Decades devoid of emotion, all ruined by a chance encounter inside a vampire club and a night of passionate sex. Ororo pressed her fingers to her eyes, trying to quiet the niggling voice in the back of her head; the one calling her a coward and a fool for leaving Logan. She sighed, trying to calm the strangled tattoo of her heart, the beat going erratic at the mere thought of the man.
It was better this way, she told herself stoically. Logan had his life and he was better off without her ruining it, and she would, she knew. She was tainted and eventually she would taint him and the love they shared. It was as inevitable as the dawn, it was best she accept that and move on.
She stepped to the edge of the building ledge to watch the pedestrians below. A young couple, in their early twenties strolled below her, holding hands. They were smiling and laughing. She felt a twinge of regret and a pang of bitterness. She didn’t fault them their happiness, but hated the fact that she would never have that type of normalcy in her life. Ororo closed her eyes, listening. She cocked her head, wondering of they knew they were pregnant. The life inside the woman was faint, barely discernable, but Ororo felt it, sensed it, smelled it.
Hunger pangs gnawed at her gut. Her stomach knotted and twisted with the mad desire to swoop down and drain the couple dry. She cried out in protest and staggered away from the ledge, gagging. She clutched her chest, fighting the bloodlust.
~Don’t fight it, my pet.~
Ororo’s head snapped up. ~Vladdimir!~
~I can feel your hunger. It entices me. Feed, beloved. Indulge…you know you want to…~
Ororo recoiled, feeling the subtle nudge the ancient vampire was trying to push on her. “I’ll not fall prey to your compulsions,” she said aloud, keeping her thoughts carefully guarded. Her eyes scanned the skies, searching for any sign of vampire activity.
Taunting laughter filled her head. Fear sang through her veins as she felt the faint, but undeniable pressure of invisible fingers at the nape of her neck, tracing the mark there. A psychic trick on Vladdimir’s part, but the message was clear. It was a warning. ~You belong to me.~
“If that is the case, then come claim me,” she challenged, her hand resting on the dagger at her hip.
~An interesting proposition, my pet, but I’m not done having my fun yet.~
Something in the smugness of his tone sent a fresh wave of trepidation coursing through her. “Are you that much of a coward? Too afraid to face me?”
~Careful, beloved. You overstep yourself.~
“Why won’t you face me?” she demanded.
~All in due time. All in due time.~ Wind rustled her hair. ~But for now, I have to remove an unwanted pest from our lives.~
Ororo gasped, images of the mansion and swirling black fog filtered through her mind. Logan! Her immediate reaction was to scream with rage, but she held it in. She let her breath out slowly, forcing herself to remain calm. She had set up safe guards. The mansion was protected.
~Your puny crystals cannot stop me.~ More laughter, smug and arrogant. ~See for yourself…~
Her mind was assaulted by screams and visions of fire. Vladdimir’s minions were attacking the mansion, the crystals removed by human familiars. Blood stained the cobblestone walkway and cries of ululation echoed in her mind. “Call them off!” she screamed. “It’s me you want!”
~Oh, that is very true. However, it is not me you want, and that is not something I can abide.~ The psychic fingers on her neck tightened, choking her.
She clutched her throat, trying to dislodge the vile touch. When that failed, she shifted, becoming mist and drifting up into the sky. She had to get to Logan!
~Fly fast, fledgling.~
Ororo sent a wave of heat and anger across the psychic connection, severing it. Damn him! Damn her for allowing herself to let emotion in, for following Logan back to Xavier’s. She had brought Hell right to their front door.
She swirled, materializing, closing shadows around herself and forming a jet stream. Using the winds she soared towards Westchester, all the while commanding over and over, “Wake up, Logan. Wake up!”
~Wake up, Logan. Wake up!~
Logan fought the swirling tentacles of sleep that groped at him, trying to drag him back into the abyss of slumber. He was so tired… But Ororo was calling to him, he had to wake up…
The first thing he heard were the screams. Terrified screams that echoed in the night. Bloodcurdling cries cut off mid shriek with brutal efficiency.
Night? Why was it night? “’Ro…?” He rolled, falling from the bed onto the floor. His eyes wouldn’t stay open, it was like he was drugged.
~Not drugged, under a spell.~
Ororo. He blinked heavy eyes, anger filtering in as he noticed he was alone in the room. “You did this,” he growled, fighting to get to his feet.
~You can hate me later, but for now you need to get moving! The Mansion is under attack!~
“No shit,” he snarled, weaving to his bedroom door. He grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor, hopping into them. He opened the door a crack, peering into the darkened hallway. No lights, not even the emergency generators were kicking in. “What am I up against here, ‘Ro?” he whispered.
~Vampires. Lots of them. Maybe fifty.~
Well fuck. Logan shook his head, trying to shake the last cobwebs free. “Where are you?”
~On my way.
He wanted to protest, but knew it would do no good. “How long?”
~Three minutes at most.~
“Be careful, darlin’.”
~You as well.
-SNIKT- “Don’tchya remember, baby? I’m the best there is at what I do.” Logan edged his way into the hallway, his eyes taking in more than most peoples did in the bright light of day.
The smell of blood filled his nose, some known to him, others not. The mansion was eerily silent considering the amount of screaming he had heard only moments ago.
“Hallo.”
Logan whirled, his hand drawn back. A woman, tall and slender, stood a few feet away. Her skin was porcelain white and flawlessly smooth, her ebony hair falling in thick ringlets down her back. Her eyes held an otherworldly quality, glowing faintly in the dark. She smiled at Logan, her fangs showing.
“You don’t want to hurt me,” she crooned.
“Like hell I don’t,” Logan growled.
She stepped towards him, her eyes brightening. “No, you don’t.”
Much to Logan’s disbelief his claws sheathed. “What the fu--”
Behind him another vampire female dropped from the ceiling, fangs burying deep in his neck.
“Bitch!” He threw the offending creature into the wall, covering his neck with his hand. Fifty of these things crawling all over the estate? Fuck. He had to find the others, assess the damage, regroup, take these things out.
The one that attacked him stood slowly, tossing her ash blonde hair over her shoulder, licking her lips. “You taste delicious,” she hissed.
“I’m a real treat,” he snarled.
“You are,” she agreed, sashaying towards him, her face contorting so that her jaw seemed unhinged, dropping impossibly wide. “I could just eat you up,” she hissed, lunging for him.
Logan fell back, popping his claws. The vampire atop him shrieked, her skin flaking away. Logan didn’t wait, he jumped to his feet, poised to strike again, but the ebony haired vampiress was gone. Slowly Logan made his way down the hall and towards the dorms.
Blood was sprayed across the walls, and there was no sound, no movement. Logan could only hope that Kitty and the others had made it to the Danger Room. He paused outside her door. “Kitty?” he peered in the room. The bed was rumpled, but otherwise the room showed no signs of struggle.
A bit further down the hall Logan found two of the younger students laying crumpled on the floor, their throats torn out. “Damn,” he muttered, crouching beside them. New comers to Xavier’s, twins, new to their mutation. With a quick slice, Logan severed their heads from their bodies, leaving nothing to chance.
Sultry laughter sounded just behind him. “Clever, clever, Logan.”
Logan turned, taking in the person strolling towards him, crimson lips dripping from a fresh feed. Two others flanked her white clad form. Standing slowly Logan said the first thing that popped into his head. “Shit.”
The moment Ororo placed her foot on the steps of the Mansion, she felt the sickness of evil coupled with the lingering vibrations of violence. She stared at the large doors, not wanting to go inside, knowing that what she saw would only break her heart. She had come back to this place, her past anchor, seeking something she was no longer entitled to, and the cost of her whimsical folly was too much.
Something evil had followed her and her former friends had paid the price. She closed her eyes, placing her hand on the door and pushing open. She moved into the foyer cautiously, her footfalls completely silent. At once she scented blood. It was heavy in the air, the smell nearly overpowering. Her hunger rose up anew, but she fought it down resiliently.
Moving along the hall, her hand fell to the blade at her side. She scanned the first rooms, finding nothing, but the lingering echo of violence was strong. Trepidation threatened to swallow her whole. “Logan?” She called out his name softly. Then again with her mind. ~Logan?~
Nothing.
She spotted a crumpled figure in the hall, her eyes catching hints of blue in the dark. “Oh, Kurt…not you,” she whispered, rushing forward. She knelt at his side, checking his vitals, searching for any signs of a bite. Finding none she urged him to open his eyes. “Kurt, open your eyes. Look at me.”
Her furry friend remained motionless for several seconds. Ororo could hear his ragged breathing and faint heartbeat. He was alive, but barely. “Storm…?” His eyes fluttered open, their amber glow dimmed by pain.
She inched back automatically, seeking the comfort of the shadows. “It’s me.”
He groaned, trying to sit up.
“Careful.” She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, helping him.
Kurt gripped her hand, his bleary eyes blinking several times. “Are you hut?” he asked her.
Leave it to Kurt to be worried about her while he was weak and wounded. “I am unharmed.”
Kurt slumped in relief, his voice weakening. “Good…think they were…here for you…”
Ororo closed her eyes. “That’s a safe bet,” she acknowledged. She searched him for wounds. “Where are you hurt?”
Three fingers touched his chest. “Took a hit here.”
Ororo placed her hand over his chest, her eyes closed. “Broken rib. Heart punctured.” His internal bleeding was killing him. She left that unsaid.
Kurt nodded weakly. “Thought as much.” He coughed, blood mixing with spittle over his lips. “I’m glad I got…to see you again… The others…so many…dead.” His voice broke, a sob catching.
“Hush.” Ororo concentrated, flowing heat through her hand. “Don’t think about that now.”
Kurt gasped, arching against her palm, his body tensing.
Ororo focused, using tricks she’d learned from different mages and priests and shamans, for once thankful for her accursed gift as she took the pain from her fallen friend. Kurt let out a cry, then slumped fully against her unconscious, but sleeping. She ruffled his hair gently. “Be well, my friend. We shall not meet again.” She bit the tip of her finger, scribing on the floor a symbol of peace.
She rose to her feet, her eyes glowing blood red. Ororo was furious. She stalked down the hall, her face resolute, her hands curling into fists. “Coward!” Her voice echoed throughout the mansion.
Movement to her left caught her eye and she turned. Three vampires stood just inside the sliding glass door that led to the patio. Tall, gaunt looking men with jagged blood stained teeth. Ororo let her breath out in a hiss, eagerness coursing through her body. She wanted them dead. She held herself ready, waiting for them to attack.
The wind outside howled, kicking up leaves, battering the glass doors. She carefully gauged distances, maneuverability and her odds. Vladdimir may want her alive, but other vampires did not share his desire. She was a threat, and even under the blood demon’s influence they would be hard pressed to tame their instinctive nature when the fight began.
“Hello, little puppets,” she said, her voice sickeningly sweet. “What brings you by?”
“We have come to bring you home,” one of them said, his voice a garble of sound, grating on her nerves.
“Ah.” She nodded, strolling across the hall towards the kitchen, her motions deceptively casual, her hunter eyes never leaving her adversaries. “And if I refuse?”
“Not an option,” another growled.
Ororo paused, her eyes glowing. “Oh, I beg to differ.” The glass behind the vampires shattered with the force of the wind buffeting it. Shards sparkled in the moonlight as they tinkled to the floor. She used her distance to gain speed, rushing the three startle vampires. In quick succession she disposed of them, her blades landing true.
She continued through the shattered glass, out into the yard. Shrieks caught her attention and her eyes darted to the roof of the Mansion. The Institute rooftop was crawling with the undead. “Logan!” She searched the shadows with her eyes. Where was he?
“He isn’t here.”
Ororo whirled, her eyes widening. “Emma.” The White Queen of the Hellfire club stood a few feet away.
“Former White Queen,” she smiled, reminding Ororo that she was a grade A telepath. “An X-Man now.”
“You?”
“Yes. I’m with Scott now.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes.”
Trivial things that Ororo had no time for. “Where is Logan?”
“Why do you care?”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Emma--” Ororo paused, watching the woman carefully. Something in the way she moved sent Ororo’s hackles up. “Shit.”
“Funny. That’s exactly what Logan said.” She smiled, fangs protruding over her lower lip. “Perhaps I should thank you for this delightful new gift.”
“No need to thank me. You always were a bloodsucking bitch.” Overhead clouds began to swirl, roiling and spinning. Whips of lightning flashed, lighting up the gruesome scene on the ground. Bodies lay scattered across the grounds, throats torn out. Faces of people she knew, more that she didn’t. All dead. All because of her.
The momentary distraction her grief caused her proved to be the opening the vampires were looking for. Talons clawed her flesh as several undead leapt at her. Teeth sank into her throat and she screamed in rage. She drove her fist through flesh and bone, ripping blackened hearts from bone. Between one flash of lightening and the next ten vampires lay at her feet, bodies twitching. The others screamed, taking off into the night.
Emma looked at her bloodstained hands and took a step back.
“Where is he?” Ororo demanded, dropping the last heart onto the ground, stomping it with the heel of her boot. Blood coated her from finger to forearm.
“Go to hell!”
“Been there.” Ororo sent a whip of lightning from her hand into the white queen’s heart.
“EMMA!!”
Ororo turned, surprised to see Scott rushing towards them, his hand poised to fire…on her. She barely dodged his optic blast. “Scott…” Ororo landed a few feet away in a crouch. “That wasn’t Emma.”
He looked at her. “Somehow I knew it was you.” He lifted the lifeless form of Emma from the ground into his arms. “Baby, wake up.”
“She’s dead.” Ororo stated the obvious.
“What the hell are you?” he demanded. “You’re one of them!”
“I--yes.”
“Give me one reason not to take your head off.” Tears slipped past ruby red goggles.
“That wasn’t Emma.”
“She was Emma just as much as you’re Storm.”
“I’m not.” She said flatly.
Scott slowly rose, his hand on his visor. “Leave.”
“Let me help--”
“I think you’ve done enough.” Bitterness tainted his words.
Ororo felt a stab of guilt. “It was never my intention to bring evil here.”
“Leave.”
Ororo turned, this time it was Kitty that spoke. The child she had loved like her own. “Kitten…”
The younger woman shook her head, tears coursing along her face. Blood covered her body. “They got to Peter…” she sobbed, dropping to her knees. “I took his heart out…”
Ororo closed her eyes, fighting tears. “Oh, Kitty, I’m--”
“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.” Kitty snapped, her shoulders shaking. “They came here for you! You should have just gone with them.” Kitty raised tear filled eyes. “I hate you.”
Ororo nodded. “I know.” She hated herself too. “Let me see your neck, Kitty.”
“What?”
“Your neck.”
The brunette lowered her head, her sobs turning to maniacal laughter. “Such a smart, pet.”
Vladdimir’s voice from Kitty’s mouth.
“Come home, beloved. There is nothing left for you anywhere else.”
“Bastard,” Ororo hissed, tears streaming from her eyes.
“You should have joined me when you had the chance!” Scott was behind her, his breath fetid on her neck a scant second before his teeth tore at her skin. Ororo threw him off of her, falling to the ground as she did. Kitty leapt at her and Ororo rolled, wincing as long fingernails raked the skin on her back.
Staggering to her feet Ororo watched her former family lurch towards her like deranged marionettes, their movements controlled by another. “I will find you, and I will tear your heart out,” Ororo promised. She opened her cloak, pulling out several vials. “I loved you both,” she told Kitty and Scott throwing the contents onto the ground, taking flight. Scott lunged at her, his hand snagging her boot, but she shook him free. Several feet in the air Ororo called on her lightning and sent it scorching the contents of the vials, the resulting explosion decimating the Xavier Estate.
Screams of those that remained tore at her, their flesh burnt away by the white hot flames of her holy fire. Had Logan been one of them? Was he screaming as he burnt? Ororo hovered there for a long time, watching the Mansion burn, long after the screaming stopped she hovered, her face contorted in agony. “I am sorry.”
~Poor, poor, pet.~
Ororo ignored his taunting voice.
~Come to me. Find me. I so enjoy the game.~
~Fuck off.~ She was done playing. Her quest for vengeance was over. He killed everything that she had ever loved and as much as she wanted him destroyed, she no longer had the ambition to do it. Grief sapped her fight.
~Oh, no, my pet. I didn’t kill everything you love…~ Images of Logan, bloody and beaten, strapped to a wall, flashed in her mind.
Logan! Ororo nearly tumbled from the sky, the emotion assaulting her so great.
Come and get me. Vladdimir taunted.
Ororo straightened, her eyes flashing white. She glanced at the smoldering remains of Xavier’s and her heart hardened. ~I’m coming.~ She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of goading her. ~For Logan.
