Out of Control
Chapter 2: Snakehead
Everything was silent as Kesskallome slowly woke from her sleep. The sun was still beyond the horizon, sunken into its celestial bed, not ready to begin the job of lighting the earth. She lay in bed for a few more minutes before she finally left the warm covers for the shower. Water bathed her body, preparing it for a day that could hold anything from fun to disappointment. Once she had woken fully she walked back into her room clad in a towel and changed into a grey turtleneck and jeans. She tried to stay skeptical about her day but the knowledge that she would be spending a whole hour in a class entirely about music was enough to bring a smile to her lips while she made her bed. It was still dark out and the clock on the vanity read 6:45 as she walked downstairs to the kitchen. As she sat and ate a bowl of cereal she started thinking about what she would do if this Institution turned out to be the wrong decision. She was sure the security systems here were more advanced than the ones at the local gas stations and decided that until she could get a better look at the grounds she would have to put up with whatever happened.
At the sound of alarm clocks above her head she decided that it was time for her to leave the kitchen in order to avoid the crowd. It didn't take her long to find the room Music Appreciation was held in and she sat down in the dimly lit room to wait for class to start. Guitars, a drum set, posters and pictures populated the room aside from her. She left her books at her seat in the back and walked over to an instrument in the front of the class. She gently ran her fingers over the guitar string and a soft vibration rushed over her as it always did when the magical sound of the guitar was heard.
"Well look who it is." Kesskallome turned around suddenly and her heart dropped to her feet. The boy from the day before who had led her out of the hallway she had panicked in stood before her. He switched on the lights and crossed his green jacket clad arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall. His long brown hair fell in his face and he shook his head to clear his vision.
"What do you want?" Kess asked as she walked quickly back to her seat. Her footsteps made almost no sound across the carpeted floor and she slid silently into her chair.
He shrugged his shoulders and came to the desk in front of her where he took his own seat. He turned around and held out his hand, "I'm John," he said, "I think that before you get to hating me too much you should at least know my name." His dark brown eyes winked at her and his mischievous persona dictated the smile on his face.
Kesskallome stared at his hand for a moment then up at him, he was not as big this close as she had thought. His physique was fit and lean and any other girl may have batted her eyelashes and smiled intriguingly but not Kesskallome. She shook his hand eventually and against her will his warm touch calmed her. "I'm Kesskallome," she said as she sat back in her chair, "Now that we know each other's names can we never speak again?"
John laughed to himself mainly because the expression on her face was so serious, "You're really not very nice are you?"
"And you're really not very good at taking a hint. Are you?" she replied with a poisonous expression.
John sighed in amusement and turned around just as the teacher walked in. He looked like he was in his thirties and tan stripes lined his skin. Kesskallome tried not to stare at him and as other students began to walk in behind him her attention turned to a scratch on her desk. Through listening to the people around her Kesskallome learned the teacher's name was Eric and that he was apparently a major authority on rock music of the seventies. The bell rang and everyone took their seats while Eric's eyes scanned the class. They came to rest on Kesskallome in the back; he knew who she was because all the faculty of the school had been informed that a new student had arrived and would be joining some classes of her choice. By the looks of her and what he had heard he wasn't so sure he was excited about her decision. "Hello back there," he said over the student's conversations. The class quieted down and all eyes turned to Kesskallome. "Welcome to the Institute and our class. Why don't you stand up and introduce yourself."
Slowly Kesskallome stood up and looked around the class. Eyes of all different colors stared at her and she was sure she would crumble under their gaze. Her skin went cold and she started to pull on her hands and fiddle with her fingers, "I'm…Kesskallome," she said recovering herself and putting a hand on her hip.
Kesskallome sat down quickly and slumped in her seat as Eric started his class. John frowned and felt sorry for her. Even though she had been only hostile to him he could relate to how she felt. He pulled out some paper and handed her a pen, "Here," he said, "For the notes." Kesskallome accepted what he gave her and began to copy down what Eric wrote on the board about the influence of the blues era. The class that Kesskallome had been excited to take dragged on forever until finally a bell rang and the other students hurried out. If she had been looking she would have seen the wink John received from the boy across the row.
"Hey there," said a voice to Kesskallome as she walked out of the room with her head down. Leaning against the wall was the boy who had winked at John. He was tall and thin and his black hair hung distinctly in front of his right eye. His clothes were stiff and uncomfortable but Kesskallome recognized the style from that of all the rock clubs she had been to since she'd come to New York. "I'm Seth, I know you're new so I thought I'd offer to show you around." His smile was smooth but still honest and his emerald eyes gleamed through his dark hair at her.
"I can find my way around just fine without your help," she replied. She didn't return his smile and her dark brown eyes glared at him though he still kept his jovial appearance.
"I'm sure you can, but I think it'll be a lot easier if you just let me show you. I've been here a lot longer than you have. I bet you'll find it's nicer to have a friend than an enemy," Seth said. He began walking down the hall towards other classrooms.
"We'll see about that," Kesskallome said and followed him reluctantly.
"Well, what do you have now? English, Calculus, Auto Mechanics, any of those sound like the right one?" he asked as they walked slowly.
"I have English," Kesskallome replied, "It's in room-"
"119," Seth said and opened the heavy wooden door of the room he had just stopped in front of, "We're classmates again my dear." He stood holding the door open for her and awkwardly Kesskallome passed by him, brushing against his chest as she did so. Seth breathed softly in the smell of her hair while she was so close to him. Kesskallome looked up into his eyes when he did and a shiver moved slowly up her spine and she hurried into the classroom and took a seat near the door. Seth sat behind her just as the bell rang and gave her a smile, "See, it's not so bad getting to know me."
All through the class Kesskallome's mind was preoccupied with confusing thoughts about Seth. While she was ready to ignore his existence like she had tried to do with most other people there was something about him that was intriguing if not appealing to her. She lingered a moment when she passed a paper back to him and he winked when he saw her gaze upon him. Seth brought her to her Calculus class which she shared with John before moving to his own Biology. This time she didn't oppose his suggestion to lead her around and she found herself marveling at him while they walked and he talked. By the end of Calculus it was time for lunch and Kesskallome realized just how hungry she was when her stomach let out a low growl.
"Hungry are we?" John asked as he gathered up his books. Kesskallome gave him a dirty look in reply and pushed her papers into her text book. "You know, in order to eat you're probably going to have to let me show you to the lunch room. I hate to say it, but you may just need to listen to me." He smiled as he spoke with mock seriousness.
"I'd rather starve," she said and left quickly. John watched her leave and again felt a pang of sorrow. By following other students Kesskallome found the lunch room and felt fear begin to set in again when she saw just how many people occupied the space. There were students everywhere; she'd had no idea that many people even lived here.
Someone bumped into her arm as the walked and she dropped a few books. She bent down to pick them up and a hand helped her. "Why don't you come and sit with me," Seth said as he stood up and handed her the book he had touched. Kesskallome agreed and followed him to a round table in the back of the room where two other people sat. She nodded slightly to them and sat in the chair Seth pulled out for her. "Are you hungry?" he asked, "I'll get you something." Before she could reply at all he had run off in the direction of a long line of students. By the time Seth had returned John had also joined the group and sat down with surprise to see Kesskallome with his friends. She ignored his pushes for conversation and made it clear that she had no intention of socializing with others. The minutes ticked by slowly and awkwardly until Seth tried his hand at speaking. "So, where are you from Kesskallome? That sure is a unique name."
Kesskallome ate slowly and paused from her digestion to answer, "Well, I was born in Egypt; the name is a family one from old days. I've moved around a lot since then though."
"Interesting," Seth replied, "Do you mind if we shorten it?"
"Shorten what?"
"Your name. Would you be offended if we called you just Kess?" Seth finished his food and pushed away the tray on which his napkins were now mounted like several small mountains.
Kesskallome nodded quickly, "Of course, most people call me that anyway."
"Good," Seth said, "I like it too." He smiled widely and Kesskallome, against her own will, smiled back shyly.
Lunch ended and the rest of her classes seemed to fly by. The last class she had was Drawing and she sat a table shared by Seth and John. After they had finished their assigned sketches Seth and John began to talk and suddenly John turned to Kess, "Are you training tonight?" he asked.
Kess looked at Seth then back to John, "Training?" she asked.
"Sure, exercising your talents. Seth and I train at six tonight and I assume you will too. It'll be interesting to see your mutation," he smirked and looked her in the eyes. "I can't guess by looking at you."
Kess could feel the color drain from her face. "Exercise my talents? See my mutation? Is this some sort of joke? No one told me anything about that," she said with a tone bordering on fury.
Seth smiled and put a hand no her arm, "No it's ok," he said, "We all do it, everyone here has a mutation. Some you can see and some you can't. Can you tell us what's yours is like?"
Kess looked away and pulled her arm from Seth's grasp. "If you're too shy you don't have to," John offered.
Kess shot him a look, "I'm not shy. It's just…hard to explain…" to her relief the bell rang and she gathered up her drawings and hurried from the room.
"Where's your room?" Seth called after her, "I'll get you for training tonight."
Kess paused at the door and called back, "Second floor, third door on the left," and then she hurried out to her room.
Kess dropped her things on the floor and flopped onto her bed. "Training?" she said out loud, "Are you kidding? After all the time I've spent keeping people from seeing that side of me, they want to undo all that now? You know, I was almost considering staying here for a bit, but that is so not happening." She sat up suddenly with an idea. "Well I guess it couldn't hurt to show them my…talent…if they really want to see it." Though secretly she was hoping it would get her kicked out. No one could think a 'talent' like hers was going to be of any use.
Her plan set firmly in her mind; Kess proceeded to change into a pair of sweat pants she had to cut off at the knees and a tank top. Some sneakers had been left in her room for her and she donned them as five forty-five rolled around and a knock came on her door. Kess opened the door to Seth and, to her dismay, John who were both dressed in basketball shorts and t-shirts. "Ready?" Seth asked.
"Sure," Kess replied and walked with them down the stairs and another hall.
"You going to train with all that hair down?" John asked.
"It appears that way," she replied testily.
"Suit yourself then," he answered and shrugged.
Seth opened the door to a large room with mats set out and a set of weights on one side of the wall. There were three other people in the room Kess' age, Ororo, and a short man with facial hair and feral look. Ororo looked up from talking to the short man and smiled before walking over to Kess and the two with her. "I didn't think I'd see you here today," she said, "I'm glad you came."
"Well I guess we'll see whether I…or you think the same thing when this is over," Kess answered dryly.
Ororo smiled back with just as much attitude as Kess and motioned to the feral man. "Logan this is Kess, she came to us yesterday. Kess this is Logan, you may also hear him called Wolverine, and he's going to be training you today."
Logan looked Kess up and down and she cocked an eyebrow. "Well you look fit enough," he said, "You," he pointed to John, "Pair with her," and then he walked over to the other three students, a two girls and a boy, and called Seth over.
John turned to Kess, "Look-" he began.
"Don't say anything ok?" she replied with a hand up, "I don't want to hear it. Let's just do this."
John shrugged and stood across from her and pulled his hair into a ponytail at the back of his neck. Logan separated the others into groups of two as well and then took his place opposite Ororo. "Alright," he began, "Now at first we're only going to be fighting without your powers, those will come in after. Minimal contact and please, please don't use your full strength," he finished looking pointedly at the blonde boy paired with Seth. Kess looked over at the green eyed boy and received an encouraging smile before Logan let them begin.
Kess turned to John as the others around them began to spar. "What do we do?" she asked.
"Well we fight, but like he said with minimal contact," John replied.
"We just fight?"
"Yes, I'm sure you don't have a problem with that. Now take a swing at me," he said. Still unsure Kess readied herself. She'd been in a few fights before but she was confident she could best John as she had the others. It did feel a little awkward to be fighting so openly so her first shot was fairly weak and he blocked it easily, but that only got her blood pumping. They circled each other like lions before she took another shot and he blocked it just as easily. Kess frowned and decided to stop playing nice. In a moment he had made a move on her but she ducked in time for him to miss and she grabbed his outstretched arm and held it down while she kicked in the back of his knee with hers. "You're fast," he smiled when she let go, "But not fast enough."
"We'll see about that," she replied. And then the fun began. He blocked kicks and punches and even pinned her down once, until she threw him off and had to dodge her own shots. Both were panting when Logan called time and John let Kess up from the pin he had gotten her under a second time.
Rewarded with a five minute water break Seth sat down against the wall with Kess and John and congratulated her, "You looked good out there," he said.
Kess stared into her water, "Thanks," she replied.
"This next round will be more exciting. We get to use powers," John commented.
Kess shifted nervously. "Do we have to?" she asked.
John put a hand on her shoulder, "Hey you don't have to be embarrassed about it. We all have the same kind of problems to deal with. I doubt there's anything about you that is so terrible."
Kess shrugged his hand off, "I already told you I'm not embarrassed," she snapped, "Let's get this over with."
Logan called them out again and Kess took up her spot across from John. "Hey, before we get started do you want to know what it is I can do?"
"Not especially," Kess replied.
"Ok then, but could you tell me what you do? I'd like to be a little prepared."
"Nothing can prepare you for this," she whispered.
"Fine then Kess, fine then," John sighed. Her personality was starting to wear on him a bit. He couldn't imagine that anyone would want to be so isolated but he wasn't about to crack open a shell that had no wish to be cracked, even if there was something about her that made him want to know more.
Logan gave them the sign to go and John let out a low and long whistle and suddenly Kess' world was enveloped in darkness. There was no sound at all except for her steady breathing and she could hear no sounds from the other students. "Hello?" she called out meekly as a freezing wind swirled around her. There was no answer and no warmth anywhere. It was happening again, this dream that only came at night. Had she fainted? She couldn't remember anything except preparing to fight. She had been feeling the rush that came with physical exertion a moment before but now all she felt was fear. Two spots of orange light appeared near her and she jumped. "Oh please no," she whispered and a tear fell down her cheek. She could feel things changing in her stomach and her breathing constricted a little. The two spots of light faded as did the darkness until she was able to see again and the sounds of fighting came back to her ears. She looked around just in time to see John grab her arm and twist her around until she was flat on her back on the floor. "You did that?" she hissed.
John nodded, "I offered you an explanation," he said.
"You're a sick bastard," she replied and then let loose.
Beneath him Kess' skin changed from a dark brown to a bright green that faded to black and finally scales formed. He watched in amazement as the scales grew from her feet up the rest of her body and suddenly he had pinned down a girl with a face like a human but covered in green scales. People around the room paused in their fighting and looked as black claws dug into John's arm and pushed him away. Kess stood up with her black hair hanging down past her waist and suddenly those midnight locks were replaced by a hoard of hissing green snakes. "There," she shouted at John who sat on the floor stunned, "Are you happy now?" The snakes slithered around her shoulders and stood up from her head.
"You're Medusa," John said, regaining his control, "You should have told me."
"I'm Kess," she shrieked, "Kess the Little Demon, the Bringer of Disease, the Snakehead. That's who I am," she began to walk toward him as he stood up. By now everyone in the room was watching. She whirled around to Ororo, "I told you I didn't want to be here. I can't control this," she said and waved her hand up and down indicating herself. "All I can do is keep it hidden."
"Kess, we can help you control it. That's what we're here for," Ororo said and took a step closer.
"No you can't," she replied obviously struggling as her fists clenched and her muscles tensed sporadically. "I've never been able to, a little help from you isn't going to do anything." Finally whatever Kess was fighting against relented and she changed back into her short but curvy, tan-skinned self. Sweat drenched her and she was gasping in breaths.
"Kess calm down," John said and put out a hand to her.
"You back off," she growled at him. "If you ever touch me again you'll regret it." And with that she turned and ran back to her room where she locked the door and refused anyone that knocked on it.
The next morning Kess didn't come out of her room or go to her classes. During the lunch hour Ororo decided to see what she could do. She knocked once to silence, "Kess are you in there? Come on out. You can't live in there forever. I brought some lunch with me, open up."
She waited another minute and was about to leave when the door opened a crack. "What did you bring?" Kess asked.
"Turkey sandwiches," Ororo smiled, "Can we talk?"
Kess nodded, "I guess so," she sighed and opened the door.
The two women sat on the bed and ate in silence. Ororo began the conversation when they finished, "You're not the only one whose mutation affects your appearance Kess," she said, "There's a number of people here who face the same problem, but some of them don't have a 'human' form to change back to. You're lucky."
Kess shook her head, "No I'm not lucky. I can't control it at all. It's hard enough to keep it suppressed in any normal situation but when I'm scared or nervous or just too excited I can't do anything about it. And once I change it takes all my energy to change back. I can't control my strength, my temper, anything, I hate it."
"But we can help you with that Kess," Storm said, "It's not as hard as you think. You have a stable place to be now with people to support you and help you. You've already made two friends I see."
"One," Kess corrected, "Not two."
"Regardless, you've made a friend. Someone who already cares for you and is worried about you. It couldn't hurt you to at least try letting us help you."
Kess sniffed and a tear escaped from her eye, "But I don't want to hurt anyone. I just bring gloom every where I go. Little Demon is right," she huffed.
"Oh Kess whoever said that didn't know you very well."
Kess cocked an eyebrow, "It was my mother."
Ororo took a deep breath, "Well I still don't think she knew you very well."
Kess shrugged, "She didn't, but that's not important. Ms. Munroe I still don't think it's a good idea, I'd really rather just go back to what I was doing before."
"But you can't think that you're going to be able to go through life and never confront this do you? No matter how hard to protect yourself you're going to have some sort of fear or emotion that you can't control and then this will come back to haunt you. It's better to just deal with the problem now than later."
"I know it is, I know, but…," Kess struggled for the words, "I'm just…scared to confront it."
"You can't let fear control you."
"Nothing controls me," Kess retorted.
"Your fear does. I can see it all the time. You're afraid to get attached to things. That's why you didn't want to come here. You're afraid to be let down, and you're afraid to meet your demons," Ororo stared at her pointedly.
Kess, for the first time since she could remember, wavered under her gaze. She had hit the nail on the head. "Can you read my mind?" she asked with a small smile.
Ororo laughed, "No I leave that to the Professor. So will you try again?"
Kess nodded, "But please don't pair me up with John again."
"Done," Storm agreed, "I guess that wasn't the best idea ever in the first place."
"No, what exactly is it that he did," Kess asked.
"Good question," Ororo replied, "It's a complicated thing. He can tap into the dreams and unconscious feelings of a person and make them seem real. For instance, what he did to you was he sensed a dream that you feared and he made it seem like it was real to get your guard down and then he let it fade and attacked. Often times musical notes enhance his abilities."
"Well I don't like it…or him," Kess grumbled.
Ororo hid a smile, "I can see that. But try not to think about it. Lunch is almost over. How about coming to class?"
Kess nodded, "Alright, let me get my things."