Okay, so obviously I have been M.I.A from this story for a while. I found the chapters I've written up on my old laptop and suddenly had the urge to finish this story.
If you want this story to continue, please leave me a review. Otherwise I'll probably delete it instead of leaving it uncompleted.
I changed first, suddenly needing to be rid of the clothes I was wearing, like they were tainted. I shoved on a pair of fading jeans, a white shirt with a black jacket over the top, my black converse hi-tops and striped fingerless gloves.
I left the room and wandered out into the garden. I found myself sitting down on the bench I had found my father on a month before; the day everything had changed.
The large oak-like tree beside the bench provided shade from the fading sunlight. I rubbed my temples and rolled my neck. Minutes ticked by and the image of dads face as he plunged his claws into my stomach would not fade. It was a clear as if it had happened just minutes ago. Why? Why was it sticking in my mind when most dreams began to fade the moment I woke? Something wasn't right but I couldn't put my finger on it.
Heavy footsteps alerted me that someone was approaching. A scent in the wind told me it was Logan.
"Hey kiddo."
"Hey dad," I replied. I didn't look at him, instead focusing on the tree line in the distance. I didn't know what I was feeling and I didn't want him to read anything in my eyes. And I wasn't sure I wanted to look at him. I was afraid that if I looked at him, all I would see is the image of his claws plunging into my stomach.
"How you been?" he asked as he sat beside me.
I took a deep breath before looking up at him. "Great."
His eyes searched my face, looking for signs that I was insincere. He wouldn't find any. I was an excellent liar when I wanted to be. It came from years of practice in the orphanage, telling myself and the other kids that one day it would all be okay. "Really?" he asked.
"Yeah dad." I gave him my most convincing smile. "School is good, I'm getting good grades. And I've made some friends too." The more I looked into my father's face, the quicker the image of him stabbing me faded. It had just been a stupid dream. He would never do anything to hurt me.
He nodded and smiled like that information pleased him. "And how is your mutation? No problems so far?"
I knew he was concerned about how his mutation had affected me. He was probably worried that I had started chugging beer, smoking cigars and yelling at kids as a side effect of mimicking his mutation. That was not the case.
"It's all good dad. Stop worrying," I said with a grin. "Most of the kids have been cool about it and even offering to let me mimic them. Although I have to be careful around some kids. There are some mutations here that I wouldn't want."
"Like?" he asked.
"Well there's one kid here who doesn't sleep at all. I love my sleep so there is no way I would ever mimic his mutation. And there's another one who glows in the dark."
We talked about my mutation a little bit more. Dad was surprised to learn that in some cases after I mimicked a mutation, I ended up having more control and power than the person who originally gave it to me. He began wondering aloud how powerful my mutation made me and that's when I told him that, for now, my mutation came with a side effect. I had been worrying about how to tell him this since I knew how he would react but I knew I needed to tell him.
Every now and then after using one of my mutations I would black out. Dad instantly began worrying when I told him this but I quickly relayed what Professor Xavier told me when it first happened a few weeks ago. He believes that since I've come to the school and started mimicking so many mutations, my body is not use to such power and strength. In a couple of weeks I've gone from having mimicked only 2 mutations to now having over 15. Passing out is my body's way of dealing with the stress. It has been occurring less and less over time and the Professor thinks that it will eventually stop happening altogether when my body eventually adapts to having so many different mutations.
I could see dad was still worrying over the passing out thing so I quickly changed the subject and asked him about where he had gone to over the past month. He told me about all the places he had visited that had once held some meaning to him. The house he had once lived in with my mother had been his first stop. He had driven down roads that were once familiar to him, visited the place where he had once worked and even sat outside the small school where Kayla use to teach. Those places had meant so much to him long ago yet none of them managed to spark a memory. He drove around for weeks, visiting other places including the house he was born in before ending up at Alkali Lake but nothing came back to him. It was gone forever.
Even though he tried to hide it, I could see that his forgotten memories were torturing him. All he wanted was to remember his life, remember who he was before all of this. I wish there was something I could do to help him and bring back all the memories he has lost but if the Professor can't do that then I don't see how I ever could.
We sat in the garden for a little longer while I told dad about some of the subjects I was studying. I knew he probably wasn't interested but we both needed distracting from the unanswered question that hung between us: what was Logan going to do? Was he going to stay with me at the school or take off again? Neither of us is ready for the answer so we both ignored the question. For now my dad was here with me and that's all that mattered.
The sun was beginning to dip behind the mountains in the distance by the time we left the garden. We were just about to part ways in the foyer when dad suddenly pulled me to a stop.
"I just thought that you should know...that I stopped by the orphanage on my way back."
My body immediately tensed at the mention of the orphanage. I had been trying so hard to forget about that place and all the horrors that had occurred between its walls. The physical scars from my time there had vanished when I had acquired dad's mutation but the psychological and emotional ones still remained. I doubted that they would ever go away.
"I was going there to make sure that they never hurt another child again," he said. I could hear the anger in his tone. Even though he hadn't been aware of my existence during the abuse, he still blamed himself for not preventing or stopping it. I had already told him he was not responsible for what happened to me but the anguish and guilt in his eyes whenever we talked about it was still there.
I was sure he had gone there not to just shut down the orphanage but to make sure the teachers were left with a few of the scars that they had given me over the years.
"But the place had already been shut down."
"What?" I instantly asked. For years I had prayed as I fell asleep each night that someone would come and see the abuse the children were subjected to but that never happened. It seemed like everyone had turned a blind eye to us.
"They've been shut down after a very reliable source called the Department of human services and informed them about the teachers abusing the children."
I surged forward and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you," I said.
"What for kid?" dad asked. "I didn't do anything."
"You went there to protect the kids. That means something."
I hugged him tighter. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I had spent so many nights tossing and turning, wondering about the kids I had left behind. I had formed close bonds with so many of them. Guilt had been plaguing me ever since I had escaped for leaving them behind. Now I could sleep easy knowing they were no longer in that horrible place. I had a feeling I knew who had been the 'reliable source' and I made a mental note to thank him later.
"I'm happy you're back," I said as I pulled back to look up into his face.
He gave me one of his rare smiles in return.
I gave him another quick hug before I left for my room. I presumed that dad was going off to talk to the Professor about what exactly would be expecting of him as a babysitter.
Don't forget, if you want me to continue with this, please let me know below!
