Beginning to Understand

I entered though the giant glass doors. The tall open hall of the mansion was always my favorite part of the institute. I find the giant red rug, the crystal chandelier, and the light tan walls made the space feel grand, yet inviting. When I first came here, I did not know what this place would hold, what kind of people inhabit this grand house, or what I would discover about myself. I think I have figured out the first two, but my powers continue to grow, and I feel as though I'm beginning to understand the type of mutant I am.

I turned right into the hallway and turned the brass door knob with slight force. The doors in the mansion are a little tough today, because of the humidity. Once I got the door open and walked in, I was surprised to see Helga there. Helga had been staying with me at the institute since the beginning. She has been my rock this whole time, and kept me balanced.

She ran over to me, and gave me a large hug. It felt, forced. Something was wrong, I could feel it.

"Helga? Is something wrong?" I asked her.

She looked up to me with her deep blue eyes, so bright she puts the Caribbean's blue waters to shame, but surrounding these gems was a disturbing sign of red, caused by all the tears shed by news which I was weary to hear.

"Yes, something is wrong." She said in a tired voice. "It's my father."

"What? Your father?" He was always the problem. He never did like me. Not ever since I meet him. Calling me that 'orphan boy', I had a deep resentment towards him.

"What has he done?" I asked.

The professor finally spoke up. In all of this confusion, I had forgotten he was here.

"Robert Pataki has been leading anti-mutant demonstrations across Hillwood, often violent and damaging." The professor explained.

"He's saying that 'those mutants' took me away from him." Helga said, sitting on the couch.

"Helga, you know that you're 18 years old. Free to make your own decisions. He already tried to get you to leave, and he didn't succeed." The Professor explained.

The event the professor is referring to happened about four months ago. 'Big Bob' tried to force Helga to return with him to Hillwood, but she refused. Big Bob was about to pursue legal action, but Miriam Pataki delayed the proceedings, until Helga's 18th birthday. Big Bob had no power over Helga after that.

"So, Big Bob is spreading hate for mutants, same as half the human population. His voice won't add any depth to what's already been said." I said.

"Well, actually, that is true, but Arnold he is using you as a scape goat." The Professor told me.

"Me? I never told his that I was a mutant. How did he…"

"He put two and two together Arnold. I left at the same time you did, went to the same place, a known school for mutants, what did you think was going to happen?" Helga told me.

"But still, he has been using our school primarily as a target in his speeches." The Professor took us over to his computer. He played a clip from one of Big Bob's speeches.

"These aren't people. They aren't human. Would you call that thing human?!" Big Bob pointed at a picture of Kurt in his true blue form.

"Whoa, how did he get a picture of Kurt that high in quality? Kurt is very careful never to be caught in front of cameras without his image inducer." I informed the Professor.

"That is what I want to find out. This picture was clearly taken at the institute. Which means someone managed to break in, bypass all of our security, all to get a picture of Kurt, or we have an insider, feeding Robert Pataki with information on the school. Find this imposter, but do it quietly." The Professor told us.

"Who can we trust?" I asked him.

"No one. Trust no one."