Chapter Nine: Force

I gasped.

"What are you doing here?"

He ran at me and hugged me.

"I was in the neighborhood. How are ya?"

"I'm okay," I replied.

"I'll show her around, Mystique," he said. She shrugged and walked away. "So this is it. The Brotherhood. This is where we… ya know, hang." We came to a living area where a sickly looking pale kid was laying on a sofa. A fly was buzzing around his head. In an instant, his tongue shot out and he caught it. I shuddered.

"That's Todd Tolensky. Toad."

"Nice to, uh, make your acquaintance," he said, hopping over to us. He held out his hand but I didn't shake it.

"That's Blob over there with the sandwich," John said, pointing out a man of rather unusual size. The armchair he was sitting in sagged and groaned in protest at the heavy burden it carried. Blob waved his hand with thick, sausage-like fingers at me.

Then the house shook.

"Chill, Lance," Toad called to an opposite room. A taller kid with dark hair came into the room.

"Bite me, Toad," he replied. The ground shook under Toad and he fell. Lance laughed and John rolled his eyes.

"So that's the guys."

"That's a lot of boys in one house," I said, a little uneasy.

"Oh, don't worry," John said. "Tabitha and Wanda will be here later. Come on, I'll show you your room."

John led me to a small room at the back of the house. And I mean very small. Like closet small.

"This is it?" I asked

"It's not a palace, but hey!" John said. "It's living on your own. Sorta anyway. It offers a hell of a lot more freedom than living with parents, ya know?"

"How long have you been here?"

"A few days. After I left the warehouse, I met Mystique. She brought me here."

"What are the rules for living here?"

"Well, there aren't any," John replied. "Except you have to go to school. We gotta maintain a little bit of normalcy here. And you have to do what Mystique says. She's kinda the head honcho around here. You okay?" I realized that my eyes were showing more than I wanted to reveal.

"Nothing," I replied. "It's just been a really long day."

"I understand. I'll go and you can get settled."

John left and I sat down on the small cot. Was this what my life had reduced to? Living in a ramshackle little house with all these people? Sleeping on a cot that smells faintly of vomit? Living in a closet? Was this really all I had to live for now?

I must have fallen asleep. Because I woke up disoriented on the cot. I looked out the window to see that it was dark. I glanced at my watch. It was four AM. I groaned and wiped my eyes. I stood up and walked out the door and into the living area. I walked outside and shivered, realizing that North Carolina springs and New York springs differed greatly. Before I could stop them, I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. I wiped at them furiously but to no avail.

"Hey."

I started and turned to see John standing there.

"God, don't you ever sleep?"

"I can't."

"Then are you following me or something?"

"Why so hostile? I thought you liked hanging with me."

"Don't twist this around, John. You snuck up on me, remember?"

"I see how it is." He turned and I swore under my breath as he started to leave.

"Don't do that," I called.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Don't walk away angry." It started to rain and I felt myself stiffen.

"It's what I do best," he said. And then he was gone in a red haze. I felt sadness and anger and suddenly, I felt myself begin to shake. The rain stopped hitting me in the face and started to surround me. It was like being inside of a bubble. I curled up as the waves encompassed me. So much power… So much power…

I sat up. I was soaking and lying in the grass in front of the house. It was still dark. I looked at my watch. Six AM. The house was buzzing with movement as the others bustled to get ready for school. I walked inside. Two girls stood to greet me. Both had short hair, though one was fair and the other dark. The dark haired one wore a red cape and the blonde wore a black tee. Both wore heavy eye make up.

"I'm Wanda," the dark haired one said. "Also known as the Scarlet Witch."

"And I'm Tabitha," the blonde said. "Boom-Boom."

"I'm Carson…" I mumbled, walking past them into my room. On the bed was a clean outfit for me.

"We noticed you forgot your bag on the bus," Wanda said. "So we provided some for you."

"Thanks," I said, closing the door. I changed into the clothes and walked out the door.

"Stick with us," Tabitha said. "We'll make sure your first day at Bayville High goes nice and smooth."