Emma blinked in confusion as the doors slammed behind Alex, who was running, from her seemingly. That left her confused.
"Human." Emma turned to find Alex behind, wearing once again very little. "He's taunting her. Save her. I trust you… and only you." Emma remembered hearing those words from identical lips.
"You're not Alex." Emma stated.
"No. I am part of Alex's dreams." Her form flickered for a moment. "Hurry. You're going to lose her." With those words, the demoness vanished. Emma could only stare at the spot she had been while the same thought looped through her head.
Save her from what?
"You're dead." I whispered. Her smile was exactly like I remembered it and the smell that wafted through the air was the soap she loved. Her gentle eyes were those of my mother's.
"Sometimes, nightmares are just that, nightmares." Her smile was soft. Sometimes it's just a dream.
"Mom?" I said. I couldn't believe it. She was dead. I had seen her die. I had felt her die. I'd felt the connection go slack. She was dead.
Except there was a ghost sensation in my mind, like one I used to feel when Mom had checked up on me during the school days. It was as though I felt her presence in my mind. It felt so weird.
"You've gotten so big Alex." She came and touched my horns, before she ruffled my hair affectionately. "And your powers have developed." She said, motioning to the mist that floated around me. She sat down on a bench I swore hadn't been there before. "How is Xavier doing? Do you like Jean?"
"It's been a while Mom. Xavier is odd…" I smiled at her as I sat down. "Jean's nice though. I like her."
"I'm glad. Find anyone special here?" Her smile was just a touch mischievous. Find a girlfriend?
"Mom!" I pretended to be outraged that she asked before I grinned at her. "I found my mate Mom. She's everything to me." She laughed and fluffed my hair again, making me feel as though I was seventeen again. "Quit it."
"I'm just so proud of my little girl. You're doing good Kid." I gave her a sharp look at the nickname. She never had called me that before. David had been the one to call me that.
"Is David here Mom?" Her eyes met someone's over my shoulder and I looked, to find that the sky had turned black almost instantly and that David stood there, his frame and presence still larger than life.
"Hello Kid. Ask your teach about them Muties? We're gonna kill them all, you 'n me." He declared, seemingly oblivious to the horns that graced my head. "Let's start with this one." Emma was suddenly in his grasp, one of the famous inhibitor collars around her neck. She was struggling against his grasp, but I knew how hard it was to escape it.
"Let's start a tally shall we?" His hand grabbed her skull. "One down."
"No!" I leapt at him and he moved out of the way easily, his smirk infuriating me. He petted my head affectionately, even as I continued to snarl at him.
"Thank you, Kid. One down." He laughed as he released Emma's body into my horrified grasp. She slid off my horns into my arms. A bloody froth flecked her lips and her eyes were glassy as she looked up at me.
"Alex…?" She didn't say, couldn't ask it. I kissed her forehead, trying to convey the regret and shame and pain I felt at hurting her. When I pulled back though, she was already dead.
"Emma." I whispered, pulling her body close. It was like my nightmares had come true somehow. But I knew I was still awake. The environment around me stayed the same. Emma's white leather was stained pink now. "I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to…" I whispered into her ear as I slowly put her down. I could hear in the distance footsteps approaching, the vague shouts searching. I put her body down, tears and pain seemingly etched into my soul.
"Time to go Kiddo. Gotta add to that list." He smiled and disappeared into the brush. Hating myself as I did so, I turned and ran.
I would survive this. I had to.