Goth Disclaimer: I stare at the moonlight as cold as the skin it touches. I yearn for your blood sliding down... this is getting disgusting. I don't own x-men. Oh, the sorrow.

Kudos to: Independent Fire, Absolut Cajun, maxtreme225 and Amber Butterfly! I am really glad that you are enjoying the story, and I hope you like this chapter. I struggled a lot with this one, really. It made me take the story to a completely different direction, hopefuly for the best.

3

Split Personality

Westchester County, New York

Now.

"What kind of detention is that?"

"Look kid, I was looking for some cheap help here, if you can't make yourself useful you can just go and—"

"No, that's fine… I already missed the freaking trip to the planetarium anyways."

"You know what? Forget it."

It had been a whole day since my unfortunate meeting with Logan. Yesterday I learned that he had just arrived from one of his trips to Canada. I also found out that Kitty wanted to invite Peter to the movies and according to her, Jubilee was supposed to do the same with me, but she shied away at the last minute. The whole situation made me feel exceptionally stupid when it turned out to be a 'group thing' in which Bobby Drake, Rogue, John Allerdyce and Tracy Cassidy were also involved. John drove us to the city at sunset and we had a very good time at the theater. It was hell to wake up today.

"Hey, wait up!" I tossed the remote and ran out of the deserted lounge after Logan, who was apparently heading to the garage.

"What do you want?" he grunted.

"There's nothing good on the T.V."

"Go get a girlfriend."

"I would try to, but she's at the planetarium with… heh, everyone else…"

Logan muttered something incoherent and just kept walking. I did the same and followed him, since I actually had nothing better to do. I was intrigued about seeing this 'classic model' of an automobile he described earlier, and about finding out what he meant with 'rescuing the engine'. Of course, I was a mechanical illiterate, but that was a completely different matter.

None of us talked until we arrived at the garage, where a monstrosity parked at the outer part of the first garage exit awaited. The twisted metal bulk laying there showcased burns all over, it was missing tires and it could have been upside down. How the thing had been moved was beyond me. "What the hell is that?"

"What does it look like?" Logan moved next to it and managed to open something that resembled a hood.

"Honestly? An enormous toaster that was used to play soccer."

"Very funny" he said sticking his head into the… well, one of the many cracks in the structure. "You didn't seem that witty yesterday, you know."

I plucked my hands into my pockets and started to walk around the tarnished truck, while The Wolverine took a dive in the hole he was inspecting. "Well you scared the hell out of me" I said trying to guess where the passenger seats had been. "Also; I didn't know you're not actually a teacher, you know… you can't even place me in detention!"

"And you're here because…" came Logan's muffled voice from the insides of the wrecked vehicle. There was a clacking sound and oil began spilling under it, forming a large pond that I failed to notice until it was too late.

"I don't really know…" I said staring miserably at my sneakers. "Hey isn't it dangerous in there with all that twisted metal?"

"Stop slacking and go get my tools, I think I left them on the porch."

"Main?"

"Huh?"

"Big door?"

"Yeah."

Since my sneakers were now drenched in oil, I had to take a run through the gardens to avoid staining the floors of the mansion. I found Logan's toolbox when I finally got to the porch, but I also found a man. He was a robust guy wearing an elegant blue suit, with medium brown hair and the unkempt beard of a few days shading the lower part of his face. I couldn't see his eyes very well behind the squared eyeglasses he was wearing, and also because he was leaning down on the base of a statue looking unbelievably sick. He might have just puked.

"Umm…" I said getting a bit closer. "Can I help you?"

"Yes," he turned to regard me and lifted himself, trying to seem calm. But he failed miserably, he looked like hell. "My name is Henry McCoy. I'm looking for Professor Charles Xavier."

"I'm afraid he's out for the day" I responded eyeing him slyly. It wasn't polite to stare at people but man, this guy was really bad. His skin was literally colorless. "Hey you should come inside… oh god, is that blood?"

The man had vomited a river of blood! His body arched painfully before collapsing. I managed to hold him up for a few moments, preventing him from hitting the floor, but the man was really heavy and I ended up in the floor with him. My clothes were soaked in blood.

" Logan!" I yelled with all my strength. "Help, there's this man puking blood—!"

"Lo… Lorna" said the man with a great effort.

"What?" I asked leaning closer. "What the hell is a lordna?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Logan running berserk towards us with three metal prongs popping out of each fist. I immediately looked at the mumbling man on top of me and all the blood on the floor.

"NO! Wait, wait, wait!" I said waving a hand in front of me. "He's sick! He's dying!"

"What?" asked Logan popping the claws back in. "Who is this guy?"

"He was here, he's looking for the Professor" Logan lifted the man off me with an absurd ease. "His name is Henry. He said something like lordna before passing out."

"Lordna?"

"Know what that is?" I asked helping myself up.

"No" he said walking to the front entrance, looking around idly for a moment. "But there's someone else…" His nostrils started twitching disturbingly fast before going into the mansion. "In the car… A girl."

I looked around, clueless. There didn't seem to be a car anywhere near, and it was clear daylight. "What car?"

"Down the road a few miles" said Logan dumping the unconscious Henry McCoy on a couch in the lounge. "I'll go get her, you… call someone."

"Someone?" I grabbed one of the phones as Logan rushed out, leaving me in the lounge covered in oil and blood with the unconscious body of a man I didn't know anything about.

Lexington, Nebraska

The past.

Alex and Enzo ran for numerous blocks. People, cars and buildings blurred past them as they made their way through the streets and, though they failed to notice it, their chase became quite a distraction to drivers and pedestrians. They weren't thinking where they were going; all they knew was that they needed to get away from Gary and his armed bodyguards at all costs. When they reached the outsides of a known shopping mall, Alex turned to see if they were still after them but, to his relief, no darkly dressed figures could be seen roaming the open part of the parking lot.

"I think we've lost them" said Enzo. "We need to hide."

Alex nodded. "Let's go in."

The brothers made their way through the car labyrinth, dodging people who were carrying at least double their weight in shopping bags and roaming vehicles that followed them to claim their parking space. Imagining how agitated they must have looked, Alex took out a small towel from his bag and began wiping the droplets of sweat on his face as they entered the enormous glass doors. The air changed from an intense hot to soothingly cool in a second, and he felt a great deal of relief to be surrounded by all those people and security personnel.

"Who are those guys?" asked Alex, panting. "And what the hell is Gary doing?"

"I don't know" replied Enzo. They began walking through an enormous lobby with many small fashion shops arranged on both of its sides, swarming packs of young people coming in and out of them. Just ahead could be seen a beautiful circular fountain, which marked one of the shopping mall's 'resting' points.

"Could it be…?"

"What?"

"Evans." Alex lowered his voice to a mere whisper that barely surfaced from the collective babble. "You said he asked if you were a mutant; that he was looking for a confirmation. Gary then said that they were after the wrong one. That means they were after you; until he heard us talking somehow. It can't be coincidental."

Enzo suddenly felt something very cold sliding down his spine. He stopped abruptly in front of the fountain with a sickened stare. It struck him right on the face. "Then it's my entire fault, isn't it?"

"Man, don't say that" said Alex. The younger sibling didn't move, and his eyes escaped from Alex's in shame. "Hey, listen. I gave you that information willingly. It shouldn't have been this way; it's not your fault."

"But it is" said Enzo dropping himself on a bench limply. "It is this way and we knew it. This place we live in… It kills me that people like you, brother, will never be able to live peacefully without having to conceal who they really are. Not on this lifetime anyway."

"Not on this lifetime? I never thought I'd hear you say that" said Alex sitting beside his brother. "You know; ever since we were kids, I have never; not once, been able to understand your mad behavior." Enzo tilted his head forward and chuckled at the comment. "No, seriously. Like that one time when you had the kids from the whole block organize a strike against old Cortés, remember? Everyone was just sitting on his front lawn yelling nonsense." They both laughed. It was an amazing event to remember. And this was the first time, Alex realized, they had a talk like this since their mother passed away. His eyes started to itch a little; was he going to cry now? "See, I wouldn't have done that. I would've just accepted the fact that Cortés was an old coot and moved on. It was just… what was it? A ball wasn't it?

But you can't move on. You don't let go of things that matter to you. That's what makes us different, brother. That's what makes you who you are. I know you won't let go of this now, will you?"

Enzo forced himself to sketch a smile that faded away almost instantly. "Man, you really need to chill" he said looking around anxiously.

"Why? I'm not going all corny am I?" asked Alex mockingly.

"No" whispered Enzo. "Your eyes are whitening again."

"Oh, shit!" Alex tilted his head forward and started rubbing his eyes roughly with both of his hands, hoping to rub the whiteness off. "Had to be now of all times."

"Put these on" said Enzo taking his lightly shaded eyeglasses off and handing them to his brother, who grabbed them hurriedly and covered his eyes. "Do you feel anything weird?"

"My eyes tickle" responded Alex. "See anything out of the ordinary?"

Enzo gave the surroundings a glance. The people walking by threw curious stares at Alex, who continued to curve down with his head resting on the palms of his hands. "No, no clouds" he answered and placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Just Relax. There are lots of people here."

"That's not helping" said Alex in a stressed out manner. Standing up, he added "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom 'til it's over"

Enzo tossed his brother an uneasy stare. "Alex!"

He stopped and glanced back.

"I won't give up on this" he said with the hint of a smile on his face.

Alex simply nodded and resumed his walk. Everything just fell to the bottom of his priorities when he knew something weird was about to happen to him again. He stumbled through the corridor making his best effort to reach the restrooms without taking his eyes off the floor, feeling so ashamed of people seeing them that he'd rather had them thinking he was some drunk looking for a place to throw up. Once inside; after giving a quick look around, he went right to the mirrors and inspected his reflection, taking Enzo's shades off. A muffled gasp was all that could leave his lips.

In the past months he would often wake up to find the remains of a light white screen covering each of his eyes, with the faint shade of olive pupils beneath it. But that day was different. His eyes weren't only whitening again; no, his eyes were glowing, and the olives where nowhere to be seen. He moved closer and pulled the skin off his left eye as much as he could. How the hell can I see through this? White steam skidded from under his eyelids, abandoning the orbs as if they were the burning head of a match, and he couldn't help a curious finger reaching for touch.

He soon discovered that his eyes weren't exactly glowing, but instead were covered by a thick glowing vapor that kept emanating from somewhere on the inside. What the…? When he rubbed a fingertip against it, the steam dissipated showing his eyes in full normality below, but it immediately returned to fill its former place. He rubbed again. Again. And again. By the tenth time, his eyes seemed to glow more intensely. God! Why is this happening to me?

The door was swung open suddenly, and Alex was forced to put the sunglasses back on. He did it very swiftly closing his eyes tightly in fear of being seen, and he failed to realize just who was standing at the door.

"Hey I was just… are you all right man?" Enzo moved closer, but Alex motioned him away.

"I… I'm fine" he said. But he was obviously lying. It was the most disgusting, abnormal thing he had seen in his whole life, and it was crawling in his eye sockets. He felt the sudden urge to throw up right where he was, and the stench wasn't helping at all. That smell. It was strikingly similar to the pond of filth from that alley where Gary found them.

"Are you sure?" Enzo stepped forward. "You look sick."

Alex extended his left arm in an effort to try and keep his brother from coming too close. "Please," he said. "Don't come any closer."

"We better get outta here" said Enzo motioning to the door with his head. He had to push his glasses back up after they started slipping down his nose.

"You… had a new pair?" asked Alex, ignoring Enzo's last comment.

"Eh?" Enzo lifted an eyebrow. "Pair of what?"

Alex took the nearly translucent shades off his eyes and examined them absentmindedly. Since when was Enzo eccentric enough to carry a second pair of the exact same glass model?

"Man…" exclaimed Enzo staring at his now bare glowing, steaming eyes for a moment "Let's just… let's get out of here."

"Out of here!" yelled out Alex, his voice breaking. He turned back to the mirror, and speaking to Enzo's reflection, he continued. "Don't you see me Enzo? How long do you think I'll be able to pass as normal with my eyes spitting bright smoke, eh?"

Enzo shrugged. "Well you can't just stay here forever; someone will come in any minute now."

"You do have a point, as usual" said Alex sulkily. "I just wish I knew how to turn it off…" He scrutinized his mirror image once again before leaning down to splash some water on his face. "Did you feel bad when you told me about Jessica in Papa's funeral?" he asked quietly, addressing Enzo's reflection.

Enzo looked down for a moment, and answered. "Yeah. I regret it now."

Alex swallowed a very cold flow of saliva. "Do you miss him sometimes? Dad, I mean."

"Well… of course" responded Enzo intently. "All the time. What's this all about? Let's just leave, ma—"

The last word on Enzo's sentence was lost. Suddenly a white stream of fog formed out of thin air and jetted out directly to Enzo, pushing him with enough force to lift him up and knock him back. Alex rushed forward and pinned Enzo on the floor. "Who the hell are you!"

"Alex! What the fuck is wro—"

"My third-grade teacher managed to find out the one that died was my mother, you idiot, I believe my brother would have known too don't you?"

"Damn… okay, listen…" said the impostor in a sulking manner. Alex could feel his body throb beneath his hands. "Let go of me and we can talk."

"Not a chance. Tell me why you are after me."

"Let go first…" Enzo's body started to pulsate even more.

"Who sent you?"

"Take your hands off…"

"Was it Mr. Evans?"

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

The impostor's chest started to wobble, and his eyes became glowing spheres of an electric blue. Before Alex could speak again he found himself pressing a man-sized globule of bluish goo, his hands sinking slowly in it.

"What the!" yelled Alex trying to pull himself away. The substance reeked beyond description, but that was a small hazard in comparison with the sensation it caused on his hands. It felt like they were burning!

When he finally pulled his hands away he was amazed (but relieved) to find them unharmed and without the slightest hint of the substance. Glaring at the "thing" in disgust and contempt, all he could manage to say was "What are you?"

The formless goo was spread through the floor, dividing itself in two smaller blobs that started to rise up to take shapes independently.

When they stopped, a small girl and a boy with a very sick look stood there staring at Alex with their electric blue eyes. Alex couldn't believe what he was seeing. Speechless as he was, he had unconsciously started to back away. The children mocked him with pointed fingers and high-pitched giggles.

"I tried to be nice…" said the girl.

"…I really did" continued the boy.

"But you didn't want to play nice…" the girl pouted.

"…so we'll do it your way!" yelled the boy in excitement.

The girl grinned maliciously, and then said "I am the most…"

"…fucked up thing you have ever seen" the boy finished.

Notes: I'm still struggling with the first-or-third person dilemma. I'm doing the present in first and the past in third, but I still don't know which one will I keep as the 'main' storytelling style. Any input is greatly appreciated! Speaking of, thanks a lot for the people who review this, and for the e-mails i've been getting. I invite the e-mailers to review here, since it's easier to relate it to the content. Until the next update!