leave." A smirk played across his face as a blush rose on Rogue's face. Rogue detangled herself from the Cajun and pushed him away from her. He started to laugh as he hit the floor. Kitty even tried to hid a smile behind her hands. The Goth glared at both her friends, wiping the tears off her face, fighting the small smile that was trying to work its way on her lips but a distinct shink brought her attention back to Logan.
"Gumbo. Out." He ordered, pointing his claws out of the room.
Remy sighed. "You sure ya okay, Rogue?" he asked, concern filling his eyes. Rogue nodded, pulling her comforter up to her shoulders. "D'accord, Cherie. Bon nuit." He stood and gave a quick bow before departing. Logan's eyes didn't leave Gambit until he was out of sight.
Logan turned back to face Rogue. "Yer sure yer okay, Stripes?" With another nod of her head, Logan muttered an "okay" before turning away.
Rogue let out a small pent-up sigh as she got up to close the door. She turned to return to her bed to hear a small giggle. "You, like, looked really comfy in Gambit's arms." The Goth glared at the Valley Girl who was already in bed with her faithful stuff animal Lockheed tucked under her arms.
"Shut up, Kit. Just shut up. Not another word."
1) I know that X-men Evolution uses the Rippers instead of the Assassins Guild but I personally prefer the Assassins Guild cause I think it suits them me the Rippers just seems like it's not badass enough.
2) Arcade is the computer game nerd from Season 2 Episode Fun and Games. Plus I was going to go into detail with each of the people at the concert from Self-Possessed that Rogue accidentally touched but got a little lazy and I thought that would have been dragging it out too much.
3) A creepy lullaby that I just happen to come across in like December. I believe it's called Sandman's lullaby but I'm not 100%sure on that, so please correct me if I am wrong. I like it cause it just seems kind of eerie, to me at least.
