A Rogue's Tale

Never Judge by First Appearances: Part 1

Chapter Five: Never Judge by First Appearances

Rogue walked the streets of New Orleans aimlessly but didn't know where she was going and nor did she care. Feeling the pangs of hunger start to creep up on her, she went looking for a place to eat. She turned down the next street and found a quaint little place and entered. It wasn't much to look at, but she sat down at one of the tables and picked up a menu.

It had been a long time since she had any real Cajun food, and she thought a big bowl of Jambalaya would hit the spot. The waiter came over promptly and took her order.

She just sat there for a while, taking in the atmosphere. It wasn't a class establishment, but it was clean, simply decorated, but there were no pictures on the walls and it was painted a drab yellow. She noticed some guys were sitting at the bar. One looked her way then turned back. He was saying something to one of his friends, but she couldn't hear what it was. Then laughter came out of all three of the guys. She wondered if they were laughing about her. If they were, she didn't care. All she wanted was to be left alone.

Soon her food came, and she dug in. She hadn't realized how hungry she really was until now and soon made short work of her meal, washing it down with a glass of iced tea. That's when one of the guys from the bar approached her table.

"Hey, sweet t'ing," he said, leaning his hand on her chair. Rogue didn't answer him, hoping he would just go away. "What? Can't talk?" Still she said nothing. This guy was making her nervous and in a bad way. "My name's Julien. What's yours?"

"None of your business," she said, as she wiped her face with a napkin.

"Ah, come on, chere, don' be like dat. I don' bite...not unless you want me to." He had a look in his eye and smirk on his face that made her watch smash something heavy right into it.

"Would you just go away and leave me alone!" she shouted at him. Some guys just wouldn't take a hint, so she got up out of her chair and started to leave when he grabbed her arm.

"Ain't no fille in dis town turn me down," Julien said, with a gleam in his eye that gave her an uneasy feeling. "Remember dat!"

She snatched her arm back, releasing herself from his grasp. She heard his buddies over at the bar laughing and making snide comments, but she just ignored them and went on her way.

She walked down several streets, not really paying attention to what was going on around her. She was so pissed off at that guy's idle threat. What was he going to do? He couldn't touch her, not without her powers kicking in, and something told her she didn't want that guy's thoughts swimming around in her head.

The sun had gone down hours ago making the sky unusually dark. Suddenly, Rogue was aware of every little sound, and the streets were barren that night. If she heard the sounds of people, cars or the usual noise of the city she wouldn't have been so paranoid of the somewhat deafening silence.

She turned down a side street when she felt that someone was following her. She kept going trying to ignore the feeling. Suddenly she heard a noise, like the click of metal. She turned looking around but saw nothing. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly and closed her eyes for just a second. Before she knew what was happening, she felt something or someone grab her from behind. She tried to scream but whoever grabbed her had gloves on. Damn, she couldn't even knock him out with her power.

She tried to scream, but her attacker's hand was so tight around her mouth she thought she would pass out. She struggled to get out of the embrace that held her, and with her legs free she rammed the back of her foot into her assailant's groin. She was freed momentarily and tried desperately to catch her breath. Stumbling to stay on her feet, she grabbed onto the side of the building looking back briefly to see her attacker. She quickly took off her glove as he raised his head to look her in the eye.