Chelsea
Chelsea stomped up to the entrance of the Hotel Hyperion. She now sported a large cross from her neck, and she had a stake tucked into the back of her jeans. It was night...seemed to be a theme. Another vampire slunk out of the darkness, and turning quickly, she splashed it with holy water, then staked it. Wiping the dust from her face she slid the stake back into its place. She had a headache. She'd had a headache since the day after her birthday. This whatever it was, was seriously freaky. Since it hadn't stopped, she was guessing it was a permanent thing. Bother. She wiped her hands down her 'I see dumb people' t-shirt and walked up to the door. She opened it, scowling. "You, tall, dark and semi-evil," she pointed a finger at Angel, "what the *hell* is wrong with my eyes? You seemed to have a clue."
"Ah..." Angel stared at her.
"Oh, for the love of bunnies..." Chelsea ran her hands through her hair and glared. "See this t-shirt? I'm looking at one of those people right now. I have had nasty evil things chasing me since I started seeing things. I've nearly been *eaten* about ten times. This is starting to wear a little thin. You could have told me they were vampires." She stomped her foot and put her hands on her hips. "Well?"
"Ah..."
Chelsea looked behind her and calmly whipped up her Supersoaker full id holy water, sprayed the vampire in the face and stepped inside more fully. "Heads up, vamp." She let Angel dust it. "Why don't you loko like they do?" She asked him bluntly.
"I have a soul." Chelsea looked him over carefully.
"That would explain the white glowy thing. You brood a lot, dont'cha? I ca sense it from here, regret, anguish, things left unsaid, things better left undone. Bother, my headache's getting worse just looking at you." She looked up at the ceiling. "Here's the deal. I want to be able to turn this whatevre it is, *off*. I look at my mom, and I see things I don't wanna see. I touch my friend's hand, and what they're thinking comes flooding in."
"That sounds...uncomfortable."
"I have a migraine. I've had one since I started 'seeing'," she made air qoutation marks, "or whatever you want to call it. It's annoying. Useful at times, but annoying otherwise. And somehow it's turned me into catnip for vampires. And that's not annoying, that's life threatening." She was still staring at the ceiling, but her hand flipped up with a stake in it. "Vampire."
Angel looked at her with a bit of respect, before going to despatch the demon. "You can sense them?"
"You know how many demons live in LA? I can feel them all...crawling over my skin. Just pure evil." She shuddered. "I look at them, and it's worse. It's usually more the hair rising on the back of your neck feeling, most of the time."
"I don't think what's happening is magical, so..." Angel crossed his arms. "How old are you?"
"Thirteen a few days ago, why?"
"I think you may be a mutant." Chelsea looked at him to see if he was joking. With her new senses, she could tell he wasn't.
"Oh, *bunnies*,' she said sincerely and sat down on his couch.
"I know someone who's mutant. He can put you in touch with more mutants. Maybe they can help you." Angel went off to find a phone and ring Michael.
Chelsea sat on the couch, wiped out. She was a mutant? Oh, bunny, bunny, bunny. She put her hands over her eyes, but that really didn't help. She could still *feel* Angel in her head. Bunny.
Micheal
Michael grumbled and picked up the phone. "Hello?" he said groggily. He glanced at the caller ID box. "Hey Angel, you do realize that New York is 3 hours later than LA, right? Also, that we all don't sleep during the day?"
Chelsea
"Yeah, I know. Listen, a girl came to the Hotel a few nights back, and she's here again now. I think she's a mutant, but for some reason all the vampires around here are going insane over her. *My* demon is going insane over her. She was chased in here by a group of vampires, but...she's managed to survive the last few nights, get home the first night and get back here without dying." Angel paused. "I really don't know what to do about mutants."
"I can still hear you, you know!" Chelsea's irritated yell came from his lobby.
"Please help," Angel nearly begged.
Michael
Mike sighed & grabbed his cell phone. "Hang on, and keep her there okay, I just gotta make a phone call." Flipping open the cell phone cover he dialed the mansion.
"Hey, I know it's really late, but I need to talk to Scott, it's Michael Pitt."
"Hey Mikey, it's me, wassup?"
"Just got a call from Angel, the souled vamp in LA. he has a mutant girl over there, only 13, and doesn't know what to do. Whaddya say about some late night flying?"
"Okay, why don't you take a cab over here, and we'll get the jet ready."
"Okay, see ya later." He hung up his cell.
"Angel? yeah, can you keep her there for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours? That's how long it'll take us to get there. Not a big team, just a couple of us, probably just Scott and me, and maybe Kitty Pryde, she'd pretty good with talking to other girls about this stuff."
Chelsea
Chelsea sighed and kicked her legs. She could feel all the vampires and assorted demons crowding around the hotel, and then Angel's wave of relief washed over her. "Well?" She said as he came back in.
"I got in touch with a friend who's a mutant. He'll be here in a few hours. Will you stay here?"
"Sure thing, angst guy. You might wanna go clear up the outside of the hotel though before they decide to storm the hotel to get me," she suggested sweetly.
"Ok, I'll do that." Angel hurried off, immensely relieved to be doing something he knew about. Counselling teen girls? Not his thing at all. Chelsea decided to actively use her powers for once. She could feel the lingering residue of violence in the walls, but it was mostly a safe place.
"Hey, sweetcakes, you came back," a voice said cheerfully. She looked up; it was the green skinned demon from the other night. She smiled.
"Yeah. I have a bit of a vampire problem. Angel's taking care of it." She gestured vaguely outside. "Apparently, I'm a mutant and somehow, that turned me into vampire catnip. I've been dodging and dusting vamps since that first night."
"Feel proud, sugar. Not many people can face a vampire attack and live through it, particurily people your age," Lorne tried to sound cheerful for her.
"Try about a hundred in four nights," Chelsea sighed tiredly.
"Would you do something for me?"
"What?" She looked at him warily.
"Sing for me. I sense people's auras and tell them if there's anything the Powers That Be want them to know."
"Ok." Chelsea racked her brains for a song that wasn't too angsty and depressed for her to sing in front of Lorne. She could see the goodwill and gentleness shining out of him. So, she'd do it without giving him her usual annoying sarcastic crap. "Did you ever have that dream where you're walking naked down the street...and everyone just stares," she sang in a sweet child's voice. Lorne looked at her.
"Interesting."
"Oh, now that tells me so much," Chelsea said, rolling her eyes. Lorne laughed and then sat down next to her to keep her company while Angel killed demons and they waited for the X-men to show up.
Scott, Michael, Kitty and Dawn
About three hours later, Scott set the Blackbird down on the roof of the Hyperion. He, Mike, Kitty, Dawn, and Spike stepped out.
"All right," Spike said, "Let's see what the poofter's got for us." They climbed down and walked through the front door.
"Angel!" Dawn yelled and she ran up and threw her arms around him. "Is Cordy around?"
"Hey Angel," Mike said, "This is Scott Summers, he's the team leader of the X-Men, the mutant group I was telling you about. We went to Mutant High together. So, who's the new recruit?" Mike asked, flashingt his I'm-a-pretty-boy-actor grin at Chelsea, hoping he could keep her calm. For once, he was actually hoping for a teenaged girl to be a fan of Dawson's Creek, that way he could probably get her to trust him.
Chelsea
"Ok. Explain why she's all green and glowy, and why he looks like you. Black covered in white." Chelsea started backing away, staring at Dawn and Spike. "And vampire. What is it with all the vampires? I'll get to maybe trusting the rest of you in a minute, but considering since I started seeing all this stuff, I've turned into catnip for the demons of the night, that may have to wait until I get explainations." She kept backing away until she hit the wall, eyes wide.
Spike frowned. If he'd still been evil, the amount of fear coming from her may have been gratifying, but as it was... "Pet, we aren't here to hurt you."
"See this t-shirt? I am *not* one of those people." Chelsea looked around at the other people. Silver light wrapped up in their own auras. Mutants? Must be.
Spike stepped forward and Chelsea resumed trying to merge through the wall. He stopped, frustrated. "I have a soul, pet. I'm not gonna hurt you."
"And soul equals good guy why?" Chelsea snapped. "Plenty of people with souls are evil." She put a hand to her head, and sighed. "Bunny, but I need to get this shut off. My headache's just getting worse." Her eyes kept glancing warily between Spike and Dawn.
Kitty
"Okay, Chelsea, how's about you and I go and talk alone, just girl to girl? Get you away from the non-people for a while, and maybe help your headache." Kitty approached Chelsea, speaking gently.
Chelsea
"Excuse me if I'm a little wigged, but this is all very very freaky, not a little bit strange and just a bit terrifying. Angel, vampires, 'bout twenty, something else big and ugly." Chelsea looked to the side and blinked as if she could see through the wall. In a way, she could. She could feel their apporach like a seeping of an icy wind that stank like nothing on this earth. She turned a bit green. "I can see all these things. You all have this colours flickering around you, and it's kinda hard on the eyes. I tried some sunglasses, but they don't work, and I can still feel everything when I close my eyes."
Angel shouldered an ax and looked at Spike. "Do you want to join in?"
"Sure, why the hell not?" Spike grabbed something out of Angel's weapon cabinet and headed out with the older vampire. Chelsea sighed in relief.
"They kinda give me the wig. Cos they're one thing and the other at the same time. Hard to explain."
Kitty
"Okay, so, I'm a mutant, first of all, Kitty Pryde's my name. My codename's Shadowcat. I, well, I do this." Kitty started phasing, and then walked through a table. "Spike and Angel, well, I don't really know Angel, but Spike's a good guy. He had a good soul before he was vamped, and then when he got it back, he became good again. He's super guilty about all the bad things he's done, and, like, meg-protective of Dawn. Scott, he's the one with the red glasses? He's got, like, these really cool optic blasts that come out of his eyes. They call him Cyclops. And Mikey, well, he can manipulate electricity. He's a really cool guy. Scott's one of my teachers, at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. I go there, and so does Dawn, Scott's cousin. She's, well, long story short, she's, like, made out of this, like, green chaos energy. Anyways, Professor Xavier is a very high-level telepath, and he teaches us how to control our powers. I think he could really help you, Chelsea. i know this is a lot to throw at you in one night, and we'll all understand if you want to think about it, but, like, what do think?" Kitty tried not to freak the younger girl out and overload her with too much information at once.
Chelsea
"Anyone who can help me turn this off, even for a little while is a- ok in my books. I have a headache like you wouldn't believe," Chelsea said in a relieved voice. "I might need to contact my parents first though. Tell them I got a scholarship or something. They think I'm at a friend's house right now, but I couldn't lead the vamps to her house." Chelsea sighed again. "I don't suppose you have any Panadol, or codeine or something?"
"Coming right up, sweetcakes," Lorne said and he went into the kitchen, soon returning with a glass of water and a pill bottle. "Cordy always gets the worst headaches after her visions, so we make it a priority to have strong painkillers on hand."
Chelsea took the things from Lorne and shook two pills into her hand, before washing them down with water. "I hope these work better then the Tylenol."
"They should," Lorne said gently.
"Thanks, Lorne." She smiled at the green demon.
Kitty
"So you wanna come with us tonight? In the morning Professor Xavier can, like, talk to your parents, and so can you. Don't worry, Chelsea, it'll all, like, totally work out." Kitty grinned.
Chelsea
"Glad to hear it," Chelsea said dryly as she finally stepped away from the wall. She ran her hand around the back of her neck, and looked in their faces fully for the first time. "Now, I know I've seen you before," she said as she pointed at Micheal. "Have a clue where?"
Michael
MIchael grinned. "Just as long as you don't turn into a screaming teenie, I'll tell you. Do you watch Dawson's Creek?"
Chelsea
"One of my friends did. She has a poster of you on her wall." Chelsea nodded in satisfaction as she placed him. "But nah, I'm not the screaming teenie type. Could I wear a shirt like this in good conscience if I did?"
Michael
Michael laughed. "All, right, let's get you on that plane. Do you want to go to your house and get some clothes first? And say all your goodbyes, of course."
Chelsea
"Yeah..." Chelsea looked sad for a moment, and then brightened up. "Sounds good, let's go." They grabbed Spike on the way out, and with very little demon activity, made their way to Chelsea's house. Her parents, needless to say, were a bit bewildered and angry at Chelsea being out at night but Scott soon reassured them that this was all level and above board. It helped that they didn't see Spike, Chelsea thought in reflection.
"Ok, we'll see you later, honey," her mother said as she enfolded her in a hug. Chelsea closed her eyes as she breathed in that mom scent she knew she was gonna miss.
"Be good. When the holidays are on, make sure you come back for a visit. Don't be a stranger." Her dad was such a goof, Chelsea thought as she she hugged him goodbye. He grinned at her and ruffled her hair with his hand.
"Daaadd," Chelsea said in complaint, only half hating it and the other half wishing she could stay. He just smiled and she could see the sadness dancing around the two of them in dark blue stripes. "I'm gonna miss you."
"We're gonna miss you too, honey." Her mother looked away for a moment and dabbed delicately at her eyes with a tissue. "Ring us, ok? Just say the word and we'll come up and bring you home."
"I'll be fine. I'm sure." Her dad picked her up for a bonecrushing hug and she giggled; glad to be a little girl for a moment longer. She hugged him back nearly as hard. Red hair against his dark and then her mother moved in for a hug as well, the two red heads holding their arms close around the brunette in their midst before her dad put her down with a cough. She picked up her suitcase and slung her backpack on her back.
"If you've forgotten anything, leave an e-mail for me, and we'll post it up." Mom smiled at Chelsea, unshed tears glimmering in her green eyes.
"I will, Mom. I'll call tomorrow, alright?" Soon, Chelsea was on the plane and heading out. She'd been looking for answers, and she'd found some...not that she liked them much but that wasn't the point. So. Mutant high. She laughed softly, staring out the window. Life was weird.