The School for the Gifted

Chapter XII

Twelve

THE ALLIANCE SEEMED very suspicious to me. Maybe that's because I'm still holding a grudge against Magneto for killing my parents. I still haven't told Oscar. I don't want him to know. I don't want to see him cry. And, for all I know, he could've seen their fate.

    Logan and I traveled back to my house to pick up the mess. I told Oscar to spend time with his friends, and that there's nothing to worry about. I didn't tell him where exactly I was going, just out of town.

    It'd been two weeks since the alliance was made. After they formed it, we ate food and came back to the mansion. Magneto came two days later, and I haven't seen the Professor come out of the basement since. Mystique comes out every now and then, and she tries to fill us in on what's going on. I don't like the idea of fighting back. But then again, I don't like the idea of the normals trying to attack us either.

     On the train ride to my hometown, I cried through most of it. I felt like a total embarrassment, but I cried silently, at least. I'm not one for crying really loud like a toddler. That draws attention, and I don't need any attention from strangers.

    Logan held me tight. He said he understands. Being 191 years old means you've had to lose some friends. (Yes, I finally figured out his proper age. Now I just need to figure out when his birthday is.) He tried to give me some consolation, but it didn't help. I just wanted to be in his arms and sob.

     I know that this is just part of the grieving process, but I felt that my parents' death was my fault. If I hadn't ran away...so many things could be different. If I hadn't had the incident...I don't know what kind of person I'd be. Introvert and intelligent? I can't think of a life where nothing like that had happened. I can't imagine a life being a normal.

     If I could take everything back, I honestly wouldn't. I am who I am now, and that can't change. I can move on from my parents soon. I need to. I have to prepare myself for the war. Magneto could've convinced Professor X that I still should be the weapon. Which I still don't understand that, but if it means that we end the war, I'll do it.

(X)

The house looked dirty. Everything had been pulled out onto the ground. It was almost as if people had been searching for something.

    Policemen were inside the house investigating the murder. I wondered why it had taken them so long to come in. I wondered why I took so long to come here.

     A police officer saw us and said, "No one is allowed to come in here."

     I sniffed. "This is my house," I said. "I came here to clean up the...mess."

    "You're a little late, miss."

    I raised my eye brow. "And you aren't? They were murdered two weeks ago. My father was the mayor. Didn't you guys worry when he didn't come in for work?"

     "He was on vacation," answered the policeman.

    I pushed him out of the way. I headed down the hall with all the bedrooms. I know this house has security cameras. I remember Dad had installed them right before the incident because there had been a robbery when we went to Coney Island.

    I walked into the office and closed the door. This was the only room untouched. It must've been locked or something.

    I sat down at the desk and turned on the computer. I looked for the security camera files.

   "What are you doing?" Logan asked.

    I typed in passwords. My mother would never change the passwords. She was too forgetful. "We have security cameras in and out of the house. Dad installed them shortly before I ran away."