(This is the real chapter. I would say I'm sorry for the prank yesterday, but it was too funny to resist lmao. Enjoy the chapter, y'all)
Chapter Eighteen:
Ekka's trench through the wilderness was sober and lonely. She didn't know where she was going, she was bleeding and cold. The wind howled through the trees, making it whistle loudly, almost like demonic windchimes.
Ekka remembered the windchimes from when she was really young. Even before Father found her.
One of the stores had one hung in front of the front. It jingled in the slightest breeze. Ekka liked to get sticks off the ground to poke it. The jingle made her giggle.
Then, the store owner caught her one day, hit her for trying to break her chimes, and called her a streetrat. Ekka didn't even look at them after that.
Ekka pulled her arms closer to her chest as she trudged through the woods. She missed Brownie and wondered where he went. Did Xavier take him? Did he kill him? If Xavier found her, would he kill her?
Ekka didn't want to think about that. Instead, she focused ahead of her. The trees were thick and left little space between them. Her feet ached and burned, and she didn't know if it was from walking, or from the open cuts in her feet. If her feet got sick, would she have to cut them off?
Ekka remembered in the Circus, a boy tried to steal an apple from the kitchen, and Father took his finger from him. It went untreated and soon, it turned green and started to smell. Father cut off his hand, and then poured alcohol on it. The boy screamed for hours, even after Father cut it off. Ekka once saw him feeling around where his hand used to be, as if he could still grab the missing fingers.
She also remembered the boy had died that summer.
Ekka leaned against a tree to breathe. She was too tired, and her throat felt like fire. She wanted to lie down on the ground sleep, but she couldn't. If Xavier found her in the woods, she would end up in the cell again.
The thought sent chills down her spine. Ekka couldn't stop, not now. She had too much on the line here. It she got far enough away, Ekka could be free again.
Ekka swallowed and continued to walk. She saw something shiny ahead of her. Ekka couldn't place it, so she decided to walk closer. It took her a few minutes, but she finally got there. It was a gate - a tall black gate. Ekka couldn't climb over it, the bars were too slippery, but she didn't need to.
A low-hanging tree branch hung right over the gate's top where semi-sharp spikes were. It took her a few minutes, but she climbed up the tree and gently crawled to the other side. Then, she slipped down and kept walking.
Maybe there were people here. Would they be as nice as Lucas and Adrian? Ekka could only hope.
Ekka continued walking for a few minutes. The trees began to thin and Ekka noticed the wildlife changing from deers and the occasional bear to just squirrels and mice.
When Ekka finally saw the mansion, her eyes went wide and her blood ran cold. How did she end up walking right back to Xavier's school!? She thought she was going the opposite way! But, the trees in the forest was so dense that she couldn't see the sun or the clouds. She couldn't find her way back there, and now look where she ended up!
Ekka turned to run, but a man standing in front of the building noticed her and shouted, "Hey! Get back here!"
Ekka dashed through the trees, her feet burning with every step. She heard the man come behind her, just as fast. Ekka felt tears in her eyes, blurring her sight. She didn't see the root on the ground.
Ekka's foot tripped over it, and she went flying. Her forehead hit the base of another tree with a heavy crack.
Everything was white as she tumbled and rolled for a few feet before stopping. Tears tell down the side of her face and the forest was getting dizzy. The sun was bright in her eyes and she tried to shield it with her arm.
The man chasing her grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet. That was too much movement. Ekka vomited on the ground, her eyes rolling back in her head. "Get up!"
He looked at her face, "... Mandla!?" He gasped, and Ekka blinked, confused. What was a Mandla? He glared at her, angry now. "Your mutation is weak and running won't help you! Move!" He grunted and began pulling her behind him.
Ekka's foot burned with the movement, her eyes rolling in her head. "Keep moving!" The man ordered, but Ekka couldn't. She was so tired. She slumped against the man, her eyes closed.
~.•*•.~
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Adrian?" Lucas asked for what felt like the tenth time. Adrian gripped the steering wheel tighter, his eyes narrowing on the road.
"For the last time, yes," Adrian said, and then relaxed. "Here's the school's entrance. We're just going to walk in and tell Xavier that we want Ekka back."
"I don't think this is going to work," Lucas frowned. "This is Charles Xavier, we're talking about. Like, the mutant, I-Will-Read-Your-Mind, Charles Xavier. Like-"
"I get it, Lucas!" Adrian snapped, annoyed.
"Then why are we still driving!?"
Adrian groaned, rubbing his face. "I'm not explaining this to you again, alright."
"You have no proof this girl exists!"
"You have no proof she doesn't!"
Blanca barked, as if ready to engage in the conversation. Adrian sighed, "Look. If you want to go home-"
"I'm not going to let you go into the mutant school alone," Lucas scoffed. "Who do you think I am?"
Adrian tried not to smile. Instead, he began to drive again, turning into the suspiciously open gates of the school. "But," Lucas added as an afterthought. "If you get us all killed or brain dead, I am going to blame you."
"Shut up."
~.•*•.~
Xavier was sporting a bloody nose and probably a mild concussion when he was brought to the school. All of the students were rounded up and locked in the gymnasium. Several men with guns were standing over them, prepared to shoot if anyone stepped out of line.
The teachers were in a different room, where he was also brought to. Xavier saw Hank first. He was tied, hand and foot, his eyes closed, and a nasty bruise on his temple. Then, he saw Logan. The man's hands were stuck to a metal desk, someone had shifted the metal around his hands to contain him. He saw the worrying and strain of the metal and where his claws tried to pierce through several times. He had nearly made it through.
The other teachers were sitting around, watching warily at the gunmen surrounding them. Some of the men were smiling, eyes dark and finger ready to squeeze the trigger. He quickly scanned the faces and realized that Doctor Wilson was nowhere to be seen. Was he dead?
Mandla tossed Xavier on the ground, and the teachers moved to help him. "Do not move," Mandla ordered, and they reluctantly stopped. He squared his shoulders and looked down at Xavier, who was rightfully glaring up at him.
Several times, he had tried to get into the man's head, but it was clouded, not allowing him access to his thoughts. He tried the other men, but received the same result. He noticed they all wore metal bands around their temples and wondered it that was what was blocking his mutation.
"Why are you here?" One of the teachers demanded. She was young, newer to the faculty. "What do you want from us?"
Mandla smiled and stepped over to the woman. Three teachers moved to guard her, but it was no use. He pushed them aside and stared right in her face. Fear was written all over the young woman as he spoke.
"Such a pretty young girl," a smile curled his lips and he rose his hand to her face.
"Don't touch her!" A man a few feet away snapped. Mandla glanced over, annoyed. He reached to his waist and pulled a gun out, pointing it at the man's head.
A sick kind of tension emerged in the room as everyone stared, waiting for Mandla to pull the trigger. But, he simply continued to stare at the young woman, who now had tears in her eyes and was biting her lip. "It would be a shame for such beauty to be wasted if I kill you." He tilted his head to the man he was pointing his gun at. "Should I kill him instead?"
"No!" The woman gasped. "No, please, don't-don't kill anyone!"
"Then, don't speak unless I say so," His words were ice cold and a wave of fear washed over the room.
"Mandla," Xavier spoke, despite the man's warnings. He turned to him, his eyes narrowing on his limp form. Xavier hated being on the ground - it was demeaning. "It's me you want. Leave her alone."
Mandla turned back to the woman and yanked on her chin before redirecting his attention to Xavier and the rest of the room. "This man killed my brother," Mandla announced. "But, before he killed him, he had someone taken from him. A girl, a young girl. She called herself 'Ekka'. If you do not tell me where she is, I will have your students killed."
Xavier froze and he tried not to show his sudden panic. Nobody else seemed to worry about Ekka, they were too busy yelling at his absurd threat. Anger had quickly sparked in the room. Mandla rose a hand, and they went silent. "You answer my question, and I will only kill Xavier."
"No," a man snapped. "You will kill no one."
"You forget who holds the guns," Mandla warned. "Tell me where the girl is."
Before anyone could say anything, Xavier focused on their minds. With a quick, skilled precision, he cut the memory of Ekka out of their mind like it was a cancer. A few had been harder, their thoughts rooted deeper in the girl, but he was able to take it from them enough that she was only a distant memory and nothing more.
The teachers as a whole went silent for a few seconds, before looking up at Mandla, confused.
Mandla knew what just transpired almost immediately. He turned to Xavier, fury twisting his features. "You!" He growled, reaching over, ready to fully strangle Xaiver.
"I am the only one who knows anything about Ekka," Xavier told him quickly before his large hands reached his throat. "Kill me and you will have nothing."
Mandla looked ready to burst. The other teachers simply watched the duo, concerned. "You took all of their memories?"
"Every one," Xavier glared back.
"Then they know nothing. They are useless to me," Mandla stood tall, looking down on Xavier with his complete height. "Kill them all."
Xavier hadn't been expecting that. "No!" He exclaimed, shocked as the men readed their guns, fingers millimeters away from the trigger.
"Tell me everything you know about her, or they will all die," he threatened.
Xavier hesitated, looking between the faculty and Mandla. Mandla wasn't willing to spare a second. "Shoot the pretty one."
Safeties unclicked ready to fire. Xavier's heart pounded as tears fell down the young woman's face. "She was in the van!" He finally said. Mandla raised a hand to stop them, allowing Xavier to continue. "She was in the backseat before it crashed. She escaped before we could stop her."
Mandla smiled. It was mocking and pleased. "Shoot her." The bullets sprayed the room, and the woman shuddered as they entered her body at scarily fast speeds. Xavier stared as blood seeped through her clothes and she fell to the ground.
The teachers began to shout. Some of them were crying just as the woman had been before she died.
"Why was my brother here?" Mandla ordered, uncaring for the bleeding body on the ground. Xavier stated at it and swallowed hard.
"I... I rescued her from the circus," he explained slowly. "He followed us here. He wanted her back. He knew I couldn't keep her in check."
"Grab another one," he ordered to his soldiers. The men tore apart the teachers who had tried to stay close together after the young woman was shot. "You better speak faster, small man, if you want these people to live."
"He came here. He-He was under a disguise of a student that had been tormenting her. He cut off another one of Ekka's fingers, and then-" a stray bullet was shot, but luckily landed in the ground, splintering the wood. The teachers jumped, fear running high in the room.
"Continue," Mandla ordered.
Xavier breathed, trying to steady himself. The pool of blood that had come from the dead woman nearly reached his feet. "Ekka had a mental breakdown. She was overstimulated by her missing finger, her father being back, and the thought of him taking her back to the one place she dreaded. Ekka killed him."
Mandla looked slightly surprised by this, turning to glare at Xavier. "You want me to believe that this child - this girl - killed my brother?" He turned his lip up, scoffing at Xavier.
"That is the truth," Xavier assured. "Afterwards, she tried to kill herself, but I stopped her."
Mandla was silent for a few seconds. Then, he turned to his soldiers who still had their guns aimed at the teachers. "Bring him back to the students. We will execute him for lying and the murder of my brother. The rest of you, kill them." Mandla turned out the room as two men dragged Xavier away.
"No!" Xavier snapped, trying to pull himself away, but the men were very strong. They each grabbed a side of him and dragged his paralyzed body out of the room. The door closed just as shots began firing and the teachers were screaming.
~.•*•.~
"This doesn't look right," Lucas noted as Adrian pulled up to the school. Nobody was outside, the gate had been unlocked, and the pathway was completely clear minus one empty black van. "Where is everyone?"
Adrian didn't answer. He hopped out of the car, and began walking to the school. He heard a moan beside him followed by scratching. He turned to the car and saw Brownie inside, clawing at the window.
"What are you doing?" Lucas asked as he held Blanca out on a leash. Adrian ran over, and opened the door.
Brownie jumped out and rose on his hind legs, licking Adrian. "Hey, boy," Adrian greeted, rubbing his fur.
"Is that a bear!?" Adrian ignored him.
"Where's Ekka?" He asked, watching Brownie closely. He began sniffing, turning around and around. He was confused, and moaned his displeasure. "It's okay."
"Hey!" A voice snapped, and everyone turned. A man holding a big gun was coming their way. Brownie growled and so did Blanca, but the man was unperturbed.
"We-We're just looking for someone!" Adrian said, raising his hands innocently. Lucas did the same.
The man was not happy. He pointed his gun at Adrian, "Follow me. If you do something I do not like, I will shoot you and your rats."
"This is a dog!" Lucas gasped defensively. "How dare you-"
"Shut it!" The man snapped, turning his gun on Lucas.
"Okay, okay, we'll come," Adrian assured the man before Lucas could say anything more incriminating. Brownie and Blanca followed close behind as they walked, the man keeping his gun trained on their backs.
"'Let's find the girl', he says," Lucas muttered. "'It's okay, Lucas, nothing will happen to us. We'll just take her and go home', he says."
"Be quiet," Adrian groaned.
"You brought us here," Lucas snapped.
"Both of you! Silent!" The man ordered behind them. Adrian bit his cheek, glancing at Lucas.
"Remember high school?" Adrian asked softly in Spanish.
"What about?" Lucas replied in Spanish.
"You know."
"I don't want you to try it now," Lucas snapped.
"I said quiet!" He ordered. Adrian was quiet for a few more seconds. His eyes shifted to Lucas, who looked a bit annoyed. Then, he rolled his eyes away, and Adrian smiled.
Taking that as a go-ahead, Adrian stepped back, elbowing the man in the nose.
The man stumbled and Adrian launched himself on him, grabbing his gun and struggling against him. The man got his bearings together, but it was to late.
Adrian had him on the ground and Lucas kicked him hard in the head. Reeling from tbe blow, Adrian unclipped the gun from around the belt and used the butt to knock him out.
"So, are we going to go home now?" Lucas asked hopefully.
"No," Adrian said, gripping the gun tight. He bent down and began to drag the man's body away. He put him behind some trees and began to undress him. "We're going to find Ekka."