Okay, I tried to make this one longer.
Chapter 3: Foreshadowing
They finally arrived at the Crystal Peaks Ski Resort in Canada around 6:30p.m.
"Wow, this place is remote," Shalimar commented. They all started in awe at the endless sea of pine trees on their left and the jagged hills of white on their right. Finally, they pulled up to a large log cabin inn.
"This is it," Adam said, turning off the engine.
"Geez Louise, this is cold!" Brennan complained as he stepped out of the car.
"Where's your jacket?" asked Shalimar, smiling at his shivering.
"I packed it," he answered irritably.
"This is really creepy, Adam," Jesse piped up, now fully awake. He had slept through almost the entire ride, except when they all started arguing over what music to listen to. Shalimar had wanted some soulful R&B/pop, Brennan wanted some heavy metal, Emma had wanted country, Jesse woke up long enough to request some southern rock or punk, and Adam just wanted to drive in silence. "It's supposed to be a ski resort, but nobody's here," he finished.
"I told you, Dr. Jules closed it down and converted into a science lab. He lives here, too."
"Well, if you ask me, he's missing out on some serious cash. This place is beautiful," said Shalimar.
"Looks can be deceiving," Adam muttered, and led them to the front door. When Dr. Jules finally appeared, the Mutants all shared a look of surprise. They had all been expecting either some kind of mad scientist, or some weak, pale, shell of man to greet them. They were shocked to see that Dr. Jules was just average. About six feet tall, Adam's age with medium build, even kind of muscular, and short, clean cut brown hair. Emma noticed his eyes, an odd, piercing color of gray, and she cringed when she looked into them.
"Adam Kane," the man said with a grin. "It has been a long time, my friend."
"Yes, it has," Adam agreed. They shook hands, then Adam turned and introduced his team.
"David, I'd like you to meet Shalimar Fox, Emma DeLauro, Brennan Mulray, and Jesse Kilmartin." Dr. Jules eyes sized up each mutant as Adam said their name, but his expression changed slightly when he looked at Jesse. 'Was it recognition?' Emma wondered, as she was the only one who noticed. 'If he knew Jesse, why didn't he say so?' She made up her mind then that she did not like this Dr. Jules. He couldn't be trusted.
"Well, what do you say we get out of this cold," Adam said after the formalities. "These bags are heavy."
"Oh, yes of course, how stupid of me, come on in. I'll show you to your rooms." As Dr. Jules closed the door behind them he smiled to himself. 'This will be interesting.'
2 Hours Later:
After eating a delicious meal, Dr. Jules, Adam, and the rest of Mutant X were all sitting around the fire in the living room.
"So do you plan on having any fun while you are here?" asked Dr. Jules.
"Actually, we were wondering if you had any skis or snowmobiles we could rent," Brennan said eagerly.
"Oh, you don't have to pay for anything!" cried Dr. Jules. "Just go out to the garage any time you want. There are all kinds of things in there from when this place was running. But I must ask that you be careful. The land around here is very dangerous. No one has kept track of the property. I'd hate to have anyone get hurt." They all assured him they would be safe, except for Emma, who remained uncomfortably quiet all night. As the mutants headed to their rooms for bed, Adam stayed behind.
"When are you going to show me what you've been working on?" he asked.
"Oh, Adam, you've traveled all day. Get some rest. I'll show you everything tomorrow." With that, Dr. Jules left the room, leaving Adam with his thoughts. He stayed up well into the night, watching the fire die.
"What do you think of the Jules guy?" Emma stood in the guy's room with her arms folded, talking to Jesse as he got ready for bed.
"I think he's definitely creepy," Jesse admitted, setting his laptop on a desk nearby.
"I don't trust him," Emma said firmly.
"Well, neither does Adam, so you're in good company." Normally Jesse would've sat down and had a heart to heart with Emma, but he really wanted to set up his computer. Sometimes he swore he suffered from withdrawal.
"I tried to read him," Emma said quietly. At this Jesse stopped and turned toward her. She rarely read people without their permission, not unless they were bad guys.
"What did you find?" he asked.
"That's just it, he blocked me out. And he shouldn't even know that I'm a psionic. I couldn't get even a little ways in. He really had his guard up."
"Maybe he blocks everything automatically," Jesse suggested. He looked forlornly at his laptop.
"No. This guy is bad. He's up to something, I can feel it. I don't need to read him."
Jesse sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "Look Em, you may be right. But what can we do about it right now? It's 10:30 at night. Why don't you just get some rest, and we can start investigating tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," she said reluctantly, and began walking back toward the room she shared with Shalimar.
"Night," Jesse called.
"Night," she whispered back.
Her sleep was a restless one.
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