Chapter 4

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Friday passed by without anything special happened. Chris was adapting to the new classes she was taking and everything was in order. There had been no reports on anything that affected mutants in any greater way; Magneto was still in prison and Mystique was still impersonating the senator. Christine felt like it was the deep breath before the plunge, everything was calm, way too calm.

She would be participating in her first Danger Room-session next Monday, and the thought made her feel somewhat excited She had met with Jean during lunch and they had worked really hard on her self-control. Jean had told her that it was all about concentration in her case. If she learned to concentrate, she would be able to master this awful gift of hers. Though Chris didn't see how her power would ever do anything good to anyone, she didn't let this push her down; she saw it as a challenge. The only thing that held her back was the thought of being forced to kill another one of her creatures. She couldn't even stand the thought of it, it was too painful. She told herself that she wouldn't let her end up in such a situation ever again, and then she would be fine.

Curious of what there was on the two remaining floors in the mansion, she turned her steps towards the staircase leading to the fourth floor. She was disappointed to find that there was nothing more interesting here than closed bedroom doors. There seemed to be no students around for the moment; Chris guessed they were involved in afternoon activities rather than spending time alone in their rooms. Suddenly she wondered where the teachers slept, maybe they had their own section in the mansion?

Without looking where she was going, Chris turned her pace around a corner, and bumped straight into someone. She stumbled backwards and lost her balance and fell in a pile on the floor. When she looked up she saw John standing over her. He was reaching out his right hand, offering to help her up. She took it and climbed to her feet.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't look where I was going." Chris laughed understandingly and shrugged.

"Well, me neither, so I apologize too," she replied. John looked at her, and then she saw the corner of his mouth curl upwards. He was a totally different person when she was alone with him. As soon as he was with his friends, he didn't pay her any attention at all. He was odd in that way, ignoring her with his friends, but as soon as they met alone, he was… nice. Christine actually liked him.

"So, what are you up to this evening?" She asked, genuinely interested. His eyes flickered to his right and he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Um, well Bobby's with Rogue somewhere so I'm kinda flying solo tonight.." He paused and pursed his mouth like there was something else ha wanted to say. Chris tilted her head to the side, just to show him that she was still waiting. "Eumm, so how bout you?"

"I was planning to eat a serious load of ice cream and watch the latest Scream movie." Chris babbled enthusiastically, and then she went on to ranting about how scary the two previous films were, and how high hopes she had for this third and last one. Suddenly she realized how fast she was talking and managed to control herself.

"Oh, okay… have fun then." John said, sounding disappointed, and turned to go. Wait; was it something she'd said?

"Wait a minute," she thought. "Right, I forgot to ask him."

"Hey John, wait. Do you wanna join me? It would be very sad to be watching horror movies all alone."

He lit up and agreed, it would be very sad. Chris actually felt a bit happier too, any company was good company. Wait, no that didn't some out right; it sounded like she'd rather have someone else to spend the evening with. Actually she couldn't think of anyone better to be stuffing herself with ice-cream and watching Scream with. Chris went back to her room to drop off her things. Realizing she hadn't found out what there was on the fifth floor, she stopped and considered going back.

She decided not to however. Instead she would take a long, hot shower and maybe put on some makeup and nice clothes. Chris had never felt the urge to do anything like that before, especially since she was only going to watch a movie with John, but now she did, and it was actually rather nice. Humming, she fastened her pace while musing about how much makeup was just right, not too much, and not too little.

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He was sitting on the counter when she entered the kitchen. Christine stumbled over the doorstep and almost fell. Feeling rather sheepish she grabbed a firm hold of the refrigerators handle and smiled. She had put on a discrete makeup and for the first time in years, she wore a skirt. She'd spent a long time in front of the mirror pondering about which length was appropriate. She decided for a loose black one that reached to her knees. It felt slightly odd to be dressed up like this, but when she saw the look John gave her, she forgot to feel uncomfortable.

He sat on the counter, nonchalantly leaned back with a coke in his right hand. He was raising the bottle to take a gulp, but stopped dead in the motion. He blinked, once, then again. He looked at her with a devious expression, diverse in a way. Feeling rather pleased with herself, she went to the freezer.

"So, which ice cream do you prefer?" She asked. Chris had a piercing feeling that he was watching her very intensely, letting his eyes sweep over her. To be honest, Christine had nothing against this, actually, she had a rather good feeling inside of her. It took him some seconds to reply.

"Vanilla." Chris smiled

"I should have known you were a vanilla-type of guy. I'll go for the strawberry then." She grabbed the cold packets of ice cream and handed one to John along with a spoon. They turned off the light in the ceiling and headed for the TV-room on the first floor. Christine had booked the TV there yesterday, and since she'd written "Horror" under the 'Programs' column, she knew it would be empty of people. Most students here were younger than her, and the older ones had already had their share of horror in real life. Let's just say that horror-films were not that popular here. She didn't mind however, being alone with John was a lot more pleasant than being with John and friends. He was always showing off, doing stupid things when Bobby, Rogue or anyone else was around, and he usually didn't speak to her at all. Chris sensed it had something to do with him wanting to feel superior, he wanted to be seen and respected, but to be honest she had a feeling that there was more to it than that. Maybe she would ask him about it tonight…

As she'd expected, the room was dark and deserted. Enthusiastically she bounced to the opposite wall and turned on the lamp in the window. The darkness outside was pressing against the glass, they wouldn't need to close the drapes to get the right atmosphere in here. She went on and grabbed the DVD from the bookshelf and placed it in the recorder.

They spent the next one and a half hour hidden behind pillows, squealing when the movie got intense. Chris wasn't easily spooked by movies in which the killer was supernatural, but this one had a killer who was human. She knew that things like this occurred in real life, and that frightened her more than a movie ever could. Her stomach ached after all the freezing cold ice cream, and she had eaten way too much of it. When the last scene ended she sighed with relief.

"Why do people, including me, expose themselves to this?"

"Don't really know. It's the thrill I guess" came the answer from John. "Why did you dye your hair?" he went on. Chris felt speechless for a slight second. How do you explain something like that? Her voice was small and saddened when she replied.

"This used to be my natural colour. My mutation changed its colour."

"That doesn't answer the question. It's okay if you don't…" He didn't finish the sentence, just stared at the wall with a distant expression. She bit her lip, he was right, she hadn't answered the question.

"I guess that when your mutation effect your appearance you find yourself unable to hide. Everyone sees what you are the moment they lay their eyes on you. I dyed my hair as a way for me to be someone else, you know." Chris hesitated. "And these aren't real either" she said with determination, and then took her lenses out. She was done pretending, you can't forget yourself, you'll just have to live with it. She saw his surprise when he realized her eyes were pale and white instead of the plastic blue. He hadn't seriously thought they were real, had he? With disgust she dropped the lenses in the empty ice cream bottle.

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Monday morning was the time for her first Danger Room-session. Chris felt nervous and helpless. Almost all the others had their powers to protect them, only Rogue has as exposed and vulnerable as herself, and that thought was no comfort.

"So, what do we do inside the Danger Room?" She leaned to Rogue and asked.

"The room is a hologram, so we never really know what waits inside."

Chris gulped, this was getting increasingly spooky. The name of the room alone was enough to scare her, and now Rogue made it sound even worse when they didn't know what waited inside. She scanned the room looking for John, but he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he'd overslept? She turned back to Rogue and saw that Bobby had joined them. In the far back of the corridor, Kitty entered and began walking towards them. "Dream team gathered" she thought.

"Um, do you guys know where John's at?"

Rogue threw Bobby a quick glance. Kitty reached the small group, apparently she'd heard what Chris asked the other girl.

"He doesn't always show up. You thought he might love to use his powers to blow things up, and he does, but he gets a little bit… caught up in the moment sort of speak. The teachers always nag on him how he should practise some self-control. I guess it takes away the fun."

Chris thought Kitty hit it right on the head; she had a strong feeling John didn't like to be controlled.

To their great surprise, he joined them right before the class started. He came striding into view, apparently totally unaffected by the fact that he'd almost been late.

Since they were few in this class the teachers decided that they should work together as a group this morning. This suited Chris just fine, maybe they wouldn't have to scrape her of the floor when they were done.

The doors slid open, and the small group darted inside. The team leader was Jean Grey, and she ordered to work together in order to make it out. The place was a wasteland, literally speaking. High formations of rocks made it hard to see what was behind the next corner and the dry sand was difficult to run in. It was dark and cold, just like a night in the desert. Chris saw the tall shape of Colossus run to her left. Eager not be left behind she attempted to follow him, but his much longer strides increased their distance for every second. Chris was not much of a help in there, she tried her best to dodge the attacks from the Bedouin force they were fighting against, but still had to be saved several times.

She decided that since she couldn't do anything helpful, she would try to find a safe place and hide there until it was over. Slowly and cautiously she climbed over a smaller rock when a pillar of fire shot passed her. "John" she thought. The heat was so intense and a smell of burned textile filled her nostrils. Someone screamed, and one of the Bedouins came staggering to her right, set ablaze by the deadly flames. Chris closed her eyes and tried to think about something else than the man shrieking. They were training for battle, an upcoming war, and she knew that. But Chris had never been much of a warrior, she wanted logic and order in her life. The thought of what people did to each other during war was frightening her. The Bedouin fell to the ground and became silent and she felt she could move again.

There was a gap in the rocky landscape in front of her, and then another formation of rocks. There was no other way for her except for the one ahead. She figured if she were fast she would be able to cross the gap without being discovered. Bracing herself, she prepared to run the fastest she could. And then she rose to her feet and sped out in the open. The sound of her heartbeats were pounding inside her head, and her feet felt light and swift, the adrenaline was burning in her veins. And then she reached the middle of the gap, and the sand became deeper and slippery. She felt her speed decrease, and then she lost her footing and fell face down in the sand. It felt somewhat like falling into a cold pool of water, the sand was freezing against her body and face, and she knew she was screwed.

"Chris, watch out!" someone yelled, and she raised her head and saw Bobby standing ahead with Kitty behind him. She crawled to her knees and turned around to look behind her. The Bedouin raised his gun at her and a single thought touched her mind. "So this is where I'm going to die…" She closed her eyes and gave up. She would never get away, she didn't even have time left to move, it would be all over within a second. She felt anger sting her heart a bit, she had asked for nothing of this. She'd told them she was no warrior. Some people are born heroes, but some just aren't meant for great things. The adrenaline was still pumping inside her, and suddenly something clicked inside her head, like someone had turned the light switch to 'on'. Then she heard the shots, one two three times, and waited for the pain to come.

Except it didn't.

Instead she heard a tormented whining and a rush of air passed her. She tore her eyes open and saw the ravaging beast dart towards the Bedouin with terrifying speed. The man had no time to react before the monster was upon him, and with a swing of its muscular, clawed hand threw the man in the air. He landed sever feet away, and with a roar the best was upon him again. With a growl it opened its jaws and locked them around the man's head and tore it off. Then the creature let go of the man's limp body and rose on its crooked hind legs. Chris immediately knew something was wrong when it turned and staggered towards her. Three holes in its chest area were pumping out blood, and the creature seemed to weaken by the second. The realization hit her like a wall.

"Nooooo!" She howled and jumped to her feet. Slipping in the deep sand and almost losing her balance she ran to the creature, her creature. It sunk to its knees before she could reach it, and then gracefully fell to the ground. Its tormented whimpering cut her heart like a thousand knives and she threw herself to her knees by its side. Crouching over the dying monster she felt her body tremble. Her shaking hands stroke the parchment skin the same way a mother touch her baby. Chris felt something break inside her, and her vision blurred. She stroke it over the head and whispered soothing words to it.

"Sch, don't cry, I'm here now. You did good, I'll take care of you, schh…" The hologram dissolved around her and disappeared. They were inside a grey room, and the ground was not sand anymore, but hard metal. She cried and covered its body under hers, praying for whatever God there was to not let it die, though she knew, she knew all too well. One last shiver travelled through its body, and then it became still and peaceful. Chris wrenched her head back and screamed off the top of her lungs, roared in sorrow and despair. Then she rested her head against the creatures shoulder and wept.

"They killed my baby, they killed it," she cried, over and over again. She wasn't aware of the people behind her anymore. The rest of her class and Jean were standing behind, unsure of what to do. They looked at one another, then back to the girl again. Her body was shaking and she covered the creature, as if to shield it from harms way. Her tormented cries echoed in the room, back and forth, over and over again.

"They killed my baby, they killed it…"

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