It was early in the morning when we finally returned from a mission, an anti-mutant activist group had held a orphanage for mutant children hostage. We had overtaken them without an incident or casualty. The majority of the X-men got to return home. Some had to stay and find proper places for the children to stay. There wasn't any room at the mansion in fact, they were added on a new hall. Bruised and scraped, I took my dagger out of my boot and placed it in my locker. I grabbed my normal clothes and went to my room to change. After peeling off the hot leather uniform I changed into an over sized t-shirt and went to bed praying for a good day's rest. I was awakened an hour later by the Professor.
~Rogue, Scott and Bobby have brought in a young child. We may need your help.~
Groaning I got out of bed, got dressed, and went to the Med Lab. The Professor and Jean where there waiting for me outside of the waiting room. She gave me a weak smile and handed over a cup of coffee.
"Okay, what's going on?" I asked heavily, hoping for an easy case.
"A young girl, named Alice Livingston was found about a hundred yards away from the burning building, just standing there not moving eyes glazed, staring into the fire. They checked out her history, and about nine years ago her house was set on fire. Her Grandmother, the only family she had died. She barely made it out with some burns." Charles explained.
"Well that's easy enough, the fire triggered memories of an obviously traumatic experience and she's projecting. She should be fine." I said sipping the hot brew.
"She hasn't been fine since then. It happened when she was eight, and ever since then she's been walking around in a comatose state. Her files show that she is unresponsive to stimulates of any kind and isn't able to feed and bathe herself. She even wears a diaper. All she did was clutch an old stuffed rabbit. But every few months or so she'd have outbursts of self-mutilation, she'd use anything to hurt herself." Jean added.
"If she's that troubled, I don't see why you need me. Why don't the two of you probe her mind, or you could even use Cerebro." I asked, wondering what they were getting at.
"You see we've tried. But she's shielding herself. We think that she might be a psychic, and a strong one at that." Charles said putting his hand to the palm plate causing the doors to slide open. Inside on a bed laid a raven-haired girl. As we approached I took in her appearance. She was pale with out a freckle on her, almost as if she had been inside her whole life. She wore a light blue hospital gown and I took in the bandages on her wrists and old scars climbing her arms above them. Her big ice blue eyes were wide opened. Glazed, and fixed on something she could only see. Quietly I closed them and secured them down with medical tape.
"She'll go blind," I explained softly.
"Marie," Jean started forward.
"You want me to enter her mind don't you?" I turned to them.
"We were going to ask you yes, but it's up to you." Charles wheeled beside me and laid a hand on my arm. "We aren't sure it will even work, we must try though."
"I don't know. I've never done it without the person's knowledge. She might think that I am a part of her mind. Besides I've never worked on such a disturbed individual.." I said returning my eyes to the girl in the bed. "I need some time to think about it. Can I have some time?"
"Take as much as you need." Charles said patting my hand.
"Yes I don't think she'll be going any where soon." Jean said.
They turned and left me alone with Alice. I pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down with a sigh. I was in graduate school working on a degree for child psychology. But had been working with children at the school for some time now. My mutation had advanced to where I had complete control of what I took out of a person. I could even send feelings and memories to others with a touch. I had gone so long without physical human touch I became what is called an Empathic. I could feel what emotions others were projecting just by being in the same room as them. If I was around someone who was in a bad mood then I was in a bad mood. Charles said that my body was making it up to me by developing a new mutation. My eyes turned to the young girl lying on the bed; she is only two years younger than I was when I came to the school. I picked up her hand; it was warm and lifeless, dead weight in mine. Gently I turned it over and brushed my fingertips over the scars lightly. I closed my eyes and entered her mind.
When I opened my eyes I was in a long hallway dimly lit every few yards with a single bare bulb. I couldn't see the ends of it, just light bulb after light bulb. On the floors lay a thick layer of dust, I jumped when a cockroach scurried by. I chose a direction and started walking; I had no sense of time but after a while I saw two figures in the distance, a young child in a blue dress with white hose and black shoes, it was a eight-year-old Alice. Pale skin showed though the patches of dirt on her face and her raven hair fell in two mussed braids down her back. She sat on the floor with her knees drawn up to her chest, talking to a mangy looking cat who sat facing her.
"Alice?" I asked softly. She turned and looked at me her eyes widened in fear. She scrambled up off the floor and dove through a small door.
"Wait, I just want to talk to you!" I called jogging forward and few paces.
"You'll never be able to talk to her that way." The cat said as I went passed. I stopped and turned.
"Did you just talk?"
"Of course, do you see anyone else here?" The cat said then lifted a paw to clean.
I played along, "Well then, how can I talk to her?"
"She thinks that the Red Queen has sent you, that is why she fears."
Red Queen? She thinks that the Red Queen is after her? I looked down at myself, the red sweatshirt that's it, I had thrown it on over my white spaghetti strap shirt knowing how cold it would be in the Med Lab. I looked back up but the cat was gone. I unzipped the front and took it off dropping it on the floor. Then I kneeled in front of the small door, grabbed the doorknob and twisted, locked, the door looked flimsy enough, so I sat down on the floor brought my knees to my chest preparing to kick it down.
"Don't even think about it."
"Who said that?" I jumped up looking around.
"Me." I looked at the door, there was a mans face in the wood now.
"Fine, then open up." I said, things where starting to make sense, well under the circumstances. Alice thinks that she is the Alice from in Through The Looking Glass.
"I'd be glad to as long as you have the key for the lock." He replied smugly
"I don't have a key." I said kneeling in front of the door again
"Ohh too bad,"
"Please, please I have to find Alice, it is very important that I talk to her. Will you please open?" I begged
"No I'm afraid I can't." He said smiling
"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to kick you down." I said resuming my former position.
"Wait you didn't let me finish." He said quickly glancing at the bottom of my sneakers. "What I was about to say is, that I'm afraid I can't let you in unless you solve my riddle."
"Riddles? Come on, you gotta be kidding me?"
"Don't whine about it. I'm doing you the favor for the love of Mike."
"Fine, I suppose that's fair, alright, lay it on me."
"The more you take of me the more you leave behind, what am I?" Well, I was stumped. I was about to guess something that was clearly not the answer when I heard feet running down the hall towards me. I stood up and squinted down the hall, a few seconds later I saw men, dressed in red like guards or soldiers running towards me.
"There she is! Get her! Quick!"
"Now you're going to get it." I heard the door laugh gleefully. I was tempted to kick it in but thought better and ran. I could feel the guards a few yards back. I have to find Alice, are these men after her too? One of the guards grabbed me and swung me into the wall, the breath was knocked out of me. Still doubled over, I kneed him in the groin and kicked the next in the stomach. The first recovered, grabbed my arms from behind and held them behind me. The third stepped up twirling a sickle smiling devilishly.
"What were Her Majesty's orders, Private?"
"Off with the intruder's head." He replied, rubbing his stomach.
This is not real, it's only the imagination of a sick girl. But why can I feel his fingers digging into my flesh? Why was the breath knocked out of me? The guard drew back the weapon and swung it at my head. I have to get out of here! I screamed as I felt the blade make contact with my neck.