Hey! Another chapter within a week! Yay! Hope you enjoy!
January 23rd 1973
Laurien pressed her face hard into the shag carpet of her living room, resisting the sudden urge to bang her head into the ground as another steady agonizing pulsation cut through her forehead. She groaned through gritted teeth, her fingernails digging into her scalp as she curled in on herself.
Tears were streaming from her eyes as she willed for it to stop, each pulsation bringing the sensation of a sledgehammer being smashed into her frontal cortex, only for it to be followed in its aftermath by a chainsaw rattling against her skull.
She let out a hoarse sob as a particularly cruel pang of pain ripped through her, prompting her to grip at the shag carpet. She tore out a giant chunk and clenched it tightly in her fist. She flinched at the sound of a crash; her cutlery drawer having been ripped out of its cabinet, followed by the clatter of the utensils hitting the ground. She frantically pinned her hands beneath her knees, afraid that her powers might grab onto something else.
After who knows how much longer, the pulsations finally began to relent bit by bit, allowing Laurien to gradually relax her body. The pain ebbed away into a dull pound at the back of her head, ever present yet just bearable. She grunted in discomfort as her muscles protested, unhappy at being too tense and taut for so long. She slowly rolled onto her back, closing her wet eyes tightly as she slung her arm over them, letting the darkness calm her as she tried to regain her bearings.
"Shit." She muttered, her chest heaving mightily as her breaths came out in heavy puffs. When her breathing soon slowed, Laurien removed her arm from over her eyes, cursing again under her breath when she noticed the telltale blotches of mascara on her skin before letting her arm flop to her side.
She slowly got to her knees and crawled over to the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the harsh lights as she summoned her medication bottle from the cabinet. She stretched out on the bathroom floor, panic rising in her chest as a particularly bad throb of her head signaled for more to come. She struggled with the cap for longer than she'd like to admit, before she was finally able to pop two tablets in her mouth and gulped them down as if she had just found water in the middle of the barren desert.
Laurien pressed her forehead to the cold tile of the bathroom and waited. After a few minutes, she let out a sigh as she felt the painkillers begin to take effect. Feeling well enough to finally get to her feet, she made herself busy by washing her face at the sink, wiping away the smudged mascara on her face and arms to at least look presentable.
She found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror, grimacing slightly as her eyes immediately jumped to the thick scar that stretched from the edge of her left eyebrow and across her temple before disappearing into her hair that had been pulled back into a ponytail, her light bangs hardly hiding any centimeter of the scar. Laurien resisted the temptation to grab some makeup to cover up the horrid line, only allowing herself to let out a deep breath of irritation as her grey eyes flitted down, looking for something to distract her from looking at it for too long.
Her gaze soon fell upon a small red movement near her foot, where a small mouse was curiously inspecting her sock. Not wanting to startle the tiny ginger-furred creature, she stayed still, only moving when the mouse finally lost interest and scurried away behind the toilet, most likely escaping through a hole in the wall that she'd neglected to block.
A sudden, but unfortunately familiar pang of sadness hit her heart, as the mouse's red fur reminded Laurien of her dear Shasta. Quickly shoving the unwanted memory away as her scar sparked painfully, Laurien dragged her feet over to the kitchen, carefully stepping around the cutlery. She stared for an uncomfortable amount of time at the items in the pantry before eventually closing it, completely uninspired.
The clock on the kitchen wall read five thirty-seven, but she wasn't the least bit hungry, despite the fact that she hadn't eaten at all that day. She finally settled for an unappetizing looking apple to gnaw on in order to quiet the logical side of her conscience as she stared out the window at the long field before her house.
It was strange how even though she'd lived on the property for a little under three years, she still felt like a complete stranger. It didn't matter how many times she drove to the beautiful city of Ottawa, it was still foreign to her. Maybe it was just her imagination, but the woods near the house seemed cold and forbidden, the neighbors more acquaintances than friends, and the very floor she stood on felt hard and echoed eerily when she walked upon it. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, the sun setting in the distance rather off putting, as it reminded her that it wouldn't be long before the nightmares would be upon her.
Laurien took another bite of her apple before placing it on the counter and flicking her wrist at the radio across the room, moving the dial just enough that a soft croon erupted from the speaker, letting her know that she'd just caught the tail end of The Beatles' song 'Let It Be'.
A small smile appeared on her face. Sean had been obsessed with the Beatles after they first released 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' in the United States. He'd always played their records day and night, to the point where Laurien had memorized all the lyrics of their songs by heart, even the ones she didn't care for. She sighed to herself, knowing that Sean would be absolutely crushed if he knew that they'd broken up a few years ago, if he was even still alive.
Laurien felt a sudden jolt as the familiar beginning twangs of a guitar were emitted from across the room as the next song started. Startled, she turned around, only to see the radio being promptly flattened in a spray of electrical sparks as the music ceased abruptly. She stared in shock at what was left of the radio, before her eyes slowly drifted down to her hands, both of which were shaking.
Quickly shoving them in her high-waisted pockets, she made to move toward the radio to clean up her mess, when a knock on the door froze her in her path. She glanced at the front door, frowning as she noticed a shadow being cast upon the curtains in front of the adjacent window. Summoning the frying pan out from one of the kitchen drawers and into her hand, Laurien crept toward the door. She reached out a shaking hand to clasp the cold doorknob as she peered tentatively through the peephole. A wave of relief sweeping over her, she sighed and tucked the frying pan safely out of sight before opening the door to reveal her neighbor, Jane, who lived on the next acre over and held up a tray of lasagna in a greeting.
Laurien smiled and rested her head against the doorframe. "How did you know?"
Jane smirked back at her, her short dark hair getting blown about in the chilly wind. "Call it a hunch."
Laurien opened up the door wider as Jane handed her the lasagna, still warm from the oven. "Would you like to come in?"
"No, it's all right, I've got to get back to the kids, they've been getting a little bit fussy with John being gone for so long."
Laurien nodded, knowing that Jane's husband was overseas helping out with the war effort in Vietnam, even though Canada was officially non-belligerent. "Do you know when he's coming back?"
Jane's smile grew wider, her small frame almost vibrating in excitement. "There are peace talks scheduled next week in Paris, which I hope means that he'll be back soon."
"That's good to hear." Laurien said, and it was, considering how long the war in Vietnam had been going.
She could still recall the day four years ago that they had all sat by the television as they called out the draft lottery numbers. Alex had sat next to her, his eyes glued to the ground as the announcer said his number, and the numbers of many of the other students and teachers. Her heart had plummeted into her stomach as Alex's shoulders sagged underneath the immense weight that had been placed on him all of a sudden. God, she hoped that he was all right. It had been ages since he'd replied to a letter.
"You feeling better today?" Jane asked harmlessly, bringing Laurien back from her reverie.
She nodded as convincingly as she could, trying not to wince as she moved her head. "Yeah, I'm really hoping to get back to work soon, if they haven't already given away my position to someone else."
"Aw, well, I'm sure they haven't." Jane reassured her sympathetically before leaning in and lowering her voice. "But don't be afraid to draw it out if you can."
Laurien shook her head, smirking. "No, I just want to get back to normal. Maybe they'll give me some shorter hours to ease myself back into it."
"They will, don't you worry." Jane said, making to move down the steps to the house. "Well, I'll leave you be, but if you need anything, don't be afraid to call or come over, all right Catlijn?"
Laurien forced another small smile, still not quite used to her new name even after three years, but she had found that recently it was growing on her. Catlijn De Jaager was a thirty-two year old Dutch expat, with no family to speak of. A former nurse who had a great dislike for guns ever since a patient shot her after getting a hold of an officer's gun in 1969, and was now on medical leave since then, or that's at least what it said in her file. It wasn't far from the truth, but living even a slight version of a lie still bothered Laurien from time to time, even though it was a necessity, seeing as the risk of keeping her own name was far too high after she left the United States.
"All right, thanks again." Laurien said, giving Jane a small wave as she watched her make her way back across the field to her own house, wondering how that little woman could manage three kids on her own.
Laurien closed the door and immediately put the lasagna in the fridge. She stared at the mess of her kitchen for a moment, resolving to clean up the scattered cutlery on the floor until there was another knock on the door. Frowning, she walked back over to the front, thinking that maybe Jane had forgotten something. She put her hand on the doorknob, only to receive an extreme electric shock that sent her stumbling backwards as the door was slammed open.
Before Laurien could react, small tendrils flew at her, piercing her chest with thin needles as an excruciating current suddenly shot through her bones. Unable to control herself, she collapsed on her back, her entire body rigid and trembling as she noticed a group of men enter her house, all heavily armed and wearing military grade protective gear.
With her nails digging painfully into the palms of her hands, Laurien saw a man approach her with a familiar looking gun with a dart sticking out the end. He seemed to hesitate momentarily before shooting, but the dart paused in mid-air and instead turned back on its owner, burying itself in his neck. Having overcome the initial shock, Laurien ripped the electrified needles from her skin with difficulty and collected herself in a crouch. She kicked out with her foot, knocking one of the men off balance, before using her powers to send the taser tendrils at another, not allowing herself the satisfaction to watch him hit the ground before she summoned the frying pan by the door and clocked a shorter man in the head with it as it flew to her hand.
With four more intruders left, Laurien dove beneath the nearby coffee table, evading more darts sent her way. Cursing under her breath, and realizing she was low on patience, she grabbed onto the men's protective vests with her powers and launched them back towards the far side of her house, with one of the men actually going through a wall before collapsing into a heap.
Huh, she thought, it was actually a lot easier this time.
Breathing heavily, and still feeling her muscles twitch uncontrollably after the effects of the taser, Laurien summoned all of the men's walkie talkies and crushed them together into a crumbling boulder of plastic and batteries before then snapping their guns in half.
Going into overdrive, she ran to her bedroom and grabbed two bags from the closet, using her powers to simultaneously fill them both up with all of her necessary things; her clothes, her wallet and passports, her oldest books, and photographs, before hefting the bags on her back. She sprinted back through the house, grabbing all the last miscellaneous items that would need, before heading for the door. She looked carefully out the peephole before opening the door a smidge, all while the electric buzz and grunts of the man being tasered echoed in her ears.
Laurien spotted two large military vehicles parked next to her small blue truck, and two men putting what looked to be a boot on one of the wheels. Letting out a small huff of irritation, she forcefully pushed back the men into the military car from a distance before dashing outside and removing the unfinished boot with a quick twist of her fingers.
She got into the driver's seat of the truck after throwing her bags in the back and set her brown suede jacket down on the seat next to her. As she turned on the engine and gripped the wheel, she took a brief moment for a breath. Laurien then became aware of the icy cold fluid that seemed to be pulsating through her veins, sending a tingling sensation through her entire body. She simply dismissed it, seeing as this was the most she'd used her mutation in a long time.
Shifting the truck into gear, she made sure not to run over any prone bodies as she drove around the military cars, speeding toward the dirt road that led to the city. Laurien's heart was beating so fast, she thought that it might burst out from her chest, but while the truck travelled deeper into the forest, the adrenaline started to wear off and what Laurien could only describe as extreme panic began to set in.
How the hell had they found her? She wondered frantically, though she then supposed that she was lucky to have made it this long without an incident, seeing as many others couldn't say the same.
She continued down the road, with her mind working restlessly as her hands clutched the steering wheel with a white knuckled grip, her palms still throbbing from her nails digging into them. Where was she going to go? The city was an option, though it seemed to be only a temporary one. They, whoever they were, would be searching high and low for her. She needed time to create a new identity, and Bellamy wasn't around anymore to help her with that. She sucked in a difficult breath, realizing that she needed to face the facts that she was utterly alone.
Laurien hadn't realized how fast she was going, and when another car appeared in her path at the crossroads, she swerved sharply, fortunately screeching to a stop before she could plow into a tree on the side of the road. She let out a rattling breath as she carefully pried her hands from off the steering wheel, opening the door to the truck, hoping to sort things out quickly with the other driver and get on her way. But when Laurien stepped out of her truck, and looked over at the people getting out of the other car, she stopped dead in her tracks as she immediately recognized them, or at least the majority of them.
A tall man with a questionable hairstyle and a brown leather jacket came out of the driver's seat and tried to talk to her, but she couldn't hear him. Her gaze was held captive by the sight of Charles stepping out of the passenger side. The fact that he was walking wasn't a surprise to her. What took her aback was how awful he looked; his usually light and fluffy hair was now weighed down by his shoulders in thick heavy strands, accompanied by a scruffy beard on his tired face. There were red rings around his dulled blue eyes, telling a story of many sleepless nights.
Laurien's heart clenched painfully in her chest as she looked at him, only to be replaced by an unbearable heat as red bled into her vision. She tore her gaze from him and instead glanced behind him, where Hank too emerged from the car, in his human form, which she'd known about before she'd left. In stark contrast to Charles, Hank looked healthy, though perhaps still a little pale, a consequence of his countless hours working on his projects in his lab.
Her eyes then fell upon some movement in the back seat of the car, and saw a woman sitting there, staring at her through the back window.
Laurien almost forgot to breathe, an icy chill seeping through her veins, when she recognized the mismatched-eyed woman from the picture and her vision.
Sera.
Dun, dun, dun, she's finally here. Sorry for keeping you guys hanging, but she needed to come in at a specific time, and it took me a while to realize it. So there are some new things that we have learned about, but what happened during those ten missing years? We'll find out soon... Hope you guys all enjoyed, thank you to everyone, and please leave a review!