Haunted

Haunted is a song written by Poe. I did not write the song. lol. No way. lol

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"Stop them! Please!" The scream came, echoing down the dark hallways, reverbrating off the walls. The girl who had screamed was grasping her head and tears were streaming down her face. Her eyes were clenched shut. "Ahhh!"

Lights turned on and people ran out of the rooms that were along the walls of the hallway. It was too late though; the teenager had collapsed to the ground.

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In her mind she was curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth. All around her was darkness, pure darkness. Voices were all around her though. They were jeering, threatening, and crying out, all of it for her.

"Leave meh alone, please, leave me alone." She cried quietly. She looked up and saw a figure penetrate the darkness.

The green-eyed girl stood up and squinted at the figure. The voices became hushed as she concentrated. .

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Come here

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The figure didn't move. The girl made to move toward it but her limps suddenly seemed to freeze in place, as if something ice cold had grasped them and wouldn't let her near the thing.

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Pretty please

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Still they didn't move, she could tell that they were looking at her though. Finally it stepped closer. The closer it got the queiter the voices got and the more the icy bonds let her go.

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Can you tell me where I am

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Once again it didn't respond. It just got closer, but the sillhoutte itself didn't get any clearer.

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You won't you say something

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She almost sobbed. Why wouldn't they speak to her? Why wouldn't it answer her? She didn't know what was going on or where she was. It was just a black abyss all around her, a figure directly in front of her, still getting closer.

With a shake of her head she grasped it with her hands and grasped her hair so hard her scalp was beginning to hurt.

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I need to get my bearings

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Still it refused to respond to her. By now, her fingernails were digging into her scalp and blood was beginning to trickle down.

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I'm lost

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"So lost." She whimpered. The pain in her scalp becoming too much she let her hands drop to her sides. From there, she hugged herself. The figure was now close enough to see and her eyes widened.

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And the shadows keep on changing

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The figure had finally taken a shape. No, it hadn't taken a shape, it kept taking shapes. With each passing moment it transfigured into another person, another being, another manifestation of it's original self. It was everyone she had touched, everyone she touched into one... thing.

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And I'm haunted

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It reached one constantly shifting hand out toward Rogue. Rogue wanted to move away, wanted to evade it, but her feet seemed to have taken root and she couldn't move away.

The hand reached her, touched her where her heart was, and then it went right through. She could feel it in her and she screamed, as the hand seemed to wrap around her rapidly beating heart. Pain then shot through her.

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By the lives that I have loved

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Her vision went white, and although she could still feel her heart in the hand of that creature, she couldn't see it. No, she saw Kurt, she saw Kitty, Logan, Evan, Jean, Scott, Hank, Storm, Xavier, Toad, Pietro, Remy, Lance, Mystique, IRENE Faster and faster did she see them, over and over again. She let out another scream, overwhelmed by it.

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And actions I have hated

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Finally it stopped. She saw herself being rude to the X-men, saw her nearly plow Scott over a cliff with a snow-mobile, saw her trusting Mystique, saw herself yelling at Kitty, Jean, Kurt, saw herself attack the X-men, attack Logan, saw herself walking right up to Apocolapse, saw her push Mystique to her 'death', saw herself yelling at Remy; another flash of white.

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I'm haunted

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She was back, starring up into blackness. The pain still shot through her, the hand still grasped her pumping organ. She looked at it, her teeth clenched in an attempt to handle the pain.

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By the lives that wove the web

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It was still shifting, changing. So many people! "You stole us, captured us, caged us, and raped our minds." The figure told her scornfully. With each word the voice changed to someone else's. "You can't hold us forever. No, we're breaking free, stronger then anything you can imagine. "It told her, it's grip on her heart tightened. "You are nothing to us anymore. Without us you are nothing. We're going to cage you where you have caged us and your body will be ours. That is the only thing of yours that is of value and we will use it, use it to destroy what is weak."

She saw then, a picture of the earth and her eyes got wide. As the picture left she saw the thing again. Ray grinned and the changing figured was covered in electricity. It shot right into Rogue and she writhed, trying to get away.

Scott grinned, a red glow covered the changing psyches' eyes. Kitty grinned. Amara grinned and the creature was covered in flames. Rogue screamed out this time as the fire burned her. She tried to get away but she couldn't, it was still grasping her heart.

Storm grinned and a wind picked up, whipping the flames, the constantly changing figure's hair, and Rogue's own hair. Rogue could take hardly any notice. So much pain, so unbearable.

Remy grinned and Rogue was consumed in a red glow. She was charged with kinetic energy.

They're the psyches... they couldn't have possibly left my mind. I know where I am!

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Inside my haunted head

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As the realization hit her, whiteness began where the transforming hand held her. It was as if it where rays, streaking out of her. Rogue's green eyes hardened as she glared at the thing.

The thing was beginning to get worried. It tried to retract it's hand but couldn't.

"An' what should Ah call ya?" Rogue asked, her voice harsh yet callous.

The thing's own, optic covered eyes also hardened. "Legion."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "How could Ah have not seen that comin'?" She replied, her voice dripping with cruel sarcasim.

"You can't beat us! We're all powerful! We shall destroy this weak world!" Legion exclaimed.

"Yeah, no, not while Ah'm alive!" Rogue yelled before the whiteness seemed to explode, sending the figure flying away. The kinetic energy around her exploded, but to no avail. It had no effect on Rogue.

"This is mah mihnd! Ya can't hurt meh here without mah consent!" She hollared out to the thing.

The whiteness of the explotion didn't give way to darkness again, but instead remained.

Slowly, she heard something. It was crying. Ahead of her she saw a young boy. He was lying on the ground crying.

Rogue walked up to him and carefully set a hand on his back.

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Don't cry

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She told him. He looked up at her, sniffling. "They hurt us." He whimpered.

There was more crying. Looking around, there were several children. Who were they? She then recognized them then. The one she was talking to was Cody. Another was Arcade, and most the others were from the concert. The last two were ones she had absorbed while playing as a Bayville Siren.

"Come here." She said kindly to the children. Slowly they got up and made their way to her. She opened her arms up and allowed them to hug her if they needed to. She didn't worry about skin to skin contact, here she didn't have to take their psyches, they were already taken.

"What did ya mean?" She asked Cody.

"Legion. He... whatever it is, they hurt us. They use those powahs o' theirs. They say we're useless an' weak, cause we don't have powahs too."

Rogue looked around. The children nodded.

"And we can't stop them." Arcade whimpered. Rogue smiled ever so slightly.

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There's always a way

Here in November in this house of leaves

We'll pray

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She took Cody's hands then and put them together as if in prayer. "Always, always a way. Ah need ya're help though. Ya aren't useless t'me. Ah need all ya're strength, all ya're hope. Ah've lost mihne. Become a part o' me an' help me stop Legion."

The children backed away slightly.

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Please, I know it's hard to believe

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"But Ah can stop them. Really. Ah just need ya're help." Still the children inched away from her, all but Cody.

"Ah trust ya." Cody said in a quiet voice.

Rogue smiled. "Ah know. Here." She stood up and took one of Cody's hands in her right, and Arcades in her left. She then began to walk. The children followed her.

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To see a perfect forest

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Rogue created a beautiful forest in front of them. It looked as if it was straight from a fairytale. The kids stared in awe at its magnificance.

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Through so many splintered trees

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A dead forest suddenly hid it. They all knew though, that that perfect forest was still there, just behind it.

"Ya have t'go through the hard stuff befo' ya're allowed the good stuff." She kneeled down and the kids all looked at her. She looked around at them. "Ah'm willing t'lead ya through tha hard stuff, but lihke Ah said, Ah can't do it alone."

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You and me

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"We can do this. Are ya willin'?" Rogue asked the psyches.

"We're willin'." Cody replied with a nodd.

"I will." Arcade said.

The rest slowly nodded.

"Alright, ya know what t'do." Rogue said, standing up.

The children nodded and slowly got in a cirlce around her. They clasped hands. Rogue threw an arm up, and as if it was a signal, the children, without moving themselves, began to roatate around her. Slowly at first, then faster until it was a blur.

Suddenly, the blur closed in around Rogue, and as it did, dissapeared into her.

"All alone now." Rogue said quietly, then shook her head. "No, Ah still have them." She whispered to herself. It was then that the darkness took over. The scenery shifted.

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And these shadows keep on changing

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She closed her eyes and concentrated on the emotions and strengths of the pysches of these people.

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And I'm haunted

By the lives that I have loved

And actions I have hated

I'm haunted

By the promises I've made

And others I have broken

I'm haunted

By the lives that wove the web

Inside my haunted head

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The scenery shifted.

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Hallways... always

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She was standing at the end of a long hallway. The hallway branched into others. It was dark, so dark here, and it was cold.

Rogue began to walk down the hall. There were doors, each one with a name etched on it.

"Mystique." She read on one. She hurried past it and found another door. "Storm." She walked up to it and just stood in front of it for a while. Finally, she touched the door nob. It was as if she had taken hold of a large cube of ice. She ignored this and twisted the handle. Opening the door, she found that it was completely empty. All it was, was dark, cold walls. She had expected a rush of memories and maybe even powers.

"Ah may not have explored this part o' mah mihnd before, but Ah know this shouldn't be this empty." She told herself. She shook her head and closed the door. She looked down the hallway. She knew what had happened to her. She knew what had happened to all the mutant pyches.

"Legion."

It felt like hours walking down those halls, so many halls. It was so quiet, so deserted. It was terrifying really.

Finally she came to a grand staircase. She looked down it and it seemed to go on and on forever. Looking up, she saw the same thing.

"Ah know Ah didn't touch that many people." She whispered. She took a step onto the staircase and suddenly it jolted. She knew she didn't have as much power here as she did the rest of her mind. The rest of her mind was completely hers. This wasn't.

Grasping onto the railing for support against the jolt, it began to sink. It was sinking! That's one thing Rogue hadn't expected. The almost painful silence had only been penetrated a few times with sounds she couldn't interpret. This one was obvious though. The loud grumbling that had taken the place of the silence in hurting her ears was the staircase moving.

Finally the staircase stopped sinking. For a while, Rogue just continued to grasp the railing but after about five minutes she concluded that it'd be safe to continue downward.

It felt, to her, like weeks of walking down that staircase until she finally got to the bottom. Only one other time had it sunk again. By that time Rogue had become so sick of walking down them she had been tempted to go back. She had known that she couldn't do that though and had continued downward.

Having finally gotten to the bottom Rogue contiuned to walk the halls. She was so tired but she knew she couldn't give up now. If she did while she was so deeply buried in her mind, Legion could take over. She knew that it had tried several times during her journey through these endless hallways, but always, even from where she was at, was she able to supress it. However, she hadn't actually seen it since that first day.

Day? Were there even days and nights in this place? She didn't know, and she was too tired to care.

Finally, Rogue's tired eyes focused on a door. Etched in dripping blood into the concrete was written the word Legion.

Rogue let out a relieved sigh. She reached for the doorknob, but as she touched it, she didn't feel the expected icy cold, but instead it burned. She hissed in pain but didn't let go. Slowly, the knob began to turn red but she paid it no heed. She had to get in.

With difficulty, she slowly got the door opened. Once she did she kicked it the rest of the way open and walked in.

This room wasn't empty. Still constantly changing, stood Legion in the corner.

"You can't stop us!" It hissed.

"Ah already have." Rogue replied walking toward them.

"You touch us and we'll consume you! We'll make you a part of us!"

"We'll see about that." Rogue said, continuing toward them.

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I'll always love you

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They hissed at response and moved back as she neared them.

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I'll always need you

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"Well we don't need you! Leave us before we destroy you!" It continued to hiss. Rogue ignored them, keeping her calm tone as she continued to near them.

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I'll always want you

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"Stay away!"

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And I will always miss you!

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With that, Rogue plunged a hand into it and grasped its heart the way it had done to her. It let out a growl of rage and pain. Rogue next put a hand on its head and closed her eyes.

Both Legion and Rogue screamed out as the battle began. Rogue felt so small against them all. They hadn't lyed when they had claimed to be powerful and Rogue felt as if she was shrinking. Her hand became stuck inside it the way it's hand had once been stuck in her own chest.

She heard it laugh.

"We told you, you couldn't win." It said. Its voice was all around her, as if she was in ampletheater and the volume was at speaker-breaking intensity. She screamed out.

"Ah need ya're help!" She called to the children, who really weren't children. "Help me."

She felt her will increase.

"It's futile." Legion taunted. "You're weak and useless. No one even likes you. They're nice out of pity. We know, we were them."

"Ya lie!"

"Why would we lie? What's the point in that? We can beat you without doing so."

"Rogue." A new voice. It was familiar, but old. If felt like centuries since she had last heard it.

"Xavier?"

"He can't help you." Legion laughed. "Not here. He is among us here."

"I can't help you Rogue, but we're here for you. All of us. You can fight them Rogue."

"Come on Stripes, you can handle this." She heard Logan's voice next.

"No you can't." She heard Logan's voice again. "You're weak kid, you only try to be tough."

"Come on Rogue, You know zat's not true. Kick zis dude's butt! I've been vanting to take you out for a burger bomb but zat annoying dude's been delaying it, but only delaying it. You can do it sis."

"You lied Professor." Rogue said to Xavier.

"Of course he did. You can't beat me!" Xavier's voice responded, but not the one she was talking to.

"No." Rogue replied. "He can help meh, and he jus' did!" Rogue yelled.

It was Legion's turn to scream.

...

...

It was as if another explosion went off and Rogue felt herself thrown across the room and hit a wall. She gasped as air left her and fell to the ground. As she stood up she saw a shapeless shadow in the center of the room. It looked like it was a fire, but without color, only a shadow. Around it was the unconscious figures of all the mutants she had ever touched.

Slowly they moved to look at her.

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Come here

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They all just looked at her blankly. After a second, they looked at her expectantly. Rogue's facial expression hardened.

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No I won't say please

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They stopped looking at her and sat up and checked themsevles over. They were all fine. The shadow fire's flames licked upward violently suddenly and Rogue looked to it.

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One more look at the ghost

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She pointed to the fire and all the psyches looked at it.

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Before I'm gonna make it leave

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They all looked at it. Rogue held her still burnt hand over it. A flame licked her hand and her blood seeped out of her hand onto her palm.

"Ya can't hurt me anymore." She told it. "Ya may have managed that, but that's it. Ah've won, now go." She told it. It grew, and its flames became violent. The psyches moved as far away from it as possible but Rogue didn't even flinch.

"Ah said leave!" She hollared and it grew up until it was as thin as a small pole, then dissappeared.

She looked around at the others.

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Come here

I've got the pieces here

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She held her hands out to them so they could look at them. Kurt stood up and took her hand. Kitty took his. Logan took Rogue's right hand. Slowly, all of them were holding hands. Rogue looked upward and closed her eyes. Slowly each one dissapeared, then reapeared in the space provided for them among the hallways.

Tired and exahusted Rogue collapsed the floor.

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Time to gather up the splinters

 Build a casket for my tears

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Rogue awoke and felt someone holding onto her hand. With a groan she moved her head to look and see Logan. His forehead was resting on the wall to left of him. He seemed to be sleeping. She felt something also on her right hand. This wasn't someone holding onto it though. It was a bandage. She felt a pain in it then. It was severly burnt. It had effected her phsyical body! No wonder why she felt so weak.

"And if she failed professor?"

Rogue turned to see that in a corner Xavier was talking to Ororo. She was awake! And she was in the med-lab. They hadn't noticed her awakening though.

Xavier shook his head. "I don't know Ororo, I don't know. That thing inside her is very dangerous. I fear what it might do if it gains control.

"Do you know how you could stop it?"

"No, I do not, that's what scares me."

"Ah've disabled it." Rogue said weakly.

Logan jolted awake and Ororo and Xavier turned to look at her.

"Rogue!" Ororo exclaimed, rushing over to her right side. "Are you alright?! You had us all so worried!"

"Ah'm fihne, just tired. Ah want to get some sleep."

Logan squeezed her hand.

"Have ya been with me the whole time?"

Logan laughed weakly. "It's hard to stay at someone's side for nearly three months."

"What?!" Rogue exclaimed, jolting upward. She was too weak though and she fell back.

"The hallways took you a long time to get through." Xavier replied. He smiled. "I watched you Rogue, and I've got to tell you, I'm very impressed."

"Ah'm not." Rogue said, closing her eyes lightly. "It nevah should have gotten that bad.

"It's not your fault Rogue. I do have a question for you though, before you go to sleep."

"An' what's that?" Rogue asked weakly.

"The shadow figure, the one that pulled the psyches together. What was that? Where did it come from?" Xavier asked seriously.

"Ah..." Rogue shook her head. "Don't know." She lied. She didn't know what they'd do, if they found that Apocolapse still remaind free, in her head.

Xavier nodded. "Sleep now." And he and Ororo left. Logan remained.

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I'm haunted

(By the lives that I have loved)

I'm haunted

(By the promises I've made)

I'm haunted

By the hallways in this tiny room

The echos there of me and you

The voices that are carrying this tune

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Back in the deepest regions of Rogue's mind, the shadow writhed in the center of the staircase in the shape of the fire. It just floated there, an eternal threat to any who would see or feel it.

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What is it Annie?

You think I'll cry? I won't cry!

My heart will break before I cry!

I will go mad.