Disclaimer : almost forgot to do this again; erm…disclaimer is in…the 2nd chapter I think…

Hah! I'm back! Did u guys missed me?! That was fast…I sincerely did not expect myself to continue it in such quick timing. But as they say…when e going is good--- it's good. Anyway…I must be one of ur fav authors coz I update so quickly! (or maybe it's because I don't have a life! lol!). I'm sure you're all dying to know wat happened especially to the sixth bullet but first I will torture you guys a little longer by elaborating on the stranger , Jean Swarisky (pronounced 'john' not 'jean' as in Jean Claude Van Damme),but don worry, he won't be staying long. Anyway…I'm not very sure on some of the scientific/medical terms of some stuff and if u guys see an asterisk on a word (*)u know it's just a term I made up. I didn't have the guts (or the grades) for the medical field so pardon moi if I get it all mixed up.

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The stranger was lying unconscious on the med bed surrounded by life support*. Adam had just finished taking his blood sample and he settled down to do his analysis with the fresh sample. The rest of the team was busy minding their own business, knowing that Adam would do his best when left alone; besides the man is no longer a threat, right? An almost audible moan was hear from the bed and in a flash, Adam was by the stranger's side.

The man slowly opened his eyes only to winced at the harsh lightings of the lab. He took a moment to collect himself aware that he doesn't have much time and he must warn whoever it was about something…if only he could remember what it was. He tried to get up.

"Hey, easy, easy." Adam pushed the man back down on the bed. "How are you feeling?" "I need…to tell you something…" he whispered hoarsely. "It's o.k., you'll have plenty of time to tell us everything when you get better." Adam tried reassured the guy. "No! Don't have enough time, just listen" he gasped. His EKG started to beep just a little bit faster. "Alright, fine; go ahead, I'm listening." Adam sighed and moved his chair a little closer to the man. He knew it was against his better judgement to let the stranger talk when his condition isn't as stabilising as he thought he was.

"My name is Swarisky; Jean Swarisky." he began. " I'm a new mutant and for the past month, my powers had been mutating at an alarming rate. It got so bad that at times I just passed out from the pain and agony." he settled back and took a breath. "Then, about a few weeks ago, I met this guy, can't remember his name…who told me you could help me with my mutations. Which was why I was checking out the safe houses looking for a way to seek you out. However, before I could contact you, a past enemy of mine injected me with a serum whilst I was out cold last evening. This serum, X257K increases the body's production of seranium*, causing the victim uncontrollable rage and a desire to kill. After exactly 24 hours of that, the body shuts down from the physical and mental exertion and the victim dies. When I visited that safe house, I wasn't in my right state of mind. I was so overwhelmed with these feelings of anger and hurt that I started to kill whoever was in my path. I'm really sorry…" Jean looked away; sadden and remorseful at the memories of what he had done. Adam looked on, a little bit dazed by what he just heard.

A loud beeping forced Adam to look up to check on Jean's vital. Jean had already closed his eyes.

His blood pressure was dropping rapidly and his heartbeat was off the rocket. Good god, he's going into shock, Adam thought before hurrying in a frenzy to stabilise him. A long steady beep was the only indication of how serious his condition was. Brennan, Shalimar and Emma had already rushed into the room at the first sound of trouble; eager to help out if necessary. Adam was busy administering CPR, trying to revive Jean but to no avail. Emma passed him the paddles* and the humming of the machine warming up suddenly seemed too slow. Come on, hurry up, he thought. "Alright, clear!". Three more times he placed the paddles on the man's chest and those three times came up with the same results…the consistent steady beep of the heart monitor. He shook his head, knowing there was nothing he could do to make it better. Jean was dead. Exactly twenty-four hours from the administration of the serum, just like he said. His body was too exhausted to cope with the onslaught of the serum and his heart couldn't cope with the stress anymore.

He looked up to stare at the rest of his team. Bren, Shalimar ,Emma…where's Jesse? he thought. Emma, sensing that he would ask about the whereabouts of Jesse told him, "He's in bed. He didn't feel well and thought that sleep would be the best solution." "Yeah, Adam, I checked up on him fifteen minutes ago and he seemed fine, just a little tired." Shalimar reassured him. "So, what did he say?" Brennan changed the subject to the immediate situation; indicating to the cold body lying on the bed.

Adam sighed. "I'm not too sure but only after I've done a complete analysis of his blood could I confirm his story. Meanwhile why don't the rest of you take Jesse's example and go and get some rest. It's been a long day." They turned and started to leave the room. Shal lingered behind a little and said, "Adam, you need your rest too; don't work so late alright?" She gave his shoulder a little squeeze. "I'll go to bed just as soon as I'm done here," Adam reassured Shalimar. She shook her head, always the workaholic, she thought before making her way to her room. She yawned before settling down to her bed. Boy am I exhausted and it's not even 10 o'clock yet, she glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. Yep, it has been a rather long day; oh well, tomorrow would be another day.

The next morning Jesse woke up to the shrill of his alarm clock. What, it's morning already? he thought. He couldn't remember what time he went to bed last night but he did remember being exhausted. He sighed and rolled out of bed. He had a ton of stuff to do today; he has to check the surveillance tapes from yesterday, report his findings to Adam, find a new location for a safe house, set it up, and worse of all, to inform the immediate families of the victims. He wondered who his attacker was. He shivered, remembering yesterday's events; what a close shave, thank god for quick reflexes.

He got up and moved to take a quick shower when a sharp poke in his chest made him stumble over his steps. He doubled over in pain. As quickly as it had arrived, the pain was gone in an instant. Ouch, he thought; that hurts. What the hell was that all about? He wondered as he made his way slowly to the shower. As he took off his shirt, he couldn't help noticing a bruise about the size of a pebble on his chest near his fourth ribcage* on his left side. Now how did that get there? I didn't spar with anyone yesterday. He frowned but thought nothing of it as it didn't hurt when he applied pressure to it.

Twenty minutes later he was on his way down to the kitchen when the pain hit him again; subsiding just as quickly. This time it left him breathless and he went into a coughing fit; alerting his presence to Shalimar who was already in the kitchen, drinking her cup of coffee.

She looked up and saw him looking a little pale, "Morning sunshine. Looking a bit under the weather today, aren't we? Are you sure you're alright? You went to bed awfully early last night" she voiced her concern.

Jesse cleared his throat. "Give me a break, Shal" he replied; a little annoyed that she noticed. "I'm fine" he lied as he went to get his coffee and sat down. He was feeling a little light-headed from the incident just now and needed to sit to clear his thoughts.

"Oh yeah, for your info, your friend died last night." she broke him the bad news. "Adam tried all he could but…he was under an influence of a drug and his body just gave up" She had checked up on Adam earlier on and he had confirmed the guy's tale from his blood analysis. "What! And here I thought I'll drop by to give him a piece of my mind," he sighed and sip his coffee. What a great start to a glorious day; first the pain, now this, what else could go wrong.

He choked on his coffee and grasp his chest; the pain sharp and digging into his flesh. Damn, it seems I spoke too soon. This time it seemed like it's not gonna go away as quickly. He's finding it really hard to breathe and already the familiar black spots from the day before started invading his vision. His lungs were screaming for air but he just couldn't breathe. Something is constricting his airway and he went into his second fit of coughs; his body trying to dispel whatever was blocking it's airway the only way it knew how.

"Jesse…Jesse what's wrong?" Shal asked, worry written all over her face. He seemed fine a moment ago; now he's looking really pale, his lips turning blue, she observed; why won't he stop coughing already. Oh god, he can't breathe; realisation dawned on her and she rushed to his side, wondering what she could do besides dismissing the panic that's rising from her chest.

His coughing fit turning worse; his lungs were really on fire now…oh god it hurts! He screamed in quiet agony when a gush of red hot liquid spewed out from his mouth and he collapsed on the kitchen floor. Shal turned paled and she did the first thing that came to her mind; "Adam! Jesse's in trouble" she screamed.

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Oopps…another cliffhanger…I can't help it; it's a bad habit of mine. At least this time it was a little longer than usual.

Thank you sooo…much for the lovely (again) reviews that I've received so far. Didn't seemed fair if I didn't thank u guys personally so here it goes: NOTE -not in any peculiar order

Crys Ritter - I finished the 4th chapter…and I'm a chocoholic…I love 'ferrero rochers', 'Cadbury', M&M peanuts, Hersey's cookies and cream…etc,etc…I'm waiting !

brigitta1- You'll probably fainted out of agony by now cause it's such an abrupt end; don't worry, I'll try my hardest to put you in more agony! haahaha…stay tune…

canadian-chic14 - You don't say much do you…well thanks for reading and the reviews, anyway!

goldstranger - Yes I can do this to you and as you have read the chapter I just did it to you again! lol! Hey, when r u gonna finish 'designations'? love the way the plot is going!
koalared - well, I love cliffhangers too; they make anticipation such a pain, don't they?

Rogue- sorry I didn't have the time to email you but you could always come back to fan fiction for more updates; thanks for reviewing!

Prinzessin - my first reviewer of the day! You're another one who don't say much but thanks for the enthusiastic encouragement!

Amon-ra1996 - I'm trying my best to keep you on the edge of your seat, what did you think of this cliffhanger? Cool eh?

Bekka - if ur still reading this…what do u think of the story so far?

Laily - yes…I love to keep my readers (n Jesse) breathless. Hey, come to think of it so do u (2X5 a.k.a dua kali lima - if u live in Malaysia…I think u should understand some malay terms right?)! When r u gonna continue wif, let's see…'blood runs dry', 'one step behind', 'cry to heaven', etc, etc, huh?!

O.k. the bad news; you guys r gonna have to be a bit patient as I'm gonna take a bit more time for the next chapter. I'm trying to make it as tragic and as horrifying as it is fictionally possible. So please! Bear wif me. Hopefully it'll be up b4 the end of the week. *crosses fingers, toes and eyes* till then…ciao!