I still don't own anything from the original X-Men comic or movie franchise as the characters are owned by them not me, this story is just a piece of my imagination that's stands outside of the base story for my own creative outlet. Although if you don't like it then don't blame me, blame the ones who created the original stuff! ;) :P
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I didn't start to fully develop powers until I was 13, I'd been sensitive to other people's thoughts and feelings for as long as I could remember but had never really thought much of it. The other kids at school did of course, the few times I would slip up and say something in response to someone's thoughts or comment on their emotions I would be faced with the majority of the class looking at me like I was a freak. Naturally it didn't take long for people to start to alienate me, regularly calling me a 'freak' or 'psycho', they had no idea. I got used to the isolation and spent most of my time on my own, reading or sketching to distract myself from the loneliness – which only supported their opinions of me as some kind of weirdo. I guess in some ways I was luckier than other mutants, as physically I was no different to anyone else, I couldn't have imagined what it would have been like otherwise. Whereas I found mutants fascinating, most were simply scared of them – afraid of anything slightly different or unusual, pathetic really.
Being a loner wasn't necessarily a bad thing, I excelled in class and was soon the smartest in the school - skipping 4th and 5th grade completely. At this point I moved on to homeschooling, and no I wasn't you're average posh kid with cash to flash on private tutoring. Me and mom lived in a small two bed house with a bit of a garden and a driveway, it wasn't much but it was perfect for the two of us. I'd never known much of my dad, as far as I was concerned he didn't exist and that fact didn't really bother me. My mom was my best friend, cliché I know, and I guess looking back we were similar in so many ways. She was my idol when I was younger, having an average job in an office was simply enough to make sure the bills were paid. Although it wasn't the best job in the world, when I saw her going to work in pencil skirts, silky blouses and classy heels I thought she looked like a superwoman and assumed she was the most amazing and successful woman in the world - I wanted to be just as pretty as her. I would play with her long wavy auburn hair and tug at my messy curls wishing they were longer. I've always had similar features and but my cheeks were rounder and my jaw line was more pronounced, not like mom's – slim and slender.
As I continued down the street I had been following, I caught sight of my reflection in the window of an empty store. It was surprising at first how much I'd grown to resemble her when I thought of it, similar height and slim build, but my hips were definitely curvier unlike my mom's athletic shape. My hair had gradually grown out and now hung in loose wisps around my face, a change from the frizzy curls I'd had as a toddler. Puberty had mostly worked in my favour, apart from the whole mutant thing.
I'd been heading through the streets in source of some inspiration, but so far was falling short. As I rounded another corner a small park came into sight and I headed towards it, I guess I could do with a bit of a rest... maybe clear my head a little. Everything that had gone on in the wake of the diner incident was starting to make my head hurt and I was tired from lack of sleep. Not only was it exhausting opening up to the powers that I'd been ignoring for so long but in doing so it was becoming harder to ignore my past and the events that had led to my current choice of lifestyle. Finding a soft patch of grass beneath the shade of a tree I placed my backpack on the ground and slid down to sit back against the tree's sturdy trunk. I closed my eyes and let my mind empty out all of the thoughts and feelings that had been jumbled up in my head, shutting out everyone else in the process.
It wasn't until I felt a drop of rain on my cheek that I realised I had fallen asleep; luckily the cover of the tree was sheltering me from most of the light drizzle that was starting to fall. I shook of the ache of sleep that had settled into my limbs and went into my bag to pull out the hoodie I had bought. Standing up I hurried across the grass and out of the park, I didn't really have time to figure out what my plan was but as I looked for somewhere to take shelter I spotted a motel on the right – guess that'll have to do for now. It looked a little dingy and I assumed that was due to it being out of the centre of town and headed towards it anyway. I stepped into the foyer, glad to have gotten out of the rain, and headed to the small front desk. The older woman perched behind it, who had looked up from tapping away on the computer keyboard with her long false nails, simply raised a drawn-on eyebrow at me, crap there's no way I look old enough to be staying here on my own.
I cleared my voice and concentrated on making sure she would be convinced by my ploy "My uncle rang to book me a room earlier? I've got here later than planned but I assume it's still free?"
She looked away and searched through something on the screen before asking "How many nights?"
I regarded her warily praying that my plan was working, seems okay so far... I may as well make the most of it. "4 nights please." My answer was more confident than I'd expected and I realised this would be just the opportunity I needed to focus on recent revelations.
"My uncle said he'd paid in advance." I added and this seemed to finally get through to her as she robotically stood to get a key from the way, handing it to me she smiled but her eyes were slightly glossy – as though she wasn't really seeing me. I let my concentration drop and she automatically went back to the computer without acknowledging my presence. I headed over to elevator on the left of the desk and pressing the call button I looked at the key. Room 153, 3rd floor. The elevator was dimply lit and shook unsteadily as it ascended, I exited as soon as the doors pinged opened relieved to have survived the journey unscathed. The corridor ahead of me was narrow and the lights flickered slightly barely illuminating the walls past the silver plaques that indicated the room numbers. Hesitantly making my way down the corridor I finally found my room and fumbled with the key, the lock made a distinctive clunk as it opened and I pushed my way inside.
It took me a few minutes to find the light switch and when my eyes adjusted to the glow I assessed the room. Well it's better than nothing. The lights were luckily a bit better than those in the hallway, a small lamp sat on the table beside the average sized single bed that was pushed up against the window. Closest to me was a small table and chairs beside which stood an old television set on a. I looked around the rest of the room and noticed a door on the right which presumably led to a bathroom. I went over to sit on the bed, dropping my bag on the floor as the hard mattress groaned underneath me. Home sweet home. Laying back I looked up at the off white ceiling noticing the array of marks that covered it and momentarily wondered how they got there.
Focusing on clearing my mind I then started to relax, opening up to the array of senses surrounding me. Hours went past as I started by gradually reaching out, testing myself, seeing how far I could reach before I could no longer hear or feel people's presence. After a while I was able to reach the thoughts of the janitor on the top floor as well as the lady down at reception, feeling pleased with myself I moved onto extending my concentration allowing me to see what other people were seeing. I'd not yet figured out exactly how I did it, it was kinda like tuning into a radio – find the right frequency then boom I could hear or see whatever I wanted. Sometimes I would be able to tune into whatever a person was thinking about and in doing so I would be able to access some of their memories – like an old archive of video clips. Depending on what I was looking for, each different part of a person's brain appeared behind my eyes like a corridor of doors or sometimes as a room full of filing cabinets – rather stereotypical but it was easier to manoeuvre that way.
Being able to access people's minds was simple enough but manipulating them was different. The only times I'd been able to do it were either subconsciously or when I simply pleaded mentally for it to work, I hadn't been able to work out a solid method to it yet – but I'd been pretty successful so far anyway. The first time that it had happened hadn't registered as unusual at first...
Mom knocked on my door, interrupting me again – I'd been reading the same chapter of To Kill A Mockingbird for the past half hour unable to refocus every time I lost my place. "Yeah, what do you want?!" My Lit tutor had given me a week to read it and write a critical dictation based on the theme that I found most dominant within the text and with only 4 days left I was already eager to get started. Just leave me alone for god sake! I waited for her reply but on hearing footsteps retreating down the stairs I put the book down and climbed off my bed. Opening my bedroom door mom was nowhere to be seen but I could faintly hear the tap running in the kitchen so made my way downstairs to find her – worried that I'd somehow upset her with my sharp tone. Upon finding her stood at the sink I approached carefully "Hi mom, did you want me?"
She turned round and smiled caringly at me, a hint of a laugh in her eyes "Of course not honey! Unless you were coming down to offer to do the dishes for me?" she teased.
"Er... no sorry, I just thought I heard you knock on my door that's all" her nonchalant reply made me a little uneasy. "Guess I was just hearing things..."
Mom had already dismissed my worrying and was humming some disjointed tune as she scrubbed away at a large casserole dish. I left the kitchen and headed back to my room, puzzling quietly over it, I'm sure I heard her knock on my door, guess all this reading's starting to go to my head... I picked up the book I had discarded and tried to figure out where I had gotten up to before.
It wasn't until the same sort of thing started happening more frequently that I had understood what was happening, but I was still no closer to working out how to control it. My stomach rumbled reminding me that it was almost morning and I'd not eaten since the diner the other day, I changed my clothes in the cramped bathroom and splashed my face with cold water before stuffing some money in my pocket and grabbing the key as I headed out. The ride in the elevator hadn't improved and I considered enquiring about taking the stairs when I returned, passing the front desk the woman there smiled at me but with little sign of recognition and I pondered whether I'd somehow managed to wipe her memory of me without realising – could I even do that?
It was slightly warmer today but there was a nice crisp breeze that ruffled my hair as I made my way down the street in search of a grocery store. Finding one a few blocks down I headed to stock up on stuff for the next few days – snacks and some sandwiches, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, and some bottles of budget cola. Standing at the register I handed over the money, it was odd to think that I'd already been able to coerce my way out of paying for the hotel and even managed to get a load of cash from a complete stranger. I could get away with never having to pay for anything again! The initial thrill of the thought sent my mind racing with possibilities... Free food, free clothes, I could live in a luxury hotel for as long as I wanted, I bet I could even get myself a chauffeur and a limo if I convinced people I was related to a celebrity or something, I could practically rob a bank if I wanted to! Yet the excitement soon faded to a sinking feeling as I walked away with my purchases – that's only because you manipulate people so you can essentially steal from them. I decided it was probably best to limit myself to doing so only if it was absolutely necessary, I wasn't keen on feeling like a criminal. And I hadn't even figured out how it all worked yet; anything too adventurous would be a recipe for disaster.
Getting back to my room I went to switch on the TV, fiddling with several buttons and controls until the screen finally fizzled to life. Jumping between towns without really settling anywhere had allowed me to escape from the rest of the world, yet as the news came on and I noticed the date at the bottom of the screen I felt a little guilty for living that way for so long. It's 2002... I've been gone almost 2 years – which also made me 16 this year, having left home just after my 14th birthday. It was a bit of a shock at first but the realisation that I'd managed to waste two years of my life only spurred me on in my plans to finally figure out who I was and where I belonged– I'm 16, it's time to get a grip of myself, stop wasting time, get a job and start living again.
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Thought you guys might have wanted a little background detail on her character, there's more to come later on! Sorry if this one's a little slow, Laura still needs time to discover what she can do and I don't want to rush her, also realised you'd not got a visual description of her yet so hope it wasn't too different to what you were expecting :P
Thanks for reading,
Pandasaurusrexamon xxx