Changes
Part four
Jubilee awoke the next morning, cold and wet still sitting next to the building. She must have cried herself to sleep and she hadn't even realized it. She squinted in the bright sunlight, streaming down into the alleyway, no reminder to what the weather had been the night before.
She slowly stood up, brushing the dirt off of her jacket as best she could. She grimaced as she thought of how she must look. Dirty and wet, she probably looked like just another homeless person in LA. She cursed aloud as she realized that she had left her bag at Logan's.
She didn't even want to think about him right now. She didn't want to think about him ever again, but she knew that the feeling would pass and she'd probably be foolish enough to go back and sort things out. But she didn't want to worry about that right now. All she wanted was a hot shower and some clean clothes.
She felt around in her jacket trying to find her wallet. She let out a sigh of relief as she found it in her front pocket. She opened it and counted her money. Six hundred and three dollars. Plus a credit card. She sighed and looked at her watch. It was eleven in the morning. She slowly walked towards the street and saw that there were a number of cute clothing boutiques lining the street.
She tried again to make herself look presentable, knowing that her efforts were useless. She hurriedly made her way to the quickest shop and rushed inside hoping no one saw her. The saleswoman gave her a dirty look, but Jubilee ignored her. She just went to the first rack and grabbed a couple pairs of jeans and a few shirts all in her size and went to the till to ring them up. She paid and walked out the door, and thought that she should probably get a room for the night while she figured out what she was going to do.
She walked for awhile before spotting a cheap motel. She cringed thinking what kind of lowlifes hung around in dumps like those, but dismissed the thought, knowing that she had to save as much money as she could. She went to the front desk and grimaced when she saw the man running the place.
He was short and tubby, slightly balding, wearing only his boxers and a grubby tank top with sweat stains around the armpits. He stank of liquor and sweat, and he had bad breath and yellow teeth. He winked at Jubilee and asked her if she fancied a good time.
Jubilee answered, disgust ringing clear in her voice, "Whatever, look bub all I want is a room. Got it? Here's the money, give me the key."
"Ya sure you don't want some company up in that pretty room of yours?" he slurred, obviously drunk.
She grabbed the key from his grasp, and didn't even bother to answer him. She ran up the stairs looking for room 304. She stopped in front of the door, and cautiously opened the door, nervous about what she would find inside.
She made a face when she looked inside. There was one bed, the comforter stained with coffee and who knew what else. A cockroach skittered across the floor and disappeared under the bathroom sing. She walked into the bathroom and looked at the yellow bath and sink. The brown water that flowed out through the tap before it turned mostly clear grossed her out.
She sighed, and walked out looking for towels. Luckily those seemed to be the only clean thing in the whole room. She grabbed one and turned on the shower, stepping into the spray of water, letting the hot water wash over her sore muscles. After she had cleaned up and gotten dressed, she put on a little makeup and sat down on the bed.
She put her head in her hands, and wondered what the hell she was going to do. She had nowhere to go, and she couldn't stay here for long. Her money supply would quickly run out, and would leave her out in the streets once again. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted with a knock that sounded at the door.
She walked over, wondering who was here. She opened the door, and was horrified to see the bald man from before standing in front of her. He leaned in close, and put his hand on her shoulder. She stepped back and put her guard up, not knowing what his intentions were. He took a step into the room, and spoke.
"Hey honey, wanna get your thang on? I'm ready to go, and I know you want it." He drawled, almost incoherent he slurred his words so much.
He advanced on her forcefully, pushing her to the bed. Jubilee struggled against his iron grip, but she knew that only her powers would get her out of this one. She raised her arm and powerfully paffed him.
He stumbled backwards and fell down, stunned by the blow. He looked up at her furiously and yelled, "What the fuck?! I don't want no mutant filth invading my goddam motel!" he screamed his round face turning a dangerous shade of purple.
"Mutant!" he yelled throughout the motel. Suddenly two large men appeared from behind the door, and advanced on her. She cursed to herself, and turned to run. They were quick on her heels, and she pushed herself to run just a bit faster. She made it out onto the street and ran as hard as she could.
They were too fast for her though, and by the time she had reached the corner, they grabbed her behind and lifted her up above their shoulders and flung her out into the busy LA Street. She hit an oncoming motorcycle with such force that she knocked him off his bike as it went skidded out into the oncoming cars.
She flew ten feet before landing on the man who had been on the motorcycle. The thugs who had thrown her out laughed and yelled out to her, "That's where you should be! On the ground, you mutant filth! We don't wanna see you no where near our old man's hotel or we'll make sure you wind up as mangled as that guy's bike." The indicated the guy with the blue hair that was glaring at them, as he clutched Jubilee in his arms.
Jubilee's head was busted open and she could feel the warm blood seeping into her hair and down her face. She felt herself slipping into darkness, and in her last few moments of consciousness, she looked up and said almost inaudibly, "Logan?" and her world went black.