Evan had found himself lucky enough to be in the room next to Haddy. The girl had kept up a steady knock on the wall between him ever since he'd gotten in the room. Initially, he had expected her to stop after a minute or two, but the knocking was persistent and she showed no sign of stopping.

He groaned pushed his pillow down over his ears. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice muffled.

The knocking stopped. "Could you open my door?"

"No, now go to sleep. I've got a big game and I need to be rested up."

"Okay, then," came the reply and the girl resumed her knocking.

"That's it!" he cried, jumping up from his bed. "You keep that up and I swear, I'm going to spike you!"

The knocking dropped again. Apparently, his threat had worked.

"I just want to go home," Haddy said, barely above a whisper.

Evan sighed and leaned against the wall. He knew the feeling, and he felt sorry for her. That didn't mean he was going to let her out. If he even walked past her door, Logan gave him a glare that told him he wanted to chew him up, spit him out and use his spikes as tooth picks.

"Just go to sleep," he said. "The place really grows on you. Plus, Logan isn't a total jerk once you get to know him. He's actually pretty cool."

"I can hear you, you know," growled Logan from the hallway.

"Oh, yeah..." Evan flinched. "Hey, Logan! Did I ever tell you how much I enjoy our training sessions?" He chuckled nervously.

Logan merely grunted.

"Anyways, kid, just listen to me, 'kay? No one here's gonna hurt you. We just want to sort this out and send you home. Everything'll be cool, I swear."

A pause. "By 'sort this out' you mean erase my memories of it and pretend like it never happened, don't you?"

There really wasn't a good way to reply to that question, was there? "Um... Yeah. Pretty much. It's not that bad. Jean says it doesn't even hurt, mainly just tickles. Only reason you're still here is because you got hurt. Professor doesn't want to hurt you, you see? This is all just him trying to figure out another solution."

"Yeah, I'm sure my parents will love this solution. They don't even know where I am. I don't know where I am. I just want to go home."

Haddy knotted the sheet around one of the bed legs. She didn't know any good knots, all memory from three years of girl scouts seemed vague, so she simply triple knotted the thing, then attached the other blankets. She wasn't entirely sure how well this would work, but she had seen it in the movies before, so hopefully it wouldn't be too much of a flop. She pulled on the makeshift rope and it seemed to hold, so she crossed to the window and pulled it upwards. It made a noise, but not too loud. She froze, waiting to see if it would elicit a response from Logan.

When nothing seemed to happen, she grasped her rope tightly with both hands and began lowering herself down the wall of the building. So far, the rope seemed to be holding. Maybe, it would actually work! And then, she reached the end of her rope, quite literally, and found herself dangling above the hedges with another one and a half story drop below her.

"Crap," she muttered.

She hung in the air, probably swinging back and forth in front of somebody's bedroom window. There was a balcony a couple windows down. Perhaps if she swung on the rope and jumped she could reach it, but the thought of possibly falling to her death didn't sit well with her.

"Crap."

Logan.

Logan started at hearing the Professor's voice in his mind. No matter how many times Charles did that, it still took getting used to.

Logan, something has triggered the alarm. Where is the girl?

He smirked. "Hanging from some bed sheets out the window. I figure she's not going anywhere with that drop."

Pull her up!

"What, Charles? You don't want me to leave her," a small cough, "Hanging, do you?"

The Professor didn't seem to find the pun all that amusing.

"Okay, okay. I'll pull her up," he grumbled, unlocking the door and entering the bedroom. He noted The knotted sheets and smirked. Out went the blades and he slashed through the fabric. It slipped and immediately he heard a scream outside the window. He grabbed the end before it could trail out the window and slowly began pulling it up.

The girl fell through the window, righted herself, then pressed her back up against the walls. Her eyes were wide and her eyebrows might just have fallen off her forehead if she had them any higher.

Logan grunted and the blades shot back into his hand. "That'll teach you to do that again. Next time, I might just let you fall, you understand?"

A quick nod.

He gave her one more quick glare, then turned around and started for the door. "Oh, and, kid? Don't do anything stupid."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she choked out.

That was not very kind, said the Professor once Logan was in the hallway.

"Eh, she'll get over it. She'll be out there again before the night's through."

I would not be so sure, you frightened her quite a bit with that stunt.

"Good. Maybe she won't get into so much trouble now."

A pain spasm shot through her head again. Was the Professor trying to erase her memories again? She focused all her strength on keeping him out.

She buried her head in her hands. This was just getting worse and worse. She wondered what her parents were doing right now. Calling the police most likely. They would freak out when she didn't come home from school. Would the police find her at this place? Where was this place? If she could figure that much out, maybe she could get somewhere, or figure out how to call for help or something.

Hadrianne.

"Get out of my head!" she yelled, wrapping her arms around her face protectively. "Get out!"

I give you my solemn word that I will not try to edit your memories right now. I simply wish to speak with you. Just think the words that you want to say. I will be able to hear them.

Haddy bit her lip. She'd been thinking of many words just now, words that would make her parents beat her black and blue before grounding her for the rest of her existence. Had he heard those?

She concentrated. Why won't you let me go home?

Because, I cannot allow you to possess so much knowledge of the mutants. It is dangerous for them, as well as you.

Well, then why not simply kill me off? I'm sure your guy in the hall would be an eager volunteer.

Logan will not harm you. You have my word.

Her head throbbed. This conversation was turning out to be quite a painful experience.

You seem to be making a lot of promises. How do I know you'll keep them? For all I know you could be going through my memories right now.

I need you to trust me. Do you remember what happened at school today? If you do, then rest assured, I have not tampered with your thoughts.

Sure enough, the memory was still there.

Okay, she said, But, still, you locked me up here. How is that supposed to make me trust you?

Simply a regrettable precaution. Do not try escaping through the window again. There are silent alarms, and a security system that Logan has tested on himself. You would not go far and I do not like the idea of you being... Well, let's just say there are some nasty things out there at night.

Is that a threat?

No, he replied. A warning.