Ch. 2- Hope

Has anyone even read this? Am I only writing this to myself? Seriously, I have NO reviews! PLEASE REVIEW! please? I just want to know if my story is any good.

The two of us gasped and looked at each other. I found my voice and said as loudly as was possible with the collar, "Never! I will never kill for your own sick amusement!"

            "Iceman" proclaimed many of the same thoughts and Dr. Graham only laughed. "If you don't fight, I will kill you both," He said sinisterly.

            I protested and said there was no way I would fight. Dr. Graham only called in a guard with a gun and told him to shoot us. I screamed, though not in my siren voice, so I didn't affect anything. Dr. Graham laughed at my helplessness and said, "Well? What is your decision?"

            I was about to protest again, but Iceman caught my attention. He winked at me as if to say 'play along' so I shut my mouth.

            "Fine," Iceman said and I nodded meekly. Some men un-strapped us and pulled us to a big arena room. They did not turn off the power on the collar, but waited until they were outside the room and used a remote control. (Why they didn't do this before I can only guess.)

              With my power returned, I felt my strength begin to return. Iceman looked at me as if he didn't know quite what to do; I leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "I'm sure they can hear everything that goes on in here. From your name I'm guessing you can make ice. Do you think you could freeze these collars? Then maybe I can break them off." He nodded and put his hand out. I could feel the chill coming near me and ice froze around my heavy, iron collar.

            My strength was back and I grabbed the collar and snapped it like a twig. I could see the people on the other side of the wall looking at us in surprise and they put the power back on Iceman's collar. I could see they didn't know what to do, because I wore no collar anymore, and I could feel the power surging through me.

            Iceman looked weak, and he didn't get a chance to freeze his own collar, so I didn't think I would have the strength to break off his collar. I grabbed the collar, and with all my strength I pulled. I could feel the metal weaken, and the shocks going through the collar trying to stop me from breaking it off.

            Finally, the iron snapped, giving Iceman his powers back and turning them on the glass wall. Though the wall was strong, and the glass extremely sturdy, after Iceman froze it, I immediately went to work at destroying it. I threw my weight against it and punched and kicked as much as my strength would permit. Finally, I saw a crack begin to form and the glass began to crack into pieces. It fell with a thud, sending shards everywhere, stabbing many of the people who guarded us.

            Iceman and I ran from the arena, many people running after us in close pursuit. I turned to face them and yelled at Iceman to cover his ears. He looked confused but did as he was told, and I screamed. All those coming after us stopped and fell to the ground.

            I smiled and looked over at Iceman, "Pretty cool, huh?" I said and then jumped when I realized covering his ears hadn't been enough. He lay there, unconscious from my song. I silently cursed my stupid voice and tried to awaken him. He didn't stir and I started yelling out swears.

            I realized I wasn't doing him any good by yelling more, and I picked him up.

Amazingly, it wasn't as hard as I thought, and I ran down the hall, desperately trying to find a way out of the lab.

~*~*~*~

            I searched around the immense building, not knowing where to turn. I had never been on my own in the place before, though I had been there five years, ever since I became a mutant when I was twelve.

            Iceman began to stir in my arms, and I knew I wouldn't have much time until the guards awoke and came after us. "Iceman?" I asked trying to revive him.

            "Marie?" He whispered and I set him down. He looked dazed and I almost laughed at the expression on his face.   

            "No, it's Cassie, remember? Come on wake up!"

            He looked up at me and realization dawned on him, "What happened?"

            "I guess my 'song' was a little more powerful than I thought. Come on we have to get out of here!" I quickly explained, "Um… who's Marie?"

            "Huh?" Iceman asked.

            "Marie… you said her name a few minutes ago," I told him as we ran down the hall.

            "Oh… that's my girlfriend."

            "Oh," I responded, a little annoyed that he was taken. He was cute. "So, I'm guessing your real name isn't Iceman. What is it?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

            "It's Bobby, Bobby Drake," he answered after a little hesitation.

            "What… you don't trust me? Is that the reason for the hesitation?"

            "No… well… sort of… I mean… Well they say if you get caught, don't say your real name. I just want to be safe."

            "So you think I'm the enemy?" I countered.

             "No! I mean… well someone might hear…" He said lamely.

            I smiled at his flustered manner, and was about to respond, when we came to a junction. "Where do we go now…?" I murmured, afraid of the consequences my taking the wrong path.  

            "Um…" Bobby started, but was interrupted by a shout of, "Bobby!"

            A teenage girl came running up to him, followed by three other people. The girl was about my age, with dark hair except for two white streaks in front. She wore gloves up to her forearms and wore a smile across her face. This must be Marie.

            The others that stood behind the hugging couple were a tough looking man, who looked about mid-thirties, a white-haired African American woman, and a blue skinned man with a tail. "Iceman, good to see you're alright. But before you love birds waste any more time, we gotta get out of here," said the tough looking man.

            "Oh right," Bobby said and turned to me, "This is Cassie. I'll explain later."

            The others smiled at me and I looked away. I didn't feel comfortable with so many people. They were all friends, allies. I felt so left out, so small.

            "Come on, lets go," the woman said, and we started running the way they came. I held back a little as I watched Bobby and Marie hold each others hands. They were so in love, they had someone else. I felt a small tear fall down my cheek and quickly wiped it away. This wasn't the time to feel sorry for myself.

            We came to what appeared to be a normal office, and casually walked out through the back. There was a jet back there, where everyone climbed into. I sat down uncomfortably and sighed. How had my world changed so much? My daily life had been so… monotonous for five years. Each day was the same: tests… experiments. That was all I had known for five years. I hadn't even seen the outside for all that time.

            It was amazing how bright it was outside. I had lost track of the days inside the cell. It was always dark. The only reason I know it was five years was because the "doctors" had some sick joke about my eighteenth birthday. When I came to the lab, they told me I would stay there until I turned eighteen… when they would get to explore the amazing world of a mutant cadaver.

            It still makes me cringe as I think about their taunts. Each birthday they would celebrate with a birthday cake. The first, my thirteenth birthday, there were five candles on it. The next year there were four, then three, then two, and my last birthday there was one.

            My last year. They celebrated that they were coming closer to my death. They whipped me more. They shot me with machine guns until I was nearly dead. There were so many other things they did.

            For my fifteenth birthday, they brought me to a man named Stryker. He fitted my body with a metal, called anamantium, which made my body much stronger. I can still remember that horrible experiment. The pain was so fierce I was sure I would die.

            Afterward, the "doctors" talked about how it was amazing, but how they were disappointed that I didn't get claws like some past experiments. On the way back they kept me in a small cage with my collar bolted to the bars.

            They laughed that I was uncomfortable. I was still weak from the experiment, and I could barely move. The guard took advantage of the situation and raped me. I strangled him when he fell asleep. Though the "doctors" weren't exactly happy that I killed own of their men, they marveled at my strength and were even a little pleased with me.

            I felt myself get angrier as I sat in that seat. I tuned out everything around me, and only went back over these memories.

            "Cassie?" I instantly came back to the present as the blue skinned man said my name. "Are you alright?"

            I nodded, and turned away from him. I could tell he was a little upset that I was so rude to him but he didn't press it and turned away.

            I felt tears come to my eyes. I blinked them away and looked up. I couldn't cry. Crying is weak. I refuse to be weak from now on.

            I am not an Experiment any more. I will not let anyone treat me like one. No one. I will never be treated as a test subject again. I won't be told that I have a limited time to live. It will be my choice. My life. Mine! I have hope. Hope of a new life. A new life I am ready to take.

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