Layla

Chapter Sixteen: Guilt

Layla-Past

Sunlight painfully pierced her eyes, until a large shadow looming over her had blocked it. The shadow had been blurry; unrecognizable. Until its face, with two luminous, silver orbs staring back at her became clear and known. Those silver eyes painfully reminded her of Peter, saddening her, as she wished he were here. Pulling herself out of those melancholy thoughts, she returned to the present, wanting to laugh at who hovered above while she made a cocky remark. It seemed too much to do that, though. It required energy which she did not possess. Opening her eyes had been too much. Which was silly for her because all she was doing was lying on the ground, but she felt numb and tired. Not just mentally but physically. She had heard words, but it only sounded muffled. That had been the last thing she heard, before she drifted away again. 

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X-Mansion-Present 

He hadn't been able to leave. As much as he forcible tried to carry his feet back to that damn elevator, he couldn't. Reluctantly, he remained, and positioned himself against the wall with his arms tightly bound across his chest, and his head lowered. While the walls down here were thick, he could still faintly hear the Professor and Hank with Layla. 

"Her heartbeat is steady, and her breathing is normal which is good." Hank said. 

Theo rolled his eyes behind his dark shades, looking annoyed. He already knew her heartbeat was regular, as well as, her breathing. Any mutant with his ability would be able to tell that. What he wanted to know was whether her head was okay, giving the injury she had. Why, had they not tended to it yet? Did they not notice the blood that was streaming down her face? Uncurling his hand, he looked down at the blood, her blood, that faintly stained his fingers. Guilt once again consumed him, and he lowered his head in shame.

"Why do you care? She is nothing but a bargaining chip." A cruel voice reminded him. 

Curling his hand into a tight ball, he crossed his arms over his chest once more, grinding his teeth as he tuned back in on the conversation. 

"What the hell happened? She never goes back into the water because of that accident!" Hank snapped. 

"They must not have known, Hank because if they had, they wouldn't have done this." The Professor replied knowingly. 

Theo directed his confused stare to the metal door beside him, and he stared at it as if he were inside the room, and part of the conversation. Down the hall, his ears instinctively picked up familiar voices that carried down the hall, wiping any thoughts he had about what he just heard. Wrapping his arms tightly across his chest, he lowered his head down, directing his stare at the floor, listening as those voices approached closer.

"It was just for fun. A good laugh." Scott said nervously, almost sounding as if he were still figuring out what happened. 

Luckily, for Theo he remembered his job, and Scott nor Kurt would remember a thing. 

"What do you mean, Scott? What does he mean?" A new voice chimed in, sounding quite angry. 

"If she told you she did not want to, then you should have left her alone!" Storm argued back. 

"We didn't think this would happen. How were we to know?" Kurt spoke; voice quavering. 

"Somebody tell me what happened to Layla!" The new voice shouted in frustration. 

"She was dropped in the lake." Theo answered gruffly, as those he had left approached his direction. 

His head rose slowly. Behind those dark shades he eyed each student he knew before looking to the new mutant who stood in front of him. Of course, he shouldn't say new. He had seen this mutant with the silver hair, and incredible speed with Layla. Given how close they were, he assumed they were together. The silver haired mutant's attitude, under the current circumstances involving Layla, only proved that. He could see, practically read, that the mutant who stood in front of him, questioned him. The mutant wondered what he was doing here, and why this accident involved him. He had never seen him before, but he was more concerned about Layla, and since the others were not talking, he was his only hope. Theo wanted to make a snide remark to himself, but given what has happened, and how he felt, he didn't want to. It just didn't feel...right. 

"You're getting soft." That cruel voice reminded him as it tsked its tongue like he had done something wrong. 

"What do you mean by dropped in the lake?" The silver haired mutant asked slowly as he stepped closer to him. 

"It means exactly what I said it means. When she didn't come up, I went in after her. She hit her head while down there, knocking her unconscious." Theo replied bluntly, keeping his stare level with the mutant in front of him.

Anger, worry, and guilt filled his eyes. Theo could feel the emotions rolling off of him. The mutant was clearly upset. His jaw clenched and unclenched repeatedly while his hands curled into a tight ball.

"It was an accident, Peter." Jean said, trying to ease the tension in the room. 

"Who. Dropped. Her. In. The. Lake?" Peter asked.

"It was me. It was all for fun. I didn't know," Kurt spoke up, stepping forward, but was interrupted by Peter. 

"No, you didn't know. In fact, none of you know. None of you truly know why she never goes into the water! Do you?" Peter bit, turning to the others. 

"What happened?" Theo asked, keeping his voice steady and cool. 

Peter turned back to him, looking him straight in the eyes as if he could see through his shades. He opened his mouth ready to speak, but shut it, doubting whether he should tell the truth. However, emotions won rather than logic for the mutant.

"Her parents died in a car accident." Peter paused, before speaking again. "In the water, and she was the only one who made it out." He said as he turned to the others. 

Theo's heart dropped, and the guilt coarsed through his body even more. He tuned out of what Peter said to the others. He didn't know whether he continued on after that. All he could do was stand there, and stare down at the floor beneath him, wishing it could swallow him up. He shut his eyes. Images of what he had seen from Layla's mind flashed back to his. He began to piece everything together, like a puzzle, and it had all made sense. The blood curdling scream echoed in his mind again.

"I've put her in her worst nightmare. Made her relive it." He thought horridly.

"Why, should you care? Remember who you are. What you are. Finish the job, or you'll be stuck there forever."  That  cruel voice spoke again.

He was supposed to frighten her more; weaken her. But he could not do it. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't do it. Plus, given that there were now two telepaths in the room with him, it would be tricky. He could get caught easily, and that was something he didn't want. Without a word, he spun on his heels, making his way back upstairs to the mansion. He had a job to finish after all, and it was going to get done tonight. Otherwise, he might not ever do it.