Beep Beep.
Warmth. Safety. That was the only way to describe Katie's vision at the moment. She was dreaming, of course, but of this she was not yet aware. In her mind, spiky lime green blades of fresh grass tickled her toes as she chased her younger brother through the garden. Yards away, her parents laughed jovially; her mother sipping on a tall glass of lemonade while her father kept the two children in sight with his camcorder.
Beep Beep.
Katie laughed as she continued to chase her brother, who was only around seven. All of a sudden though, he stopped running. She came up behind him and saw why. There on the edge of the garden a low, dark smoke waved upwards, similar to the patterns dry ice gives off. The smell of dirt and decay reached her nose, brought up by the smoke. Katie took an involuntary step backward, suddenly afraid. The garden had grown cool and dark, and when she glanced up she could no longer see the sun, only dark, looming clouds. She reached forward and grabbed her brother around the shoulders and began trying to pull him backward. He didn't move. Slowly though, his head turned around. When she saw him, she screamed. His eyes were gone. Gone! Simply gone, only empty, hollowed out sockets remained. She felt a wave of bile rise in her throat as her hands flew off his body as if they had been burned. The missing eyes continued to stare at her until finally they blinked and a small smile crossed his face. She turned and ran.
Beep Beep.
Her run was an all out sprint now; she could feel the icy mist of the smoke on the back of her neck. She stumbled once on an exposed tree root, but she just kept on going. She finally returned to the clearing where she had just seen her parents, but they were gone now. Katie paused momentarily, but with another howling gust of wind, she began to run again. She was running out of the garden now, into the woods. Fallen trees blocked her path and spider webs smeared across her face. She scrapped her arm on a tall bush and got her T-shirt caught. She struggled to free her self, but the more she tried, the more stuck she became. The mist was now wafting past her now, long tendrils whipping past her ankles. Then, at a much slower pace, the smoke began to curl upwards. It took its time as she continued to struggle, slowly drifting upwards until finally it had reached her mouth.
Beep Beep.
She couldn't breathe! She gasped for air and her ears began to ring as she fell to her knees.
Beep Beep! Beep! Beep!!!
Katie bolted awake, and looked around the empty room, confused. Over on the nightstand, the small black alarm clock let out another stream of persistent beeps, in hopes of waking her. She muttered something under her breath before flipping the clock of and tossing it towards the foot of the bed. It rolled of and fell onto the cool, hardwood floorings with a loud clatter. Grumbling, she kicked her feet out from under the cover and slowly stood up. She slowly made her way into the bathroom, each step brining on feebler grumbling.
Once in the bathroom, she splashed some cool water on her face, trying to wake herself up. She caught a sight of her reflection in the mirror and cringed. Her hair was still halfway in yesterday's ponytail, the rest had frizzed out and had form a sort of mini matted, bushy blonde afro. Her eye makeup had smeared down all around her dull blue eyes, making them appear bruised and sunken in. She turned away from the mirror and dried her face with her bath towel.
As she rubbed the last remains of the makeup off, she happened to catch sight of the clock. She froze. It was nearly 7:50…Classes started at eight! Coming out of her shocked horror, she let out a loud curse, and then began searching through the room for some half-decent clothes to wear.
Hasty, she pulled on a pair of jeans from the day before that still lay in a pile by the window where she had tossed them down the night before. She then snatched a baggy T-shirt of the top of her dresser. Along with her binder and ran out of the room. Last week, when she had been late for Ororo's class every day, the older mutant had promised she would make her take another year of classes if she was late again; and Katie had no doubt the teacher could convince Xavier of keeping her around for another year or two.
A few minutes later, she came skidding to a stop in front of the classroom's closed door. Before entering, She slipped her binder between her legs and took the time to slip the shirt on over her head. She was quite certain that Ororo would much rather have her come to class late than come early wearing only a skimpy camisole. Then, once she had done that, she picked her binder back up and bolted into class.
Just as the clock struck eight.
Ororo gave her a raised eyebrow, but said nothing. Everyone in the class turned around and stared as Katie took her seat towards the back of the room. A few scattered snickers were heard throughout the room. Ororo then stepped to the front of the class and loudly cleared her throat and the room became silent again.
"That's better," She said and turned back to her desk. She grabbed a stack of papers and began to slowly walk across the front of the room. Her high-heeled black boots clinked as she walked, her white hair pulled back into a bun with a pair of black lacquered chopsticks.
"I have some news about last week's quiz," She began, her voice neutral. "Out of the twelve of you in the class, only two got D's." She paused, watching the tense, nervous look from behind her dark eyes. "One of you got a C," she added, watching the anxiousness intensify. "One of you got a B," She said, taking one last look across the room.
"And the other eight of you failed." She said flatly. Groans and sighs spilled out across the room. Ororo slightly shook her head at the typical reaction as she began walking between he desks, returning papers. Once finished with that task, she returned to the front of the room. She leaned back slightly on her desk, watching for a moment as the students each first checked their own quiz, then those belonging to those around them.
"1338," She declared, brining everyone's attention back to her once again. "Jubilee, If you read last night's homework, you should be able to tell me what happened that year." She commanded, slightly tipping her head off to one side.
"Ummm," Jubilee mumbled, glancing around. She stuttered for a moment, but Ororo cut her off.
"The start of the hundred years war." She declared as Jubilee sunk down into her seat. "Now, jump ahead nine years. What is happening in Sicily?" Ororo's gaze swept across the room.
"Katie, do you know?" She questioned. The human girl appeared to have been sleeping.
"The beginning of the black plague?" She questioned.
A smile crossed Ororo's face. "That is correct. In late October, 1348, Genoese trading ships pulled into Messina harbor in Sicily, their passengers nfected with the black death. These stricken men had strange black swellings the size of an egg or apple in their armpits and groin. These swellings oozed blood and pus and were quickly followed by black blotches on the skin from internal bleeding. The sailors experienced such intense pain that death, which generally followed five days after the first symptoms, came as a welcome relief. Due to the lack of hygiene, the disease raced through the port town. As the contagion spread, new symptoms developed: continuous fever, spitting of blood instead of the swelling, heavy sweating, and death within three days or less, sometimes in 24 hours."
"The were Rumors of a plague in the Orient circulating in Europe since 1346. But, In an age given to hyperbole, everyone believed the news of 23 million people dying to be exaggerated. Not until late 1347 did the Europeans finally come to understand the terrible accuracy of that figure.
" The general course of the disease in a geographic area ran about six months. It would then fade unless the area affected was densely populated, in which case it would subside for the winter only to undertake its grim work with renewed vigor in the spring.
"Accurate mortality rates are difficult to find. The best estimates place the mortality rate anywhere between one-fifth and nine-tenths of the population. This would translate into about twenty million people dying between 1348 and 1350. The deaths occurred so quickly that there was no time for the sacrament of extreme unction, and the Pope had to issue mass forgiveness. The dead outnumbered the living by such a margin that in some cities the bodies were allowed to pile up outside in the streets, adding to the contagion.
"The "black death," as the plague was known, influenced virtually every aspect of life in the latter part of the century. Its effects on the economy were profound. Generally speaking, however, the plague brought in its wake a recession from which Europe did not recover until the end of the fifteenth century." Ororo paused before continuing any further.
"I think that's enough for today," She stated abruptly. "I want you all to read chapter five, parts one through three and answer questions number five through seventeen on page 306." She said before turning around and sitting down quickly at her desk.
Two classes later, it was finally time for lunch. It was one of those always welcomed yet somewhat dreaded times of the day for Katie. As she walked back towards the kitchen after dropping her books of in her room, she silently spoke calming words of reassurance to herself. Loud sounds from the bustle that was associated with the short lunch break greeted her.
She darted in between two younger students who were yelling about something and carefully made her way over to the long counter where the teachers usually just set out anything edible in a buffet of sorts. She hastily slapped together a sandwich and was making her way back out the doorway when Jubilee called out to her. Katie let out a disappointed sigh before turning around to look for Jubilee.
The short Asian girl was seated at the table across the room with a group of students and a few she did not recognize. She waved for Katie to come over.
Katie forced a smile as she walked over and quietly sat down. She realized that the two she hadn't recognized were Bobby and Rogue. Peter, Kitty, and another student Katie was unfamiliar with sat at the table as well.
"Bobby and Rogue just flew in from their place down in California," Jubilee explained quickly. Katie merely nodded.
Rogue then turned to her. "Katie! How is it going here?" She asked with a smile as she brushed a stray lock of pale hair from her face.
Katie nodded quickly. "It's going good." She said swiftly.
Rogue's smile widened. "Good. I was worried you would have a hard time after what you told us." Under the table, Bobby kicked her and Rogue suddenly realized what she had said.
Kitty glanced curiously at Katie then back at Rogue. "Why would she have any trouble?" She asked.
Rogue was about to speak but Bobby cut her off. "Long story." He stated simply. He then turned to Peter. "So, you and Kitty gone out yet?" He asked playfully, while changing the subject. To this, everyone but Katie laughed, as she wasn't sure what was so funny. But this went unnoticed. Suddenly, she felt out of place as the group recapped old stories. She excused her self and began quickly walking back up to her room. She spent the remaining twenty minutes of lunch sitting cross-legged on her unmade bed, nibbling on her jam sandwich.
When it was nearly time for class to start, she hurriedly grabbed her books again and made her way back downstairs. It appeared that most everyone, save for a few stragglers like herself, was already in class. She hastened her step, and kept her head down. It wasn't that she was against interaction with the other students, but when around them, she felt so out of place. She didn't belong here, and they would agree if they knew about her. She knew one of these days everyone was going to find out and she would have to leave then anyway, so why get to know these people? They would just as soon hate her, as they would befriend her.
"Katie!" Someone called out from behind. Katie spun around and came face to face with Rogue. Katie was a bit taken aback at the sudden appearance of the former student.
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened back there," Rogue explained. "I thought everyone knew."
Katie sighed. "Well, they don't. Why else do you think they speak to me?" She shot back. She spun around and quickly began walking back the way she had been going. Rogue grabbed on to her shoulder with a gloved hand and spun the younger girl around.
"It's not like that here. Everyone here has dealt with discrimination. They won't treat you any different. But isolating yourself from everyone will separate you from them! Just give them a chance!" Rogue protested.
Katie's eyes narrowed. "Why am I here, Rogue?" She demanded suddenly.
"What? What kind of question is that? You're here because we want to help you!" Rogue said, struggling to keep her voice from rising.
"Really? Then why does the professor have dozens of files on cloning? Am I just another part of an experiment?" Katie seethed through clenched teeth, letting all of her contained fears and suspicious spill out in her tirade.
"What are you talking about?" Rogue questioned.
"Or more importantly," A voice said, stepping up behind the two began. "Why aren't you in class?" Both girls sun around to see the stiff figure of Scott Summers.
"I had to talk to Katie about something, Scott. Sorry I caused her to be late." Rogue hastily said before Katie could say anything.
"Ah," was all Scott said. "You had better get to class, Katie. Ask one of the students for the assignment." He instructed before turning to Rogue. Once the younger girl was out of earshot, he began. "What was that?" He demanded.
Rogue blinked. "I tried to apologize and she just blew up on me." She said quietly, staring at the departing figure.
"I see. I'll talk to the professor about it." Scott said. "Have a safe flight home," He added as he walked away. Rogue nodded and left in search of Bobby.
A few moments later, a very confused yet curious Jubilee emerged from the kitchen. Unknown the three involved in the brawl, she had heard every word.
A/N: Sorry that took so long! I had piles of homework, and they only seem to be getting bigger! Anyway, hope y'all liked the chapter; there's a bit of student interaction for ya, Only Human! A lot more of Katie will come in the following chapters, I just wanted to throw in all the little subplots and other stuff in first!