Bellwether
26
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
Bellwether Chapter Twenty Six
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta…The box *should* be there by Tuesday,
latest. *bouncy * InterNutter, TC,
Maxwell Pink, Dracena and Greywolf are loverly and wondermous for
archiving/hosting.
mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:
Wingdings'>J
Prophile: I’ll send it before I go for the
evening. Morgan: *stalk
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing as you can! I’ll be out and about
tonight/tomorrow morning so no update tomorrow unless I get a lot done
today!
Professor
Xavier glanced at his alarm clock. Six
He had three days left in his vacation and he would be damned if he
spent them as he spent the first two weeks, worrying and fighting the urge to
pick up the phone. He had only checked
his email twice, both times refusing to open anything that ended in the Institute’s
name and hurriedly deleting spam before closing the thing down and shoving it
back in the hotel room safe. It might be
promoted as a bed and breakfast, he thought, but it all boiled down to ‘hotel’
to him. The weather had been, in turns,
rainy and sunny and never entirely unpleasant.
It was as if the little valley had it’s own
microclimate, which he would not doubt in his part of the country.
to his chair, making his way across the highly polished wooden floor towards
the window. It looked to be another
overcast day, not uncommon there, but rain was not imminent.
spike of petty irritation. The staff had
given up trying to get him interested in any of the scheduled activities, some
being hesitant and flustered due to his wheelchair, others just tiring of the
constant “No, thank you, but I appreciate you asking,” response he gave to each
suggested outing to the lake or game of badminton or screening of a local
filmmaker’s work. They were tired of the
same polite smile and nod with every greeting and, he thought with a small
amount of pleasure, he had succeeded in breaking them of their cheery, chirping
morning greetings, at least when it came to him.
hospital at the request of his home physician had pronounced him fit as a
fiddle, all things considered, and if he continued to keep up with his
medication and healthy diet and refrain from overly stressful activities, he
should live another few decades, at least.
The Professor had smiled and thanked him and received a copy of the labs
that were being sent home ahead of him and that had been that.
incredibly bored that there was no hiding it.
“Mister
Xavier?” a soft voice called from the other side of the door. “Mister Xavier,
maid service!”
He glanced
at the clock and frowned. Six fifteen maid service?
“Maid
service,” she repeated, sounding urgent.
A scratching came from the other side of the door and the Professor
sighed. She was utilizing all of the
proprieties afforded to serving staff in large homes and houses and still, he
was annoyed. “Mister Xavier?”
“Come in,”
he called lightly, biting back his sigh.
She was just doing her job, he thought, turning his chair to face the
door and tugging his robe more securely across his middle.
than a girl really, scurried in, shutting it firmly behind her.
frazzled-looking and wild eyed, scanning the room before lighting on him.
all but flung herself at him, crossing the room in a handful of strides before
collapsing at his knees, crying openly, choking on the sound.
wrong?” He took her by the shoulders and
pushed her back gently, forcing her to look up at him.
fixed him with a watery gaze, her lips trembling and rough from biting and
chapping. “Are you unwell?”
ill but he wanted her to say it, to tell him, without him having to pry into
her secret thoughts.
“They say…they
say…” she paused for a hiccoughing fit of tears before forcing herself
onward. “You can help me! Please, you must
help me!” She stood shakily then, her
fingers moving to the buttons on the front of her uniform.
them slowly, her breath hitching in her throat as he waved her hands down. “No,
you need to see!”
“Please,”
he said softly, “just tell me. You keep
your modesty,” he added, pulling his chair back a few inches, a façade of
comfort rising between them. “Are you…
in need of assistance?” He knew.
“My
husband,” she whispered, finally lowering her gaze.
eyes towards his, suddenly angry beneath the tears.
even out in rural places like this one, but he don’t
believe it. He’s old religion, you
ken? He’s thinking I need to…to…purify
myself…” She sniffed hard, tilting her
chin up defiantly. “I’m not unnatural.”
“No,” he
sighed. “Just different than him.
“I know,”
she smiled quickly, tapping her temple. “You
shine bright like the stars in here. The
marks,” she gestured to her ribs, “they’re nothing.
when I use me ability but always, I see the brightness of people, how they glow
when they’re special like me an’ me sister.”
He nodded
slowly. “Ah, telepath… makes perfect sense….”
He inhaled deeply, and on his exhale, he smiled.
I’ll make you a deal. Go about your day
as if you had not come in this morning.
Meet me after the evening meal in the drawing room downstairs and we’ll
talk.” She smiled and, choking back a
laughing sob, turned and hurried from the room, running to reach her appointed
starting place in the rounds of the rooms before her supervisor realized she
was late. Professor Xavier sighed and
smiled against his will. Finally, he
thought, things were getting interesting.
A/N Next chapter, sex and death.
time telly sort of way.