Chapter 2

Nestled inside the drawer was a single manilla folder; it looked empty except for the paper-clip on the front.

Ororo laughed at herself. Nothing dangerous, she determined with a chuckle at her own overactive imagination. Pulling the folder out, the beautiful woman glanced with interest at the words adorning the tag on the side: "Momento Mo're."

The page on top was a colored photograph of a young woman. If her deep violet hair-which was cropped short to her head in choppy locks-was any indication, Ororo assumed she was a mutant. The girl was smiling, but her violet eyes were haunted with the memories of a rough past. Ororo had seen the same eyes many times in the mirror herself.

The girl was neither plain, nor excessively beautiful. Normal, surprisingly enough. Her skin seemed a little paler than most, and she had circles around her eyes, but other than that, she seemed healthy enough. In the picture, the girl was sitting on a low brick wall, one knee pulled up to her chest, the other leg hanging down, her head laying on her hands on her knee, she looking at the mysterious picture-taker. She was wearing a simple long-sleeve shirt, a light gray, a ripped black skirt, and boots. The foliage behind the girl was red and orange: autumn. Funny, the longer she looked at the photograph, Ororo could have sworn that was on the wall in the garden...

But she had never seen the girl before. Ever. Strange.

Behind the photograph was a medical record.

The girl's name was Abby. She was 5'3" and weighed 128 lbs. Her origins, however, where unknown.

Parents: Unknown.

Date of Birth: Unknown.

Age: Unknown.

At the bottom of the paper was a typed section:

The subject was discovered in a soiled hospital gown, unconsicous on Heathers Road by a passerby. Taken to St. Andrew's Hospital, where subject was held for observation. Hospital contacted Professor Xavier when staff realized subject was possibly a mutant. After a brief conference with her, the girl was offered asylum at the Academy. She has terminal amnesia, and cannot remember much of anything beyond waking up in the St. Andrew's hospital. It has been this medical person's opinion that she is healthy and can report to class whenever deemed fit. Henry McCoy.

After the report where several handwritten letters by the professor. As Ororo scanned each one, she realized that they were evaluations of Abby's progress, either in her classes, or in his attempts to help her regain her memories. Each attempt ended in failure, it seemed.

"Though trying as hard as possible, it seems as though she still cannot remember anything beyond the hospital. However, whenever I attempt to enter her mind, a block is thrown up, preventing me from seeing anything. Abby does not seem able to do such a thing, so I am left to wonder if she was under any sort of experimentation. I fear Stryker's involvement."

Ororo shivered as she read the last sentence. Stryker, mutant enemy Number One. He was dead now, but the torture he inflicted ran deep. Just ask Logan.

"Abby is doing well in her classes-all As- but besides the obvious hair and eye color, I have seen no other mutation manifest. Abby claims to know of no other 'abilities' she may be repressing. I am becoming worried for her. Last night I was summoned to her side again. She suffered such a violent night-terror that Henry was forced to tranquilize her. I was unable to discover what triggered the night-terror, or even what it consisted of. When Abby woke-up later, she had no memory of the incident. What happened to this poor girl?"

From what she could gather, Abby seemed to be happy at the Academy. She had passed her classes with flying colors, and seemed easy enough to get along with. She still suffered from night-terrors though. Every other page seemed to recal another incident, another that Abby would claim not the remember.

"I tried to find where Abby may have been born, but there were no records in the New York state, or the United States, for that matter, about a mutant runaway matching Abby's description. Of course, some people do not report mutants; when many mutants have their powers manifest for the first time, they become scared and run away without telling anyone. I have not been able to find out anything else during our sessions, either. The same mental block will appear anytime I try to go into her memories of the past. Abby has now taken a dislike towards Hank when he tried to draw blood from her. She became hysterical and fled.

"I was able to find her on the low wall by the East garden. She was calmer by then, and apologized for running away. When I asked why she ran, she simply said 'I don't like needles.'

"'Do you know why?' I asked.

"'What's to like about needles?' she asked. 'I just don't want to be poked and prodded anymore.'

"'Abby, do you remember something?' I asked her, realizing she had made a slip.

"'I remember needles. Lots of them. Shots all the time. I remember the pain,' she said sadly. 'Can't you make me forget the pain, Professor?"

The longer she read, the sadder she felt. Poor Abby. To suddenly find yourself all alone, without any idea who you were or what made up your past, was a big emotional block. Ororo had watched Logan go through the same thing, and had seen how it had hurt him. She found herself looking at the last handwritten page.

"Today a terrible event occured. A student, a young man by the name of James Henderson, suffered heart failure. Although Hank did everything in his power to save James, it was already to late. No one is really sure why he died, or what caused his heart to simply stop beating.

When I was about to leave the lab and contact James' parents of the accident, Abby came running in. She and James were close, and when she saw his body, she flew into hysterics. I tried to comfort her, but she refused to leave James' side, or even to listen to me. I was about to call Hank for another sedative to relax her when...his heart began beating again on the monitor! Abby was still holding his hand as he gasped for breath. When she looked at me as his vital signs came back strong, I knew. She had known of her mutation all along, but had been hoping to hide it from me...

"I don't know what she is, but her's is no mutation, but something much more dangerous. This is something than cannot be revealed to anyone-Abby must disappear, or else the entire world will be thrown into chaos."