"Natalie! Natalie wake up!"
Ms. Audrey Wayne looked her daughter over skeptically as the girl lat wrapped up in soft aqua sheets. Natalie stirred and opened her eyes.
"Come on, mama, five more minutes, please?"
"No, ya got school today!"
Natalie slowly got up and swung her tan legs over the side of the bed. "Oh yeah, school."
Ms. Wayne just smiled at her young daughter. "It's not that bad, is it?"
"It is when ya got precalc finals."
Her mother just laughed and swatted the girl with a pillow. "Get going before you're late."
"Yes'm." Natalie smiled and busied herself getting ready.
* * *
Natalie walked into the main room wearing a black laced tank, faded row- rider jeans and Vans, and had her hair pulled back into a low ponytail, with the curly pieces falling around her gently curved face.
"Mama I gotta go now. I'll see ya after school."
She started out the door, and Ms. Wayne yelled after her as she walked out the door. "Don't forget a jacket!"
Natalie picked it up off of the back of the recliner and headed out. Sure was a nice day for a walk.
Upon arriving at school, Natalie somehow begin feeling badly. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't place what it was, exactly. So she just ignored it and carried on.
"Nat! Wait up!"
She turned to face Stormy Rogers, her best friend. Stormy's dark grey eyes looked her friend over. "A jacket, Nat?"
"Hey, my mom's idea, swear to God." Natalie held up her hands in defense, laughing.
"Besides, I'll probably need it in English later. You know Ms. Chase always keeps it like 50 below."
Stormy just laughed, her blonde hair bouncing behind her. "Let's get going."
Later on in class, Natalie's eyes began to hurt.
"Could just be the overhead", she mused. Well who needed to learn poetry, anyway? Break time. Natalie stretched her arms and legs, then relaxed with a content expression. Muffled laughter came from behind, so Natalie swung her foot behind her, making contact with Stormy's shin.
"Hey watch it!" Stormy whispered to her. Natalie just laughed.
Natalie stopped as suddenly a wave of panic swept over her. She looked out, what she saw couldn't possibly be real!
She saw an overturned car in front of her. It must have been twenty years old. And old tires lay in piles around her. She looked up to see wooden walls, old cracked, and weathered with age, and small holes where windows once were, with dim sunlight pouring through them. She looked down. She couldn't believe it. Those hands. They weren't hers. They were broken, bleeding. Clawing at the dirt for a way out. She saw that they were connected to arms, and the ends of those arms. . . underneath some heavy load. What was this place? So dark and scary. . .
"Nat? Nat!"
Natalie snapped and jerked around to find Stormy staring at her. "You okay?"
Natalie pressed her hands to her face. "I don't know, Stormy, I don't know."
* * *
Later on that day, when she arrived home, Mr. and Ms. Wayne were watching tv.
"Can you imagine?" her mother said. "Losing your own child like that. So many sick people out there. . ."
"Mom, what's up?"
"Ya remember the McKabe's? Sandy's been kidnapped! They don't know where she is."
"Do they have any leads?"
"Could be gang related." Ms. Wayne sighed. "But who knows anymore?"
Natalie looked up. "I might know."
"How would you know?"
"I had a nightmare at school, I think. I was seeing. . . I was seeing hands trying to free themselves from underneath of something. It was scary, I thought I was going to cry. . ."
She looked up. "It kept coming back, but got dimmer and dimmer each time."
"Honey, the authorities aren't interested in dreams."
"But what if it wasn't a dream?"
"It was."
"Then how do you explain Turner-C?"
"What?"
"Turner-C. In my last vision, I saw looking out of a window, I think. And on the building it said Turner-C."
"That's impossible! I'm tired of hearing about this, go do your homework."
"Yes'm."
Natalie walked to her room and shut the door. She picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hi, operator? I want to leave a tip. This will remain anonymous, right?"
* * *
"Thomas!"
"Yeah Audrey?"
"They found Sandy!"
"Good! Where was she?"
"Gang territory, in the old warehouse."
"They find the guy?"
"No. Lucky they found her, she could have died."
"How so?"
"She was underneath a car."
"Oh god, poor Rich. I'm sure he's heartbroken. So you mean to say that them punks are holed up in Rob Turner Toyota now?"
"Guess so, Tom."
"Great."
Natalie smiled from where she sat at the table. She liked this new power, or whatever it was, that she now had. She rubbed her eyes, they burned.
She ran to the bathroom to flush them out, but leaned in closer and gasped.
"My eyes turned yellow!" she screamed.
She looked again, terrified, as the irises in her eyes began to flicker, and turned a horrible green color, far from the original blue they once were.
"What is happening to me?"
* * *
Natalie glanced around to make sure that no one was following her. She pushed her sunglasses farther up her nose. She held her backpack close to her. She needed help.
"What can I do ya for, miss?"
She smiled at the man. "One-way ticket to Bayville, please."
As she boarded the train, she picked up her cellphone and dialed a number written in the palm of her hand.
"Like, hello?"
"Hi, um. . . can I speak to Professor Xavier?"
"Sure, like hold on."
A few moments later, Natalie's ears were filled with the rich voice, heavily accented in British, that could only belong to the Professor.
"How may I help you Miss Wayne?"
"Hi, um yeah I was looking online and I saw your school. . . I think I'm a mutant. Can you help me? I'm on my way to Bayville. My parents don't know, please don't tell them. They'll hate me."
"Yes, of course. I'll send someone to meet you at the station."
"Thankyou."
"Of course."
Click.
Time for her to adjust. But what if she really was one of those, those. . . mutants? It was bad enough that she was having that horrible nightmare about Sandy. But was with the rainbow eyes? They had changed back to blue soon after, but she kept fearing another change, and so they changed green again. This was just getting freaky. Little did she know how freaky her life would become once she arrived at the institute.
Ms. Audrey Wayne looked her daughter over skeptically as the girl lat wrapped up in soft aqua sheets. Natalie stirred and opened her eyes.
"Come on, mama, five more minutes, please?"
"No, ya got school today!"
Natalie slowly got up and swung her tan legs over the side of the bed. "Oh yeah, school."
Ms. Wayne just smiled at her young daughter. "It's not that bad, is it?"
"It is when ya got precalc finals."
Her mother just laughed and swatted the girl with a pillow. "Get going before you're late."
"Yes'm." Natalie smiled and busied herself getting ready.
* * *
Natalie walked into the main room wearing a black laced tank, faded row- rider jeans and Vans, and had her hair pulled back into a low ponytail, with the curly pieces falling around her gently curved face.
"Mama I gotta go now. I'll see ya after school."
She started out the door, and Ms. Wayne yelled after her as she walked out the door. "Don't forget a jacket!"
Natalie picked it up off of the back of the recliner and headed out. Sure was a nice day for a walk.
Upon arriving at school, Natalie somehow begin feeling badly. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't place what it was, exactly. So she just ignored it and carried on.
"Nat! Wait up!"
She turned to face Stormy Rogers, her best friend. Stormy's dark grey eyes looked her friend over. "A jacket, Nat?"
"Hey, my mom's idea, swear to God." Natalie held up her hands in defense, laughing.
"Besides, I'll probably need it in English later. You know Ms. Chase always keeps it like 50 below."
Stormy just laughed, her blonde hair bouncing behind her. "Let's get going."
Later on in class, Natalie's eyes began to hurt.
"Could just be the overhead", she mused. Well who needed to learn poetry, anyway? Break time. Natalie stretched her arms and legs, then relaxed with a content expression. Muffled laughter came from behind, so Natalie swung her foot behind her, making contact with Stormy's shin.
"Hey watch it!" Stormy whispered to her. Natalie just laughed.
Natalie stopped as suddenly a wave of panic swept over her. She looked out, what she saw couldn't possibly be real!
She saw an overturned car in front of her. It must have been twenty years old. And old tires lay in piles around her. She looked up to see wooden walls, old cracked, and weathered with age, and small holes where windows once were, with dim sunlight pouring through them. She looked down. She couldn't believe it. Those hands. They weren't hers. They were broken, bleeding. Clawing at the dirt for a way out. She saw that they were connected to arms, and the ends of those arms. . . underneath some heavy load. What was this place? So dark and scary. . .
"Nat? Nat!"
Natalie snapped and jerked around to find Stormy staring at her. "You okay?"
Natalie pressed her hands to her face. "I don't know, Stormy, I don't know."
* * *
Later on that day, when she arrived home, Mr. and Ms. Wayne were watching tv.
"Can you imagine?" her mother said. "Losing your own child like that. So many sick people out there. . ."
"Mom, what's up?"
"Ya remember the McKabe's? Sandy's been kidnapped! They don't know where she is."
"Do they have any leads?"
"Could be gang related." Ms. Wayne sighed. "But who knows anymore?"
Natalie looked up. "I might know."
"How would you know?"
"I had a nightmare at school, I think. I was seeing. . . I was seeing hands trying to free themselves from underneath of something. It was scary, I thought I was going to cry. . ."
She looked up. "It kept coming back, but got dimmer and dimmer each time."
"Honey, the authorities aren't interested in dreams."
"But what if it wasn't a dream?"
"It was."
"Then how do you explain Turner-C?"
"What?"
"Turner-C. In my last vision, I saw looking out of a window, I think. And on the building it said Turner-C."
"That's impossible! I'm tired of hearing about this, go do your homework."
"Yes'm."
Natalie walked to her room and shut the door. She picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hi, operator? I want to leave a tip. This will remain anonymous, right?"
* * *
"Thomas!"
"Yeah Audrey?"
"They found Sandy!"
"Good! Where was she?"
"Gang territory, in the old warehouse."
"They find the guy?"
"No. Lucky they found her, she could have died."
"How so?"
"She was underneath a car."
"Oh god, poor Rich. I'm sure he's heartbroken. So you mean to say that them punks are holed up in Rob Turner Toyota now?"
"Guess so, Tom."
"Great."
Natalie smiled from where she sat at the table. She liked this new power, or whatever it was, that she now had. She rubbed her eyes, they burned.
She ran to the bathroom to flush them out, but leaned in closer and gasped.
"My eyes turned yellow!" she screamed.
She looked again, terrified, as the irises in her eyes began to flicker, and turned a horrible green color, far from the original blue they once were.
"What is happening to me?"
* * *
Natalie glanced around to make sure that no one was following her. She pushed her sunglasses farther up her nose. She held her backpack close to her. She needed help.
"What can I do ya for, miss?"
She smiled at the man. "One-way ticket to Bayville, please."
As she boarded the train, she picked up her cellphone and dialed a number written in the palm of her hand.
"Like, hello?"
"Hi, um. . . can I speak to Professor Xavier?"
"Sure, like hold on."
A few moments later, Natalie's ears were filled with the rich voice, heavily accented in British, that could only belong to the Professor.
"How may I help you Miss Wayne?"
"Hi, um yeah I was looking online and I saw your school. . . I think I'm a mutant. Can you help me? I'm on my way to Bayville. My parents don't know, please don't tell them. They'll hate me."
"Yes, of course. I'll send someone to meet you at the station."
"Thankyou."
"Of course."
Click.
Time for her to adjust. But what if she really was one of those, those. . . mutants? It was bad enough that she was having that horrible nightmare about Sandy. But was with the rainbow eyes? They had changed back to blue soon after, but she kept fearing another change, and so they changed green again. This was just getting freaky. Little did she know how freaky her life would become once she arrived at the institute.