Chapter 4: New People

"Quiet, she's waking up!" a girl says.

I squint at the blinding light and focus on the person standing over me. She has choppy auburn hair and a very wide, curious grin on her face.

"Shhh! Don't bother her," I hear another girl say.

"I will take it from here," an older sounding man says.

The girl steps back out of the way and I shift my head over to see who it is. There is an old man sitting in a wheelchair. He has no hair and is staring straight into my eyes.

"Hello, Elizabeth," he says, his voice sounding somewhat familiar, "Kitty, Rogue, why don't you two see how our other patient is doing."

The one whom I first heard, I guess is Kitty, just smiles and nods at him, "I'd be happy to. Come on, Rogue," says she, tugging on Rogue's gloved hand.

Rogue gives me a hopeful smile and follows Kitty out of the room. I guess the "other patient" is Michael. Michael.

"Where is Michael? Can I see him? Is he okay?" I ask quickly, as soon as the door is shut.

"Yes, Michael is fine. He has one broken rib, and he sprained his wrist, but he is doing excellent considering what happened," says the old man, easing me back down onto the bed.

I relax, abide by his wishes, and lay my head back on the pillow. I feel my left arm and find that it is bandaged. I bend it and discover I did not break it; I merely bruised a nerve. My eyes wander around the room. It looks like a regular hospital room.

"Where exactly am I?" I ask finally, "And who are you?"

"I am Professor Xavier, and you are in my school…for mutants. My people brought you here after that dreadful earthquake—"

"Earthquake? I thought we were thrown from the jeep."

"Well, yes, but I thought that was because of the earthquake. Don't you remember?"

Then it hits me. Like a wrecking ball takes down a building, it hits me. Memories of the accident flash through my mind. It wasn't the earthquake that threw us from the jeep. We hit a deer, and that's when the jeep rolled. We were thrown, and right when I hit the ground, this huge earthquake occurred. Causing me to slaughter my arm. Causing Michael to break his rib. It was my fault. Confusion and pity take hold of the Professor's features. My brow furrows at this because he seems to feel sorry for me. I don't know why, I didn't tell him anything. He continues to look at me with pity in his eyes.

Oh, Elizabeth, it is not your fault. You cannot control your abilities yet.

What the French toast? God, was that you? It didn't sound like you, it sounded like a person! I sit up and my eyes skip around the room, but the only person I see is the Professor. But he hasn't spoken a word! I saw, his lips didn't even move!

"Are you a ventriloquist or something?" I ask.

No, I'm telepathic. I can control and read a person's mind. I can speak to them. I can help you to control your abilities; I can even help you discover the rest of your powers. There is more to you than meets the eye. You are capable of so much more than you think.

My mind races for a few minutes. God, please tell me if I can trust this man. Of course you can trust him, Liz, God wouldn't have brought you to him if you couldn't trust him.

"Can I show you something? I don't know if I can completely control it yet, but I think I know how to create it," I say.

Professor Xavier nods and wheels back a bit. I slowly lift my right hand into the air. The Professor's eyes watch with anticipation. With just a thought, my hand is engulfed in the invincible flame. I mold it with my hands into a ball of fire and toss it back and forth as if I am playing with a toy. I then close my hand over the fire, and it disappears. The Professor smiles a very knowing smile at me.

"You are special, aren't you?" he says.

I shyly nod, "Umm, there is also another thing. The fire I create can't be killed; it can only be stopped by me. And, I think I can create rain storms too, perhaps even water itself," I then begin to explain about the incident at the school. I speak about the gunman, how the school started on fire, and how my anger seemed to bring the killer storm. I tell him how all of the students were chanting 'Mutant Freak' at me. For a moment I pause, for I can still hear their voices echoing inside my mind. I then continue with how I was completely unharmed by the storm of fire and ice. I pause again. The Professor's eyes show compassion. It seems he has dealt with someone like me before. I go on to the dream and how I fell on my bed.

"…After that, they turned me away, disowning me. And I drove to the next town, where I met Michael. He sort of "hitched" a ride from me," I finish.

The Professor hides a laugh at this last comment. He must have guessed Michael's abilities.

"Elizabeth, I had that exact same dream. Except, I wasn't the one flying, I was the one who was talking to you," he says.

"Really? I thought your voice sounded familiar. But how?"

"Come with me, I would like to show you something," he said.

Professor Xavier wheels around and heads out the door, I get off of the table and follow. We walk down a long white hallway to a sort of computer mechanism. At this point, he stops, leans forward, and looks into an eyepiece connected to the machine. Round doors open in front of us and a voice says, "Welcome Professor." We go in to what seems like a giant bubble room.

"This is Cerebro. From here I can locate any mutant on the planet. It's actually very convenient when we've lost a student or need to find someone. This is how I found you. I did not know your abilities or who you where, all I knew was that you needed help."

"Sweet."

"Yes, I guess it is 'sweet' as you call it. Now, I ask that you stand very still, I would like to give you a demonstration."

I do as I am told and stand still. The Professor places on his head this strange looking helmet and the whole room turns into a sort of map. He tells me all of the red dots are mutants. The red dots get larger and I can see people walking around. It is so weird, in a cool way. Finally, he stops the whole thing. We then walk back out of Cerebro, and he leads me to Michael's room.

"Michael!" I say as I run to him, so very thankful to see he is all right.

I don't know his mother's name, or where he was born, or anything like that. But I know he loves God, I know him, I know his character, and I believe we will be great friends.

"Elizabeth!" he exclaims, just as happy to see me.

With difficulty he tries to sit up. He winces at the pain, but hugs me with warmth. We pull back and smile at each other. Our eyes lock together as before, but this time knowing we survived a freak accident together. I turn around and lean on the examination table. Standing beside the Professor are four adults. The first two are women and the second two are men. One has short, platinum white hair, and black skin; I recognize her as one of the two that rescued us. She seems nice. The second is equally as pretty, her skin is white and has faint signs of freckles; her hair is long and dark red. Now the men I believe are quite attractive. The first one I recognize as the guy with the cool sunglasses. I wonder, why is he wearing those inside? He has a very strong face and dark brown hair. The second looks kind of rough. He seems to have a wolf-like quality about him. I love wolves. I also have this strange obsession with penguins… While I am studying the new people in front of me, Michael stands up beside me. From behind the strangers I see Rogue and Kitty with their heads on either side of the group. Rogue seems to be shy, but Kitty is right out there, curious to know whom we are. They can't be any older than Michael and I.

"Elizabeth, Michael, I want you to meet a couple students of mine and their teachers," the Professor says, "This is Storm, usually known as Ororo Monroe, and this is Doctor Jean Grey," they nod as their names are mentioned, "These two are Cyclops, usually known as Scott Summers, and Logan, also known as Wolverine."

"And I'm Kitty," says the bright girl with choppy hair, and bringing Rogue out from her hiding place she says, "This is Rogue."

Okay, Kitty is a little preppy for me. But hey, I guess I get excited about new people too. I suppose I should say something.

"Hi! I'm Elizabeth!" I say going into acting mode and being as bubbly as I can possibly be.

Laughter emerges from Rogue's throat, but Kitty just sits there, I must have hurt her feelings.

"I'm just kidding," I say, laughing along with Rogue, "I'm just a sarcastic brat. It's okay, you'll get used to it."

She continues to stare at me with a very hurtful, piteous look on her face.

"I'm really sorry," I say, becoming very serious.

Kitty shouts out, "HA! I can't believe you fell for that!"

I smile, thinking how I might have just found two new friends. This is going to be great.

"Hello, I'm Michael," he says, stepping up and shaking their hands.

For some strange reason, they don't seem to melt under his gaze. That's very strange; I thought that would work on anyone.