Nightmarish Dreams
Chapter Two: Nightmarish Dreams
All that day Rogue managed to avoid Logan, but she did think it was strange that he didn’t even attempt to seek her out. If he was looking for you he always had a way of finding you, but he also knew when it came to Rogue sometimes it was better to just back off until she was ready to be seen.
She attended school as usual, but she felt like a zombie just going through the motions. When her friends were around she pretended to act like everything was fine, and if they knew it was all a facade they never let on.
It was around lunch time that she found her favorite bench and took some time to be alone. Kitty was too busy running after Lance. Evan took the opportunity to get in some skateboarding practice, while Scott and Jean were getting in some alone time themselves.
The only other person unaccounted for was Kurt, but it wasn’t too long before she saw that he was walking towards her with a pretty young lady. Rogue remembered that she was the one he went to the school dance with last year. Even though she knew of her, she didn’t really know her.
“Hey, Rogue!” Kurt called out as he swiftly walked towards her.
She wanted to run off before he reached her, but he was her little brother after all, even if just by adoption. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was hurt his feelings.
“Hey, Kurt,” Rogue said as she closed the book she was reading.
“I want you to meet someone,” Kurt said with a big smile on his face. He still wore his holowatch, even though most kids knew what he looked like. He just thought it best to keep a low profile at school.
Rogue looked up to see the pretty young lady with long brown hair. She noticed she and Kurt were holding hands. “Rogue, this is Amanda.”
“Hi,” Rogue said holding out her hand, which Amanda had no hesitation in taking.
“Amanda,” Kurt started with a little nervousness in his voice. “This is my sister, Rogue.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you had a sister,” Amanda said as she studied Rogue. She guessed Amanda was trying to find a resemblance.
“We just found out a few weeks ago,” Kurt said and Amanda smiled.
“That is wild,” she said and let go of Kurt’s hand and sat down next to Rogue. “It must be so great finding out you have a long lost sibling.”
“It was a surprise,” Rogue said trying to say as few words as possible.
“Well, I hope we can be friends,” Amanda said but this conversation was starting to make Rogue feel a little awkward. “I mean, I hope you don’t mind me dating your brother.”
“Oh, no, Kurt can see whoever he wants, and ah’m sure we’ll be great friends,” Rogue said, trying to be polite.
“Oh, wonderful,” Amanda said excitedly. “Do you want to join me and Kurt for lunch? We can talk and get to know each other.”
“Oh, no, ah wouldn’t want to intrude,” Rogue said and began gathering her things. “Besides ah have some things t’do before next period and you two looked like you rather be alone.”
“Alright,” Amanda said and rose to her feet. “Maybe we could hang out this weekend or something.”
“That would be nice,” Rogue said and picked up what was left of her books and was about to take off.
“Bye,” she heard both of them say. She hoped she didn’t sound rude, she just didn’t feel like being sociable at that moment.
There was still a half hour left for her lunch hour so she found her favorite tree that was on the edge of the school grounds. She sat down taking out her book hoping to finish the chapter she started before she had to go to her next class.
It wasn’t a minute that passed before she heard a voice that made her gasp.
“What you readin’?” She knew that voice and looked up to see the familiar face of Gambit. Their first meeting flashed in front of her mind, when he almost injured her with his charged card.
“What do ya want?” she snapped at him.
“Just bein’ friendly,” he said as she closed her book at stood up to face him. “You don’t look good, Rogue.”
“Why do ya care?” she asked sarcastically.
“Why you think I don’ care?” He asked and came closer to her. She backed off a little. “What, are you afraid of, lil ole Gambit?”
“Nothin’ little ‘bout you,” she said trying to insult him, but he just gave a snicker.
“You got dat right,” he said but she just rolled her eyes. “Why you do Gambit like that?”
“Why you ya always talk in third person? It’s annoyin’,” she said and tried to walk away but he blocked her. She gasped again not wanting to be touched by him.
“Are you afraid to be close to me?” he asked and she just stood there. “Is it jus me or everybody?”
“Ah think ya know the answer to that,” she said and tried to walk away from him, but he was still blocking her. “Can ya please get out of my way?”
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong?” he asked and just stood there defiantly.
After a few minutes of their standoff she decided she had to give him an answer if for no other reason but to make him go away and leave her alone. “Ah… ah haven’t been sleepin’ well, that’s all.”
“I can guess why,” he said and she turned away. “I understand, Rogue. You’re hurtin’ an you feel isolated, can’t tell your friends, dey won’t understand, so you keep it all bottled up inside. Dat’s it, isn’t it?”
“Ya don’t know anythin’,” she said but a tear escaped her eye. She looked down at her watch. She had ten minutes to get to her next class, so she picked up her bag and looked up at him one last time. “Ah gotta go. Ah’m gonna be late.”
“You wanna talk, I’ll be around,” he said with a look of concern in his eyes. “Believe it or not, I’m your friend.”
She looked back at him and saw a hint of sincerity in his eyes. “Thanks,” was all she could say before she walked off towards the school building.
********************************
The rest of the day all she thought about was what Gambit had said. How could he have known what she was feeling when no one else did? She barely knew him and it wasn’t like they were friends or anything, but there was something about him. He just seemed to know what was going on with her, and not in a judging way. Perhaps that’s why she wasn’t sharing her feelings with her friends. She might have felt that they would judge her, the ‘just suck it up and get on with it’ philosophy, but Mystique’s revelation of being her mother hit her hard. She absorbed the woman twice, but that second time was so much harder to take. All those childhood memories of her and Mystique when she was only four years old didn’t fit with what she had done to her over the last two years. Also the memories she gained that didn’t involve her frightened her more especially knowing what the woman was capable of.
Rogue skipped dinner that night, and opted to eat a sandwich in her room and do some studying, although she was having a hard time concentrating. Her thoughts went to Gambit, and she wondered what he was doing at that very moment, but what did she care all of the sudden. He wasn’t anyone to her, but she kept thinking about him and how sympathetic he was towards her. Maybe she misjudged him.
Finally, when she was able to settle down and concentrate on her studying Kitty popped through the door her usual way by phasing. Even after two years as roommates that still threw her off guard.
“Hey, Rogue, what you doing?” Kitty asked which made Rogue roll her eyes.
“What’s it look like?” she asked sarcastically, while trying to right down some notes.
“Oh, come on, you’ve been doing that since we got back from school,” she said and rifled through their closet and picked out some girly outfit. “The other girls are going to see a movie tonight. Why not take a break and have some fun?”
“Can’t,” was all that Rogue would say. “This paper is due on Monday and ah’m barely started.”
“Today is Friday, so you have all weekend to finish it,” Kitty said as she changed her top into her new sunflower ensemble. “We’re going to see that new slasher that just came out, and I know how much you like to laugh at the dumb people who get killed in those movies.”
“Ah’ll catch it over the weekend,” Rogue said, trying to go back to her paper.
“Okay,” Kitty pouted, giving her that face that always got others to do what she wanted, but Rogue was not falling for it. Rogue shook her head in the negative while Kitty looked defeated. “I’ll go without you, and I promise I won’t spoil it for you,” Kitty said and changed into her matching skirt. She put on a pair of yellow loafers to match her outfit. “How do I look?”
Rogue looked up and saw the gaudy outfit Kitty decided to wear. “Like a flower garden,” she said sarcastically.
“Tabby bought me this outfit, and she’s coming tonight. I don’t want to hurt her feelings by not wearing it.”
Then wear your long jacket so it’s less noticeable,” Rogue suggested.
“I plan to,” Kitty said and fished it out of the closet and walked towards the door. “See you later.”
Rogue worked for another hour and had her paper close to finished when she heard her phone beep. There was a text message that came in. She looked to see who it was from.
The caller ID only showed a number.
It read: Hey, chere. It’s Gambit.
She stared at the message for a few moments before she decided to reply.
How did you get my number?
Got my ways, was his answer.
I bet you do, she answered not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
You doing anything right now?
Was he trying to make a date with her?
Studying. Can’t talk right now.
It was the truth, but more of an excuse, but part of her shivered at the thought of being alone with him.
Tomorrow then. He never gives up, she thought to herself.
I’m busy. It wasn’t the answer she wanted to give, but why give him any hope. Even if she did decide that she wanted to date him, nothing would come of it anyway.
Sure, you are. Gambit knows where to find you.
She wanted to believe that it was just talk but something told her if he wanted to find her he could. The texts stopped but she knew he would message her again. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would give up.
It was almost midnight before she finished her paper, but at least she got it done. She let out a yawn as Kitty came into their room. She came in the normal way by actually opening the door. Rogue figured that she must have been too tired to phase.
Rogue was snuggled up on her bed in a night shirt when Kitty looked over at her. There was a sore look on Kitty’s face. “Somethin’ wrong?”
“Remind me never to wear this outfit again,” Kitty said and plopped down on her bed. “Lance showed up at the mall after we got out of the movie and wouldn’t stop making jokes.”
“Ah thought you broke up with him,” Rogue said as she was trying the fluff her pillows.
“Not officially, but as of tonight I never want to see that louse again.”
“Ya never shoulda dated him to begin with,” Rogue said quietly.
“Maybe, but he is cute,” Kitty said as she stepped behind the screen to change her clothes. She had a pair of pajamas lying on her bed.
“Ya don’t date someone jus cause their cute.”
“Really, and what about you and Gambit,” Kitty said as she came from behind the screen. Rogue shot a dark look at her friend. “Come on, Rogue, I saw you two at lunch today looking real cozy under that tree.”
“That Swamp Rat was just bein’ a pain. Ah ain’t interested in him.”
“That’s not what I saw,” Kitty said, teasing her while climbing into her bed. “Won’t be too long before he’s calling or texting begging for a date.” Rogue’s face turned a deep red and her face grew hot. She tried to hide it under her blanket but it was too late. Kitty had already seen it. “Oh, my god, he did.”
“Just a text,” Rogue said and looked over at her phone. She picked it up and opened the text and was about to delete it, but something stopped her.
“So what did you say?” Kitty asked, looking like she was about to jump out of her skin.
“Ah turned him down,” Rogue said and reached over to turn off the lamp.
“Why? He’s so hot,” Kitty said with a dreamy look on her face.
“Lots of reasons, Kitty, and most of ‘em have nothin’ to do with my powers.”
“Most of them, so you do like him,” Kitty said.
“Shut up and go t’bed,” Rogue said and turned over in bed trying to go to sleep.
“Okay,” Kitty said and turned out her light but she was quietly singing about Rogue and Gambit sitting in a tree, but it was loud enough for Rogue to here.
“Go t’sleep, Kitty,” Rogue said angrily.
“Goodnight,” she said in a sing song voice.
Rogue lay in bed for a good half hour before she drifted off to sleep, but her sleep wasn’t peaceful. Deep inside her mind images appeared in her unconscious state.
Rogue was running, where to, she didn’t know. There was a deep fog surrounding her and she couldn’t see anything, not even the ground that she was running on. She could hear the sounds in the air, faint, almost whistling. Then a voice, laughing. She recognized that voice. It belonged to the person she hated most, her mother… that’s if she could be called that. She ran faster but her energy was starting to wane. She heard the laughter getting closer as she was slowing down.
Rogue screamed as some force knocked her down. The fog seemed to clear and she stared into the face of Mystique who had her hands around her throat. Rogue was gasping for air as the woman squeezed tighter and she felt unable to breathe.
That’s when she awakened with a loud gasp. She nearly fell out of her bed only banging her arm on her nightstand knocking over one of her books. The noise woke Kitty, and she shot up in bed.
“Rogue, are you alright?” Kitty asked, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
“Ah’m okay,” Rogue said, but she was still shaking.
“No, you’re not,” Kitty said, getting out of bed and walking across the room to help her friend.
“It was just a little nightmare,” Rogue said, sitting up on her bed. She covered herself with the blanket to protect Kitty from her skin. “It’s no big deal.”
“Another one?” Kitty questioned as she sat next to her. “You had one last night and the night before. Rogue, you haven’t been yourself since that night.” Rogue turned to her, flashing her an odd look. “The night your powers went crazy.”
“It’s nothin’,” Rogue said getting up out of bed. “Jus’ need to wash my face.” She looked over at Kitty who was still sitting on her bed. “Please, don’t say anythin’ ‘bout this. Promise.”
Kitty hesitated but saw the desperate look on Rogue’s face. “Okay, for now.”
“Thanks,” Rogue said and left there room to walk down the hall to the bathroom. Her hands were still trembling as she turned the knob of the door and walked inside and did her best to lock it after she was securely inside. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this. It was bad enough that Kitty knew, and she didn’t want it getting around the mansion that she was having a breakdown.
She looked in the mirror to see her face was white as a sheet. That dream threw her off so bad that she felt her throat closing up. There was a stack of small cups on the corner of the twin sinks and she picked one up. She washed it out and poured fresh water into it and swallowed and hoped that would make her throat feel better. It helped a little, but she was still shaken.
Why was she dreaming that Mystique was trying to kill her? Was it really her mother or someone else? As far as she knew she had no psychic powers, not ones that weren’t borrowed. She touched Jean a few times but these powers long since faded. Everything had gotten so confusing since her powers raged out of control, and she feared it would happen again.
She still felt the voices inside her head, although they were like whispers now. Right now the only voice she heard in her head was her own, her… but not her. She knew she had a dark side, and she trembled at the thought of that side coming out and hurting her friends. Something had to be done, and she was the only one who could do it.