SOUR CANDY | P. MAXIMOFF [ DISCONTINUED ]

╰➝ ACT ONE : THE LIGHT THAT STRIVES IN THE DARK

╰➝ ACT ONE:
THE LIGHT THAT STRIVES IN THE DARK

THE SILENCE HUNG IN THE AIR and with it, comes the overwhelming raw power of the little girl quietly sitting in front of him. The room is painted sage green and the couch they were sitting at is in a color that makes the room appear lively but when he looks at her charcoal eyes, he feels as though he is staring at the skies devoid of any heavenly bodies that lights up the night.

Despite the grief that he's going through, he inhales a deep breath and a smile forms into his lips. "Hi, Cascade," he says, cautioning his words. The girl looked at him, eyes filled with indifference. It stung his heart. "I am Charles Xavier and I am from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." He took a pause, he studied her face, he saw nothing. He continues. "I am here to help you with your — how do I say this? — predicament."

The little girl stared at him, her charcoal eyes boring into his soul and sending him chills. He's aware that her eyes are oddly darker than the others, he had seen it a couple of times, but now, without the emotions, it's lifeless. She leveled her gaze and all he did was to meet it with a warm smile. "Gifted Youngsters?" she asked. "I don't think that whatever this is, it's not a gift."

"It feels more like a curse, isn't it?" he asked. She nods, her head dips slightly. He shifts on his seat. "It doesn't feel like it at first, but when you learn to control it, hopefully, it will not feel like it anymore."

A frown appears on her face. "Hopefully?"

He nods. "Yes. Apparently, even if you learn to control or harness it, it will still feel like a curse as long as you think that it is one," he explained. "Matters will only change if our views about it changes."

The little girl looked away, her eyes looking distant. In the brief moment of silence, Charles finally felt the weight of what Tatiana had done to her daughter. He understands that what she did was only to protect her from the horrors she had been through in the hands of her cruel father, but it seems unfair. Indeed, she can manipulate memories, but she cannot control the memories she chooses to lock away. And looking at the little girl, he knows that she feels like an incomplete puzzle.

He hears her sigh and she looks back at him, her eyes are back from being colder than ice. "Maybe, my case is just different," she stated. The girl stood up, the sharpness of her movement surprised him but he didn't say anything and watched as she walked out of the house.

The exact moment she left is the same time that the Delacroix couple entered the room. "What happened?" Mrs. Delacroix inquired.

"Things must've been really bad for her, Mrs. Delacroix. I am afraid that we have to give her some time to think," he simply said.

The two couples looked at each other, then Mr. Delacroix looked at him. "Whatever it is, please help her. We — we do not know what we are dealing with but we want the best for her."

"You can expect that I will do my best to help her, Mr. Delacroix. After all, she's like a family to me as well."

And he wasn't lying when he said that.

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CASCADE WAS EIGHT when her mother died from a plane crash, that's when the evil thing inside her was first unleashed — but then again, she couldn't be sure if it was the first time that it happened, she couldn't really remember most of her life, it's like looking at your reflection in boiling water — you could barely see anything. Besides, if it was the first time that it happened, she wouldn't know what will happen after it was unleashed. The voices inside her head told her to run away and so she did.

She spent her first few months sleeping in the slums, then a kind old woman found her and brought her to an orphanage. She stayed there for a couple weeks until her father found her and she ran away again. Then she ended up in foster care until she finally landed in the kind household of the Delacroix, just outside of the D.C. Cascade thought that she managed to hide from her father, then the devil showed up at their doorstep.

She didn't know how she managed to convince the couple that she doesn't know the man, she also had no idea why the house was turned upside down. But what matters most is that her father is gone, then that man shows up. She shakes her head. Her senses tell her that she had met that man before, she couldn't remember when or where. It deeply infuriates her how things seem familiar but she couldn't point out why and her memory seems to start fading, she's afraid she's going to forget everything one day.

"You look sad." She lifts her gaze and sees a young boy with silver hair and a vanilla ice cream on his hands. Cascade knows him of course, he's their kind neighbor's son. She just doesn't know his name. "Please, don't be sad," he says softly. "I can share my ice cream with you, if you want."

A frown makes its way on her face. She does not understand why he's kind to her when most of the time, she just ignores his attempts of making friends with her. Perhaps she was afraid that he's going to break her heart one day when he finally finds a new friend. And she does not think that she's the kind of kid the other kids would like to befriend.

The silver haired boy sits next to her, she throws a sidelong glance at him. "You know you can come over to us and my mom will gladly make us cookies and I can share my toys with you!"

Cascade faced him, she stared at his eyes. The smile on the boy's face never left his lips. "Do you really think your mom would do that?" he asked, her heart twists. She hoped she could do that with her mom as well but she's dead and her father can go straight to hell.

The smile on the boy's face widens and he nods eagerly, it reminds her of a puppy. "Of course! My mom will be happy if I bring a friend to our house!" he stated.

She considers it. If she couldn't experience it with her own mother, then perhaps she could do it with someone else's, maybe their mother's aren't so different. "Okay, let's go to your house," she said.

The boy smiled at her ear-to-ear. He stood up and offered her his hands. She took it and the boy pulled her up and he started dragging her to their house. Giggles could be heard from him.

From afar, Charles watched the two. A smile formed on his face. He's glad that Cascade finally found a friend but it pains him knowing that he'll have to separate the two soon. So he vowed to himself that when she had to leave with him, she would take her here one day so that the two could meet again.

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PETER IS GLAD that he's finally friends with her. He also found out that her name is Cassie — it's not really her name, but a nickname — but he is still happy to know it. Every morning, she would knock on their door with a small smile plastered on her face and greet him good morning then they would play with his toys and watch TV together. They would laugh until it's the only thing the two of them could hear.

Then one day, she told him that she will be gone for a very long time. Peter thought she was only joking but when the morning came, she never knocked on their door again. He waited and waited and yet she never came. He was still too young to understand that the pain he felt was heartbreak.

He should've believed her.