Chapter 7

Talyn took a deep breath when she had finally found the door that would lead her to Leech's room.
Strangely enough, she wasn't even feeling that nervous.
Maybe there was still enough alcohol running through her veins to give her the courage she needed, maybe she just didn't realize what she was about to do. Maybe she was just as fucked up as ever. Maybe she was still an emotionless machine that would take orders from Erik, because she trusted him…

Hell no, she shook her head. Erik was not a part of her life anymore. She had left so she would learn to live normal. So she could get a job, maybe even make some friends.
And hell yeah she had been on the right way, until he had to torture her dreams and ask for a favor just now. Now was not a good timing. But she still owed him.

She took another deep breath and knocked on the door softly.
Even though anyone else probably would have never heard this, her ears caught a soft 'yes' coming from inside the room.
She opened the door and smiled briefly when she saw Leech sitting on the edge of his bed. His bald head seemed to shine in the dimmed lights and his smile was serene.

"Hey Jimmy," she said, trying to sound casual, "I didn't see you at the party, so I just came to check if you are alright."
His smile grew, but strange enough there was something in his eyes Talyn could not explain. Some sort of peace maybe.

"I know why you're here," he said softly and calm, "I waited for you."
She took a step forward into the room and closed the door behind her. What was he talking about?
"What do you mean Jimmy?" she said, still smiling.
"I know you're here to kill me Talyn. It doesn't matter. I understand."
His voice remained calm, even understanding, but Talyn knew now it was sadness what she seeing in the little boy's eyes.
"Don't be silly," she said comforting, while walking closer to him. He was still a few meters away and he wasn't affecting her body now. "Where did you get that idea?"
He smiled again. "I just know." He then stood up from the bed and looked her straight in the eyes. His look changed. Not the sadness anymore, but she saw the beast that she had in her when she was fighting for something. It was in his eyes.

"I don't blame you," he said, almost whispered, "but I'm not letting you take my life like that."
Then he slowly walked towards her.
She was surprised by everything he had said. How did he know she was after him? They never spoke to each other. Why was he so calm and serene about it? And so confident?"
Before she even realized it, a sting went through her entire body. She stumbled upon her feet, but managed to stay up and could see through her eyelids that Leech was coming closer to her, and with every step he made, her pain was getting more and more intense.
"Jimmy, stop!" she managed to scream out. It made him hesitate for a moment. Enough time for her to pull out her claws, which hurt even more than usual, because her healing factor wasn't working that well with Leech so nearby.

"Don't do this Talyn," the boy said to her, almost begging. He stood still and caused enough pain for her to be confused, instable, but not enough to kill her, not enough to stop her mutation at all.
"I have to," she whispered, "you don't understand. I have to."

He walked closer to her and closer, until she collapsed on her knees and was almost blinded by the pain that was caused by the Adamantium on her bones. She could feel it poison her entire body. Her sight was getting worse, she felt dizzy, couldn't breathe well…
She had to do something now, before this boy would be her end.

She tried to open her eyes. Saw his feet on the floor, a few inch away from her . He was standing so close.

With her last powers she pulled up her arm and stroke.
She could feel blood on her hands and a weight falling on her.
She tried to stay conscious, but her body was still poisoned, her head was still dizzy and her body still felt heavier than normal. She wasn't thinking clear now. Her head was spinning.
Had she killed the boy? Was he still alive?

Within minutes she could feel how her head started to clear and how her body started to feel better.
When she had enough strength, she dared to open her eyes, to see Leech hanging half on her claws and half on the floor, not moving, drenched in blood…
"Fuck fuck fuck."
She withdrew her claws and stood up from the ground, while Leech was lying in a puddle of his own blood. His bald head was still shining in the dimmed lights of the room.
Talyn stood there for a few minutes, mesmerized, thinking about what to do next... The smell of blood intoxicated her. The boy lying on the ground, was taking all of her attention. Somehow, he still looked graceful there. She kneeled down and rolled him over, so he was lying on his back now.
It affected her to see him like this. She had killed people before, they didn't matter to her, but somehow this little guy affected her more than anything else.
She closed his eyes with her fingers. "I'm so sorry." She could hear her own voice startle.
She looked at him for another short moment, until she realized she just had killed him and had to get the fuck out of there.

She listened at the door, if someone was around, and opened it when there was nothing than silence. She practically ran to her own room, washed the clothes to get rid of the blood, just as long until she couldn't see or smell it anymore. Then she took a shower, got into bed and hoped to wake up at some point, realizing that everything had been a dream.

"Talyn, wake up!" Another knock on her door, it sounded impatient. "Wake up!"
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at her clock. Almost noon.
She stretched her arms and sat up in her bed. "Yeah, what's up?"
Her door opened instantly and Storm was standing in the doorway.
"You have to come down to my office NOW."
"What, why? What's wrong?" She pushed the hair out of her face. "I thought you were away? Why are you back so early?"
"Come down, NOW."
Storm turned around instantly and shut the door with a loud smash, leaving Talyn sitting in her bed with her heart in her throat.

Shit, shit, shit!
She stood up from her bed and put on some clothes.
They must have found Leech by now, she thought. He was definitely dead, there was no other way to put it.
She saw him just as clear as the night before, when she had stabbed him to death. She smacked her own head. God, how could she have been so stupid. She had left her fucking claw marks on the boy, it would lead everyone to either her or Logan. She mentally hit herself.
She was such a moron to go around and kill him without a proper plan. She was even lucky she was still alive, he could have killed her too if he was lucky.

She rushed down to Storm's office, on her way thinking about escaping the mansion before they could blame her, of thinking about ways to put it on Logan.
She reached the office before she had it figured out though.

The office felt like nothing else she had ever experienced before.
There were a few people there. Storm was sitting behind her desk, Jean was leaning against the same desk, both had a frown on their faces. A guy named Scott was sitting on one of the chairs, just as Warren, the Angel-guy she had danced with the night before. Logan was leaning against one of the walls.
They all looked up when she entered.
"What is wrong?" she asked carefully. She had to try to make it seem like it wasn't her fault.

"Both Jimmy and Professor Xavier are dead," Storm said softly.
Talyn's heart stopped for a moment and she took a deep breath after a second or two.
"Uh… what?"
She didn't even have to act like she was surprised, because she was really surprised now.
Storm gulped. "They are both killed."
Talyn looked around the room. No one was looking at her, not even Logan who was now just staring at Storm or some point past her.
"I… What do I… I don't understand."
"Charles is killed by Magneto," Storm swallowed and her voice trembled. Talyn could smell all sort of tears in the room, but no one was crying now. "While he was pleading for peace."
Talyn didn't move a muscle.
"There is not much left of his body." Storm added.
Talyn closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again and looked at Storm. "And Jimmy?"
Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Talyn mentally cursed and knew she had to be busted, but somehow she couldn't move.

"Jimmy was here right? Just in the mansion? How…" she didn't finish her sentence and tried to sound confused and sad. Which wasn't really hard to do, because she actually was confused and sad.

"Leech was stabbed," Jean said. Her voice sounded more stable than Storm's. She looked at Logan and then at Talyn. "The stab wounds have to exact same pattern as both your claws."
Logan looked at her sideways.
"It wasn't me," he growled.
""What…" Talyn stumbled. She took her hand through her hair and looked around the room. "What, you think I did it?" She could hear her own voice tremble again, which was real, not an act. She hated herself, she hated herself for killing Jimmy, but she had no option. Erik would have come after he if she wouldn't have killed the boy or brought him to Erik. But she had to save herself here too, if she would betray herself, she would betray Erik too and then it would have been quite useless to have killed Jimmy.

She raised her eyebrows and shot her eyes around the room. No one was really looking at her now.
"I didn't kill him," she whispered.
Storm coughed and looked up at her. "We don't know who did it," she said, "both of you were at the party, but he has your claws in him, " she paused, "but we haven't found any DNA and maybe they tried to put all the blame on you."
"Who?"
"The Brotherhood," Storm sighed. "The professor told us you had some contacts there. We think they might want to make us think you did it for them, but they might as well have done it. They have a shape shifter…"
"Mystique," Talyn said.
Scott looked up from where he was sitting. "You know Mystique?"
"Yeah."
"How well do you know here?" Jean asked her, interested.
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, a few years. We could get along when I was in the Brotherhood…"

Jean looked at Storm and Talyn was quite sure she said something to her with her mind.
"Why would they kill Jimmy?" Talyn asked to no one in particular. Even though she already knew the answer to the question.
"The Cure," Warren said, "he made it. He's dead, now the Cure lost all its effect. No new one can be developed anymore too…"
"I'm sorry," Talyn said while shaking her head, "why would I kill him? I'm not working for Erik anymore, I'm done with that shit…"

It was quiet for a moment and everyone seemed to be caught up in their own thoughts. Storm was resting her head in her hands, Jean's head was down, Logan was just staring at nothing, Warren looked outside through the window and Scott was staring up at the ceiling. She just stood there, leaning slightly against the door, her hands in the pocket of her jeans.
She gulped, which made Logan look up. She caught his eye but looked away again after a flash of last night went through her mind. Damn, how could she think about that now.

"So… what about the school now?" she asked. She didn't know where this was going, but at least it looked like they weren't blaming her.
"I will take charge," Storm said. "We will have a funeral in three days."
It was all she could say without bursting into tears.
"It's the beginning of war," Jean said slowly, "now the Cure is gone, and the professor is gone…"
"Only question is which side you're on kid," Logan growled, looking sideways at her.
She shook her head. "I have nothing to do with the Brotherhood anymore," she said, "I'm done with them."

Storm coughed again and pulled herself up from her chair, leaning with her hands on the desk. "Well, in that case we have to find out who killed Jimmy," she said, "and we will have to figure out our next steps."

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