Chapter 2

Lily woke to the smell of strong disinfectant and a persistent beeping noise. She peered open her eyes to find herself in some sort of strange hospital where she seemed to be the only patient. The other beds around her were empty but a chair to her right was occupied by a sleeping man with a cowboy hat tilted over his face. He was wearing a red flannel shirt, jeans and boots that all looked like were very worn in. As Lily took in her new environment, she began to slowly and quietly creep out of the bed so that she could find an exit to this place. She was wearing a backless medical gown, with long, warm socks that did not belong to her. The strong chemical smell was burning her nose and she needed fresh air, to get out. However, her sneak escape did not go smoothly as during her exit she tripped over one of the many leads still connected to her body which alerted the monitoring machine to beep wildly.

As a result, the sleeping man woke from his chair and jumped up to alleviate the situation. Lily reacted instantly with a deep growl emanating from her chest as she backed herself against the wall, claws popped out, and crouching in a defensive manner. She surprised even herself by the sound she was emanating, however the terror for the situation she found herself in held strong enough that she continued to growl at her potential attacker.

"Woah, woah. It's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you", said the man, showing his palms up.

"Who are you? Where am I? What is this place?", demanded Lily instantly, still crouched.

"My name is Logan", he replied, "and this is just a school, no one is going to hurt you here".

"What am I doing here? I need to get out", Lily retorted, making her way against the wall to the door.

In unison, Logan began to also make his way to the door, although in an attempt to block Lily's clear line of exit. This elicited another deep growl from the young woman who ceased her movements to try and find an alternative route.

"Hang on, darling. Don't run out on us yet, we just wanna help you, maybe ask some questions and help answer some in return. You do have questions, don't you?", Logan queried.

While this did cause Lily to straighten up a little bit, she said nothing and glared at Logan.

"Fine, I'll start then," he surmised, gaining no additional information, "Firstly, what's your name? How old are you?"

Lily was not keen to answer any of this short man's questions and she mistrusted him deeply. However, her nose told another story as she could smell nothing but concern and a little fear seeping her way.

Hesitantly, she replied, "I'm Lily, and I'm 17."

"Okay, Lily, nice to meet you. As I said my name's Logan and so now that we both know each other, do you mind putting those claws away for the time being?"

Again, Lily was reluctant to do anything that might jeopardise her safety, however with Logan still seeping smells of honesty, she slowly retracted her claws, as he too lowered his still raised palms.

"Where am I then? What did you do to me?", she demanded now, wanting answers to the millions of questions running around her mind.

"Like I said, you're at school right now, Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. You are safe here. Trust me. And we didn't do anything to you, I promise"

"Who's we?", Lily asked just as a tall red-headed woman came running into the room.

Her arrival sparked another defensive growl, and claws popped out once again.

Jean immediately stopped by the frame of the door at the site of the situation in front of her. She looked to Logan for answers but only received a look that said, 'remain calm'.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. This is Jean, Jean this is Lily. Jean's a doctor and is a part of the 'we' that I mentioned. She's only here because she thought you might have been in trouble… on account of all the beeping. Isn't that right Jean?" Logan replied, looking at Jean with expectation.

"Yes, of course. I just heard that the monitors were signalling and thought something might have happened".

Lily looked between Logan and Jean, sensing their reactions and scents before she straightened up.

"Well can someone please answer, what the hell happened to me then?!" Lily screamed, looking in desperation at the two adults standing before her.

"We don't quite understand, Lily. What did happen to you?" Jean finally asked, unable to find a suitable response.

"THESE are what happened to me!" Lily replied, showing them up to Logan and Jean who shared a quick look between them. "I have no idea where these came from! And why can I smell EVERYTHING? And it's so loud! Why is it so loud? I need to get out of here!" Lily began hyperventilating and crouched down on the floor.

"Okay, Lily, it's going to be okay," Logan replied walking towards her, "We need you to calm down and put the claws away right now. We will help you, but first you need to put the claws away."

"I can't," she explained instantly, "They're not going back, I can't make them go back!"

"It's alright, you can do this, just take a deep breath and focus."

Lily looked up at Logan and took a shaky breath before exclaiming, "It's not working! I can't make them go back!", she had now broken into tears.

"Hey, Lily, look at me. You CAN do this, I know you can, try again. Big breath. Breathe with me now".

Together, Lily and Logan took a breath and the claws sheathed themselves slowly.

In exhaustion and terror, Lily broke down crying.

"What did they do to me?"