The new home
Posted on Mon Aug 30th, 2021 @ 12:09pm by Jade Farwynd & Cameron Hood
830 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Episode 0: X Lang Syne
Location: The Mansion
Timeline: following Vogue
The large Town Car had been parked in its customary place. Cameron had pulled the chair for the Professor out, and Charles had made his way to the home. The men had agreed that it might be better for Cameron to give the tour for Jade, so he was waiting for her to climb out and join him.
She wiggled out of the car soon enough, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Even in dusk, the mansion was a glorios sight to behold.
"Flippin' heck!" Jade said through a whistle. "Uuun-real!" The aussie chuckled, "how many does she sleep?" She asked as she finally looked over at Cam.
It was entirely surreal, behing here. From middle class, small rural town beginnings, to the hate and abuse when she discovered she was a mutant, to moving to America and studying and getting a job in Houston. Now she was here, touring her potential new home and job. Un-friggin-real!
"It has around a dozen bedrooms I believe." Cameron replied as he grabbed her other bag. "Plus another bunch of rooms in the basement. So she sleeps more than the two bedroom council flat I grew up in." He then nodded, "Your room first, or the grand tour?"
"Nah the room can wait," Jade shook her head, "I wanna see everything. How long have you been around, mate?"
"Alright, leave the bags by the car then. We'll drag 'm up later." Cameron said, putting them back in the trunk. "I've been living here for a few months now. Had some trouble with my co-workers and I ended up here."
"Your abilities kind of trouble or?" Jade found herself asking as she followed him towards the Mansion.
"Nothing to do with my powers. More along the line of them doing something shady that I was opposed to." He opened the big double doors for Jade, showcasing the grand staircase. "Your new digs."
"So you're one of those 'do things right' lot eh?" Jade gave him a good natured nudge in the ribs with her elbow as she stepped forward towards the staircase, placing one hand on the thick wooden handgrip.
A smell assaulted her senses briefly, her eyes flashed red, a slight swirl of red around her wrists. "Somebody was hurt here, recently, last couple of days. Not too bad though. Wasn't cleaned off the rail properly."
"Two lads were having a race up the stairs. One grabbed the other by the shirt, tripping him and smacking his nose right into the bannister." He gave her a quizical look. "You some kind of bloodhound, smelling the blood or something?"
Jade blinked away the enticing sensation, her eyes clearing of the shine. "I uh....it's not something I can control."
She fished out a small chain that hung around her neck, a vial at its end. She unscrewed the vial and poured a dark, red, viscous liquid onto her palm. It seemed to come alive in her hand before it began to swirl and grow, eventually forming into what resembled a katana.
"I can control things like these though." She said, her eyes shining again, her wrists shining with what seemed to be tiny droplets of blood.
Would he be freaked out by it, like all the others? Well except the Prof?
"Well, that's neat." Cameron chuckled as she played with the floating blood. "Is that bit of blood special, or can you do it with whatever blood is available?"
"So far I've managed with any type, though healthy blood is better than diseased. I can't control the diseased blood nearly as well." Jade said with a sigh of relief at the unspoken acceptance. "Does this freak you out?"
"Not particularly, I think it's pretty neat. Though I'd prefer not to offer my blood for the cause." Cameron chuckled. "I can do something roughly similar, just not with blood."
Jade nodded, chuckling too. "So is it any material you can shape or a specific one?"
"Anything I touch, I can shape. Well, anything so far. I've not yet found the courage to sink my hand into a raw steak to see if I can make a meat cleaver." Cameron chuckled at his own small joke.
"Aw mate, now you've got to." Jade chuckled, catching Cameron's eyes. "Thanks, by the way."
"We're all odd here. I've found that that is essentially what this school is for." Cameron gave her a smile, "Now, pool, library, or bedroom?"
"Oh library, mate." Jade grinned, "the Prof seems like a bloke who would have a lot of interesting books. Plus, I also kind of spent a lot of time stuck in those when I was back in Oz and when I first came over."
How did she get so lucky to be offered this lifeline? She could still hardly believe this was happening. On top of that the man in front of her was quite easy on the eyes and on the soul to boot. What was happening?
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