Edie King awoke suddenly. She had the most amazing dream, her daughter had returned, and they embraced in hug, but she felt a huge weight of disappointment drop in her stomach when she realized it was not real.
Edie swung her legs out from the mattress and placed her bare feet on the freezing stone ground. The cell was unbelievably cold. She had been here since she was arrested, that night two days ago. No matter how much she tried, she could not stop replaying that night over and over in her head. She stared at the weak moonlight which shone through the bars of the small box window and let her mind drift...
Two days ago...
Edie felt the fury bubble up within her in the few seconds that Jason raised his hand to strike Kyra. She leapt from her seat and grabbed his arm, she saw the police officers from the corner of her eye rush to grapple her, and pulled back with all the might she could possibly muster. She bellowed, animal like, with fury. All she wanted to do was make him suffer, for ever trying to hurt her daughter.
She felt his arm break loudly underneath her vice like grip, and she was intent on not letting go. Kyra almost screamed, her eyes alight with fear and horror.
"Go, Kyra, go!" Edie yelled, literally half a second before she was apprehended. She could feel the tears now streaming down her face as her daughter scrambled from the room. Edie saw her daughter's back in slow motion it felt, this could very well be the last time she would see her...
Then everything happened so fast. The officers clambered on top of the fighting couple, Edie now trying to hit every inch of Jason she could find, Jason yelling in agony and frustration, trying to fend off his enraged wife. The female officer managed, somehow, to grab Edie's waist and pull her with such force, it winded her. But Edie did not let go. She pulled Jason's broken arm more and found his face with her free hand, then punched his eye forcefully. The male officer then grabbed Edie's punching hand and pulled it behind her back, making Edie grunt. She then gave in, fury still coursing through her, and let go of Jason completely.
The female officer immediately stumbled backwards then flipped Edie over onto her stomach on the carpet, with surprising speed and agility. Edie's face slammed onto the carpet and felt a tooth break in her mouth. All she could then possibly register was the policewoman's loud and authoritative voice yell at her, quoting her right to remain silent and so forth, and the strong taste of warm blood in her mouth. Then, in all her anger and exhaustion, Edie blacked out.
Edie awoke in the cell. She had no idea where she was but she then instantly rolled onto her left side and vomited on the ground. She coughed and coughed, until the tears were streaming from her eyes and a police officer, the woman whom arrested her, approached the cell bars.
"Mrs King, you are being held in custody in the Downtown police station until we have established contact with your lawyer for a formal questioning. You are allowed one phone call in the next twelve hours."
But all these words Edie didn't hear. All she could think of was her daughter. Kyra.
"Where is she?! Where's my daughter?!" Edie screamed at the officer.
"We don't know Mrs King we have a search -"
"Where is she?!" Edie echoed, throwing herself at the bars, the officer taking a cautious step backwards, totally calm. "Please..." Edie sobbed.
"I'm sorry Mrs King, we have no leads on your daughters whereabouts..."
"Bastards," Edie cried, "where is she...my little Kyra..."
Edie shivered. She hated recalling that night, but she couldn't help it, not when she knew that her daughter was out there, alone, and she had told her to go. Guilt plagued her conscience, but she felt no regret towards Jason. He had deserved what he got. And God knows how many times she was absent and he could have abused Kyra...
Edie placed her head in her hands and began to cry. Cry because she felt so helpless sat here doing nothing for her daughter, plus her idiot lawyer was refusing to cooperate due to the exposure of her daughter as a mutant. No one had bothered to visit her either. Jason was probably in custody somewhere else, Edie hoped, for his attempt to hurt Kyra. Her sister Ruth hadn't even bothered to see how she was doing, well, who would? Once your daughter or loved one is exposed for who they really are in this world, no one wants to know.
As Edie began to shake with anger and frustration, she failed to notice a ginger house cat slip through the bars of the box window and land, silently, on the cold stone before her. It wasn't until the cat meow, did Edie look up in surprise.
"What the -?!" Edie cried, recoiling. The cat cocked its head to one side then yawned, exposing razor sharp teeth then suddenly began to shift and grow, right before Edie's eyes, until a girl was sat in the exact spot where the cat had just been. Edie gasped in horror and shock. It was the lack of sleep, she instantly concluded, to her seeing a cat just transform into a girl.
"Hi!" The girl smiled, playfully. "I'm Sabathy Stead."
"I – I don't know what you are but you better get outta here before I scream for someone to come missy!" Edie exclaimed.
But the girl just grinned. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you I've come on a very important mission!" Sabathy whispered, her large teal coloured eyes sparkling in the moonlight, which emphasised her ghostly appearance in the darkness.
Edie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What mission? Why are you here?"
"I'm here for your daughter, Kyra's mom! She's perfectly safe and needs to know where you are," Sabathy said. Edie felt a thump of relief rise in her throat, but she leapt forward and grabbed Sabathy's shoulders.
"Are you telling me the truth?" Edie growled, shaking Sabathy slightly.
"Yes yes Kyra's mom, your daughter is in Downtown New York with my guardian! She's fine and is with people like her!" Sabathy cried, bewildered.
Edie relaxed and let go, then leaned against the mattress. "Thank God. I've been so worried! Who is this guardian she is with?"
"The guardian is Elisa Govern, she is also a mutant and houses other runaway mutants. I can assure you Kyra's mom that she is totally trustworthy. She saved my life," Sabathy whispered, then looked away, recalling a painful memory.
"Well, tell this Elisa thank you and tell Kyra – tell her I love her. Also, that I will get out soon and look for her and not to make a mess whilst she is staying with you, okay?" Edie instructed. Sabathy nodded enthusiastically then paused and twitched her head upwards, towards the large bars to their left.
"Somebody is coming! Good luck Kyra's mom and I hope you get out soon!" Sabathy called then, as she leapt upwards towards the small bars on the box window, she morphed back and slipped away. Edie was tempted to call her back, and get more information, but the jingle of keys alerted her and she rapidly stood.
A male officer was stood with a hooded other as he unlocked the bars and slid them across to the left. "Mrs King you have a visitor. Five minutes." And the officer disappeared down the corridor.
"Good evening Mrs King," said the hooded figured.
"Who are you? Kyra?" Edie demanded.
The hooded figure advanced into the cell, thick black boots slapping the stone underfoot. "Of course not, Mrs King, I'm someone much worse."
"What?"
"My name is Ryan, Mrs King, and I need to know of your daughter," the figure had an alluring and dangerous voice.
"Why the hell should I tell you anything about her, what do you want with her?"
"I need to know for purely personal reasons only, which I intent not to discuss here, Mrs King. Let's just say," the figure revealed a pale white hand which began to glow with a fiery red heat which grew hotter and hotter, "if you do not tell me anything, I would be sorely tempted to melt the skin off your bones Mrs King."
Edie figured instantly, he was a mutant. And she had no idea of the extent of his powers. She had to tell him something...
"I have no idea where she is. After I tried to protect her from my husband she ran away and revealed herself. I've heard nothing from her." Edie lied, staring precisely at his eyes. They stared back, glowing red like his clawed hand. "But, all I do know, is that she was planning to travel to Austin, Texas, where her dad lives. She could have gone there."
The bright glow of Ryan's hand and eyes died down and he bowed slightly. "Thank you for your information, Mrs King. I hope, for your daughter's sake, that you are not lying. Good night." And he swept from the room.
The officer quickly returned then bolted back the bars and disappeared once more, Edie still staring at the opposite wall where the officer just stood. Hopefully her lies would derail this Ryan from looking for her in New York, and at least still keep her even more safe. Edie sat back down on the mattress and prayed for her daughter.
AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the short length of this chapter, I just wanted to establish what had happened to Edie to clear anything up there. So, how are you finding my first proper X-Men FanFic? Post some reviews, let me know. There shall be another chapter real soon, so stay tuned!