17 years and 58 seconds
Chapter 3
~Logan. Logan came for me.~
~Wait, I'm alive!~
I opened my eyes slowly and squinted in the semi-brightness. I turned my head and saw I was alone in a room. A small room with light shinning through a window to my right. It seemed vaguely hospital-like but not so sterile, and wholly unfamiliar. I tried to take in the following bits of information:
I was not dead.
Logan had come back for me.
Logan came back and saved me.
Oh no, I groaned, if he's back then he's read the note I left. How am I going to face him now? I rolled on to my side and curled into a fetal position. As my mind raced with all of these new possibilities, I drifted back to sleep, the quiet sounds of the room hushing me to sleep.
When I opened my eyes again, it was now dark outside. I tried to sit up and managed a half lean, half sit. I was starving and my mouth tasted horrible. Stomach pump. They'd pumped out the pills from my stomach to save me. How embarrassing! This is not how I had wanted things to be.
I was just about to get out of bed when I heard the door open. I looked up and watched Logan walk in. A grin from ear to ear leapt across my face and I tried to sit up straighter. He smiled and walked closer.
"How ya feeling, kid?"
"Like I swallowed an elephant and then threw it back up." I smiled, trying to be charming, self-depreciating. I ran a hand through my hair quickly, self-consciously and realized I was still wearing my gloves. I stared at my gloves and realized nothing had changed. I was right back where I started with my skin, only now he knew how I felt ....
"You gave us all a scare, you know." There was concern in his eyes and I felt a small surge of happiness. Was it real concern for me?
"Sorry" was all I managed to get out. I waited patiently for him to speak next, afraid I'd spook him if I started asking questions.
"Ya wanna talk about it?"
My heart leapt. He WANTED to talk to me?!?! Stay calm, Marie. I shrugged and watched him pull up a chair next to the bed. He sat in the chair and crossed his legs.
Something immediately started going off in my head. A warning. Something was very wrong here. Frowning, I looked around for something out of place. Logan was watching me intently. I tried to think but my mind was still kind of fuzzy. I felt like I was trying to push my way through water to get to something important.
"Ummm. Where am I?" Good, start slow.
"We couldn't very well take to you a hospital, so we had to keep here, in the mansion. Don't worry, Jean knew what to do."
My cheeks burned with humiliation and a new taste filled my mouth. Jean, my hated rival, had saved me? She'd *known what to do*? That bitch! 'Saves me' from killing myself. All of my plans had gone to hell. I had only wanted peace and now I've got more torment than I had before. Sometimes I wished I had another power, something that I could use to strike back at my enemies. Something that would make people fear me. I grinned at the thought of Jean afraid of me.
"How long have I been here?"
Logan looked outside and said, "Three days." Something was still bothering me but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"Why did you come back?" I asked quietly. I was surprised I'd had the nerve to ask.
"I heard you were having problems. I came back to see if I could help. You know ... what you tried to do ... it's no solution. It's a cop out."
I half nodded and turned my head away as tears welled in my eyes. All the pain I'd be trying to avoid was crashing back on me. My pent up feelings for Logan were threatening to overwhelm me.
"Did you ... find what I left for you?" I asked. The letter to Logan had meant so much to me, my most personal revelations had been in that letter. Logan looked puzzled and then smiled.
"Yeah. Thanks" I watched as he pulled his dog tags out and jingled them. "Well, you should get some sleep now, ok kid? I'll see ya tomorrow." He abruptly left the room and closed the door with a soft click. What surprised me was the *other* soft click. A lock. I was locked in.
I lay back in bed and ran things through. That was *not* Logan! Logan never crossed his legs like a woman! And those dog tags - *I* still had his tags. They were safely tucked away in the lining of my glove. I touched the outline of the tags absently, reassuringly. Exactly where I'd put them.
Don't panic. Think, Marie. Think. The only one I know who can disguise themselves like Logan is Mystique. If I'm with Mystique then the other Brotherhood mutants must be here too. And they MUST be watching me. I feigned sleep in an attempt to think of my options.
I'm in the hands of my enemy and the X-men think I'm dead. Where was I? How long have I really been gone? What does Mystique want with me? Is escape a possibility?
As I drifted off to sleep, Logan's face came to me in my dream. For that moment, I felt safe and not so alone. Be strong, Marie, be strong. Maybe you'll find something worth living for.
Chapter 3
~Logan. Logan came for me.~
~Wait, I'm alive!~
I opened my eyes slowly and squinted in the semi-brightness. I turned my head and saw I was alone in a room. A small room with light shinning through a window to my right. It seemed vaguely hospital-like but not so sterile, and wholly unfamiliar. I tried to take in the following bits of information:
I was not dead.
Logan had come back for me.
Logan came back and saved me.
Oh no, I groaned, if he's back then he's read the note I left. How am I going to face him now? I rolled on to my side and curled into a fetal position. As my mind raced with all of these new possibilities, I drifted back to sleep, the quiet sounds of the room hushing me to sleep.
When I opened my eyes again, it was now dark outside. I tried to sit up and managed a half lean, half sit. I was starving and my mouth tasted horrible. Stomach pump. They'd pumped out the pills from my stomach to save me. How embarrassing! This is not how I had wanted things to be.
I was just about to get out of bed when I heard the door open. I looked up and watched Logan walk in. A grin from ear to ear leapt across my face and I tried to sit up straighter. He smiled and walked closer.
"How ya feeling, kid?"
"Like I swallowed an elephant and then threw it back up." I smiled, trying to be charming, self-depreciating. I ran a hand through my hair quickly, self-consciously and realized I was still wearing my gloves. I stared at my gloves and realized nothing had changed. I was right back where I started with my skin, only now he knew how I felt ....
"You gave us all a scare, you know." There was concern in his eyes and I felt a small surge of happiness. Was it real concern for me?
"Sorry" was all I managed to get out. I waited patiently for him to speak next, afraid I'd spook him if I started asking questions.
"Ya wanna talk about it?"
My heart leapt. He WANTED to talk to me?!?! Stay calm, Marie. I shrugged and watched him pull up a chair next to the bed. He sat in the chair and crossed his legs.
Something immediately started going off in my head. A warning. Something was very wrong here. Frowning, I looked around for something out of place. Logan was watching me intently. I tried to think but my mind was still kind of fuzzy. I felt like I was trying to push my way through water to get to something important.
"Ummm. Where am I?" Good, start slow.
"We couldn't very well take to you a hospital, so we had to keep here, in the mansion. Don't worry, Jean knew what to do."
My cheeks burned with humiliation and a new taste filled my mouth. Jean, my hated rival, had saved me? She'd *known what to do*? That bitch! 'Saves me' from killing myself. All of my plans had gone to hell. I had only wanted peace and now I've got more torment than I had before. Sometimes I wished I had another power, something that I could use to strike back at my enemies. Something that would make people fear me. I grinned at the thought of Jean afraid of me.
"How long have I been here?"
Logan looked outside and said, "Three days." Something was still bothering me but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"Why did you come back?" I asked quietly. I was surprised I'd had the nerve to ask.
"I heard you were having problems. I came back to see if I could help. You know ... what you tried to do ... it's no solution. It's a cop out."
I half nodded and turned my head away as tears welled in my eyes. All the pain I'd be trying to avoid was crashing back on me. My pent up feelings for Logan were threatening to overwhelm me.
"Did you ... find what I left for you?" I asked. The letter to Logan had meant so much to me, my most personal revelations had been in that letter. Logan looked puzzled and then smiled.
"Yeah. Thanks" I watched as he pulled his dog tags out and jingled them. "Well, you should get some sleep now, ok kid? I'll see ya tomorrow." He abruptly left the room and closed the door with a soft click. What surprised me was the *other* soft click. A lock. I was locked in.
I lay back in bed and ran things through. That was *not* Logan! Logan never crossed his legs like a woman! And those dog tags - *I* still had his tags. They were safely tucked away in the lining of my glove. I touched the outline of the tags absently, reassuringly. Exactly where I'd put them.
Don't panic. Think, Marie. Think. The only one I know who can disguise themselves like Logan is Mystique. If I'm with Mystique then the other Brotherhood mutants must be here too. And they MUST be watching me. I feigned sleep in an attempt to think of my options.
I'm in the hands of my enemy and the X-men think I'm dead. Where was I? How long have I really been gone? What does Mystique want with me? Is escape a possibility?
As I drifted off to sleep, Logan's face came to me in my dream. For that moment, I felt safe and not so alone. Be strong, Marie, be strong. Maybe you'll find something worth living for.