Unfortunately that was not the case. The household they stood in front of seemed to the exact opposite of the Stackhouse residence.
Erik must've knocked on that door for almost twenty minutes straight and still no one answered.
"Hey!" Erik and Charles turned back to the fence. A little girl with braids was standing just outside of the gate.
"Hello," Charles said aloud. 'This is the girl Erik.'
"What do you want?" The girl asked rather rudely. "And why are you even knocking?"
Charles patter Erik's arm, effectively calming the German before he could say something. "We apologize for disturbing you," Charles said, smiling pleasantly. "Do you live in this house?"
"No!" The girl denied loudly. Both men instantly knew she was lying.
Erik raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Then why is it any of your business if we decide to knock on this door?"
The girl opened her mouth, readying herself to utter the rudest comment possible if Charles hadn't intervened.
"It doesn't matter Erik," Charles said. "The people who live in this house don't seem to be home at the moment."
Erik glared. 'What are you doing Charles? It's obvious that the girl lives here!'
'I know,' Charles answered. 'But she obviously wants to deny living here. I have an idea, just play along.'
Erik nodded. 'I'll trust your judgment.' Erik pushed Charles' wheelchair while they made their way outside of the gate.
"Are you going to go home soon?" Charles asked.
The little girl glared. "It's none of your business!"
Charles held his hands up in surrender. "You're right. You don't have to tell me. The only reason I asked was because my friend and I are quite hungry. I was hoping that you would be able to point out a good establishment to enjoy a meal."
The girl pondered her options.
'I don't even know them. The might take me away when I'm off guard. That's what these people do.'
'But I'm hungry too… maybe they'll feed me… I know mom won't…'
"Come with us," Charles urged. "I promise that it will be our treat."
The girl eyed them both suspiciously.
"There's no reason to be concerned." Charles winked mischievously. "I promise I can't chase you if you decide to run."
"And I'm not likely to leave him to chase you little girl," Erik quipped.
"What did you say?" The girl snarled. "The last thing I'm scared of are you two crazy white guys! Got that?"
"Crystal clear my dear!" Erik asked, "Now where do we eat?"
They entered the local diner and gave their orders to the waitress serving them. They sat patiently together.
Charles and Erik were pretty sure that the girl in front of them was the one they were looking for. They needed to ease into the conversation.
"You know," Charles began. "I don't think we've heard your name as of yet."
"I don't have to tell you my name," the girl answered petulantly.
"You don't have to," Charles agreed, "but it would be much better than calling you 'little girl' all of the time."
The girl shook her head stubbornly.
"My name is Charles," he said, holding his hand out. "Charles Xavier."
Erik made the same gesture. "And I am Erik Lensherr."
The girl shook her head before she finally shook their hands. "Tara."
"Nice to meet you." Charles smiled as the food was put on the table. Tara wasted no time digging in while the two adults ate at a slower pace.
'This has gone on long enough Charles,' Erik thought. 'We should just tell her why we're here. It is obvious that she is the other child we came here for.'
Charles sighed. 'I suppose that it can no longer be avoided.' He looked at the girl sitting across from him. "Tara." The girl looked up from her French fries. "There is something that we need to discuss."
Both Charles and Erik explained what they were and why they were in Bon Temp. The even explained their suspicions about her.
At that moment Tara's eyes looked suspiciously wet, it made Charles' heart seize painfully.
'Sookie said she wouldn't tell!' she thought angrily.
"Tara," Charles started, "it's alright. There is nothing wrong with you and Sookie never told me that she knew about you."
Tara looked up at him in shock. "You're like Sookie." It was a statement. Not a question.
Charles smiled hoping to soothe the distressed girl. "Yes I am."
"Stay away!" Tara screamed. She was getting out of the booth, ready to run.
"Wait please," Charles urged. He put his hands up as a sign of surrender. "Please. Just sit back down. I promise I won't read your mind again."
Tara hesitated. What is the harm of just listening?
"Just give us a moment of your time." Erik waved a hand at the seat. "If you aren't interested, then we'll leave you alone and still pay for lunch. How's that?"
Tara glared at the pair, putting them both under heavy scrutiny. She slowly sat back in her seat.
"I understand that you're confused," Charles said slowly. Tara glared at him again." I don't have to read your mind to understand the feeling. Managing your powers can be difficult and we have all been there ourselves. We know what it's like and we just want to help you."
Tara snorted. "A lot of people want to help me lately."
Charles and Erik exchanged a look. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," Charles responded hesitantly.
"Nor do I," Erik said.
"Yeah right," Tara barked. ""You're all alike. You and Child's services are trying to help me into some foster home."
"You have the wrong idea about us," Erik realized. "We are not apart of Children's services."
"Yeah right," Tara muttered angrily.
"We promise we're telling you the truth." Charles said. "We spoke to your friend Sookie earlier today. There's no reason for her to go to a foster home is there?"
Tara looked thoughtful instead of angry for a moment. "Is she going?"
"We aren't sure," Erik answered honestly. "But her family and her are certainly considering."
The little girl's lips quivered. "You're really not child's services?"
At that moment, Charles became very fascinated with Tara's eyes. This was the first time since meeting Tara that she wasn't glaring at them. Her eyes were completely unguarded and vulnerable; ready to trust that whatever they told her was the truth.
Charles smiled. "I promise that all we do is run a school in New York. It was a boarding school of sorts, but is not some orphanage or foster care. All we want to do is help you with your powers."
"And you have a power too?" Tara asked Erik.
Erik nodded.
Tara looked expectantly.
Erik noticed. "Would you like a demonstration?" Tara nodded.
Charles raised one hand to his forehead. "Before you begin my friend, I should make sure you are not spotted."
Erik nodded. Soon all of the other people in the diner stopped moving; completely frozen in time. Erik took his queue and moved one of the metal trash cans in the establishment.
Tara jumped up in shock. 'It's moving!' She turned around, finally taking notice of a man who had tripped and frozen in mid-fall. She screamed.
"It's alright," Charles responded soothingly. "They're just temporarily frozen at the moment. They can't see or hear anything that we're doing or saying."
Tara looked around. Except for her and them, no one else was moving. "So… they're still alive?"
Charles nodded.
Tara narrowed her eyes. "You did this." It wasn't a question.
"Yes I did," Charles admitted. "And the trashcan was Erik's doing."
Tara looked thoughtful for a moment. "Could Sookie do this too?" Tara asked, waving her hands around.
"I'm not exactly sure," Charles answered hesitantly. "I have met other telepaths who have had abilities different from my own. It's possible that this something Sookie could do. Or maybe not."
Tara nodded in understanding. "Can I show you something?"
Both men nodded. "There's nothing wrong with showing off once in a while," Erik said.
Tara nervously bit his lips before closing her eyes. Erik and Charles gasped when the girl disappeared from their sight.
Erik quickly stood up from her seat. "Where did she go?" He asked urgently.
"She's still here Eirk," Charles answered with a smile. A fork was lifted off the table by an invisible Tara. Tara laughed before she finally reappeared. The people soon began to move again; everything was back to normal.
Erik sat back in his seat like nothing happened. Charles and he looked at Tara expectantly. "What do you say to our offer?"
Tara looked hesitant for a moment, looking down at the table. Eventually she looked back at the two men and grinned.
"So when should I pack?"