Tossing gently against the blankets, she wakened from her sleep. Her mind hazy as the fog slowly lifted. She clenched the blanket to her chest as stray hairs fell on her face, a few golden ones covering her eyes. A dark blue bed cover made her frown and glance around the room at sky blue walls and a strange furniture near the window.
Letting the covers fall she swung her feet off the bed, tapping them on the floor. Her mind became a jumble of thoughts as she made her way to the window, pressing her palms against the glass, desperate to find a means of escape.
The window offered an amazing view of the azure blue ocean, with the white-foam waves lapping gently against the shore, but she paid no real mind to the sight but pushed the window open inhaling the salty air. A mild breeze pushed against her as climbed out to stand on the ledge. Taking a deep breath to reassure herself, she closed her eyes and jumped.
Leaves brushed against her as she landed inside a bush on the ground. She had to find a way to get out of here. Slowly peeking out from the bushes she listened for danger. The sound of voices gradually drew louder as two figures approached. Her pulse beating behind her eyes as the figures stopped in front of her hiding place. She drew a sharp breath, one of the figures was a girl; short with brown hair that lay flat against her shoulders. The other, a man, was not too different from her, though he had curly short hair; they were both wearing the same black jumpsuit with yellow gloves and boots. A uniform.
"Geez, why does Logan have to have training session so early?" The girl exclaimed.
"Well, this is Logan we are talking about and he doesn't know the meaning of rest." The boy replied.
Hayleigh slowly lowered her heel to the ground, about to back up out of sight. A small twig snapped under her weight, the sound seemingly louder in her panicked state. They turned to the bush, peering at every angle. The male crouched to the ground and his eyes widen as he meets Hayleigh's green ones staring back. He whispered to the girl and they slowly approached her as her back hit the wall.
"Hey, we're not going to hurt you okay. My name's Roberto,"he said offering Hayleigh a hand up.
"Hiya, and my name's Amara. Are you alright?" The girl asked as Hayleigh stayed perfectly still.
Roberto gently tried to lift her, but she struggled against him.
"It is okay. Amara, you don't think that this is the girl Logan and the professor were talking about." He asked in amazement.
They exchanged glances as Roberto tried to keep Hayleigh calm. Amara spoke into a transmitter on her wrist but Hayleigh didn't wait to hear the conversation, she reacted through instincts and ran. Amara and Roberto's shouting behind her made her pick up the pace and run faster. She stole a glance behind her to check if they were following, they were. Tall walls loomed in front of her, dark and threatening, daring her to question their authority. She slowed, coming to a stop in front of it. Turning her head with care, Hayleigh noticed a gate that seemed like the only way of escaping. She had no other choice; the walls were the only obstacle blocking her from her freedom.
She felt the surface of the wall, looking for any spaces that she could use to her advantage when climbing. Just as she lifted herself off the ground, a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She spun around to the amused face of Wolverine and she began to franticly buck and thrash against him in an attempt to get him to release her.
"Calm down kid," he said as he moved his hand to her wrist to stop her struggling. "We can help you here, let's head back to the mansion and talk about it, okay?"
The cloud that had obscured the sun moved allowing the sun's rays to shine unhindered on Hayleigh. She absorbed its power, could feel it building inside her until she could take no more.
" Noooo!" she yelled as the sunlight was released straight into wolverine chest.
Wolverine flew through a nearby tree, snarling as he landed. Static fought against her body making her scream in pain and fall to the ground. Wolverines stood up and brushed the dust and bark off. He crossed to where Hayleigh's unconscious body lay and picked her up, her body rocking gently making her arm swing in rhythm as he walked back to the mansion.
Junior mutants filled his mind with questions as he arrived back at the doors, Amara and Roberto pushed through the crowds. Their eyes filled with worry even though they had just met the girl.
"Is she alright Logan?"they asked in unison.
"Yeah she's alright now, as for your training session ...hmmmm... 50 laps for all of you." Logan chuckled as the junior mutants groaned, and began to run.
He slowly opened the front door leading to the foyer, being careful the door didn't hit her. Scott and Jean appeared down the hall, their laughter stopping and their eyes widened the instant they saw Hayleigh in his arms.
"Geez, what happened to her Logan?"Scoot said staring at Hayleigh.
"She tried to run away. Amara and Roberto found her and then I had to catch her before she hurt herself truing to climb the wall." Logan confirmed as Hayleigh gently groaned.
"Logan?" Jean said pointing to Hayleigh.
Logan's arm tensed as her eyelids fluttered, drawing her last aching energy to focus her on the figure. She looked around becoming more frantic, she screamed...
Jean tried to calm her, she gestured for Logan to place her down. He looked unreassuringly at Jean, though he did set her on the floor. Hayleigh's frightened gaze flicking between them.
"Hayleigh, calm down you can trust us," Jean pleaded as Hayleigh took in a deep breath and nodded.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot, my name is Jean, and this is Scott and Logan." Jean introduced her companions as she pointed to Scott and Logan. Logan cracked a smile as well as Scott. Regret surged through her overpowering her fear. Her stomach chose that moment to growl.
"Looks like the kid is hungry, Jean. Scott make sure she gets some food." Logan said as he left them.
Jean guided Hayleigh down the stairs and into the kitchen, with Scott following behind. Hayleigh kept her eyes glued to the ground as she slowly trudged into the kitchen. Scott pulled out a chair for her and motioned her to sit. She did though hesitantly. He took a seat next to her. Jean smiled and placed a bowl of soup in front of her. The mouth-watering aroma filled her nose, the sweet smell of tomato and herbs filled the room. Placing the spoon on the surface of the soup, she brought it up to her month, and swallowed.
The welcome sensation of the smooth tomato soup slid down her throat, but she felt the beady eyes of Scott and Jean watching. She sunk in her chair having barely touched the soup, the conflicting thoughts of the past events lingered in her mind. Jean watched as an emotional mask slipped onto Hayleigh's face and Jean knew if she tried to read her mind, she might panic again.
"Hayleigh we understand what you're going through, and we can help." Jean said as Hayleigh forced a smile.
"What do you mean by helping me?" Hayleigh asked as she stood by her chair.
"We could teach you how to control your gift..." Jean replied.
Hayleigh irrupted Jean before she could finish her sentence."I don't have a gift, just a curse. And where am I anyway?" Hayleigh asked as Professor Xavier rolled in with Logan.
"Allow me to answer that Jean," Professor Xavier said before turning towards Hayleigh. "Hello Hayleigh, you are at Xavier's institute for the gifted, and my name is Charles Xavier."
"Why ... did you bring me here?" Hayleigh stuttered.
"So we can help you with your gift, Hayleigh, we would like you to join us here at the institute."
Hayleigh's eyes widened: "What you want me to live here, No... No... No ...No," She said clenching her fists and shaking her head.
"Hayleigh, you don't have to decide now, but I would like you to think about it, okay?" Professor Xavier said as Logan walked towards her. "In the meantime, you may stay here," Professor said as he left the room.
"Hayleigh, being here would help you with your gift so much, being able to understand it and control it." Jean comforted her." Let me show you."
Jean placed her fingers on her temples, Unsure of what was happening Hayleigh backed further into her seat. A bright light entered her mind, flashing images running through it of Jean's struggle with her powers when they first evolved to now when she could fully control them. She grasped as Jean released the mental hold on her mind.
"See how much Xavier has helped me, he can help you to, we all can" Jean stated.
The smashing sound of a window broke Hayleigh's train of thought as she dodged the oncoming shards of glass. Scott threw his glasses up, reflecting the shards of glass. While Jean froze some shards in the air then brought them down to the ground. A girl with brown hair, wearing a black top with a red 'X' on it and cargo jeans poked her head in and glanced around the room, looking at the damage, she smirked. Scott looked angry as if he was in a blind rage he stormed towards her.
"Jacinta!, What were you thinking?" Scott yelled, and she just stood there.
"Well I thought you said these were double glazed?" She smirked at him as she walked towards Jean.
Jean extended a hand to help Hayleigh from the ground.
"Sorry about that, Name's Jacinta and your name?" Jacinta asked her.
"Hayleigh, nice to meet you," Hayleigh smiled at Jacinta. Logan Jumped over the remains of the window, he narrowed his eyes.
"Jean, tell the professor about her," Logan sighed, "Accident. Jacinta back to training… Hayleigh the professor said we need to get you some supplies, so let's go."
Logan walked through the door leading out of the dining room, Hayleigh quickly followed behind after saying bye to Jean and Scott. Jacinta grinned to herself and looked over at Jean.
"You're not actually going to tell on me are you? Isn't that a little childish?"
" Oh you bet we're telling the professor," Scott said leaving the room with Jean. Jacinta shrugged her shoulders and jumped out the window.
Walking out to the car, Hayleigh had to check behind her a few times to make sure that Logan was right behind her – if not, perhaps she thought about running away, it was too much of a good opportunity for her to pass up. The van was parked right in front of where she was currently standing, with the trees out beyond, lining the sides of the gravel driveway. The mansion wasn't a bad place to be, not really; in actual fact, it was one of the more pleasant places that Hayleigh had visited during her life.
Logan grabbed the keys to the x-van and walked past her, though Hayleigh was still gazing around at all the cars in amazement. Logan slammed his hand on the hood of the car, causing Hayleigh to jump out of her skin in shock.
"What the Hell?" she called out to him, folding her arms as she watched the man walk around the side of the car and push the key into the lock.
When he didn't seem to respond to her, Hayleigh reached out and pulled open the door handle to her own side. Sliding in rather gracefully, she slammed the door behind her, which resulted in a loud bang. Logan grumbled and started the car, looking at her every few seconds before he nodded to her seatbelt.
"You'd better put that on, you never know what might happen to us out on the road, never can be too careful," he muttered as he sent the car surging forwards, resulting in a little scream from his passenger. "Told you so," he laughed, picking up speed down the driveway.
The rest of the journey was quiet, apart from the occasional'chink' of whatever was in the back of the van. Hayleigh daren't ask what it was, seeing as it was highly likely that she'd just get told to shut up and not ask so many stupid questions. She wasn't sure about Logan yet, and he still scared her slightly. The others she could deal with, just not him yet. It didn't look like the two of them were going to get very far in the heavy traffic, so she relaxed in her seat a little, might as well just try to look like she wanted to be there.
"Are yuh alright, kid?" Logan asked her, not even bothering to take his eyes off the road.
His voice was gruff and frustrated, and seemed to tell her that she wasn't the only one that didn't particularly want to be there. She nodded slightly, before pointing out to the road.
"How much further?" she asked him, hoping it wouldn't be too long because she was beginning to feel more awkward as every second ticked by.
"I don't know, but I can take you elsewhere if you're as fed up as I am."
His patience was wearing thin, just as much as hers perhaps, and Hayleigh had to keep on telling herself that he wasn't going to unleash his claws unless he absolutely had to –besides, it would probably hurt him if he were to bother, and retracting them would probably be painful aswell. She closed her eyes briefly, only to open them once again because the van was slowing more so that they could turn around.
The grass verge he reversed onto wasn't very large, but that didn't seem to stop him from tearing it up in order for the van to complete its U-turn. Soon enough, they were back on the road, going the opposite way, back to the Manor. Perhaps the other shopping mall he was taking her to would be a little bit easier for her to escape from with any luck.
Once the van was parked, Hayleigh pushed open the car door and had a look around. It wasn't too shabby, and the large, peeling letters that spelled out "Baville Mall" made the place look a little more welcoming. She slammed the door shut once again and looked over to Logan, who seemed to have done the same thing simultaneously.
"After you," he said, waving a hand towards the large electronic doors that led into the main lobby of the mall.
Hayleigh walked forwards, not wanting to look into his eyes any longer than she really had to, it was unnerving, and frankly, she didn't want to have to deal with that before doing something as interesting as shopping in a place she'd never been before.
The inside of the lobby was bright and had a few stores that lined the two walls that surrounded her. After the automatic doors shut behind them two tall, skinny men dressed in ridiculous outfits greeted them. It was quite a struggle for Hayleigh not to laugh at first, but once they'd handed her a few flyers explaining the events that might possibly be happening at Baville in the near future, she got over herself quickly.
The first store she decided to look in was a store called Topshop, – one she'd shopped at quite a few times in the past. Looking to Logan with her hands on her hips, she asked for some kind of privacy when looking around. She gathered it wasn't his thing when he told her that he'd wait outside the shop for a maximum of fifteen minutes before he came in to find her. No matter how much she wanted to escape from his company forever, she couldn't help but think it was a fair deal, and besides, perhaps he would get lost on his way through the different racks of clothing while she was making her way through the exit with her stuff.
As soon as she was inside, she had a look around and headed over towards a shelf with a few cute-looking shorts folded up in piles. She made sure to take her time whilst doing so, promising herself that she would go over Logan's fifteen-minute limit. How could he possibly even think about giving her a limit on how much shopping she was allowed to do?
That was possibly a girl's worst nightmare.
Picking up the shorts, she turned them over in her hand and looked at the price. She put them back and proceeded to complain to no one at the ridiculous price tag hanging off them. Nothing seemed to catch her eye, and the only reason she was still inside was so that she could kill time and wait for Logan to come in after her.
Finally when she looked back to where she'd come from, Hayleigh could no longer see the door, nor could she see the man who had brought her out there. That probably meant that he couldn't see her either. She sighed, waiting behind one of the changing room doors until the clock's minutes ticked out and her time would come. Sixty more seconds. She whispered each one, standing ready to go as soon as there were just ten seconds left.
Logan struck her as the type of person who wouldn't go back on his word, and would probably be exact with his timings. The seconds were ticking down and she readied herself for the run, worming her way around the shop whilst Logan looked for her. Five, Four, Three, Two… one.
She ran as fast as she possibly could, out of the shop, along the main mall, her feet pounding against the ground of the alleyway. The air was sharp and crisp, stinging against her cheek.
All was silent except for her footsteps and the rustling of leaves from the wind, but yet knew something was wrong. The lingering smell of garage filled the air and rusting of the leaves battling against the street caused goose bumps spread over her body. Slowly glancing around the alleyway, a shadowy moved and a figure appeared. She began to feel the pulsing energy build up inside her. The golden highlight spread further across her hair.
"WHO'S THERE, COME OUT." She screamed and the pulsing energy surrounded her hands.
The shadow figure grew closer; her courage suddenly whisked out of her.
Run… Run faster, she mentally yelled to herself but the figure gradually closed the distance between them.
Her heart was pounding, sweat ran down her body, and her leg muscles were burning. Nevertheless, she tried too. She stumbled behind a wall, gently slowing her frantic breathing to a hasher pace. Daring herself to look, she slowly peered around the corner of the wall, only to see that the shadowy figure was nowhere to be seen, she sighed with relief as she leaned against the wall.
"Hello cheré," A mystery voice said.
Hayleigh's eyes widened. His accent was a thick Cajun, his hair a dark brown, and a few inches long and parted down the middle. A black mask of some kind framed but still showed his face. He wore a trench coat and had metal plates around his foot.
He looked down at the startled girl, "What are you doing?" he asked in a low, smooth voice. "I'm not going to hurt you... yet."
Hayleigh looked up at him, still trying to work out whether he was friend or foe.
Taking a deep breath, trying to even out her breathing rate, "What are you doing? who ARE you?"
He smiled gently. "That's for me to know and you to find out."
A light drizzle began to fall, creating a thin layer of water-droplets in her messy hair and her thin clothes, but it didn't seem to touch him. She shivered wrapping her clothes more tightly around her. Still breathing heavily she looked up at him again. He had a striking figure and an interesting angular face, he held himself with a sense of pride.
"Why were you chasing me anyway?"
He crouched down in front of her and cocked a small smile. Extending a hand, Hayleigh accepted it and was hoisted from the ground as the Cajun smirked at her slowly helping her up,
"Well I... better.. be going!" she stammered, forcing out the words, bolting in the opposite direction.
He smirked and grabbed her wrist. "I don't think so, chere," he smirked as he brought her to face him.
"Who are you?" She spat as she squirmed under his grasp. "Just leave me alone." She pulled her wrists away from him. "Who do you think you are?"
"Remy Le' Beau at your services, but my friends call me Gambit."
"Gambit?" She tugged hard against him again. "What kind of name is that anyway?"
"Argh, good question, chere. You see I like to play the cards," he pulled out a card with his free hand and stares at it with amusement.
Hayleigh seemed confused, the card begins to turns an orange colour. He throws the card at the bin and it explodes. Gambit shields her from the blast.
"What on earth was that?" She screamed, then blushed, feeling embarrassed by her overreaction. Her heart and mind wanted to run, run far away from here, away from him, but her feet where rooted to the spot.
"My power chere, like yours," Gambit smirks, "I don't think so chere," he smirked as she lowered her head.
"No need to be shame of your power, chere"
Her face becomes even more red as her pupils widen. Gritting her teeth she forced herself to smile.
"And kind fellow, do you know everything about me?" She hissed. "Because it seems I have a bit of a stalker, otherwise, since I have never met you before."
"Aww, chere I know lot about you, but you know little about moi," he chuckles, "you need help with your powers."
"Oh I do, do I?" she smirked, looking at him and taking in his features. "I'll be the judge of that, thanks very much. Now just get away from me - go back to where you came from," she spat.
"Calm down, chere. I am only trying to help," gambit said,"I believe the people can help you."
"What people?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.
He couldn't possibly know about them, could he? Hayleigh hadn't seen him around before, and she was pretty sure that she'd remember someone like that.
"Nothing... yet chere you will find out in good time."
"Well I don't want to give up my 'good time' for you, do I?"
"Hayleigh, are you down here?" Logan snarled.
"Ah I believe that is my cue to leave, aurevoir Chere, until we met again."
Logan's shadow apeared around the wall, Gambit winked as he disappeared into the shadows. Hayleigh looked over to the voice before turning back to Gambit as he left.
"Logan, I just... I think I got lost. How did you find me?"
"Your scent is hard to miss," he sniffed the air, "It seems that someone else was here, did you see anyone shorty?"
She looked down at the ground where the 'Gambit' person had been and shook her head. "Nope, I didn't see anyone."
"Well okay kid, let's go." Logan gestured for Hayleigh to follow glancing around the alleyway not believing what Hayleigh said.
Hayleigh obliged, her head feeling heavier than it had. She blinked once, carrying on as she walked behind Logan, trying to keep up.
"Hurry up."
"I'm doing my best!" she shouted at him, moving her legs faster as she sneezed once, wondering how she'd gone from perfectly fine to perfectly rubbish in a matter of minutes.
Logan paused; he turned round and rised his eye brows. She walked into his back.
"Geez, Kid are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she muttered, walking on ahead of him. "Come on then, I thought you were the one wanting ME to hurry up."
Hayleigh shook her head and smirked, picking up her pace, disappearing out of the alleyway.