Wired Experiment (X-men Fan-fiction)

Chapter 2 - "The Devil Says 'Hi'"

Laine woke up the next morning to the crisp air of the close approaching Summer and the happy singing of the birds. The house was silent, it was a consequence to the heated argument the previous night. Laine's mind was hazed, her anger that was once inside her heart was soon extinguished by a good night's sleep. She slowly crawled out of bed and glanced at her Micky Mouse clock which was hung on the wall above her desk. It was 9:30 on a Saturday.

Laine's ears perked an inch, she heard a few murmurs outside her bedroom door, it was highly likely that it was her parents. Laine slowly approached the door and whipped it open, however she found no one on the other side of the door. Just the empty scented air of her house. Disregarding the strange event, she continued into the bathroom to freshen up and change into appropriate clothes for the day. Little did she know her father had made a heavy decision awaiting for her downstairs. Laine slightly stumbled down the stairs, feeling exhausted from her mind racing since she woke up. She missed her father, even more than if she had lost her arm. As she entered the living room, she half-expected her father to be gone already, and her mother grieving on the kitchen floor. But to her surprise, she found her father standing in the middle of the room, smiling at her, with...an extra suitcase with him? She specifically remembered her father only bringing 1 suitcase.

"Laine! I'm glad your awake!" Her father brought her into a tight embrace. Although a bit bewildered, Laine managed to give a shy smile to her father, but her eyes were glued on to the extra suitcase. Her father seemed to notice her confusion and gave her a well deserved answer "Ah, yes. Here is the surprise Laine." He held her shoulders and gave a gentle, loving squeeze to reassure her. "You'll be coming with me to New York!"

Laine's heartbeat was soon fast and heavy. A grin slowly spread onto her features and she gave her father a big hug, she didn't want to let go, terrified that once she does; she might lose her father forever. After a few minutes she eventually let go of her father then looked around, searching for her mother. "Where's mom?" Her father's features seemed to slightly crease up by stress and exhaustion, Laine sensed they had another fight before she woke up.

"She- uh..your mother went out to buy groceries. We were fresh out of milk." Lies. She drove away in distress. "We can't let you start your day without milk eh, Laine? You love milk, ever since you were child." She hated milk. Laine stared into her fathers eyes and found deep sadness. With a soft sigh she turned towards the kitchen, her mother had just recently bought the milk yesterday. It was an obvious lie, but why did her mother leave? Was she saddened by the fact that her father was taking her away? What was so bad about that? New York was only a state away.

"Laine, listen." Her attention was brought back to her grieving father "I have thought about what your mother has told me, last night. This is the only way I can spend time with you, you need to understand this, okay sweet?"

Laine nodded, slowly. "I understand." Her voice was tiny and helpless, it reminded her of a small bunny hopping around in a predator's land.

"That's my girl." he gave her a quick hug then grabbed the passports which were lying limp on the coffee table. "Now, when we get there I need you to stay on my tail, okay? New York is a big city, I don't want you to get lost."

Laine nodded once again then followed her father to the car out on the curb, only to be very confused. Her mother's car was still here. She saw the keys, it was still in the ignition. The headlights were still on, and the air around the car was very warm. Laine noticed how her father was hurriedly getting her into the car, she noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead and the light hyperventilation he was doing. To conclude, he was very nervous; almost as if he was having a panic attack. Laine shifted in her car seat uncomfortably, her mind racing through a thousand scenario's at once, she felt a headache coming through.

Laine had to calm herself down, she looked around the car to take her mind off this situation. She noticed a magazine stuffed in the center console. 'The Devil says Hi' it read, she felt intrigued by it, she must have seen this somewhere before. However that was unlikely, with her mother being very religious, she stated that 'magazines were a product of the devil to corrupt young children's minds to follow him in his ways'.

The Devil did say 'hi'.

Her mind scrambled as her father got into the car, she assumed he was talking to someone in that portable telephone that he always seemed to carry around with him, with pride.

"Dad?"

"What is it, Laine?"

"Mom's car is still here."

Her father then stared at her, he tried to seem calm but she could see his panicked expression. He slowly put the keys into ignition, then started the engine. "The car was out of gas, so she went with a neighbour." His expression was now as cold as a stone.

Laine frowned, something about her father's demeanor seemed sketchy. Perhaps she was just panicking over nothing? No, it didn't seem right. The links between her father's story, her mother's disappearance and the obvious clues didn't make sense. What was making her father so jumpy? Laine spent the minutes in the car contemplating, deep within herself she felt sad for leaving her house. It felt like she was leaving something behind. Something very important. But she had grabbed whatever was close to her before they left.

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The road to the airport seemed to go on forever, her muscles in her legs already beginning to tighten from being sedentary. Soon Laine saw an airplane in the sky, meaning they were close to the airport. It was her first time to the airport, she has heard the experiences from other kids in her school; how it felt like they were in a different world above the clouds, or how they felt like a superhero who could fly. It would be a lie to say that Laine was excited, she felt the complete opposite. But if getting on that plane meant that she could spend more time with her father, than she would go for it, regardless of the feelings inside her.

The whole process of getting into a single airplane both confused and exhausted Laine. It seemed like forever before she got to sit on the seats. Her father told her the seats he booked were bigger than the normal seats in the plane, for that she felt grateful. Soon they were up in the sky, and Laine couldn't help but feel lethargic. The clouds reminded her of cotton candy, she wanted to touch it. Staring at the clouds caused her to go into a train of thought and her mind wandered back to her mother. 'Where did she go?' that question clouded Laine's mind for the entirety of the ride to New York.

But there should have been a more important question in her mind. Why is her father bringing her to New York, all of a sudden?

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Oh my goodness! I am so sorry for not updating. I've just been stuck in piles of homework and exams. So please bear with me, I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as I can C:

Please comment on what you thought about this chapter, and I would love to know you guys theories on what happened to Laine's mom.

Until next time :D