Aloha!
How's everyone? I'm good.
This chapter took me literally...uh...an hour to write. I think. So, if it seems sucky, don't blame me. Blame the clock. *grin* It gets VIOLENT so close your eyes if you get scared, ok? *laughs and wipes tears from eyes* I'm so clever.
Pendragon: Once again, making my day bright! (and she called me luv!) Hope you enjoy this, Dear! 'Tis dedicated to YOU! *banners, trumpets and all that hubbub* CONGRATS!
Shadow Kat: Hey! How are you? I'm good. So, I'm updating! Good ol' me! You're gonna HATE me for this cliffy, tho! MWAHAHAHAHA!
TO EVERYONE: I LOVE YOU! *bursts into melodramatic tears of affection and whatnot* OK. I feel better.
OMWARD AND FORWARD AND ALL THAT!
Chapter 2
You know those times when you wake up suddenly from a nightmare in the night, and your heart is thudding in your throat, and your blood has managed to freeze in your sleep, and you can't stop shaking while you try to uin6tangle yourself from your sweaty blankets?
You can't remember your dream, but you know it was awful; the last few seconds of it are just starting to slip away like water through your mental fingers, and no matter how hard you try, you forget it completely, and it leaves you more terrified then ever.
Usually when that happens, you sit for a second, shaking in the dark, and then slowly slide out of bed (avoiding that dreaded under-the-bed space where you just know someone's hand is going to come out and grab your ankle) and, wrapping a blanket around you like you always did as a little kid, you stumble for your parents room.
Even I did that with MY mom when I was scared, and she'd let me get in bed with her so I'd go back to sleep.
But what would happen if you woke up from a nightmare like that and you were all alone, with nothing but darkness and terror to hold you?
What if you were someplace you hated, like the basement or the attic, and it was completely dark and cold, and you couldn't untangle yourself form the blankets that bound you to your bed?
What would you do?
When I woke up in a cold, vacant shed with a blanket twisted around my tense body and my face covered with a sac, I immediately started to panic.
Breathing heavily, my face bathed with sweat, I felt tears well in my eyes and I blinked them back furiously, trying to remember what had happened before I'd fallen asleep.
I needed to know where I was.
I needed to know what was happening.
I managed to calm myself down enough to free myself from the blanket and then I pulled the sack form my head, inhaling deeply and enjoying the refreshing wave of iciness that hit my face.
I was surrounded by your average, day-to-day shed stuff—bikes, gardening stuff, tools, and a few ropes—and judging from the slit of moonlight trickling in form the base of the door, it was still night.
I sat up painfully, stretching and groaning as I headed cautiously towards the door, my memories of Mystique and Reagan only just starting to come back.
My hand slid easily over the loose, cool doorknob, and it creaked only slightly as I turned it and pushed the door open, standing back expectantly as light spilled into the shed.
I winced in slight pain as my eyes adjusted and then stepped into the night, my bare feet instantly registering how cold the grass was.
The yard was large and grassy, fenced in with tall, black iron gates and flooded with moonlight that seemed oddly distorted in the shadow of the menacing building it hovered over.
I bit my lip and took a hesitant step forward, my muscles rigid with anxiety, my heart drumming against my ribs.
As I neared the building, I tried to ignore the darkness that seemed to close in around me and seep into my very flesh; it made me shiver to think of it.
I was still in my bathing suit; I realized that as I neared the back door.
Self-consciously, I allowed my gaze to flicker down my bikini-clad form, "The LEAST they coulda done was given me some decent CLOTHES..."
My eyes jumped up at the same time my heart did; I saw a movement to my right.
I turned and glared at the shadows, my mouth dry, "Who is it?"
I was surprised by how brave I sounded; I was feeling a little jumpy at the moment.
After I received no answer and saw nothing else, I relaxed slightly and managed a nervous giggle, "I...I must be losing it..."
A twig snapped and I screamed, darting forward mindlessly.
I know there must have been sometime when you've gotten yourself so worked up and so afraid that you've just ran, for no particular reason, and in no particular direction, right?
That's what I did.
I just ran.
After that one sharp cry, I turned and ran, looking behind me to see just WHAT kind of monster was out to get me, knowing I must have still been dreaming.
Betcha know what's gonna happen next right?
I'm running, looking over my shoulder for the monster that's supposedly going to appear behind me and start to chase me.
Yep.
The 'monster' is in front of me.
I never even watched where I was going.
I just ran straight into Mystique's arms and shrieked when I saw her, much to her pleasure.
She chuckled, "Having a rough night, Rachael?"
I pushed away from her and turned, stumbling forward into Reagan and the red-eyed chick.
Immediately, the entire yard disappeared and was replaced by the dark, dungeon-like room that I'd been dragged to when I'd first been kidnapped by these psychos.
Everyone was there, including good-old Margaret.
Reagan roughly grabbed my arms and turned me around to face Mystique, laughing along with the other women.
"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU PSYCHOS!" I screamed, struggling against Reagan's grip and lashing out at Red-eye with my fists.
Mystique stood back slightly and watched in amusement, one arm balanced lightly on her hip.
After a few seconds of watching me fruitlessly try to beat the crap out of thin air, she nodded at this hooded thing in the back that made its way through the crowd and up to me in seconds,.
Reagan and Red-eye both dropped me, backing away and snickering as they joined Mystique.
I looked around, gasping with fatigue as the women backed against the walls with almost fearful respect, their eyes on the hooded person.
I glanced up, exhaustion blurring my eyes, expecting some kind of devil to suddenly burst forth and devour me whole.
Instead, when two surprisingly beautiful hands lowered the hood, I felt myself exhale with shock; one of the most stunning women I'd ever seen stared back at me, her face expressionless, her eyes considering me.
Her hair was as black as night, her long tresses shimmering ethereally as they fell over her milk-white face, flowing like water over her shoulders and back. Her lips were redder then blood, turned up only slightly in a neutral-smile, her darker-than-dark blue eyes glinting slightly.
I stared at her in shock, wondering why on EARTH she would wear a hood, about to ask her the question myself, when her lips parted in a devilish grin, revealing pearly teeth, and her eyes flashed with hatred; in an instant the rest of her cloak fell off and I understood.
My shriek was long and shrill, filled with the shock and horror that cannot be described, but only felt.
Her body was that of any other naturally beautiful woman's—tall, slender, beautifully built.
However, sprouting from her back and sides like branches, writhing and twisting like snakes, were long, barbed vines that curled and slashed uncontrollably at everything nearby.
In an instant she was upon me, and I stumbled backwards away from her as her vines wrapped around my arms and waist and lifted me into the air as easily as if I was a Barbie doll.
Dragging me to her, the woman smiled at me coldly as she held my face between her hands, "Such a pretty child...it's such a PITY I'm going to have to RUIN you..."
Her voice was syrupy-sweet, and as it trickled to my sub-conscious, I felt myself panic.
"NO! No, please! Leave me ALONE!"
She simply laughed as a cool, smooth vine slid between my lips, silencing my cries, "Hush now. Mystique wishes to speak to you, Love."
With that, she turned me around to face Mystique, who immediately chuckled as she observed me, "My, my, how the mighty have fallen!"
The women all laughed appreciatively, and I simply gazed at her quietly, feeling more than slightly defeated.
"You know, Rachael Dear, you should give up your entire tough act." She gripped my chin with one hand as she sneered, "Cute as it is, we just don't have the time for it."
I pulled away from her and tried to kick her, but the second my foot lashed out, a vine snaked out from nowhere and bound my legs together.
My fear was starting to ebb away into anger; I hated this out-of-control feeling.
"Boy, she's got a temper!" one women stated as Mystique avoided my fruitless tries at hitting her.
The room was reverberating with laughter, and it was driving me insane.
I was struggling desperately, trying to strike out with my hands, my feet—anything.
I couldn't stand this; this was nothing but humiliation.
While it seemed to amuse the women surrounding me, Mystique eventually lost interest in entertainment; time to get down to business.
With the slightest smirk, she gestured for quiet; soon enough, chuckles died down and the only noise heard was my heavy breathing as I struggled to escape.
Mystique nodded to the woman holding me, "Ivy," and I was set on the floor, arms still bound, mouth still gagged, but legs freed at least.
However, that did me little good; before I'd fully realized that my feet were on solid ground, Mystique was before me, one hand tilting my face up to hers, the other drawn innocently against her back.
"I suppose you want to know why you're here, right?" she asked softly, staring down at me condescendingly; before I could even start to reply, she brought her free hand back behind her and brought it sharply forward, giving me a powerful blow to my abdomen.
I exhaled sharply in pain and collapsed to my knees, gasping for breath and clenching my teeth in agony.
She didn't even let me fully recover before she stooped down slightly and grabbed my chin again.
"I thought I was perfectly clear," she said softly, with enough rage to send chills down my spine, "of what was expected of you."
Her hand came down across my cheek so fast I barely had time to register the pain I felt; one second I was staring up at her again and the next I was sprawled on the floor, my cheek on fire. Mystique straightened, walking slowly around to my other side, her yellow eyes never leaving my form for an instant, "Perhaps you simply didn't understand what I said..."
I cried out sharply as her boot caught me harshly in the ribs, forcing me to roll onto my back.
"...look at me when I'm talking to you."
I blinked back tears and forced myself to look up at her as she continued, "Was I or was I not perfectly clear with you on our last meeting, Rachael?"
I tried to reply, but the vine choked my response so that it was inaudible; that just made her more angry.
I screamed loudly in agony as she kicked me again, shouting, "I ASKED a question, now GIVE ME AN ANSWER!"
"I'm t-trying!" I stammered through the vine, tears starting to stream down my cheeks.
She scoffed at me and shook her head, waving dismissively at Ivy, who carelessly tore her vines form, slitting my flesh with a few stray thorns as she did so.
I lay on the floor, gasping for breath, until another kick aimed at my back jerked me back to reality, "YES! You...w-were...clear..."
"Then WHY, may I ask, have you so foolishly denied the invitation to Xavier's school?" she hissed, grabbing a handful of my hair and pulling me up to my knees.
Cringing in agony, choking on sobs, I quietly replied, "I-I...I was just...I thought...it was all...a-a...n-night-m-mare."
A few women snickered at that, until Mystique's murderous gaze silenced them, "You assumed that our meeting was simply a NIGHTMARE?"
I nodded, "Y-yes."
Her lips pulled back in a lethal sneer as she lowered her mouth to my ear, "Then PERHAPS I should give you PROOF of our encounter?"
I started to object, but she pressed her fingers against my lips to silence me, "Shshh...now's not the time to argue, Sweetness. Just accept what will happen and LEARN FROM IT."
It was then that a sharp, sudden explosion of pain erupted throughout my body and I screamed, arcing my back as Ivy's barbed vines seared across my bare flesh.
I stumbled forward into Mystique, trying to get away from the cause of my agony, but she held me there, her eyes regarding me coldly as I shrieked, Ivy's thorns tearing across my skin like razors.
"PLEASE! PLEASE LET ME GO! I'LL GO TO XAVIER'S! PLEASE, JUST STOP HURTING ME!"
Mystique held up a hand to Ivy and the pain subsided.
I fell collapsed against her, trembling and sobbing pathetically, trying to ignore the feeling of blood trickling down my back, "I promise...I'll go...I'll go...just don't hurt me anymore...please don't hurt me..."
Mystique held me to her chest, lips curved into a wicked smile, "I knew you'd see reason, Sweetness."
How's everyone? I'm good.
This chapter took me literally...uh...an hour to write. I think. So, if it seems sucky, don't blame me. Blame the clock. *grin* It gets VIOLENT so close your eyes if you get scared, ok? *laughs and wipes tears from eyes* I'm so clever.
Pendragon: Once again, making my day bright! (and she called me luv!) Hope you enjoy this, Dear! 'Tis dedicated to YOU! *banners, trumpets and all that hubbub* CONGRATS!
Shadow Kat: Hey! How are you? I'm good. So, I'm updating! Good ol' me! You're gonna HATE me for this cliffy, tho! MWAHAHAHAHA!
TO EVERYONE: I LOVE YOU! *bursts into melodramatic tears of affection and whatnot* OK. I feel better.
OMWARD AND FORWARD AND ALL THAT!
Chapter 2
You know those times when you wake up suddenly from a nightmare in the night, and your heart is thudding in your throat, and your blood has managed to freeze in your sleep, and you can't stop shaking while you try to uin6tangle yourself from your sweaty blankets?
You can't remember your dream, but you know it was awful; the last few seconds of it are just starting to slip away like water through your mental fingers, and no matter how hard you try, you forget it completely, and it leaves you more terrified then ever.
Usually when that happens, you sit for a second, shaking in the dark, and then slowly slide out of bed (avoiding that dreaded under-the-bed space where you just know someone's hand is going to come out and grab your ankle) and, wrapping a blanket around you like you always did as a little kid, you stumble for your parents room.
Even I did that with MY mom when I was scared, and she'd let me get in bed with her so I'd go back to sleep.
But what would happen if you woke up from a nightmare like that and you were all alone, with nothing but darkness and terror to hold you?
What if you were someplace you hated, like the basement or the attic, and it was completely dark and cold, and you couldn't untangle yourself form the blankets that bound you to your bed?
What would you do?
When I woke up in a cold, vacant shed with a blanket twisted around my tense body and my face covered with a sac, I immediately started to panic.
Breathing heavily, my face bathed with sweat, I felt tears well in my eyes and I blinked them back furiously, trying to remember what had happened before I'd fallen asleep.
I needed to know where I was.
I needed to know what was happening.
I managed to calm myself down enough to free myself from the blanket and then I pulled the sack form my head, inhaling deeply and enjoying the refreshing wave of iciness that hit my face.
I was surrounded by your average, day-to-day shed stuff—bikes, gardening stuff, tools, and a few ropes—and judging from the slit of moonlight trickling in form the base of the door, it was still night.
I sat up painfully, stretching and groaning as I headed cautiously towards the door, my memories of Mystique and Reagan only just starting to come back.
My hand slid easily over the loose, cool doorknob, and it creaked only slightly as I turned it and pushed the door open, standing back expectantly as light spilled into the shed.
I winced in slight pain as my eyes adjusted and then stepped into the night, my bare feet instantly registering how cold the grass was.
The yard was large and grassy, fenced in with tall, black iron gates and flooded with moonlight that seemed oddly distorted in the shadow of the menacing building it hovered over.
I bit my lip and took a hesitant step forward, my muscles rigid with anxiety, my heart drumming against my ribs.
As I neared the building, I tried to ignore the darkness that seemed to close in around me and seep into my very flesh; it made me shiver to think of it.
I was still in my bathing suit; I realized that as I neared the back door.
Self-consciously, I allowed my gaze to flicker down my bikini-clad form, "The LEAST they coulda done was given me some decent CLOTHES..."
My eyes jumped up at the same time my heart did; I saw a movement to my right.
I turned and glared at the shadows, my mouth dry, "Who is it?"
I was surprised by how brave I sounded; I was feeling a little jumpy at the moment.
After I received no answer and saw nothing else, I relaxed slightly and managed a nervous giggle, "I...I must be losing it..."
A twig snapped and I screamed, darting forward mindlessly.
I know there must have been sometime when you've gotten yourself so worked up and so afraid that you've just ran, for no particular reason, and in no particular direction, right?
That's what I did.
I just ran.
After that one sharp cry, I turned and ran, looking behind me to see just WHAT kind of monster was out to get me, knowing I must have still been dreaming.
Betcha know what's gonna happen next right?
I'm running, looking over my shoulder for the monster that's supposedly going to appear behind me and start to chase me.
Yep.
The 'monster' is in front of me.
I never even watched where I was going.
I just ran straight into Mystique's arms and shrieked when I saw her, much to her pleasure.
She chuckled, "Having a rough night, Rachael?"
I pushed away from her and turned, stumbling forward into Reagan and the red-eyed chick.
Immediately, the entire yard disappeared and was replaced by the dark, dungeon-like room that I'd been dragged to when I'd first been kidnapped by these psychos.
Everyone was there, including good-old Margaret.
Reagan roughly grabbed my arms and turned me around to face Mystique, laughing along with the other women.
"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU PSYCHOS!" I screamed, struggling against Reagan's grip and lashing out at Red-eye with my fists.
Mystique stood back slightly and watched in amusement, one arm balanced lightly on her hip.
After a few seconds of watching me fruitlessly try to beat the crap out of thin air, she nodded at this hooded thing in the back that made its way through the crowd and up to me in seconds,.
Reagan and Red-eye both dropped me, backing away and snickering as they joined Mystique.
I looked around, gasping with fatigue as the women backed against the walls with almost fearful respect, their eyes on the hooded person.
I glanced up, exhaustion blurring my eyes, expecting some kind of devil to suddenly burst forth and devour me whole.
Instead, when two surprisingly beautiful hands lowered the hood, I felt myself exhale with shock; one of the most stunning women I'd ever seen stared back at me, her face expressionless, her eyes considering me.
Her hair was as black as night, her long tresses shimmering ethereally as they fell over her milk-white face, flowing like water over her shoulders and back. Her lips were redder then blood, turned up only slightly in a neutral-smile, her darker-than-dark blue eyes glinting slightly.
I stared at her in shock, wondering why on EARTH she would wear a hood, about to ask her the question myself, when her lips parted in a devilish grin, revealing pearly teeth, and her eyes flashed with hatred; in an instant the rest of her cloak fell off and I understood.
My shriek was long and shrill, filled with the shock and horror that cannot be described, but only felt.
Her body was that of any other naturally beautiful woman's—tall, slender, beautifully built.
However, sprouting from her back and sides like branches, writhing and twisting like snakes, were long, barbed vines that curled and slashed uncontrollably at everything nearby.
In an instant she was upon me, and I stumbled backwards away from her as her vines wrapped around my arms and waist and lifted me into the air as easily as if I was a Barbie doll.
Dragging me to her, the woman smiled at me coldly as she held my face between her hands, "Such a pretty child...it's such a PITY I'm going to have to RUIN you..."
Her voice was syrupy-sweet, and as it trickled to my sub-conscious, I felt myself panic.
"NO! No, please! Leave me ALONE!"
She simply laughed as a cool, smooth vine slid between my lips, silencing my cries, "Hush now. Mystique wishes to speak to you, Love."
With that, she turned me around to face Mystique, who immediately chuckled as she observed me, "My, my, how the mighty have fallen!"
The women all laughed appreciatively, and I simply gazed at her quietly, feeling more than slightly defeated.
"You know, Rachael Dear, you should give up your entire tough act." She gripped my chin with one hand as she sneered, "Cute as it is, we just don't have the time for it."
I pulled away from her and tried to kick her, but the second my foot lashed out, a vine snaked out from nowhere and bound my legs together.
My fear was starting to ebb away into anger; I hated this out-of-control feeling.
"Boy, she's got a temper!" one women stated as Mystique avoided my fruitless tries at hitting her.
The room was reverberating with laughter, and it was driving me insane.
I was struggling desperately, trying to strike out with my hands, my feet—anything.
I couldn't stand this; this was nothing but humiliation.
While it seemed to amuse the women surrounding me, Mystique eventually lost interest in entertainment; time to get down to business.
With the slightest smirk, she gestured for quiet; soon enough, chuckles died down and the only noise heard was my heavy breathing as I struggled to escape.
Mystique nodded to the woman holding me, "Ivy," and I was set on the floor, arms still bound, mouth still gagged, but legs freed at least.
However, that did me little good; before I'd fully realized that my feet were on solid ground, Mystique was before me, one hand tilting my face up to hers, the other drawn innocently against her back.
"I suppose you want to know why you're here, right?" she asked softly, staring down at me condescendingly; before I could even start to reply, she brought her free hand back behind her and brought it sharply forward, giving me a powerful blow to my abdomen.
I exhaled sharply in pain and collapsed to my knees, gasping for breath and clenching my teeth in agony.
She didn't even let me fully recover before she stooped down slightly and grabbed my chin again.
"I thought I was perfectly clear," she said softly, with enough rage to send chills down my spine, "of what was expected of you."
Her hand came down across my cheek so fast I barely had time to register the pain I felt; one second I was staring up at her again and the next I was sprawled on the floor, my cheek on fire. Mystique straightened, walking slowly around to my other side, her yellow eyes never leaving my form for an instant, "Perhaps you simply didn't understand what I said..."
I cried out sharply as her boot caught me harshly in the ribs, forcing me to roll onto my back.
"...look at me when I'm talking to you."
I blinked back tears and forced myself to look up at her as she continued, "Was I or was I not perfectly clear with you on our last meeting, Rachael?"
I tried to reply, but the vine choked my response so that it was inaudible; that just made her more angry.
I screamed loudly in agony as she kicked me again, shouting, "I ASKED a question, now GIVE ME AN ANSWER!"
"I'm t-trying!" I stammered through the vine, tears starting to stream down my cheeks.
She scoffed at me and shook her head, waving dismissively at Ivy, who carelessly tore her vines form, slitting my flesh with a few stray thorns as she did so.
I lay on the floor, gasping for breath, until another kick aimed at my back jerked me back to reality, "YES! You...w-were...clear..."
"Then WHY, may I ask, have you so foolishly denied the invitation to Xavier's school?" she hissed, grabbing a handful of my hair and pulling me up to my knees.
Cringing in agony, choking on sobs, I quietly replied, "I-I...I was just...I thought...it was all...a-a...n-night-m-mare."
A few women snickered at that, until Mystique's murderous gaze silenced them, "You assumed that our meeting was simply a NIGHTMARE?"
I nodded, "Y-yes."
Her lips pulled back in a lethal sneer as she lowered her mouth to my ear, "Then PERHAPS I should give you PROOF of our encounter?"
I started to object, but she pressed her fingers against my lips to silence me, "Shshh...now's not the time to argue, Sweetness. Just accept what will happen and LEARN FROM IT."
It was then that a sharp, sudden explosion of pain erupted throughout my body and I screamed, arcing my back as Ivy's barbed vines seared across my bare flesh.
I stumbled forward into Mystique, trying to get away from the cause of my agony, but she held me there, her eyes regarding me coldly as I shrieked, Ivy's thorns tearing across my skin like razors.
"PLEASE! PLEASE LET ME GO! I'LL GO TO XAVIER'S! PLEASE, JUST STOP HURTING ME!"
Mystique held up a hand to Ivy and the pain subsided.
I fell collapsed against her, trembling and sobbing pathetically, trying to ignore the feeling of blood trickling down my back, "I promise...I'll go...I'll go...just don't hurt me anymore...please don't hurt me..."
Mystique held me to her chest, lips curved into a wicked smile, "I knew you'd see reason, Sweetness."