Bobby and Pete were competing, the targets they’d been aiming at were getting harder to hit as if they were moving out of range at the last second. Kitty was encouraging them both, her face filled with laughter as they both strove to meet her wishes. She picked the stuffed birds they had to hit, her small hand pointing out the targets. Both boys were filled with competitive verve, this was about who was better in the eyes of Kitty, the woman who was with them. Neither of them noticed Scott raise his hand to his visor, didn’t see him turn the aperture to its narrowest setting but they did see the flash of red and the stuffed bird explode into a pile of smouldering feathers.
It was Kitty who spoke first her voice filled with something strange, something no one had heard from her voice. Sultry, dark, molasses in winter sweet she turned to the three men in her view, not seeing the tent slowly empty until there was only them in the large booth. “Whoever gets *every* target, not the bird above it Mr Summers,” her gaze lingered on his lips for an eternity before she moved onto the other two friends she had with her. “If you hit every target you get a prize, one that deserves to be shared. So boys, up to the challenge?”
Pete almost looked as if he’d swallowed a target but Bobby and Scott were grinning in acceptance, Kitty smiled at her boyfriend and wove herself around him, her curves rubbing up against his solid form. Smiling as she felt him reacting to her ministrations, “Surely you could beat these two, for me?” Her eyes were dark when Pete looked into them, the normal blue of her gaze had been darkened into violet and the smile on her lips was one that made part of him twitch in expectation.
“Of course I can!”
Reaching up to kiss him Kitty felt the presence in her mind weave through her frame, telling her what to do if he lost. To share herself equally between the three, showing her how to do it, Pete inside her, Scott anally and Bobby in her mouth. Inside a part of her was screaming out to the Professor, begging for help while her body began to move between the three of them, touching, teasing; tormenting them all. But the worst thing of all was she liked it, deep down inside of her she liked it, and she liked having all the attention, all the looks of burning hunger directed her way. Grinding herself into Pete’s erection as he completed another target, her body filling his hard places with softness. Seeing the other two straining to win, wanting to take what she was giving to Pete with all her heart and soul.
Watching as Bobby nudged Scott’s arm making him miss a target; listening to the raised voice and anger that was just behind the cool edge she’d once respected. Her mind trying to stop herself from destroying all of them but not succeeding, her body under the control of another deeper part of herself. The one that needed to be loved, to be worshipped; to be fought over, laughing as the two men came to blows, sharp punches that were meant with all they had. Her eyes becoming blurred as the tears obscured her view but it was the laughter that disturbed her the most. The rich booming laughter that came from her own mouth as her boyfriend finally took what was had been his in the first place. The other two bent on destroying each other while she watched from her hiding place in her mind. Still screaming for someone to hear her, Jean, the Professor; anyone but all she heard was the carnival music outside. Lilting and driving through the fair as her body was plundered by Pete, the sensations finally blocking everything out. Losing herself to the fire that was in her blood and the music that was in her soul.
*************************************************************
Ororo watched as the people around her seemed to fade away, losing themselves in the mirrors that surrounded her. Every reflection curving off into the darkness, the only light she could see were the bare bulbs shining down on her skin. Every silver surface looking back at her, her eyes wide as she moved through the glass prison a smile forced upon her lips as she shifted along the narrow corridors. Weaving and winding through the maze always hearing someone ahead of her but never seeing their reflections. She’d come in with people, they’d talked to her, praised her as she’d entered with them, they’d been real so where were they?
Looking behind her checking there was no one to see her raise herself above the level of the mirrors she opened her arms to raise the wind to lift her. But nothing came, no cool wind, no lift of flight to raise her lithe form over the tall pieces of silvered glass. Seeing her reflection’s confused visage, her eyes remaining deep chocolate brown, no sense of power in her body, only fear.
Away in the far corner of the maze, where only the shimmering shape of her lingered something else stirred, something old, hungry, needy. Remembering her smell, the scent of fresh rain over parched ground, the wind that brought comfort from the harshness of the desert sun. Shifting through the mirrors the reflection came closer, moving through the silver surface as if it were water. Slipping closer and closer, silent eyes watching as Ororo moved further and further into the maze, the distance she covered much more than the tent that held it. A heated scent of the desert passing over the ground leaving a trail of red dust behind it, a swirling vortex of wind littered with the scything sound of knives being sharpened.
Ororo was running, banging into the glass that covered the mirrors, being herded along by her own fear. The narrow passages becoming thinner, smaller, the glass walls reflecting her fear back into her, doubling each piece of it until it began to choke her breath. The faint scent of desert heat, the rot of bodies and the bleached bone of death mingling into her mouth, drying every bit of moisture she had. Her mind screaming out to whoever could hear her as her voice was lost in the reflections of herself, a thousand Ororo’s each broken and bent, kneeling in the barren sand of her home. The sharp angular shape of Su-Bhwa slowly making his way through the mirrors toward her, his needle teeth glinting in the light that was filtering down through the darkness above them. Sensing the movement Ororo saw the nightmare made flesh coming toward her, his languid movement and shimmering shape as he shifted through the mirrors toward her. All her pride, all her power, all her hatred leading her here to this, the old sangoma’s words echoing in her whirling mind, “You made an enemy of him girl and he’ll find you, take everything you love from you, destroy it until there’s nothing but dust. Dust to blow in the wind, souls for him to eat and dust to cover the fields killing everything you loved.”
The mirrors changed, their faces showing the mansion, where Su-Bhwa had been, children arguing, Scott fighting Bobby, Kitty being taken by Pete. Logan being beaten by a wilder version of himself, Rogue held by her own gaze in a mirror, the reflection showing her skin to be alive with thousands of mouths all open and filled with razor teeth. John being devoured by a creature with dark grey skin, pushed head first into the diamond maw, his eyes filled with so much fear. Jean setting fire to the mansion, her eyes glowing bright red, Charles manipulating the children so they thought they were running to safety when they were running to their deaths in the flames. A look passing Charles face as he noticed her gaze, a smile so unlike the one she knew filled it as Jean straddled his lap. Seeing her best friend writhing in her mentors lap, the glow from her eyes making the skin of her face look haggard, ugly and tired. “He’s always wanted to do this to me; I’m his little girl, his *favourite* always have been;” her hands had been releasing him from the confines of his trousers and when he was Jean settled herself on him. Sitting proudly like a peacock, seeing the flushed face of her mentor as Jean began to move on him, her ruby lips turning to a smirk. “Always will be Ororo, he never loved you, not like he loves me.”
The sight held her fascinated for a moment longer, Jeans face pinched tight almost vulpine as she shifted her naked hips over the body of her oldest friend. It was only when the sound reached a high point that she actually realised it was her own voice that was crying out so loudly. As her hands pummelled the glass that was boxing her in on all sides. Locked into a mirror box, no bigger than her body, her fear reflected into her constantly filling her until there was nothing else.
************************************************
The white pasteboard showed a man split in two, one half reaching skyward, the other hunkered low to the earth the feral nature of him obvious. Logan looked at the woman who was gently smiling to herself, the second card was a maiden stood alone on an outcrop of stone utterly alone. The next was a symbol, two snakes wound around a tree, one white one black their mouths open but they had no fangs to speak of. Instead they had roses in their mouths, the fruit of the tree were two human bodies made of leaves, wrapped around each other, the design so it was hard to see where one ended and the other began. “You are one already. This I know to be fact it was I who put you together." Logan was about to speak when Marie's hand grabbed his own and he kept his silence. Two more cards were drawn laid facedown on the table, the milk white orbs of the seer driving into them both, her words terrible as they worked into their minds. "Turn these and nothing will be certain, the Carnival will have its
flesh, it's food of souls. But to leave them unknown is the greater disaster, for then Mr Dark will claim everything you hold dear." The old woman rested back on her chair, her face turned to Marie and her tone sugar sweet but the words filled with poison. "Are you willing
to let him go just as you've begun to taste him?"
The message was clear enough to Logan his hand reaching out to the two cards on the velvet covered surface, the thin smile on her face one of knowing. "Logan! What if..." he turned to look at Marie, her face was pale but inside her he knew the part of him she'd kept was
talking to her. He had to know what this was about, what the entire thing was, his hand touched the card in front of him and turned it over. A man seated on a horse his arm raised in battle, the face screwed up in anger, foam coming from his lips. Dressed in armour the face was his own, the image was reversed so it faced the reader. Her face grew serious as she felt the pasteboard surface, "The
Knight Of Swords, impulsive, aggressive, doesn't think just reacts. Yet he's reversed, so control your instincts Logan, use them but don't lose your humanity here; to do so would lose the rest of you, forever."
The blank eyed gaze went over to the scared girl seated next to him, with a shaking hand Marie picked up the pasteboard and turned it over. A queen seated on a throne, her feet surrounded with fruit and flowers, a pentacle in her hands and a cat in her lap. The smile she
was giving was one of contentment but her eyes were sharp and a weapon lay at her feet. The old fingers brushed over the picture and the old woman's breath halted for a second as the felt the surface of the card. Marie was nearly out of her seat when she finally spoke to her, "Go home, rescue those you can. Fight with your soul, with
what you are, show yourself as you are, not what you think you are. If you do you'll never leave the campground."
She drew a final card and turned it to show them both, a broiling storm was on the surface. The card had no number just a grey surface that shifted and moved as she laid it flat. Her skin pulled taught over her old face, bringing out the bones of her face, Marie pulled back even as Logan resisted the urge to draw his claws on her. Her
hair receded until there was nothing but a deaths head looking at them both covered in skin. "Go, do what you need to, save who you want to but if they refuse to leave or fight you leave them behind and take those that will come. The storm is building, the wind that scatters the dust, the rain that drowns the shadows, time is short,
leave!"
Logan didn't need telling twice, he dragged Marie away from the table just as the thing collapsed on itself, time ate the fabric of the entire thing. Everything rotted, decayed in seconds until there was nothing left but old mildewed canvas shredded and stained. The sound of the Carnival outside suddenly intruded and they both winced at the height of the sound. The piping notes were piercing in their sharpness, the lights too bright casting shadows that shifted and moved with a will of their own. Holding onto Marie Logan shifted them both outside the ravaged tent.
**********************************************
Jubilee had managed to keep the kids quiet for the most part of the night, her babysitting duty hadn't been too much of a struggle but the clock was ticking and there was something off with the way the house felt. She'd sent the kids to bed, tucked them in but there was something wrong and she'd known to trust her instincts, her mall
days had taught her that. So she'd been on her way to the Professors office when she'd seen something in the hallway.
It had to be a 'something' because there was no way knees should bend that way naturally and the tattered wings kind of gave it away too. Her ears picked up the conversation that was going on in the office, the Professor was talking to Dr Grey. Yet what was being
discussed sounded like madness, talking about setting fire to the school and doing as much damage as possible. The figure in the hallway was smiling, well it couldn't do much else with those teeth in there; backing off her thigh bumped into the hall table making it rattle. Suddenly the teeth turned her way; the slick feeling of cold filled her stomach as she realised that she'd been seen. Darkness seemed to crawl out of every corner and mass behind the thing in the hallway. It moved jerkily as if it was badly made and for a moment she saw it like a puppet, made of paper mache and strung up to dance. Her short laugh gave it pause before it narrowed it's eyes
and made to run toward her, senses finally cutting in she bolted the shadows around her suddenly deeper, older, darker than those she'd ever seen. Fear gripped her tight as she heard the thin laugh of something running behind her on small feet, the flutter of it'swings nothing like the fairies she'd seen in picture books. Tears running free Jubilee headed for the only safe place she knew, her
bedroom.
*****************************************
The carnival was in full swing, laughing faces were all around, surrounding them in joyful screams and laughter but the scent on the wind was wrong. Fear tainted everything, the way the people moved, shifting slowly as if they knew what was in store for them. For their greed, their pride, their hatred, everyone marked and pulled along in a tide of ever blinding beauty. Lights that had been bright before were beginning to fade, as if the surrounding city was trying to expunge the carnival from its reality.
Logan’s ears were picking up cries he knew, voices he knew, dragging Marie in the direction of the sound he kept his eyes on the goal and away from the sights and sounds around him.
Marie wasn’t so lucky as they ran down broadway she watched women dressed in skimpy threadbare clothes drain a man of his soul, latching onto his skin with mouths lined with needle sharp teeth. Their eyes pale and watery watching her as she passed by, their maws snapping at her heels making her flinch and tighten her grip on Logan’s hand.
Men were sodomising boys behind the tents, their greed and lust not showing them what they were losing to the creatures that were feeding on their self hatred. The shades of the boys were hollow, made of glass to Marie, their diamond surfaces slashed the men’s genitals every time they bucked into the guilty pleasure being given to them. The stink of blood was ripe as they passed the scene by, other men were dead and dying laid in the lake of blood that spread around the old canvas. The only light shed by the sparkling boys made of glass and diamond, mouths pursed, slicing succulent flesh until it was unworkable. Only then did they go back out into the crowds to pick another victim with guilt riding on their faces and in their dreams.
She didn’t see anything else until Logan stopped their advance and thrust her inside a tent, the sounds of sex were loud and the sight that met her eyes was something she’d never dreamed of seeing.
Scott was fucking Bobby, his strong hands were in Bobby’s short hair, the anger and aggression in his face warping it out of true. Bobby’s face was bruised, his left eye was closed shut, his ribs were purple his skin marked with cuts and finger prints. Seeing Scott bring his other hand down, in a fist onto Bobby’s back, the sound of the muscle being hit knocking her out of her shock. She went to move forward but Logan stopped her advance, his iron grip on her keeping her still.
Logan was still, his mind taking in the scene, Pete his eyes closed, fucking Kitty who was draped over one large arm. Her sex was raw, the smell of blood was mingled with so much else in here, seeing Marie take in Kitty and hearing her short gasp he propelled her toward the couple. He’d deal with Scott.
Marie watched Pete, his body was aching, muscles trembled and his eyes were closed shut to the world but his lips were repeating a prayer over and over. Kitty was unconscious her body already showing signs of the abuse she’d suffered. Her naked body was slick with semen, it was everywhere Marie looked, in her hair, on her hands, her legs were coated in it. Bringing her hand back she slapped Kitty hard, seeing her friend come to her mouth opening and the scream that followed it cutting the air.
Logan watched as Scott pounded Bobby beneath him, his fists cracking the boys ribs as he fought to finish. Gripping the bruised body beneath him as he shuddered again, the semen pooling back around his hips as he made to start all over again. Grabbing hold of Scott’s shoulder he pulled him free of Bobby, the sight of Bobby’s blood on Scott’s crotch mingled with his own blood. Scott’s penis was bright red, the blood on it wasn’t all Bobby and the look of relief on Scott’s face was one Logan would always remember.
Bobby was out for the count, his cheek was crushed, several teeth were missing and looking at the boys face he knew the reason why the front two had been smashed free. Moving the boy over he checked the breathing while trying to keep his cool, he wanted to kill Scott, shove his claws into his ass and pull upward. The slow sobbing that was coming from Scott made him turn his head toward the man, growling out “Shut the fuck up before I kill you!” Scott stifled his cries as he tried to dress again, when he was ready Logan shot a look at him that told him that he’d better keep a good distance between him and Logan. Shuffling over to Marie he helped her get Kitty and Pete into some kind of order, Pete was mumbling in Russian, praying to a god that wasn’t listening.
Logan re-dressed Bobby as best he could, pulling the trousers back up and hoping that Jean had everything to hand tonight because Bobby would need it. Calling Pete over he handed the boy to him, the weight easily lifted Logan went to the back of the tent slicing the fabric open to reveal the outside road only a few hundred yards away. “Move it, get him home. Get Jean working on these two.” Scott was carrying Kitty her small form cuddled by the man who a few minutes ago had been raping Bobby, his eyes hidden by the glasses he wore but the traces of tears were easily smelt and seen by everyone. Logan pushed Marie toward the gap but she stood her ground.
“No.”
“Marie!”
“NO! I’m not leavin’ you here alone!”
Logan dragged her toward him his whisper enough for her to hear it but to hide it from the rest of them. “I need you safe, GO HOME!” Marie’s eyes flashed dangerously and she gripped his collar just as tight as he’d held hers.
“She said home is just as dangerous Logan, I’m safer where you are!”
The remembrance of the seers words filled him, that their home was just as dangerous, that there were things there as well. Looking at Pete he avoided looking at Scott altogether, anger was burning through his blood and he knew if Scott made one wrong move he’d skewer him and fuck the consequences. “Don’t trust anything you see or hear at home Pete, get to the med lab first. Then try to find Jean or the Professor but be careful, they might be under attack like you were.” Pete nodded his large frame suddenly smaller as the news settled over him. “Do what’s in front of you Pete, the rest can wait.”
Scott’s shoulders began to shake in sobs as he ran out of the tent, his hands clutching the small frail body he’d imagined he’d been fucking. That she’d been under him, needing him, wanting his touch on her skin, her quiet smile charming him drawing him deeper. Even when she’d asked him to hit her, to mark her, to be rough with her he’d done it without thought. Anything to please her, to give her pleasure; at least as much as she was giving him. But it had been a lie, an illusion, the body under his hands hadn’t been Kitty it had been Bobby. He hadn’t seen it until Logan had pulled him away, breaking the contact between their skin. Then he’d seen the blood, smelt the shit all over them both as Bobby had prolapsed during the rape he’d suffered at his hands, at his lust for someone he’d never acquire.
That it had been Logan to pull him off the battered body of Bobby, to see the look that had entered the mans eyes as he’d seen the damage he’d inflicted on the boy. It froze his heart, he knew Logan would never talk to him again, never be near him again unless it was to kill him. Clutching the small body to him Scott fumbled with the keys to the van, unmindful that Pete was right behind him until the large man took the keys from his shaking fingers. Steeling himself Scott put Kitty in the front seat, snapping the belt around her body, his eyes filled with tears as he moved around the van. The lights of the carnival were dim but they filled him with terror, a feeling that made his bowels turn to water.
It was only when Pete turned him back round did he silently nod and took the back seat with Bobby. His words of guilt laying over the barely breathing boy like a blanket hoping to soothe the damage he’d done to the boy who’d looked up to him. As they passed the carnival entrance a pair of white eyes watched them leave, a smile on her face before she followed the van down the road. Shadows that reached out for the occupants receded when her presence was detected, making the trees rattle with their anger at being cheated of food they moved on into Salem Centre finding plenty to fill their bellies.
**********************************************
Ororo knew she had to move, she had to be calm, to find the focus the calm deep inside her mind. To forget the prison she was in, the creature that was stalking her through the mirror, the weight of her pocket as she shifted bringing her thoughts to sharp focus. Her hand flew to the small wooden carving inside it, her fingers wrapping around the worn wooden form filling her with calm. Her mind filling with the truth of what she was, part of the elementals, part of the earth, skies, water and winds. She *was* Su Bhwa and if that was true she had nothing to fear from him, when she opened her eyes next she saw the reflection of her true self. Hair wild, her skin bare to the skies, eyes white and her body covered with life, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds iridescent as they landed on her. She *was* life and in her hand she held Su Bhwa’s death; opening her arms she waited for him to strike.
John’s eyes struggled to adjust to the gloom of the next room after his encounter with Mr Dark, the rest of the crowd was pushing forward to have a good look at what was on the platform. John could only see the tips of what looked like wings, feathered and folded back. His mind instantly thought about Warren Worthington, surely he hadn’t ended up here had he? Pushing his way forward he managed to get near enough to see what was exactly on the stage. His days as an altar boy came back to haunt him; he knew the thin face that looked out at the crowd, seeing but not seeing them. He knew the face sensed that he was being watched but the little mutant that was with them hid their presence. John watched as the angel reached out toward the crowd, every single body moved back from it’s outstretched hand. As if defeated it just sat back on its odd legs and opened its throat, a song so pure and filled with beauty soared over their heads. Several people went into rapture so complete they didn’t notice the barker beginning to move them on as the angel continued to sing.
John hung back until he was among the last few that were still stood listening to the melody coming from the now revealed angel. His body was rack thin, the bones were protruding through the skin and his feathers were dusty and tick filled. But his skin still glowed with life, his eyes still turned toward the heavens John risked a hand to touch the thing he’d been told by Father Mulholland didn’t exist on this earth anymore. Just as his hand cleared the edge of the stage the angels hand shot out and grabbed his wrist tightly, John tried to struggle free as the face moved down from it’s rapture to open it’s dark eyed gaze into his own fear filled one.
~He was stood with his back to a doorway, listening to a conversation. Knowing he was wrong to do so but he was doing it anyway, he had a gun in his hand and a bag of money in the other. A part of his mind knew it was the Professors office, the safe was open and he’d done it, papers were scattered all over the office, ripped apart, vases smashed to pieces. The voices stopped for a moment and he let out a shaky breath as he pulled the small tracer out of his pocket and pushed the button. The Brotherhood would be along soon, they’d cause a distraction at the front of the house so he could escape out the back without being seen. He had everything of importance that the Professor had, Magneto would be pleased with him, maybe give him more responsibility. He was about to leave through the french windows when the sound of the door opening behind him made him turn gun ready and already pulling the trigger. The sound of the gun going off was loud in the small office, the hours he’d spent training were enough to see that the shot had been on target but he wished he hadn’t been. The face that met his own for a split second had been destroyed by the bullets path, splashing colour across the corridor. Jean’s face had been a perfect picture before the bullet had smashed it open, destroying everything she had been. Stood in shock for a second before the sound of a scream echoed out along the corridor, it was soon lost in many others when the rest of the Brotherhood attacked. He could never go back now, he’d be hunted for the rest of his life, whether by Scott, the Professor or by Logan. Her death was one he’d pay for, he’d betrayed them all and for that he was damned. Taking one last look he fled the mansion, his haul held tight to his chest as he ran into the night.~
The angel let go of his wrist, the sad look in his eyes enough to lay a thousand ghosts to rest. Knowing now what it was, it was no angel it was a demon, one who’d betrayed the Lord’s Rule and had ended up on earth. The thin fingered hand picked up a piece of wood beneath its chair, the paint faded and worn yet still legible. ‘Uriel, the commander of heaven! Lost in battle, a deceiver damned to walk the earth till judgement day.’ Lowering the wooden plaque the angel turned his back on the waiting men and John, he’d shown him his own fate. His own decisions that brought the death of Jean Grey and his own damnation, shivering John backed away from the stage his body bumping into the empty eyed gaze of those who’s sins had found them out. Passing through the curtain to the next room knowing the sounds of breaking bones weren’t those of the angel but of the men he was eating. Devouring their sins to make them his own, but the body didn’t survive the test and the soul was lost to this hell forever to lead more into the traps they themselves fell into.
*******************************************************
They had to find the rest of the gang, Ro’ was in here somewhere so was John. The amount of revellers was beginning to thin out as the darkness began to press in, shadows moved and shifted across the broadway. Winds filled with the dust of graveyards scenting of rotting bodies coloured the stifling air, pinching and pulling hands that had no substance were endured as they both felt their way down through the twisted carnival.
Marie felt at her wits end, what had been a trip out to enjoy themselves had turned into a fight for their lives; the image of Kitty was burned into her mind. The look on her face as she’d come round for a second, the utter fear in her eyes, as if she’d been looking at her death. It had chilled her bones, made her wonder why she hadn’t just run when Logan had pushed her to go with the others. A look at his concerned face, eyes scanning for danger, lips drawn tight into a thin line; a barely perceptible rumble going through him as they moved ahead slowly. Her hands gripped his arm that was holding her hand in a vice grip, he wasn’t going to let her go, he’d catch her if she fell of that she was certain.
Almost as if she’d called him Logan turned his head toward her, face hidden by the shadows that filled the carnival but his voice was calm, still like the eye of a hurricane. “We need to find the others, I think Ro’ went into the mirror place. We’ve got to get out of here fast, but we gotta split up to find both of em. I can track John, I need you to get Ro’.” The solidity of his words made sense but inside she was beginning to crumble, sensing her distress at being alone Logan turned her into him, pulling her body flush with his own. His mouth right next to her ear, “Listen, if we do this right we’ll be out of here in *minutes* Marie. I trust you. I love you.” Those few words made her blood sing, shifting to see him in the reflected neon light, the harsh colours painting his skin a gaudy red. The look in his eyes one of utter pain that he had to let her go, had to risk her in this place to trust her to do something she wasn’t ready for. But she’d gone through worse on Liberty Island, she knew it, here it was all dreams and nightmares and both of them were old hands at both.
“Marie?” His hands were at her shoulders, trying to see if she understood what he was asking her to do, she answered him by kissing his lips quickly.
“Ah love you too, always have.” She raised a gloved hand to his face tracing the concern there, “Always will.” The smile she received in return could’ve put the sun to shame but it was fleeting as a scream echoed out to ring down the now nearly deserted broadway.
“Get Ro’ and get out, don’t wait for me.”
She was about to argue when he released the claws in his left hand, the darkness that filled his features made her understand what he was going to do. The note of warning the seer had told them both rang in her head, opening her mouth.
“Human Logan, stay human. Ah don’t want to lose you, ah just found you.” Her hips shifted into his own acting on instinct, loving the purr she felt run through her body as she did it. The feel of his clawed hand on her hip gripping tight and knowing he’d never hurt her on purpose, bringing her eyes to his and seeing the mixture of Logan and Wolverine just under the surface of his skin. “Be careful sugar.” He let her go then and went after the scent of fire, the burnt tones of John that seemed to leech out of his skin. Her own eyes searching and finding the huddling mass of the mirror maze, it’s squat bulk looking like a dark spider about to jump. Steeling her nerves breathing slowly and calmly she ran across the open ground toward the open maw of the maze. Listening to the wind pull screams and babbling words out of the air as she entered the maze.
Jubilee was huddled with her teddies against the door, the kids on her floor were beginning to scream, she could hear footsteps running across the wooden floor outside. They stopped just past her doorway, all sound stopped leaving her in a pit of silence that dragged out, her own breathing the only thing that seemed to be alive. Her ears picked up the sound of metal grating on metal above her, opening her eyes wide looking above her head watching the handle of her door turn. The sound of breathing just on the other side, the sound deep, wet, raspy as if the mouth were too full of teeth and Jubilee knew what was on the other side of it. The flutter of moths wings could be heard just under the breathing, sliding away from the door Jubilee held her breath. The door was locked she’d jammed the lock herself but she could see the door bulging inward, as if it was breathing. Her fear notched up again as she realised it had come for her, out of all the house it had come for her, it was then she heard a voice she’d thought she’d never hear again.
“Come out little rat, come out because if you don’t I’ll come in and we all know what happens when I come in.” The tone made her body freeze, the image of the stained uniform and the smell of his sweat filled her nose. Henry, he’d been a security guard at the mall she’d lived at, he would try to catch her, his eyes filled with a hunger she never wanted to understand or be part of. She’d burned him with her powers, he’d been trying to reach her in her sleeping place when she’d fired on him. His face had taken the full brunt of her attack, she could see the flesh melt under the heat of her attack, the eyeballs wizened and his mouth open in a scream that never sounded as the air from his lungs was ripped out. She’d put him next to a bunch of exposed wires, making it look like he’d been electrocuted; her powers were a lot like a electrical burn when they touched skin. Panic reached deep into her chest and squeezed, her heart giving a lurch as she moved away from the door toward her window.
“Little rat, little rat I’m coming in, don’t you want to see your handiwork? I’ve got so many little pleasures to give you in return.” Backing up against the cold glass Jubilee never saw the van turn into the drive, lights blazing and horn sounding loud. All she could see was the door shifting in the light of her room and willing the nightmare to end.
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Ororo watched the disjointed movement toward her, the shifting form of Su Bhwa never still for a second, her left hand disguising the small wooden carving. Her face calm as he formed again, closer this time, his knives visible to her their surfaces glinting in the mirror light. Slowly she moved forward, placing the small carving ahead of her, he’d have to cross it to reach her, when he had his foot over it she could kill him. She waited with the same as patience as the oak waits to grow into its crown, knowing the trap was set and she had a chance to kill him.
Marie wove her way through the mirrors, her eyes scanning for the shape of Ro' but finding nothing but clothing all along the corridors. Perfect as if they’d just been stepped out of, leaving things buckled and strapped up, cardigans and coats still fastened. A flash of white ahead spurred her onward, the look of hope firing in her eyes, turning the corner she met Ro’ her face absorbed by one mirror, her reflection something else entirely a man made of knives, his face snarling and cruel. Picking up a shirt Marie wrapped her hand and drew it back, her eyes on the calm look on Ro’s face the reflection beginning to sneer as she swung her arm back toward the mirror.
Ro’ was just about to guide him into the trap when the world around her shattered, every single piece shattering away sparkling like a million diamonds. Her calm vanished as the world righted itself again, Rogue was stood next to her cradling an arm wrapped in cloth. The gaping darkness behind the mirror they were stood in front of was cold and beckoning, shifting back from the gaping hole Ro’ pulled Rogue with her. The sound of metal grating on metal taking the colour from Ro’s skin, her hand reaching for her charm and finding it still in her pocket. Both women running from the darkness that was flowing out of the hole, crazing the other mirrors as it absorbed them. Sending them into showers of silvered glass, each shard a soul led into the maze only to be lost to the hunger of the glass and the creature behind it. So empty needing to fill his soul with the light and warmth of others, sensing their trail and following it like a bloodhound with prey at the end. Nothing but a rasping hiss as it flowed over the cold ground, a shadow of how things could be.
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Logan was close he could smell the fear in him, the boy was close; silence wrapped around him like smoke. As if every sound had been taken from the world, leaving a vacuum punctuated only by his breath. Bringing his claws to the canvas in front of him Logan tore the thing open, stepping through the worn fabric to behold something that he’d heard about in his travels but never thought to see.
The cage was massive, the lumbering hulk inside it grey skinned and small eyed. Through the crowd he spotted John stood next to the figure he’d grown to hate, Mr Dark. John was fixed in fear, the stink of ammonia was ripe as the lumbering beast moved about in the cage, the darkness and cold of the tented room enough to make his own breath fog. But Mr Dark’s breath never misted, even as he was creeping up toward them both. Dark moved John closer and closer to the cage, he was nearly there when a pair of hands wrapped around his throat from behind. Strong hands, working hands that had cleared ice in winter, hands that shifted iron rails like toothpicks, feeling his airway begin to close he stabbed backward listening to the grunt of pain and liking what he heard as the hands let go. Turning to see the body of a man fall to the floor, his face so like Xavier’s own he had to check him as he laid there bleeding out. The scent of him was different, sour, aged, not the usual scent of Xavier, who was old leather and spice, this was something else. The body crumbled in front of him into leaves, each piece fading away into the ground as the sound of the cage door opening made his head turn to the cage. John was inside the cage with the thing, his hands were shaking as he tried to use his powers against the creature. Dark’s skull visage turned to Logan’s own, his head dropping to one side as if to invite him to save John, knowing that if he stepped into the cage he’d be taking his place in the carnival. Looking once more at the gathered souls around him Logan stepped forward and leapt into the cage with John. As the door shut behind him Logan felt his mind regress, until there was nothing but the beast left in him. Turning to the crowd watching he screamed out his anger and rage as Mr Dark turned his own smile to the heavens.
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