Chapter Two
Lucy sat playing with her food. Her father had brought her down a bowl of piping hot beef broth an hour ago but she hadn't eaten it She couldn't face food. Only now had she found the strength to stumble in the darkness across the room to the door and pick the stone cold soup up. In all honesty she hadn't noticed her father enter. The house was kept in near darkness since the incident. That was what Father Brenen had said to her parents. 'Feed her 3 sturdy meals every day, keep the room darkened and quiet and pray that this is a passing stage.'
A passing stage indeed.
Lucy could feel in her blood, in her mind, in her body that this was no passing stage. Something had changed within her mentality. Her mind was different, she was still Lucy Ruth Anderson, but something had happened. Everything that she had taken for granted and accepted for her whole life had been thrown out the window and had been replaced by a yearning. A yearning to discover who she was and what she was put on this earth to do with this, this power. Taking a sip of the cold soup she shuddered and dropped the spoon in pain.
Something was wrong. Something was wrong above her in the main house. Thoughts raced through her head turning any trace of logical thinking to sheer confusion. She closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the pain the thoughts were bringing her. There were people upstairs in her house searching her room, talking to her parents. Lucy could see shadows of these impostors, even through her eyes were tightly closed. She started to sweat as the pain intensified along with the clearness of the images. She didn't know how but something in her mind was showing her all these facts and pictures of people she had never seen in her whole life, in her house, looking for her. She didn't know why they were looking for her, trying to think about it just caused too much pain. Huddling in the corner she prayed that the images would go away but they just got worse. She could hear noises reverting about her head. Someone was banging and screaming, banging and screaming, banging and screaming. Lucy was so deeply caught up by the images in her head that she didn't realise that the banging was someone kicking down the newly bolted door to the cellar and it was actually her that was screaming.
***
Wolverine kicked the door for the fourth time before it finally broke. Someone didn't want them to get in, or maybe they didn't want someone to get out. It had only taken Wolverine a few minutes to search the upstairs. By the time he had found Rogue there was only one more place left to look. Yelling at her to turn on some 'damn lights' so he could 'kick that door down' he repeatedly kicked the door to the cellar just beneath the lock and the new bolt that had been recently attached.
The door flew wide open, its lock well and truly busted, sending dust and bits of wood flying. Particles danced in the light that was now streaming in through the gap where the door used to be. Wolverine strode though the door, appearing cool and confident. Little did Rogue know that underneath all his manliness he was scared of what he might find in that room, of this young girl who her parents found so awful that had to keep her bolted up in a darkened cellar. Was this 15 year old girl so dangerous even her parents didn't trust her? The screaming that they both had heard before intensified they Wolverine strode in, closely followed by Rogue.
The room was surprisingly large. In front of them was an old chest and newspapers from years ago were scattered across the hard concrete floor. The only thing that made this cellar different from any other was the high pitched screaming coming from a girl curled up on a bed in the corner of the room. She sat in between the wall and the footboard, her head in her arms.
By this time there was a small gathering at the entrance to the cellar. Wolverine a few paces into the room, stood his mind calculating what was happening and what he should do next. Rogue, in his shadow, stood in total awe of the situation, thinking about what part she played in all of this. Jean stood in the doorway watching the girl, trying to contact her but she couldn't. She tried to make sense of what she was thinking but all she could read was pain and despair. This was one very scared and hurt girl. Cyclops was upstairs, distracting the young girls parents and Iceman was still outside, circling the building. Now was the time to act. Jean stepped forward, pushing past Rogue and Wolverine.
"Lucy. Lucy listen to me. My name is Jean Grey. I can help you if you let me in." Jean tried to find out what she was thinking. She tried to send her soothing images, to allow her to open up and by led to safety, to the Professor. She knelt down, getting closer "Lucy, let the fear escape, let it go away. Talk to me. Please."
The atmosphere in the room was getting tenser as the seconds ticked away. Wolverine knew that it wasn't going to plan. The X-men had never tried anything like this before. Sure they had made rescues, but never going into anyone's home. They had assumed that this girl would want to come. They hadn't planned her not coming or at least not cooperating. Things were going from bad to worse. It seemed that Jean's magic charm wasn't working. You see the thing with run-aways is that they have run-away, they have said that they don't want to be at home with their family, so saving them is easy. But this was different. Lucy hadn't run away, or even attempted, so how can we know that she wants to come with us Wolverine thought. It was then that Wolverine noticed that the screaming had stopped and the room was eerily quiet.
Lucy sat playing with her food. Her father had brought her down a bowl of piping hot beef broth an hour ago but she hadn't eaten it She couldn't face food. Only now had she found the strength to stumble in the darkness across the room to the door and pick the stone cold soup up. In all honesty she hadn't noticed her father enter. The house was kept in near darkness since the incident. That was what Father Brenen had said to her parents. 'Feed her 3 sturdy meals every day, keep the room darkened and quiet and pray that this is a passing stage.'
A passing stage indeed.
Lucy could feel in her blood, in her mind, in her body that this was no passing stage. Something had changed within her mentality. Her mind was different, she was still Lucy Ruth Anderson, but something had happened. Everything that she had taken for granted and accepted for her whole life had been thrown out the window and had been replaced by a yearning. A yearning to discover who she was and what she was put on this earth to do with this, this power. Taking a sip of the cold soup she shuddered and dropped the spoon in pain.
Something was wrong. Something was wrong above her in the main house. Thoughts raced through her head turning any trace of logical thinking to sheer confusion. She closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the pain the thoughts were bringing her. There were people upstairs in her house searching her room, talking to her parents. Lucy could see shadows of these impostors, even through her eyes were tightly closed. She started to sweat as the pain intensified along with the clearness of the images. She didn't know how but something in her mind was showing her all these facts and pictures of people she had never seen in her whole life, in her house, looking for her. She didn't know why they were looking for her, trying to think about it just caused too much pain. Huddling in the corner she prayed that the images would go away but they just got worse. She could hear noises reverting about her head. Someone was banging and screaming, banging and screaming, banging and screaming. Lucy was so deeply caught up by the images in her head that she didn't realise that the banging was someone kicking down the newly bolted door to the cellar and it was actually her that was screaming.
***
Wolverine kicked the door for the fourth time before it finally broke. Someone didn't want them to get in, or maybe they didn't want someone to get out. It had only taken Wolverine a few minutes to search the upstairs. By the time he had found Rogue there was only one more place left to look. Yelling at her to turn on some 'damn lights' so he could 'kick that door down' he repeatedly kicked the door to the cellar just beneath the lock and the new bolt that had been recently attached.
The door flew wide open, its lock well and truly busted, sending dust and bits of wood flying. Particles danced in the light that was now streaming in through the gap where the door used to be. Wolverine strode though the door, appearing cool and confident. Little did Rogue know that underneath all his manliness he was scared of what he might find in that room, of this young girl who her parents found so awful that had to keep her bolted up in a darkened cellar. Was this 15 year old girl so dangerous even her parents didn't trust her? The screaming that they both had heard before intensified they Wolverine strode in, closely followed by Rogue.
The room was surprisingly large. In front of them was an old chest and newspapers from years ago were scattered across the hard concrete floor. The only thing that made this cellar different from any other was the high pitched screaming coming from a girl curled up on a bed in the corner of the room. She sat in between the wall and the footboard, her head in her arms.
By this time there was a small gathering at the entrance to the cellar. Wolverine a few paces into the room, stood his mind calculating what was happening and what he should do next. Rogue, in his shadow, stood in total awe of the situation, thinking about what part she played in all of this. Jean stood in the doorway watching the girl, trying to contact her but she couldn't. She tried to make sense of what she was thinking but all she could read was pain and despair. This was one very scared and hurt girl. Cyclops was upstairs, distracting the young girls parents and Iceman was still outside, circling the building. Now was the time to act. Jean stepped forward, pushing past Rogue and Wolverine.
"Lucy. Lucy listen to me. My name is Jean Grey. I can help you if you let me in." Jean tried to find out what she was thinking. She tried to send her soothing images, to allow her to open up and by led to safety, to the Professor. She knelt down, getting closer "Lucy, let the fear escape, let it go away. Talk to me. Please."
The atmosphere in the room was getting tenser as the seconds ticked away. Wolverine knew that it wasn't going to plan. The X-men had never tried anything like this before. Sure they had made rescues, but never going into anyone's home. They had assumed that this girl would want to come. They hadn't planned her not coming or at least not cooperating. Things were going from bad to worse. It seemed that Jean's magic charm wasn't working. You see the thing with run-aways is that they have run-away, they have said that they don't want to be at home with their family, so saving them is easy. But this was different. Lucy hadn't run away, or even attempted, so how can we know that she wants to come with us Wolverine thought. It was then that Wolverine noticed that the screaming had stopped and the room was eerily quiet.