Chapter 3

Lily and Logan sat outside on a stone bench on the outside of the woods, a little away from the glowing lights of the 'school'. The stars still twinkled up above.

Finally, some fresh air, thought Lily, still taking slow deep breaths to keep herself calm, her head resting on her hands in her lap.

Beside her, Logan sat carefully, watching the young girl's breathing, unsure whether to start up conversation again.

From the hospital room, Jean had managed to find a small set of grey tracksuit pants and a jacket, with an embroidered 'X' on the chest, that would fit Lily, along with a spare pair of trainers. She had also been able to untangle her brown, pixie-like hair and wipe some of the dirt off of her face and body. She still craved a shower though. During her breathing exercises, Lily could smell Logan's apprehension and while she was still confused as to how all of her senses could operate to this heightened level, she was just bringing herself under control again and so was unwilling to get back into the gritty detail of it all.

Meanwhile, she focused on the sounds and smells she could sense beyond, reaching out in the grounds that lay behind her stone bench. There was scuffling of nocturnal creatures running about the trees and shrubs. Lily took one last deep breath before turning and looking up at Logan.

"Alright, I'm going to tell you everything I know, and then I want the same from you please," she stated very matter-of-factly. Logan did not want to deter her, and so simply nodded.

Lily began, staring back at the lights of the school, "I don't remember much. I have no idea how I got to those woods you found me in, or even what the date or time is right now. All I know is that I woke up, and everything was just turned up to 11, all of my senses are on fire, and I can't concentrate! Also my emotions are just a mess! Like earlier tonight, one minute I was listening to the river and then I just started running, following a smell I had no idea why I wanted to follow. It felt like I lost myself, lost control. These urges to attack, like that bear… I didn't want to kill it, but it attacked me and I just lost control. All I could see was red and then… once I started, I didn't want to stop… it felt good."

She stopped momentarily, to check Logan's reactions. He looked back passively, saying nothing, allowing her to continue.

"But before any of what happened tonight, I can't remember. I see glimpses or even senses of familiarity when I think of my family, because I must have a family right? But I can't remember them! I don't know if I had siblings or a mum, or just a dad or anything but I feel like I did. I just can't grab on to that feeling long enough for it to make any sense!"

"But most of all, I have no idea how I got these things in my arms," she continued, rubbing the tops of her knuckles on her hands.

"I know my name is Lily, I know that. That I'm 17 years old, the 20th of September, 1995 is my birthday. That I know, but why? Why can I remember that but not my family for God's sake!? And what do I do now? How do I live like this? I swear this wasn't what my life was like before, this is all very new to me and I don't know what to do…" she trailed off, looking down at her feet.

After not saying anything for a couple of seconds, Logan decided to start with the simple stuff.

"Well just so you know, it's about half past five in the morning, and the date is May, 2018. As for the rest of it, we have a professor here, Charles Xavier, the guy this fancy school is named after, who might be able to help you a bit more. He's a telepath, like someone who can read minds," he explained when Lily gave him a confused look.

"But he's the strongest telepath in the world so he will help you. That's what we do here, we help people like us… people who are mutants."

"Mutants…" Lily murmured to herself. She'd never associated the word with herself before, which she thought was strange. Her lack of memory beyond the events of the night may have explained that, but for some reason she felt the concept of being a mutant was very new to her, and she was unable to explain why.

Logan continued, "I don't have all the answers for you kid, at least not yet, but I'm gonna try help you as much as I can. You see I'm in a pretty similar situation myself, there's something going on here, between you… and me," he finished, looking at Lily directly.

"What do you mean? Something between us?" she queried.

"Well, I'm not sure if you remember, but before, when we were in the woods, did I seem familiar at all? I mean, do you remember starting to walk towards me? I don't know about you but I definitely sensed something"

"I kind of remember that," Lily replied, thinking hard about the events preceding her blackout, "But I still don't really know what you mean? Are we related or something?"

"I don't think so," Logan replied, "But I can't be certain for sure. We do have a lot in common though and we need the professor to help us figure this out", he continued, starting to get to his feet to walk inside.

"Hang on!" Lily exclaimed grabbing at his arm, "What do you mean, what do we have in common? You have to tell me!"

"This really isn't the best place for this," Logan retorted, "And I've probably said too much already."

"No! Please! Just tell me what you mean… please?"

Logan looked back at the mansion, lights glaring, wondering if it was too early still to talk to the professor again, then looked back at Lily, still sitting on the bench, staring up at him in desperation.

He took a deep breath and throwing caution to the wind, he gave in.

"Fine, okay, but it's not really something I can tell you, it's more something I need to show you"

Looking slightly more confused, Lily watched Logan take a step back from her, and took another deep breath.

She heard a sound then, a sound she had come to fear and anxiety welled up inside her. The familiar SNIKT sound caused her to instantly recoil from Logan as she stared down at the gleaming metal claws protruding from his knuckles.