Layla

Chapter Five: Peter

"Good morning, everyone. We have breaking news right now. Authorities have finally identified the man responsible for that brutal attack at a family's home outside a small town in central Poland, and that man is Erik Lehnsherr. It is quite possible he may strike again, but leaders around the world are informing citizens not to be afraid. They are working as quickly as they can to find Lehnsherr before he erupts chaos yet again." The anchorman said firmly.

Muting the TV, Layla flopped down on the end of her bed, staring at the screen with shocked eyes. Layla hadn't been paying much attention to the news, since all they seemed to talk about were mutants, but how could she not have known about this? She could only think that it had recently happened. Perhaps, it was mentioned once she turned her TV off the other day. Now, she knew where Erik had been for the past ten years. 

"Oh, Peter." She thought sadly to herself. Her lips tilted downward, while she looked at the picture of Erik in D.C. that the news station had put up. 

Peter must not have told Erik that he was son. Especially, if Erik was living in Poland. In a way, Layla was relieved Peter hadn't told Erik the news yet. She was worried he would change Peter, but she kept reminding herself Peter wouldn't go that far. Then again, what say did she have? She wiped Peter's mind. She could still worry about him though, even if he didn't remember her. Layla had been caught up with the news that she didn't even hear Charles come in. 

"Layla?" Charles asked in a low voice. 

Lifting her arm up, Layla turned the TV off, and stood up keeping her back to Charles. She walked over to her TV placing the remote on top of the box, and grabbed her walkman that was on the window seat. Thank goodness, that didn't get destroyed in her path of destruction last night. Half of her records were gone, which pissed and irritated Layla. All the time she took to collect the damn things were now destroyed because of her. A couple of her favorite records remained such as Led Zeppelin IV, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Quadrophenia, Willy and The Poor Boys, and Rumours. The records Peter had given her, including the Jim Croce album, were shattered. The small black pieces were still scattered across the floors. Last night, Layla didn't clean up the mess she made. Instead, she sat on the window seat in her room, watching the sunrise, while she stewed about her powers, and the damage she had done. Layla was still ticked off with Charles because he had invaded her mind, and while she knew in the back of her mind, he was doing it to help her, he now knew about her past. She didn't want him knowing, and Hank probably knew at this point, since he and Charles are good friends. Yet, he nor Hank had asked her to leave. Instead, Charles looked at with sad eyes, and that..bothered Layla. 

Charles sighed sadly, but moved in a bit closer inside Layla's room. Layla kept her back to him, and starting cleaning up the mess she had made. Looking around, it was going to take her all damn day, and that pissed her off more. 

"Damn, powers." She thought grumpily. 

"Alex and I are going to see a friend of mine. She works with the government. There's been...a strange anomaly in Egypt, and she's the only one who has the information we need. We'll be back later in the afternoon, but I would like you to join me when I get back. You don't even have to talk to me." He told Layla. 

This piqued Layla's interest, and of course she would join in on that, but Layla was still pissed and too stubborn to reply back. Instead, she began picking up the fallen things with her powers, while she slid her headphones over her ears. She hadn't pressed play yet, but she hoped it would get Charles to leave faster. 

And it did. 

He lowered his head, and turned to leave, shutting the door behind him. Looking over at the door, Layla slid her headphones down letting them rest around her neck, while guilt consumed her. She hated doing this to Charles, but she was angry, and she never thinks clearly when she's angry. Yes, Layla was upset with Charles, but only a tad bit. Most of her anger was towards herself, and she was upset about Peter. She was angry that she got out of control. She had forgotten to take her pills, and she was so tired that they weren't even on her mind. If she had taken them or had more caffeine, then perhaps the damage in front of her wouldn't have happened. Then again, even taking the pills, the dreams still occurred. They just weren't working anymore.