Epilogue
The rain outside slowed down and became nothing but a dripping sound coming from a sink. It sounded hollow. Kitty Pryde did not want to open her eyes for fear of what she would see. Around her though, she heard gasps and a slight shriek from what sounded like many people crowded together in one room at the same time. She automatically remembered what had happened before and Katherine. She shuddered but then smiled. She had somehow survived it, but a twinge of fear caught in her throat when she remembered that all her friends were gone. Slowly, she opened her eyes. It was pitch black and she was sitting in some kind of chair.
"Great, there goes the night, guys!" Tabitha groaned.
Kitty smiled at Tabitha through the darkness and shook her head. Only she would have the nerve to complain. Wait, Tabitha? What was going on? Kitty looked around the room, but she couldn't see anything. She prayed silently that it wasn't a repeat of what had happened earlier, but somehow she felt that it was better. She heard the shuffling of bodies before all of a sudden a great light engulfed the entire living room. Kitty's head swerved around the entire area and realized that she was in the living room. It hadn't been a dream, had it? It couldn't have been, she thought.
Kitty caught sight of Scott, settling back down next to Jean on the couch. Everyone seemed to be acting normal, as if nothing had happened at all. Tabitha was still fast forwarding through the movie they had been watching. She also noticed out of the corner of her eye that Ray, Bobby, and Sam had stopped their attempt at sneaking away and sat back down after a glare from Scott. Kitty turned to look at all her teammates. There seemed to be a feeling of uneasiness. Scott didn't know why, but he got up and went to the window next to Kitty. He made sure it was secured tightly as the rain outside had stopped completely. Kitty noticed that Scott's shoulder was uninjured as it had been. Lance was nowhere in sight as well. She breathed a sigh of relief and settled back to read the magazine in her hand. The things that had been permeating in her mind were, for some reason, slowly vanishing. Wiped clean, to start anew.
Scott slowly gave her a relieved smile. Everything was going to be alright. They would talk about it later, or maybe just leave it and never mention it again. Thank goodness, it was all over! Kurt sat on the couch with Amanda and just stared at the fast moving screen. He didn't care anymore, he was safe with Amanda and all of his friends. He hugged her tightly and gave her his usual smile.
"What was that for?" Amanda asked.
"Nothing. I just vanted to make sure you vere really vith me," Kurt explained. He smiled again and Amanda looked at him strangely. It was a good thing no one else remembered anything. It was good to be back. Kurt felt something tickle the back of his mind as he shook his head. Suddenly, all that had been there was an emptiness filled with new thoughts. With that, Kurt dove his hand into the popcorn bowl as everyone yelled at him for hogging all of the food. Oh yes, things were definitely back to normal.
Rogue moved in closer to her friends. She didn't feel like sitting in the back all by herself. She felt that she wanted to be afraid, but something inside told her that it was all going to be ok. So, Rogue blew off every thought of what had been haunting her, as if it had been a dream and relaxed. She even sat down to watch the movie next to Kurt and Amanda. Looking over at her brother, she smiled and he smiled his fanged smile back. Things were alright.
Scott and Jean inched closer together. It could be said that the petrifying experience brought them all closer together. Scott made a note in his mind to ask the professor about the 'other' lower levels later, but in a split second, it slipped his mind. He couldn't even remember what it looked like anymore; it was as though it hadn't even existed. Maybe it hadn't either. Jean looked up at him and smiled. Scott shrugged it off as he kissed the top of her head and nestled back into the couch. He looked around one last time and realized that his mind was missing something. Jean must've felt it too and they looked at each other. A second later, it was gone and they decided it was something unexplainable. Everything was ok again, and Scott suddenly felt the need to reveal his feelings for Jean; it seemed important for some reason. Everything was ok after all.
Kitty couldn't help looking out the window every once in awhile. Something drew her to it, but why, she didn't know. Deep down she knew it was awkward, but her mind about this whole Halloween thing was slowly changing. It was definitely an odd situation, but she just shrugged it off. At the sound of her name, Kitty turned towards the voice. It was Amara, asking her to join them in watching the movie.
Kitty looked outside at the night sky that was finally being lit by the half hidden moon. She put her magazine down and walked over to the couch in front of the television. "Why not!?" She smiled. Kitty pushed Kurt over and sat down. He practically choked on his popcorn as she took the remote from Tabitha and hit the play button. She turned to him and laughed at his surprised face.
"What's, like, wrong with you?" Kitty asked him, popping him out of frozen expression.
"I thought you didn't like Halloveen!" Kurt exclaimed. "You told me you didn't believe in spirits."
"Kurt! Of course I, like, believe in spirits," Kitty mocked his shock. "Otherwise, what would be, like, the point of Halloween?!" She smiled and turned to watch the movie. Kurt continued to stare at her awkwardly until he was nudged by Amanda and returned to watching the movie. Kitty closed her eyes and couldn't figure out what had changed her mind. It didn't matter anyway. She knew that deep down some kind of spirit was watching her and that fact made her think Halloween wasn't such a bad holiday after all.
________________________________________________________________________
Outside of the window, high above the mansion, stood a young girl in a white gown. Katherine Xavier smiled. Her job here was done and she had been successful. Now, at last, she could finally rest in peace with her family. They had been waiting for her for so long. It was finally time to go. She looked around one last time. The rain had finally subsided and the moon was coming out from behind the storm clouds. She smiled. Now, everything would finally be ok.
"Katherine?" a male voice asked. "Are you coming, my dear?"
Katherine looked over at her father. He was standing there in all his glory a couple of feet from her near a white gate. She smiled at him as she also watched her four siblings walk over with him. "Yes, father. I'm coming."
With one final glance at the mansion, she walked over to her family. Her father wrapped his arms around her as they walked together towards the white gates and disappeared into the night sky. The storm clouds disappeared and light filtered through the ever changing leaves. The wind stopped howling and rested it's voice. The thunder made peace with the earth and inside the Xavier Institute, all was well. The moon cast it's white light above the house and with it's round face, smiled in satisfaction.
