***
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my characters.
***
A/N: Okay, this story is starting to slip into an AU that mixes the movie universe with the Evo universe. I was planning it like that, so kudos to the people who like it.
Also, this Chapter contains a lot of blood (just in case you couldn't tell from the title). So if you don't really like that stuff, then heads up.
~~.~~ denotes a dream
* . * denotes thought (sorry I didn't follow that in the last couple of chapters.)
On with the story.
--EBTS
***
~~ It was getting darker, that much Alexia knew. The shadows were getting longer now, and something in the back of her head whispered that she and Zydane should head home. She shrugged the feeling off, silently scolding herself for being so cautious. But as she did so, she watched as Zydane took a curve to fast on the road ahead of her, his bike falling over, him leaping off of it and crashing headlong and helmet-less into the bushes along side the road. She knew he was alive, and he was, but he had a bad gash along his arm and he was bleeding from somewhere on his scalp. There was blood everywhere, all over him, and there was blood on her hands...They had to tell their parents.
Suddenly, they weren't in the woods anymore. In fact, Zydane had vanished altogether, and Alexia was standing in the basement of her family's house, listening as her father screamed at her for being foolish enough to let Zydane ride without his helmet. She was scared, and her father's shouting only distressed her more. She felt the little turrets spinning about her, running into her, begging her to play. Once again the voice in the back of her head whispered that she should be careful and not give into the little tornadoes. She ignored it, her mind set on only getting her father to stop shouting at her. She felt the heat course through her bloodied hands and out, but instead of the light that she remembered, it was blood flowing from her hands, hot blood. The blood connected with both her father and the furnace, and both were engulfed in blood red flame.
Then everything went dark. Alexia knew where she would be when she woke up this time - she would be in the hospital, everyone wondering how she had survived the blast. But when she opened her eyes, no, she wasn't in the hospital, she was in an ugly metal room and she was strapped down to a table. A needle neared her and she started to scream, beg them not to give her the shot, that she didn't want the shot. They ignored her, and plunged the needle into her temple as she screamed again. ~~
Alexia screamed and shot up off her pillow, sweat pouring down her face. Kurt and Zydane's eyes flew open at the sudden scream and stared at Alexia - who was now sitting on the bed staring straight ahead, trying to calm herself while tears streamed down her face - not quite sure what to do.
Kurt sat up and put his arm around her shoulder and rubbed her arm. "It's alright, it vas only a dream."
Alexia's tears began to stream out faster and she broke down completely, crumpling into Kurt, wadding his shirt in her hands. Her body racked with sobs.
"Shh, it's ok, ve're here," Kurt whispered, wrapping his arms around her and stroking her hair.
Zydane sat up, reached over and rubbed Alexia's back. "It's okay kiddo, you're safe. Nothing's going to hurt you. You're alright. God's here, He'll protect you."
Alexia's sobs slowly subsided, but she didn't stop shaking. Kurt and Zydane continued to try to calm her down, and after a while, even her shaking stopped, but she refused to stop clinging to Kurt. The dream had scared her half to death, the boys could see.
"Alex, what happened in the dream?" Zydane asked gently, once he was sure she wouldn't break down bawling.
She shrugged, and said nothing. She simply buried her face into Kurt's shoulder.
"What does a shrug mean Alexia? Come on, you can tell us. It'll make you feel better." Zydane only used her full name when he was distressed, and Alexia felt a little guilty for making him worry
Alexia mumbled something into Kurt's shirt.
Zydane looked questioningly at the fuzzy mutant who shrugged with his eyebrows and then bent his head to her ear. "Vhat did you say?"
She moved her head a little and looked up at the two with blood shot eyes. "I don't know. I never remember the dream. All I know is there's a lot of blood." She shifted so that she was leaning back against Kurt, still clinging to his shirt with her hand.
"You've had this dream before? Vhy didn't you tell me?" Kurt asked.
Alexia shrugged and rubbed her eye. "I know I've had it before, like a lot...but I never remember what it is after I wake up. It normally isn't all that horrible, like I wake up, but not screaming."
Zydane reached over and gently began to pry her hand off of Kurt's shirt. Her knuckles were white. "Then why did you this time?" he asked. "Are Kurt and I that scary?"
Alexia shook her head, not responding to the joke. "No. There was a new part to it...but I don't remember that either...but I remember a feeling here." She put a finger to her temple. "I don't remember what it was though..."
Zydane glanced over at the clock. It blared 2:30 in red letters, and he hoped Alexia could fall asleep again. Turning attention back to Kurt and Alex, he saw that she was already yawning, even though he could tell she not yet totally calmed down. "Com'n kiddo. You try to go back to sleep, alright? Kurt and I are right here, you're gonna be fine."
Alexia shrugged but didn't protest when Zydane gently moved her - practically lifting her - off Kurt and back onto the pillow. She curled in to a ball, and closed her eyes. Kurt had a feeling that she wouldn't sleep very much, but he didn't see what they could really do about it.
---------------------------------
Alexia lay awake in the bed, listening to Zydane and Kurt breathing on either side of her. Something was wrong, she could sense it, but she didn't know what. Restless, she sat up and crawled to the foot of the bed. Getting up, she walked to the window and looked outside up at the moon. I was almost full, and shown brightly, but most of the light that came in through the window was from the light on the side of the garage.
As she stood there, looking into the night, a flash of movement on the ground caught her eye. She glanced down at the drive way and her eyes widened in fright. There, across the driveway, right at the edge of the woods, was someone. She couldn't see anymore than the outline, but she knew it wasn't one of the kids from the Bungalow. She blinked and shook her head, and when she looked back, the person was gone.
* Am I seeing things? * She wondered as she stared fearfully down at the spot where the figure had been. She watched the tree line for a long time, but nothing else showed up. After a while, the sky began to lighten, and Alexia knew dawn was not far off.
As she stood there, she heard feet padding down the hall towards the room. Alexia looked up to find Luke entering the room, his face in a worried expression. "Zydane, wake up! We have a problem!"
Zydane sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Where's Alex?" he asked sleepily.
"Right here," Alexia said, but Luke had ignored the question.
"We've lost contact with the scouts," Luke told Zydane. "I can't get a sound from them - not even static."
Zydane was awake instantly. "What do you mean 'lost contact'?" he demanded, leaping off the bed. "Since when?"
"Around three. They just started missing their check in times, then all the radios went dead."
Alexia's eyes traveled between her brother and best friend. They both were scared, and that frightened her more than the news itself.
"Maybe you're on the wrong frequency," she suggested desperately. Luke shook his head.
Zydane cursed under his breath and reached over and tugged on Kurt's tail, waking him up. "We got to go. The scouts are gone, and we need to get the younger kids to safety."
"How're we gonna do that?" Alexia asked.
"We didn't teach these kids to ride for nothing. We'll escort them almost all the way to town, then they can handle themselves. They know where the safe house is."
Everyone nodded at Zydane's instructions. He was the ringleader of sorts, though Luke was actually older.
Alexia padded down the hall, opening doors, turning on bedroom lights, and telling the little kids inside to wake up and get dressed.
They weren't really little kids, Alexia knew, in fact, a few were taller than her, even though they were four or more years younger than her. But they still acted like little children. Some of the older kids whined more than the little ones. Finally fed up with arguing with one boy, she slammed her hand on the top of the dresser and shouted, "If you don't get up NOW, then I'll burn all your hair off your head!" The boy's eyes went wide and he immediately got out of bed.
Once all the kids were downstairs, Zydane took charge again. "Alright! Listen up! You all are going to the safe house. We're going together, we are not splitting up. I know that's not how we practice, but it's the only way we can be sure you get there safely. Someone will have to use Luke's wheeler so we'll have enough for all you guys. Once we reach the point where we leave you, I want Josh Tambor to take over. Understand?"
The little ones all nodded, scared half to death, but as they all filed out and got onto their dirt bikes and four-wheelers, they were surprisingly calm. Alexia could see why - Zydane hadn't told them any of the reasons why they were doing this, most of them had probably convinced themselves that nothing was wrong, and that this was just a drill.
Alexia climbed onto her own bike, and motioned for Kurt to get on as well. He did, wrapping his arms and his tail around her waist, and a little rush went through her.
Once Zydane and Luke were on Zydane's bike, Zydane gave the signal, and everyone took off. Alexia stayed at the back of the pack. The group of off- road vehicles was moving at a quick but prudent pace, and after about ten minutes, they had reached the place where they broke off. Zydane stopped his bike and waved everyone on, nodding as Josh took the lead.
Alexia hoped that that wouldn't be the last time she ever saw her little brother.
"Alright, we have to go see if we can find the scouts, or some sign of them," Zydane said, pulling her out of her stupor. "I don't like how they just disappeared."
"Vhat if ve run into those people that attacked us last night?" Kurt shouted above the din as they headed back down the road.
Alexia shrugged, not bothering to answer him because she knew he wouldn't hear her. She hoped to God that they wouldn't run into the people.
They began to trace the patrol routes that the scouts had been using. The early morning sun shone through the trees, casting a surreal light on everything. As the search dragged on, and no sign of the scouts was found, Alexia's anxiety began to rise. Glancing to her left, she noticed a large brown stain on the ground, near the ditch. Panic swept over her.
"Zydane! Stop!" She screamed, pulling herself to a stop and leaping off her bike.
Zydane had heard the horrified cries over his bike, stopped and turned to see Alexia kneeling beside the stain. "Oh no..." He looked around while Alexia examined the stain. She gingerly touched the spot, and moaned.
"It's still wet...It smells like blood..." She murmured.
Zydane nodded and pointed to a trail the same color as the stain that led into the under brush. "Stay here. I'll go."
He stepped into the woods and followed the trail for about fifty feet. It was darker under the trees, but the blood trail was so dark it was easy to follow. The trail led him behind a tree, and there, staring up at him with blank, lifeless eyes, was David, the boy who had been the scout for the party the night before. Half of his face was covered in blood, and there was a large red stain on the front of his shirt.
Zydane felt his stomach drop a hundred feet. * Oh God, no...not this...please don't let this be the fate of the others, * his mind pleaded as he tried to force his eyes to look away from the dead boy.
"Zydane? What's back there?" Alexia's voice came with the crashing of under brush. "Are you ok?"
In a protective, impulsive move, Zydane whipped around, met Alexia before she got to the tree, picked her up and carried her away from David's body. "You're not going to see it. You shouldn't." He realized that he was shaking.
"Hey! Put me down Zy! What the heck is wrong with you? What's back there??" Alexia struggled against Zydane, who just walked faster.
Stepping out of the trees, Zydane put Alexia down, and gave her a look that told her not to go back there. Alexia's face gave way that she figured someone was hurt pretty badly, but she didn't really know what happened.
"We need to find the others," Zydane ordered, and the others nodded and got on the bikes again.
They searched the roads, and found other signs that something had happened to the scouts, but nothing like a pool of blood. Instead, they found the scouts' four wheelers abandoned on the road, or lying in the ditch. There was blood, but not nearly as much as David had left. Near all the abandoned four-wheelers, they found skid marks from cars.
* This is crazy, * Alexia thought. * Why would anyone want to do this to us? *
She and Kurt were sitting on her bike watching Luke and Zydane examine the four-wheeler that they had just found, sitting at the side of the road. One of the tires was flat, and since there were other signs of bullets, she had a feeling it had been shot.
Hearing the sound of a vehicle down the road, both she and Kurt turned their heads. It was a black car, just like the one Zydane had almost hit the day before, except this one had a man squeezing himself out of the window, fiddling with something long in his hands.
She started up her bike. "We have company."
Zydane and Luke looked up, then made a mad dash to their bike. "There's only one," Zydane shouted. "Split up, you take this next road on the left, I'll go straight, we meet at the cemetery, right?"
Alexia nodded and charged off, Kurt clinging to her, fighting to keep his balance on the speeding bike.
**** Please R&R, and tell me if I need to change the rating on this story (it's PG right now)
Check back in about 5 days for the next chappie
--EBTS
I'm surprised that Luke, with his understanding of mutants thought his work at Zydane's bungalow, couldn't engender more understanding among the rest of the members of Alexia's family. Then again, maybe he tried and they just couldn't accept what she was. (Maybe that could be explored?)
Tell me what you think, and if the scene when they find David
should change the rating of this story from PG to PG-13, or
higher. It's definitely getting intense. More like the movie and less like the cartoon. It's good.
Ps--could you suggest a title for this chapter? :)
How about "Blood Loss"? You have the blood from David and from Alexia's dream. You have the loss of the bungalow and the loss of the scouts.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my characters.
***
A/N: Okay, this story is starting to slip into an AU that mixes the movie universe with the Evo universe. I was planning it like that, so kudos to the people who like it.
Also, this Chapter contains a lot of blood (just in case you couldn't tell from the title). So if you don't really like that stuff, then heads up.
~~.~~ denotes a dream
* . * denotes thought (sorry I didn't follow that in the last couple of chapters.)
On with the story.
--EBTS
***
~~ It was getting darker, that much Alexia knew. The shadows were getting longer now, and something in the back of her head whispered that she and Zydane should head home. She shrugged the feeling off, silently scolding herself for being so cautious. But as she did so, she watched as Zydane took a curve to fast on the road ahead of her, his bike falling over, him leaping off of it and crashing headlong and helmet-less into the bushes along side the road. She knew he was alive, and he was, but he had a bad gash along his arm and he was bleeding from somewhere on his scalp. There was blood everywhere, all over him, and there was blood on her hands...They had to tell their parents.
Suddenly, they weren't in the woods anymore. In fact, Zydane had vanished altogether, and Alexia was standing in the basement of her family's house, listening as her father screamed at her for being foolish enough to let Zydane ride without his helmet. She was scared, and her father's shouting only distressed her more. She felt the little turrets spinning about her, running into her, begging her to play. Once again the voice in the back of her head whispered that she should be careful and not give into the little tornadoes. She ignored it, her mind set on only getting her father to stop shouting at her. She felt the heat course through her bloodied hands and out, but instead of the light that she remembered, it was blood flowing from her hands, hot blood. The blood connected with both her father and the furnace, and both were engulfed in blood red flame.
Then everything went dark. Alexia knew where she would be when she woke up this time - she would be in the hospital, everyone wondering how she had survived the blast. But when she opened her eyes, no, she wasn't in the hospital, she was in an ugly metal room and she was strapped down to a table. A needle neared her and she started to scream, beg them not to give her the shot, that she didn't want the shot. They ignored her, and plunged the needle into her temple as she screamed again. ~~
Alexia screamed and shot up off her pillow, sweat pouring down her face. Kurt and Zydane's eyes flew open at the sudden scream and stared at Alexia - who was now sitting on the bed staring straight ahead, trying to calm herself while tears streamed down her face - not quite sure what to do.
Kurt sat up and put his arm around her shoulder and rubbed her arm. "It's alright, it vas only a dream."
Alexia's tears began to stream out faster and she broke down completely, crumpling into Kurt, wadding his shirt in her hands. Her body racked with sobs.
"Shh, it's ok, ve're here," Kurt whispered, wrapping his arms around her and stroking her hair.
Zydane sat up, reached over and rubbed Alexia's back. "It's okay kiddo, you're safe. Nothing's going to hurt you. You're alright. God's here, He'll protect you."
Alexia's sobs slowly subsided, but she didn't stop shaking. Kurt and Zydane continued to try to calm her down, and after a while, even her shaking stopped, but she refused to stop clinging to Kurt. The dream had scared her half to death, the boys could see.
"Alex, what happened in the dream?" Zydane asked gently, once he was sure she wouldn't break down bawling.
She shrugged, and said nothing. She simply buried her face into Kurt's shoulder.
"What does a shrug mean Alexia? Come on, you can tell us. It'll make you feel better." Zydane only used her full name when he was distressed, and Alexia felt a little guilty for making him worry
Alexia mumbled something into Kurt's shirt.
Zydane looked questioningly at the fuzzy mutant who shrugged with his eyebrows and then bent his head to her ear. "Vhat did you say?"
She moved her head a little and looked up at the two with blood shot eyes. "I don't know. I never remember the dream. All I know is there's a lot of blood." She shifted so that she was leaning back against Kurt, still clinging to his shirt with her hand.
"You've had this dream before? Vhy didn't you tell me?" Kurt asked.
Alexia shrugged and rubbed her eye. "I know I've had it before, like a lot...but I never remember what it is after I wake up. It normally isn't all that horrible, like I wake up, but not screaming."
Zydane reached over and gently began to pry her hand off of Kurt's shirt. Her knuckles were white. "Then why did you this time?" he asked. "Are Kurt and I that scary?"
Alexia shook her head, not responding to the joke. "No. There was a new part to it...but I don't remember that either...but I remember a feeling here." She put a finger to her temple. "I don't remember what it was though..."
Zydane glanced over at the clock. It blared 2:30 in red letters, and he hoped Alexia could fall asleep again. Turning attention back to Kurt and Alex, he saw that she was already yawning, even though he could tell she not yet totally calmed down. "Com'n kiddo. You try to go back to sleep, alright? Kurt and I are right here, you're gonna be fine."
Alexia shrugged but didn't protest when Zydane gently moved her - practically lifting her - off Kurt and back onto the pillow. She curled in to a ball, and closed her eyes. Kurt had a feeling that she wouldn't sleep very much, but he didn't see what they could really do about it.
---------------------------------
Alexia lay awake in the bed, listening to Zydane and Kurt breathing on either side of her. Something was wrong, she could sense it, but she didn't know what. Restless, she sat up and crawled to the foot of the bed. Getting up, she walked to the window and looked outside up at the moon. I was almost full, and shown brightly, but most of the light that came in through the window was from the light on the side of the garage.
As she stood there, looking into the night, a flash of movement on the ground caught her eye. She glanced down at the drive way and her eyes widened in fright. There, across the driveway, right at the edge of the woods, was someone. She couldn't see anymore than the outline, but she knew it wasn't one of the kids from the Bungalow. She blinked and shook her head, and when she looked back, the person was gone.
* Am I seeing things? * She wondered as she stared fearfully down at the spot where the figure had been. She watched the tree line for a long time, but nothing else showed up. After a while, the sky began to lighten, and Alexia knew dawn was not far off.
As she stood there, she heard feet padding down the hall towards the room. Alexia looked up to find Luke entering the room, his face in a worried expression. "Zydane, wake up! We have a problem!"
Zydane sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Where's Alex?" he asked sleepily.
"Right here," Alexia said, but Luke had ignored the question.
"We've lost contact with the scouts," Luke told Zydane. "I can't get a sound from them - not even static."
Zydane was awake instantly. "What do you mean 'lost contact'?" he demanded, leaping off the bed. "Since when?"
"Around three. They just started missing their check in times, then all the radios went dead."
Alexia's eyes traveled between her brother and best friend. They both were scared, and that frightened her more than the news itself.
"Maybe you're on the wrong frequency," she suggested desperately. Luke shook his head.
Zydane cursed under his breath and reached over and tugged on Kurt's tail, waking him up. "We got to go. The scouts are gone, and we need to get the younger kids to safety."
"How're we gonna do that?" Alexia asked.
"We didn't teach these kids to ride for nothing. We'll escort them almost all the way to town, then they can handle themselves. They know where the safe house is."
Everyone nodded at Zydane's instructions. He was the ringleader of sorts, though Luke was actually older.
Alexia padded down the hall, opening doors, turning on bedroom lights, and telling the little kids inside to wake up and get dressed.
They weren't really little kids, Alexia knew, in fact, a few were taller than her, even though they were four or more years younger than her. But they still acted like little children. Some of the older kids whined more than the little ones. Finally fed up with arguing with one boy, she slammed her hand on the top of the dresser and shouted, "If you don't get up NOW, then I'll burn all your hair off your head!" The boy's eyes went wide and he immediately got out of bed.
Once all the kids were downstairs, Zydane took charge again. "Alright! Listen up! You all are going to the safe house. We're going together, we are not splitting up. I know that's not how we practice, but it's the only way we can be sure you get there safely. Someone will have to use Luke's wheeler so we'll have enough for all you guys. Once we reach the point where we leave you, I want Josh Tambor to take over. Understand?"
The little ones all nodded, scared half to death, but as they all filed out and got onto their dirt bikes and four-wheelers, they were surprisingly calm. Alexia could see why - Zydane hadn't told them any of the reasons why they were doing this, most of them had probably convinced themselves that nothing was wrong, and that this was just a drill.
Alexia climbed onto her own bike, and motioned for Kurt to get on as well. He did, wrapping his arms and his tail around her waist, and a little rush went through her.
Once Zydane and Luke were on Zydane's bike, Zydane gave the signal, and everyone took off. Alexia stayed at the back of the pack. The group of off- road vehicles was moving at a quick but prudent pace, and after about ten minutes, they had reached the place where they broke off. Zydane stopped his bike and waved everyone on, nodding as Josh took the lead.
Alexia hoped that that wouldn't be the last time she ever saw her little brother.
"Alright, we have to go see if we can find the scouts, or some sign of them," Zydane said, pulling her out of her stupor. "I don't like how they just disappeared."
"Vhat if ve run into those people that attacked us last night?" Kurt shouted above the din as they headed back down the road.
Alexia shrugged, not bothering to answer him because she knew he wouldn't hear her. She hoped to God that they wouldn't run into the people.
They began to trace the patrol routes that the scouts had been using. The early morning sun shone through the trees, casting a surreal light on everything. As the search dragged on, and no sign of the scouts was found, Alexia's anxiety began to rise. Glancing to her left, she noticed a large brown stain on the ground, near the ditch. Panic swept over her.
"Zydane! Stop!" She screamed, pulling herself to a stop and leaping off her bike.
Zydane had heard the horrified cries over his bike, stopped and turned to see Alexia kneeling beside the stain. "Oh no..." He looked around while Alexia examined the stain. She gingerly touched the spot, and moaned.
"It's still wet...It smells like blood..." She murmured.
Zydane nodded and pointed to a trail the same color as the stain that led into the under brush. "Stay here. I'll go."
He stepped into the woods and followed the trail for about fifty feet. It was darker under the trees, but the blood trail was so dark it was easy to follow. The trail led him behind a tree, and there, staring up at him with blank, lifeless eyes, was David, the boy who had been the scout for the party the night before. Half of his face was covered in blood, and there was a large red stain on the front of his shirt.
Zydane felt his stomach drop a hundred feet. * Oh God, no...not this...please don't let this be the fate of the others, * his mind pleaded as he tried to force his eyes to look away from the dead boy.
"Zydane? What's back there?" Alexia's voice came with the crashing of under brush. "Are you ok?"
In a protective, impulsive move, Zydane whipped around, met Alexia before she got to the tree, picked her up and carried her away from David's body. "You're not going to see it. You shouldn't." He realized that he was shaking.
"Hey! Put me down Zy! What the heck is wrong with you? What's back there??" Alexia struggled against Zydane, who just walked faster.
Stepping out of the trees, Zydane put Alexia down, and gave her a look that told her not to go back there. Alexia's face gave way that she figured someone was hurt pretty badly, but she didn't really know what happened.
"We need to find the others," Zydane ordered, and the others nodded and got on the bikes again.
They searched the roads, and found other signs that something had happened to the scouts, but nothing like a pool of blood. Instead, they found the scouts' four wheelers abandoned on the road, or lying in the ditch. There was blood, but not nearly as much as David had left. Near all the abandoned four-wheelers, they found skid marks from cars.
* This is crazy, * Alexia thought. * Why would anyone want to do this to us? *
She and Kurt were sitting on her bike watching Luke and Zydane examine the four-wheeler that they had just found, sitting at the side of the road. One of the tires was flat, and since there were other signs of bullets, she had a feeling it had been shot.
Hearing the sound of a vehicle down the road, both she and Kurt turned their heads. It was a black car, just like the one Zydane had almost hit the day before, except this one had a man squeezing himself out of the window, fiddling with something long in his hands.
She started up her bike. "We have company."
Zydane and Luke looked up, then made a mad dash to their bike. "There's only one," Zydane shouted. "Split up, you take this next road on the left, I'll go straight, we meet at the cemetery, right?"
Alexia nodded and charged off, Kurt clinging to her, fighting to keep his balance on the speeding bike.
**** Please R&R, and tell me if I need to change the rating on this story (it's PG right now)
Check back in about 5 days for the next chappie
--EBTS
I'm surprised that Luke, with his understanding of mutants thought his work at Zydane's bungalow, couldn't engender more understanding among the rest of the members of Alexia's family. Then again, maybe he tried and they just couldn't accept what she was. (Maybe that could be explored?)
Tell me what you think, and if the scene when they find David
should change the rating of this story from PG to PG-13, or
higher. It's definitely getting intense. More like the movie and less like the cartoon. It's good.
Ps--could you suggest a title for this chapter? :)
How about "Blood Loss"? You have the blood from David and from Alexia's dream. You have the loss of the bungalow and the loss of the scouts.