Hey guys, long time, no see. Here's chapter 34, enjoy!
Laurien felt herself starting to nod off as the natural light streaming in from the windows of the airplane began to dim, the night descending upon them all. She fought against the weight of her eyelids, her eyes pleading for rest, but unfortunately that was something that she wouldn't provide, considering that she preferred for the plane to reach its destination in one piece.
She curled her hand into a fist and buried her fingernails into her palm, willing for the slight pain to keep her from descending into slumber. A small grumble brought her attention to the burly man sitting at the far end of the plane. Logan's eyes were closed peacefully as his chest rose gently, and Laurien found herself seething quietly as she watched him do what she hadn't done successfully in three years.
As she observed him, her eyes picking up on the creases of his rather handsome face, all of which displayed infinitely more information than a high school textbook could ever dream to convey, she was surprised to find that it wasn't so difficult to believe that he was a man from the future. The concept was quite familiar to her, considering all the science fiction novels Bastijn had made her read to him when he was a child. Logan was just another man out of time, looking to change even the slightest thing that might affect the future, similarly to how Ray Bradbury had depicted by the accidental murder of a butterfly.
Lauren found herself wondering if that concept was even true. Would killing a butterfly transform the very fabric of history? And if Logan was correct, would stopping Raven from assassinating Trask save them all from the bleakest of futures, as he described? Extreme doubt settled in her mind as her gaze finally drifted away from the sleeping man and rested on the worryingly blank face of her supposed aunt, Sera.
The redhead was playing with the frayed shoelace once again, coiling it delicately in her hand before letting it unwind and starting from square one again. Laurien eyed her nervously, crossing her arms protectively over her chest as she did so. Sera's previous outburst still echoed eerily in her head, forcing Laurien to come to terms with what she had said.
Had Charles purposefully sought her out because of the information that Sera had given him, and if so, why had he lied to her about it for ten whole years? Charles had known that Laurien still had family, yet he had withheld Sera's existence from her. And for what reason? She hadn't the slightest clue.
Over the past three years, it seemed as if her perspective of Charles had completely morphed, transforming him into someone she didn't recognize anymore. The Charles she thought she had known wouldn't have kept secrets or forced dreadful things upon those close to him without their knowledge. Yet, he had.
Laurien took a deep breath as her head started to throb from being overloaded with conflicting thoughts and questions. She swiftly placed two pills between her teeth before grabbing a nearby water bottle and gulping them down. She sensed Charles' gaze upon her from her left, but soon felt it shift as Erik appeared from the back of the airplane, carrying a set board of chess along with him. A suddenly warm glow blossomed in her chest, causing it to constrict and make it almost impossible for her to breathe as she watched him set the board down on the table before Charles.
"Fancy a game?" Erik wondered aloud, his voice noticeably light as he neared the other man. "It's been a while."
Charles wasn't having any of it. "I'm not in the mood for games, thank you." He said, turning his head to resume looking out the dark window.
Erik, to his credit, didn't back down. He tentatively seated himself upon the armrest of the chair that Laurien had her feet resting, before reaching over the chess board for a glass, and a bottle containing what she assumed to be scotch.
He poured himself a glass of the golden liquid and brought it up to his lips, his breath lightly marring the crystal with its sweet heat. "I haven't had a real sip in ten years." He murmured softly before tipping the glass and downing the whole thing. He closed his eyes, his jittery emotions settling into a faint buzz before he opened them again, only for them to fall upon his old friend. "I didn't kill the president."
"The bullet curved, Erik." Charles reminded him, his eyebrows raised disbelievingly.
Erik frowned, his face growing hard. "Because I was trying to save him. They took me out before I could."
"Why would you try and save him?" Charles demanded coldly. It was a fair question, seeing as Laurien found herself asking it as well.
"Because he was one of us." Erik implored, sending a shock wave of realization throughout both Charles and Laurien's bodies.
Lauren found her gaze directing itself at Charles' face as it dawned on him, his red rimmed eyes rapidly becoming wet as he stuttered out his words, his guarded hostility suddenly vanishing. "You must think me so foolish. You've always said that they would come after us."
Erik shook his head, pouring himself another glass as he sat down opposite Charles. "I never imagined they'd use Raven's DNA to do it."
"When did you last see her?"
"The day I left for Dallas."
"And how was she?" Charles asked tentatively.
"Strong, driven, loyal."
"How... how was she?" Charles repeated, his voice shaking ever so slightly.
"She was... we were..." Erik tried, but ultimately gave up. "I could see why she meant so much to you. You should be proud of her, Charles. She's out there fighting for our cause."
Lauren stiffened at his words, knowing that he had taken a bad step, but she resigned herself to looking down at her hands, suddenly wondering if she shouldn't be listening in on the conversation.
"Your cause." Charles corrected tersely. "The girl I raised, she was not capable of killing."
"You didn't raise her, you grew up with her. She couldn't stay a little girl forever, that's why she left."
Charles raised his eyebrows at him. "She left because you got inside her head." He said, his words slow and accusatory as he carefully enunciated every one of them.
Laurien could hear the slight humorless smirk in Erik's voice as he spoke. "That's not my power. She made a choice."
"But now we know where that choice leads, don't we? She's going to murder Trask, they're going to capture her, and then they're going to wipe us out."
"Not if we get to her first. Not if we change history tomorrow." Erik said, the waves emitting from him becoming nervous and sorrowful, prompting Laurien to look up from her hands in surprise. "I'm sorry, Charles. For what happened, I truly am."
Charles stared at him, his blue eyes flitting over to Laurien for the briefest of moments, her awareness of the situation startling him into sitting up in his seat with a quick clearing of his throat as he leaned toward the chess board. "It's been a while since I've played."
Erik's head bowed in a slight nod, as if accepting the wordless message that had passed between the two men at the sudden change of subject. "I'll go easy on you. Might finally be a fair fight."
Charles didn't smile, but Laurien could tell that something within him had changed. "You have the first move." He mumbled, and a moment later, a pawn from Erik's side moved forward of its own accord.
As Charles pondered his move, Erik finally realized that she was watching and met her gaze. Her vision briefly flashed a slight tint of gold before she turned back to the window, hurriedly wondering as to what had caused such a reaction within her.
A spark of satisfaction from the other man across from her peaked her curiosity, and Laurien was able to glance up quick enough to see Logan looking at the two other men from beneath his eyelashes.
With a small smile tugging at her reluctant lips, she lowered her eyelids, and in a strong torrent of exhaustion, accidentally succumbed to the strong pull of sleep.
December 27th 1969
Laurien's fingertips lightly brushed the line of contorted skin that, only a week ago, had been her unblemished temple, wincing as the very thought of the bullet ripping through the flesh sent a piercing chill down her spine. She hadn't seen herself in a mirror yet, since she couldn't even get out of bed due to her ankle, but Hank had told her that she should give it a few more days, seeing as the bruising was extensive.
A faint ringing still echoed in her ears as she rested the unmarred side of her head on her fluffy white pillow, the noise becoming as constant as the sound of her shallow breathing.
She shouldn't be alive, Laurien knew that. How she wasn't six feet under, she hadn't a clue, and neither Hank nor Charles had done much to help clarify anything for her in the way of answers. All she knew was she'd awoken a few days ago, feeling the after effects of a worrisome fever, and every inch of her body hurting like hell. Hank attributed some of her concerning chest pains to the frequent uses of an AED and Charles' misguided attempts at CPR when she'd disappeared into the abyss not once, but twice.
It bothered Laurien to think of the fact that only ten years ago, she had been in a position very much like this one, knocking on Death's door for a brief chat, before being unceremoniously shoved back to reality. Just as it had then, her brain was having a difficult time accepting the fact that she'd survived, especially after being shot three times. None of it made sense to her, but thinking about it for too long made her head hurt, so she relented.
As Laurien took a deep breath, she lowered her good hand from her temple down to rest on her stomach. She shut her eyes tightly, noticing how the slight swollen curve seemed to be a little less than the day before, or perhaps she was just imagining it.
After Laurien had initially woken up, Hank waited until Charles left the room to make her some tea before telling her what she'd feared the moment she'd been shot in the abdomen. Hank said that he had done everything he could, but it was futile. The damage had been too severe.
Having been only a few months along, Charles hadn't noticed any significant change on Laurien's part, and she now thanked herself for having kept it a secret. Losing their first pregnancy had hit them both hard, and she had thought it best to wait until the first trimester had passed before telling him, lest he get his hopes up. Since the school closed down and all the students had either gone home or were drafted to fight abroad, he'd needed some good news, and she'd been all too excited to give it to him. In fact, she had been planning to tell him Christmas morning. Now, the best thing she could do, in her mind, was not mention it at all.
Laurien's eyes snapped open at the sound of her bedroom door creaking open slightly, revealing her fiancé as he peeked in to check on her for the first time that morning. She smiled and reached out her good arm for him, though as he came closer and she rubbed the mist from her eyes, her smile disappeared as she noticed that he was looking even worse than when she'd last seen him the night before. Charles' hair was unkempt and sticking up at odd angles, as if it had been pulled with great force, and prominent dark bags marred the skin beneath his shockingly red rimmed eyes, though an unmoving grin was plastered upon his face as he brought her hand to his lips.
As the room was tinted blue, she felt the sudden urge to cry, as the usually soft and calming contact of his mouth instead sent almost unbearable ripples through the many weaving rivers of her veins, all culminating into a suffocating sensation. It was as if someone were wrapping their hands around her throat and squeezing.
"Charles," Laurien whispered, her voice frighteningly hoarse as she dragged her thumb softly across his jawline. She was suddenly fearful that Hank had gone back on their promise and told Charles about the baby. "What's wrong?"
She could tell that behind his steady façade, there lied the grim frown that he'd come to wear when he thought she wasn't looking. At her words, his content expression collapsed drastically into one of utter despair, revealing what he truly was in that moment; a broken man.
"Nothing, darling." He managed breathily, his eyes darting nervously around the room before resting on hers, the light blue irises drowning in a rising tide before it spilled over and tears tumbled down his cheeks.
Before she could open her mouth to plead with him, he let out a small sob as he brought her hand against his forehead and knelt next to her bed. "I'm s-so sorry, Laurien."
"What?" She asked, terrified as to what had caused him to say that. "Why?"
"It's all my fault." He wept, his entire body shaking violently beside her.
Laurien's breath hitched as panic began to set in within her. "No, no, it's not. It's theirs, Charles." She told him, shaking her head as she cupped his face to get him to look at her. "They did this, not you."
"But I did." He hiccupped, the red rings sharply contrasting the bright blue of his eyes. "You never knew, I had been giving you the–"
She frowned, utterly confused. "The what?"
"Laurien, I'm so sorry." He closed his eyes and letting another tear escape down his face and onto her hand. "The serum that I use to suppress my powers." He started, gripping her hand so hard that it hurt. "I've been giving you doses without you knowing."
A striking chill of horror washed over her as his words registered in her drug addled mind, her grasp on his face slipping as the life seemed to drain out of her while the unbearable seconds passed by. "That's why I couldn't… How– how long have you been doing this?"
"Almost two months." He admitted, a strong piercing knife of shame digging itself into her chest as he spoke. "Just enough to dampen your emotion sensitivity abilities."
"But, that night…" Laurien tried, her mind refusing to comprehend what he was saying. "That night, I couldn't move anything with my…"
He shook his head, a fresh wave of tears spilling from his eyes. "I must have given you too much that night."
Her hand slowly slid out of his grip, but he immediately grabbed it again and squeezed it, willing her to listen to him. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to protect you. With how things have been going with me, I–"
"No." She uttered quietly, her surroundings fading into a grey landscape as her head pounded loudly with the uneven beats of her severed heart.
"Laurien, I–"
A loud bang startled Charles, he spun around to see what had caused the noise, only to see that the doorway was wide open now, the handle partially buried in the adjacent wall from the force.
He slowly turned back around, the message engraving itself permanently into his mind as silent, yet angry, tears streamed down Laurien's face, her grey eyes not even daring to look at him as she stared at her hand that now grasped her hollow and slightly swollen stomach.
"Please." He whispered, but she didn't do so much as blink in response.
She heard him get to his feet, drop her hand, and move slowly toward the doorway, only to pause momentarily before leaving her alone to bask in the heavy silence that filled her bedroom. The door slammed shut of its own accord, the sound echoed through Laurien's ears as she continued to stare unseeingly down at herself until an uncontrollable sob ripped itself from her throat. She clapped a hand to her mouth to muffle the sound of anguish that escaped her as she buried her face into her pillow.
Laurien stiffened as she suddenly realized that someone was gently shaking her. It took a moment to fully remember where she was, but as the sight of inside of the plane drew back the memories of the past few days, she found herself calming down. Her faded eyes focused in on the warm hands on her forearms, and she soon found herself gazing upon Erik's concerned face.
"We've just landed." He informed her softly.
She nodded and sat up straight in her seat, moving to rub her eyes, though only to find them wet. Confused, she hurriedly wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before getting to her feet and following Erik out of the airplane.
Sorry again about the long wait, work's been a little hectic, and usually any time off is used for sleep :) This chapter is the first to be written on my new laptop. We had to retire the old one because the hard-drive kept making a loud gurgling/growling sound.
In other news, I received a really interesting book from my Oma for my birthday and I'm really excited to read it at the beach in a week. It's about a Dutch girl named Hanneke during the Second World War as she navigates the world of the black market and searches for a missing Jewish girl. I read the first couple of pages when I got it, and I am already hooked, but I'm saving it for vacation time. Alright, hope you all enjoyed, thank you for reading, and please leave a review!