Life After Death

Fifteen minutes later, Alex and I were sitting across a desk from Charles Xavier. He looked the same as when I first saw him; over two years ago. He seemed taller close up. His office was on the first floor and over looked the backyard. A sizeable stone patio and numerous overgrown hedges blocked any further viewing of the backyard.

Alex and I sat anxiously in two comfortable leather-bound chairs. Xavier sat behind his neatly organized wooden desk. "It’s been a long time, Lorna. But I didn't expect to see you this soon." Xavier said with a kind but gloomy smile. Both Alex and I remained silent. I sensed the Professor had much more to say.

"I know what happened and I am sincerely sorry for your lost." The melancholy smile departed.

"Who is he?" I asked quickly before my mind could come to rest on the memory of Brittney.

"The man behind all your recent strife? I believe you already know his name. Erik Lehnsherr. Though occasionally he goes by Magneto."

"What does he want with Lorna?" Alex asked strongly, readjusting himself in the seat.

"I believe Magneto is forming a mutant army. Erik and I have seen firsthand the effects of human's prejudices; against their own species and against mutants. Together, we tried to gain mutant equality but now, all Erik cares about is mutant superiority. For the past few months, Magneto has been recruiting mutants to his cause." The Professor explained.

"What should we do?" I asked slowly.

"Well, you are free to stay here as long as you like. We have plenty of room." The smile returned with the change of subject.

I looked at Alex. It was clear with the expression on his face that he would go where ever I went. I looked Charles Xavier and if his offer came from someone else, I wouldn't even take the time to think about it. But I was thinking about it. Xavier's offer seemed different from all the rest. It seemed like I had an actual choice.

“Sure.” I was the only answer I could muster.

The smile grew. “Then I should introduce you to the others and show you to your room. And Alex, I think there’s someone here who would be really interested in seeing you again.”

*

"God dammit!" I muttered under my breath. The small red target was shattered but so was the clear glass around it. The exercise was to work on precision and aiming. I was supposed to hit the red target, which was about the size of a quarter, with my magnetic pulse without injuring the glass around it. It was harder than it looked. I had trouble controlling the size of each pulse. At least Alex was having trouble too.

A week had past since we first came to New York. The majority of students here were young, teenagers. But there were a few adults. The woman whose voice had greeted us at the gate was Emma Frost. She was a few years older than me. She was a tall blonde, rather smutty woman with a real dry sense of humor. Needless to say, I liked her. She was a telepath, just like the Professor. She also had the ability to turn her skin into diamonds. For some reason, I felt like my mutation paled in comparison.

There was only two more students the same age as Alex and I. One of them was the Professor was taking about. It had been about five years since Alex saw his older brother, Scott. They exchanged Christmas cards every year but they kept in constant contact with each other. Alex hadn't stopped smiling yet. I was happy for him but Scott and I didn't get along. There hadn't been any direct conflict between us yet, but it was clear we would not be friends. Scott was too officious and stern. Too mature.

I never understood what his girlfriend, Jean Grey, saw in him. Maybe it was that they were both boring. Even though she too was a telepath, Jean was nothing like Emma. Jean was conservative and an obvious motherly person. Like I said, boring. The only thing exciting about Jean was her fiery red hair.