Curing the Cure
Kela spent the next week in silence. Most of the time it was spent with the other Shifter survivors; she paid close attention to everyone. She never ate; what she did eat would sit in her stomach like a stone, and she wouldn't eat anything else. Kitty and the others noticed her absence in the Danger Room, but they never complained about or asked why. Kela seemed as if a ghost: she walked around from room to room, never speaking, eyes trained on the ground.
Gerr and the others took up residence in some of the common dorms, and were welcomed by the other residents. Gerr was the only one Kela would talk to. What she said he in turn relayed to Hank and the others so they could gage some type of mental state. She told him and the others about Liam, how the cure had essentially killed him, and his Primeval took over his body, like a parasite. They all agreed that there was always something off about him, but the way he spoke with such conviction that they overlooked it. They had permission to burn Maria's body, which they did in the woods the night after she died. With Liam's, they simply buried him. Cremation, for a Shifter, was a way for the soul to be free to intermingle with animals they had taken the form up. To be buried, they thought, was to be doomed to a Shifter's untrue form; that of a being tormented by the Primeval.
In Kela's mind, the silence was deafening. She found herself talking to no one, and she was reminded of the weeks spent alone in the jungle for the first time. As she wandered around the mansion, she began to think that she was in a dream, but she wouldn't wake up. Her mind offered no relief so she could try and sleep. When she did, she was plagued of nightmares: running from some beast with yellow-green cat eyes, it grabbing at her throat and screaming with a blood-curdling yell. She never would get more than a couple of hours and she was in danger of attacking anyone who tried to wake her up from her screams. She often found herself at the area of the tombstones, kneeling in front of Charles' and mumbling to herself.
It was the late afternoon on a chilly day. She was in that familiar spot, kneeing on the ground, when Gerr, who had been watching her farther back, came and sat down with her. She grew silent when he approached; she had been sensing his followings of her, but generally didn't mind. They sat in silence for some time, Gerr ripping bits of grass from around the grave and blowing them out of his hand. Through the curtain of her hair, she studied him. She never took the time to actually notice him, but she noticed that he wasn't much older than Kela, two years at the most. He had scruffy light brown hair that, after a swift haircut, fell around his face in a slight curl that seemed to bring out his face. He wasn't overtly handsome, but she seemed he was pleasant to look at. He had dark brown eyes seemed to give off a warm glow. His lips turned up at the corner, giving him a perpetual smile, which was at odds with his circumstances.
"You would have liked her," she said. Gerr looked at her, puzzled.
"Maria. Before all of that happened to her. She would get a bit angry sometimes, but she was nice, and sweet. She would have called you Angel, because that's what you sort of look like, but with brown hair." Kela winced at her own words. It's true, she thought, hoping for an answer knowing none would come.
Gerr smiled. "Thanks, I guess."
Kela nodded. They sat in silence for a few more minutes before she ventured to talk again.
"I've never really asked any other Shifter, but how are you dealing with your Primeval?"
"It's not as bad. Maybe it's because I have no one left to lose, not really. All of my family is dead, and the other Shifters I don't really know. The less I have to worry about hurting, the more…relaxed, it is." Kela looked over at him, and swiftly pecked him on the cheek.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. Gerr rubbed the spot on his cheek where she kissed him.
"Come on, let's go running." He said. He stripped down to the Lexica fabric Lex had fashioned for him ("Well, can't have them all go walking around stark naked, can we?" he had said) and shifted into a dog. Kela followed suit, and they took off towards the woods.
They played an intricate game of tag, trying to outdo the other in a display of showmanship. Their frenzied barks echoed throughout the trees. Deeper and deeper they ran, Kela careful to stay within the boundaries of the school. Not that it mattered much anyway. If Dr. Lee was going to take her, she had had plenty of chances to do so before. Something else was waiting for them in the trees.
Sabretooth silently shifted his weight on a large branch stalked the two dogs as they wove through the trees. Seizing his chance, he dropped down beside one of the dogs and wrapped his hands around his neck. The other growled and ran at him to attack. He batted her away and held on tighter to the other's neck. Kela shifted back yelled at him on her hands and knees.
"Let him go! It's me you want, not him!" No more people will die on my watch, she thought.
"Let the dog go." A voice spoke in the darkness. A beautiful woman slinked out of the trees. She had straight black hair that cut off at her chin, and piercing blue eyes that cut through to Sabretooth's skin. In any other life, she would have been a model. With a snarl, he let Gerr go, who changed back and scrambled over to Kela.
"You," she said, nodding towards Kela. "You know about the cure. Come with us, now."
"What is she talking about? Kela? We all know about the mutant cure." Gerr said, not taking is eyes off of the animalistic man curling his mouth in disgust.
"Not the cure, the cure for the cure." Another voice spoke. Out of the shadow came one more. An elderly man wearing common clothes, but one hand holding onto a red metal helmet. His hair was a slate grey, and blue eyes stared at them both.
"Who are you?" Kela demanded. The man just smiled.
"You are very amusing, child. I am Eric Lehnsherr, but in another life I was called Magneto." Kela's hands tightened into fists. Logan had told her about Magneto. He had nearly killed millions of people gathered at Ellis Island by trying to turn them into non-Shifters. He then helped to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge and start the Alcatraz massacre.
"I don't know about any 'cure' other than the mutant one. Leave us alone." Magneto smiled. He looked at Sabretooth, who launched himself at the Shifters. Kela braced for the impact, but felt nothing as he pulled back, hand wrapped around Gerr's throat. She cried out as she saw his hands squeeze and Gerr cried out.
"I believe that you do." He spoke. Kela closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Fine! I'll get you the flowers. Crush a whole flower for each of you and brew them in a tea. It won't take long, but it will hurt. You should have your powers back. Just let him go."
"Bring us the tea, then I will let him go. We can wait." Kela winced inwardly and ran off towards the mansion.
Be safe, Gerr. She thought.
She was boiling the water when Lex entered the kitchen, whistling the English anthem. He smelled the flower in the tea and came up beside her.
"What are you making?" Kela stared at the wall by the stove.
"Tea. Gerr and I are out by the woods. We'll be back soon." I hope.
Lex shrugged his shoulders, grabbed his snack, and left.
Kela ran back as quickly as she could. She tossed the thermoses on the ground, and Sabretooth released Gerr.
"You've got what you want. Leave!"
Magneto made a show of a mock bow of the head.
"Of course, my dear." He turned his back and walked deeper into the woods, flanked by the woman and Sabretooth. Mumbling under his breath, he sighed.
"Poor girl. You will have to face so much so soon."
"Are you alright?" she asked him.
"I'll be just fine. The question is, are you?" he looked into her green eyes. She stared into his, and then looked away.
"I'll meet you back at the mansion." He said. Shifting into a dog, he ran off back to the school.
Kela took her time making her way back, letting the chilly air wash over her and calm her nerves. Despite this, she had the feeling something was off. It felt like it did when she was back in the jungle, walking along a path to get back to Mexico. She stopped, the sense heightening. She tentatively sniffed the air, but came back with nothing. Shaking it off as fear. But of what? She shook her head and continued walking. By the time she reached the door, it was night. She noticed the pile of clothes. Gerr had taken both sets back when he came. She smiled, the thought of his name touching something inside her. She walked past the common area, a few mutants gathered around a board game of some sort. Ramón looked up and called her name, but she ignored him. Rolling his eyes, he focused his attention back to the game.
She opened the door to her room, and sat down on the bed in the darkness. After Maria's death, Storm had moved her to her own room, down the hall from Bobby's.
"Hello again." Kela stiffened. Slowly, she switched on a lamp, and in the corner was Dr. Christina Lee. She was in an all black outfit, and a small boy was standing next to her, hand on her elbow.
"You…"
"Kela, Kela, Kela." She spoke, with a shake of the head. "What did I tell you? Leaving the boundaries of the school was not allowed." She saw her eyes widen, and she chuckled.
"What? You'd think I wouldn't keep tabs on you? Oh dear girl, you are mistaken. I must thank you; your little trip found me the Shifter camp in New York City. It's too bad about you though, you were just getting a grip on the Primeval. I even thought you'd have killed it.
"I can see the headlines now: Rogue Mutant Destroys City. Kills thousands. Oh how the people will scream." She began moving closer to Kela as she said this, the boy one step behind her the entire time.
Kela found her voice. "For someone who hates mutants, you sure keep strange company. How did you get here?"
"Simple really. The boy can stop time, only for a few seconds. Give us plenty of time to get inside and wait. It's a shame about you, though."
Kela barked out a laugh, more out of fear than humor. "What's that?"
"Didn't you guess? You're the mutant." With swift movement. Christina plunged a large syringe into the center of Kela's chest. The liquid poured into her system. Almost immediately, she felt her heart rate quicken, and the thing in her mind thrash against her skull. Christina placed the syringe in Kela's hand.
"What…what did you do?" the act of speaking was almost painful, and, involuntarily, a growl escaped her throat.
"Concentrated adrenaline. The dose is so high it would kill a non-mutant. For a Shifter, however, it can cause just enough damage to unleash the beast. I look forward to hunting you down." She began to laugh, and in an instant, Dr. Lee was gone.
Kela stumbled down the stairs, falling down the last half. The syringe was held so tightly in her hand, she could vaguely hear the snap of the plastic. As she grasped the wall for support, her fingers left inch-deep grooves in the wood. Her heart rate pumped even faster, and her breathing came in short gasps. A mirror on the wall showed that her eyes had been replaced by the cat-eyes and were surrounded by dark blue scales. She smashed it in her anger. In her mind, she felt the mental chains snap, one by one, and the Primeval launch an all out attack against her consciousness, struggling to overtake it.
She burst into a room, Logan, Hank, and Storm sitting on a couch, discussing an event on the news.
Kela collapsed to the ground. She screamed, and the Primeval awoke.