Death--the last sleep? No, it is the final awakening.
Walter Scott
Radical-Seto: He's talking about Chrissy and Donnie.
Rogue77: This chapter is angsty. Hope I did a good job. You're right, she isn't a vegetarian.
Realm9: Maybe after this story is finished.
Flamingo1: That's great!
torque: Hmmm…No, I don't think how he knew is let out in this chapter. Thank Flamingo1, it's her muse.
Laureate: Actually, I was born in Louisiana. I live somewhere in the south now but I spent a good bit of time in New York.
Chrissy: Dahk is a one of a kind. No, she probably wouldn't.
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There was no warning.
They struck fast, scaling the wall and slipping into the room where the target was staying. They gagged him and dragged him away.
It should have been a clean sweep. But there was a psychic. And he called to a bodyguard.
But it was already too late, they were in the car and gone.
But they didn't see the shadow that followed them.
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"Arghh!" I gripped the sides of my head as the wave of thoughts hit me.
Kidnappers!
Monsters!
DANNY!
I stumbled upright as pictures and thoughts hit my head with the subtlety of a brick wall. The thoughts hit me like bullets straight through my brain, lancing pain through my eyes.
DANNY!
THE BOY!
Thoughts. Calls from animals. A collective scream of rage. I screamed with them, their emotions my own.
"RYAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!"
The canines started howling and Cupcake started screeching, but they were drowned out by the rush of metal on steel wheel from the whistling train.
They were in my mind and I saw everything.
The Institute.
The Men.
They scaled the walls.
The Insignia. The FoH…
The Kidnapping.
Jared.
JARED.
"RAAAARGHHHH!" I screeched in fury, echoing the voices in my head. They could do nothing except warn me. They were filled with helpless rage and shame. And so was I.
The voices dissipated, and I fell to my knees, tears falling hot down my face.
"Jared…"
\Danny…/
"Jared…"
\DANNY! /
I jerked my head up. "WHAT?!"
\We have to keep our cool. Jared isn't going to get saved by us if you freak out. /
"Oh, yeah, that's rich coming from you." I hissed bitterly.
\Don't you think I'm worried too? He's not just your brother! He's mine too. /
"And what can we do?" I raged at her. "What can we do? We're divided as two people, we're totally outnumbered, we don't have almost any control over this power! And they have Jared…I'm going to kill them."
\That's rich coming from you. /
"I mean it. They tried to kill me. Now they're trying to kill Jared. I'm going to rip their throats out!" I punched the side of the caboose car as hard as I could, leaving a dent.
\So do I. But we can't do it like this. /
"AND what do you suggest," I growled at the wall. The canines watched me intently. Cupcake looked very agitated, and very upset.
\It's time we stopped being divided. But unity comes with a price. /
"And that is?"
\We won't be ourselves anymore. We'll be each other. /
"Is that all?" I whispered. "I'll give up myself if it means I can save Jared."
\Then lets go. /
"What about you?"
\ I feel as you do. Besides, this way, we're always together. /
I nodded and moved to the center of the car. I stood on my knees and hugged myself, willing my mind back, back into myself.
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Arcane slipped behind them in the dark, not letting on that he was following them.
"Yer sure they can't see us?"
Arcane sighed angrily, "Yes, Wolverine, I'm sure!"
"Keep yer voice down. I should gut ya for hangin out next to the institute, but unfortunately we need to get the kid back."
"Thank you for allaying my fears," he said sarcastically. He hadn't meant to take the mean Canadian along, but having somebody jump onto the roof of your car on threatening to take your head off if you didn't let him ride with you managed to change his mind.
"What were you doin' around the Institute anyway?"
"I was looking for clues on where Danny ran off too."
"And what did you find out?"
"There was a doctor that tried to kill her in the hospital, but other than that, nothing."
"Garen." Wolverine snarled.
"Yeah. But he doesn't practice anymore."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Arcane just smiled enigmatically.
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"Hey. Bout time you got here."
I walked over to Dahk. She was sitting on a swing in the middle of a school playground.
"I remember this place."
"You should. It's where you and I were born."
"Yes." I gazed across the landscape. A slide sat forlornly, shining yet with no one to slide on it. Monkey bars, rusted and worn, steeped crazily to the side from the weight of children who had once swung on them. A sand box half filled with sand sat with no diggers, no little boys playing with their dump trucks. And there were the swings. They were by far the most popular attraction, yet there was no one here but she and I. "We were here with Donnie. And Chrissy. And Mommy and Daddy."
"Yep."
"Why are we here?" I wondered.
"We have to come to terms with what we are. What we are now and what we were is different."
"And what were we?"
"You know what makes little girls so dangerous Dann?"
"What?"
"Little Boys run and play their sports, they dream of being real things, like firemen and cops, and they have that little time in which they want to be superheroes. But girls, they surpass that. They look at the world and decided it too crass, they want to be beautiful princesses in a far off castle or heroic maidens in wars against good and evil and wander on magical travels with strange beasts." She swung her legs like a child. "But you know what? We were that person. We were the heroic maiden. You know why?"
"Enlighten me."
"Because the beasts, Danny, we had them. We can't remember now what it was like, but I know that it was. We could talk to them, even as young as we were. And they watched over us. Did you think it was coincidence that so many animals lived close to the house, and that nothing hurt us but if someone tried to hurt us some sort of animal would pop up and scare them? Do you remember?"
"…Yes…"
"And that was her legacy! When we came from her, we got those powers. For as long as I have lived, I could speak with dead animals. You spoke to the live ones, even when you didn't know until you were found by Xavier. We had the power. And then some two bit idiot comes along and injects us with some sort of virus, and totally throws our powers off kilter. We gained new ones. I bring life to dead animals. You bring death to those that try to hurt us. They made us stronger. All the woe for them."
"Her?"
"The person that will be formed after we unite."
"And she'll remember everything?"
"As much as one can."
"You know a lot."
"You hold the cunning power of creative on the spot thinking. I hold an impartial memory of what happened with us."
"Oh."
"Actually, it's really interesting. You know our powers work on a safety reflex?"
"What?"
"A safety reflex. That's why that little death power you have doesn't seem to affect animals. Animals aren't a threat to us. Human and others are. So it hurts them. It may have something to do when we were born."
"Like what?" I asked curiously-I had to admit, it was all very interesting.
"I think she was afraid. Maybe ostracized. Maybe that's why I wasn't the dominant personality, and I got all the aggressiveness and 'bad' emotions. Maybe she felt like she needed to protect herself, but didn't want to hurt anyone. The not wanting to hurt anyone took precedence, and that is why you are the dominant personality."
"It is incredible to hear this. I mean, usually you can't spell difference or anything because you want more action, but now you sound like Mr. McCoy."
"Har, Har."
"So what happens now that you've spilled your guts?"
"We unite. And before we do, I just wanted to say something."
"Yeah?"
" Even though I got you in trouble all the time…I wanted you to know…I love you. You're my sister. We shared our entire life together. And if we can't feel each other's presence, I just wanted you to know."
"I love you too, Dahk. You showed me something I never thought I lost." I hugged her tightly and felt something fall on my cheek. Dahk was crying. And so was I.
"We never got to dance in the rain." She said.
"Then we'll do it. Once we get back together we'll know, and we'll do it."
"Enough of this!" She put her brave girl façade back on, even though her cheeks were still moist. "We have a little brother to save."
"Yeah." I felt a knot grow into my stomach.
She put her hands on either side of my face. I did the same to her. We pressed our foreheads together in a ceremony that we both remembered in bits and pieces, and that we both didn't know of until now.
"Goodbye. Till we meet again." She whispered.
"Goodbye Dahk. We'll meet again." I whispered back. My forehead grew hot like a burning brand and the tears fell down my face and I knew she was doing the same.
And we died.
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Wow. That was my first attempt at angst, I hope I did okay.
Tune in Next time:
Rebirth
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