Special thanks to X-Men4life, Izzyisdizzy, and BLTXMEN thank you for your comments and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Enough talk on with the story!
Chapter 4 Reliving parts of the past PT 1
Clarice keeps running through the dark forest she doesn't look back, no matter how much her feet whine in protest. She makes it to the clearing and hides behind a giant boulder. She catches her breath placing her hands on her belly with her and John's baby. "We just need to make it to the landing platform and meet Storm there." She whispers rubbing her belly in encouragement she moves from the boulder and takes off running again she sees the platform a few feet away and Storm who is waiting with a big bag of supplies. Then Clarice hears a gunshot and she falls to the ground bright red sticky blood covers her stomach. She lets out a scream.
Clarice sits up panting and sweating from the nightmare that had felt all too real. She places a hand over her heart to calm down her breathing. She then notices John coming toward her. "Hey, are you alright?" He asks taking a seat next to her. Clarice nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. But I won't be sleeping anytime soon." He sits on the stool next to her bed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Clarice's mind goes back to her dream and she shakes her head. "No, but I do need to talk to you." Just not about that not yet. John nods he waits for her to speak. "Can we move somewhere else?" She asks. John nods. "Yeah let's go over there." They get up he and leads her to a coach and they sit on opposite ends.
"So, what is it?" John asks. Clarice lets out a sigh looking at the floor then back into his deep brown eyes. "Let's start with the night you told me to get to that safe house."
Flashback four years ago...
"Clarice, I need you to get out of here. I'll keep them busy giving you time to get away." She shakes her head tears starting to form. "Hey, I will find you. Just get to that safe house." He kisses her once more. She pulls back then nods and opens her hands to make a portal looking into his eyes she says, "I love you." John smiles. "I love you, too. Now go!" She makes her portal bigger then she goes through it. She's five miles away and she hears faint gunshots, but she keeps going until she can't make any more portals. She not even given any time before she gets shot and her legs give out on her and everything goes black.
She is then put in the back of a grey van and taken to an abandoned warehouse. They place her in a chair tying her wrist and place a collar around her neck. The men stand aside as a woman dressed in all black though she looks like a woman who would give a man a good time, before she kills them. Clarice was very uncomfortable not because she couldn't use her power, but because to the way this woman was looking at her with deep brown eyes. Her long jet-black hair blended in with her look her skin was pale and not the healthy pale either. "Boys, boys there is no need for bonds she won't be able to move for quite some time." When she spoke, chills went down Clarice's spine as the woman moved to cut the ties from her wrist. She sends her help away so they are alone. "Forgive them they are idiots. My name is Selene Gallio. And you are?" Clarice realized the women had a heavy Russian accent. "I'm Clarice Fong." Selene smiles. "So, tell me Clarice what were you trying to get away from? A terrible husband perhaps?" She gestures to the silver band on Clarice's finger.
"My fiancée treats me just fine. Sentinel Services is another story." Clarice says with a sneer. Selene's brown eyes widen. "Hmm, then it's a pity you won't be seeing him again." Clarice is about to fire back when a needle is jabbed into her neck and everything goes black.
She wakes a couple hours later on a plane with Selene and her goons not that far away from her. "Where are we going?" Clarice asks. "Kenya." Selene simply says. Clarice shakes her short purple hair. "Sit back child and enjoy the ride as soon as we land it'll be time to go to work." Clarice leans her head against the plane she closes her eyes thinking about John and hoping that he will come and save her.
Selene was not kidding the minute the plane touched down her goons were putting her in a bulletproof vest and giving her goggles. "The collar will be shut off once the doors open, but don't try to flee you're not strong enough to make back to the states." Selene says Clarice glares at her. "Now you job is simple, help get the mutants to this building and don't try to portal away we put a tracker in you so, you can't escape. NOW GO!" The doors to the plane open and she's shoved out in the middle of a battlefield mutants fighting the people. Clarice did as she was told and opens a portal the mutants all pile through before it becomes too much for her. She too jumps through and it closes behind her. Clarice catches her breath as Selene gives each mutant a look over.
"We'll done Clarice." Selene says then she turns to one of her goons speaking in Russian as she points to Clarice. Then she grabs a young man by his arm and pulls him up and to the stairs she drags him into a room and closes the door behind her. It's quiet for a few beats then a blood curdling scream comes from the room Selene walks out her eyes are a bright red instead of their usual brown. She has a wicked smile on her face. "Listen up, everyone as long as you do what I say I won't turn you into this." She pulls the young mutant out and he's been turned into a vampire with electricity flowing around him. All the other mutants gasp or are too shocked to move.
Her goons take her and several others to their cellars. Clarice lets the tears fall down her face she misses John she wishes she wasn't here and didn't have to do what Selene wanted. A warm hand rested on her arm. She looks to her left to see a girl with mocha skin, white hair and cerulean blue eyes. "Hey, don't act like that we will be fine." This girl looked to be her age, but she wasn't sure. "My name is Ororo Munroe, but you can call me Storm." Clarice shakes her hand. "Clarice Fong." Then she twists the ring on her left hand. "Hey, don't give up hope. That is the only way to survive don't give into the fear." Clarice nods and it must be dinnertime or something because Selene's goons come in with several trays of food. When Clarice is given hers, she sees that it's better than the others. She and Storm become fast friends.
During the next four months Clarice is told to save mutants while Storm provides cover for those trying to escape the battle. Opening multiple portals each day was very taxing on her body and her throwing up every morning wasn't helping. Storm had pleaded with Selene, to bring in a real doctor to have a look to see what is wrong. Selene agreed, but only days later. "I want to know what it wrong the minute she comes out." Selene says pointing to the doctor then she and her goons leave. Storm never leaves Clarice's side as the doctor runs her tests. She gasps and smiles at the two mutants Clarice shakes her head and asks the doctor to not voice or think it aloud and just lie and say the she need tons of rest and proper food. The doctor feared for them both, but she agreed.
Selene and her goons where waiting when the doors finally opened. "Well?" The doctor spoke calmly. "She is overly exhausted; the food is not cooked so I'm not surprised she's so sick and the fact that you have her opening twenty portals a day is taxing enough. If you keep working her like this than you can forget about her helping whatever this is." Storm and Clarice came into view as the doctor said that last piece before leaving. Clarice was leaning heavily on Storm for support. Selene's eyes go from brown to red. "IS she telling the truth?" She demanded. Storm held her ground. "Yes, making those portals takes a lot of physical and mental endurance and her body cannot open more than three-five portals at a time." Selene's eyes go back to brown. "Fine, now boys get them all properly cooked food I will not have my best wasting away because of your incompetence." She leaves.
Weeks afterward Clarice is better and not having to deal so much with being overworked. She still feels the pain of her loss, but she uses that as her fuel for finding some way back to John. She helps mutants to safety and things are going well until one day.
"Which one of you is stealing all of my weapons!?" Selene roars as she opens the door levitating down to the ground. All the mutants look terrified. "Tell me, or I will start killing people." Selene's magic takes a toll on her and you can she her aged face. No one says anything. "No one wants to talk? Well, see who cracks soon enough!" She grabs a mother away from her son and forces her to kneel. "Still nothing? Hmm, some alliance you are." Her eyes turn bright red and she devours the woman's lifeforce killing her leaving only ashes behind. The boy screams then clings to Storm who is holding him tight. Selene does not stop there she grabs a teenage girl with spiked blue hair she drains her without waiting. "Anyone want to talk now?" As she grabs a frighten little boy with red hair and blue eyes. "Wait!" Everyone looks to one of the elder mutants as he comes forward. "It was me, those men cornered me and demanded that I hand over the weapons we had or they would bomb this place."
Selene harshly releases the boy and he stumbles back. "It was only you?" The older man nods. "It was only me." Selene nods then grabs him by his throat taking his lifeforce till ashes remain. "Let this be a lesson to all of you I will not have you stealing even if it's just to save yourselves. Now back to your cellars!" She barks out. Most flinch and they all leave. The boy who lost his mom does not leave Storm's side and she refuses to let him go.
They have to get out and take everyone with them, Selene will kill them all if they do something so petty as stealing weapons to save us all from a potential bombing. That gave Clarice and Storm an idea. The following day they were once again helping mutants get off the battlefields, but Clarice and Storm along with Evan Daniels or as his mom called him Spyke put their plan into motion. The enemy was getting bolder sending more men and firepower their way. Once the portal closed behind the last mutant was through they ran toward enemy lines holding their hands up. "We surrender." Clarice says Storm and Spyke do the same.
They are taken to the one in charge of the attack and they ask him to bomb their location and then in return they will give them the one in charge of the mutant 'relief' force. The Captain agrees then they get beat up a bit just to make it look like a kidnapping. Clarice opens a portal when they are safe distance away and then collapses at Selene's feet. "Tell me what happened." Selene demands Clarice is still catching her breath so, Storm does the talking. "The enemy had captured us momentarily and took us to their Captain." Selene crosses her arms. "Really. Then why didn't you just have Clarice get you back here?" Storm shakes her head. "They knew about her and me. So, they held her hands part and had her close her palms. And with me they just used Evan, I refuse to have him be harmed." Selene rolls her eyes. "He tried to ask you where this place was?" Spyke nods, but doesn't say anything. Selene nods letting it go they get their dinner in their cells.
Their enemies did it they bombed the place and the mutants scattered. They wake up to panic in the building, Storm, Evan, and Clarice leave heading to the plane that was heading back to the states. They don't get far before Selene is following them as a black mist. Clarice sees the cargo door closes Storm summons lighting stopping Selene in her tracks to buy Clarice some time the plane is already high up. She opens a portal and tells them to go through with one final attack that leaves Selene unconscious they jump through finding themselves in the cargo bin and they relax.
End of flashback...
When telling her tale, she had not noticed that John had moved closer to her or that he was now holding her in his arms. "Clarice, I'm so sorry. I had tracked you all the way to that runway, but I lost it. I kept going back every chance I got just in case, but I didn't pick your trail back up until a year ago." Clarice gets out of his hold. "Yeah well, it's not like my trail can travel overseas so, don't beat yourself up over it." She gets up and walks back over to her bed, she needed some space after telling him all that and the memories of Selene's whole corrupt operation. The mutants that may or may not have survived and the guilt she felt for just leaving them.
Hey guys so let me know what you thought about this chapter and what Clarice had to endure. And how do you think John felt about it? So until next time..