With Open Arms
Soft fingers delicately ran along the middle string on the guitar and suddenly, a calm melody filled the bedroom. The musician was a teenage girl sitting down on her bed. Her brown eyes gazed down at the guitar as she drifted into a sense of calmness, almost a meditation like state of mind. She glanced at the wall next to her of her. It was pretty typical collage of pictures, some posters of her favorite bands and movies with three or so dozen magazine clippings scattered haphazardly manner were stapled on the wall next to her bed. Her trance was broken by the sound of car doors closing. She twisted and sat at the edge of her bed for a quick moment before placing her guitar gently on her bed before standing. Grabbing a rubber band on the way out, she exited her room and walked downstairs as she tied her dark brown hair in a loose ponytail.
By the time she made her way down stairs, a fairly tall woman walked into the house carrying in a few bags filled with miscellaneous groceries. "Well, look who it is," she began as she looked over to her daughter, "Sara, you've been up in that room all day. Do me a favor and help out with the bags in the car, will you? There's only a few left."
Sara stopped in her tracks and cleared her throat, "I can't, I have to go to the library, history essay and whatnot." Before she could continue, a man walked in with a few bags. "Besides, you don't need me. You got Steve here." She quickly made a beeline to the door.
Sara's mother grabbed her arm with a loose grip, just tight enough to stop her daughter. She gave a quick smile to the man and waited for him to walk into the next room. She spoke in a low voice to not alert the man in the next room, "You know, calling him 'dad' every once and a while would be nice." Sara said nothing and rolled her eyes; she had nothing against him, he was her step-dad and he did what he could to provide for them. She didn't have anything personal against him, she just couldn't imagine calling another person dad. After a moment of silence, Sara's mom let her go. They met eyes for a moment before Sara turned and walked back into her room.
Hours had passed since Sara and her mother talked. Sara had spend the time sitting on her bed, back pressed against the wall, and her beloved guitar in her hands. Her room filled with the same calming melody as earlier in the day. Suddenly, she stopped strumming and looked up to see her mother entering her room. Her mother walked to the foot of the bed and crossed her arms across her chest. "Sara, your progress report came in." Sara shrugged, gripping her guitar a little tighter. Her mother held up the piece of paper in her hand and read it, "Math: D+, Chemistry: C-, World History: D-." Sara stared down her mother, showing as little emotion as she could, although her heartbeat seemed so loud- she could swear her mom could hear it. "Oh, there is also a notice that you haven't been turning in your Geometry homework." Sara looked down and began strumming her guitar. Hands on her hips, her mother raised her voice, "Sara, listen to me."
Sara looked up at her mom, "please just go." Her mother stayed put, insisting she stop playing her guitar and listen to what she has to be. Fed up with the nagging, Sara glared at her mom, "I said go." Her mother took a step back and immediately, and more notably calmly, walked out of her room. Sara sat in quiet for a moment, she didn't feel okay with how the talk ended. She quickly got up and peeked past her door. Her mom had walked into her own bedroom and closed the door behind her. Sara sighed and put her guitar back in it's case before laying down in bed. She stared at the wall across the room, not feeling so proud of herself. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep.
Light shined through Sara's window and into her face. She opened her eyes and sat up. After a good few minutes, Sara stood up and got ready to dress. She looked at herself in the mirror, taking a good look at her figure. She wasn't necessarily thin, but on the other hand she didn't consider herself fat- Sara settled on chubby, although she had a few friends who insisted she was more thin than chubby. It took her nearly ten minutes to decide on what to wear. She picked up her guitar case and walked downstairs. Her eyes looked around, no one was around. She walked down the street and sulked down to the park. Sara sat down on a bench, she placed her guitar case off to the side. Taking a deep breath, she took in the scenery and tried to absorb the quiet and beauty. Sara loved this park, she loved the lake that sat in the center of the park most of all. She sat there motionless, she really did feel bad about her mom. "Hey, mind if I sit here?"
Sara looked up and saw a boy standing in front of her. She shrugged, "If you want." The boy gave her a quick thanks and sat down. Sara looked at him from the corner of her eye. He was a fairly pale and had white hair. Her eyes looked him up and down, she could tell he was fit and probably had a few muscles under his shirt. She bit her lip and looked off towards the lake.
The boy looked down and saw the guitar case. "Oh, you play?" Sara looked down and nodded, "Mmmhmm." He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled, "My name is Pietro."
Sara smiled a little, "hey, I'm Sara."
"So what's a girl like you doing all alone here?" Pietro asked. Sara raised a brow, instead of asking him what he was implying by that, she instead pushed her guitar case in front of her and opened it up. "Oh. Did I disrupt your jam session?", he asked with a little sarcasm.
"Yeah, kind of," Sara shot back, trying to hold back a little smile. She picked up her guitar and began to tune it. Pietro turned to her slightly, he looked past Sara and nodded to another boy hiding behind a tree several yards away.
The boy was about a year younger than Pietro. He was small and lanky with a sickly color to his skin. On Pietro's signal he jumped off, as if a toad, towards the two. Sara had stopped tuning as she saw the boy coming up to them. She watched the peculiar boy as he approached, increasing in speed. As he hopped by, he reached over and snatched Sara's guitar case; he then began to leap away. Sara stood up quickly, guitar in hand. "Hey, that's mine," she called out. "Stop!" The boy ignored her words and continued on his way. Sara gritted her teeth, "I… I said stop!" And with that, she strummed her guitar. Immediately, the boy stopped and stood as still as a sculpture. Sara walked to retrieve her case, Pietro following close behind.
Pietro chuckled, "Wow, you did a number on Toad back there."
Sara blinked and turned around. "You know him?" She gripped her guitar, ready to play at any moment. Pietro smiled and with that, he was gone. Sara could hardly believe it. He had disappeared right in front of her eyes. She felt a hand touch her shoulder. Sara turned around and saw Pietro standing behind her. She took a step back, "How did you do that?"
Pietro took a step forward and looked her in the eyes, "Just, listen," He started, "Toad and I, we're just like you. We have powers- like you. Mutants is what we call ourselves."
Sara couldn't breath, "what… what do you want with me?"
Pietro smiled, "we don't want to hurt you, we just want you to join up with us. We have a small group of mutants. In this world, we can't trust people. Someone like you can be a real asset to us." Sara stood silent. "Well, we're leaving tomorrow. We would really like you to come with us."
Sara looked Pietro in the eyes, silent. For a moment, Pietro began to feel like she was staring into his soul. She frowned, she felt like he was telling the truth and that's what made her feel so uneasy. "Can I think about it?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Listen, we'll be back here tomorrow at 6 am. I'll wait about half an hour. If you don't show up, we'll assume you aren't coming and we'll go home without you."
Sara nodded. She placed her guitar back into it's case. "Yeah, I'll think about it." She walked off quickly.
Pietro watched her walk away. Suddenly, he remembered his petrified friend, "Hey, what about this guy?!" he shouted.
The girl turned around and walked backwards as she replied, "Yeah, that'll wear off in a few hours or so!" She turned around and crossed the street. Pietro looked over at Toad. He shrugged and ran off in the opposite direction.
Sara came home and sat on her bed. She looked around her room. Placing the guitar case on her bed, she got up and walked to her desk. She had a small collection of pictures on her desk. She picked one up and looked at it. It was Sara nearly five years ago standing with a man. He was tall and had the same dark brown hair as hers; in his hands he held Sara's guitar. "What should I do?" She uttered under her breath.
She had thought about the boy's proposition long and hard for hours. Nearly the whole day. Sara had even thought about it in her dreams. She awoke to the sound of her alarm clock. It was 5 am. Sara stood and opened her closet and pulled out a small bag. Carelessly, she stuffed clothes into the bag and slung it over a shoulder. Sara picked up her guitar case and walked to her parents room. She stood outside their door and removed her beloved instrument and walked into their room.
Immediately, Sara's mom and step-dad sat up in their beds. "What is it?" Her mom asked.
"I have to leave. You wouldn't understand." Sara's step-dad turned to the edge of the bed, about ready to sit up. Music filled the room as Sara spoke. "You don't know who I am. You don't have a daughter. Now, you're gonna lay in bed and not wake up for a few hours." Her step-dad turned back into the bed and they both began to doze off. It was for the best. She was prepared to go back home if she didn't like what she saw but she couldn't explain why she had to go to her parents. They were normal, completely oblivious to her power. She couldn't bring herself to worry them. On the other hand, she couldn't miss this opportunity. Sara packed up her guitar and soon walked to their dresser. A black purse lay on top, she zipped it open. She rummaged around and pulled out a wallet. Upon opening it she found $35. Sara took the money and shoved it in her pocket and placed the wallet back. Sara walked down the stairs and left the house. Backpack in one hand and guitar case in the other, Sara turned and looked at the house. She wasn't sure if she was ever going to see this house ever again.
Sara sat on the same bench as the previous day. Ten minutes had passed, she stood up as she saw the two boys walk towards her direction. "Ready to go?" Pietro asked. Sara nodded and followed behind the boys.
The three walked to the train station. Pietro and Todd had paid for her ticket with the spare funds allowed to them. Sara held onto her ticket tightly as she stepped on the train. Sitting by the window, she could see the park and the lake. The boys sat in front of her and engaged in small talk. The trip was long and tiring. They had hailed a taxi which carried them on the last leg of the trip. The taxi stopped in front of a large building, the sign posted up front read 'Brotherhood Boardinghouse'. Sara followed behind as they led her inside. She looked around. It wasn't awful. However, she could tell the number of boys outnumbered girls in this house just by looking inside.
She walked upstairs along with the boys. Pietro opened a door, "This is your room."
"Thanks," Sara responded as she walked in. Pietro closed the door behind her, giving her time to settle down. Sara placed her bag and case on the bed and looked out the window. She spaced out, watching cars drive by.
Her attention turned to the door, Pietro stuck his head in, "Oh, and by the way. We have something special hanging in your closet. And also, do you mind if we call you Siren?"
His request was strange. She nodded, "Sure." Pietro closed the door and Sara stared outside again and thought to herself. 'Siren? This will be interesting'.
Author comment: This was a fan fic I wrote 5 or so years ago. I forgot about it, found it, read it and was really, really displeased with what I saw. This is pretty much a complete rewrite: new title and updated OC, etc etc. So this is what I came up with. Reviews are much appreciated and help me stay motivated, so if you have something to say, say it. :)