For your reading pleasure, here is chapter two.
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The Ryu from the doorway stood up. "Ok, tell me I'm not seeing things. Did I just run by here? Or am I finally having a nervous breakdown?"
"No... there was another you."
"Criminy, it musta been my doppleganger!" She walked closer to Seriana's bed. "I always knew that I had one. Remember, I told you a long time ago that I have one-"
"She was pretending to be you."
"I knew it! She's trying to take over my life! She's gonna kill me and take over my life!"
Seriana didn't know if Ryu was joking or was serious. Ryu had always been a little paranoid.
"She talked about mutants," Seriana said flatly.
"What, like those people on TV who can do funky stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe my doppleganger is one of 'em. Maybe she can look like other people. But then that means my real doppleganger is still out there somewhere... What exactly did she say about these mutants?"
"That I'm one of them."
Ryu was quet for a while. "Whoa. For real?"
Seriana nodded and shifted her weight around in the bed. Her leg hurt to move.
"So, like, what funky stuff can you do?"
"Aparently kill people... since that's what I did last night."
"Seri, you don't blame yourself for what happened, do you? Because I found out what happened. You know how the French ceiling always drips with water whenever it rains? Well, aparently after the storm we had yesterday afternoon, part of the ceiling went and a beam in the celing fell and... well... yeah."
"Fine, so then I made the celing collapse."
"Seri! You had nothing to do with it."
"You don't know that!" She shrieked. "You don't know how badly I wanted something to happen to them! How good I felt when my song was over- like they got what they deserved!"
"Fine then. You say you made that ceiling fall? Do something right now. Prove it to me."
"I'm not angry now like I was last night. It won't work." She made up an excuse that made sense.
"See, you can't do anything. It's just a combination of guilt and a faulty ceiling."
Seriana began to wish that she could prove to Ryujinn that it was her. She wanted to make something else happen. Something smaller, of course. Make a lamp tip over, or a glass of water spill. She concentrated and tried to make something happen, anything. Nothing.
"I'm going to try and call your dad again." Ryu walked out of the room. Seriana had a feeling she wasn't going to be back for a while.
She just sat there in the hospital bed, thinking about a hundred things at once. If only the Ryu double would come back and explain some things to her. She made up a list of questions in her mind: "Why can't I make anything happen now? Why could I do what I did last night? Why do you look like Ryu? Are you her doppleganger? Are you a mutant, too? Am I really a mutant? What can I do? What should I do? Will you help me?"
She twirled a small lock of her black hair around her left index finger- a nervous habit she had developed in 5th grade. She sat alone for almost ten minutes before a nurse came into her room. "We're ready to have you come down for x-rays now."
It wasn't a fun process, getting the x-rays done. When they put her in a wheelchair to take her down for the x-ray, she could see that her ankle was already beginning to swell up to the size of a bowling ball. Seriana had twisted her ankle pretty bad before, and it looked similar to this. She guessed that the whole x-ray thing would be a bust, because there was no way it was broken. After more than an hour of waiting, x-rays, and more waiting, Seriana was finally wheeled back up to her room. She didn't see Ryu anywhere in the halls.
It was almost 3 pm before anyone entered her room. "We've finally got ahold of your father," the same nurse that took her to her x-rays said. "He's on his way down to see you and fill out some paperwork."
"Is my friend still around?"
"Girl with real light blonde hair?"
"Yes."
"Haven't seen her since a little before I took you down for x-rays."
"Oh."
"I'm sure she'll be back. She was real worried about you when you first came in."
Seriana smiled weakly with the right corner of her mouth. The nurse walked out of the room and Seriana was alone again.
She began to hum a few lines from an Evanescence song. "Everyone leaves me stranded, forgotten, abandoned, left be-" she stopped when she heard a rattling noise from the other side of the room, near the window. Unable to locate the source of the noise, she continuted with her song. "Ooh, can't you see, all along it was-" She stopped short when the rattling started up again. This time she looked over and saw what it might have beem. A plastic cup sitting on the window sill was on the edge, very close to falling over. She stared at the cup and continued singing, even though she didn't know all the words. "Ooh, Solitude, something something me something you. Ooh soli- AIEE!!!" She stopped singing and shreiked as the cup fell to the floor with a clatter. She remained quiet for a little bit, wondering if anyone heard her yell. After a minute or two, she guessed that if anyone had heard her, they didn't care enough to check. She stared at the cup on the floor. She was a mutant, huh? She could make things happen... "Come here, cup!" she commanded. It didn't move. She felt stupid for talking to a cup.
Seriana thought for a little bit.
She never was very good with figuring things out.
She was about to try singing again when there was a knock on the doorframe. Seriana turned her head from the cup to the door. She half hoped it would be her dad. Instead, there were three girls about her age that she didn't know. The tallest had long red hair, another had brown hair in a pony-tail, and the last had dark brown hair with white streaks in the front. "Hello," said the red head, closing the door behind her.
"Hi," Seriana said, a bit impatient, waiting to see what they were doing.
"I'm Jean, and this is Rogue-" she motioned to the one with the white streaks, "-and Kitty."
Kitty smiled and said "Hi."
"Hi," Seriana repeated, with a look on her face that said 'Explain why you are here.'
"Um, have you maybe noticed anything... strange happening to you lately?" Jean asked.
"Besides the fact that I most likely killed my boyfriend with a flute solo last night, no."
All three looked shocked.
"So you know what's goin' on, then," Rogue said in a thick southern accent.
"Not at all. Since you kinda do, maybe you can help fill in the blanks?"
"Well," Rogue began, "why don't you tell us exactly what's happened so far?"
Seriana was hesitant at first, and was tempted to say "No, you tell me first!" but she eventually told of everything significant that had happened since the night before.
When Seriana talked of when there were two Ryus, Kitty turned to the others and whispered loudly, "Mystique!"
"She must be after her to join the Brotherhood!" Jean gasped.
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," Rogue grumbled to herself, almost so that no one could hear her.
"So, what's going on with me?" Seriana asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
Jean spoke a little nervously, "Cerebro detected your mutant powers manifesting last night-"
"So I AM one of these mutants," Seriana scowled.
"Hey, It's not THAT bad," Kitty said optimistically.
"Yeah, alright... So, what can I do?"
"Er, well, it's kind of unclear at this point in time," Jean said smartly. "Since it appears that you've only used this power once, we really can't pinpoint that."
"So basically, you don't know," Seriana smirked.
"Basically. But..." Rogue paused for a bit before continuing, "Right now, it seems that you did kill Paul and Rebecca."
"Why'd you have to go and say that?" Kitty frowned.
"Cause it's true."
Seriana bit her bottom lip and clutched the blankets on the bed tighter. "If I don't know my own abilities, how am I supposed to control it? How am I supposed to keep somethink like this from happening again?"
"That's why we're here," Jean stated politely. "We're students at a school in New York where we are taught control over our powers. We've come to invite you to join us as soon as possible."
"New York, huh?"
All three girls nodded.
"Could my friend visit?"
"Uh-huh."
"Could I bring my computer?"
"Yup."
"And my keyboard? And violin and flute and guitar?"
"Uh, sure."
"What's the catch? Tuition, binding contracts...?"
"No, nothing like that. It's totally free."
"Huh."
"Do you think your parents would be ok with you moving to New York?" Jean asked.
"My mom doesn't live with us anymore, and my dad probably won't even notice that I'm gone. I'll be surprised if he doesn't threaten to kick me out anyways, after this hospital bill."
"Maybe, like, we should all talk to your dad anyways," Kitty suggested. "And he might want to meet the professor."
"Professor?"
"Professor Xavier. He founded the school."
"Oh, well... When can I le-"
There was a knock at the door, and everyone turned to look as it opened. "Seri?" A man poked his head in.
"Hey dad." Seriana said cynically.
"I'm real sorry 'bout what happened." He looked at the three standing girls a bit suspiciously before walking to the opposite side of the bed from them.
"Uh huh. You weren't at the concert last night."
"Your boyfriend dies and all you're worried about is that I wasn't at your concert last night?"
"That's not my only worry, but that's one of them."
"Look, I'm sorry I missed it. I'll make it to the next-"
"Dad, can I go to school in New York?"
"New York? I s'pose. It's not too far out of Pennsylvania. You mean for college?" He looked across the bed at the girls again. They were beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"We'll jus' let ourselves out, then," Rogue said while edging to the now open door.
"No. Stay. You can help explain," Seriana said to them. "Dad," she turned her head the other way. "Not for college. For now."
"What's in New York that's not here?"
Seriana took a deep breath and beagn to explain. She left out the part about how she wished something bad would happen to Paul and Rebecca, and just basically said that she discovered that she had powers. At that point, she began to stumble over her words and feel nervous as her father's face looked slightly disgusted. Luckily, Jean helped her out, and then continued on to tell about the school.
"What'r ya gonna be doing there? Gonna cure her or somethin'?"
"No, we're going to help her control this power. It's nothing that can be cured. It's a genetic mutation, it's part of who she is. "
"Well, it didn't come from me. It's that damned mother of hers. Alright, fine, get me papers to sign or whatnot. Now maybe I can get some peace around the house. No more violin at 6 in the morning."
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Well, he's a loving and giving caregiver, ain't he? Review pweeeease. Te precor dulcissime supplex! (that's Latin for "pretty please with a cherry on top." I don't speak Latin, I speak English and un peu de Francais, but I found a list of strange sayings in Latin, so I decided to put it to use.)
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The Ryu from the doorway stood up. "Ok, tell me I'm not seeing things. Did I just run by here? Or am I finally having a nervous breakdown?"
"No... there was another you."
"Criminy, it musta been my doppleganger!" She walked closer to Seriana's bed. "I always knew that I had one. Remember, I told you a long time ago that I have one-"
"She was pretending to be you."
"I knew it! She's trying to take over my life! She's gonna kill me and take over my life!"
Seriana didn't know if Ryu was joking or was serious. Ryu had always been a little paranoid.
"She talked about mutants," Seriana said flatly.
"What, like those people on TV who can do funky stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe my doppleganger is one of 'em. Maybe she can look like other people. But then that means my real doppleganger is still out there somewhere... What exactly did she say about these mutants?"
"That I'm one of them."
Ryu was quet for a while. "Whoa. For real?"
Seriana nodded and shifted her weight around in the bed. Her leg hurt to move.
"So, like, what funky stuff can you do?"
"Aparently kill people... since that's what I did last night."
"Seri, you don't blame yourself for what happened, do you? Because I found out what happened. You know how the French ceiling always drips with water whenever it rains? Well, aparently after the storm we had yesterday afternoon, part of the ceiling went and a beam in the celing fell and... well... yeah."
"Fine, so then I made the celing collapse."
"Seri! You had nothing to do with it."
"You don't know that!" She shrieked. "You don't know how badly I wanted something to happen to them! How good I felt when my song was over- like they got what they deserved!"
"Fine then. You say you made that ceiling fall? Do something right now. Prove it to me."
"I'm not angry now like I was last night. It won't work." She made up an excuse that made sense.
"See, you can't do anything. It's just a combination of guilt and a faulty ceiling."
Seriana began to wish that she could prove to Ryujinn that it was her. She wanted to make something else happen. Something smaller, of course. Make a lamp tip over, or a glass of water spill. She concentrated and tried to make something happen, anything. Nothing.
"I'm going to try and call your dad again." Ryu walked out of the room. Seriana had a feeling she wasn't going to be back for a while.
She just sat there in the hospital bed, thinking about a hundred things at once. If only the Ryu double would come back and explain some things to her. She made up a list of questions in her mind: "Why can't I make anything happen now? Why could I do what I did last night? Why do you look like Ryu? Are you her doppleganger? Are you a mutant, too? Am I really a mutant? What can I do? What should I do? Will you help me?"
She twirled a small lock of her black hair around her left index finger- a nervous habit she had developed in 5th grade. She sat alone for almost ten minutes before a nurse came into her room. "We're ready to have you come down for x-rays now."
It wasn't a fun process, getting the x-rays done. When they put her in a wheelchair to take her down for the x-ray, she could see that her ankle was already beginning to swell up to the size of a bowling ball. Seriana had twisted her ankle pretty bad before, and it looked similar to this. She guessed that the whole x-ray thing would be a bust, because there was no way it was broken. After more than an hour of waiting, x-rays, and more waiting, Seriana was finally wheeled back up to her room. She didn't see Ryu anywhere in the halls.
It was almost 3 pm before anyone entered her room. "We've finally got ahold of your father," the same nurse that took her to her x-rays said. "He's on his way down to see you and fill out some paperwork."
"Is my friend still around?"
"Girl with real light blonde hair?"
"Yes."
"Haven't seen her since a little before I took you down for x-rays."
"Oh."
"I'm sure she'll be back. She was real worried about you when you first came in."
Seriana smiled weakly with the right corner of her mouth. The nurse walked out of the room and Seriana was alone again.
She began to hum a few lines from an Evanescence song. "Everyone leaves me stranded, forgotten, abandoned, left be-" she stopped when she heard a rattling noise from the other side of the room, near the window. Unable to locate the source of the noise, she continuted with her song. "Ooh, can't you see, all along it was-" She stopped short when the rattling started up again. This time she looked over and saw what it might have beem. A plastic cup sitting on the window sill was on the edge, very close to falling over. She stared at the cup and continued singing, even though she didn't know all the words. "Ooh, Solitude, something something me something you. Ooh soli- AIEE!!!" She stopped singing and shreiked as the cup fell to the floor with a clatter. She remained quiet for a little bit, wondering if anyone heard her yell. After a minute or two, she guessed that if anyone had heard her, they didn't care enough to check. She stared at the cup on the floor. She was a mutant, huh? She could make things happen... "Come here, cup!" she commanded. It didn't move. She felt stupid for talking to a cup.
Seriana thought for a little bit.
She never was very good with figuring things out.
She was about to try singing again when there was a knock on the doorframe. Seriana turned her head from the cup to the door. She half hoped it would be her dad. Instead, there were three girls about her age that she didn't know. The tallest had long red hair, another had brown hair in a pony-tail, and the last had dark brown hair with white streaks in the front. "Hello," said the red head, closing the door behind her.
"Hi," Seriana said, a bit impatient, waiting to see what they were doing.
"I'm Jean, and this is Rogue-" she motioned to the one with the white streaks, "-and Kitty."
Kitty smiled and said "Hi."
"Hi," Seriana repeated, with a look on her face that said 'Explain why you are here.'
"Um, have you maybe noticed anything... strange happening to you lately?" Jean asked.
"Besides the fact that I most likely killed my boyfriend with a flute solo last night, no."
All three looked shocked.
"So you know what's goin' on, then," Rogue said in a thick southern accent.
"Not at all. Since you kinda do, maybe you can help fill in the blanks?"
"Well," Rogue began, "why don't you tell us exactly what's happened so far?"
Seriana was hesitant at first, and was tempted to say "No, you tell me first!" but she eventually told of everything significant that had happened since the night before.
When Seriana talked of when there were two Ryus, Kitty turned to the others and whispered loudly, "Mystique!"
"She must be after her to join the Brotherhood!" Jean gasped.
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," Rogue grumbled to herself, almost so that no one could hear her.
"So, what's going on with me?" Seriana asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
Jean spoke a little nervously, "Cerebro detected your mutant powers manifesting last night-"
"So I AM one of these mutants," Seriana scowled.
"Hey, It's not THAT bad," Kitty said optimistically.
"Yeah, alright... So, what can I do?"
"Er, well, it's kind of unclear at this point in time," Jean said smartly. "Since it appears that you've only used this power once, we really can't pinpoint that."
"So basically, you don't know," Seriana smirked.
"Basically. But..." Rogue paused for a bit before continuing, "Right now, it seems that you did kill Paul and Rebecca."
"Why'd you have to go and say that?" Kitty frowned.
"Cause it's true."
Seriana bit her bottom lip and clutched the blankets on the bed tighter. "If I don't know my own abilities, how am I supposed to control it? How am I supposed to keep somethink like this from happening again?"
"That's why we're here," Jean stated politely. "We're students at a school in New York where we are taught control over our powers. We've come to invite you to join us as soon as possible."
"New York, huh?"
All three girls nodded.
"Could my friend visit?"
"Uh-huh."
"Could I bring my computer?"
"Yup."
"And my keyboard? And violin and flute and guitar?"
"Uh, sure."
"What's the catch? Tuition, binding contracts...?"
"No, nothing like that. It's totally free."
"Huh."
"Do you think your parents would be ok with you moving to New York?" Jean asked.
"My mom doesn't live with us anymore, and my dad probably won't even notice that I'm gone. I'll be surprised if he doesn't threaten to kick me out anyways, after this hospital bill."
"Maybe, like, we should all talk to your dad anyways," Kitty suggested. "And he might want to meet the professor."
"Professor?"
"Professor Xavier. He founded the school."
"Oh, well... When can I le-"
There was a knock at the door, and everyone turned to look as it opened. "Seri?" A man poked his head in.
"Hey dad." Seriana said cynically.
"I'm real sorry 'bout what happened." He looked at the three standing girls a bit suspiciously before walking to the opposite side of the bed from them.
"Uh huh. You weren't at the concert last night."
"Your boyfriend dies and all you're worried about is that I wasn't at your concert last night?"
"That's not my only worry, but that's one of them."
"Look, I'm sorry I missed it. I'll make it to the next-"
"Dad, can I go to school in New York?"
"New York? I s'pose. It's not too far out of Pennsylvania. You mean for college?" He looked across the bed at the girls again. They were beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"We'll jus' let ourselves out, then," Rogue said while edging to the now open door.
"No. Stay. You can help explain," Seriana said to them. "Dad," she turned her head the other way. "Not for college. For now."
"What's in New York that's not here?"
Seriana took a deep breath and beagn to explain. She left out the part about how she wished something bad would happen to Paul and Rebecca, and just basically said that she discovered that she had powers. At that point, she began to stumble over her words and feel nervous as her father's face looked slightly disgusted. Luckily, Jean helped her out, and then continued on to tell about the school.
"What'r ya gonna be doing there? Gonna cure her or somethin'?"
"No, we're going to help her control this power. It's nothing that can be cured. It's a genetic mutation, it's part of who she is. "
"Well, it didn't come from me. It's that damned mother of hers. Alright, fine, get me papers to sign or whatnot. Now maybe I can get some peace around the house. No more violin at 6 in the morning."
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Well, he's a loving and giving caregiver, ain't he? Review pweeeease. Te precor dulcissime supplex! (that's Latin for "pretty please with a cherry on top." I don't speak Latin, I speak English and un peu de Francais, but I found a list of strange sayings in Latin, so I decided to put it to use.)