"I'm here for my schedule." Regan pepped at the secretary. "It should be under Regan N."
"Oh, of course dear. Here you go." the secretary smiled, flashing too white teeth and tucking her obviously-fake-blond hair behind her ear. Regan continued to smile at the woman, even though fakes like her drove Regan crazy.
"Thanks!"
You sound like that insufferable bubble of sunshine, Alice Regan almost stumbled, closing here eyes quickly.
I used to be that way, remember? When I was four? I asked daddy why he never hugged me, like other daddies hugged their daughters. Don't you remember, he hit, hard. You must remember? When my smile could light up a room? Before I became as fragile as our mirrors? With a forceful shove, Regan returned to the world of the living. "Right, Math." Regan hissed through her teeth. Focusing, attempting to keep her eyes on, even as they drained her energy. She found the classroom with difficulty, shutting off her eyes gratefully as she opened the door. "Ummm, do you have a seat for me?" she asked shifting her balance to appear awkward as she felt the class' eyes boring into her.
"And who are you?" The teachers sharp voice asked.
"Regan. I'm the new student? This is calculus right?"
"Yes, of course. I was expecting…"
"A boy? Call me Lilith if it bothers you so much." She said flipping her hair carelessly over her shoulder. "You're not the first, the first to expect that."Regan said, noting the class's strange looks.
"Take the desk right next to you." The teacher said, obviously frustrated that she had taken up class time. Regan smiled slightly predatorily at the man and took her seat. He began to speak, his monotonous drone dropping her classmates like flies while she worked steadily more difficult problems out of complete boredom. "Something you'd like the share with the class." The teacher, whom Regan decided would remain nameless, snatched her paper from her. She felt the shock rolling off him as he read and reread her equations. "What are these equations for?" The teacher questioned, skeptically.
"The first half of the sheet is for time-travel, but I'm having a difficult time fixing the problem of coming back; so I figured I'd start on the mechanics behind controlling hyper beams." Regan began tapping her pencil impatiently on her desk. "Can I have them back please? I'm almost done."
"This is all theoretical right. How can you finish?"
"I have to balance the negative and positive ions and I have to find a way to direct the blast with enough force so it doesn't backlash and kill who's ever using it. Wouldn't want that now would we? Would we?" Regan asked almost playfully, her last statement ringing in the air.
"I'll put you in for a class transfer." He said, before returning to the lecture. He hadn't returned her equations. With a sigh Regan settled into her chair, focusing her breathing; in, hold, out, hold.
The sharp clap of the school bell signaling the end of class brought Regan back to her senses, almost too abruptly shocking her into almost vaulting over her desk.
Man, chill out Mimic. Since when are you this jumpy? The male voice echoed in her ears.
Since We got here, something is not right with this place. Can't you feel it? The three voices echoed back at him.
Sorry about that Hayden.
No problem, right turn, anyway came to say that some of ours are getting picked up. Would you mind sending another lawyer down our way? The two we have are overwhelmed.
No problem, you have to authority to do that. She replied, glancing around to find her dark haired friend.
We figured you'd need it. The three voices echoed again
Do you guys ever go away? This voice was harsh, unfriendly, and was accompanied by a slight rattling of Regan's mental state.
No. Alice giggled
I'll leave you to it Mimic, open the door. Hayden said, calling out the last instruction for her to get to her class.
Show off. Regan muttered, quickly shutting down her emotions and locking her 'guests' back in their mirrored cells.
"Hello, I'm Regan. Is there a seat for me?"she felt wide eyed stares. "Hi Scott! Can I take the chair next to Scott please?" The teacher seemed slightly overwhelmed with Regan's personality and simply nodded. Flashing the woman a brilliant smile Regan danced over to the empty desk next to Scott Summers aka Cyclops.
"Regan, what are you doing here? This is A.P. physics, you're a freshman aren't you?"
"I don't actually know, The Professor had me take a test a week ago for class placement. Maybe I scored well…" Regan said trailing off as the teachers voice cut through her thoughts.
"As you all have guessed, we have a new student today, would you please introduce yourself?" Ms. Stone asked, apparently thinking she would do the girl a service.
"Hi! We're Regan Lilith, I am 15, and I just moved into town." She smiled happily, her white teeth flashing dangerously, desperately covering her slipup.
Scott raised his eyebrow, but said nothing, cataloging her use of 'we' to tell the Professor. Ms. Stone's voice was chipper and happy, as she encouraged one of the pretty, popular girls to tell the class about 'The Great Gatsby'. Scott watched as Regan's face quickly went from irritated to annoyed, and finally settled on amused as Kelly continued her speech. He rationalized his behavior, she was an unknown a possible danger to the people closest to him; but she was a puzzle, she had avoided all human contact for the past two weeks and now was smiling like it was nothing. He watched as her smile slowly went slack and her tense body relaxed, it didn't seem natural.
"Hey, Regan are you okay?" he reached out to shake her. A hand snaked out to snatch his wrist, her grip was strong enough to bruise bone.
"They are coming, can you feel it? They are coming and it will be for us. It will be a massacre, there will be blood. So much blood, are they bleeding us dry? Power is consuming, all consuming, soon they won't feel anything anymore. They…" With a slightly chocked gasp, Regan released his arm her hand moving to cover her eyes. A quick string of words he couldn't quite catch blurred her lips; her eyes stared apparently unseeing ahead of her. "I know you're listening." It was spoken in a hiss.
"I was just…"
"Not. You." Her voice was still a hiss, clipped and controlled, its pitch altering and shaking, as if between two people. "Her." A double timbre, "Oh, she's gone."
"Regan, are you alright?" Scott's voice was genuinely worried.
"I'm fine." A false smile, thin as glass, graced her delicate features. "You shouldn't worry so much, or your hair will go as white as mine." She fingered her white locks.
"So that's natural?" Scott asked, he had only seen flashes of her around the mansion, and it was always her tell-tale hair.
"Natural as anything gets anymore." Only a half smile this time, "Did you know? Before I mean? Or was it only after? I always knew, special is as special does I guess." Her voice sounded slightly off. "Scott? Do you think it is naïve to trust?" with that she stood and turned slightly towards him, she opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. Quickly she turned her hair flaring around her, and then she was gone. Like an illusion, like she had never existed.
Regan sat alone at lunch, well alone to outsiders, her alters were always with her.
Was it absolutely necessary to throw that show? The raspy voice demanded.
I can't help it! You KNOW I can't! It's not my fault! A soft slightly hoarse voice screamed.
No one said it was. Alice piped, You should be nicer. She reprimanded the raspy voice.
Will y'all just SHUT UP! This voice was louder, more real than the others. Rearea, won't you make them be quiet? I'll be your best friend. The voice shoved the others back; Regan felt the voice's dark emotions swamping her mind.
Go away. Her voice was soft, far too weak for her liking, old memories were forcing themselves back into her mind, no doubt helped by her 'guest'. I'm tired. She felt warmth wrap around her, though it was only in her mind, it felt so real, she felt safe. She was pulled into someone's lap, their mental presence dwarfing hers.
Shhh, it's ok. It's ok. Just sleep, sleep. The voice was humming, rocking Regan's mental form back and forth. Regan felt her eyes closing, with a great shove she returned to 'reality' and uncurled her body from its unintended fetal position; she reached out so she could see her hands, she felt the urge to wipe away the makeup covering her wrists, if only to see if it was really her or if she was still lost in her reality. She didn't risk smearing the makeup instead she lifted her head to look at the sky, clear blue, not indigo and silver. Her eyes refocused on the school, she felt the mixture of hunger and thirst gnaw at her veins, she complied, drawing a single card from her deck, letting its energy flow through her body. She sighed, her hunger satiated, and flinched as the new persona hit her mind, his voice screaming, making her head pound.
"Shut up."