Chapter Seventeen:

Lucas felt dizzy when he woke up. He was on the couch in his living room. The curtians parted and light shining through on his face.

He squinted, raising a hand as he swung his legs off the couch. How did he get down here? He was supposed to be upstairs writing.

Lucas began to walk, feeling a bit light-headed and nauseous. If he had a had headache, he would've thought that he was drinking and took a nap.

Lucas stopped by the kitchen sink, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. He drank three glasses before finally being satisfied.

Lucas walked up the steps, a bit stronger now, and stepped into his office. He rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn. He wanted to go back to sleep.

He glanced around the room as he walked to his desk. He felt as though he was... Missing something.

Lucas shook his head, and pulled his seat out to sit down in. He started up his computer and waited. He glanced at the corner were a small stack of books laid. An overturned, black, composition notebook was beside it.

Tears burned his eyes and Lucas didn't know why, but he couldn't stop. He thought that needed to call Adrian. That something was important and he couldn't find it.

Before he knew it, he was flying out of his chair, stumbing over books as he ran down the steps, and right into the counter where the landline sat. He quickly punched in the number he had long since memorized, and held the receiver to his ear.

It took a few rings, but someone picked up. "Westchester Medical Center, Galliante speaking, how may I help you?"

"I need to speak with Adrian Romero," Lucas said. He wanted to say it was an emergency, but was it? He felt like it was an emergency, but he didn't even know why he was so panicked.

"And, who is this?"

"Lucas Donovan. I-I'm a friend," he hesitiated. "It's-It's an emergency, could you just-"

"You're lucky, Lucas. He's just coming out now," the woman said. There was a pause, and then he heard a different voice.

"Hey, Lucas, is everything okay?" It was Adrian. Lucas breathed, closing his eyes and clutching the phone.

"I... Yeah, everything's fine," he breathed. "No, no. It's not. I..." He rubbed his temple. "Something's wrong. I don't know, but..."

"What's wrong? Where's Ekka? Is she okay?"

Lucas blinked, confused, "Ekka? Who's Ekka?"

There was a silence. "Ekka," Adrian said, more slowly. "Remember? You found her at the gas station. She's been in our house for nearly two days - what do you mean, who's Ekka?"

"I don't know what that is," Lucas shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Luc," Adrian said slowly. "Did you hit your head?"

"No!" Lucas snapped. He would feel it if he had a bad fall. "I just-! I don't know what you're talking about!" Lucas was getting frusterated now.

"I'm coming home," he said quickly. "Don't go anywhere, don't lie down, don't cook. Just go sit on the couch and don't move. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Then, the line died.

~.•*•.~

Just as Adrian said, he arrived in fifteen minutes. Lucas opened the door and shut it behind him. Adrian hugged him, and then looked around. "She isn't here, is she?" He whispered.

"Who?" Lucas frowned, "Is that that Ekka person you keep talking about?"

Adrian looked back at Lucas. Then, he pulled something out of his pocket. "Look at me," he ordered, holding it up to his eyes. It was a flashlight.

Lucas squinted, looked away, and pushed Adrian's arm. "I don't need that - I'm fine."

"Lucas, please," Adrian said. He never begged, not like that. Lucas turned to him, and Adrian shone the light in his both eyes. He turned the light off and stared at him.

"I'm fine," Lucas insisted. "I think I just freaked a little. Maybe you should go back-hey!" Adrian stepped around him and was running up the steps.

"Ekka!" He called as he took them two at a time. "Ekka, are you up here!?"

"Adrian? Adrian!" Lucas followed behind him as Adrian ran into the library.

He stumbled over books as he searched through the cabinets, calling her name. "Ekka, if you're hiding, please come out! Nobody's going to hurt you!"

"What are you doing, Adrian?" Lucas asked as he stopped over a cabinet, staring at it. "What do you mean, 'nobody's going to hurt you'?"

Adrian stared at the cabinet. Then, he stood, anger all over his face. "Adrian, what's going on?" Lucas looked past him to the cabinet. The door was open and slightly broken. Lucas hadn't even noticed it until now. His eyes widened when he saw claw marks in the wooden cabinet. It looked like it was from fingernails.

Lucas blinked, staring. How did that get in there?

"Get Blanca, we're leaving," Adrian said, storming out of the room.

"Leaving?" Lucas exclaimed, pushing away his confused thoughts. "Where are we going? What is going on?" Adrian went to their room and began to change.

"I mean," he turned to Lucas, his jaw tight and eyes enraged. The last time Lucas saw that look on him, two people were sent to the hospital. "Someone took a little girl from us, and whoever took her took your memories of her. We are going to get her back. Go get Blanca."

~.•*•.~

Ekka sat in the back of the car as it bumped down the road. She sniffed, her entire body trembling. Xavier was in the front of the car, and hadn't said anything.

"You don't have to cry," Ms. Nighthall whispered to her. She had her arms out, keeping Ekka from feeling anything. "We're just going to take you back to school. There, we can sort this whole mess out."

Ekka let out a sob and curled farther into the corner of the car. She pressed her face into her knees and began to cry again. She was going to be forgotten, again. And, this time, she couldn't escape.

"Just leave her," a male teacher huffed. "She's being dramatic."

"Shut up, Wilbert," Ms. Nighthall snapped at the man. He simply rose his hands and shrugged. Ms. Nighthall looked back at Ekka. "Do you want anything? Food? Water?"

Ekka cleared her throat, "I... I do-do not want to g-go back," she said in barely a whisper.

Ms. Nighthall pursed her lips, "That's not an option, sweetie. We're bringing you back to protect you, and protect everyone else. Your mutation is powerful, and unless you learn how to control it-"

"I learned how to control it!" Ekka cried. "I am not dangerous anymore! I will not kill anyone else! Please, do not take me back there!"

Ms. Nighthall rose an eyebrow. "You learned how to control your mutation?"

Ekka nodded quickly. "I-I-I practiced! Whenever Mister Xavier let me outside, I-I would control one student, just one. I... I would make then turn on the light, or m-move the curtain! That is it!" Ekka turned to the front of the car, where Xavier sat stiffly. "Please, Mister Xavier, I am not dangerous anymore! I-I will be good! Please... Please do not put me back there!"

"Why don't you want to go back, Ekka?" Ms. Nighthall asked curiously.

"That's enough," Xavier spoke from the front of the car and Ekka went silent, looking at the ground.

"She has something to say," Ms. Nighthall argued, then turned to Ekka. "It's okay, sweetie. Tell us, why don't you want to go back?"

Ekka breathed for a few seconds, wiping her face. "He-He forgot about me," she said, and the entire car went silent. "I do not wa-want to be forgotten. I-I-I-" Ekka face contorted to pain. "I w-want to l-live! Pl-Please, l-l-let me go!"

"He... Forgot about you?" Ms. Nighthall furrowed her eyebrows. Then, she turned to Xavier, "You forgot about her!?"

"Other matters took priority," Xavier said calmly. "I couldn't focus solely on Ekka."

"Dear God, no wonder she doesn't want to go back! You left her to die!" Ms. Nighthall looked livid. Ekka stared in horror, moving away.

"She wasn't going to die," Xavier tried to explain. "She-"

"Who else knew? Who else was down there with her, Charles?!" Ms. Nighthall was breathing heavily. "Hank? That bear? A child needs company, she needs social interaction, and you isolated her!"

"She killed nine people!" Xavier's voice was booming and harsh. Ekka covered her ears, and squeezed her eyes shut. "I was protecting the school! Would you have rather I killed her!?"

"I do," A man spoke and everyone turned to him. It was Wilbert. "No offence, Professor, but if she was this much trouble, then... Take her somewhere else. Or, send her home."

"Home!?" Ms. Nighthall snapped. "'Home' is where a man cut off her fingers! How is that better for her!?"

"In general, it is," he shrugged. "If she is this much of a problem to deal with, and she doesn't want to be isolated, we should take her back to the man who wanted her. I mean, technically, the Professor did kidnap her."

"I did not!" Xavier snapped, but he knew it was true. "Look, Ekka is a curious case. The main thing is that we got her back. We can figure her situation out when we get to the school."

"We're not going to put this off!" Ms. Nighthall snapped. "We're not going to forget about her! She isn't a toy you can put on the shelf so she can get dusty!"

"Ms. Nighthall, please-" Xavier tried to say, but she cut him off.

"What kind of man are you to keep a child locked away for months?" Ms. Nighthall accused. "How dare you!?"

"Ms. Nighthall," Xavier sighed, "We can do this later. Please-" He didn't finish.

The car swerved on the road as a deer ran straight towards them. Ekka cried out as she flew across the van, hitting her head on the window.

Ekka was out for a few minutes. She felt something ram into the side of the car, sending it flying off the road. The car was tumbling, as was everyone else in it. Finally, it landed on the ground, unsteadily. Ekka could smell smoke and blood. She moved, and her head hurt. She touched her scalp and her fingers came back with blood.

Her neck ached and she couldn't see straight. She was dizzy, and wanted to lie down. Ekka looked around, everyone else was upside down on their seats, even Xavier. Ekka glanced at the window, which was broken and letting in a cool breeze.

She could escape.

Ekka crawled to the window as fast as she could, breathing heavily. She cut her hands and knees on glass as she stepped out. Her bare feet crunched on the glass, and Ekka held back a cry of pain. Instead. She ran from the smoking car as far as she could.

~.•*•.~

"Look for Xavier...!" A deep voice demanded. Xavier's eyes rolled in his skull as he came back to conciousness. His body was hanging like a vine, and he moved his hand to find the buckle to his seatbelt.

When he finally clicked it, he fell on his face. Xavier groaned for a few moments, trying to steady himself. He looked around. The other teachers were just starting to wake up too.

Xavier army-crawled to Ms. Nighthall, his paralyzed legs dead weight. She was hanging like everyone else, but he could see her eyes rolling behind her eyelids.

He reached up with great difficulty and unbuckled her seatbelt. She woke up as soon as she hit the ground. She was looking around, dazedly, her eyes unfocused.

"Wh... What-?" Xavier covered her mouth, putting a finger to his.

'There are people outside of the car. Nullify the area, we're under attack,' She nodded seriously and focused. He felt her ability wash over him like a cold shower.

"Get the others," he whispered. She nodded, moving to unbuckle the other two teachers from their seats. Xavier turned to Wilbert Johnson, who had been riding beside Ms. Nighthall the car. His neck was twisted at an ugly angle.

Xavier forced himself to look away and instead searched the back of the car. He saw no sign of Ekka. There was blood on the car window, and on the seats. She must've got away.

There was a grunt and the door was yanked off. Xavier turned just as someone pulled him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him out of the overturned vehicle.

He was pinned against the side of the smoking car. A tall black man was holding a knife to his throat, and a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "Who else is in vehicle?" Someone demanded with a thick african accent.

The man holding a knife to his throat glanced in the car and sneered. "A woman and a man. Both unconcious," he reported.

"Leave them. They will be dead soon," The man grunted and stepped up. The sun was relentlessly shining in Xavier's direction. "Move over. Let me see the man who killed my brother."

The man dropped Xavier on the ground and he crumpled under his own weight. He used his forearms to lift himself up, but he didn't have to.

A darm-skinned man squatted down in front of Xavier. For a few minutes, he thought that Ekka was staring down at him. Their facial features were practically identical. He had shaved hair and dark skin. His eyes were dark, and had bags under them. The only difference was the nose. His was a bit too big, and crooked, probably from injuries in his past.

"Hello, Xavier," he greeted, teeth bared in an imitation of a smile. "It is good to finally meet you." The man grabbed his face, examining him closely.

"Who are you?" Xavier demanded, trying to yank his face away, but his grip was tight.

"Surely you have heard of me," he said, then turned Xavier's face in his hand, examining him. "You are... Scrawnier than I imagined. And paler. You look no older than a boy."

Xavier pushed the man's arm away, but hit his head on the car. He winced and the two men before him laughed. He tried to use his ability, but he was unable to. Ms. Nighthall still had the area nullified.

"Enough of this," he said, and grabbed Xavier's arm. He gritted his teeth as the man dragged him to his feet. "We will take you to your school. And then, we will kill you."

Xavier glared at the man, determined to show no fear. "And, why would you do that?"

"You killed my brother. It is only fair."

"And, who was your brother?"

The man smirked, "You have forgotten his name already?"

"Do you mind to jog my memory?" Xavier sneered. "Or is your brother too insignificant to be remembered?" This set him off. The man's fist met Xavier's gut. He gasped, his eyes blurring with pain.

"My name is Mandla," Mandla growled. "My brother's name was Lwazi. Now, skinny pale boy, give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you now?"

Xavier panted for a few seconds, stunned by the attack and by his claim. "Mandla," he gasped, looking at the man. "You're Mandla? How... How are you here!?" The familiarity suddenly made sense, but terror weighed inside him. He had to find Ekka! If her father, her real father knew she was here...

"Ah, now I see the fear," Mandla grinned, and Xavier schooled his expression. "We have played for too long. Your execution awaits you." He began to walk back up the hill and to the road. "Drop a matchstick in the gas tank," he ordered the man beside him.

The man grinned, and pulled a box of matches from his pocket. He walked around to the car's tank as Mandla dragged him up to the road.

Xavier could hear Ms. Nighthall and Mr. Walker's screams and shouting, but it was drowned out by the loud explosion. He saw a few flocks of birds fly from the trees surrounding them. Mandla threw him in the back of the van and shut the door.