Chapter Ten:

"Professor! Professor!" A young girl ran up to Charles, eyes wide and full of happiness.

Xavier smiled as the girl came to the side of his wheelchair. She had caramel dark skin and big black afro-puff in her hair, held together with white, jeweled balls.

He smiled at her, "Hello, Winnifred, what do you have there?" She seemed a but nervous, and she was young.

Then, she held out her hand where a handful of dirt was caked. "I–I've been working with my ability, do you wanna see?"

"Of course," He smiled and Winnifred grinned. She looked down at her hands and focused. Xavier watched the look of seriousness on her face and made a small frowned. She reminded him too much of Ekka.

The thought sent a sharp feeling of regret in his chest, but he tried to ignore it as Winnifred was jumping up and down now, excited. Growing in her palms was a small blooming flower, still in its his form.

Xavier smiled, praising the elated little girl, then began to roll down the hall again, going to his office. He spent the rest of his day there, occasionally talking to people, but his attention had been somewhere else entirely.

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Xavier rolled down the hall, the sound of his wheelchair echoing through the sleek corridor. In his lap was a small pink box, closed shut with a detailed, pink sticker On top.

He smiled as he approached her. "Hello, Ekka. I brought you something."

If the girl heard him, she showed no sign of it. She was still on her bed, her back turned to him. At her side as was Brownie, and he looked just as — if not more — depressed as Ekka. His movements were sluggish and his usually excited eyes drooped.

"It's been a year since you came here — to the school, that is," Xavier said, smiling. "I thought that deserves a bit of an, ah, celebration." He tried to sound happy — if not for her — but, it was hard.

Ekka still didn't move, even as Xavier rolled over and set the box inside the small, double-sided container. He noticed, sadly, that there were several plates left there, moulded, crusty, and disgusting.

Hesitantly, Xavier picked it up, trying not to make a face. "I'll have these washed," he said, a bit quietly.

Xavier glanced up at Ekka, who still hadn't moved. Brownie did. He pressed his nose against the metal pull-out drawer, but then sniffed it and cringed away.

Xavier sighed, "Ekka, please," he begged. "At least look at me. You don't even have to say anything. Just..." He sighed, eyes downcast.

He was surprised when Ekka began to sit up. He didn't think it would work, but it seemed that his words had gotten through to her.

Ekka looked at him, and it is only then that Xavier sees her face, something that had been kept from him for months.

Ekka looked gait, like a ghost. Her cheeks were sullied and she was dangerously thin. The amount of energy to sit up and then trying to breathe afterwards threw Xavier off.

"Ekka... When was the last time you ate something?" Xavier asked her. He always had Hank bring down food — the mouldy plates proved it. And, they had this issue of her not eating before, but now!?

Xavier sighed at Ekka's silence and refusal to speak. "Ekka, could you please eat something?" Xavier asked.

Ekka stared at him. Her brown eyes were the polar opposite's to Winnifred. Ekka's eyes looked dead. She looked at Xavier and he saw the amount of pure exhaustion in her eyes. That was the look of a man coming back from war and realizing the worthlessness of life.

It was the look of fear on a child always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Ekka knew this school had been too good to be true. Ekka knew that a school like this could never come to terms with a monster like herself. Wasn't that why she was in this cage for longer than Ekka knew? Wasn't that why Ekka realized that she forgot how the sun felt on her skin because she was in here for so long, just alone with her thoughts?

Ekka knew that Xavier was punishing her. Ekka was a terrible person and Xavier made sure of that. She wasn't even a person, not anymore. She was an caged animal in a zoo and Xavier was not planning on letting her out anytime soon.

Ekka turned and laid back down on her mattress. She didn't want to anger Xavier by sleeping on the floor.

Xavier watched her with thinly veiled disappointment and pity. He turned around and began too roll out the door. "Good night, Ekka," he said. And as always, Ekka said nothing.

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Xavier came back to Ekka the next day. When he first found himself in the predicament of locking Ekka away, he came to see her every night. But, with the school and life in general, it made his visits harder and harder to come. Every day became every other day, which in turn became once a week or once every other week.

Ekka didn't mind. She didn't like talking to Xavier. Ekka remembered when she first met him. He seemed all surreal and his offer was impossible, at least to her. Then, he brought her to the school and she made friends for the first time since Fira. For a short time, Ekka was happy.

But, she ruined it. Ekka was evil. She killed everyone she ever knew. She couldn't control herself. Every time Ekka closed her eyes, she heard Vera's screams as Mr. George tore out her throat.

The thought sent tears to her eyes and when she closed them she saw the bodies, both bloody and disturbed.

Brownie nudged her side as Ekka sobbed. She couldn't take this anymore. She couldn't do it! Ekka wailed loud and high. Tears slipping down her marred face, and mode running. Ekka felt as if her entire body was trying to cave in on itself. She curled into the mattress like a ball and sobbed.

Ekka shuddered with every breath, feeling lightheaded and nearly ready to drop. Bile rose in her throat, but Ekka swallowed it back down, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

She heard the familiar sound of Xavier rolling down the hall and stopped moving. He would punish her for crying, was Ekka's first thought. Just like Father. Xavier was Father. He was going to kill her. He was going to kill her.

"Hello, Ekka," Xavier spoke, always in that tone. That falsely cheery sound made Ekka nauseous. How dare he sound so happy when she was stuck in a cage?!

Xavier rolled over to the aluminum box. The box he put in there the day before hadn't been touched. Along side that, was a cold plate of eggs and grits and a sandwich set on top of it.

Xavier turned to Ekka, who still hasn't moved at all. "Ekka, you can't go on like this," Xavier told her.

Ekka shifted and sniffed, wiping her running nose. Xavier didn't see her. He never saw her cry because Ekka didn't cry in front of him. If she cried, Father would punish her. Ekka didn't say anything, hoping that maybe if she stayed quiet enough, he'd leave her alone. Two times in one week? Why did he care so much?

Why didn't he just let her die already?

Xavier sighed, frustrated. "Ekka, please," he begged, but Ekka stayed silent, breathing shallowly. He sighed, focusing on her mind.

Ekka felt Xavier slither into her mind like a snake up a tree and panicked.

Ekka screamed, grabbing her hair and tears filling her eyed and spilling down her face. "No! No! No! No! No! No!" Ekka begged, crawling off her bed and into the corner of her cell.

Xavier pulled away, seeing the shambles of what was once a beautiful mind, organized, yet shy and reserved. Now, it was chaotic and defeated. The organization he once saw, the scared kindness was obliterated. Now, she only focused on Father and finding imaginary ways not to be punished.

Xavier frowned, didn't she know that her father was dead? Didn't she know that she killed him?

Ekka still hadn't stopped screaming. Brownie was getting agitated, moaning and pawing at he ground. Even he felt the influence of her power, but it was small and not enough to control him.

Still, it concerned him. Was she getting more powerful? She had no one to feed the building power inside of her but Brownie, and even she had fits like this even he seemed to be at his end.

Brownie shook himself, growling threateningly, his sharp teeth bared. He launched himself at the thick glass, but neither his claws nor his teeth managed to penetrate it. He slobbered on the barrier, his claws hardly leaving scratches on the surface.

"Ekka," Xavier spoke calmly, looking at the sobbing girl. Her entire body was shaking with her sobs that resonated in the hallway through the speakers.

Xavier frowned, and rolled towards the wall, pressing a button. The speakers cut out and Xavier was left in silence.

He watched Ekka's silent cries, regret filled his chest. He longed to let her out, but the repercussions of doing so would be absolutely devastating.

So, Xavier steeled himself. He turned his wheelchair around and went down the hall. 

Suddenly, he heard something slam against the glass. He turned around to see Ekka enraged — which had been the most emotion she'd ever displayed since her coming here.  Smeared at the glass, was the cupcake he had given her. Angry tears filled her eyes, and she grabbed the plastic plate, throwing it at the glass as well.

"... Ekka," Xavier began to say, but Ekka began to scream at him. She formed words that only bounced back at herself, not reaching him. But, Xavier felt it. He stayed and watched her scream and cry and shout silently. He watched her break down, sinking to her knees as if her feet were made of jelly. Brownie, still hyped up with her anger, roaring at the glass.

Xavier inhaled. "I am sorry, Ekka," he said softly. The girl's angst made him want to cry with her. "I am so, so sorry." Then, he left her to cry alone.

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CHAPTER ONE IS DONE! YAY!

And, if all goes well, the next chapter will be published Monday, February 5th next year. Yep, you'll have to wait a month for the next update, but don't fret! From then on, this story will --- and I mean will --- be getting biweekly updates! Yep, every two weeks, going from February 5th, this story will be updated. At least, until the story ends.

I hope you guys are ready, I sure am! I'll see y'all later, and remember...

Don't melt~!
- Happyritas <OOO

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Edited: 5/25/18