My shoulder twinged, on pure reflexes I twisted my body letting the dice fly from my hand once again. Clank. Damn blocked.
"Hey! Wha'd I do?" A very confused voice asked me. "who are you anyway?"
"Sorry, instinct." I muttered, "Rem ya better run, Jean'll find us if we're too close for too long."
"Je t'aime." He muttered quickly and pecked my cheek before leaving, knowing him he'll just disappear; he always does.
"Hey, doc. Can ya hurry up and help me out here?" My sightless eyes searched the room as if they could still see; trying to pinpoint who was speaking.
"Yes, forgive me Evan, I was trying to get our guest here to settle down."
"Oh, who are you anyway?" The boy, Evan, asked.
"Je m'appelle Regan." I introduced myself, standing before Mr. McCoy could object. With a flick of my wrist I dropped my silver colored yoyo, listening to the echo as it tapped softly against the floor. Moving with slight hesitation I navigated around the hospital beds so I could offer my hand to the stranger. "Enchante."
"Hey, I'm Evan." I felt him place his hand in mine and shake.
"You have a good handshake." I murmured, I felt calluses scraping across my palm. "Do you play basketball or something?" I asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" he asked, he had a New York accent, he must have been a 'born and raised' kinda guy.
"Just a feeling." I answered, smiling.
"Reagan, you shouldn't be standing yet, I'm still not sure what made you faint." I waved the concerned words like a fly.
"I used too much energy, no big. It happens all the time." I said, "so Evan, think you can show me around? Or at least spring me from this place? I hate hospitals."
"Yeah, sure. Just give me a second to talk to the doc ok?"
"Yeah sure." I kept the yoyo bouncing, carefully mapping the room in my head, five beds, a row of windows, blank spots where I'm assuming curtains hang blocking my view, one wall must be metal it has a higher reverb rate. The world seemed to vibrate around me, wow high-tech. I felt a hand on my shoulder, my body tensed slightly but the grip and calluses were right. "Hey Evan."
"We can head out now, if its alright with the Doc that is." Evan said turning his body.
"yes, yes. Just keep her in your sights Evan, I don't want her passing out again."
"Thanks Teach!" Mr. McCoy must have been laughing as I followed the nearly running Evan out of the room. He led me for a while, from the sound of the echoes this place was huge. I must have spaced off, Evan had reached for my hand; damn. I threw my protections around my mind, making sure nothing could slip in. "Are you ok? You almost ran into a wall."
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry I must have spaced out, I must still be tired thanks for catching me."
"No problem, c'mon Prof's looking for me it'll be quicker if you just hold my hand." I nodded, too confused to think straight. My feet moved in time with his, my mind constantly memorizing the number of steps I took and the state of the echoes. Three flights of stairs, 50 steps down a carpeted hall and into an assumed study. The walls were wooden from what I could tell, good quality stuff nice sound, and floor was thickly carpeted a slight hindrance to my method of 'seeing' but nothing unusual, there was tech around the room but nothing too major, and a desk settled in the center of the room two chairs stood waiting.
"Hello Evan, I see you've brought our guest. Would you introduce me?"
"Sure thing, Prof. Regan, Professor Charles Xavier." The air moved, I assumed his hand was out to greet me, I extended mine in return, my hand found his and shook once.
"Good to see you again Professor."
"So Professor, what did you want to see me about?" Evan asked, I heard his footing shift, he must be nervous. I must've put my yoyo away when we started running, though I couldn't remember it now, because my hand was still in Evan's without my thinking about it I gave a gentle squeeze; living with my brother you learn to read the subtle signs when someone needs comfort.
"It's nothing to worry about, just a basketball game your coach told me it was being postponed until further notice." Evan gave a snort.
"Alright, thanks for the warning Professor."
"On another note, would you show Miss Regan to one of our guest rooms? I'm sure Hank would prefer her lying down."
"Sure Professor." Evan began leading me out the door.
"And Evan I would appreciate it if you collected her before dinner as well, it wouldn't do us any good to have our guest get lost." Evan must have nodded because he continued on, I continued to create a mental map of the building, or complex it was so big.
Evan POV
Regan's hair kinda looked like Auntie O's, that was the first thing I noticed about her and it still drew my attention, it was like someone had kept her in a cellar her whole life and it had sucked the color right out of her. She had a good smile, sincere, and she had one heck of an arm. If I hadn't blocked her dice earlier with my plates, no question about it she would have fractured a bone.
I led her down the familiar halls of the Institute, still thinking about this visitor. She had good instincts, the kind you developed in high risk cases, she had a gentle touch. I could still tell that, her hand was still in mine. I don't know why I grabbed her hand down near med-lab, but something told me that leading her like this would be easier. Too soon I saw the door to the guest room.
"Reagan, we're here." I opened the door, letting go of her hand I went and closed the hanging drapes, cutting off the rooms source of light. "I'll be back to grab you for dinner, if you need anything holler and someone will find me."
"Hey Evan? Thanks." I smiled at her, she also had a pretty voice. "Devil's luck spare you." I almost didn't hear her, I guess that was her way of saying be safe, weird.
Narrator POV
"Dang, that girl must be psychic, Logan thrashed us during that DR session, he really went all out." Evan muttered to himself as he walked up the steps to the guest room.
'how should I feel, creatures lie here looking through the window…' Weird, there wasn't a radio in the room. Must be her cell phone. Evan cracked open the door, broken shafts of sunlight spilled into the room, and disappeared almost as quickly. He tried to flip the lights on, they gave a defeated sigh then popped, glass raining down.
"The monster is gone. No more monster, no more monster." Evan glanced around the room, Regan was sitting her knees curled to her chest in the corner of the room, eyes obviously trained on the still ringing phone.
'turn the sheets down, murder ears with pillow lace.'
"there's bathtubs full of glow flies, bathe in kerosene their words tattooed in his veins." her voice was wrong, it was high and childlike.
"Pick up the damn phone Joker." Regan stayed silent watching the light behind the screen die, and the ring start again.
"Shut up." she whispered it so quietly Evan wasn't sure he had heard it.
"Regan?" He started walking towards her, the phone kept ringing.
"I said. Shut up! You won't break me!" Evan was frozen in place, the hair on the back of his neck stood on its ends, he ducked. The phone he had been standing beside exploded. Running feet pounded up the stairs, orders and shouts.
"Evan are you alright?" Scott asked as he barged into the room
"Yeah, I'm all good. Regan, you alright?"
"Monsters gone, monsters gone no more scary monster. Monster afraid of dark now!" a laugh bubbled out of her chest, high and insane. "No more monster! No more monster!" She had sat up straight, her legs crossed underneath her, her long bangs covered her eyes still, but revealed her predatory grin the grin that slid from ear to ear.
"Who's she, and what happened to her?" Scott asked, watching warily from behind his visor.
"oh look! Cyclops came out to play today! Is the princess free yet? What of the demon and the ghost? Are they going to play too?"
"Let me handle this one Scott." Jean said placing a hand on his shoulder. "Regan? Hello, my name is"
"Jean Grey, no alias; daughter of professor and Mrs. Grey. Moved to the Institute when you were ten, lived here ever since along side Scott Summers A.K.A Cyclops; Katherine Pryde, aka Kitty aka Shadowcat; Evan aka spyke; and Kurt Vaugner aka Nightcrawler. Under the care and tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier aka Professor; Logan aka Wolverine aka Project X; Ororo Munroe aka Storm, seen by her tribe as a goddess; and more recently Hank McCoy aka Beast." The girls voice had changed, it was cold, emotionless, robotic.
"Yes. Can you tell me what's wrong?" Jean coaxed softly, hoping to understand this girl.
"I hate when he calls me, he always wants something. Guess that's why he's that's why he's the head of the guild, he likes things too much."
"Jean, you called?"
"Yes professor, we heard an explosion and ran up to see what happened." Jean answered mentally so as not to spook the girl in front of her.
"You shouldn't keep secrets, secrets aren't nice." Regan's voice was dead and emotionless, as if those words were commonplace for her to say.
"You're right of course, Regan. Can you tell me what happened?" The Professor asked kindly, like Jean attempting to coax as much information out of the semi-lucid girl before him.
"The Monster called."
"Can you tell me who the monster is."
"The monster, he's the monster."
"Regan, that doesn't help us, we don't know who he is."
"He's nobody, and everybody; nowhere and everywhere, he's got eyes and ears all over the city, thieves to do his bidding."
"What is your definition of a monster?" Scott asked, wondering if that would help at all.
"A monster is someone who murders others profit; a monster is someone too cowardly to do the deed himself." dead silence fell over the room, the professor was the first to speak.
"Regan I would like to issue you an invitation to join the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Students, would you accept?" Regan cocked her head slightly to the side and tipped her head so she appeared to be looking at him.
"If I say no will you send me back?"
A.N. I'm sorry if the chapter skipped around a little, please please please let me know what you think J Until next time _ The Black Queen