Chapter 8:

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Third POV

It had been there, hidden away inside her, for as long as she could remember. A presence in the back of her mind unlike the whispered minds of those around her.

It was hate and anger and raw power.

She'd first noticed it as a small child when her power first manifested. It was before she had met Erik and she had felt so alone. Alone and scared.

When her power first appeared she didn't know if she was mad or if the voices in her head were really something more and she was too afraid to tell anyone, her father especially. Since the death of his wife and his marriage to his wife's best friend Klaus Schmidt had become incredibly depressed and, due to his daughter's resemblance to his late wife, resentful of Adele.

Adele knew the moment her father brought home his new wife that Elena Bach was a bad woman. That did not stop her father from leaving his daughter alone with her new Stepmother. Elena had only married Klaus for his fortune and was a violent woman in nature, taking her frustration out on Adele.

And so, Adele was utterly alone.

Until it came.

A smooth voice inside of her, whispering in her young mind. It twisted her thoughts, feeding the anger and resentment brought on by her abuse and her father's negligence. And for the longest time young Adele let those feeling fester and grow, making her cold and bitter.

She longed for her stepmother's love and protection and the presence saw this, urging her to make her love her. For what was the harm in it? To just push her a little until she loved her? Make her happier and by extension make herself happier. All she had to do was give in to the presence, let it guide her power.

And she did. She let it in and with great power it reached into her mind and twisted, trying to make her happy. And for a brief while it worked, but it wasn't real and Adele knew that, she could see in her eyes that her stepmother wasn't really herself anymore.

So she tried to let her go. To twist her back to herself, even if it meant she wouldn't love her anymore. But she twisted too hard and she broke, the pressure of her thoughts too much for her fragile psyche to bare. And within days Elena Bach ended her own life, leaving her young stepdaughter alone.

After her stepmother's death Adele was more wary of the presence in her mind, afraid of what it's words had made her do. But the presence was persistent and eventually found an opportunity to win the her trust back.

It offered to save her from Klaus, who's abuse (which was rare) had worsened since Elena's death, and though at first, still fearful of the presence's intentions, Adele refused it eventually began to wear her down.

Adele began to depend on the presence more and more as time went by, but it still wanted more. Needed more.

Despite the fact that the presence seemed to reside in Adele's mind it was not really a part of her. It had merely been drawn to the young telepath's power and potential, feeding off her raw power.

And though it could easily take control of Adele it wanted her to invite it. It wanted her to need it just as much as it needed her. And so it tried to win the girl over, offering her power, love, and protection. All the things she was denied in her life.

But despite her reliance on it Adele held strong, refusing to give in due to the occurrence with her stepmother. Her trust in the presence wasn't complete anymore and she was reluctant to let it guide her in anything else.

Her denial of it was set in stone it seemed.

But eventually even the hardest stone is worn away and the same could be said of Adele's resolve. Eventually she had no choice but to give in.

And the choice would change her and everything she believed for the entirety of her life.

"Adele. Come out Adele. You can't hide forever,"

Adele whimpered, curled up in behind the cabinet in Klaus's lab. Klaus had had a particularly bad day and had immediately searched out Adele to take out his rage.

Thanks to the younger girl's telepathy Klaus was having a fair amount of trouble finding her, but Adele knew she couldn't hold it long. She didn't have the best control of her power, especially when she was afraid.

Her only hope was that Klaus wouldn't think to look for her in the lab. She wasn't supposed to set foot inside under threat of Klaus' wrath.

Since Adele refused to let him in her mother's library the lab was all Klaus really had. He hated being anywhere near Adele so most days locked himself away in laboratory, leaving the manor's staff to care for Adele

"Get out here now!"

There was a crash out in the hall and Adele barely held back a frightened whimper as Klaus let out a rabid roar. Adele had a feeling that whatever that crash was she'd be blamed for it later.

Klaus' heavy footfalls echoed in the hall, stopping just short of the door, and Adele felt her heart freeze up as the knob turned slowly. Fear held her in it's grip as she realized her control had slipped and Klaus was going to find her.

Her heart was pounding and she tried to think of a way out. Somewhere to hide.

She was terrified. She didn't think she could take another beating. Her naturally frail body was already at it's limit since Klaus' beating had increased in frequency.

Her eyes caught sight of a cabinet and she raced for it as the door opened and a hard and familiar voice rang out, freezing her in her tracks.

"What are you doing in here?"

Adele turned, eyes wide, to face her father Klaus.

"I-uh-I was just..."

Klaus growled, moving into the room threateningly. "Just what? I've told you Adele...NEVER to come in here!"

Adele couldn't contain the whimper of fear as the man approached her slowly, eyes narrowed in anger.

Before she could do anything to fight back there was a sudden crack and she was sprawled on the ground, eye burning from the hit. Then there was another, straight to the stomach, and another. She was gasping and whimpering in pain as Klaus took out his anger hit by hit.

As the pain filled her up, covering her in a familiar sense of numbness and disconnection, she felt it. The presence.

It was covering the pain with rage and hate, boiling her blood and making her shiver.

'I can help Adele...Let me in Adele...'

'N-No...I can handle this m-myself...'

'You're hurting...Let me HELP you Adele...'

The pain in her body made it hard to focus and before she realized it she was answering out loud and Klaus was staring at her in confusion, even as he kicked her and hit her and bruised her small form.

"No...I c-can do this...", she winced as Klaus kicked him again, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, "I don't n-need..."

"Who are you talking to?"

'But you do need me...Let me help you Adele...Let me save you...'

As blow after blow rained down on her and the copper taste of blood filled her mouth Adele felt her resolve crumbling away. She could hear Klaus screaming at her, but couldn't make out what he was saying.

Her telepathy was going wild and she could hear a cacophony of voices screaming in her mind, overwhelming everything that she was.

'Let me save you Adele...'

She nodded her head as much as she could, sobbing quietly as the pain became too much. Her skin was numb, but the rest of her was on fire. It hurt so much more than any of the times before and she didn't even know why it was so much more extreme.

But before she could think about what she was saying she gave in, crying out for the presence she'd fought so hard against.

"I-I need your...he-lp...p-please...!" 'HELP ME!'

The moment the words left her lips she felt something burning hot flood into her and she felt herself shake with the sheer power building up inside of her. Something inside her reared it's head and what had moments before been a young girl was now something else entirely.

With a sudden blast of power Klaus was slammed away from her, his body hitting the wall with a violent force. Everything around her was either floating, burning, or shattering, all depending on what it is and how close it is to her.

She stood up, hair billowing as if in a personal tornado, and looked at him, eyes which had been a bright green now an unnatural burning red. Her skin seemed to glow from within and her veins stood out around her eyes and neck giving them a dark shadowed look as she looked at him, smiling at the look of confusion and horror on his face.

Klaus stuttered just looking at her, slowly using the wall to rise to her feet. "W-What are you...?"

There was moment of silence and the thing in Adele's skin looked like it was really considering the question. Then it's smile widened and it moved-floated- forward, a look of badly hidden malice in it's eyes.

"I am the Phoenix," It raised a hand, snarling. "And your boring me,"

And suddenly there was heat and fire unlike any he'd ever seen and it was alive, whirling and billowing around them. The chemicals in the lab only fed it's fury and it quickly consumed everything in it's path.

Through the flames Klaus could make out Adele-no, the Phoenix's- triumphant face, a sadistic smile on soft lips. And there was laughter in the air, a sharp un-childlike sound coming from a child's body.

But as the fire finally reached him and Klaus' screams filled the air, the laughter broke and there was sobbing, pained sobbing. And red eyes became green again and there's horror in their depths as Adele took in what she'd done and she cried out in fear and pain.

It took every ounce of strength to fight her way through the flames to what was left of her father and drag him out, coughing and sputtering as she went. And when she was done and the fire had died down she collapsed on the grass, sobbing and curling into herself.

She'd let it in. Trusted it. And once again the presence had destroyed everything around it, using her to do it.

And she could feel it inside, reveling in what it had made her do. She felt filthy and bad. She felt like a monster.

Turning to look at the body of her father she made a decision. Her father wouldn't remember this ever happening and she'd lock the presence away where it couldn't cause any more harm using her or anyone else.

So, putting a hand to her temple, she wiped his memories and locked the presence inside herself.

And with the presence she bound her hate, anger, and resentment, making sure nothing could never use her darker emotions to control her again.

And when she was done, new memories in place and rushed to her unconscious father checking him over for injury.

Klaus it seemed would be just fine, perhaps a little sore, but otherwise alright.

And so it came, the day when a Nazi soldier came up to their door and asked her father to be a doctor in one of the concentration camps and he took the job. Then the tests started on her. And once again she was alone.

Until Erik

The moment they first met her loneliness came to an end and the fire disappeared from her mind. With his companionship she felt safe and loved and her control over her gift grew.

And the presence known as the Phoenix stayed locked away inside with all the pain and anger she'd ever felt. Silent and asleep in the very depths of her mind.

...Until now.

AN: So I hope you like the chapter. I also hope you like the little twist put on the story with the phoenix force in Adele.