Hello again! Thanks for waiting for the next installment of this story - I would have gotten it out sooner but I had to prepare to go on holiday with my friends and I was then away for a week. But, now I'm back, and the only thing stopping me from writing is work and lack of motivation; both of which will hopefully not prove to be as interfering as they could be.
It's wonderful to see how many reviews, follows, and favourites this has already! Special mention here for booklover1698 who has also been on the journey of The Phoenix and The Riddler with me - it's very heartwarming to see your name again, friend! I always look forward to your reviews.
Without further ado, here's the second chapter! Enjoy, review, and hopefully feel satisfied by the end of it.
DISCLAIMER: I only own Evelyn.
Chapter 2 - Arrival
Erik and Charles had taken the opportunity to go out and buy me a pair of jeans and a tank top before they visited me, knowing that I wouldn't have any clothes in my possession that would fit me now. The tight, thick material felt foreign on my skin, but for the first time in years my legs were covered from hips to ankles and I felt far less exposed than I ever had before. I'd been able to shower as well before we left the asylum, so my skin was rid of blood, dirt, and sweat, my hair was no longer knotted and greasy, and I smelled clean. It was a complete transformation.
"How do you feel?" Charles asked as he and Erik walked me through the empty corridors of the 'facility' – darkness had descended over the world but the telepath had told me the other mutants had stayed up to welcome me.
"Like a different person," I answered slowly, frowning.
"Is that a bad thing?" Erik asked, quirking an eyebrow.
We stopped in front of a set of doors, behind which I realised my fellow mutants sat waiting. "I'm not sure yet."
Charles smiled for a moment before a look of concern overcame his features. "Are you sure you want to meet them now? There are only four of them currently but that's still a big step up for you, is it not?"
I blinked and looked up at him. "What's life without a challenge?" I replied, stepping forward and pushing a door open.
"Dull," Erik said behind me, following me in.
The room stretched out on either side of me, with matching, rectangular windows covering most of the side walls. The window on the left overlooked a large field of grass with some strange sphere-like construction, while the window on the right overlooked a courtyard with bushes and grass and stone and a metal statue. Inside, the left of the room consisted of a bar and several sets of tables and chairs – there was also some machine that was flashing colourful lights which was completely unfamiliar to me – and the right of the room consisted of two sofas, two armchairs and another set of table and chairs.
"It's the thought that counts, I suppose," Charles sighed, smiling at the sofas.
The four mutants that had planned on waiting for me were sprawled out over the sofas and armchairs, sleeping soundly. On one sofa there was a pretty blonde girl leaning on a brown-haired boy's shoulder, his head leaning on top of hers, causing his glasses to sit on his face oddly. On the other sofa, another girl with coffee-coloured skin was laid out over the black leather, arms tucked into her chest, black hair fanning over her shoulders and back. In one of the armchairs sat a young, black man a few years my senior, his elbow propped up on the armrest with his fist supporting his cheek.
I was at a loss for words. These people didn't even know me and yet they had sat up, fighting against their fatigue, just so that I would have a welcome upon arrival. It was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me, and it ignited a warmth in my chest that brought a genuine smile to my face.
"How sweet," Erik remarked insipidly, staring at the blonde girl and the brunette boy. "Perhaps we should send them to their proper beds."
"I don't want to disturb them," Charles replied reluctantly.
Erik turned to him with a cold look. "They need to get a decent sleep, Charles. Shaw could attack at any moment."
"Shaw doesn't know where we are."
"Don't underestimate him."
"I'm not," Charles insisted irritably.
"You don't know him like I do," Erik snapped.
"I know everything you know, Erik."
"Uh, welcome back, Charles, Erik," an unfamiliar voice spoke up. The three of us looked over to the armchair to see the black man looking over at us, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "And you must be the new recruit?" he asked, taking his hand away and standing up with a friendly smile.
I stepped forward to shake his hand as the others slowly pulled themselves from slumber, groaning and yawning. "Evelyn," I told him.
"Nice to meet you, Evelyn, I'm Darwin," he replied. He put a hand on my shoulder and stood next to me, looking at the other mutants. "Guys, this is Evelyn. You gonna introduce yourselves or stand there like a bunch of zombies?"
The brunette boy was flushed red after waking up in that position with the blonde girl and scurried over, apparently fleeing the situation with her as fast as he could. I smirked as I shook his hand. "I'm Hank," he told me with a nervous smile, fixing his glasses.
As soon as he stepped away, the coffee-skinned girl was in front of me, shaking my hand too. "Hi, Evelyn, I'm Angel."
The blonde girl pushed Angel out the way playfully, grinning widely as she shook my hand. "I'm Raven, Charles' sister," she said brightly. Then she looked to Darwin. "Didn't I tell you it would be another girl?" she smirked.
He sighed, rolling his eyes, and handed over ten dollars. "Yeah, yeah."
I could feel my throat closing up slightly at the overabundance of bodies in the room, my heartbeat quickening under my chest, but I told myself that I wasn't going to get better if I didn't expose myself to uncomfortable situations, no matter how overwhelmed I got. I needed to stand firm and force myself to adjust. "It's nice to meet you all," I said, gaining their attention, "Really. I appreciate you staying up this late – even if it was for a bet –" Raven blushed at that, "But you honestly didn't have to."
"C'mon," Raven scoffed, her blush dissipating, "It would've been rude to not welcome you."
"Technically we were kind of rude, given that we were asleep when she came in," Hank told her.
She turned to send him a brief glare. "Thank you for that, Hank." He flushed red and looked down at his shoes.
"We all didn't know there were other mutants out there," Darwin told me, smiling, "So we were really excited to meet another one." I smiled back at him.
"I think everyone should go to bed now," Charles interrupted, smiling happily. Erik stood behind him, his face as stony as ever, watching.
"Where am I sleeping?" I asked.
Suddenly an arm linked with mine and started pulling me along. I looked to the source of the limb, startled, and saw Ravens's bouncing, blonde curls. "You're bunking with Angel and I," she announced.
A hand shot out and grabbed my other arm, halting the both of us roughly. I bowed my head, closing my eyes against uninvited memories of being manhandled, and steadied my breathing again. Then Erik's voice was in my ear. "Come to me if you have any problems," he said, leaving no room for arguments, and let go once I nodded distractedly.
The girls' room was long and narrow, only wide enough for four beds to sit across it with a small space between the foot of the beds and the opposite wall to walk along. The bottom two beds were dishevelled and had suitcases propped up against them, meaning they were taken by the other girls already; however, I wanted to sleep closest to the door, which left a spare bed in between us. This was one uncomfortable situation I wasn't going to adjust to; I needed that bed next to the door.
As Raven and Angel went to theirs and plopped down, looking at me, I closed the door and stood at the one I wanted. "Do you mind if I take this one? I don't mean to be rude or unsociable; I just prefer to sleep closest to the door."
Angel turned to glance at Raven before they both looked back to me. "Of course, Evelyn, why would we mind?" Raven asked, frowning with a touch of concern and curiosity.
Because there's always someone to refuse my requests, no matter how simple, I could have said. Instead, I replied, "I just thought it might have been rude."
They smiled. "Don't worry about it," Angel assured me.
It took me a moment to convince myself that they were being genuine and this wasn't a trick, and then I sat down on my bed and pulled my legs up underneath me. "How long have you both been here?" I forced out, unfamiliar with initiating conversations.
"I've been here for about two weeks now," Raven answered, stretching out on her side.
"I've been here for a week and four days," Angel added.
"What about the others?" I asked.
"Well, Hank was already here when Charles, Erik, Moira, and I arrived – he worked here – but Darwin's been here a week," Raven calculated.
"Wait, who's Moira?" I frowned.
"Oh, she's the CIA agent my brother's crushing on," she smirked. I couldn't help smiling too.
"How come they took so long to get me compared to you and Darwin?" I asked, nodding at Angel.
"They tried to recruit another mutant in between you and Darwin," Angel replied, "But I think he wasn't interested."
"Charles said he was very blunt when he expressed his refusal," Raven grinned amusedly.
I didn't really understand, but I smiled anyway with the two girls. After looking at my fidgeting hands and debating whether or not I could manage to speak some more – I hadn't spoken so much in years – I looked back up at them. "So, what are your mutations?"
Angel opened her mouth to speak, but Raven bolted upright and flung a hand out to stop us. "No!" she shouted, panicked. I jumped at her outburst, wrapping my arms around myself to calm my heart. These people were going to give me a heart attack. "We have to wait until everyone's here and then show each other!"
Angel rolled her eyes. "Raven, you've told us that continuously ever since we got here; I wasn't going to tell her."
"It's just a precaution," Raven grumped, collapsing on her bed again.
I smiled and decided that I was done for the day. As I started pulling back the bed covers, Angel perked up again. "Do you need stuff to sleep in?" she asked kindly.
For a moment I frowned, ready to tell her that I was already wearing something; but then I remembered back to a long time ago, when you wore a different outfit to bed than you did during the day. My mood significantly dropped and I nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I guess."
"That's okay, I can lend you some stuff – I brought just about every set of clothes I own to this place; who knows how long we'll be here?" she rambled, noticing my discomfort. After digging in her suitcase she pulled out a pair of shorts and a thin-strapped tank top and handed it to me.
I blinked at them and then looked up at her. "Is there somewhere I can change?"
"Uh, yeah, sorry, of course," she nodded, slapping a hand to her forehead. "There's a bathroom just opposite, if you want." I nodded and thanked her before heading out.
The bathroom was definitely made more for function than appearance, but, to me, it was incredible. I got changed into Angel's clothes, frowning at my once again bare legs, and picked up my old clothes. As I turned, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and saw a mirror hung up on the wall. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared, and stared, and stared. The last time I had looked at myself in such detail was when I was twelve, and I had changed.
For starters, my hair was no longer at my shoulders and instead fell to my stomach in waves – but I had already known that. However, the emerald speckles glowing in my brown eyes were completely alien and unexpected, as was how mature my face seemed. I looked so different and I wasn't quite sure how to handle it.
Perhaps this could be the start of something new? The twelve-year-old me was the one that was admitted to an asylum and forced to endure cruelty no child should be exposed to; this nineteen-year-old me could be the one to leave the past behind her and begin a new life, with a new family. The only question was: could I move on from my past?
There you are, pals. Hopefully this was enjoyable and I didn't piss anyone off with my portrayals of the characters!
The next chapter should be coming out soon, depending on whether or not I overload myself with writing for other stories that aren't even up here. Seriously, I have so many ideas for things - another X-Men (Pyro/OC); a Rise of the Guardians (Jack/OC); a 3:10 To Yuma (William/OC); The Hangover (Phil/OC); Transformers (Ironhide/OC); 21 Jump Street (Jenko/OC); Assassin's Creed (Altair/OC); and, of course, the other story I have up here: LOTR (Legolas/OC). Let me know if any of these interest you and I guess it might come about that it'll be the next story I get into!
I think I might start posting updates on the stories in my profile biography, so keep an eye out for info there:)
See y'all next time!