Fear: Chapter 3-They Lie Dying
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"Ow, will ya'll quit walkin' inta me?!" Rogue spat in a harsh whisper as Bobby collided into her back for about the seventh time.
"Sorr-ee!" he apologized sarcastically, backing up a step or so with his hands in the air. "It's not my fault I can't see!" he complained.
Logan growled lowly, stopping only to have both Rogue and Bobby knock into him. "Will you two keep quiet?!" he growled.
Rogue elbowed Bobby in the stomach, pushing him back again.
About to say something, Iceman quieted immediately when Wolverine's hand went to his face to shush him.
"What is it?" Rogue whispered, narrowing her eyes to focus in the dark, realizing they were right in front of the kitchen.
"Thought I heard somethin'..." he said quietly. Before Rogue or Bobby could remind him he didn't have enhanced hearing, and it was probably his imagination, Logan cautiously pushed open the swinging door, releasing the claws on one hand agonizingly slow.
The three stepped into the kitchen softly, Rogue and Bobby both moving as one, eyes focused on a bit of light that was coming from the other side of the counter.
"Stay back." Logan ordered sharply, holding out his clawless hand for them to stay behind him.
Suddenly an eerie silence enveloped within the group, Bobby and Rogue not yet seeing what Logan had, but being quiet all the same. Turning quickly, dark shadowed features frozen in a grim expression, Logan quickly pushed the teenagers back. "...Don't go over there..." he said sadly after a short moment's hesitation.
"What? Why?" Rogue asked, wide-eyed and suddenly very concerned. Her eyes darted to the floor, and from the light that edged from around the counter, she noticed a thick, dark ooze pooling on the floor, expanding in size. "Logan?" she questioned.
Bobby must have seen it too, because he suddenly asked very slowly, "What's...that?"
"Blood." Logan answered roughly with a frown. He was too unfocused at the moment to notice Rogue going around him to see what he didn't want her to.
"OhmyGod!" the teen gasped, a hand going to her mouth as tears clouded her vision.
"What is it?!" Bobby exclaimed impatiently as Logan grabbed Rogue and pulled her back.
"It's Scott." the older mutant answered calmly, sheathing his claws. "He's dead."
Bobby leaned to the side, taking a step to see for himself as Logan was too busy with Rogue who had suddenly began sobbing into his chest.
Sprawled on the floor on the opposite side of the counter, was Scott; thick, red blood pooled all around him, cut open from guts to gizzard. His mouth was gaped open like he had been trying to scream, and his ruby quartz lenses lay beside him, broken in two, sticky blood smeared over them. What looked like his intestine was drawn out of his body, wrapped around the still-lit flashlight as if the killer had positioned him like some morbid art form.
Rogue stopped her crying, then pulled away from Logan and gently reached for the Iceman's arm. "C'mon Bobby," she sniffled, taking in a shaky breath as she tried to regain her composure, though still obviously in shock.
Bobby turned robotically, his mouth gaping open in fear, but not fear of the corpse lying beside his feet, but something else...behind Logan and Rogue.
Turning quickly with claws unsheathed, Logan found himself at a loss as a black-clad figure, different from before, suddenly appeared at the entrance to the kitchen. Having paid attention to detail from the previous attackers, Logan realized the one with the star-firing weapon wore a white arm-band, his rescuer with the smoke bomb a blue one, and this new threat wore green. That meant there was three...as far as he knew at the moment.
"Logan!" Rogue screamed as the far-off attacker suddenly pulled two sharp throwing knives from his belt and threw them with great accuracy toward the mutants.
Noticing the blades were aiming for himself and Bobby, Logan tackled the shell-shocked Iceman to the floor, then scrambled to his feet to get the teens out of the way as their attacker reached for more weapons.
Rogue managed to get her mind working again as she fumbled around the side of the counter for cover, her bare feet just missing the pool of blood as she tried very hard not to look at Scott's mangled body.
Bobby leaned against the counter, gasping in fear. Sure the X-Men were all trained, they were even trained without using thier powers, but still, the kids were no match for a gang of experienced killers. Bobby was still struck with a paralyzing fear that made him too scared to really fight back without feeling like he was going to piss his pants.
Logan raised a hand slowly for the teens to keep still, then slowly rose from his crouch and peered over the counter. No one was there. The killer was gone.
Sighing angrily, he grabbed Rogue and Bobby's shoulders and dragged them to their feet. The kids were still in pajamas, having been abruptly woken in the middle of the night, and it made them seem even younger in his eyes. Too young to be seeing all of this...death. Too young to die. "Listen ta me," he started gruffly, immediately softening his tone once gazing into their lost eyes. "Whoever these people are, they're killers, plain an' simple. Sure they gotta be trained, experienced, but you guys're trained too. I know Chuck'd be tellin' ya that killin' ain't right, but it's us or them. An' it's gotta be them. Don't hesitate ta kill 'em if ya can." Logan glanced around the kitchen and began opening cupboards and the like. "Look fer things ta use as weapons. Knives, forks, a broom, anythin' ya can use. We're gonna need it."
Rogue and Bobby both nodded automatically, their faces turning cold and going into survival mode. They began rumaging around, tossing things about, until coming up with a butcher knife, a meat cleaver, and two broomsticks.
Logan nodded at their finds. "Good, now stay alert an' come with me." he uttered stoically, rejecting the thought of taking the flashlight from Scott's tangled intestines and leaving the kitchen with his two pledges.
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Tentatively stepping into a darkened room with only one of his original group members left, Berserker grabbed Cannonball's arm and pulled him back against the wall. "Ssh!" he hissed sharply all of a sudden.
"Whoa!" Sam yelped, falling back against the wall. "Ray, what was that all about?" he whispered.
"Don't go in there yet." he replied quietly, peering his head slightly in the doorway to the rec room.
The pair had already gotten seperated from Scott and Jean when one of the hallway's walls exploded, and now Cannonball and Berserker were on their own.
"Is it clear?" Sam asked impatiently, tapping his partner's shoulder.
Nodding carefully and motioning for Cannonball to follow after him, Berserker stealthily stepped into the wide open, empty room, keeping close to furniture and the walls in case they were attacked. Though there was no telling if the walls would blow up suddenly or not, so that may not be the best idea.
"We gotta find the Professor." Sam insisted as they edged along in the dark, no light to guide them besides a little from the moonlight outside the window. "Him an' Beast was goin' ta find a safe place with Jamie an' Amara."
Pausing for a minute, Ray started to think about what a safe place would be at the moment, before coming up with his soft-spoken answer. "The Danger Room...or Cerebro...those would be my guesses."
Cannonball nodded in agreement.
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The lower levels of the mansion were even more eerie than usual, and Storm had to take deep even breaths and clear her mind so she didn't freak out because of her claustrophobia. The darkness made the sub-basement seem even smaller to her, and she had to keep her focus ahead, though the flashlight was slightly shaking in her hand.
Kitty's eyes darted around in the dark nervously, as she walked close to Kurt as they headed down the darkened corridor.
Nightcrawler's tail slowly flicked back and forth behind him. Though their powers weren't working, the German boy was still blue and furry with a tail, but without his teleporting abilities. This could only be reasoned with the fact that he was born blue and furry, and though Hank had gone back to his human form, that was because he hadn't always been the Beast.
The noise of footsteps sounded behind the four, and they all turned sharply as two shadowed figures emerged from around the corner.
"Storm!" Kitty shrieked in a fearful whisper.
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Note: Cliffy! Mwahahaha! *smirks* Please review!!!!