Chapter 20

He was swaying down the road; the air was thick and hot,smoke filling the air. The street was emtpy and gleamed red because of the light of the fire.

What had happened?

He couldn't see anyone; it was so quiet and empty here, though it looked as if the world goes down. The houses were almost completely destroyed, only ruins were left. The heaven was dark; it was night, and clouds hung over the sky, swallowing the dim light of the moon and the stars.

Where were all the people?

He felt sick, and weird, and he couldn't tell what had happened; he couldn't remember. His hands tightened around the fabric of his shirt, which was dirty with dust and blood, slightly torn at the edges. His head hurt so damn much...And he was sure he could hear people, even if he wasn't able to see them. They were in his head, for sure, and they were screaming.

He bit his lower lips, swaying down the empty street. He could see the fire; he could feel the warmth of it as if it was inside him; he felt as if he was burning.

The smell of blood lingered in the air, and he flinched as he looked down on his hands. They were white as porcelain and bloodstained.

Then, suddenly, realisation hit him; he could remember, remember what he had done, and it made him scream in pain. He swayed to the nearest house and slumped down against the wall, covering his face with his bloodied hands.

He didn't... He didn't... He hadn't meant to...His hands wandered up to his hair, gripping it tightly, his stare blank. Slowly he began rocked back and forth, trying to get the screams and the images out of his head.

This wasn't true, this wasn't true, it wasn't...

His scream of pain and sorrow filled the thick air, echoing through the empty streets of the destroyed town...

...

He is so angry.

Hate and anger burns deep inside of him, eating him from the inside, and he feels like he is burning.

He can see their stares as he walks down the street; they fear him, those humans ! His hair begins to swirl around his head like snakes, and he feels the anger becoming even greater. He hates them, he hates everyone. No one understands him, no one does care.

Those stupid gazes, how they look at him and at the fire in his eyes. He can feel their fear, their horror. They can not believe what they see. They just believe in what they want to see. They are not used to this sight. It's too supernatural for them.

He laughes at them, at those people all around, standing on the steet and gazing at him. Someone screams, says that someone has to help him. They are shocked, because he is burning.

Help... This word, how he hates it! As if they think he is weak! As if HE needs any help!

He can feel the power of rage and anger running through his veins like the fire he is feeling inside. He loves this feeling of pure anger, of hate, the need to destroy everything and everyone.

He WANTS it, the total destruction ; he wants and needs the pain of those people. He wants to FEEL their pain; he wants to TASTE their pain. He wants to SEE their blood on the pavement and he wants to HEAR their screams and whimpers. It makes him horny, fills him up and makes him satisfied.

He crushes their brains with simple thoughts, destroying every brain cell they have until he sees the blood coming out of their noses, eyes and ears. He throws them against the houses and walls, rips their bodies apart with his telekinesis .He lets them dissolve into their component parts, destroys and shatters every cell and atom in them, tearing them apart until they are just dust.

His hands are balled into fists, full of the blood that is splashing around. He is full of it; of the blood. His clothes, his face, his hands, everything. He is covered in it as if it is his second skin.

He can hear his own, hysterical laughter, dark and hollow to his own ears. The pain of them, their fear and their last pathetic thoughts washes through him, making him grin. He licks his lips, as if he is hungry for more, smearing the blood of his bloodstained hands at the walls of the houses, which begin to collaps behind him.

He is as pale as the moon, his lips red like the blood he has spilled, his mind as dark as the night. The fire of his powers is eating his souls; he is no longer one man with two minds. He is something different now.

He is not a cannibal, but the blood is warm against his lips and he loved the smell of it; it smells of pain and pain, only pain; pain that he has caused. He licks it off his lips, off of his chin and off of his hands. He wants more, he is craves for it.

He sees the women; she's trying to run away, but he stops her with his telekinesis. She screams in fear, begging him to leave her alone. I have a child, she screams, please don't kill me, I have a daughter. He doesn't care for the daughter or the women; he only cares for his own needs. And now, all he wants and needs is causing pain. He causes her pain; slowly and malicious.

He rips a hole in her belly,gripping her throat tightly and tears her head to the side until it cracks. She screams the whole time, begging him to stop for the sake of her daughter. He then lets her go after he is finished. Her body is destroyed, and no one will be able to see that she once was a human.

The street is red; red of blood and the fire. Yes, the fire, his fire of the phoenix that he is. It burns down the houses and the crying souls in them, sending them to heaven or hell; he doesn't care.

Oh, how he loves the destruction, how he loves the pain of the humans. His powers flow through his veins, and he uses them to destroy everything around himself. It makes him satisfied, it makes him calm. It is like a drug to him.

Killing brings him peace, makes his anger calm down.

But, then there was Erik; this man,who has hurt him...

He does not love him, he is not interested in humans or mutants; he is just interested in himself.. But, this man, he is something else. His body wants him, he is lusts for the other man.

It is like he is attracted to him; bound to him. As if his soul needs him to survive. He needs the other man; his love makes him feel whole and his body gives him the perfect sensation that he needs. And then there is his mind, so full of the darkness that he likes..

To think about the man makes him angry again.

His eyes become black, and he raises his arms to the sky. Total destruction ; that's what will calm him.

...

The four people walked down the street, their steps sounding hollow on the dusty ground. The air is full of smoke, and fire can be seen in the far distance. It is quiet here, and dark.

The girl looks a bit scared, her gaze wandering over the ruins of the houses. The red mutant seemed relaxed and not interested at all, though his tail is swinging nervously from side to side. The man with the brown hair looked like he is not sure what to think; he seemed impressed but also a bit scared. The man who was walking in front of them looked almost satisfied, not scared at all. His helmet was gleaming in the dull light of the fire, and the cold smirk on his lips is almost scary.

It is silent here. Not even a crow or the meow of a cat could be heard. It was as if life wasn't here today, as if death had replaced it. "We shouldn't be here." Azazel said, his voice heavy with his accent. Shaw didn't answer, because he had his plans. They were on their way to recruit one of the most powerful mutant of this world, maybe even the most powerful of all. "I can feel no life at all." Azazel continued, his voice emotionless, though his tail swung around nervously.

"Ich weiss." Shaw answered, almost rolling his eyes; as if he didn't know that already.

It began to rain. First only a few drops, but then soon it became stronger, cleared the air from the dust and also washed the blood away from the streets. At least now the sound of the rain filled the unbearable silence.

It was when they walked past a side alley,when Angel suddenly stopped. Shaw didn't notice it, until the others stopped as well. "Was?" fragte er, his voice harsh. Ripitide pointed at the alley, though he said no word. He never said much words. Shaw sighed and walked up to the alley. Did they found him?

Yes,there he was.

He stopped in the middle of the alley, his gaze on the person sitting at the end of the dead end. There, at the end of the alley he sat; his arms around his knees and his blank eyes staring right through Shaw.

His skin was as white as porcelain, his lips unnaturally red and his eyes as red as the blood on his face and clothes, glowing strangely because of the shadows under them. His fingernails dug into the fabric of his trousers and had stiffened into a panik-like grip. His lips were moving, though he wasn't saying anything. He looked fragile, almost vulnerable, like a little boy who had been lost on his way home. The small body was rocking back and forth, trying to calm himself, trying to understand what had happened. The rain ran down his pale cheeks and made it look as if he was crying.

Shaw sighed in sympathy and walked up to the small figure; he crouched down in front of the shivering man, eyeing him almost lovingly "Ganz ruhig, mein Lieber. Alles ist gut."

The young man's gaze became a bit more focused now, through his eyes were still glassy and looking through him as if he was air. He didn't answer to Shaw; he just continued to shiver uncontrollably. He was in shock and probably didn't even know what he had done; he couldn't comprehend it. Shaw smiled kindly as he stood up, pulling the unresponsive man up with him "Come with us." he said, his voice gentle, almost reassuringly."Everything is alright."

He lead the young mutant to the small group of his followers, who watched them both with mixed emotions. Angel flinched slighty as she saw the man who had freed her of her life in the swingers club and she silently asked herself if she,they, did the right thing.

"It's alright, my dear. " Shaw pulled the younger man closer to himself; one arm around the other mans shoulders, the other arm around his waist, supporting his weight. The telepath turned his head to Shaw, his brow slightly furrowed. He leaned against Shaw, the man that was his worst enemy, shivering violently.

He didn't notice with whom he was here at the moment.

For him Shaw was his only hope now.

...

"Erik? Erik!" He blinked, feeling dizzy; his head hurt and every cell in his body ached. For a moment he didn't know where he was and what had happened, but as he saw Raven's worried face and the destroyed lab , he remembered. He sat up abruptly, his eyes a bit wider than normally as he realised that Charles wasn't there anymore.

"Erik!" Raven jumped up, a bit surprised by Erik's sudden move. "Are you alright? Where is Charles?" Erik had no time to answer; he was about to open his mouth when suddenly Hank stormed up to him and grabbed him by his shoulder "What did you do?" the blue furred mutant hissed "You damn fool, what have you done!"

"Hank!" Raven grabbed Hank by his arm and yanked him away from Erik. "What is gotten into you?" she asked softly , eyeing her boyfriend with worry.

"What's gotten into me? " Hank glared at Raven, then he pointed towards Erik, who stood up on shaky legs "Ask him! It's his fault that I am angry! God damn it, Erik! I've told you to stay away from him!"

Raven's gaze wandered from Hank to Erik, and her eyes were wide in disbelief "Is that true?" she asked, her voice as shaky as Erik's legs. Erik wasn't able to answer directly, and Raven's voice became firm, angrier. "I ask if that's true, Erik!"

Erik pressed his lips together, then he nodded, because he wasn't sure if his voice would fail him,or not. Raven's gaze held a gleam of hurt, disappointment and anger. She was right to feel that way, Erik could understand her, he would probably feel the same way if he was her; after all it really was his fault that Charles had left. God, he felt miserable.

"You stupid idiot!" she walked up to him, slapping him right into the face. It was a pretty hard slap, which made his cheek burn like fire. He had probably deserved it. "How could you! Don't you ever listen to what people say!" She was about to slap him again, but Erik stoped her hand before she could do so. She shook her head, trying to get free of his grip, but he didn't let her hand go. "We have to find him!" she then said, with panic in her voice "What if something happened to him? What if they found him! What if he got hurt?" She was in total panic,but that was understandable; after all it was her brother who was missing. Erik could see that she was about to cry. That was unlike Raven, she was a strong girl. It must be the shock.

"Calm down Raven!" he said, his voice stronger then he felt. "Panic won't help us ! We have to focus on the facts!"

"No!" she screamed, her voice sounding broken "NO! We have to find him!"

"God, Raven; calm-down!" Erik grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking her to bring her back to sanity "What do you want to do now, hm? Do you want to go out, and search for him, without knowing where he is? That's not an option either ! Maybe he will come back; we should wait and see." The last part was only said to calm her down; he knew that Charles wouldn't come back.

Raven sniffed, and Hank gave him an angry glare. It seemed that he maybe should try to be a bit more kindly to her; after all she was just worried. He bent down to her, to look into her eyes "It's okay, Raven." he then said, his voice low and more gentle this time "We will do everything to find him."

Raven sniffed again, rubbing her eyes and tried not to cry "But how?" she asked, with a small voice "How can we find him?"

Well, Erik thought to himself, that is a good question..

Suddenly Erik was the one who had to have ideas, suddenly he was the adult who had to look over four teenagers, who looked up to him and expected him to solve their problems.

But, he was just a normal man, he wasn't god; he wasn't able to find a solution for it. In fact, he had no idea what they should do now.

Hank sighed, running a hand over his face "Damn, the lab.." Erik let his gaze wander over the lab, and he gulped. Yeah, the lab wasn't really a lab anymore; it more looked like a chaos out of broken glass and steel.

"We should tidy up." Erik suggested "Maybe you will find some notes, some that might help us.." Hank shook his head,looking a bit sad. Well, the lab had been his favourite room; his baby, you could say. "No...It almost seems as if everything is destroyed. I don't have hopes to finde something usefull." Erik could see that the blue furred scientist was really sad about that fact. He had spend so much time in that lab , and now all his notes and records seemed to be destroyed.

"We're gonna find something." Erik promised "I am sure that not everything was destroyed." he turned to Raven, who was very quiet now "Would you go and find Sean and Alex? They shall help Hank with the lab." She nodded, but Hank shook his head "No,it's alright. I will do this alone..You know, this is kinda my second room, and I feel like I should do it alone."

Erik raised one eyebrow, but nodded. If Hank wanted to do it alone, fine. "Come, Raven." he took her by her shoulder and lead her out of the destroyed lab " We go down to the boys."

They needed to find a way to find Charles. Erik felt his stomach clench and he felt sick. Hopefully, Charles was alright...Hopefully, Shaw didn't get him... He tightened his grip around Ravens shoulder as they walked down the stairs. They would find him, no matter what!

Thankies for all the reviews :) So, I hope this chappy was okay for ya, see ya as soon as possible !