I have always slept badly when I feel bad about something, and it took a great deal of tossing and turning that night for me to drop off. Finally, though, I was wandering in my dreams. The dream I had that night is one of the most vivid of all I can remember. It must have been echoing my anxieties, though I now believe that my subconscious was also trying to tell me something.
In my dream I was heading on a bus to New York, just like I had planned, without a sign of injury. For some reason, Crystal was there, too, sitting beside me. Like in most dreams, I didn't question anything strange. We talked excitedly about what we'd do in the city once we arrived. When we got off at the stop, however, there was no city. There was only a graveyard, at night, and the moon was shining.
"How weird," I dreamed Crystal saying.
"Let's go look," I replied. There were three huge tombstones in the center of the other graves, covered in moss and ivy. I cleared it away.
"Charles Sing", said one, and "Lily Sing," was next to it. I turned to Crystal, and she was gone. The final one said, "Crystal Norman." Underneath the names, they all said, "Why Ryan, Why?" I gasped, horrified. Then there was a fourth stone that I hadn't seen before, with the same inscription, and "Myra Sing" was carved above it.
Then the trees and dead flowers burst into flame, and all at once it turned into my old nightmare of being trapped in a burning building. I was seven years old again, and crying for Daddy. He walked out of the inferno, with a face just like mine, but with sunglasses on. "Daddy!" I called, relieved. "You came for me!" He took his glasses off, and his eyes were all black, with no whites at all. They were cold and unfeeling. "Why should I save you?" he said. "You reject me and your sister. Why don't you spit on my grave while you're at it? I should have left you here to die." I choked on tears, trying to say I was sorry and promise to be better.
But before I could speak, a terrible, high, reverberating SOUND ripped me away.
I woke up sweating and immediately sat up, then grabbed my ears. It had all been a dream, except for the sound. It was like a girl's scream, but almost ultrasonic in its shrieks, infinitely louder, and like having needles raining into your ears. For my broken arm it was torture to be held up, but not having my ears blocked would have been much worse. Even with my hands there I had trouble thinking.
My eyes frantically darted around for the source of the noise. The first thing I noticed was that the glass in my window had shattered, the shards fallen outside. The second thing was that a helicopter was parked out there, and a figure was running towards it. The third thing was when I looked over the other side of my bed. Silent Spirit was beside me, curled up on the next bed and asleep, without her sunglasses, and wearing disarmingly cute pajamas. I realized that she couldn't hear the screaming, and wondered why the heck she was there. She was too far away for me to shake her. Desperately, I hoped that we would be okay. My dream made me nervous. I didn't want to be the indirect cause of another girl's death.
At long last the siren ended. Sighing with relief, I wondered what I was supposed to do next. Nothing is going to happen, I told myself. X-Ray said that nobody attacks the hospital wing...what the ---- is happening out there? Through the window I could see more people running towards the helicopter. What followed was a scene straight out of an action movie or comic book. Red lights flashed, thunder and lighting came out of nowhere, and yells and cries drifted up from the lawn. It was too dark for me to see anyone's faces, but it certainly was a dramatic scrap. Please, God, I prayed, please let all the trouble be down there, not in here. I can't run, and I can't wake her up if she needs to flee. Or just at least may I be able to wake her if she needs it. I won't be picky.
My stomach seemed to run away when I looked out towards the door. First I smelled smoke, then I saw my worst phobia: fire. At the moment there was only an orange glow visible, but it was enough to send my adrenaline to new heights. I anxiously stared at Spirit on the bed beside me, and was struck by inspiration. With my good arm I reached out, took out one of the paperbacks she'd lent me, and gently tossed it at her. She moved but didn't open her eyes. I dropped another one, then another. Yes! Yes! It worked! At first her eyes opened feebly, then they bolted fully awake. I shivered to see them, since they were just like my father's in my dream. When she looked at me I couldn't see my own reflection in her eyes. They were as open and round as a frightened cat's.
"Go now!" I whispered intensely. "Run. You can make it. Leave me here."
She shook her head. Her mouth made a "no".
"I don't want your death on my hands." I pushed her away from my side. Spirit sat down on the other bed, out of my reach again. She took a pen from the desk and wrote something on the back of the nearest piece of paper, which was the back of the family photo. "Turn around!" I said, urgently.
She turned, and saw what I saw. Coming towards us was a boy. He was about my age, which I still find terrifying, even more frightening than what we saw him doing. In his hands, but not touching them, were spheres of flame. When he swept his hands around the walls, the fire streamed out to them and caught onto the walls, licking them with orange tongues. He looked like any other kid off the street, except for the smile he had on his face, which was the most sadistically joyful thing I've ever seen. Plainly, he was burning for the sheer thrill of destruction. Then he noticed us, and an even bigger grin covered his face.
"Well well well..." he drawled, "If it isn't the" something I will not write "we ran over. How appropriate. Do you like fire?"
"You sick freak!" I yelled, involuntarily.
He laughed. "Good one. And who's the girl?"
Spirit stood up, and slowly walked towards him. Her silver hair was tangled and wild. She looked different than in the day, more...inhuman. No, that's not it. Unearthly is better, but doesn't quite describe it. Her mouth was moving, but I couldn't make any sense of it. The boy seemed to become slightly nervous, probably thinking that she was going to do something awful with an incredible power. I gulped in fright, certain that SS would be incinerated.
"Don't mess with me!" commanded the boy, sending a fireball at both of us. She jumped in front of it. I screamed, for her fur caught on fire. Spirit was wreathed in flame, and had eyes of agony. She dropped to the ground and rolled, trying to extinguish the burning. He laughed and was growing another fireball, to send at me. I ducked and pulled the covers over my head, ignoring the pain in my arm and leg. This is it, I thought.
Then a thump, and a crashing sound, followed by a burst of cool air. No fire struck me. I looked back out, and could have cheered. The fireball was now a shattered block of ice on the ground. The boy who had attacked us was lying, spread-eagled, on the floor, either dead or unconscious. Spirit was also on the floor, with frost encrusted all over her body. Standing at the door was Iceman, Spy, and Techie. Iceman was busy freezing the flames. "Thank goodness you're here!" I gasped out.
Spy ran towards Spirit and put her ear to her friend's chest. "She's all right," she announced. "What about him?" she asked Techie, who was checking the boy, and had begun to push on his chest. "Hey, you know CPR?"
"Not very well," he answered. "Pyro's heart has stopped. I'll take him to a teacher outside. Fast." He ran out, pulling Pyro's limp body after him.
Pyro, I mused. Pyromaniac. How appropriate. It does sound better than "Arson". I shivered, and asked Spy, "Where were you? Why'd you come?"
"Outside," she said. "There's an underground tunnel system that we take in an emergency, to evacuate. When I was running out I didn't have time to find Myra, but once I was safe I used my clairvoyance to find her. I knew you were in trouble, so I dragged Bobby along. Jim ran after us." She took a deep breath. "I am never going to let her come her again without me!"
Iceman finished crystallizing the walls, and asked me, "Are you okay?"
"I will be, thanks to you. How did you knock that guy out?"
"Pyro?" he asked, spitting out the name. "I didn't do that. Did you, Spy?"
"No," she said. "Myra did."
"What? How..."
"I'll explain once you help me get her onto the bed," she replied. The two of them lifted Spirit up and lay her down. Spirit opened her eyes, and smiled weakly. Spy must have telepathically told her to relax and rest, because she closed them again and fell asleep. The telepath-clairvoyant straightened the (very big) shirt she had worn to bed, and explained quietly and concisely. "Myra hasn't told anyone but me and the Professor, but nobody's asked, so I think it's okay. She found out that, somehow, she can just make someone's heart stop if she's afraid and threatened enough. It must be because she's so closely connected to death. We're not quite sure."
"Creepy," said Iceman, wonderingly. "But useful. Guess I won't be playing any Halloween pranks on her."
"And what was that sound?" I asked.
Spy grimaced. "Siryn."
"I know it was a siren, but where did you get the sound?"
"No, no, SiRYN. Also known as Tracy. It's a recording of her screaming."
I was about to open my mouth to say something else, but someone else joined us before I could speak.
"We're okay, Logan," Iceman said to the man who rushed towards us. The man looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties had strange sideburns that grew down to his jaw, was very muscular, and obviously didn't wear a shirt when he slept.
"What happened?" Logan asked, looking around at the ice everywhere.
"Pyro came, Wolverine, " Spy said. "He was burning the place down, and nearly killed Myra and Ryan. But we fortunately got here before he did. Didn't you see Jim dragging him away? Pyro was unconscious and badly hurt, and Jim wanted to get him to one of you teachers."
Logan/Wolverine shook his head. "Must've missed him. Wait a minute..." He turned to the window. We all looked out. The helicopter that had landed outside rose in the air and took off. The wind created by its blades swept threw the room, then they were gone. "They're gone!" he shouted angrily, then swore.
My nerves weren't in very good shape by now, so I (this is embarrassing) shrieked when the next person arrived. There was a popping sound, and a mutant suddenly appeared in the room. Then I supressed another yell at his appearance, not wanting to hurt his feelings. It was another adult, but he was a dark blue color, and had a tail! He only had pants and an undershirt on. And he was holding on, tightly, to Techie.
"Jim!" exclaimed Spy, darting over to him. "Thank you, Kurt," she said to the blue man, who lay him down on another bed. "Where did you find him? Why is he hurt?"
Techie said, sleepily, eyes still closed, "It's okay, Mandy. Just a cut and some bruises."
"What happened to Pyro?" she asked.
"Pyro? He's here?" Techie pushed himself up. "What's Spirit doing here? Why's the room frozen?"
"But you were here a minute ago!" Then Spy froze, and whispered, "Mystique."
Iceman slumped to the floor. "It would just have to be wouldn't it?" He sounded miserable.
Wolverine said, "Do you mean she took him back? Oh no. Then they all got away."
"What's this about?" asked Kurt. I noticed that he pronounced th a little bit like z, though it wasn't glaringly obvious. He saw me for the first time. "Oh, hello." His tone was mildly astonished but friendly.
"I don't know either," I said. "Who's Mystique?"
"A shape-shifter," Spy told me. "She can look and sound like any person. If I hadn't been so worried I could've read her mind and known, but..." She wrang her hands. "So they tried to kidnap Jim?"
"Yes," answered Kurt. "But Techie stopped the engine, you see, so we were able to get him out again. Storm went off to make sure Professor Xavier was safe, so Scott and I took the boy back. Magneto had a knife and he put it to Techie's neck with his magnetism, and said he would kill him if he didn't fix the helicopter or if we stopped Magneto from leaving. I went in with Techie, and as soon as he finished I teleported us here."
"But how-"I began, but Spy cut in.
"Why don't we all go back to bed?" she said, "And leave these three here. I think everything will be explained tomorrow. Thank you for helping, Bobby. And, Kurt..." She gave the blue man a hug. He looked surprised but hugged her back. "Thank you for saving Jim. Good night, Wolverine." Then she stared at me, and smiled, thinking to me, You've got plenty more to think about, Ryan.
Why does that always happen?
In my dream I was heading on a bus to New York, just like I had planned, without a sign of injury. For some reason, Crystal was there, too, sitting beside me. Like in most dreams, I didn't question anything strange. We talked excitedly about what we'd do in the city once we arrived. When we got off at the stop, however, there was no city. There was only a graveyard, at night, and the moon was shining.
"How weird," I dreamed Crystal saying.
"Let's go look," I replied. There were three huge tombstones in the center of the other graves, covered in moss and ivy. I cleared it away.
"Charles Sing", said one, and "Lily Sing," was next to it. I turned to Crystal, and she was gone. The final one said, "Crystal Norman." Underneath the names, they all said, "Why Ryan, Why?" I gasped, horrified. Then there was a fourth stone that I hadn't seen before, with the same inscription, and "Myra Sing" was carved above it.
Then the trees and dead flowers burst into flame, and all at once it turned into my old nightmare of being trapped in a burning building. I was seven years old again, and crying for Daddy. He walked out of the inferno, with a face just like mine, but with sunglasses on. "Daddy!" I called, relieved. "You came for me!" He took his glasses off, and his eyes were all black, with no whites at all. They were cold and unfeeling. "Why should I save you?" he said. "You reject me and your sister. Why don't you spit on my grave while you're at it? I should have left you here to die." I choked on tears, trying to say I was sorry and promise to be better.
But before I could speak, a terrible, high, reverberating SOUND ripped me away.
I woke up sweating and immediately sat up, then grabbed my ears. It had all been a dream, except for the sound. It was like a girl's scream, but almost ultrasonic in its shrieks, infinitely louder, and like having needles raining into your ears. For my broken arm it was torture to be held up, but not having my ears blocked would have been much worse. Even with my hands there I had trouble thinking.
My eyes frantically darted around for the source of the noise. The first thing I noticed was that the glass in my window had shattered, the shards fallen outside. The second thing was that a helicopter was parked out there, and a figure was running towards it. The third thing was when I looked over the other side of my bed. Silent Spirit was beside me, curled up on the next bed and asleep, without her sunglasses, and wearing disarmingly cute pajamas. I realized that she couldn't hear the screaming, and wondered why the heck she was there. She was too far away for me to shake her. Desperately, I hoped that we would be okay. My dream made me nervous. I didn't want to be the indirect cause of another girl's death.
At long last the siren ended. Sighing with relief, I wondered what I was supposed to do next. Nothing is going to happen, I told myself. X-Ray said that nobody attacks the hospital wing...what the ---- is happening out there? Through the window I could see more people running towards the helicopter. What followed was a scene straight out of an action movie or comic book. Red lights flashed, thunder and lighting came out of nowhere, and yells and cries drifted up from the lawn. It was too dark for me to see anyone's faces, but it certainly was a dramatic scrap. Please, God, I prayed, please let all the trouble be down there, not in here. I can't run, and I can't wake her up if she needs to flee. Or just at least may I be able to wake her if she needs it. I won't be picky.
My stomach seemed to run away when I looked out towards the door. First I smelled smoke, then I saw my worst phobia: fire. At the moment there was only an orange glow visible, but it was enough to send my adrenaline to new heights. I anxiously stared at Spirit on the bed beside me, and was struck by inspiration. With my good arm I reached out, took out one of the paperbacks she'd lent me, and gently tossed it at her. She moved but didn't open her eyes. I dropped another one, then another. Yes! Yes! It worked! At first her eyes opened feebly, then they bolted fully awake. I shivered to see them, since they were just like my father's in my dream. When she looked at me I couldn't see my own reflection in her eyes. They were as open and round as a frightened cat's.
"Go now!" I whispered intensely. "Run. You can make it. Leave me here."
She shook her head. Her mouth made a "no".
"I don't want your death on my hands." I pushed her away from my side. Spirit sat down on the other bed, out of my reach again. She took a pen from the desk and wrote something on the back of the nearest piece of paper, which was the back of the family photo. "Turn around!" I said, urgently.
She turned, and saw what I saw. Coming towards us was a boy. He was about my age, which I still find terrifying, even more frightening than what we saw him doing. In his hands, but not touching them, were spheres of flame. When he swept his hands around the walls, the fire streamed out to them and caught onto the walls, licking them with orange tongues. He looked like any other kid off the street, except for the smile he had on his face, which was the most sadistically joyful thing I've ever seen. Plainly, he was burning for the sheer thrill of destruction. Then he noticed us, and an even bigger grin covered his face.
"Well well well..." he drawled, "If it isn't the" something I will not write "we ran over. How appropriate. Do you like fire?"
"You sick freak!" I yelled, involuntarily.
He laughed. "Good one. And who's the girl?"
Spirit stood up, and slowly walked towards him. Her silver hair was tangled and wild. She looked different than in the day, more...inhuman. No, that's not it. Unearthly is better, but doesn't quite describe it. Her mouth was moving, but I couldn't make any sense of it. The boy seemed to become slightly nervous, probably thinking that she was going to do something awful with an incredible power. I gulped in fright, certain that SS would be incinerated.
"Don't mess with me!" commanded the boy, sending a fireball at both of us. She jumped in front of it. I screamed, for her fur caught on fire. Spirit was wreathed in flame, and had eyes of agony. She dropped to the ground and rolled, trying to extinguish the burning. He laughed and was growing another fireball, to send at me. I ducked and pulled the covers over my head, ignoring the pain in my arm and leg. This is it, I thought.
Then a thump, and a crashing sound, followed by a burst of cool air. No fire struck me. I looked back out, and could have cheered. The fireball was now a shattered block of ice on the ground. The boy who had attacked us was lying, spread-eagled, on the floor, either dead or unconscious. Spirit was also on the floor, with frost encrusted all over her body. Standing at the door was Iceman, Spy, and Techie. Iceman was busy freezing the flames. "Thank goodness you're here!" I gasped out.
Spy ran towards Spirit and put her ear to her friend's chest. "She's all right," she announced. "What about him?" she asked Techie, who was checking the boy, and had begun to push on his chest. "Hey, you know CPR?"
"Not very well," he answered. "Pyro's heart has stopped. I'll take him to a teacher outside. Fast." He ran out, pulling Pyro's limp body after him.
Pyro, I mused. Pyromaniac. How appropriate. It does sound better than "Arson". I shivered, and asked Spy, "Where were you? Why'd you come?"
"Outside," she said. "There's an underground tunnel system that we take in an emergency, to evacuate. When I was running out I didn't have time to find Myra, but once I was safe I used my clairvoyance to find her. I knew you were in trouble, so I dragged Bobby along. Jim ran after us." She took a deep breath. "I am never going to let her come her again without me!"
Iceman finished crystallizing the walls, and asked me, "Are you okay?"
"I will be, thanks to you. How did you knock that guy out?"
"Pyro?" he asked, spitting out the name. "I didn't do that. Did you, Spy?"
"No," she said. "Myra did."
"What? How..."
"I'll explain once you help me get her onto the bed," she replied. The two of them lifted Spirit up and lay her down. Spirit opened her eyes, and smiled weakly. Spy must have telepathically told her to relax and rest, because she closed them again and fell asleep. The telepath-clairvoyant straightened the (very big) shirt she had worn to bed, and explained quietly and concisely. "Myra hasn't told anyone but me and the Professor, but nobody's asked, so I think it's okay. She found out that, somehow, she can just make someone's heart stop if she's afraid and threatened enough. It must be because she's so closely connected to death. We're not quite sure."
"Creepy," said Iceman, wonderingly. "But useful. Guess I won't be playing any Halloween pranks on her."
"And what was that sound?" I asked.
Spy grimaced. "Siryn."
"I know it was a siren, but where did you get the sound?"
"No, no, SiRYN. Also known as Tracy. It's a recording of her screaming."
I was about to open my mouth to say something else, but someone else joined us before I could speak.
"We're okay, Logan," Iceman said to the man who rushed towards us. The man looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties had strange sideburns that grew down to his jaw, was very muscular, and obviously didn't wear a shirt when he slept.
"What happened?" Logan asked, looking around at the ice everywhere.
"Pyro came, Wolverine, " Spy said. "He was burning the place down, and nearly killed Myra and Ryan. But we fortunately got here before he did. Didn't you see Jim dragging him away? Pyro was unconscious and badly hurt, and Jim wanted to get him to one of you teachers."
Logan/Wolverine shook his head. "Must've missed him. Wait a minute..." He turned to the window. We all looked out. The helicopter that had landed outside rose in the air and took off. The wind created by its blades swept threw the room, then they were gone. "They're gone!" he shouted angrily, then swore.
My nerves weren't in very good shape by now, so I (this is embarrassing) shrieked when the next person arrived. There was a popping sound, and a mutant suddenly appeared in the room. Then I supressed another yell at his appearance, not wanting to hurt his feelings. It was another adult, but he was a dark blue color, and had a tail! He only had pants and an undershirt on. And he was holding on, tightly, to Techie.
"Jim!" exclaimed Spy, darting over to him. "Thank you, Kurt," she said to the blue man, who lay him down on another bed. "Where did you find him? Why is he hurt?"
Techie said, sleepily, eyes still closed, "It's okay, Mandy. Just a cut and some bruises."
"What happened to Pyro?" she asked.
"Pyro? He's here?" Techie pushed himself up. "What's Spirit doing here? Why's the room frozen?"
"But you were here a minute ago!" Then Spy froze, and whispered, "Mystique."
Iceman slumped to the floor. "It would just have to be wouldn't it?" He sounded miserable.
Wolverine said, "Do you mean she took him back? Oh no. Then they all got away."
"What's this about?" asked Kurt. I noticed that he pronounced th a little bit like z, though it wasn't glaringly obvious. He saw me for the first time. "Oh, hello." His tone was mildly astonished but friendly.
"I don't know either," I said. "Who's Mystique?"
"A shape-shifter," Spy told me. "She can look and sound like any person. If I hadn't been so worried I could've read her mind and known, but..." She wrang her hands. "So they tried to kidnap Jim?"
"Yes," answered Kurt. "But Techie stopped the engine, you see, so we were able to get him out again. Storm went off to make sure Professor Xavier was safe, so Scott and I took the boy back. Magneto had a knife and he put it to Techie's neck with his magnetism, and said he would kill him if he didn't fix the helicopter or if we stopped Magneto from leaving. I went in with Techie, and as soon as he finished I teleported us here."
"But how-"I began, but Spy cut in.
"Why don't we all go back to bed?" she said, "And leave these three here. I think everything will be explained tomorrow. Thank you for helping, Bobby. And, Kurt..." She gave the blue man a hug. He looked surprised but hugged her back. "Thank you for saving Jim. Good night, Wolverine." Then she stared at me, and smiled, thinking to me, You've got plenty more to think about, Ryan.
Why does that always happen?