Prologue
Sarah White awoke from the unconscious state she was in. The first thing she noticed was the many blotches of blood splattered on the floor of the stage. Three bodies were laid before her feet, blood coming out of various places. Seated in the front row of the auditorium were Sarah's parents. Their blank, soulless eyes were focused on the stage. Sarah quickly ran off of the stage, using the stairs at its side, and stood in front of her parents.
"Mom? Dad?" she said, half-expecting them to answer.
They were dead. They bled to death from the bullet holes in their stomachs and chests. Sarah sat down in the chair next to her mother. She lifted her mother's hand and intertwined it with her own. This seemed so unreal to her. A tear rolled down Sarah's cheek. She started to cry even more, now accepting the realization of the situation. Two figures from the back of the auditorium walked over to Sarah. They were Jean Grey and Ororo Munroe, the two ladies Sarah had met outside the mall a week before.
"Sarah, you have to come with us now," said Jean.
"Let me say goodbye," Sarah responded. The two mutants looked at each other in bewilderment. Sarah got up from her seat and stood in between her parents' seats. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her mother and father. "Goodbye…" She released her hold and walked towards the two ladies. "All of this happened because of that day at the mall, right?"
"Yes," said Storm reluctantly. She didn't want Sarah to fell that it was her fault that her parents died.
"So where do I go now?"
"You're going to come with us to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning."
"What's that?"
"A place that you'll be able to control your powers," said Jean.
As we walked out of the auditorium, I couldn't help but think of the events that have occurred this week.
---One Week Earlier---
Sarah was at home, sitting in the kitchen, reading a piece of paper.
"Sweetie, what's that you're reading?" asked Sarah's mom. She was a short, blond-haired woman with brown eyes and very pale skin. According to Sarah, she was the best mother anyone could ever have. Sarah and her mother looked nothing alike. Sarah had brown hair, light-blue eyes, and tan skin. The only thing she had from her mom is the same high cheekbone structure. Other than that, she looked just like her father, only that she was a girl and that she was fifteen.
"It's a talent contest at my school. I'm thinking about entering, but I don't know what I should do," Sarah responded. She casted her eyes back down onto the paper.
"Why don't you play the piano? You're really good."
"Yeah, I've been practicing for a while now."
She got up from the chair and headed towards the front door. "Tell dad I'll be back before 9."
"How about you'll be back before 8?"
"Fine." Sarah closed the door on her way out and walked to the mall. It was only a few blocks away, so she didn't take very long to get there. She walked into GameStop and bought a present for her friend, Mark. His birthday was in a couple of weeks. After that, she went to the food court and bought a burger, fries, and a coke. She sat down and began eating.
A few minutes after she began eating, she noticed two women staring at her. One of them was African American and had white hair. The other had red hair and was white-skinned. The African American whispered to the red-head saying, "Is she the one Dr. Xavier wanted us to talk to?" The red-head only nodded.
Sarah stood and threw away what she couldn't eat and walked towards the entrance. When she was outside, she noticed the two ladies that were staring at her, were now following her. Sarah started to speed up her walk. As she did, so did the two ladies. She ran into an alleyway, but stopped when she saw a man being mugged by two other men. "Hey! What the heck do you think you're doing?!"
The two men looked up at Sarah and dropped the man they were mugging onto the floor. "She looks like she has money. Let's get her instead. After all, this guy only had a few bucks." The two men started to walk forward. One of them took out a switchblade and flipped out the blade.
Sarah started to back away as the men advanced. She was terrified and didn't know what to do. The two ladies were catching up to her and she was about to be mugged.
While she was panicking, one of the men jumped back. "Whoa, look at her eyes! They're red."
Sarah's panicked expression disappeared and she started to walk towards the men. She raised her hand and, suddenly, one of the men flew backwards and hit the wall at the end of the alley.
"She's one of those mutants!" said the other man he started to run away, but before he could, Sarah forced his feet to stay in place. Sarah hovered over the ground and flew over to the man. "Please, have mercy!" he cried.
"How can I show mercy to a man that shows none?" Sarah replied in turn. She widened her eyes slightly and, within seconds, the man fell to the ground, blood gushing out of his ears and nose.
The two ladies finally caught up to Sarah. Sarah turned around and was about to attack, but the red-haired lady raised a finger and forced Sarah against a wall. The white-haired lady looked around and said, "What'd you do?"
"I knocked the first guy unconscious and imploded the second guy's brain," Sarah replied plainly.
"What's your name?" asked the red-haired lady.
"My name?" Sarah cast her eyes down and then looked back up at the other two. Her eyes went back from blood-red to light-blue. "Huh?" Sarah said groggily. "Where…" She looked around and then noticed that she was being forced to the wall by an invisible force. "Did you guys kill the two men?"
"What are you talking about? You just told us that you knocked the first guy unconscious and imploded the second guy's brain," said the white-haired lady.
"Me? What are you talking about? Who are you? And, more importantly, why can't I move?"
"Oh, sorry," said the red-haired lady. She released her telekinetic control over Sarah's body.
"Wait, are you two mutants?"
"Yes, we are. And so are you."
"Me? What are you talking about? I'm just a regular girl. I can't be…" Sarah looked at the dead body lying on the floor. "Answer my first question. Who are you?"
"My name is Jean Grey," said the red-head.
"I am Ororo Munroe, but you can call me Storm," said the African American lady.
"I'm Sarah White. Why were you two following me?" asked Sarah.
"We were meaning to talk to you about your powers. We need to take you to a special facility to train your powers so you do not become a threat to National Security and to yourself," said Jean.
"But…the talent show. I've been practicing the piano for months just so I could be ready for it. Let me perform before I leave," pleaded Sarah.
"Is she serious?" asked Storm.
Jean shushed her. "Ok, but you only have until then. I assume you will be telling your parents?"
"Yeah, but do I tell them that I'm a mutant?"
"You don't have to. It's your choice."
"So what do I tell them if they want to know why I'm going to some weird facility?"
"Ummm…tell them you were accepted to a boarding school or something," said Storm, nodding at the satisfactory of her answer.
"Um, ok. So…see ya later, I guess." Sarah waved goodbye to Jean and Storm. She walked home and lay down on her couch. What she didn't know as that it was 9:30.
"Where have you been?!" nagged Sarah's mom.
"Some scouts from a boarding school were talking to me about being accepted into their school. I told them that I needed to get home by 8, but the conversation ran a little late," Sarah said, remembering what Storm told her to say.
Her mother gave Sarah a skeptical look. "Really? And am I or your father going to talk to these 'scouts'?"
"Yeah…um, they're gonna be at the talent show."
"Alright, but if you're lying to me, you're going to be grounded for a month."
"Got it. Is dad home yet?"
"He's still at work. He said he should be leaving in a couple of minutes."
About thirty minutes later, Sarah's father arrived home. He walked inside and said, "I'm home!"
"Hey dad!" shouted Sarah from the couch. She got up at hugged her father.
Sarah's mother walked down the stairs and kissed her husband. "Welcome home."
"Anything interesting happen while I was at work?"
"Your daughter supposedly was accepted into a boarding school."
"What school?"
"I don't know. She said we will be able to talk to the scouts on the day of the talent show."
"What talent show?"
"The one they have at my school every year in the auditorium," replied Sarah.
"You finally decided to enter?"
"Shut up."
"Since when do children talk to adults like that?"
"Wait 'till you see the way she talks to me," said Sarah's mom.
For the rest of the week, Sarah practiced on her piano. She had practiced for so long, that the tips of her fingers began to bleed. Finally, the day of the talent show came, and on the stage, Sarah was playing Moonlight Sonata for more than 3,000 people. Each note was played so carefully and with such precision that all who listened were captivated by its magnificence. Then, out of nowhere, a sound was heard. It wasn't coming from the piano or the people seated before the stage. It sounded like a gunshot. Sarah immediately stopped playing and looked at the side of the piano, where a bullet gouged it. She looked towards the back of the auditorium and saw a man carrying the gun that shot at her. More men came in, and one of them she recognized as the man she knocked unconscious a week before.
Great, Sarah thought.
The man walked to the front of the auditorium. "Everyone, stay in your seats. All we want is the girl."
Sarah stood up. Her eyes were once again, blood-red. She said, "Your friend wasn't too smart when he picked a fight with me. Now you fate will be the same." She raised a finger to her ear and curled the other fingers, making her hand look like a gun. She pretended to shoot. The man's gun rose into the air and forced itself against his head. Sarah looked at the man, her fiery eyes stripping the man of each exquisite ounce of mental agony he had. "I hope you like Hell." The gun shot and the man's body fell to the floor.
"Sarah?" mouthed Sarah's father.
"Get her!" said one man from the gang. The group ran towards the stage, guns in hand.
Sarah's father stood up and grabbed a gang member. He punched the gang member. As soon as he did this, another gang member pushed Sarah's father back into his seat, pointed the gun at him, and shot twice.
Sarah closed her hand into a fist, and within seconds, the man's skull caved in.
Another gang member started to shoot randomly into the audience. "Nobody's gonna get out of here alive!" A group of the gang members were walking up the stairs located at the side of the stairs.
Sarah looked at the piano and it started to hover over the stage. She motioned her hand towards the gang members and the piano flew at them. Blood covered the walls once the piano hit. Sarah stared at the man that was shooting randomly into the audience as he shot her mother square in the chest. The gun was lifted from his hands from an invisible force. "You killed her," she said in between gasps. She was crying by then. Then, something strange happened. Sarah forced the man into a trance-like state and a couple of seconds later, the man was screaming. Sarah still had the man's gun. She brought the gun down to herself. She pointed it at the man and pulled the trigger. He fell to the floor with a plop.
All of the gang members were dead or seriously injured. Everything she saw and heard suddenly sounded like a strange buzzing noise in her ears. All she heard was Jean's voice.
We're coming to get you right now, she said.
Ok, but don't be surprised if you see a lot of dead people, responded Sarah.
Sarah looked around the auditorium a strange triumphant smile. "I guess I won the talent show," she said to herself.