Bright lights. That was the first thing that Caroline noticed when she wearily opened her eyes, bright white lights burned at her eyes and she couldn't help but rub at her rather blurry eyes as they struggled to make out wherever she was. It took a few moments before Caroline's vision finally cleared up enough to the point where she could make out where she was; it was some kind of bright white room from what Caroline could gather from as she laid in some kind of bed looking up at the ceiling. It took Caroline a moment before she gained the courage to sit up and investigate where she was, straight away she had no idea where she was; the room looked like a miniature hospital but it was all but deserted. Caroline was the only person in the room but there was all this fancy equipment in the room. Caroline had no idea where she was or how on earth she had gotten here, everything was blank. It was like her mind was completely empty except for the massive headache that she currently had, for Caroline it was like she had been repeatedly hit over the head with a jackhammer. Wherever she was, it didn't really matter anymore all Caroline knew was that she needed to get out of here right now as her parents were going to freak. Caroline attempted to just climb out of her bed but her legs seemed frozen, well rather like they were incredibly stiff. That was the first of Caroline's problems as she looked down to find that she wasn't wearing any clothes that belonged to her, she was in one of those ugly and standard hospital gowns. Given the clothing and the general look of the room, Caroline concluded that she had to be in a hospital. She must have gotten into some accident, hence her waking up in some kind of hospital with no recollection of what had happened. This was the worst thing to wake up to as Caroline hated hospitals, she always had ever since her Grandma Nancy had passed away. As Caroline got herself together, the door opened and in walked a man in a wheelchair, who seemed awfully familiar to her and it took Caroline's brain a few moments to kick to realize who the man was; Professor Xavier. The man from the bridge, the guy who had stopped her from jumping off the bridge. The guy who told her that she was a mutant. Caroline was still having a bit of trouble accepting that there was an actual term for her. Something to describe the reason why all these weird things kept happening around her, a term to describe why she had set that fire. The term felt dirty. It made Caroline feel like she was some kind of freak with some disease but she didn't know what other term could describe the way she currently felt about herself.

"Caroline… It's good to see that your up, you've been asleep for four days." Professor Xavier began with a small smile as he entered the room and he was followed by a guy, who looked like he was the same age as Caroline or rather of a similar age. But there was something rather weird about him as he had brown hair, everything about him seemed seemingly normal except for his eyes or rather his glasses with red lenses. It was a bit weird for person to be wearing sunglasses indoors but that wasn't a pressing issue for Caroline. 4 days. She had been asleep for 4 days… Caroline couldn't believe what she was hearing, it seemed insane that she had slept for that amount of time and she had no idea why. Things were a bit fuzzy for her.

"W-Where am I?" Caroline asked, quite surprised to hear that her voice was so hoarse. It was like sandpaper had been stuffed down her throat in a rather savage manner.

"New York. We brought you to the school that I run for young mutants like yourself; The Xavier School for Gifted youngsters." Professor Xavier explained and Caroline wearily nodded her head, she could vaguely remember there being some talk about some kind of school. But Caroline couldn't remember the precise details considering that she was preparing to jump off a bridge at the time. Caroline couldn't believe that she was even in New York, she couldn't even remember leaving Salem. The more Caroline thought about it, there was an awful lot that she couldn't remember. "I'd like you to meet Scott Summers, he's one of my students here at the institute, I thought that he could help you settle in here and help you with anything you need. I understand that it's sometimes easier for teenagers to talk amongst their peers than to adults."

"Welcome Caroline, it's nice to meet you…" Scott said and Caroline casually shrugged her shoulders and she pulled up her legs to her chest and then proceeded to wrap her arms around her legs. This was all so surreal and it seemed like it was a dream, something that she would wake up from any second now. But it wasn't a dream. Caroline knew this wasn't a dream. This was really happening her. She had started a fire that had killed three people, tried to jump of a bridge but saved by a strange bald man who offered to help her with the whole mutant thing. This whole thing sounded like something out of some kind of science fiction book but it wasn't, this was Caroline's life now.

"How did I get here? I don't remember anything from that night after what happened to the bridge…"

"We took you home to your parents house and we had a talk with them–" Professor Xavier began

"My parents–" Caroline wearily murmured, more to herself than anyone else as she interrupted Professor Xavier. Things were starting to become a lot clearer and her memories slowly seemed to come back to her. It wasn't crystal clear but she could remember stepping off the bridge, things went a bit hazy after a while. However what was clear to Caroline was what happened next after she arrived at her parents house, things just went from bad to worse. There was yelling, screaming and crying when her parents found out everything. They didn't react well to the news that their only daughter was a mutant and had killed three people. Caroline had been kicked out of the house and just thinking about what happened with her parents just made Caroline want to cry. Her parents had looked at her like she was some kind of monster, like they didn't even know her anymore.

"It was a lot for them to take in Caroline, they just need some time." Professor Xavier said in a warm and reassuring manner and Caroline wanted to believe him but she couldn't. Her parents didn't need time. They had cast her out because she was a mutant and there was nothing that anyone could do to pain that picture in a prettier light. Caroline didn't have parents anymore, there was no way she could go back to Salem, she was now and forevermore alone. This was why she had wanted to die. Nothing good happened the longer she continued to live for. Her life was pretty much over and it wasn't in that overdramatic teenager way but it was really over. Caroline had no family, her best friend was dead as was the guy she liked and it was all because of her.

"W-Why did you save me? Why didn't you let me die?" Caroline asked looking directly at the professor.

"I didn't save you Caroline, not in the way that you're thinking… You saved yourself by deciding not to jump off that bridge I merely had a conversation with you about how I could help you deal with your abilities. I meant what I said to you that night Caroline. I want to help you, I set up this school to help young mutants like yourself to come to safe environment where you could learn to control your abilities in place with others like yourself. I understand what it's like to be a young mutant trying to cope with the hormones that comes with being a teenager along with trying to deal with their abilities–" Professor Xavier began to explain in a sympathetic manner and something inside of Caroline began to boil. Whilst Caroline knew that he was only trying to help her, she didn't appreciate him saying to her that he understood what she was going through.

"What do you know about any of this? I cause destruction wherever I go. I killed three people! You don't understand anything! You can read people's minds! How on earth does that compare to what I've done!" Caroline snapped in annoyance as nobody could understand what she had done and what she was going through. Caroline had caused complete devastation she had killed three people, she had forever ruined the lives of three different families. She took something from them that she could never return and she would have to live with that guilt forever. Caroline was so upset, she felt herself getting herself so worked up and before she knew it a smash trash can in the corner of the room burst in the flames. Instantly the memories of the night that the fire occurred came flooding back to Caroline, she could remember people screaming in panic, all the crying, the sirens of the fire trucks and the smell of the smoke. It all came flooding back and Caroline bolted from the bed, onto the floor and backed herself up against the wall and covered her face with her hands. "I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean for it to happen."

"Caroline, it's okay you don't need to apologize." Professor Xavier replied in a warm and Caroline couldn't help but shake her head in disagreement. She didn't mean to start the fire, it just happened. There was nothing that she could do to stop it.

"I really am sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for Caroline, we know that you didn't mean to start the fire and Scott's already put the fire out. See for yourself…" Professor Xavier stated and Caroline allowed herself to take a peek by looking through her hands and she could see Scott putting down a fire extinguisher and indeed the fire was gone. Nobody had been hurt, this time… Caroline couldn't help but let out a sigh of mild relief. All of this was too much and she was so tired, Caroline wanted all of this to be over already as it was taking too much toll on her. Caroline wasn't sure that she could continue with this, continue living in fear of hurting people or worrying that she would set fires or cause things to flood if she so much as moved an inch. Caroline chose not to get up off the floor, she didn't feel like she could move or even get up again. It was life her legs had lost all feeling. She didn't move, however Scott crossed the room and Caroline wearily watched as he sat down next to her with no apparent regard to his life. Scott had just seen her set a fire and yet he chose to sit next to her, Caroline couldn't help but wonder whether Scott had a death wish or was just an idiot. He seemed like a nice guy but even Caroline knew it was probably best not to sit next to the girl who can set fires with her mind.

"I think I understand Caroline. Well I can relate to you more than the Professor can… My eyes emit an optic beam which will pretty much destroy anything in it's path if my eyes are open. I destroyed building just by opening my eyes because I can't control my ability either, I can't open my eyes and decide that I want to blow up a tree or something. I open my eyes and whatever is in my line of sight will turn to dust, which is why I have to wear these sunglasses, they absorb the optic beam. Without them I wouldn't even be able to open my eyes." Scott explained and Caroline found herself looking at Scott in a different way, he didn't try to understand what she was going through but he could relate in his own way. He was trying to empathise with her. At first glance Caroline thought that Scott was just some cocky guy who wore sunglasses indoors because he thought it was cool. But that wasn't the case. Scott wore the sunglasses because it was a necessity for him.

"Difference is Scott you didn't kill three people including your best friend. I killed Haley, I will never see her again, she will never get to live the life she was supposed to live because of me. She won't go to college, get married, have kids and live a happy life. She won't have that because I took her life. I took her life as I did with Colby and April. With just my mind I set a fire which killed three people." Caroline quietly murmured.

"You didn't mean to cause that fire or hurt anyone Caroline just like I didn't mean to destroy a hospital ceiling when my powers manifested. I know this is all pretty scary Caroline, I really do understand as this whole mutant thing is hard to wrap your head around. But this is the best place for you to be, the world isn't exactly mutant friendly and one of the reasons the Professor set up the institute was so it could be a safe place for us to learn to control our powers with others just like us. The Professor can help you Caroline, he can help you learn how to control your abilities and you won't be alone during any of this. The Professor is here for you, as am I along with everyone here. Right now you may feel so alone like nobody else can understand but here at the institute you are never really alone. Trust me…" Scott said in a reassuring manner and it gave Caroline a moment of pause. Caroline thought back to the night on the bridge, she recalled how kind the Professor had been, how he came to her with no judgements and just wanted to help her. The Professor had been so kind and sincere, he seemed to really care and he didn't look at her like she was some kind of freak as did Scott. Complete strangers wanted to help her when her parents turned their back on her. She couldn't go back home, nor did Caroline think she could ever bring herself to go back considering what she had done.

"Do you really think I can learn to control it?" Caroline asked turning to look at the Professor, she may have been asking him verbally if he believed that she could learn to control her powers. But what she really wanted to know was if she could trust him. The people who she had trusted her most in the world had betrayed, thrown her out like she was trash and here she was, scared and frightened in some institute about to wearily place her trust in some mutants. Caroline needed to know that she could trust them, that she could trust them as she couldn't deal with being rejected again. She needed to feel wanted and like she mattered over wise she may as well find another bridge to try and jump off.

"I have every faith in you Caroline."