Out of Control

Chapter 1: Arriving

"Get out Kess, you can't come back here anymore. One foot within the front of the building and I swear I'll call the police on you."

The door slammed in front of Kess' face before she could reply. She hammered on the flyers that stuck to every available place on the wooden door. "Shark!" she shouted, "Let me back in! You can't leave me out here. Shark!" Kess banged once more on the door and ripped the poster for the latest new talent off with an anger sigh. "Where the hell does he expect me to go?" she asked as she picked up her duffel bag and walked out into the night away from the dingy little rock club. She wandered all over the streets of New York City, letting her feet take her wherever they thought best. She stopped at one point to pull out a long black trench coat and put it on over her torn jeans and grey hooded sweatshirt. This was the second place she had been fired from in the past two months. The reason had been unprovoked violence to a customer but Kesskallome just rolled her eyes at that. But whether or not she had really deserved to be fired from Raven's, a local rock club, or not she was still alone out in the cold of a New York November. As midnight drew closer she pulled the grey hood up over her long, sleek black hair to shield her darkly tanned face from the bitter wind. She found herself in Central Park and desperately tired. "Go to sleep Kess, you'll find something in morning," she told herself. She'd been without a bed before and now was no different. She found a bench shielded by bushes and trees and set her bag down at one end and lair her head on it. It was lumpy but a better pillow than the wrought iron.

She'd only slept an hour or so when she was awoken by a violent shaking and a gruff, "Get up."

Kess sat up and blinked unsure of where she was until the memory of being fired came back to her. "What do you want?" she said angrily and jerked her arm away from the policeman who held it tightly. "This is a public place, back off."

The policeman signaled to his partner who came over to his side and frowned down at Kess. "It's illegal for people to sleep here. Just like every other bum you're coming down with us to the station. There's a nice warm cell there with your name on it."

"I'm no bum," Kess said with growing anger, "I'm not going to any damn cell, you can kiss my ass."

The first policeman rolled his eyes and took her arm forcefully again and pulled her to her feet, "I'll pass on that," he said, "Let's go."

Kess protested the whole way to the car and banged her fists on the fence that separated her from the policemen. By the time they arrived at the station she had already bruised her hands up and severely annoyed her captors which may have been why they led her to the empty cell with a little more ferocity than was necessary. "You can stay in there until morning," one of them told her as he left. Kess just spat at him.

At around 3 in the morning the policemen came back. "Wake up again," said the first as he let her out of the cell.

Kess rubbed her eyes, clearly sick of being awoken from sleep. "What now? Am I not allowed to sleep on my left side? Only my back?" She sat up with her arms crossed and her tresses curling around her shoulders like snakes.

"No you have visitors waiting for you," he replied with little interest in her opinion on the matter. Kess got up and followed him down the hall and into a dark room where he motioned for her to sit down before he left again.

Kess sat alone in the dark for what seemed like forever with no clue about why she was there and extremely aggravated at continually being woken up. She had taken to watching a tiny spider in its web that stretched from the underside of the table to the top of one of the legs, when the door reopened and a bald man in a wheelchair pushed by a tall African American woman with long white hair entered behind the guard who had woken her up. The bald man put his hand out to her, "Hello Kesskallome I'm Professor Charles Xavier and this is my colleague Ororo Munroe. I own a school out in a nicer area of New York and I'd be honored if you'd join." He smiled politely at her with his outstretched hand and the woman behind him nodded encouragingly to her.

Kess sat unmoved and raised a dark eyebrow. An awkward silence took over the room for a few minutes until the guard coughed. "Young lady are you having hearing problems? Because we have someone down the hall who knows sign language."

Kess glared at the guard, "I can hear just fine thank you. But there must have been some sort of mix-up, you have me confused with someone. I don't know who you are or why on earth you are asking me to come to your school. I'm not sure if you've noticed but education isn't my main forte."

The officer opened his mouth to speak again but before he did anything Charles interrupted, "Kesskallome.."

"Ok stop calling me Kesskallome," Kess said, "First off that name is way to long to keep repeating, I hate how it sounds. Call me Kess if you have to call me anything at all. Second, I don't want a part of any school. I do just fine on my own, I'm not sure what you think you'd gain from my attendance but it's definitely not money. I don't have anything but these clothes and the bag back in the cell. There's no rich mommy and daddy to send me to some private school out in the suburbs. If I were you I'd take my business elsewhere."

Charles' face wavered only for a moment before he spoke again, "Kess, as it is, I'm not asking for any payment, my school is entirely free. My only goal is to help young people like yourself."

"Believe me, there's no one like me out there," Kess said mostly to herself.

You'd be surprised, said a voice in her heard. She looked up quickly at the Professor who smiled and winked at her. "Why don't you just give us a chance?" he asked, "I can't make you stay there only you can do that."

"Or I can," said the officer who had been silent most of the time, "You're under 18 and you can't be out on the streets like last night," Kess started to protest but he kept going, "Unless you come up with some relations in a month you're staying at that school or they're finding you a foster family to stay with. There's enough people wandering the streets of New York already, I won't let another one be out there with them. You can't really think you'd survive by yourself anyway."

Kess' eyes flared, "Last night was a one time deal," she growled, "I have someplace to go, I have a job and I can provide for myself just fine, I've done so for the past 17 years anyway. There's no way in hell I'm staying with a foster family, you've got to be joking."

The whole time the Ororo had been silent, merely observing the girl. She looked almost familiar but not quite. Her distinct features and heavy accent were hard to place but she could tell the girl had not been born in the states, now was English her first language. "I don't see the harm in at least testing out Xavier's Institute. If nothing else it's a nice, warm place to sleep with free food. No one will make you do anything you don't want to do. At least consider it," she said in a warm but strong voice.

The tone she spoke with was commanding but gentle in a way and a part of Kess softened to hear it. She frowned and looked away, angry with herself for letting someone get past her guard. "You don't have too many appetizing choices missy," the officer said impatiently, "We're not going to just set you free so I suggest you make up your mind soon."

Kess weighed the pros and cons of her options in her mind quickly. At least if she went to this school there was probably some way of escaping and it was a lot easier than spending time with foster parents where a child care worker was always at her heels. "Fine," she said finally, "I'll go."

"Don't sound too excited," the guard said, "It's not a death sentence."

Kess glared back at him, "Bite me," she said and was hurried out by the Professor before she made any other comments. She was handed back her duffel bag and lead out into the cold night air for the second time that night and into a black car with darkly tinted windows. Despite the few meek tries at conversation by the two adults she stayed silent all night. Out the window the trees and snow looked like shadows of the real things as they passed, looming over the car like nightmares ready to attack each time. Kess was close to nodding off by the time they pulled up to the tall wrought iron gates outside of a huge mansion and grounds. She yawned and got out of the car, waiting to be told what to do next. "Will I finally be able to sleep now?"

Charles nodded and led the way into the large mansion, wheeling himself along. It was warm inside, much better than the park bench. All the lights were out but Kess could still tell that the high ceiling made room for large pieces of artwork. The mansion was immense, a thousand times bigger than anyplace she had ever lived before. She walked along a hallway looking around her up and down the walls, admiring the paintings and statues that lined the wall. Ororo walked behind her and smiled at her interest. "Like them?" she asked.

Slightly surprised Kess turned around and gave her a blank look. Ororo frowned a little at the response and when she turned back around Kess had to smile some at her self. Once they had walked to a set of stairs Charles stopped. "There's a room up the stairs to the left that's empty, that'll be your room. Tomorrow you can settle in some but the day after that I'd like you to start classes. Do you have any questions Kess?"

Everything he said was straightforward and simple but suddenly Kess wondered how he knew anything. "Yes I do actually. How did you find me?" she asked perplexed.

Xavier smiled and a look passed between him and Ororo which irked Kess. "We have way of doing things that normal people don't. Just like your gift we each have one of our own here and mine helps me find out things that would normally take a lot of work."

Kess frowned, "I still have no idea what you're talking about," she said.

The Professor sighed, "Kess you'll have to admit sometime to your mutation-"

"Mutation?" Kess said a little too loudly, "I don't have any mutation. I'm perfectly healthy!" Her eyes glowed yellow and her small hands curled into tight fists.

Ororo moved forward and put a hand on Kess' shoulder, "Of course you're healthy," she said, "This isn't a bad thing. It's a different kind of mutation; I think you know what we're referring to. I can't describe it any better because you haven't shown us what you can do."

"And I never will," Kess retorted, "I'm not here to show you anything. Right now the only thing I'm interested in doing is sleeping. You'll have to use whatever got you my name and whereabouts to get you my 'mutation'." After that Kess turned on her heel and went up the stairs, her long black coat flying out behind her like a vampire's wings.

Ororo turned to Charles with wide eyes, "I hope you still think she's a good idea," she said.

Charles smiled, "Of course I do. You forget how you were when you were her age. This place isn't very appetizing to anyone at first. She'll come around in time, they all do."

"Or they leave," Ororo muttered as she walked to her room.

Kess slammed the door angrily when she found the empty room. She tossed her bag in the corner and took off her coat. She was absolutely livid. "So that's the reason they wanted me to come here. I bet I'll be some sort of science experiment. Loads of fun," she groaned to herself. She paced the room trying to think of some way she could escape but she was so tired from lack of sleep she couldn't think. "This is crazy!" she yelled at herself, "Kess just lay down and go to sleep for now. Tomorrow you'll think of something, you always think of something." She grabbed her duffel and set it on the bed and pulled out a big tee shirt and short to sleep in. As she was taking off her sweatshirt she noticed a door directly across from the bed that was in the middle of the wall. It wasn't a closet because that was in the corner. When she opened the door she discovered a bathroom with a door across it that opened to another empty room. Despite her anger she was elated to find a shower. She hurried to undress and a long sigh escaped her lips when the hot water cascaded over her shoulders. It was a feeling she hadn't had in a long time. Living at Raven's she didn't get too many showers and even fewer that were hot. She scrubbed at her dirty skin until she forced it to shine. In a sleek black stream her hair hung down to almost the back of her knees as the water washed out shampoo and conditioner. She rubbed her face free from the grime and smoke that stuck in her pores from so many nights of serving food to stoned customers. A fluffy white towel greeted her and dried her skin to a soft velvety smoothness. She slipped into her pajamas at around four in the morning and was asleep in the soft sheets within minutes.

The next morning Kess didn't wake up until almost 1 PM. Her muscles ached and her bones cracked when she moved. When she sat up it took her a little while to figure out where she was but once she did she let her head fall back onto her pillow. Its soft warm embrace wrapped around her and she relaxed. She snoozed again for almost another hour until she finally forced herself awake and the sleep from her eyes. She pulled her jeans and thread-bare concert tee onto her slim but curvy body and brushed out her hair, admiring its sheen from the previous night's shower. She looked in the mirror of the bathroom to check her appearance. Warm skin tanned to a deep golden brown gave way to harsh brown eyes that seemed to hold almost no sympathy or kindness. The shape of her eyebrows gave her a constant glare but after relaxing her muscles she decided that was only the façade she had adopted since her youngest days. She fumbled through her duffel for the Chap Stick she had found one day to apply to her cracked and dry lips. Her black hair fell around her shoulders and in her eyes in a fashion she fancied. After she dressed she sat on her bed and stared out the tall French doors that opened to a small balcony overlooking the wide snow-covered field with trees beyond that. She could see the buildings of the city past hazy clouds and a part of her ached to be back there. In her mind the only option was to get Shark to rehire her and return to Raven's.

Kess grabbed her long jacket and opened her door quietly letting her senses expand to the hall and found that she was entirely alone. Down the stairs and along the hall she stuck out her tongue at various points to test the air and outside of one door she tested something she liked. Through an opening in the door she saw a basket of muffins sitting in the middle of a table and Kess suddenly realized how hungry she was. She hurried into the room and gobbled her first muffin down before she had even sat down. As she started on the second she heard the shuffle of feet as someone else entered the room and she spun in her chair to find Ororo standing in the middle of the kitchen. The defensive look on Kess' face softened only slightly and she turned to continue eating.

The smile that had been on Ororo's face faded to a frown and she walked over, taking up the seat next to Kess. "Slept late I see," she said.

Kess shrugged nonchalantly, "After last night I'm surprised I woke up at all." She pulled off a piece of the muffin and ate it much slower than she had the first one.

Ororo laughed, "Yes that was a late night. I'm glad you got some sleep. Are you ready for you classes tomorrow? I'll bring you a box of books and a schedule you can look at later today if you'd like -"

Kess stood up quickly, "Look I appreciate what you're trying to do, I really do, but stop. What I'd really like is to go back to Raven's, get my job again, and go back to what I was doing. This whole 'let's play house' deal you've got going on here isn't really working for me. I'll see you later." With that she stood up and walked out into the hallway just as a bell started to ring. The doors along the hall opened and students poured out walking to their next class or calling to their friends. Kess froze as people started to surround her, some pushing past her others yelling to each other. Panic started to set in as she seemed to be drowning in the mass of people and she was furious that her feet weren't responding to her command to run. She'd spent the past year pushing through crowds just like this one at Raven's but for some reason now she was more afraid than annoyed. To her relief and surprise a hand clasped her upped arm and pulled her out of the melee.

"Claustrophobic are you?" he said. Kesskallome looked up into the eyes of the person who had taken her out of the mess. He had straight brown hair that fell to his shoulders and in his face. His eyes were brown and had a slight sense of mischief to them.

"No," she said and jerked her arm from his hand, "I'm fine."

"Sure you are," he said, "It's ok, those halls get pretty crowded. Hey you're new aren't you?" he said after a moment and looked at her sideways, "You must be, I've never seen you before."

"Yeah I'm new, but don't get used to my face, I'm not staying," she replied. She leaned back against the wall of the front room which is where he had led her away from all the people.

"Oh really now, prison break?" he smiled at her, "You don't look much like an inmate."

"Why don't you go back to Hell where you came from?" she said icily and walked up the stairs back to her room. He looked after her until she was out of sight then laughed to himself and shook his head then continued on to his next class as the bell rang.

Kess walked past her room and kept going, extremely upset that her feet were able to move now while they had failed her only moments before. She kept walking, past her room and down the hall until she ended up outside of a pair of large doors with the word 'Library' written above them. "Well this looks like fun," Kess said and walked inside. The library was empty except for a group of students in one corner Kess made sure to avoid. She walked along the side of one of the walls with her hands in the pockets of her jacket and read book titles as she passed. When she saw a few books she thought looked interesting she took them down and found a nice, plushy chair to sit in and read. She was halfway through Tess of the D'Urbervilles before she looked up in the fading light and found familiar eyes looking at her. She glared back; it was that aggravating guy who had pulled her from the crowd before. He smiled back and winked despite her glare and tapped the shoulder of his friend and pointed to her. His friend, a pale boy with hair as black as night positioned over one eye turned and looked at her with bright green eyes, like a cat. Her glare suddenly softened and she let the side of her mouth turn up in a smile. She raised an eyebrow and winked at the dark haired boy before picking up her book and leaving. Before she left the library she stole a glimpse of the two and saw the broad smile on the black haired one and the let down look on the brown haired one. She smiled to herself and continued to on to her room.

Kess tossed the book onto her bed and noticed a box at the foot. It had various textbooks and clothes in it and two pieces of paper on top. One was a class schedule with three open spots for elective classes and three that were filled in with Math, English, and History. Kess looked at the second piece of paper which was a note from Ororo. I've sent you a box of the books you'll need for class, a few books from the classes I thought you might choose and some clothes that should fit you. Dinner is at seven o'clock if you decide to join us and classes start tomorrow at 9. You can set your alarm clock for 8:30 if you'd like to join us all for breakfast. I look forward to seeing you in History.

Kess sighed and crumpled the note before trying to make it into the wastebasket. She looked at the clothes in the box. A second pair of jeans which was nice, a skirt that was short and red and some black hose. There were a few shirts as well as tank tops in various colors and a pair of plain black chucks. Kess then pulled out the text books and looked at what classes she could take. She did have a mind for knowledge and the promise of an education was very appetizing to her. As she looked over the list of classes to choose from there were three that caught her eye; Music Appreciation, Drawing, and Creative Writing. She filled them in on her schedule and wrote down the rooms telling herself she could try this out for a little bit and see if she liked it. It would give Shark some time to calm down before re-hiring her anyway.

She'd only eaten once that day and even though her stomach growled she ignored it, there was no way she was going to have dinner with all those people. Getting attached to any of them would only make it harder once she left.