Chapter 1: Nightmares and Daydreams

Disclaimer: -beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-

A/N: Wow, I survived this week? Amazing. I hope you guys enjoyed all the new stories this week, look for their updates in the future!

oOo

The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters was a place well known in Bayville. It was known mainly as a boarding house for teenagers across the globe that came to Bayville, and also for its very wealthy benefactor, Professor Charles Xavier, a man considered to be one of the greatest minds of the century.

Currently, it was calm and peaceful, the numerous clocks inside all ticking down to midnight. Every one of the X Men was dreaming quietly, even Logan for once in his life. Although that may have had something to do with the African goddess curled up in his arms.

Everyone was serene but one and that was Kurt Wagner.

The boy's fur was slicked down against his skin with a cold sweat as he tossed and turned in his bed. Soft whimpers occasionally escaped him along with unintelligible German mutters. His covers had long been kicked to the floor in his struggles from enemies only he could see. Sharp breathes passed his lips, gliding past his fangs and into his lungs in harsh gasps. His tail lashed from side to side, it had probably helped in ridding its master of the sheets earlier in the night.

"Demon!"

Sixteen year old Kurt raced through the rain, feeling hot blood dribble from the gash on his hip down his stomach and leg. It left a splattered trail behind him, an obvious lead for them to find him. He was crying, gasping, sobbing, begging for this all to be a nightmare. Just a bad dream. He was really home, with his parents, safe and sound. He wasn't being battered with stones and fire. People weren't hitting him with shovels or trying to stab him with pitchforks and knives.

From a window above him a man howled and threw down, with surprising accuracy- a wicked looking dagger.

Kurt cried out as the metal dug deep into his shoulder and he skidded to a halt. He struggled to pull himself along, desperate to get away, but they crowded around him. He could no longer distinguish between their faces, they were all the same. Twisted with fear, anger and hatred.

He coughed, "Please...please leave me be. I didn't do anything." They didn't hear him, or if they did they didn't care.

Someone leaned down and viciously yanked the dagger from Kurt's shoulder. He let out an animalistic yelp, crossed with a growl. His fangs flashed and their angry cries intensified.

He was so cold, but the blood running down his arm was hot, and sticky, mixing with sweat and rain to turn him into a devilish appearing ghoul of the night.

"I didn't do anything." He sobbed.

He didn't hear their words, but the sword was felt as it ran through his skin and into his stomach. A burning pain enveloped him...

"No!" Kurt leapt from his bed, landing on the floor in a crouch, hands braced, panting hard as he woke from the nightmare.

"No, no, no..." his stomach writhed and he raced to the bathroom, leaned over the toilet and lost the contents of his stomach.

Tear ran down his cheeks, creating small lines in the fur as he gasped. Panting for air and trying to will his dream from his mind.

Once his stomach had calmed, he flushed the toilet and curled up on the tiles of the floor, not trusting his stomach not to betray him again.

His tail, while annoying at times, comforted him by wrapping around his legs as he drew his knees to his chin, and then some.

He struggled to keep his breathing even at the same time he fought not to return to the memories that had plagued him for so long. But there was no hiding from them, especially now. They'd been coming after him more recently for some reason; he'd barely had a single decent sleep in nearly two weeks. It was starting to become obvious that he was getting sick almost every night too. He had always been thin, that was the nice thing about a high metabolism, but now he was painfully thin. As in, if he took off his shirt you could almost count every single one of his ribs.

He groaned as his stomach churned again, memories refusing to leave and shadows of past pain flitting through his body as long healed scars ached.

oOo

Kitty smiled to herself as she practically skipped downstairs, a good night's sleep always put her in a good mood. The only thing that could add to that would be seeing Kurt, her best friend and secret crush for a little while now. She couldn't help it if his smile made butterflies erupt in her stomach, or his jokes made her laugh. Just being with him made her day better.

So she found it very odd when she came to the kitchen to see that Kurt wasn't there. Usually he was downstairs, dressed and on his third helping of breakfast before anyone even made it to the stairs.

No, instead Evan and Rogue were chatting across from each other, Jean and Scott were making goo-goo eyes and holding hands, and Logan was drinking his coffee while reading the paper and Ororo was working hard at cooking enough food for everyone.

"Hey, did Kurt, like, already leave or something?" Nightcrawler's addiction to early morning Gut Bombs was well known for Monday mornings.

"No, he hasn't been down. Could you go see if he slept in?"

Kitty nodded to Ororo and headed back upstairs, Kurt probably was up late reading or something and slept in past his alarm.

"Kurt, it's like, time for breakfast." She phased in and her eyebrows knitted together. Kurt wasn't in his bed, but it was an utter mess, blankets strewn across the floor haphazardly. This was extremely unlike him; Kurt was always meticulously neat, bordering on OCD.

"Kurt?" she looked around before noticing the bathroom door was slightly ajar.

"Fuzzy?" she pushed the door open slightly and gasped. Kurt was curled up on the floor, shaking slightly and looking half dead.

"Kurt!" she dropped to her knees beside him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

His eyes opened slowly, revealing fogged golden depths.

"Katzchen?" he croaked, his voice hoarse and just sick sounding.

"Oh Fuzzy, you, like, aren't feeling good are you."

He shook his head slowly, weakly and her heart clenched.

"Oh baby, come on." She helped him up and back to his bed where she tucked him in.

She brushed his bangs back, finding his forehead feverish, "Don't worry, you'll, like, be okay. I'll go, like, get Ms. Monroe." As she turned to leave, he grabbed her wrist.

"No...stay...please?" he sounded...almost scared, but that was odd. Why would he be scared?

"Okay Kurt, I'll stay." She whispered softly and sat on his bed, holding his hand. He must be hallucinating, that happened when people had fevers sometimes.

She hummed softly, stroking his hair as she called Jean in her mind.

~Jean, tell Ms. Monroe to, like, come upstairs to Kurt's room, fast. ~

She continued humming, hoping Jean would pull from her Scott induced trance to deliver the message. If not, she would have to hurt the red head.

Thankfully, she wouldn't have to inflict her wrath upon the older girl when Ororo quietly stepped into the room.

"Kitty, what is it? What happened?"

"Kurt's, like, really sick."

Ororo placed her hand on Kurt's forehead and the boy opened his eyes. Storm got a very mothering expression on her face and ran her fingers through Kurt's hair.

"You're right."

Kitty held tight to Kurt's hand, "I like, found him on the bathroom floor. I like, think he's been there, like, all night."

Ororo sighed and nodded, "Go finish getting ready for school, Kitty. I'll take care of Kurt."

Kitty nodded, carefully letting go of Kurt's hand, but she did notice he struggled to keep a grip on her own hand.

"I'll be, like, back after school Kurt. I like, totally promise." She faked a smile before leaving the room.

oOo

Kurt didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay; she made the bad memories go away. She made him feel safe. Just having her hold his hand made him remember all the good times with her and for those precious moments the bad memories went away. But he knew he couldn't be selfish, she had to go to school, he couldn't keep her there for reasons he wouldn't even say out loud to his parents.

"Oh Kurt, it'll be alright. I know you don't feel good right now." Ms. Monroe's voice was rich and soft at the same time, it did a little to soothe the pain in his mind, but he still prayed for Kitty to come home soon.

Her hands were on his throat, gently kneading and feeling how swollen it had become. Almost to herself she spoke.

"At least now we know why you've started to lose so much weight over the last few weeks. You poor thing."

He let his eyes slide closed as she looked him over.

"Kurt, I'm going to go get a few things, you just rest okay. Try and sleep."

~No, I can't sleep. Not alone. ~ He mentally screamed.

He shivered, it looked like he was shaking from fever, but in reality, it was fear.

He wasn't going to be getting better anytime soon.

oOo

By lunch Kurt had succumbed to exhaustion and not so much fell asleep, but passed out. It seemed that his exhaustion had even tired out his imagination and he slept soundly for a good few hours until he woke as someone entered his room. He stirred slightly and looked to the side to see Kitty looking like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Oh, I like, woke you up, didn't I?" she sounded almost like she was about to burst into tears, something he couldn't quite understand.

"It's fine Katzchen." Was that really his voice? It sounded like a broken blender attempting to frappe rusty nails.

She shook her head but came to kneel beside his bed, gently taking his hand and rubbing small circles on the back with her thumb. He didn't look much better than he had that morning, but he seemed to be more aware and less caught in hallucinations. His eyes were still oddly haunted though.

That remained there in silence, Kurt focusing on the gentle feel of her hand over his. It was warm and much smaller than his own, with five elegant fingers and perfectly manicured nails painted a light, pale pink. In comparison to his own it was like looking at a real life rendition of Beauty and the Beast, that animated film Kitty had coerced him into watching a few months ago. He only had three, thick fingers covered in a layer of dark blue fur, a stark contrast to her skin. It made his heart ache that he was so far away from being anything like her. He wasn't normal or even moderately attractive in his mind. He was ugly, terrifying and inhuman.

Kitty was unaware of his bleak thoughts as she made her own observation of their hands. What he didn't see, she did. He was so gentle with those hands when it came to her. He acted like she was made of crystal or the thinnest pane of glass moulded into a fine porcelain doll. She liked his hands; they were unique, just like him.

"I hope you get better soon." She whispered softly, unaware that she was speaking the words out loud. She squeezed his hand a bit tighter than before.

Kurt heard her and felt the pressure on his hand, bringing him from his dark musings. It lightened his heart, she didn't care how hideously deformed he was anymore. While she had before, she no longer did. She cared for him; he heard it in her voice. He squeezed her hand back and she looked up to see him smiling slightly, the darkness in his eyes abating some.

She smiled back, not willing to say anything past the block in her throat. She liked Kurt, a lot more than just friends, but right now he needed her as his best friend.

And she was willing to wait.

oOo

A/N: It's just the opening chapter people, remember this is me, you'll get your angst/horror/romance/scarring mental images soon. :D Until then, I'm going to finish Blood Passion before i fully dive into this story. Be patient.

Tomorrow: Surprise Update! Be sure to vote in the new poll on my profile for which of the stories you want updated next week!