"So how was it?" Rahne asked as she and Dani made their way to the cafeteria the next morning. "Was she talking to her doll all night?"

"No, actually," Dani responded. "No juicy stories to tell yet."

"Give it time. I'm sure you'll have plenty of those soon."

Roberto was once again serving the food behind the counter, but this time he was not listening to music and looked angry.

"Two trays, please," Dani asked him.

"One for her?" Roberto asked.

"Do you want her to come here now?"

"Point taken." Roberto filled two bowls of oatmeal and placed them on Dani's tray before picking out two bananas and adding them to the tray. One banana was a nice shade of yellow, while the other was mostly brown.

"See you later," Dani told Rahne before leaving with the two meals. She made her way back to her room to find it empty.

Dani glanced around the room, taking stock of what few things Illyana had brought over. She set the tray down on Illyana's bed and lifted up her pillow. Underneath, she found a golden round locket.

Dani picked up the locket and examined it. It was the size of her palm and had a thin chain like a necklace. As she looked at it, Dani thought she heard the locket whispering to her.

Dani noticed a groove along the circumference of the locket, indicating that it could be opened. She raised her other hand and began to try to pull it open.

"Don't touch that."

Dani was startled and dropped the locket. She turned to see Illyana behind her. The Russian girl was wrapped in a towel and her hair was wet from what was an unusually quick shower for her. She did not look happy.

"Sorry," Dani said quickly.

Illyana bent down to pick up the locket. She put the chain over her head and wore it around her neck as the towel fell to the floor.

"That's very nice," Dani said. "What is it?"

"That's none of your business," Illyana responded curtly, showing no concern at being naked.

Dani watched as Illyana got dressed, making sure to hide the locket under her shirt.

"Here," Dani said when Illyana was done changing. She handed one of the oatmeal bowls to Illyana. "It's probably cold by now." Illyana took the bowl without a word of thanks and immediately sat down to start eating.

"So, um, where's Lockheed?" Dani asked, getting around to why she had lifted Illyana's pillow in the first place. "I haven't seen him in a few days."

"Dr. Frost threatened him," Illyana explained between bites. "So I had to let him go."

"Uh huh" was the only response Dani could think of.

Dani sat down on the other bed facing away from Illyana and began to eat her own breakfast. Both bananas were still on her tray. She picked up the yellow banana, and after a few seconds of thought decided to give it to Illyana.

"So you come from Russia?"

"Originally."

"What's it like there?"

"I don't remember."

"Do you have any hobbies?"

"No."

"There's nothing you like to do for fun?"

"No."

Dani sighed. "You are a terrible conversationalist."

"What are your hobbies?"

"I do archery."

Illyana turned to her. "You shoot arrows?"

Dani chuckled. "I know it seems stereotypical, the Native American with a bow. My father and grandfather taught me. They'd take me hunting, and they always used bows instead of guns. When I'm holding my bow, I guess I feel closer to them. I'm pretty good at it too."

Illyana finished her oatmeal and wiped her face. "I've never held a bow, but I'm pretty good with a sword."

"You mean fencing?"

"Something like that."

"So you do have a hobby."

"No," Illyana said. "More like a survival skill."

"Jesus." Dani set her own bowl down and stood up. "That's it. Just because I'm stuck with you doesn't mean I have to put up with your gloomy attitude all the time." She grabbed Illyana's arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Where are we going?"

"To do something fun."

Rahne entered the rec room to find Dani and Illyana playing foosball.

Illyana had a look of intense concentration as she furiously spun the little soccer players around.

"Easy," Dani said. "This isn't the super bowl. It's just supposed to be fun."

Rahne cleared her throat to announce her presence. "Dr. Frost sent me to get you. We've got a group session in a few minutes."

Illyana gave her characters one last spin before turning to leave. Rahne waited for Dani and the two of them followed Illyana.

"Save me," Dani whispered to Rahne, who chuckled.

Roberto glared at Illyana as she entered the room. She avoided his eyes and took the seat Dani usually sat in instead of her usual seat next to him.

When Dani and Rahne entered and sat down, Emma began to speak.

"Today I'd like to talk about self-control."

"Well, I'd like to talk about self-defense," Roberto interjected angrily. "How about you start teaching us how to use our powers to defend ourselves?"

"I gotta agree with that," Sam said. "I don't feel safe here."

"is that what you all want?" Emma asked.

"I still don't know what my power is," Dani pointed out. "How am I supposed to use it to defend myself?"

Emma nodded. "I see the time has come for more private sessions." She sat up. "Very well. You can show me what you're all capable of."

Illyana plopped herself on her bed as she took out her book to continue reading.

"You've had more private sessions with Dr. Frost than anyone else," Dani said. "What were they like?"

"She wasn't teaching me to defend myself or how to use my powers," Illyana answered

"So what was the point?"

Illyana closed her book and looked up.

"Well?" Dani asked.

"Apparently I don't know how to lie," Illyana, "and telling you the truth would only put you in danger."

"Danger?"

Illyana turned to look at her. "There's a reason it only takes one person to run a facility for dangerous children with superpowers. That's all I can say."

Dani looked up at the camera nervously.

Rahne was taking a shower when she heard something enter the bathroom. She quickly turned the water off and wrapped herself in her towel.

"Hello? Dani, that you?"

A dark figure stepped into view. Dressed in black robes, with a large cross hanging from his neck and a long brown beard which seemed to hide his mouth, stood a figure from Rahne's nightmares.

"No," she whimpered. "I killed you."

Reverend Craig's lips parted in a smile, revealing his mouth. "And like Christ, I rise again."

He held up a burning brand of the letter 'W,' and Rahne backed up in terror.

"Stay away from me!"

She began to transform and fell to the floor. Craig stood over her and plunged the brand downward.

Everyone was alerted by Rahne's screams which continued and turned into wolf-howls. They converged on the girls' shower to see a brown wolf burst out of the steam.

"Rahne!" Dani screamed as the wolf collapsed at a locked door at the end of the hallway. The wolf let out another howl which turned into a scream as it turned back into a human.

Illyana entered the shower as Emma and the other kids gathered around Rahne, who had a new red 'W' branded onto her neck.

"What happened?" Dani yelled at Emma as the doctor covered Rahne with her coat.

"Is that real?" Roberto demanded. "That's real! I told you this shit's real!"

Illyana came back and shook her head. "There's no one in there."

"Well, something did that!" Sam yelled.

"Everyone, calm down!" Emma snapped, raising her voice to a far greater extent than before. She took two breaths before continuing in a calmer tone. "Get back to your rooms and I'll take care of Rahne."

"And be all alone in case whatever did that comes back?" Roberto asked.

"Fine," Emma responded. "Go to the rec room if it'll make you feel better."

"Something's not right with this place," Sam said as he paced around the rec room.

"Did you see something too?" Dani asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"Me too," Dani said. She turned to Illyana, who was standing away from the rest of them and looking out the window. "What about you. Have you seen anything?"

Illyana turned her head slightly to look at them. "No."

"So what?" Roberto asked. "Everyone's going crazy but you?"

Illyana frowned and looked out the window again. "I think I can explain why I'm the only one not being affected. But I can't explain what happened to Rahne."

"Well?" Roberto asked impatiently.

When Illyana did not answer Dani asked: "More of that stuff about Dr. Frost you can't talk about?"

"All I know is we gotta get out of here," Sam said.

Illyana sighed and stared at the forest.

"As bad as it is in here, out there it's much worse."

Dani shifted her head to look out the window as well. She shook in trepidation.

Emma scowled as she sat down in front of her many monitors in the control room. One monitor showed Rahne resting in an infirmary while another showed the other teens.

She began typing at a hurried pace. When she was finished, she sat back and waited for a response.

She did not have to wait long.

'To determine cause of anomalies, eliminate all possibilities. Determine nature of Danielle Moonstar's powers immediately.'

The next morning, Rahne opened her eyes to see Dani sitting at her bedside.

"Hey," Dani said with a large smile. "How do you feel?"

Rahne smiled back. "Better." She rubbed the gauze pad which was covering the part of her neck where she had been branded. "Still hurts though."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"He'd probably have done the same to you," Rahne said. She took Dani's hand. "But you're here now. Not on babysitting duty today?"

"Sam volunteered to do that today. I can stay as long as you want."

"Ahem."

Dani turned to see Emma standing in the infirmary doorway.

"Danielle. I need you to come with me."

Emma strapped Dani down to a chair and attached a sensor to the side of her head.

"You said you wanted to find out what your power is. We're going to try to cox it out of you in a controlled manner."

She filled a syringe with a strange liquid.

"What's that?" Dani asked.

"Just something to help you relax," Emma said as she injected the substance into Dani's arm.

Dani's eyes began to glaze over as the drug took effect.

"I'm going to ask you a series of questions, Danielle, and I want you to answer truthfully. What is the last thing you remember before coming here?"

Dani looked confused as she tried to remember that traumatic day.

"My dad woke me up. He said we had to run."

"What were you running from?" Emma asked.

"You said it was a tornado," Dani whispered.

"We both know that's not true," Emma said. "Focus. What was really happening."

"It was snowing," Dani recalled.

"In the middle of the summer?"

"It brings the snow."

"What does?"

"The Demon Bear."

Sam and Illyana were in the rec room. Illyana was examining the foosball table while Sam relaxed on the couch.

He jolted up at the sound of an inhuman high-pitched scream. Illyana looked up in surprise.

"I know that sound," she said.

Sam followed as Illyana stepped out into the hall. The lights flickered and went out.

"Well, this isn't creepy at all," Sam observed.

They heard a sound like nails on a chalkboard and turned the corner. A tall, lanky bald figure was scratching at a window with fingers that were as long as its forearm.

"What th-" Sam began before Illyana covered his mouth to quiet him. She took a deep breath as the figure stopped and stood up, towering above them.

The figure turned and they saw its face. Its skin was a light color but unusually bumpy. It had no eyes or nose. The only thing is had on its face was an enormous mouth that was filled with extremely long, sharp teeth which it bared as it screamed at them in a horrible wailing sound.

"Run," Illyana instructed Sam. "Run!"

Dani was beginning to fade out of consciousness as Emma continued to ask her questions.

"Focus, Dani," Emma commanded her. "Can you control it?"

"Nobody can," Dani whispered.

Emma looked up and turned around, her expression growing increasingly horrified.

Rahne was startled by a loud banging on the infirmary door.

"Who's there?" she asked, shaking with fright.

Whatever was in the hall continued to bang on the door several more times before it knocked the door off its hinges.

Rahne gaped as a large four-legged beast slowly entered the infirmary. Two large canines protruded from still closed mouth as it let out a low growl.

The beast opened its large mouth to roar and Rahne screamed in terror. On instinct she leapt from the bed, transforming into a wolf before she landed.

Even in her wolf form Rahne was less than half the size of the beast. She bolted at full speed past the creature and out of the infirmary.

Roberto was cleaning dishes in the cafeteria when a pair of long hands grabbed his shoulders.

He panicked at the sight of the inhuman appendages and turned around. A burst of fiery energy was unleashed from his hands and struck the tall creature in the stomach, burning it and sending it flying across the cafeteria.

Dani blinked as the room in front of her seemed to distort.

"Where are you?" she screamed.

Emma had left and was walking through the halls.

"Emergency override. Authorization White Queen. Disable all locks."

Three of the tall faceless creatures were now chasing Sam and Illyana, along with two new monsters. One was lizard-like but with an ape-like posture while the other looked like a goat with a crocodile jaw.

"What the hell are those things?" Sam screamed as they slammed one of the hallway doors behind them and attempted to hold it shut against the monsters.

"Go," Illyana said as their pursuers began to push the door open. "Get out of here."

"What about-"

Illyana grabbed Sam by the front of his short and threw him to the floor. He landed five feet away and looked up in shock as she struggled to hold the door by herself.

"Move it!" she yelled.

Sam got up and ran off. As soon as he was out of sight Illyana backed away from the door and stared down the monsters on the other side.

Rahne crawled through the vents as fast as she could. Another loud noise made her turn her head to look behind her, where she saw a shadow approaching from around the corner.

Left all alone and still hooked up to the machine, Dani found herself somewhere else. She saw a large, pristine white room with no windows.

A teenage boy was levitating objects with his mind while several scientists stood behind high -tech machines.

"What is this place?"

Two teenage girls launched energy blasts at each other, knocking both of them out.

"What are you doing?"

A guard dragged another teenager across the floor of a white hallway, using a taser and a baton to keep the young mutant in line.

"No! Stop it!"

Sam and Roberto met up near the front doors.

"What the hell's going on?" Roberto demanded.

"Dunno," Sam said.

"Figures," Roberto said. He pushed the door and was surprised to find it opening with little effort.

They ran outside and collapsed on the grass, panting.

"Get me out of here," Roberto said. "I don't care if I have to go with Illyana. Just get me the hell away from this place."

"This is what happens," Sam said between breaths, "when she sees things."

"Well, shit."

They looked up as Emma stepped out of the building.

"Are you two all right?" she asked as she approached them.

"No, we are not all right!" Sam said loudly. "Did you see those things?"

Rahne climbed out of the same vent she and Dani had used the night they watched the rain. She clutched her chest and collapsed to her knees after arriving outside to what she hoped was safety.

As she calmed down, she heard a sound that was at once birdlike and mournful. Slowly, she rose and walked around the corner of the building towards the source of the noise.

Emma, Sam, and Roberto heard Rahne's screams of horror and ran towards her, the boys moving faster than Emma.

Meanwhile, Dani was brought back to reality by Rahne's screams. She shook her head, attempting to fight off the affects of the drug.

Sam and Roberto found Rahne kneeling on the pavement outside the facility. She was shaking and covering her mouth.

"Hey, you all right?" Sam asked.

"What is it?" Roberto added.

Rahne took one hand from her mouth and pointed a trembling finger at something about twenty feet in front of her.

"It-it-"

"Holy shit," Roberto said as they saw what Rahne was pointing at. Even Emma, who had arrived shortly after them, could only gape in shock.

Lying in front of them, frozen and cut it many places, was the lifeless body of Illyana Rasputin.