Chapter Fourteen:

Charles' fingers were folded in front of him. "We've gone as far as Northern Bronx area, Professor," Dr. Wellman said. "But, there is no sign of her."

"Search again," Xavier said immediately. The man's eyes widened, slightly shocked.

"Professor---!"

"Do I have to remind you of the potential danger this child brings?" Xavier snapped. "If the media were to find out that a student was missing, and a dangerous one at that, we would be ruined. We need to find Ekka. She isn't that fast and won't last long without food or water. Somebody should have seen her by now. Start asking questions, and go north if you have to."

"Yes, Professor," Doctor Wellman conceded, and began to leave.

"I'll try my Cerebro again, Doctor," Xavier told him before he left. "If I find anything, I will contact you."

"Yes, thank you, Professor," Dr. Wellman stiffly nodded before fading into nothing.

Xavier leaned back, rubbing his eyes. She only nine years old. Where on earth could she be!?

~.•*•.~

Ekka giggled wildly, running as fast as she could. "No! No!" She cried, turning the sharp corner only to find Adrian. He scooped her up before she could scream and began to tickle her.

Ekka squirmed laughing harder than she could bear. Lucas came from around the corner and helped. Ekka gasped for breath, curling up as she laughed endlessly.

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Adrian said after a full five minutes. He put Ekka down and she had to wobble for a second, feeling stitches in her sides from the laughter. "I have to go soon," he told Lucas and Lucas nodded.

"Where are you going?" Ekka asked, curiously. He smiled and rubbed her hair.

"Emergency room. I'm a surgeon, remember?" Ekka did remember. She asked him earlier what that meant.

"'I help people when they aren't feeling good,'" he explained to her. "Sometimes, people get really hurt and they need this thing call 'surgery'. I'm one of the people that help perform the surgery'."

"Be safe," Lucas reminded him and he nodded, pecking Lucas on the cheek before heading out. When the door closed, Lucas turned to Ekka. "C'mon, let's go upstairs. I have to finish my book and you can help."

"Your book?" Ekka echoed as they climbed up the steps.

"Yep," he smiled. "I'm a writer, so I get to stay here and write books."

"You can write?" Ekka asked in awe. Lucas gave her funny look.

"Of course," he said. "Can't you write?" Ekka immediately turned away, eyes on the floor and she twisted her fingers.

"I... Uhm... N--No..."

"Hey, that's okay, Ekka," Lucas assured, bending down and smiling at her. Ekka gave a hesitant smile back. "I'll teach you to write, alright?"

"Okay," Ekka said, but a part of her didn't care much for writing or education. She didn't think she needed it much.

Lucas opened a door that lead to a really messy room. There were tall bookshelves on the sides of the walls, but no books the books were stacked on the floor in tall piles. There was a zigzag pattern that Lucas followed with ease in order to get go his desk in front of a window. On the desk was a very big computer Ekka had only seen in Xavier office, an old typewriter, and a jar full of pencils and pens.

"Sit wherever you like," He told her, so Ekka did. She sat on the right side of the desk, where there was a small alcove of space. "Can you read French?" He asked her and Ekka shook her head. "But, you can speak it," Lucas clarified, but not in a skeptical way. Ekka nodded again. "Alright," he said and then began to type.

A few minutes later and after a series of loud clicking, he pressed a button. After a few seconds of delay, a grinding noise sounded next to Ekka. She jumped, startled, and turned as a sheet of paper emerged from a black thing's... Mouth.

Lucas picked it up and examined it. Then, he picked up a pencil and began roughly sketching. Finally, Lucas finished and handed it to Ekka.

It was a sheet of a lot of symbols and beside each symbol was a crudely sketched picture of different things Ekka could vaguely recognize. "Each word begins with that letter," Lucas explained. "The first letter in our alphabet is A, so this says apple. A-P-P-L-E. I wrote out the letters, the pictures, and how to spell them here. You can copy it." Ekka nodded, almost understanding.

"Where do I copy it?" She asked. Lucas turned around and picked up a composition notebook. Then, he handed it to Ekka.

"Here. I want you to copy each letter and it's word until the pages fills up, okay?" Ekka nodded again. This was a lot easier to do than to learn about mould.

Lucas gave Ekka a pencil and she got to work. Ekka began to write crude letters, nothing like Lucas wrote.

Her first 'A' was huge and looked very bad whereas his was neat and clean. Ekka tried again, trying to stay on the same line, but her awkwardness with her pencil made it worse.

Lucas glanced over at Ekka's struggling form, raising an eyebrow. "Ekka, aren't you left-handed?"

"Huh?" Ekka looked up at him, confused.

"You're left-handed. You always stroke Brownie with your left hand and you hold your fork with it too."

"I do not understand," Ekka frowned. "You use your right hand."

"Yes, because I'm right-handed," He explained. "But, it's different for everyone. It's like how your skin is dark and my is really light and Adrian's is tannish. It's all different."

Ekka nodded, understanding this, "Okay," she said and changed hands. She immediately felt a lot better. Granted, her writing hadn't improved much, she was still able to write a little bit smoother.

Ekka and Lucas were quiet for a long time as Ekka copied her letters. When she finally finished A, she went to the next letter B, and beside that was another bad sketch. Ekka frowned at it, trying to make out what it was. Finally, she gave in and turned to Lucas, who was typing on his computer very quickly. "Mister Lucas?" Ekka said and he turned to her.

"Yes?"

"What is this?" She asked, pointing to the picture. Lucas squinted at it for a moment then said with much confidence.

"It's a bee. See the stinger?" He pointed to the end of the sketch. Ekka still stared at it, not quite understanding how that sketch could be a bee at all.

"... Yes," Ekka murmured, looking back down, "I see it. . ." This was a lie. That looked nothing like a bee.

Lucas grinned pridefully, and turned back to his computer, "Good!" Ekka shook her head and continued to write the strange letters.

Several hours passed as Ekka came from the room, occasionally going to the restroom, but returned to the messy book room again. Ekka tried her best not to ask any questions or make any noise while Lucas worked diligently. She didn't want him to kick her out of the room. Ekka tried to decipher the horrible sketches herself. If she couldn't Ekka would simply just try to write the letters anyway.

Suddenly, Lucas leaned back, stretched his arms, and yawned loudly. It was so loud, that Ekka jumped from where she sat and stared at Lucas. "Sorry," he apologized as he popped his knuckles. "I'm hungry, do you want something to eat?" Ekka, although hesitant at first, nodded. Lucas grinned and swung his chair around, getting up. Ekka followed behind him as he maneuvered out of the room and jogged down the steps.

"Do you want a grilled cheese?" Lucas asked as he scanned the fridge.

"'Grilled cheese'?" Ekka repeated, confused,

"It's a sandwich," Lucas supplied, and began pulling out the ingredients for it. "You'll like it ― trust me." He turned on the eye on the stove and began to lather apan in butter.

Ekka watched carefully as he began to cook the sandwich, but then became concerned when she started to smell something burn and saw smoke rise from the pan. "Uh. . ." Ekka frowned, but didn't want to insult Lucas' cooking. Ekka decided to keep her mouth shut. She's never had this grilled cheese before, and maybe in America, they burn their sandwiches on purpose.

When Lucas slipped her the blackened sandwich with a smile, Ekka's eyebrows furrowed. "Thank you," She said gratefully, despite her hesitation and picked up the sandwich to bite into.

The first thing she tasted was the charred bread. Ekka coughed a little a it went down, but smiled when Lucas turned to her. She forced her way through the rest of the sandwich. After she got past the bread, the sandwich had actually been very good.

Ekka glanced out the window at Brownie and Blanca, who were playing in the yard, Brownie chasing the dog and moaning loudly. "What will they eat?" Ekka asked curiously and Lucas' eyes widened and he put down his sandwich immediately.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, going to the fridge again, "Thank you for reminding me! I always forget," He pulled out a bowl with a shiny silver cover over it. He set the bowl on the counter then peeled back the cover. Grabbing two big bowls, he began to fill it up with the food inside the bowl.

Ekka sniffed it and then reared back, disgusted. "It's dog food ― Adrian makes it," Lucas explained. "C'mon," he beckoned as he went for the door. Ekka followed and Lucas opened the back door. The screen door was still in shambles from her fit earlier, and Ekka felt a pang of guilt when she saw it.

When Lucas opened the door, neither of them stopped playing ― not even when Lucas whistled.

"Brownie, Blanca, come eat!" Ekka ordered the two and they stopped immediately and turned to Ekka. "Now!" Ekka said and they both came lumbering over, tripping over each other to get to the food.

"How'd you do that?" Lucas asked, amused.

"They listen," Ekka replied, rubbing her forearms. It was getting chilly outside. Ekka could feel how tired Brownie was getting and knew he would be sleeping a lot more than usual soon. Lucas set the food down on the floor and then turned around. Ekka followed him, even though she wanted to stay outside and play with Brownie and Blanca.

"Okay," Lucas said, washing his hands in the sink before putting the dog food back in the refrigerator. He grabbed his sandwich and shoved the rest in his mouth. When he swallowed what was left and began to put the things he used away, he grinned at Ekka. "Back to work!"

~.•*•.~

Ekka was sitting back on the short stack of books when she felt something in the air again. Ekka closed her notebook ― she was on letter R ― and looked around, confused. Then, she felt it.

Xavier was slithering into her mind like a snake. It was fast. He made her shut her eyes and fall asleep just as Lucas turned to her, concerned.

~.•*•.~

Ekka began to panic immediately. She didn't know what was happening. She didn't know where she was. She wanted to go back to Lucas and Adrian! She didn't want to be here!

Her surroundings ― which was a blank expanse of nothingness ― began to tint a sickly yellow and no matter how hard Ekka tried to get rid of it, it wouldn't go away. Ekka tried to breath, to stop whatever was happening to her, but nothing was working. She closed her eyes and wished very, very hard.

"Ekka," it was Xavier's voice and it was echoing. Ekka felt as if she were going to vomit. She turned to where it was coming from, but found nothing anywhere. "Ekka, you need to come home."

"No," Ekka breathed, "No, please. Stop! Get out! Leave me alone!"

"Ekka, you need to come home. It's safer here."

"I do not want to be locked away anymore! I--I want to be free! Please!" Ekka began to sob. She fell to her knees and curled up in a small, protective ball. "I do not want to be locked away!" She sobbed.

"I am going to help you," Xavier promised. "Let me help."

"Get out of my head!" Ekka screeched. Xavier grunted and pulled away, leaving Ekka alone, sobbing.

~.•*•.~

Xavier grunted, yanking Cerebro off his head. "Did it work?" Hank asked beside him.

"No!" Xavier snapped, anger manifesting in him. "She keeps rejecting it!"

"... Xavier, calm down," Hank said, an eyebrow raised.

"Do not tell me what to do!' Xavier snapped, glaring at the man. His eyes were wild and his fingernails were beginning to turn to claws.

"Xavier," Hank said slowly, "It's her mutation. It's affecting you, you need to calm down." Xavier was breathing quickly, but he watched Hank's serious and gentle form and closed his eyes, leaning back. His fingernails slowly began to go back to normal.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I. . . I did not know. . ."

"Were you able to find out where she was?" Hank asked, completely ignoring his unneeded apology. It wasn't his fault he was influenced by her mutation.

"Yes," Charles cleared his throat. "She is in someone's house, which was why we couldn't find her south. She went north and might be squatting there. I remember the address. I'll send it to the faculty looking for her."

"Good," Hank nodded, as Xavier put back turned back to Cerebro and put back on the helmet.

He connected with Doctor Wilson first. "Doctor," He said, and the man stopped moving. He was in the passenger seat of one of the cars they took to look for the girl.

"Professor?" Doctor Wilson said aloud and his peers turned to him. Even Ms. Nighthall, and she was driving. Dr. Wilson snapped his fingers at her to keep her eyes on the road, and she did.

"I've found her. I'm sending you the address now," Doctor Wilson nodded and grinned.

"Excellent. Thank you, Professor," Doctor Wilson said, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and a notepad. He began to scribble down the address Xavier gave him before tucking it back into his pocket.

"Remember to be gentle with her," Xavier reminded. "Her influence is strong."

"We know," Doctor Wilson said.

"I am going to relay the message to the others. Good luck." Then, the connection broke.