More cliffhangers! I'm having way too much fun with those. I should go to therapy.
But, luckily for you, my fellow readers, I do happen to have the next chapter written… So you'll find out the conclusion to this cliffhanger next week.
Enjoy!
The Perks of Being a Telepath
Chapter 16: Irony
It would be too cliché to say that the guards dragged Charles down a long, dark, windowless hallway and down a flight of stairs, but that really is actually what happened.
The procession of three guards—two supporting Charles and one holding a gun to his head, threatening to shoot him if he tried any mental trickery—a reluctant Charles who kept almost falling on his face, and Stryker halted outside an ominous metal door.
Charles could just make out Hank growling inside. He wouldn't admit to the tremendous sigh of relief that crashed over him as he finally had solid proof that his friend was still alive.
Charles was shoved roughly inside the door, stopped from connecting with the cold ground only by a rough hand on the collar of his shirt.
He glanced up, stunned to find a mischievous pair of yellow eyes staring out at him from an otherwise serious man's face.
Raven?
Charles really hoped his mental shout of surprise didn't project to Stryker.
The serious man blinked and nodded once.
It'sme.
What the bloody hell are you doing here?
Rescuing you, of course.
Get out! They'll kill you.
Have you seen a mirror lately? If you stay here much longer, they'll kill you.
Charles glared at her. She glared right back.
You need to get out of here.
You've said that already.
I mean it Raven, leave. You don't need to see what's going to happen.
It was going to be ugly, he was sure. While Charles couldn't actively read Stryker's mind, or really anyone else's aside from Raven's, he got the sense that something was wrong from the excited air Stryker was prancing around the room with.
Well, it wasn't excited and he definitely was not prancing, but there was definitely an almost cheerful tone to the way Stryker engaged everyone in the room.
"My fellow humans! Today, we shall witness the execution of our enemy race!"
What?
Raven's mental screech made Charles wince.
I don't know. I can't read his mind.
"With this machine I call Cerebro, we shall finally end this threat to our country and to the world!"
What does he mean, Charles?
I don't know, Raven!
She was terrified.
So was he.
"And what's better—we'll use a mutant to do it! Bring him here!"
Stryker gestured to Raven, who's eyes were still wide with shock.
Close your mouth or otherwise he'll suspect something's wrong.
Raven looked at him in horror.
How can you just stand there and pretend like nothing's wrong?
Because you're the one holding me up.
She didn't appreciate his dark humor, nor did Hank, who let out a growl as Raven pulled Charles over to the machine. He fought against the guards, breaking free momentarily.
"Someone contain the beast!"
Irony. Got to love it sometimes.
Charles…
It will be all right, Raven.
Don't die.
It's not me I'm worried about.
He was shoved forcefully into the hard metal chair—not by Raven, but by some other guard who thought that Raven was taking far too long. Black spots danced across his vision. He barely contained his cry of pain as his chest ignited.
Breathing short and fast, Charles forced his eyes open again, not realizing they had closed in the first place. Stone cold horror filled him as one of the scientists approached him with the Cerebro helmet.
No.
He could finally read the minds of the scientists, even if Stryker's was still out of reach.
They had Hank recalibrate the machine so that Charles' focus was intensified. Should he use his powers to find even one mutant, all of them would die.
No…
Stryker had threatened to kill Hank if Charles didn't cooperate. The bastard.
He had no choice.
Stryker was talking again, this time directly in Charles' ear. His voice was arrogant and proud and somehow filled with hatred.
It made Charles want to scream.
"I believe the term is checkmate."
The next time Erik was awake, Charles was gone. There was a note on his bedside table, beside the Rubik's cube. Erik noticed every other sticker was missing.
We have a game of chess to finish. It was your move, I believe. –X
Erik smiled slightly, before scowling. How the hell was he supposed to get out of bed and down a flight of stairs on his own?
You're stubborn enough to figure something out. Though I would advise you, watch out for Sean. He was smoking something earlier and he's a little out of it.
Erik blinked at the sudden intrusion in his head, but found that it didn't bother him as much as it used to.
It's about bloody time.
Charles, how much have you had to drink?
There was a condescending mental sniff and then the mental link disappeared.
Erik sighed.
Stupid, irritating, drunk telepaths.
"It is the dawn of a new age, my brothers and sisters! A day where humans live without fear of their mutant cousins!"
Charles honestly tried not to think about the irony in Stryker's speech as one of the scientists hooked him up to the machine. He longed to struggle, but it was a battle to stay conscious, let alone fight back.
"We will avenge the deaths of those who have died protecting us!"
Charles wondered what Stryker meant by that—he and Erik had flat out refused to kill anyone. Well, Charles flat out refused—Erik went along with the idea after a lot of persuading. No one had died. At least, none of the humans.
He wondered why he had spent so much time protecting them if this was how they were going to repay him.
Damn it, Erik. Why did you have to be right?
"This will be the beginning of a whole new world!"
The doors opened unexpectedly.
Charles blinked, feeling blank surprise followed by stone cold fear crash over him as Erik strode into the room.
Stryker grinned.
The machine turned on.