The Element of Surprise (A X-Men FanFic) [INDEFINITELY ON HOLD]

Chapter 4: Grief

Fast. That's what this was. Fast.

I'm living the street life, often running for my life as well, and then now I'm here. Discovered. Cared for. Safe.

Safe. The most untrustworthy word there is.

I probably won't be safe for long though. Nothing ever lasts. And whenever you think something will, that it will never go away and that you will have it forever, it slips out of your grasp. Out of your powerful hands that felt powerless when they knew that they could have stopped it from happening.

My parents. They were the most loving, fun, and accepting people you could ever meet. You see, I developed my abilities at a young age, that age being two. So, I wasn't fully aware that a baby running around causing floods, setting things on fire, randomly floating, or making flowers sprout out of nowhere wasn't normal. But my parents kept it under control, they helped to tame my powers. They were the best teachers ever, despite not having any powers of their own. They never told anyone, but on more than one occasion did the neighbours get suspicious. Especially when there were frequent "Kitchen Fires" and "Water Pipe Leaks".

Everything remained surprisingly calm, until that one day. That one seemingly ordinary day where I would walk back from school and find my parents both back from their early days at work, either drinking coffee, or passed out on the couch. That day where I would shake them awake, or start on my homework so I could go into the forest later and explore. But that day was anything from ordinary.

As I was walking up the steps to the door I heard something going on inside of the house. A commotion. I quietly made my way over to the window that showed the living room and saw a horrific sight.

My parents were pinned against a wall. Furniture out of place and broken. A scraggly looking man who looked like he just came from the Flinstones had one hand around each of their necks, shaking them. They looked terrified and broken. They kept shaking their heads and yelling, from what I could hear, "Never!" and "No!". From the man all I could hear was, "Tell me!", because it looked like he was murmuring in their ears.

I felt hollow and timorous. Why was that guy messing with my parents? I was about to break the window and teach this caveman a lesson about fire but that was the exact moment when my parents spotted me. They held more fear in their eyes than any parents should ever have. I realized, that fear was for me. They looked at each other then back to me and mouthed, Run. I froze. They wanted me to leave them when they knew I could help.

The cave dude, unfortunately, saw them look over to the window and followed their line of sight. He spotted me. And that was when I ran.

I ran, and ran, and ran. I ran until no longer could. Ran until I found shelter. Ran until I escaped that man chasing after me. And as I sank down to the ground in exhaust, the harrowing screams of my parents echoed through my head. Not screams for me, nor of to alert someone of the danger, but of the, I fear, pain that comes along with a slow death.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

I snapped out of my haunting thoughts, masked my face, and went over to open the door. A girl with shiny, brown hair and eyes to match stood there and said, "Hi! I'm Kitty Pryde and I'll be giving you a tour of the whole place."