Shift

Sophie didn’t really have a plan in mind as she quickly rummaged around her meager belongings for her thin wallet and a few bus tokens. She had never really been around the city by herself before, and she had no idea what she was going to do once she found whatever the presence in her head was beckoning her towards. She would have thought that she would be terrified to be doing something like this, but somehow she only felt calm, and a bit excited.

She managed to sneak out of the mansion without being spotted, but she knew she had to hurry before anyone realized she was gone. She walked half a mile to the downtown where she could catch a bus, instinctively getting on the one that would take her in the right direction. She changed buses a few times before she got to where she was being called to.

A jolt of fear suddenly shot through her as she realized that the source of the pull was in a darkened dead-end alley in a shadier area of Manhattan, at close to two o’clock in the morning. The streets were dead quiet, and fog rolled through the areas illuminated by the few streetlights that weren’t broken like an omen in a horror movie. Fighting every nerve in her body that was screaming for her to run, she slowly walked down the alley.

The sides of the alley were lined with trash, overflowing from a dumpster that looked like it hadn’t been emptied in months. There was no smell though, a fact which added to her unease. As she stopped to take a better look at her surroundings she noticed a light at the end of the alley, shining on the bottom half of the fire escape on one of the buildings. She walked closer, drawn to the light, then suddenly freezing and swallowing hard when she realized that someone was standing on the fire escape.

She didn’t move for several moments. The air seemed to get slightly chillier as she took deep breaths and worked up the courage to walk the rest of the way up to the fire escape. She stood at the bottom, looking up at the shadowy figure on the platform above her.
When the figure finally spoke, it caught her off guard. The voice was smooth and gentle, almost reassuring.

“You’re even braver than I expected, Sophie.”

Sophie blinked. So apparently the stranger knew who she was. Great. That only left her with about a million more questions.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” The stranger didn’t respond right away, making Sophie a little more nervous. Then they slowly turned around, moving down a few steps to face her, eyes still hidden by the shadows.
“You have fourteen years or so of memories, don’t you? So do I.”

That statement surprised Sophie. She could have sworn the strange woman in front of her was at least several years older than her. What was she talking about?

Sensing her confusion, the stranger gestured around her. “My life started here, in this alley. The first thing I can remember is huddling behind that dumpster, freezing. I knew nothing about my past, until I discovered you.”

The woman walked the rest of the way down the steps, standing in front of Sophie. In the eerie light she could see that she was dressed entirely in gray, with a mask covering most of her face. Her eyes were very calm, but seemed to hide something Sophie couldn’t recognize. It was at that moment that she realized she couldn’t actually sense the woman’s emotions. Frightened, she took a step backwards.

“There’s no need to be afraid, Sophie. I know how curious and confused you must be, but all will be revealed in time.” Pausing, she glanced over Sophie’s shoulder, than back at her.
“I’m afraid I must leave now, they’re coming for you.” She turned to leave, but Sophie stopped her.
“Wait! How do I know you’re really my sister?” She was positive this woman was the one in her dream and the presence seemed to agree that they were all one and the same, but she had to be sure.

The woman smiled behind her mask. “I thought you might ask that. Here.” She handed her a small box, then suddenly disappeared into the shadows of the night.

Sophie opened the box and gasped. She fumbled in her pocket and stared at it hard, glancing back and forth between it and the box with wide eyes.

The photo was actually a school picture of her sister taken a few months before her apparent death. She was wearing a striped sundress, and looked very much like a typical little kid. It would have taken a very observant person to notice that she was also wearing a beaded necklace with her name in tiny little blocks on it. It would also have taken someone with a keen eye for details to notice that the necklace had a small charm of a bird attached to it, or to remember that while the necklace had been found after her disappearance, the raven pendant never was.

The one lying in the box in her hand was identical to the one in the photo. So either this woman was a world-class stalker, or Sophie was actually sane.

While she was trying to put these odd facts together in her mind she heard footsteps approaching her. She quickly shoved the box in her pocket and turned around to see the X-men.

“Sophie?! We’ve been looking all over for you! What are you doing here?”

Scott sounded really concerned, and Sophie suddenly realized that not only did she make them worry by sneaking off after dark, she also probably looked crazy because she was standing in a darkened dead-end alley by herself.

Before she could reply, however, Scott’s cellphone rang. He listened briefly, then hung up and turned to the other X-men.

“Storm, I need you to take Sophie back to the mansion and then meet us back on Factory Street. I just got a tip that the Spooks have finally been sighted.”