Three months prior
I felt them screaming for mercy, in my head. One by one the screaming stopped, but not before their agony was pushed into my heart. They were terrified. There was nothing I could do to save them, just witness their murders through their thoughts and feelings.
They prayed that they would live, knowing they wouldn't. I heard her saying Psalm 23 in her head.
"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul."
" He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake."
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with-
Then a gunshot rang out. They had killed my mother.
"Once more I'll ask you, where is she?" The cold voice asked my father, holding a gun to his head while Dad held my mother's dead body.
"I don't know, I don't know! Go away! Leave my family alone!" He yelled, tears leaking down his face.
BANG! The man now shot my older sister, but she was not dead. Her pain was unbearable, she screamed and cried more. She was always the strong one, I've never seen her cry. Dad held her now.
This time another man shot her, this bullet killing her.
Bang, my little brother.
Bang, my father.
The evil man turned to the giant, who was looking out the window. This giant man carried no gun, but he did not need one. His sharp canine teeth, his hard muscled body, his long claw like nails looked to be made of metal, proved that he needed no gun. This cat man, with his yellow eyes. This, this beast, just ordered my family's murders because they would not tell him where I was.
"I-I'm sorry sir. You heard, they would not tell. I'm sure we'll find her." The man whimpered, my family's blood splattered on his shiny black boots.
"I'm sure as well, Captain, with no help from you." With a cat's agility, the man snapped the captain's neck. Then he calmly turned to the other men who followed his orders, fear radiated through the room. "FIND HER!"
Present day
I awoke with a scream. That nightmare again, if only it was just a collection of thoughts played by my subconscious while I slept other than my past. My entire family's murder, played over and over while I slept. I did not know why the Cat Man was looking for me that night or why he wanted me so bad that he would have my family murdered, but I did know that when these kids were safe, I would find him. I would kill him.
Eight pairs of eyes looked at me in shock.
"Nightmare again?" Derik asked.
"Yeah." I looked out the window. We were in a van, driving to Westchester New York with an elderly retired pair. I used my powers to convince the couple that we were their grandchildren, and they were talking us on a road trip. I know it was wrong, but it was the only way. Besides, the couple were already coming here to visits their real grandchildren when we found them at the border.
"Want to talk about it?" Derik asked. He was used to my nightmares and my screams, but he didn't know what caused them. None of them knew about my past, or my vendetta.
"No." I said stubbornly. I looked up to the front of the van. "How you guys doing?" I asked Greg, Megan and Leah, who were playing I-Spy with "Grandma Henny".
"Good!" Megan smiled back at us. My screams didn't interrupt their game.
"Yeah, except you keep cheating. Not everyone has your raptor vision, Bird Brain." Greg whined. For all his teasing, I knew he had a crush on Megan.
"Shut up, Frog Breath!" Megan squealed. Greg stuck his frog tongue out at her.
"Enough you two!" Grandma Henny smiled at her "grandchildren" lovingly. I also used my powers to make the elderly couple think mutants were completely fine.
"So where do you kids want to stop and ea- Oh my God!" Grandpa Bret swerved the car to avoid hitting a large robot's foot.
Derik and I exchanged a look. "Sentinels." We both said grimly.
Ever since we left Canada, we kept running into these giant robot mutant catchers. They are called Sentinels and are nightmares.
"Everyone out of the car!" I ordered, urging Jenny to crawl out the back of the van. I turned around to undo the lies I placed in our "grandparent's" minds to find tiny Leah hugging the two of them.
"Bye Grandma, Grandpa, it was really nice being with family that doesn't leave me for dead." She said before letting them go and get out of the car.
A moment later, we're fighting two Sentinels and the older couple is speeding away in their car, oblivious that the eight mutants they're leaving now were considered family not long ago.
"Diffuse, make Leah, Meg and yourself invisible!" I ordered. "Greg, jump in the river and STAY there until this is over! Do NOT fight with me about this!"
They did as they were told. "Okay, you guys work on that Sentinel, this one is mine. Try to lead it away from the others!"
I gave them a head start on theirs by using my telekinesis to hurl a car at the robot's head. When I turned around, I saw five more Sentinels flying towards us.
Please! Somebody help us! I sent a telepathic plea.
What I did not expect was a reply.
A man leapt at the Sentinel the others were fighting as a black jet flew towards us. Metal claws sprung from his hands and sliced the robot's head off. Then he jumped at another.
It was the man from the diner, the customer.
"Hey kid!" He yelled. "Look out!"
I flew out of the way of another Sentinel's blast, trying to now concentrate on fighting. The jet had landed and costumed people were flooding out of its open doors. A man shot lasers out of his eyes at a robot while a large blue on leapt at its face. A beautiful woman with black skin and long white hair flew high into the air and shot at one with lighting. A blue man with a tail appeared in front of one and grabbed Jenny before disappearing again. A tall one with the most extraordinary eyes, red on black, threw exploding cards at the Sentinel that Derik and Zach were now fighting.
Mutants, I thought bewildered, as I used my telekinesis to rip the head and limbs off the Sentinel that attacked me.
Before long the threat was gone. All the Sentinels were lying in broken piles around us. Diffuse reappeared with the two younger girls. The woman with the kind face who shot lightning came up to them, speaking quietly. Greg resurfaced, and the other boys were fine.
I looked around. The man with metal claws was walking towards me. "Where did that man take Jenny! I swear, if he hurt her-"
"Calm yourself, NightCrawler wouldn't hurt a fly. And that little six armed girl seemed to be able to take care of herself." He growled, lighting up a cigar.
I started to feel a little woozy.
"Hey kid, you're bleeding." The man said, pointing at my arm.
He was right. Wow, that is a lot of blood. The world started to spin. Huh, I wonder when I got cut? I thought dimly.
The older mutants started to walk towards me. Another woman, one with long red hair was exiting the jet. The closer she got, the worse I felt.
"These are the kids. I've checked over the others, and they're fine." She said, coming closer to me. "The Professor knows and wants us to return quickly- AH!"
Suddenly the pain was unbearable, we both collapsed.