Withering Wishes . • . X-Men Fanfic . • . BOOK 2

dix-huit

Chapter Eighteen:

Ekka's trench through the wilderness was sober and lonely. She didn't know where she was going, she was bleeding and cold. The wind howled through the trees, making it whistle loudly, almost like demonic windchimes.

Ekka remembered the windchimes from when she was really young. Even before Father found her.

One of the stores had one hung in front of the front. It jingled in the slightest breeze. Ekka liked to get sticks off the ground to poke it. The jingle made her giggle.

Then, the store owner caught her one day, hit her for trying to break her chimes, and called her a streetrat. Ekka didn't even look at them after that.

Ekka pulled her arms closer to her chest as she trudged through the woods. She missed Brownie and wondered where he went. Did Xavier take him? Did he kill him? If Xavier found her, would he kill her?

Ekka didn't want to think about that. Instead, she focused ahead of her. The trees were thick and left little space between them. Her feet ached and burned, and she didn't know if it was from walking, or from the open cuts in her feet. If her feet got sick, would she have to cut them off?

Ekka remembered in the Circus, a boy tried to steal an apple from the kitchen, and Father took his finger from him. It went untreated and soon, it turned green and started to smell. Father cut off his hand, and then poured alcohol on it. The boy screamed for hours, even after Father cut it off. Ekka once saw him feeling around where his hand used to be, as if he could still grab the missing fingers.

She also remembered the boy had died that summer.

Ekka leaned against a tree to breathe. She was too tired, and her throat felt like fire. She wanted to lie down on the ground sleep, but she couldn't. If Xavier found her in the woods, she would end up in the cell again.

The thought sent chills down her spine. Ekka couldn't stop, not now. She had too much on the line here. It she got far enough away, Ekka could be free again.

Ekka swallowed and continued to walk. She saw something shiny ahead of her. Ekka couldn't place it, so she decided to walk closer. It took her a few minutes, but she finally got there. It was a gate --- a tall black gate. Ekka couldn't climb over it, the bars were too slippery, but she didn't need to.

A low-hanging tree branch hung right over the gate's top where semi-sharp spikes were. It took her a few minutes, but she climbed up the tree and gently crawled to the other side. Then, she slipped down and kept walking.

Maybe there were people here. Would they be as nice as Lucas and Adrian? Ekka could only hope.

Ekka continued walking for a few minutes. The trees began to thin and Ekka noticed the wildlife changing from deers and the occasional bear to just squirrels and mice.

When Ekka finally saw the mansion, her eyes went wide and her blood ran cold. How did she end up walking right back to Xavier's school!? She thought she was going the opposite way! But, the trees in the forest was so dense that she couldn't see the sun or the clouds. She couldn't find her way back there, and now look where she ended up!

Ekka turned to run, but a man standing in front of the building noticed her and shouted, "Hey! Get back here!"

Ekka dashed through the trees, her feet burning with every step. She heard the man come behind her, just as fast. Ekka felt tears in her eyes, blurring her sight. She didn't see the root on the ground.

Ekka's foot tripped over it, and she went flying. Her forehead hit the base of another tree with a heavy crack.

Everything was white as she tumbled and rolled for a few feet before stopping. Tears tell down the side of her face and the forest was getting dizzy. The sun was bright in her eyes and she tried to shield it with her arm.