knock on wood | howlett

xvi. her

the wolf by mumford & sons

logan and xavier hadn't even gotten to the first floor when the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, that looked out on the children playing at recess, exploded. the impact was enough to send both men toward the back wall, and knock them unconscious.

she was woken up from the sound. she then heard the two guards leave through the elevator.

"where are you going? what's happening?" she asked, half-hoping they were still there to answer; to no avail. she stood and went to the spot under the glass. it was warm, the sun was out.

something was different, though. there were no child-shaped shadows. they should be at recess, she thought.

in the corner of the window was a sizable crack left by the impact. the window itself was a good two feet above her head. she could barely touch it with her finger tips. she paced, thinking of possible routes of escape.

it was then she felt another explosion, this one closer and stronger. she stumbled onto her hands and knees. the glass shattered above her.

stray vines of ivy hung down into her cell. she looked up at the unprotected sky. smoke began to fill where clouds used to be. she dragged her bed under the window.

the glass didn't come off cleanly. it was jagged in the frame where it was a moment ago. it was going to hurt, but she had to do this.

she backed up against the one-sided glass. she prepared herself. before she knew it, her feet ran toward the bed. she leaped atop it and trampolined up onto the frame. she was careful to let only her hands touch the glass and to keep it away from her vulnerable, anatomically vital stomach area. the glass sunk into her palms and it stung vigorously, but never bled.

she hoisted herself up and onto the courtyard. she stood against all odds. she looked around at her settings: the main back wall of the mansion was completely gone, whole segments of walls littering the lawn. the children were no where to be seen. she couldn't see the enemy.

she carried herself towards the open mansion.

when she reached the destroyed living room, she saw xavier, completely alone. he was sprawled on the floor. his wheelchair was left distorted from the blast. his face was dirtied by dust and debris, but he was alive.

"xavier." she approached him and turned him onto his back. his eyes opened timidly. "what happened?"

"they came, they took the kids," he coughed up.

"who came? who took the kids?" she looked around for some sort of sign.

"the same people who did this to you," he looked up at her. scott came into the room, immediately approaching them to help xavier up. "they took logan too. you have to go, find them... the kids..."

xavier passed out. scott took him to a chair. she followed.

images of her childhood siege danced in her head. it was the night the rest of her life began. she remembered the sound of her feet smacking the mud vividly.

"i have to go, scott. they'll do horrible things to the kids if i don't. they'll do this," she motioned toward her body, "to them. do you have this under control?"

"yeah, there're enough of us to handle this. you go and win this battle," he urged her.

"thanks." she went out, stealing a set of keys from a hook in the kitchen.

she headed towards the driveway. she happened to be gazing blankly at the grass below her. she stopped in her tracks.

three words were scalded into the earth.

'stamford, new york'

so that was the destination. she committed the image to memory. even when she reached the drive way, the words burned her brain. she found the keys' partner: a baby blue truck.

she sat in the driver's seat and turned the keys. it kicked on. she was just about to pull out of the driveway when the passenger door opened.

she looked to her right to see an eight foot tall metal man getting into the truck. her eyes widened.

"scott said you need backup." make that a russian eight foot tall metal man.

"uh, i guess i do," she didn't want to argue with said metal man. understandable. "got a name?" she asked when he closed the door.

she pulled out of the driveway, away from the destroyed mansion, and onto the road.

"colossus," he paused, "and you?"

"rebecca. my friends call me beck."

"are we friends?"

"sure, why not?"