Flickers (Charles Xavier)

Chapter 5

Iris sat on the windowsill of the room, waiting for Charles to come in. He had been helping Alex control his plasma rings that he produced, and had promised to come in as soon as he had finished extinguishing the fire throughout the room. Iris couldn't help but think of her parents following the other day, and she gulped as her eyes stung slightly.

The door opened, and Iris broke away from her thoughts, standing up and smiling at Charles in an attempt to pretend that she hadn't been willing herself not to cry.

He's a telepath, Iris thought to herself in embarrassment, No point trying to hide anything.

"Actually," Charles shut the door behind him, walking towards her with a smirk, "I try not to read people's minds unless it is necessary, Iris. You don't need to worry about me trying to read your thoughts, unless you project them like you just did."

Her cheeks flushed red and she sat down on the floor where they had been the day before, "What are we going to do today?"

He sat beside her, tucking his legs underneath each other, "How about trying to get past the moment when Emma blocked your mind?"

Iris nodded silently, and Charles added, "This may hurt, Iris. More than the last time. But if you really want to unlock it, then we're going to have to pull through it. It strains my mind as well."

Slowly, he brushed his fingers against her left temple, holding his other hand out for her to hold. After a moment of hesitation, she took it. They would need to help each other.

She cried out immediately.

A man stepped forwards with a smile on his face, "Do it all, Emma. Block the power and the memories of ever having them. If she won't work for us, she won't work for anyone."

"Stop!" Iris sobbed, but Emma was already too far in the process, and as she began to shout again, she stopped halfway through her sentence as everything went black.

"Further," Iris muttered, and Charles gulped, preparing himself to unlock the memories. At first, there was nothing, and then Iris suddenly felt as though thousands of image had flooded into her mind all at once. She gasped loudly, trying to catch her breath as Charles flicked back to the very beginning of it all.

Iris had been playing on the grass with her friends when she had begun to scream for her parents.

"What's the matter?" Her mother asked her gently, running towards her with her dark hair flowing out behind her. The other children had moved away from Iris, whimpering in fear as if she had done something to all of them.

Iris looked up at her mother, who suddenly swore as she approached her daughter. The garden that she had been running through had changed suddenly to the image of a dark forest. Iris watched as her mother tried to suppress a scream, glancing around in horror.

She turned to the children, "Go and ask Mr. Miracle to call your parents to come and take you home. Iris isn't very well."

They all ran away, leaving a sobbing Iris and her shaking mother.

"Mummy," Iris whispered, "I didn't mean to make it happen. Please make it stop."

"Look at me," Her mother whispered, reaching out for her daughter's hand, "Look at me and remember where you are. You're in our back garden."

Suddenly the image of the dark forest fell away, and they were surrounded by green grass and blue sky once again.

Now Iris was sitting with her parents in the kitchen, both of them holding her hands.