Eheh… Sorry for such a long wait… Tutoring took place over the summer. Wasn't that bad, but it certainly took up some time. After that ended, I cried a bit over Aaliyah, then I wrote another chapter. Tell me what you think… I have an idea of where to go with this, but feedback is always good.
Insert obligatory warning about heavy cussing here.
Heh. One last thing… I downloaded "Shadowed Past" from my Napster-lookalike. Does anybody know how to open up a movie player on a Windows computer? When I double click on the file itself, all I get is the sound from the episode, and no picture.
Enough of my computer troubles, on with the story.
Screw disclaimers.
A Long Journey
The phone cackled loudly, perhaps just to let everyone know that it as still there. A moment after it reluctantly silenced itself, Kurt got a telepathic message from Xavier. 'Kurt, you've got a call.'
Kurt moaned to himself. Probably Jane. Well, he'd have to face the rap sometime. Picking up the phone, he readied himself as though he was about to get slapped. "Hello?"
The line was silent for a moment, then Jane's voice was piped through the phone. IT was carefully controlled, but there was a fair amount of anger behind it. "Oh, good. The way you ran out on me, I thought you might have died."
Kurt was sure that, had he licked the phone, he would have tasted the sarcasm dripping from it. "Jane, listen, I—"
"How about you listen, asshole?" Jane's voice was now fraught with anger. "I don't know why you skipped out on me like that, but I saw something that was fucking strange. Unless you're an alien or a mutant or something-" She stopped abruptly.
Kurt let his head drop down, his chin cradling on his chest.
"That's it, isn't it?" Jane asked a moment later. She now sounded gentler, almost understanding. "You're… You're a mutant, aren't you?"
Kurt's silence was obviously answer enough.
"You are," she breathed.
Kurt swallowed, nervous and unsure of what to do. "J-Jane… I… Don't…"
"I won't tell anyone, I swear." She halted for a moment, apparently excited. "God, I've never met a real mutant…"
Kurt exhaled, slightly annoyed. "I'm not a museum exhibit."
For the first time, she sounded flustered. "Well. Of course not, I… I didn't mean…" She trailed off.
Kurt sighed, baring his teeth in indecision. "Mein Gott," he murmured under his breath. He raised his voice so Jane could hear him. "Jane, you can't tell a soul. Don't even write it in your… your diary, or whatever."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Kurt felt a little edgy about how she just brushed it off, but Jane continued. "Can you meet me somewhere? Like… I dunno, the woods behind the pizza place?"
Kurt furrowed his brow, not for the first time irritated by his appearance. "Jane, I can't, really. My watch-"
"A watch?" Jane sounded puzzled and slightly annoyed. "You don't need a watch, I'll bring one. Just meet me behind the Pizza Café in five, alright?"
Kurt opened his mouth to tell her exactly why he needed his watch, but she broke in with, "I'll see you there, Wagner." And hung up.
"Schiss." Kurt replaced the phone in its cradle and perched on the edge of his desk. His tail thrashed about madly.
He looked at his hand. The three thick fingers didn't look human… They didn't even look simian. He closed his eyes, placing a finger on the bridge of his nose, deciding.
Bamf!
**
"Jaa-aane." Kurt's voice was a husky whisper. Yellow eyes scanned the brick wall adorned with a "Pizza Café" sign.
Bamf!
"Jane!" His gaze swung like a laser across the back of the restaurant. He hissed her name again, inching backwards, further into the shadows. His attention was caught by a slender figure quietly turning the corner. It glanced around, raising its hands to its mouth. "Kurt?"
"Here."
Jane jerked her head up at the sullen reply. Squinting, she could barely see the outline of her friend behind some bushes. She had to wrench her gaze away to stare intently at the shadowed ground as she walked. The whisper of her clothing was eerily similar to the sound a snake makes right before it strikes.
Kurt's entire body was tense, right down to his tail, sticking out stiffly behind him. The rate of his breathing increased subtly as she approached.
She squinted at him, clearly excited. "So… Wh-what's your power?" A grin broke her usually solemn face.
Kurt was silent for a moment, then 'ported six feet to his left, still enshrouded by the lowering night. His heart hammered, and not just because of the 'port.
Jane gasped delightedly. "That's so cool! You can… beam yourself up, or something!" She covered the distance between them with a few steps. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Kurt stood completely still. Her gaze raked him head to toe, her smile fading. She took him in quietly; the pointy ears, amber eyes. The moon glinted off his fangs, and her stare moved to his tridactyl hands, to the tail, and to the animalistic feet.
All covered with azure fur.
Her eyebrows drew together, her eyes widened, and her jaw slackened: an expression Kurt knew all to well.
Horror.
"Oh, God, what are you?" She blurted out.