A Rogue's Tale

Secrets & Deceptions: Part 2

The whole thing seemed pathetic to her, but she kept up the act. Pietro led her into the living room and she took off her jacket. He looked a little surprised to see a pair of wings fluttering from her back.

"Why are you so shocked?" she asked and fluttered a few inches off the floor. "You must have known I was a mutant."

"Of course, I did," he said and zipped behind her to get a better look. "I never expected this."

"So, I can fly and you're superfast," she said and set her feet on the floor. Her wings turned down, and she sat down on the couch and crossed her legs. "It seems perfectly normal to me."

He gave a smirk and burst out laughing. "I think we're going to get along just fine," he said and tried to put an arm around her.

She quickly removed his hand and handed him a book. "History first," she said and he groaned. This guy was a fast mover she could tell, but then she figured he did everything fast.

She forced him to study for the next hour, and the task bored her because in truth she didn't need any help in history or any other subject. She realized she knew more about the First World War than he did, but refrained from letting on just how smart she really was. She was undercover after all.

"So, where's your bathroom?" she asked. "I need to freshen up."

"There's one off the kitchen," Pietro said as he closed the book and pointed to a door on the far side of the dining area. "With the studying done, we can move to another subject."

"That sounds interesting," Tara said and stood up. She made sure he had a good view as she walked towards the kitchen. She was really hoping to get upstairs and be able to snoop around, but she learned that you could learn a lot about a person from the things in their kitchen and also their bathroom.

She started her search for something, but didn't know what she was looking for, but before she could get very far, she heard noises coming from outside. Tara ducked into the utility closet as not to be seen. She heard the voices of two women in a heated conversation.

"Raven, please, don't do this," one of the women said. Tara recognized the voice as belonging to Rogue's Aunt Irene. She had no idea the woman was here in Bayville and for what purpose. Was she in on what was happening to Rogue?

"I have to," the other woman said. She peeked out of a small hole in the closet and saw a blue-skinned woman with a disturbing pair of yellow eyes. She tried not to look at them thinking she might drop dead if she stared at them too long. "This medicine is the only way I know to keep her from remembering." She saw the woman put down a bottle on the counter. Tara rolled her eyes as the woman referred to that bottle of clear liquid as medicine.

"This may be, but Jason told you that it's highly addictive," Irene said with a stern look on her face. She saw how distraught the woman looked, and even though she was blind she seemed to know what a dangerous line this woman was walking on. "What if this kills her?"

"I will not let that happen," she said and dropped the bottle in a utility drawer and locked it. "Rogue will be fine. Trust me."

The two women left the kitchen walking out of the back door. Tara slowly opened the utility closet and knew she had to get her hands on the liquid poison the blue-skinned woman was feeding to her friend. She had no idea how long she had been taking it, but it couldn't have been long seeing that she had only been missing for a few weeks. Rogue wasn't the type to take anything, so if she was on something Tara would have known about it. She was going to make sure it stopped now.

She quietly tiptoed over to the utility drawer and took out the lock pick she carried in her purse. She definitely came prepared and was able to jimmy the lock quite easily and took out the bottle. She slipped into the bathroom and looked for something to put the contents of the jar into and found an old lotion bottle and opened it up and cleaned it out, and then poured the liquid contents into it. Then she cleaned out the bottle and filled it with water. The best way of making the woman think her plan was working was not to bring any attention to her weapon, so she made it look like no one had tampered with it.

She slipped the bottle back in the drawer and relocked it and left the kitchen just as she left it. She came back into the living room to see that Pietro was waiting for her. He looked like he was getting comfortable, and he even put on some music. How she wanted to smack the smirk off his face. The guy was annoying at best, and she only endured him this long to help Rogue.

"Pietro, I'm sorry, but I have an emergency at home. I have to go," she said and picked up her schoolbag.

"Are you sure you can't stay longer?" he asked.

"No," she said and put on her jacket. "I'll make it up to you, though."

"Okay," he said with a long drawn-out groan and led her to the door. She was about to leave when he grabbed her and led her into a kiss. The gesture threw her, and she just about lost her balance. "Hey, you need a ride home?"

"No, I'm fine," she said and walked out the door. She ducked around the corner and spit on the ground. She hated having the taste of that guy in her mouth, and if Bruno ever found out about it, he would be livid. He might even get into a fight with the guy and with his powers he just might drown the speedster. Even with his power of speed it wouldn't matter how fast he could run. It wouldn't do any good if he was submerged in water.

She walked to the café hoping to keep this entire incidence under wraps. The only thing the boys needed to know was about the bottle of "medicine" that the blue woman was feeding to Rogue.

To Be Continued...