A/N: Hi! So, editing the previous chapters didn't take as long a time as I thought, so those are up now. Please check them out! If there are still typos and grammatical errors, please let me know. Thanks!
Disclaimer: So... I was told to write one of these. I do not own X-men: Evo. I am not that awesome.
10.
Ravyn stood in the center of the danger room. Everything seemed fixed up and back to its clean state. She wasn't sure why she was in the room or how she even got into it. She slowly walked around the room, trying to gather up her muddled thoughts. The only light in the danger room was a perfect circle in the very center of the room. She saw a shadow move in close to her side and spun around.
Nothing.
It was then when she heard the sound of light footsteps hitting the concrete floor. She knew she wasn't alone in the room, but still felt safe. She closed her eyes, and gently pressed her ear to the ground. She forced her mind to concentrate on the footsteps and the puzzle pieces came together in her mind.
There were two distinct footsteps, which meant there were two people inside the room with her. The footsteps sounds were close together, hinting that the people running were short. Heavy, high pitched gasping for air suggested that the two people were running for a long time and were running from something.
Ravyn's eyes slowly opened and she glanced around the room. The sound of the footsteps had undoubtedly came from inside the danger room and reverberated within the metal walls. Ravyn's hand subconsciously felt her lower back until it touched the cool metal of her gun. She took a deep breath and returned to the circle of light.
As soon as she entered into the light, she heard it. A high pitched, childlike giggle. Ravyn froze, sweat forming on the back of her neck as a chill ran down her and back up. She had undoubtedly heard that giggle so many times before.
"Ravyn?" The ex-assassin called out into the darkness. The footsteps stopped. "Ravyn!" She called out more urgently. She stayed in the circle of light, trying to peer through the endless darkness that surrounded her.
A wet hand grasped the girl's shoulder and spun her around. Her attacker was a heavy built male. His clothes and body were soaked with water and blood, which seemed to all come from the long gash he had on his throat. His body was swollen to the point of recognition. It was as if he had spent days underwater and had just dragged himself out of a river. Chaz.
The girl stared stunned at her visitor from beyond the grave. She tried to form a cohesive sentence and failed. Chaz pulled her close to him into a forced embrace. The putrid scent of death and rotting flesh filled her nostrils. His mouth was against her ear when he mumbled, "He's looking for them…" His voice sounded gargled and slurred. "He'll find them… and you."
"No!" the girl grunted out, her eyes going wide. She pressed the barrel of her gun to Chaz's heaving flesh and pulled the trigger. She heard the gunshot and saw Chaz disappear before her eyes. Even though the walking corpse was gone, the smell of death still lingered.
"Ravyn! It's not funny! Where are you!" She spoke frantically. The girl looked around, searching for her sister. The sounds of footsteps began to bounce off the metal walls again. The girl ran back into the darkness, calling out her sister's name.
She stopped. The darkness seemed to go on endlessly, and the light that she had so relied on flickered and went out. She held her head as she continued to search. She was going crazy. Her breaths quickened and her hand trembled uncontrollably.
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped again and she heard her name behind her. Not her nickname or alias; the name her mother gave her when she was born. She slowly turned. Illuminated by another light, a boy stood. He had curly blonde hair and large innocent hazel eyes. He wore baggy tan pants and a black t-shirt that was two sizes too big for his skinny frame.
"Patrick." Tears rolled down the girl's cheeks as she buried her head in his tiny shoulder, embracing him.
"He's got Ravyn. He's coming for you now." Something in his voice sent chills continuously down the girl's spine. He didn't react to her embrace. He stood where she found him, expressionless and still.
"What are you talking about? You're…" The girl thought about the situation. How did her younger brother get into the institute? How did a man she knew to be dead come back to give her a message? How did she get into the danger room? "You're not real. I'm dreaming." She placed her hands on either side of her head, willing herself to wake up.
Her brother smiled. "You're a traitor."
"I'm not." Her hand twitched towards her gun.
"Traitor."
"No!" She pulled out her gun and aimed it at her brother's forehead. The gunshot deafened her.
Ravyn sat up in bed covered with sweat. Her eyes were wide open and her legs trembled uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her face. The branches from the tree outside her window scratched noisily against the glass, reasonably being the explanation for her awakening. She took three deep breaths, before checking the clock. The clock glared 1:30 in blood red numbers.
The girl rolled herself out of bed and pulled on a bathrobe. She knew that she wouldn't sleep after her nightmare and so, she headed to the kitchen.
Once there, she made a beeline for the refrigerator and pulled out one of Logan's beer. She didn't realized how much her body was shaking until she tried to take the beer cap off. Eventually succeeding, she headed to a cluster of chairs grouped around the kitchen table. She purposefully picked the chair that granted her an unobstructed view of the entire room and doorways.
She stayed there, wide eyed, staring at the dark shapes on the kitchen counters. She was on her second bottle of beer when someone entered the room. Oblivious to her stare, the shadow opened the refrigerator door. The light of the refrigerator door revealed Kurt, digging through the contents of the fridge before pulling out a soda bottle. As he turned, he caught a glimpse of the assassin.
He took a step back, caught off guard. "Ravyn! What are you doing?"
Ravyn tilted her beer towards him in response. She wasn't going to tell him about the strange experience she had the previous day. "I could ask you the same question."
"I stayed with Kitty until she woke up," Kurt took a seat beside Ravyn. The refrigerator door was closed, and the only light came from Kurt's golden eyes. "So I guess you couldn't sleep?"
She shuddered, thinking about her dream. "Yeah. You can guess that," she said, ending the conversation.
They were both silent, staring into the darkness together and drinking their beverages.
"Logan's gonna kill you." Kurt stated. He sounded tired, but Ravyn could hear him grinning beside her.
"Let him try. This is the only thing that's keeping me sane right now." She slid the beer in front of Kurt. "Here."
Kurt looked more amused than surprised. "Oh, no. I don't drink."
Ravyn smirked and took another sip of beer. "Really?" she asked, almost unbelievingly, "What are you? Religious or something?"
"Actually, yeah."
Ravyn turned to see two golden eyes gently but firmly gazing at her. The moonlight streaming into the kitchen from the window granted her a perfect silhouette of Kurt's demonic body. "Are you really?"
"Catholic."
Ravyn smiled at the irony. "That would explain your necklace."
"It's called a scapular."
"Necklace works, too." Kurt didn't answer her, but silently fingered the brown, leather rope he had tied around his neck. Ravyn continued. "I used to be Catholic. My mom actually enrolled me in Catholic schools, but… well, you know how it is. You grow up and realize..." Ravyn stopped herself. She was surprised with half of the things that came out of her mouth. Was she drunk already? She stared into her half-empty beer bottle. "Whatever. It's too late for me."
Kurt's three fingered hand, took the beer bottle out of her hand and moved it to the corner of the table, out of her reach. "It's never too late."
Ravyn laughed dryly. "Kurt, I don't remember the number of people I've killed. I doubt your God wants anything to do with me."
"Ravyn-"
"I really don't want to hear it." Ravyn reached over for her bottle, but Kurt snatched it away and held it at arm's length away from her. Ravyn never realized how muscular and long Kurt's arms were until that moment. His arm was pressed to her chest while the other one held her precious beer. Ravyn leaned against him and stretched out her arm, but barely grazing his wrist.
She sat back down in defeat, staring down at the floor. Kurt put the bottle down in its original place. "You are the strangest, most hardheaded girl I have ever met." Kurt leaned his head in his hands. The girl's shrewdness, along with his lack of sleep, was giving him a headache.
Even though Kurt's comment wasn't meant to hurt anyone, Ravyn felt unbelievably insulted. Her eyes flashed angrily in the darkness. "Well I'm sorry I can't be as ditzy and crazy as your girlfriend!" she muttered under her breath.
Something inside of Kurt snapped. Maybe he was at the end of his patience with Ravyn. Kitty was his most faithful friend in the institute and to hear someone insult her while she was sick in the infirmary was unacceptable.
Kurt turned to Ravyn. "What the hell is your problem? Look, I get it. You were robbed of a childhood and because of that, you're a hard ass. What do you think I went through before I came here?"
Ravyn was silent.
"I love every person in this house so much I would die for them. Especially Kitty… Maybe you should start thinking about changing your attitude towards the people who risked their lives to bring you here." Kurt stiffly rose to leave. Ravyn didn't raise her eyes from the floor.
He was about to leave the kitchen when Ravyn spoke. "It hurts like hell."
"What?" Kurt turned.
"To love people. They either die or leave. I'm not about to start 'loving' anyone." Ravyn said the last phrase as a kind of promise to herself. She wasn't crying, but she felt something die within her. She felt a foreign emptiness take its place in her stomach and her throat tightened to the point that she couldn't breathe.
Kurt sat back down beside her with a sigh. He didn't look at her when he spoke. "Well… I'm not gonna leave."
Ravyn's heart skipped a beat. "Shut up. I don't love you," she said, half-heartedly.
Kurt chuckled. He fount it hard to believe he had been yelling at the girl less than a minute ago. "Whatever you say, Ravyn."
Ravyn smiled. Something about his presence near her made her feel safe. She leaned against the corner of the wall. "Give me my beer back." Her spunk had returned.
Kurt handed her his soda.