And now we pick up where we left off with Serena and Rogue.

The Way Out

Serena sat on her bed still a little confused at what had just happened. She remembered the dark horrible place. The circle of light. The replica... The replica's words kept buzzing in her head ceaselessly. She remembered every word that was said. It took Serena a while to notice that Rogue was still there.

"Are you okay?" Rogue asked.

"I'm fine." Serena said mechanically.

"Another nightmare?"

Serena nodded. "Something like that."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"It was nothing, really."

"You woke up shouting." Rogue told her. "That seems like a little more than nothing."

"You startled me when you woke me up." Serena lied.

"Sorry." Rogue said a little guiltily.

"It's alright," Serena shrugged, "after all it's not like I was having the time of my life or anything." She traced the fabric of her blankets with her finger.

"Something's wrong with you, I can tell."

"Pretty much everyone knows that." Serena said throwing out a fake laugh.

"No I mean…" Rogue sighed. "Look I know you're not insane. You're obviously just having to deal with some issues."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Not really. We all have things to deal with. You should've seen Jean when her powers went haywire."

"It's not just my powers. It's something else."

"Is it something you might want to tell me about?" Rogue asked hopefully.

Serena partly wanted to tell her. She wanted to tell her everything. Just unload all of the stressed weighing down on her mind. But this was something she couldn't share with anyone. If anybody found out, who knows what else could happen. She had to bear the burden on her own. It was after all, her responsibility. "No."

"Oh, I understand."

"Rogue, do you think I'm losing it?"

"Like I said before, you're probably just finding life difficult right now."

"You have no idea."

"No I don't, because you won't tell me."

A pain shot through Serena's head and she grabbed it giving a slight groan. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth hoping it would subside.

"Are you feeling okay?" Rogue said worried.

"I'm fine." Serena rubbed her head. "It's just a headache. I… ngh!" Her medallion gave off a flash. Rogue thought it was probably from the light reflecting off of it.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Rogue asked warily.

Serena lowered her hand from her face glaring at Rogue. "Would you just butt out?" She snarled. Rogue was shocked by this sudden change of character. Serena grabbed her head again. When she lowered it she looked scared.

"I… I'm sorry Rogue." She looked away in shame.

"Serena what's going on?" Rogue asked a little shaken.

"I don't know! Don't you get it? I'm going insane!"

"You haven't lost it, not yet."

"That may be true but still, I need to figure this out for myself. I don't want to hurt anybody else."

"You're not hurting anybody Serena, just yourself, because you won't let us help you."

"Rogue, I'm glad that you want to help me." Serena said a bit edgily. "But this isn't something you can help me with. This is something I have to deal with."

"You don't have to deal with it alone." Rogue said.

"How else am I going to survive?"

"Serena, no one can survive alone. Heck even Wolverine needs help now and then. Just don't tell him I told you that. What I'm trying to say is, even though you're afraid of hurting others, being alone isn't going to solve anything."

"I'm sorry," Serena said wearily. "But I don't know if I'm ready to accept anyone's help yet."

Rogue gave a sigh. "Here." She put what looked like a chain on her bed side table. "Something I found at school. I don't wear stuff like this but… this is just to let you know that, I want to be your friend. And I want to help."

"If it were that easy, I would willingly accept your help. But I don't wanna get hurt again."

"What do you want?" Rogue asked her.

Serena thought. What did she want? "I want to find my way out of all this pain."

"Well, the best thing to do would not be trying to find a way out." Rogue explained. "You should instead try to work through it. And it always helps to have friends to work through things together." Serena just continued staring at the floor. "But you do what you think is best for you." She began to walk out. "You should probably get ready soon. Your classes start the same time ours do."

"Rogue." Serena called. Rogue turned back to look at Serena. The girl on the bed gave a weak smile. "Thanks."

Rogue smiled slightly. "No problem." She turned around and left leaving Serena alone.

Serena pressed her palm against her forehead. What is causing this? Was everything she saw in that dream real? Is there really something inside, waiting to come out? Something that wants to ruin her already ruined life? Why does life have to be this difficult? There has got to be a way out of all this. She put her hand down and glanced over at the chain sitting on the nightstand.

Sorry Rogue. Serena picked up the chain. But the way I see it, there's only one way to cure the pain. She slowly wrapped the chain around her neck. I will make the pain stop… She took both ends of the chain in her hands. …permanently. She pulled on the ends of the chain as hard as she could. The chain tightened around her throat. So tight. She could feel the cold metal cutting into her skin. She started coughing slightly, her lungs desperate for air. She could feel the blood rushing to her head, pounding against her skull. Her face was burning. Her eyes started to water. Her vision was growing dark.

Soon, it would all be over…

This is not looking good. Is she really gonna do this? Please review. Pleeeaaassse!