CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
❝︎Aurelia Quinn❞︎
RAELYNN WAS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED. As soon as she got into that car with Beth, her nerves went skyrocketing and now she felt like she could explode. Her palms were sweaty, and her heartbeat was racing out of her chest, her throat was running dry, and she anxiously kept rubbing her hands together in attempt to get rid of the feeling. She could see the school in the distance and somehow that just made her heartrate quicken. There were so many thoughts that were running through her brain. Her mind was making up every scenario possible and not a lot of them were all that good.
Beth pulled the car up to the front of the school and she turned her head to look at Raelynn, offering her a small reassuring smile. Raelynn frowned. "You're not coming with me?"
Beth shook her head. "I think this is something you need to do on your own." She placed a reassuring hand on Raelynn's shoulder. "I'll be right out here if you need me, okay?" Raelynn swallowed thickly before nodding her head.
She got out of the car, looking at Beth one last time before closing the car door and turning her body to face the front doors of the school. She took a deep breath. The school was very big and if she was being honest, it was also very intimidating. Raelynn took a deep shaky breath before walking forwards and pushing the door open. She winced at the loud creak it made before stepping inside of the building. Her footsteps echoed upwards, and she couldn't help but slowly spin in a circle and admire the place. She had to admit, it was a cool looking school.
Her eyes landed on a passing figure, and he came to a stop right in front of her. "Hi, uh, can you help me find Charles Xavier's office?"
The man nodded his head. "Yeah, sure. Right this way."
The man led her up the staircase. Raelynn's hand dragged along the wooden banner, and she just couldn't help but stare at the place in awe. The thought of this being her sister's home for so many years made her feel a little bit better. It was everything they never had and suddenly Raelynn didn't want to take her away. If Aurelia didn't want to go with her, she wouldn't make her, but she at least wanted to see her. She just wanted to make sure her sister was okay, that wasn't too much to ask, was it?
The man knocked his fist against the door three times, standing there for a moment before suddenly opening the door and letting himself in. Raelynn watched him with curious eyes before following him. There a man sat, looking at Raelynn as if he were expecting her. Charles Xavier looked at the man and nodded his head. "Thank you, Peter." He nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him.
He looked at Raelynn for a moment, watching her curiously. "And how might I be of help to you?" Charles asked.
Raelynn suddenly got nervous again. She swallowed thickly before forcing herself to take a deep breath and then she cleared her throat. "I'm looking for Aurelia Quinn."
"Aurelia," he noted. "Yes, I can see that. You're her sister, aren't you?"
Raelynn opened her mouth and frowned. "How did you know that?"
"Well, for one, you two look exactly alike." He noted. "Second, Aurelia mentioned that she had a sister. Of course, we knew about you before she ever told us. She doesn't remember anything. She doesn't remember the murder, she knows that her parents are dead though. What she does remember is that she had parents, and she had a sister, and she believes that they've abandoned her."
Raelynn frowned deeply. "And you let her believe that?"
"I thought you wanted to be the one to tell your sister that you were the reason her parents are dead."
Raelynn winced. "Way to just rip the band-aid off." She muttered. Charles motioned towards the seat in front of his desk. Raelynn walked over and sat down, looking at the man. "You're here to take her from us, I assume?"
Raelynn shook her head. "I'm only here to see if she wants to come with me. It's up to her. If she loves this place as much as I think she does, I don't want to rip her away from another family."
Charles smiled at this. "I think she could use a bit of space from here."
"Why? Has something happened?"
Charles sighed. "She lost someone very close to her. Everything reminds her of Jean, and I can tell that she just wants to get away, she's just too scared to leave Scott behind."
Raelynn hesitated. "Her powers. . . I mean, how are they?"
Charles chuckles. "She is quite incredible, that one. We would hate to lose her, but I understand the importance of this certain situation. If she wants to leave with you, she is more than free to do so." Charles waited for a moment and then Peter made his way back into the room. "I need you to bring me Aurelia Quinn."
"On it." Peter sped out of the room and Raelynn's eyes widened in surprise.
The two of them sat there for a moment, patiently waiting for Aurelia to come to them. There was a knock on the door before Charles told them to come in and in came Aurelia, holding a boy's hand. Raelynn kept her back turned, closing her eyes as she heard her little sister's voice for the first time in forever.
"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Aurelia's voice was soft and gentle as she spoke.
"I do," Charles nodded. He stood, making his way around the desk. He looked at Scott, silently nodding for him to close the door and Scott did so before taking a stand beside Aurelia once more.
Aurelia couldn't help but frown at this. "Is everything alright?"
"And whose she?" Scott asked, taking note of the strange blonde that was sitting in front of Charles' desk.
Raelynn closed her eyes tightly, pulling herself together and then stood up and turned to face them. She tried not to freeze when seeing her sister. She didn't realize how much they truly looked alike until this moment. "Hi, I'm Raelynn." Raelynn gave a small wave and then nodded towards Aurelia. "I'm Aurelia's sister." This was it, this was the moment that could forever hurt Raelynn.
"You're—you're alive?" Aurelia whispered. She took a step away from Scott and looked at her sister with big eyes. Raelynn couldn't help but glance towards Charles who gave her a small reassuring nod. Raelynn looked back at Aurelia and before she could even react, Aurelia was throwing her arms around Raelynn and hugging her so tight she almost couldn't breathe. Raelynn couldn't help but lean into the embrace, wrapping her arms around her and closing her eyes tightly.
After a moment, Raelynn pulled away. She looked at Aurelia, really looked at her, and she couldn't help the gentle smile that pulled on her lips. She reached up, pushing the hair away from Aurelia's face. "We have a lot to talk about."
Aurelia nodded and with a wide smile she said, "You first."