Fatal Attractions [Charles Xavier | Book One]

Chapter 9: Running

        It was terrible, waking up as early as six in the morning with barely over three hours of sleep to account for. Still exhausted from sleep, Kat had practically dragged herself out of bed before she found her way down the stairs and to the main kitchen. There she found herself the last to make it to the scurry for breakfast, even though she wasn't hungry. Nevertheless, Raven had insisted she at least have some fruit, which Kat did not object to. 

        The real ideas came about after breakfast when they were gathered in the study to discuss their plans for training. It wasn't an entirely difficult plan to follow; they would focus on physical training along with learning to further understand and control their abilities, as Charles put it. They would all have one-on-one time with Charles, leaving Charles to train lastly with Kat in the evening. 

        Having prepared for their training, Hank brought in 3 boxes—one with gray sweatpants and the other with matching gray hoodies. The other contained the Converse shoes they would be using for training, especially for their first group exercise: running.

        That seemed easy enough for Kat, especially considering how she'd spent a majority of her life literally running, including in a variety of high heels. The Converse fit her perfectly enough - as did the sweatshirt and pants, thanks to Hank who had apparently been able to guess accurately with his advanced intelligence. 

        Before nine in the morning, they all met dressed in their attire for training outside the mansion's main entrance, all of them standing on the rock drive that went around the mansion and led outwards as a driveway on the grounds. It was perfect for running. 

        It was a minimum of ten laps around the mansion, that was their goal. Kat would have laughed had the morning fog not partly hidden part of the mansion. Kat considered how large the mansion was, but she knew she could make it through ten laps easily enough.

        But eventually, Kat found herself doing more than running, as Raven approached her on her sixth lap (or was it the seventh?) with an almost breathless yet nonetheless enthusiastic, "Hey, Kat!" At which, Kat turned her head to the right to see her friend running by her, still in her hidden "normal" form, her blonde hair tied up.

        "You've got to let me borrow one of those," Kat insisted as they matched pace with one another.

        "Here." Raven slid another black hair tie from her wrist and handed it to Kat, which she took with thanks and used it to tie her hair up as they jogged beside one another.

        "There. How do I look?"

        "Tired," Raven admitted with a huff of laughter. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

        "Ugh, not enough." Kat looked up as they rounded the front of the mansion, seeing how the clouds moved in the sky to show glimpses of the sun that promised to shine later on. "Everyone got more sleep than me. Besides Charles, maybe."

        Raven frowned beside her. "Charles was the first in the kitchen this morning."

        "What time?"

        She shrugged. "Before six, I know that."

        For a minute, they didn't speak beyond the matching sound of their shoes on the rocks beneath their steps. Kat thought about her sleep—dreamless, quiet. Charles's presence, constant but not entirely subtle as it tended to be. That could only mean—

        "He didn't sleep last night."

        "What?" Raven nearly stumbled and Kat caught her by her arm, helping regain herself as they continued running.