Disclaimer: I don't own them! They are strictly owned by Marvel and Kid's WB.
Author's Note: Hey it's me once again! I know you're probably getting sick of this, of me I mean!! Thanks once again to all those who reviewed last chapter - they are still appreciated. Wow, 20 reviews. That's great! You guys are great and I hope this chapter is what you expect it to be…I didn't really think I'd post this soon, but I got a couple of snow days with no homework and I figured it's the least I could do seeming that you guys left me some great reviews. It helped me write this chapter to know that you guys are liking this story! Well, enough ramblings for now…bye for now and enjoy this chapter, I put myself in suspense writing it!! So review and tell me what you think! Read, Review, and *ENJOY!*
Sweet-Destiny3: Thank you for your continuing support and enthusiasm towards this story. I really appreciate every single thing. Because of my lack of laziness this week, I mass produced this chapter and I didn't get up 'til I was done. See, I can surprise you! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Dee Saylors: Hey again! And to answer your question, yes, your reviews do mean a lot. From everyone and especially you because you have reviewed every single chapter from the beginning and I appreciate it! And hopefully you'll still think this is good - I worked hard on this chapter!! Enjoy it!
Lily Knotwise of Michel D: Yes, I like to keep my readers in suspense…good cliffhangers and stuff like that are great but I know I keep you waiting! To have more questions is a good thing, they'll all be answered eventually I promise and thank you for your great reviews! Enjoy this chapter!
Sweet Like Chocolate: Thank you for reviewing this story! You're stories are great too and I want to apologize for not leaving a review for "Reunion" chapter 5, but I read it - it's still great and keep up the great work!! Enjoy!
Anon: Hey, and welcome! I'm glad you like this story! Well, I have to apologize in advance because unfortunately in this story there will be no appearance by the Acolytes. This is just on the characters living in the mansion, Amanda, and Lance! Hehe, anywho, thanks for reviewing and enjoy this chapter! BTW, you could leave your email if you want so that when I update I can email you! Enjoy!
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Fright Fest
By: pinkchick
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Chapter 7
"Take that you stupid muties!" A teenage boy called out as he threw eggs at the Xavier Institute. "C'mon out you freaks. You guys think you're so tough, huh?!"
The boy's other two companions joined him in their little mission as they continued to throw eggs at the mansion. The thunder shook the earth as the three teens completed their task and smirked inwardly at what they had done. This would teach those mutants not to mess with them. Who did they think they were anyway? This was their town and they weren't going to allow mutants to take over. Never.
All of a sudden the three teens jumped when a spark of electricity showered the sky and filtered them with enough light to see something unbelievable. Above them and around the house stood a shiny barrier. The boys widened their eyes. They couldn't believe it; the barrier looked like pure energy filtering around the house as if to block them out. As the boys continued looking on in pure amazement. The eggs that they had just finished throwing mere seconds ago were lying on the ground in front of the front entrance. They hadn't hit the house for some reason. Apparently, the eggs had hit the barrier and came crashing down towards the hard earth.
The teens widened their eyes some more as the barrier began to glow and come towards them. They immediately picked themselves up and started running for the gates. This was beyond freaky. As they jumped the gates once more and ran for their bikes, they turned to look at the mansion one last time. The barrier had stopped glowing like it had before and as the rain started to fall, the boys thought they saw a large black shadow figure. Without looking back they ran away screaming as the shadow figure smiled eerily.
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The rain hit the ground like a ton of bricks. It shattered the unearthly silence that swept the deep shadowy cellar. There was some light creeping in from an anonymous source as the two figures lay in the middle of the room. It had been quite a terrifying fall for the two girls. Something none of them had ever experienced; and now they were in a room that they had never seen before. Jean and Rogue sat up immediately as they heard a noise coming from somewhere near, yet far away at the same time.
Jean rubbed her eyes and tried to adjust to the lack of light in the room. She shivered from the cold and placed her hands around her shoulders. Oh great, she thought to herself as she peered around the room and then back at Rogue. This is getting from bad to worse. She shivered again. This was not good, not good at all. As soon as she started thinking back on the situation, her thoughts reverted back to what had happened in the kitchen. She closed her eyes and tried to stay calm. When Jean opened her eyes once again, a single thought and name came to her lips in a silent echo. "Scott," she whispered slowly. "Where are you?"
Rogue squinted her eyes. She sighed heavily as she glanced around the room. This wasn't turning out to be the greatest night ever. Then Rogue immediately closed her eyes and there it was: the vision of the ghostly girl. Her sad features played over in her mind over and over again. Rogue couldn't help but feel that this girl was here for some reason and that she was somehow saddened. The vision disappeared and Rogue slowly opened her eyes. She tapped Jean on the shoulder next to her and the older girl jumped in fear. Finally realizing that it was just Rogue she calmed down. Rogue and Jean had to find their way out of here. Quickly.
"Jean? Do ya, uh, happen ta know where we are?!" Rogue asked, fiddling with her gloves as she turned to stare at Jean. In the dimness of the mysterious light, she saw her shake her head.
"No," Jean replied. "I've never seen this place before in my life."
"That's just perfect!" Rogue threw up her hands. She scanned the room once more. In the corner of the small room, which in any case would make Storm claustrophobic, there was a doorknob sticking out of the wall. Just as she was about to go see what it was she heard Jean get up. Rogue heard her wiping off all of the dust particles that had washed over the room. Apparently, Rogue figured, this room was really old.
"I think I found something," Jean said as the moved away from Rogue and towards her find. She heard Rogue mumble that she had found something also, but Jean couldn't be sure. She was pressed on figuring out the object that she had found in the near corner of the room. It glowed and as she got closer she could make out it's faded appearance from the shadows. "Rogue!" she called. "I found the flashlight. It still works."
"Good," Rogue stated. At least they had some source of light. "Bring it over, ah think ah may have found tha way out."
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"No way! This is getting, like, seriously creepy!" Kitty exclaimed. She was still standing there, unmoving as her eyes scanned the painting in front of her. This was just too weird. The pretty girl with haunting blue eyes stared back at her. Kitty still couldn't get over the resemblance between them. In fact, the resemblance between all of them was quite uncanny that it was scary. Kitty grabbed the shirt sleeves of Scott and Kurt and pulled them back with her. Far away from the painting. "You guys, we, like, have to find a way out of here."
Scott was the first to snap out of the still gaze he had fixated on the old painting. It sent goosebumps down his spine just looking at it. He had to come back to reality and find a way out of here. Frankly, he didn't want to know why the boy with brown hair in the picture looked exactly like himself. It scared him to think that there even was a time when that boy actually existed. Shaking his head he turned to Kitty and then towards the wall that was closest to them. They were going to get out of here. He was going to find a way out of here. Before actually formulating a plan, his mind reverted back to before they got here. It hadn't crossed Scott's mind that everyone else was still somewhere upstairs wondering where they could've gone. He closed his eyes and thought of the only calming thing at the moment: Jean.
"I think I know a way out of here." Scott pointed to his glasses and then turned his head towards the far wall. He quirked a smile and received a knowing smile from Kitty.
"Are you sure it would, like, work?" Kitty asked. Scott pondered the thought before Kitty continued. "I mean Kurt couldn't, like, teleport before."
"I know," Scott told her. He then shrugged his shoulders as he finally realized the fear in Kitty's voice when she had asked that question. There was no way to be sure that all their powers didn't work. Kitty couldn't phase because quite frankly they didn't even know where they were. They'd end up in some wall or room, lost. Scott could at least give it a shot. It was a chance he had to take. "I could at least try," Scott reassured.
Kitty gave a nod. "Ok." She then turned to her blue furred friend.
Kurt was still staring unblinkingly at the painting. He seemed to be in some sort of trance. Kitty tugged at his arm but he wouldn't budge. His own thoughts seemed not of his own, but of someone else's. Someone not of this time. With a direct pull of the tale from Kitty, Kurt snapped out of his reverie and came back to reality. Kitty and Scott looked at him with concerned faces. "Are you ok, Kurt?" Scott asked.
"Vhat? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Kurt answered, although not completely sure of his answer himself. For a moment while looking at his two friends, he thought he saw them as two complete strangers. Yet, they were familiar somehow. Then the feeling washed away and they went back to just being Kitty and Scott. Two of his very best friends. Kurt scratched the back of his head and turned to stand next to Kitty. "How are ve going to get out of here?"
For the first time since this whole fiasco started happening, Kitty felt the need to turn to her usual perkiness and chastise her furry blue friend. "Kurt, like, have you not been paying any attention?!"
Kitty didn't wait for an answer from him, she just continued rambling. "Scott's gonna, like, blast through the wall."
"Zat's vhat I'm talking about man," Kurt said and gave Scott a pat on the back. "Zis place is really becoming eerily creepy, even for me."
"I figured you'd say that." Scott smiled. He actually smiled. A real, genuine smile. He hadn't felt the need to smile about anything ever since they found themselves down here. The lights in the room somehow started glowing brighter and they all jumped. The smile on Scott's face faded away into nothingness as it was replaced by his typical scowl and responsible, determined face.
"Please, Scott. Tell me you did zat," Kurt whispered. His yellow eyes adjusting to the now brighter light in the room. Scott didn't move, he just moved closer to the painting that they had tried to stay far away from. "Scott?! Please tell me zat vas you."
Scott didn't seem as though he was listening at all. Kitty grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him back, but he just kept walking towards the painting. Closer and closer. "Scott! Like, what're you doing?"
Scott didn't answer and Kitty and Kurt followed his movements so they were standing behind him. He tilted his head when he was mere inches from the painting. Kurt and Kitty stared at each other in fear, then at Scott, and lastly at the painting. The torch's lights began to fade away and then brighten by themselves. They flickered back and forth as though they were dancing around and around. They cast long shadows on the wall in a perpetual darkness now that could not be suppressed.
The three of them just stood there, now entranced by the peculiar painting that sparked curiosity in each of their bones. They wanted to know more. They wanted to unlock the secrets that lay behind the painting - something that was far beyond the timeline of the present in which they lived. The more they peered closer, the closer they all felt to the people whose memory is only left within the painting. In a flash, the young brown haired girl with ghostly white features appeared transparently in the painting. Scott, Kitty, and Kurt backed away slowly in fear with all their eyes wide. The girl's eyes moved back and forth as they covered the young face of the girl who resembled Kitty. Her hand extended forward and towards the trio as they continued to move back. Tilting her head, the girl moved her hand closer to Kitty as she screamed and pushed back farther.
Scott, Kitty, and Kurt screamed in utter and complete terror. Without looking back, they ran towards the far wall. The fear was building up within them as they found an escape from the dire circumstances they had been placed in. This was getting out of hand and they definitely needed to get out of here before something terrible happened. Scott lifted his glasses and at first nothing happened. No red optic beams shot out dangerously from his eyes. No sound of the wall exploding into smithereens. Nothing.
"Vhat's wrong?!" Kurt shouted over to Scott who was attempting to use every bit of strength he had to make his power work. Now was not the time for it to finally shut off.
"My power! It won't work!" Scott practically shouted back. The room's lights flickered around some more as something else happened. The ghostly girl stepped out of the picture and started walking towards them. Slowly, but she seemed to close the gap between her and the three teens rather quickly.
"Like, hurry Scott!" Kitty yelled. "She's gaining on us!"
Out of sheer force of will and with one look from the ghostly looking girl, his eyes erupted a bright crimson beam and the wall crumbled instantly. Kurt and Kitty stepped over the now wrecked wall. It had been shattered to pieces. Just as Scott was adjusting the glasses back onto his face, something threw them out of his grasp. Before he could realize what had happened another crimson beam shot out towards where Kitty and Kurt were now standing. He immediately retaliated and shut his eyes tightly. He pulled his arms up over them and tripped over one of the crumbled pieces of stone that was now lying on the floor in front of him. He landed on his back when a resounding pain shot through his left shoulder.
Kurt was the first to notice the red beam shooting their way and pushed himself and Kitty out of Scott's powerful blast. "Scott! Like, what's wrong? Come on. We have to, like, get out of here NOW!"
"My glasses! I can't find them!" Scott shouted amongst the breaking of the rubble beneath him. He moved his arm around the floor in search for his glasses, but he couldn't find them. He tried to get up from among the debris but another pain seared through his shoulder like a red hot poker. He grabbed his shoulder with his right hand and kept the scream of agony clenched inside. Scott still kept his eyes tightly clasped shut. He would not hurt his friends. The deathly pale girl advanced closer. Her brown hair moving softly around her pale features. She wasn't even walking. The girl was floating above the ground and moving closer with every movement. Her white nightgown flowed around with her as she advanced.
Kurt and Kitty let out piercing screams that filtered the dark hallway that they now seemed to be standing in outside of the room that they had been in. They both noticed the girl advancing closer. "Scott!" Kitty screamed. She grabbed Kurt's three fingered hand and climbed over the stone and debris that now littered the floor that was once very smooth. As soon as Kitty and Kurt neared Scott and the ghostly girl, she backed away and with a strange moaning sound she vanished, leaving behind her a wave in the air where she had once been. Kitty stopped in her tracks for a moment, noticing that the girl still had a saddened demeanor. She snapped back to the task at hand when the floor started to rumble beneath her feet.
Glancing around her she bent down and picked up Scott's ruby quartz sunglasses and reached him. Kitty placed them back onto his face as he muttered a quick thank you. She and Kurt helped him up and the three of them ran for the other side of the crumbled wall as the floor beneath them started to fall out from under them. The fallen stone rocks began to lift by themselves and surround Scott, Kitty, and Kurt, blocking their exit. Scott lifted his glasses and blasted every stone that was in their way. The rumbling became louder as it pounded in each one of their ears. It pounded harder and harder until each of them grimaced at the intolerable sound.
The floor began to give way and it began to split between where they were standing and the hallway which was now mere inches away. Between all the shaking and trying to escape their prison that held them there, the three teens felt themselves falling before the ceiling began to rattle and shake also. It started to cave unexpectedly and the only thing that came to Scott's mind around all of the chaos was one thing. "JUMP!" he shouted amongst all of the rumbling noises. That was what they all did. They jumped.
The three of them landed with a hard thud against the stone floor in the dark hallway. The rumbling suddenly ceased and they all gazed at each other, eyes wide with fear and suspicion. The ghostly girl appeared beyond the rubble of the wall that once stood and stared at them with her eerie and saddened eyes. She tilted her head and reached out her hand. Within mere seconds, she disappeared once again. The torches in the room they had just exited died out and the wall began to rebuild itself. All by itself. As though it was doing this under some magic spell. The wall went back to it's normal state before Scott had blasted it to pieces. Scott, Kitty, and Kurt widened their eyes and gulped down the deep lump that had formed in all of their throats.
"You guys saw zat, right?!" Kurt questioned them slowly. Scott and Kitty nodded as they gave each other one last glance before the floor crumbled beneath them once again and they fell into another deep, damp darkness. Their screams coming out only muffled sounds as they fell into the unknown without a single trace of light. Near by, yet far away, the thunder continued to crack as the rain stampeded harder onto the earth.
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