A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews. This is my first story. I'm sorry for any grammatical errors, I'm just so excited. Now, on to chapter 2!
Gothic Lolita
"Tell me again how this woman will be a positive addition to our team, Charles?"
The telepath thought for a moment, his fingers steeple-style beneath his chin.
"The coming dangers will require us to be fearless, Erik. That, and I'm a tad bit curious.", he grinned back at Erik.
Erik sighed at his friends enthusiasm. This was becoming tedious. It wasn't the locating the mutants that was a hassle. It was getting to them. The first three they picked up were simple. A strip club, an aquarium, and solitary confinement. However, this area was new to him. It was a small town in Pennsylvania that seemed to not enjoy visitors. The staring eyes and scowling faces as they drove the town was enough to set him at unease.
Calm yourself. These are just people who are quite territorial. I hope to not resort to violence, but in the event it happens, I'm sure we can handle ourselves my friend. Now please, relax yourself before you fold the car in on itself.
The magnetic man eased his shoulders, his muscles rippling as he relaxed. He turned into a vacant house. The house itself was out of a horror story. Siding was missing and shingles slid from the roof. The grass around the home was dead and had invaded the driveway, weaving in and out of the ground as if someone had woven it. Without touching the handles, the men stepped out of their vehicle. Erik looked back down the road they came from.
"This place is a ways out from the center of town. No neighbors." He gestured down the length of the road where the end reached into a foreboding forest. "And the road is a dead end. How fond of ghosts are you, Charles? Because I suspect that is all we will find here."
Charles frowned in response before touching his fingers to his head and closing his eyes. He reached into the house slowly. He found two sources of life. The forces of his mind reached into one and he gasped at the fear the man felt. Charles reeled back from the force of it and lost his connection. His chest heaved as he fought to collect his breathing. Erik braced himself beside him, startled himself by the telepaths reaction. Regaining his breath, Charles spoke.
"My god. This is…my god. We need to get in there."
His sunny disposition left him as he took off to enter the shabby home. A wall of cold hit him as he entered. This place was truly haunted. Or just pure evil. Erik followed suit, instantly intrigued. If this woman was enough to give Charles of all people a start, she must be something remarkable. Erik hid a grin, masking it with a stern look. He followed Charles until he was standing next to him. The both of them stood in a doorway which opened into what looked like a place of torture. A drain was in the middle of the floor, rust and dried blood crusted around it. The eyes of the men trailed along the smears of blood on the floor until they stopped upon a curious and frightening site. A woman with hair the colour of flame was seated on the floor in front of a man who was cowering against the wall. His mouth was stretched out impossibly far, permanently frozen in fear. The scared man's eyes were locked onto the young woman in front of him whose head was cocked to the side in mock curiosity.
Inside Melody's Mind
"How curious, Father Harvard. I never would have imagined that you were afraid of small girls. I know everything that you have done, Father. How unholy of you."
Melody cooed, lounging upon a couch as she watched Father Harvard desperately moving away from an incoming horde of young girls. The room was entirely void of colour except for the bright splashes of blood along the walls and floor. The windows to the outside were shrouded in black. He was breathing erratically as he pushed through the group of children, their small hands clawing at him and bringing him back to where he was. They were duplicates of each other with their empty eye sockets and mouths that were torn from pulling at stitches. The man was pulled down and dragged into the center, screams filling the room as he was consumed with his fear. It was eating him alive, draining him of everything. Melody stood from where she was lounging and stepped daintily towards him, careful of the girls. She leaned over the man and clenched her throat in her hands.
"I will not forgive you, Father, for you have si-"
You must stop this, Melody!
A sharp pain caused the woman to hiss and clutch her head as she reared back. The floor gave way and she plummeted. The world flew by her as she fell into a kaleidoscope of dark colors.
The Room
A sharp breath came from the girl as the color came back to her eyes. She was on her back and her green eyes were locked onto the ceiling. She lay immobile for an amount of time before sitting up and clutching her forehead. She caught the sound of heavy breathing and slid her eyes over to the doorway of her personal hell where two men watched her. The shorter of the two had the index and middle finger of his right hand pressed to his temple, his bright blue eyes locked onto her with such intensity that her face reddened. She looked away from him, using her wild locks to obstruct his view of her.
"Please, Miss Melody. Look at me."
The blue-eyed man's voice was soft and welcoming. She had to look at him. Her uncertain green eyes met his comforting blue ones and she let out a shaky breath. What had happened? She remembered a white and black room. Small girls and man's screams. Her eyes widened before she suddenly stood and threw her hands over her mouth. Father Harvard lay on the floor with his head and neck propped awkwardly against the wall. His eyes were void of life and he babbled incessantly. His dead eyes were locked onto her. He was frozen in his fear. Melody backed away from the man and into the iron frame of her temporary bed. She looked back at the soothing man in the doorway.
"His name is Father Harvard… He's the head priest at my mother's church. He was no man of faith. He was made of arrogance and lies. I am afraid of what I have done, yet I feel no sadness. I was just so angry…so frightened, sir. What am I?"
She looked to Charles for answers with her sad green eyes. Erik looked at him wearily before looking at the girl. She was dressed in a simple green hospital gown that looked like it had seen better days. Her skin was pale with a dusting of freckles along her arms. She was thin from obvious lack of nutrition. Her feet were dirty and wounded. Her eyes were so full of uncertainty, fear, but strength. Erik was fascinated. Her power had just sent a man into madness. How long had she held that holy man in his state of pure fear? What had happened to her eyes? He felt like a child at his first magic show, wondering if the woman had been sawed in half or not.
"Sir, were you in my mind?"
There was stillness in the air after her question towards the telepath. Charles moved cautiously towards her before kneeling down to clasp her frail hand in his. Her brows furrowed at his friendliness and she inched away from him. His eyes held her though and his smile stilled her.
"Yes, I was. You may call me Charles, Melody. And as for the matter of what you are, my dear, you are a mutant."
