Hi there! Welcome to the first chapter of a completely new X-Men fanfiction! This story is written by two authors, Kelli and Krystle, and as such, features the stories and experiences of two original characters. Amelia Reed was created and is almost entirely written by Kelli, while Evelyn Reed was created and is almost entirely written by Krystle. Of course, overlap happens, but we do hope our writing styles complement each other well enough that when this does occur, you are not jarred from your reading experience.

We look forward to hearing your feedback! Please review and, if you like it, favorite our story!

Disclaimer: We do not own X-Men, or any of their likenesses. This is a work of fanfiction, inspired by the X-Men movies and informed by the greater Marvel universe. We own nothing other than our characters and our own story concepts. Please don't sue us.


Dark is My Light

Chapter One

"Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire..."
- Theodore Roethke

August 2007

Amy had a migraine again. She kneaded her knuckles gently against her forehead, closing her eyes and trying to will it away. She couldn't remember the last time she had made it through the day without a painful ache swelling behind her eyes. She slumped lower in her desk, trying to block the light from the windows. The clock ticking on the wall seemed impossibly loud.

"What moment in The Wasteland is where everything comes together, do you think?" Mrs. Barry intoned from far away. It sounded like she was underwater.

The clock kept ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

"Miss Reed!"

Startled, Amy jerked up, causing a sharp pain to jolt through her head. She glanced around the room to find the entire class staring at her. Mrs. Barry, at the front, looked irritated. "I don't mean to interrupt your nap, Miss Reed, but if you would do us the honor of answering my question, we'd be much obliged," she said. She must have called her name several times before Amy had heard her.

"Er..." Amy sat up, squinting at the open English book in front of her. She could barely make out Eliot's name, and the words were swimming all over the page. She looked back up at Mrs. Barry. "Could I go to the nurse? I don't feel well."

"Not having done the work is hardly a reason to visit the nurse, Miss Reed. Go on, we'll wait." Mrs. Barry crossed her arms.

Amy had read the poem the night before, but she couldn't remember anything now. She flipped a page in her book, but she could still barely make out any of the words. She couldn't even think of what she was supposed to be looking for. Her head felt like it was going to split in two. "Um, I'm sorry, but what was the question again?"

Around her, her classmates burst into sniggers of laughter at her expense. She flushed as Mrs. Barry sighed. "Where, in your opinion, is the point in Eliot's poem where the entire premise comes together?"

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Little whispers began flickering around the room. "What is wrong with her?"

"What a moron..."

"Mrs. Barry is such a bitch-"

Amy's head was feeling so sensitive, though, it was like the voices were right inside of her head, pounding against her skull. She instinctively covered her ears with her hands, tears springing into her eyes at the pain.

"IS SHE GOING TO BE SICK?"

"OH MY GOD, GET ME OUT OF HERE-"

"IS SHE REALLY CRYING IN THE MIDDLE OF ENGLISH CLASS?"

TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK.

"SHUT UP!" Amy screamed, squeezing her fingers into her ears. "SHUT UP!"

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The only thing Amy could hear was her shallow breathing, and the blood pumping in her ears. The migraine was gone. She opened her eyes.

No one moved. No one spoke. Even Mrs. Barry stared at her unblinkingly, mouth open as though she were about to speak.

"What?" Amy whispered, horrified. Slowly, she stood up out of her desk, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. Still, no one moved. She reached hesitantly reached out to touch the boy who sat next to her. "Alex?" She gently pushed his shoulder, but he didn't even blink.

"What's going on in here?"

Amy spun around, her heart palpitating forcefully in her chest. It was Mrs. Rowland, from the classroom next door. For a moment, they stared at one another, and then Mrs. Rowland looked slowly around the room.

She screamed.

Amy reacted instantly. She grabbed the strap of her backpack off of the floor and ran from the room, knocking past Mrs. Rowland as she went. As she sprinted down the hall, more and more classroom doors began to open as Mrs. Rowland continued to scream. By now, she was yelling for help. Amy slammed into the double doors at the end of the hall, triggering the emergency exit alarm and bursting out into the sunshine. She stumbled on the sidewalk, and then kept running, past the school gate and down the road, leaving the classroom and its horrors far behind.


It didn't take long for Amy to make it home. She didn't live far from school. She crashed through the back door, panting and sweating, and turned the lock. She dropped her bag on the floor of the mud room and quickly made her way across the house to lock the front door. She leaned against it, breathing heavily.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Startled, Amy looked up and saw her father lounging on the living room couch. "Dad," she said. "I didn't know you were here."

He glanced lazily at the clock on the wall, which read 12:53. "You're supposed to be at school." Slowly, he got up off of the couch, swaying. He was drunk.

"I-I got sick, they sent me home," Amy stammered, avoiding looking at him.

He moved closer. "Are you lying to me?"

"No!" Amy said, pressing her back against the door. "I have a fever, they sent me home to get some sleep."

His hand flashed out and he struck Amy across the face, nearly knocking her to the ground. "You lying little bitch!" he yelled, leaning over her. He grabbed a fistful of her hair, dragging her away from the door. She cried out, her fingers scrabbling at his, trying to pry him loose.

"Dad!" she yelled, her feet slipping on the floor as she tried to stand fully upright. "Dad, stop it! You're hurting me!"

He gave her hair one last yank, and Amy managed to right herself and pull away, stumbling back. She put her hands up to block him as he started for her again. "Stop it!" He knocked her arms aside and hit her again, this time knocking her fully to the floor. He pulled his arm back again, and she blocked her face and closed her eyes. "Dad, no!"

Amy would never really understand what happened next. Even though her eyes were closed, they were seared through the cracks by a blinding white light. She couldn't feel the ground beneath her, and her father's blow never came. Her face was blasted with incredible heat, and her hair blew back off of her skin.

When she finally felt brave enough to open her eyes, she found herself floating in the air, at least ten feet from a massive crater beneath her. She was suddenly overwhelmed with nausea, and she could feel the blood drain from her face. As her eyes rolled back into her head, she saw the earth pitch up toward her, and she was unconscious before she hit the dirt below.


"Hi, welcome to Freddie's. My name is Evee, and I will be taking care of you ladies tonight. Tonight we have our Friday Fish Fry, all you can eat cod for only $15.99, and our soup of the day is clam chowder. Can I get you started with anything to drink?" The charismatic smile, sparkling eyes, and cheery disposition seemed genuine and sincere from the young, teenaged waitress, but anyone who really knew Evelyn Reed, and very few did, would see right through the rehearsed speech. Evee hated her mundane job at Freddie's Diner, where the manager was a sleaze, the clientele filled with punk teenagers and busybody socialites, and the food overpriced and mediocre. She especially hated Friday Fish Fry. Nonetheless, she needed the money and the tips were halfway decent.

"Oh, dear, I'll have an iced tea," one woman ordered. She glanced at the other, who asked for the same, but with a lemon and light on the ice. Evee smiled, as if she couldn't be happier doing anything other than fetching the women their iced tea and left the table, heading toward the server's station.

That's when the headache started. She took a deep breath, trying to shake it off as she grabbed two glasses off the shelf. Please not now, she silently begged. Just one day… For weeks, Evee had been having painful migraines…but that wasn't the worst of it. It started off as a headache, then her vision would blur and then…

She was running, panting. It was dark. Someone was chasing her…

"Hey, can we get some service over here!"

Someone slammed her up against a wall, squeezing her arms tight. Pain at her

back. Her shirtsleeve rips.

"Just look at me!"

She reaches out and scratches at flesh, skin and blood under her nails.

"STOP!"

Evee gasped for air, hardly able to breathe. The diner was silent; it felt like an eternity.

"Nice one, freak!" She heard, followed by laughter. She recognized the voices and looked up, a group of guys from school. They didn't get along. What the hell are they laughin-

Evee looked down at the glass and tea on the floor. She didn't remember dropping the drinks.

"I-I…I'm sorry," she muttered, reaching for the mop. As she was cleaning up the mess, she was interrupted by dear Freddie, the owner of this hellhole.

"Evee, that's the second time this week! I'm going to have to dock this from your pay," he reprimanded. Evee fought the urge to roll her eyes. She could feel his eyes behind her, his gaze following her backside, to the edge of her deep red button-up dress, a pitiful excuse for a uniform.

"Hey, can we get some service over here!"

Evee's heart dropped, a bowling ball landing on her gut. She recognized that voice. It was Tyler Reynolds, football player and basketball star, ladies' man, man's man, teacher's pet.

It was also the voice from her vision.

"Well, come on, Evee, don't just sit there, you've got tables to wait on!" Freddie growled.

Evee shook her head, standing. "I'm sorry," she said, taking offer black apron. "I don't feel good, I have to leave."

"Leave? It's not even 4, your shift just started!"

"I think I'm going to be sick," she replied quietly.

"Aw, lay off her, Freddie. I'll take her tables. Could use the extra tips tonight, anyway. Go get some rest, doll." Jan, a waitress in her forties and the closest thing Evee had to a friend, winked at her and gestured with her head to get the heck outta dodge.

Evee silently thanked her and left without another word. She grabbed her bag from her cubicle and headed out the back door, used for employees and deliveries. She just needed to get out of there until this feeling in her gut had passed.

It was bright out, and Evee squinted. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of large, dark sunglasses. She could never explain it, but the sun, daytime in general, just gave her a yucky feeling. Her mom had often joked that she was allergic to sunlight. But that was before the headaches started.

Evee started walking, away from the slowly setting sun. There were still a couple hours until it would be dark out, but Evee knew of a few places the sun didn't seem to touch so much. The dark always seemed to help with the headaches.

As she was walking, she felt that gut-clenching feeling again. Someone was behind her.

"Evee, wait up!"

Evee immediately broke into a run, fear gripping her. She knew now what she had seen, and there was no way that she was going to allow that to happen. Fortunately she was a good runner, and quick. However, Tyler was a star running back, and she could feel him gaining on her. Evee pumped her arms, willing herself to move faster, to get away from him, to get away from her vision.

There was a dark warehouse coming up to her right. Without second thought, Evee sped around the corner, hoisted herself up on the dumpster and pulled herself through a broken window, dropping to the ground. She picked herself back up and kept moving. The warehouse was dark, most of the windows were blacked out, but Evee's eyes adjusted quickly. She could see a heavy door ahead of her and knew she would be able to hide in there. She heard the thump of Tyler climbing the dumpster; she was almost out of time. Evee started running again, her heart racing, hair raising on her arms, goosebumps covering her body. Fear emanating from her. She could feel him right behind her, but didn't dare look. "OH MY GOD, GET ME OUT OF HERE-"

"Will you just look at me?!"

Evee felt Tyler touch her arm and she whipped around. What happened next was… well, impossible. She slashed at him, but never touched him. The darkness somehow seemed to grow darker, deeper. It took over and she felt it…pushthe fear she felt into Tyler. Somehow, in all this darkness, Evee could see clear as day…actually, clearer then she could see in daylight. Tyler's eyes widened and he stepped back. His mouth opened slowly, and then all of a sudden he let out this bloodcurdling scream. He began tearing at himself, ripping his clothes, clawing at his skin, screaming with paralyzing fear. And then the darkness took over.