Sorry for the delay. I'm really bad at updated my stuff, as anyone who's been reading "Corma" (FINISHED!) will tell you. So, please enjoy.
The corridor was cold, and steely, gray walls herded Anne towards the pin prick of light that glimmered in the seemingly far away end. She shivered, running her hands along her arms in a weak attempt to warm herself. Odd, jumpy shadows splayed across the dimly shimmering walls, a smoky trail of her captor's inconsistent movement before her. Somehow, she felt strangely comforted knowing that he was nearby, although it was his fault she was wherever she was and away from her bed and her uncle.
The pin prick in the distance grew brighter and closer with every echoing step they took, until the light bloomed into an illuminated room. A single shaft of light from a skylight above served up enough sun to brighten the place, decorated in the same steely unfriendliness as the preceding hall. There were two halls that fed off of the room and Anne obediently, and helplessly, followed when he turned into one of the passages.
The hall was similar to the one she had just left, except that this one was much shorter, lasting only a few, dark steps, until it fed into a large room. Anne stuck to the entryway, her eyes transfixed in more wonderment that fear, although the fear was also there. Before her, in another steel-plated room, sat the rec room from the mansion, verbatim. The same sofa, the same end tables, rugs, vases, fireplace, everything was made almost to exact detail.
"Feels like home, no?" a smoothly mature voice floated across Anne's attention, turning it from the oak and Persian weaves before her, to a debonair and older looking gentleman sitting in a high back chair by the fire. Scott's chair.
"I made sure that every last detail was right. And it is, isn't it?"
Although Anne was intimidated by the steel haired stranger, she found she wasn't frightened, and managed a small nod in response to his question.
"Please sit down." He said, motioning to the couch. It was more of a polite order than a request, but she only realized this when the man who had taken her all this way gently took her arm in his nimble fingers and guided her to the richly upholstered piece. She sank down into the pillows and all but swooned. After the trying ordeal of getting to this room, she was more than thankful for soft, and slightly chilly, velvets and silks.
"I trust you didn't have trouble getting her here?" The distinguished one said to the yellow-eyed one, who was standing in the small patch of shadows behind the sofa, behind Anne.
'No, no trouble at all," He replied in that wonderfully languid accent. Anne felt the smallest hint of a smile creep across her face as she closed her eyes and let his voice wash over her as she languished in all of the pleasures the couch could bring. "There was no one around, which was nice, and Xavier didn't seem to know I was there, which was,"
"Odd." He finished for him, pressing a slender finger to his pursed lips in thought.
"Um, sir?"
"Yes, Toad, what is it?" Anne looked strangely at the older gentleman for saying such a thing to what was seemingly a very loyal henchmen. She was sure she'd felt the man behind her, Toad, flinch slightly when the word was said, but when he spoke, he seemed as un-phased as he usually was.
"It's the girl sir. She's been out all day. I think maybe she might want to be taken to her room and given a chance for a shower."
"Excellent idea Toad." He said, folding hi hands in his lap and a giving Anne a thin lipped smile that didn't fill her with the greatest of comfort. "Now, my dear Miss Boleyn. My, but your parents did have the flare for the historical, didn't they?" He chuckled. "The reason you're here is,"
"I know why I'm here sir." She interrupted, shocking the man into silence. "You're holding me until my uncle pays whatever it is you're asking from him, which he will, and then I'll go home. There's really no reason to explain anything to me. I've been through this a few times before.' She said, quite confident in her skills as a hostage.
"My, but aren't we the seasoned pro?" He grinned. "And, in your vast experiences, have you ever escaped?"
"No need to really. Uncle Charles and the X-Men will save me." She replied, non-plused and totally unaware of the very real and unsavable danger she was in.
"Well, then I'm sure you'll want to follow our young man's advice and take a brief repose. I'm sure you'll want to be refreshed when you're daring rescue occurs. Wouldn't want the young studs of the leather jumpsuit club to see you in mud stained Pajamas." He smirked again and motioned to the man behind the couch. A hand was placed on her shoulder and she felt the fingers close around her collar bone, giving her a small squeeze.
"I shall see you later, Miss Boleyn. Or shall I call you Anne?"
"My name's not Anne," she corrected, a touch of righteous indignation in her voice. "It's Annabelle."
"My, my. A dead queen and a Poe heroine. Jackie and Felix really did have a bizarre sense of humor, did they not?"
"How do you know my parent's names?" She mumbled, her face betraying her confusion.
"I think you should show Miss Annabelle to her room now, Toad." He said, dismissing any further conversation with a wave of his hand.
Anne took the hint and stood up, waiting for Toad to take her by the arm and lead her around the great metal labyrinth like a blind lab rat. What she got instead was a gentle, "Come on." and the smallest hint of a grin before he turned and started down yet another hall. Anne gave a final look at he who was now her captor, and found him staring into the well stoked fire.
"Come on Miss Boleyn. I'm sure you'd like a nice shower right about now, yea?" Toad pleaded nonchalantly behind her. She mentally shrugged off all thoughts of the man by the fire and followed Toad.
Once they were out of earshot, which was a while considering the echo-ness of the entire place, Toad whispered, "You're not being held for ransom."
"What?" she whispered back.
"He's not holding you for ransom. The professor wont know you're here, so there wont be anyone coming to get you."
"Of course not." she said, not believing that she would go unrescued. "So, what am I here for if not ransom? Or are you high enough in the food chain around here to know?" She didn't want to be snippy with him, given his treatment of her earlier. But he was being a bit too much about her not leaving and she was not in the mood to have some guard on a power trip try to break her spirits.
"He's going to experiment on you, Annie." He said quite bitingly. "He's got some plan that needs a guinea pig, and seeing as you're human, that makes you expendable. And seeing as you're Xavier's niece, that makes expending you more of a pleasure than not. So I'd watch what you say and do around here. You might find that having a friend around here to be to your advantage." He stopped suddenly and slammed open a sliding steel door well hidden in the wall. A sparse but comfy looking room appeared before Anne and she took a few awed steps inside.
"This looks... extensive." She thought aloud, then turned to look at Toad. " You're really planning on keeping me here for a while?" she asked, beginning to get disturbed.
"You don't listen much back at that mansion of yours, do you?" He smirked, leaning against the door jam and crossing his arms over his broad chest.
"You don't understand, I always get rescued. They swoop in, hit a few guys and take me home. That's how this works."
"Look kid, I'm really sorry. But this isn't going to be simple at all. If I were you, I'd take a shower and lie down for a bit. I'll go get you a change of clothes if ya want."
Anne didn't move, just stood there, staring at him. Toad nodded and quietly slipped out, sliding the door closed behind him. The thick metal thunked as it shut and Anne was shocked by the loudness of the sound. her knees buckled in a startled reaction and she quickly sank to the carpeted floor. The room grew quiet as the echo calmed, and there was nothing in the vacuous silence, except the smallest sound of Anne weeping into her shaking hands.
The corridor was cold, and steely, gray walls herded Anne towards the pin prick of light that glimmered in the seemingly far away end. She shivered, running her hands along her arms in a weak attempt to warm herself. Odd, jumpy shadows splayed across the dimly shimmering walls, a smoky trail of her captor's inconsistent movement before her. Somehow, she felt strangely comforted knowing that he was nearby, although it was his fault she was wherever she was and away from her bed and her uncle.
The pin prick in the distance grew brighter and closer with every echoing step they took, until the light bloomed into an illuminated room. A single shaft of light from a skylight above served up enough sun to brighten the place, decorated in the same steely unfriendliness as the preceding hall. There were two halls that fed off of the room and Anne obediently, and helplessly, followed when he turned into one of the passages.
The hall was similar to the one she had just left, except that this one was much shorter, lasting only a few, dark steps, until it fed into a large room. Anne stuck to the entryway, her eyes transfixed in more wonderment that fear, although the fear was also there. Before her, in another steel-plated room, sat the rec room from the mansion, verbatim. The same sofa, the same end tables, rugs, vases, fireplace, everything was made almost to exact detail.
"Feels like home, no?" a smoothly mature voice floated across Anne's attention, turning it from the oak and Persian weaves before her, to a debonair and older looking gentleman sitting in a high back chair by the fire. Scott's chair.
"I made sure that every last detail was right. And it is, isn't it?"
Although Anne was intimidated by the steel haired stranger, she found she wasn't frightened, and managed a small nod in response to his question.
"Please sit down." He said, motioning to the couch. It was more of a polite order than a request, but she only realized this when the man who had taken her all this way gently took her arm in his nimble fingers and guided her to the richly upholstered piece. She sank down into the pillows and all but swooned. After the trying ordeal of getting to this room, she was more than thankful for soft, and slightly chilly, velvets and silks.
"I trust you didn't have trouble getting her here?" The distinguished one said to the yellow-eyed one, who was standing in the small patch of shadows behind the sofa, behind Anne.
'No, no trouble at all," He replied in that wonderfully languid accent. Anne felt the smallest hint of a smile creep across her face as she closed her eyes and let his voice wash over her as she languished in all of the pleasures the couch could bring. "There was no one around, which was nice, and Xavier didn't seem to know I was there, which was,"
"Odd." He finished for him, pressing a slender finger to his pursed lips in thought.
"Um, sir?"
"Yes, Toad, what is it?" Anne looked strangely at the older gentleman for saying such a thing to what was seemingly a very loyal henchmen. She was sure she'd felt the man behind her, Toad, flinch slightly when the word was said, but when he spoke, he seemed as un-phased as he usually was.
"It's the girl sir. She's been out all day. I think maybe she might want to be taken to her room and given a chance for a shower."
"Excellent idea Toad." He said, folding hi hands in his lap and a giving Anne a thin lipped smile that didn't fill her with the greatest of comfort. "Now, my dear Miss Boleyn. My, but your parents did have the flare for the historical, didn't they?" He chuckled. "The reason you're here is,"
"I know why I'm here sir." She interrupted, shocking the man into silence. "You're holding me until my uncle pays whatever it is you're asking from him, which he will, and then I'll go home. There's really no reason to explain anything to me. I've been through this a few times before.' She said, quite confident in her skills as a hostage.
"My, but aren't we the seasoned pro?" He grinned. "And, in your vast experiences, have you ever escaped?"
"No need to really. Uncle Charles and the X-Men will save me." She replied, non-plused and totally unaware of the very real and unsavable danger she was in.
"Well, then I'm sure you'll want to follow our young man's advice and take a brief repose. I'm sure you'll want to be refreshed when you're daring rescue occurs. Wouldn't want the young studs of the leather jumpsuit club to see you in mud stained Pajamas." He smirked again and motioned to the man behind the couch. A hand was placed on her shoulder and she felt the fingers close around her collar bone, giving her a small squeeze.
"I shall see you later, Miss Boleyn. Or shall I call you Anne?"
"My name's not Anne," she corrected, a touch of righteous indignation in her voice. "It's Annabelle."
"My, my. A dead queen and a Poe heroine. Jackie and Felix really did have a bizarre sense of humor, did they not?"
"How do you know my parent's names?" She mumbled, her face betraying her confusion.
"I think you should show Miss Annabelle to her room now, Toad." He said, dismissing any further conversation with a wave of his hand.
Anne took the hint and stood up, waiting for Toad to take her by the arm and lead her around the great metal labyrinth like a blind lab rat. What she got instead was a gentle, "Come on." and the smallest hint of a grin before he turned and started down yet another hall. Anne gave a final look at he who was now her captor, and found him staring into the well stoked fire.
"Come on Miss Boleyn. I'm sure you'd like a nice shower right about now, yea?" Toad pleaded nonchalantly behind her. She mentally shrugged off all thoughts of the man by the fire and followed Toad.
Once they were out of earshot, which was a while considering the echo-ness of the entire place, Toad whispered, "You're not being held for ransom."
"What?" she whispered back.
"He's not holding you for ransom. The professor wont know you're here, so there wont be anyone coming to get you."
"Of course not." she said, not believing that she would go unrescued. "So, what am I here for if not ransom? Or are you high enough in the food chain around here to know?" She didn't want to be snippy with him, given his treatment of her earlier. But he was being a bit too much about her not leaving and she was not in the mood to have some guard on a power trip try to break her spirits.
"He's going to experiment on you, Annie." He said quite bitingly. "He's got some plan that needs a guinea pig, and seeing as you're human, that makes you expendable. And seeing as you're Xavier's niece, that makes expending you more of a pleasure than not. So I'd watch what you say and do around here. You might find that having a friend around here to be to your advantage." He stopped suddenly and slammed open a sliding steel door well hidden in the wall. A sparse but comfy looking room appeared before Anne and she took a few awed steps inside.
"This looks... extensive." She thought aloud, then turned to look at Toad. " You're really planning on keeping me here for a while?" she asked, beginning to get disturbed.
"You don't listen much back at that mansion of yours, do you?" He smirked, leaning against the door jam and crossing his arms over his broad chest.
"You don't understand, I always get rescued. They swoop in, hit a few guys and take me home. That's how this works."
"Look kid, I'm really sorry. But this isn't going to be simple at all. If I were you, I'd take a shower and lie down for a bit. I'll go get you a change of clothes if ya want."
Anne didn't move, just stood there, staring at him. Toad nodded and quietly slipped out, sliding the door closed behind him. The thick metal thunked as it shut and Anne was shocked by the loudness of the sound. her knees buckled in a startled reaction and she quickly sank to the carpeted floor. The room grew quiet as the echo calmed, and there was nothing in the vacuous silence, except the smallest sound of Anne weeping into her shaking hands.