Sanctum 2.3

It was a tweeting bird that finally roused Anna from her tentative grasp on sleep. Not that she minded too terribly much. She had spent the last hour or so drifting between reality and the dream world, and, for what felt like the first time in a while, took her time getting out of bed. She rolled over onto her back, stretched, and yawned. For the first time, she saw the room in the sunlight and it was even more spectacular than it had been in the evening. Sunlight practically bursting through the great big window's drapes at the leftmost wall, the pleasantly painted walls rebounded and reflected the light that made it feel warm and cozy despite its enormous size.

After a moment, she rolled onto her side, plucked the phone off the nightstand, and made to check the time, when the display notified her of three missed texts from a 'Professor Xavier.' She opened the dialogue archive:

[9:00 AM]

Dear Anna,

I hope you have slept well! I understand the past few days have been quite hectic for you, so I 'd like to welcome you to take your time today and explore the mansion at your leisure. You're fellow students left for school earlier this morning so you'll have plenty of time to gain a bit of footing for yourself.

When you feel that you are ready, I ask that you stop by my office on the bottom floor in the West wing of the house. You 'll be able to tell which door is mine by the placard next to the door.

Also, feel free to help yourself to the kitchen when you feel hungry. It's always fully stocked.

- X

[11:00 AM]

Dear Anna,

I hope you are feeling well. Please, take your time and get your rest as long as you need. My only concern is that I 'd like you to have some time to yourself before the rest of the students return. But also feel no pressure and do what you feel you need most.

I 'd still ask if you could come by my office so we could talk, I'd appreciate it.

- X

[1:00 PM]

Dear Anna,

I hope you are getting the rest you need, sincerely. I would just like you to know that the others will be back around 2:45 and I don 't want you to feel overwhelmed by all the new faces all at once. Though I do assure you that they are all very eager to meet you.

Please, come by my office when you are ready.

- X

"What the hell?" Anna picked at the crust in the corner of her eye. "Who texts another human like that? This isn't the 1600s, or whatever." Anna checked the time and saw the digital clock just turn over to 1:34. She wiped her face with both hands and sluggishly rose and sat on the lip of the bed. She caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror attached to a vanity on the other side of the room. Her hair on the right side of her head was near standing on end as if a cow's tongue had gone to town on her hair in the middle of the night. She could also feel individual strands caught in the creases of her lips and tickling the tip of her nose. She stood on tired legs, crossed the room over to the vanity, picked up a highlighter bright pink hairbrush, and got to work taming the wild beast on her head.

Once her hair resembled the way a human wore their hair again, she dressed in the clothes offered her - nothing particularly special, just a pair of black jeans and a nondescript navy blue top - and threw open the drapes to the window. The bright light stung her eyes for only a moment before she was finally able to get a full view of the nicely manicured outside. The great green lawn was laid out before her with small trees lining the perimeter of a shallow driveway. She could see now that the drive split. One branch headed towards the mansion, and another towards a large garage that was barely in view of her window on the mansion's right. Far beyond the lawn, was a tall brick fence with spiky iron rails jutting out of the top, containing the lawn and everything within. Only an immense heavy iron gate that permitted access to the drive broke up the impenetrable mass of steel and brick.

She stepped away from the window and glanced over at the pink monstrosity that was her neighbor's side of the room. The bed, already weighed down with a bright pink quilt, was spilling over with stuffed animals. Above the headboard were small photos of a bright-faced girl taking selfies with a variety of people. Anna had already combed through all the photos before going to bed the night before. She spotted a couple with Summer Boy - AKA Scott Summers -, a few with a too-pretty looking tall girl with long red hair, then one with a boy with blue hair dressed in a pirate's tricorn hat wielding a plastic toy cutlass.

Anna took her time wandering back to her bedside table. She pocketed her new phone and strapped on the watch. The thing felt strange on her wrist. It wasn't heavy or strangely lop-sided like most watches she had tried to pull off in the past. The latches slid perfectly into place under her wrist and left no wiggle room for it to slide around, and it felt oddly weightless. Had she not put the watch on herself, she might not have even noticed she was wearing it at all. She poked the screen and bold white numbers read the time back to her. She felt along the slim plastic exterior lining the watch's face and felt two small buttons protruding on either side. She pressed one in, and after a beat, the bold white numbers turned gray and softly pulsed. A tiny word appeared underneath reading 'rest.' She pressed it again and the screen returned to normal. She tried the other button, but nothing immediately happened. She tried it again and the whole screen went red reading 'Distress out in 3 - 2 - 1.' She cursed, slamming the button over and over with her thumb till the screen blinked, then returned to normal.

Waiting till her heart climbed out of her throat, she eventually made for the door, when her eyes fell upon her gloved hands. The new clothes had provided her with replacement gloves, a set of 3 to be exact. They were sleek and black and nice replacements for the ones she had torn up with Logan's powers the day before, but they were still gloves. A convenient barrier sparing everyone from her particular… gift. And forever there they will they be.

Sucking in a breath she twisted the door open revealing the hall outside. It was more or less as she remembered it - a long red carpet runner over blonde hardwood with a brilliant peach-cream paint on the walls. The only difference now was it was well-lit by the sun outside. She stepped through the threshold of her door and eased into each step outside as if exploring an alien world. As she walked along, she found shallow gouges in the otherwise seamless paint job on the walls, small burns on the carpet and the ceiling, as well as other damage that seemed far too bizarre to be typical wear-and-tear. Back into the grand foyer with the massive staircase, the palatial room had a strange sort of charm about it in the daylight. Like her room, it was long and tall but didn't feel like it somehow. It had a sense of coziness with its tall black sconces and tasteful lengths of wood paneling within longer lengths of molding. The illusion of any sort of 'rustic' feel however was shattered by the admittedly gaudy chandelier hanging overhead. Its many crystals glistened like shooting stars as sunlight played over their sharp edges.

Anna walked down the staircase, her hand running along the massive lacquered guardrail, down to the main floor. She walked till she met the tall glass front doors and wiggled the large brass door knobs. To her surprise, the knobs trembled ever so slightly in her grasp, like they were loose in their housing. They also looked to be a little lower than she was used to with most doors. The only time she had seen anything like it before, was the few times she had visited an antique store near her old hometown. The shop was made out of an old Victorian-era manor and held old dusty junk from throughout time.

She twisted the handles, finding she had to twist further than she was used to, and pulled the doors inward. Warmth radiated over her body as the sun's rays narrowly missed her feet. She stepped out onto the smallest porch she had ever seen. Made of a semi-circle of concrete and plaster, the pitiful thing could maybe just hold her slender frame if she laid down. Supported by four pillars evenly spaced in front of her, a domed roof was held above her head, and beyond were pillars were several steps leading towards the drive, buffeted on either side by stout hedges. She ventured further, feeling now the full force of the sun's rays on the few inches of exposed skin her clothes afforded her.

Looking out once again on the immaculate lawn and the beautiful drive threading throughout it, she couldn't help but wonder if this is what a rich woman woke up every day looking out at. She could just imagine a little over a hundred or so years ago, carriages lining that long drive and dropping off debutantes and fancy-looking gentlemen. Instead, there she stood. A funky-looking goth kid without her makeup and desperately craving every verity of hard-shell taco available at Taco Bell. She imagined it probably wasn't the type of company the original architects had in mind to shadow their grand design, to say the least.

Anna walked along the road that looked just wide enough to hold one car and no more, down the outer edge of the beefy-looking mansion, down the garage she had spotted earlier. Surrounded by a pool of concrete, the thing was five garage doors wide and looked just as big deep, all painted to match the color scheme of the mansion. When she got close, she tried peering through the little windows in the garage doors, but they appeared to all be covered in some sort of dark soot on the inside. She walked the perimeter till she found a door and gave it a try. It was locked fast, but she could see no obvious deadbolt securing it in place. Her left hand grazing the wall, she heard a soft electric 'ping' then the sound of something heavy being slid out of place. She looked down at her wrist and saw the screen of her watch had temporarily flashed green before returning to black. She gave the door another try and it easily gave under her command. She glanced inside, and despite the daylight leaking in through the door, it was still nearly pitch-black inside.

Anna eased her way inside and felt her watch softly pulse. She looked down at its face again and read 'Light?' in soft glowing letters. She tapped the screen and a bolt of light fired out of her wrist. The flashlight, near bright as day, illuminated a wire rack to her right holding up paint cans and strange-looking applicators. She cast the light along the wall left of the rack and saw it play off the silhouettes of vehicles under tarps and a couple of stacked wooden pallets. She directed the beam back against the wall behind her and quickly located a host of light switches near the door. She flipped them all at once and the garage was bathed in florescent light. Now under proper light, she could see that the garage was something of an organized mess. Parts and tools were scattered but in piles of similar-looking parts and tools. In the deepest depths of the garage, she could see multiple oddly proportioned things covered in dusty tarps. Closer to the doors she could see oil stains and tire marks where a car was likely parked frequently, as well a nice looking motorcycle, some sort of sporty-looking jeep, a very family-friendly van, and at the very end - was her brand new gremlin.

She crossed the garage and rested her hand on the hood of the beat-up burnt sienna hatchback. Seeing it, she could hardly help but to smile. It somehow made everything feel a little more grounded in reality. She walked along it and ran her hand along the top of its door jam and then its rust-eaten roof. It was without a doubt a heap, but suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to take it for a spin. She pulled at the driver's door handle but it didn't budge. She peered inside through the tinted window, but found no key inside. Her disappointed hand fell back at her side and she stroked the roof as if the car were the head of a patient cat. "Soon." She whispered.

Stepping back outside, the heat of the sun prickled her skin but relief came in the form of a powerful wind that swept the grass and well-groomed trees around her. Feet seemingly walking with a mind of their own, she wandered onto the grass and around the back of the mansion. Once she was around the monolithic East wing, she spotted an Olympic-sized pool and on the other side was a tennis court as well as a basketball court. Taking at least a minute to cross the massive space between the garage and the pool, she paused at its edge and watched her bobbing reflection look back at her. She knelt, shed her glove, and ran her fingers through the choppy water. Looking deeper, she could see gouges in the bottom of the pool, and the longer she looked, the more bizarre imperfections she found. She could spot scorch marks near the lip of the pool, something that resembled puncture holes in the sides, dark stains that looked like something had exploded in the deep end.

Wiping her wet hand on her pants, she stood, fastened her glove back around her hand, and checked the tree line. There was another gust of wind that nearly knocked her backward, and this time she could pinpoint it coming from the other side of the trees. She walked over and was easily able to find a footpath through the thick undergrowth. She soon pushed through to the other side of the tree line and found herself looking out into the great blue expanse of the ocean. Stepping carefully, she perched herself on the cliff's edge and looked down. Immediately her head began to spin at the sheer height to the ocean below and she stumbled backward and fell on her rear. A little dazed, another crisp breeze was quick to sober her up, and utterly destroy her hair, but looking out into the wild blue yonder for her newly found vantage, she could hardly be bothered about her hair. The water went for miles and miles with no end in sight. It came as a strange comfort looking upon something so grand and powerful. On such a clear and bright day, she could easily spot several gulls diving into the water near the craggy beach and a few others lazily gliding along with the wind. Far beyond, she could just spot a small sailboat. Its bright blue and yellow sail was caught in the wind and waved at her as if in a greeting.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Anna near jumped off the cliff in shock. She jerked her head around so hard and fast her body pivoted with it. She spotted a tall and slender-looking woman with long red hair tied back into a ponytail looking at her from several yards away. On either ear, she wore massive turquoise earrings that look big enough to catch a breeze. She walked closer, her sandals flattening the grass under her feet. "The ocean is one of the few things here that remind me of home."

"Who the hell are you?"

The woman paused, her eyes went wide before they curled along with the rest of her smile. "God, I'm so sorry. My name is Jean. I'm a student here, like you."

"You make a habit of sneaking up on folks, Jean?" Anna stood and dusted herself off. "God."

"I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking." She rubbed the broad side of her neck, shifting one of her eye-sore earrings with the back of her wrist. She extended a hand. "Anna, right?"

Anna looked at the hand, then after a moment connected it with her own. "Yeah."

"Xavier mentioned a little about you. Nothing past a name really. But I'm really glad to finally be meeting you." She smiled again, a row of perfect white teeth gleamed back at Anna. "How are you settling in?"

Anna peered at the mansion through the trees. "Y'all don't futz around when it comes to the extravagant stuff, do ya?"

Jean touched her hand to her chin as if having to process something. "Yeah," She turned to look back at the mansion. "It can be a lot to get used to. I know it took me a little while." She looked back. "Have you gotten to meet any of the others?"

Anna crossed her arms over her chest. "I was graced with Summer Boy and his opinion of me on the way over here."

"Sorry, 'Summer Boy?'"

"Summers - or whatever. Cyclops."

"Oh." She paused again and to Anna's surprise, the other woman chuckled. "Summer Boy, huh? I'll have to remember that one." She stuck her thumbs into the straps of her beige backpack. "Did something happen between you two already?"

"Really?" Anna said a certain amount of venom in her voice. "He seriously hasn't already told you about me?"

"No, I don't recall him mentioning anything. Usually, he is pretty quick to tell me whatever is on his mind too."

Anna's brows jump for a fraction of a second before doubling down into a line above her eyes. "Well, I'm sure he will soon enough. Then you can all join in his 'dickatry.'"

"Well," Jean's mouth shrugged into something that looked like a defusing grin. "I'm not going to deny that Scott has a habit of talking before his brain has a chance to run through his words, but I can assure you no one here is looking to join in any sort of 'dickatry.'" She ran a hand along the top of her hair. "I'm not going to excuse Scott for his particular brand of dickish behavior, but I suspect this whole thing might be a case of 'getting off on the wrong foot.'"

Anna scoffed. "Sure." She checked her watch and the time display flashed '2:52.' "Look, it's been great, but I think Xavier has been wanting to meet with me so I think I'm going to get."

"Oh, right. Of course!" Jean gave a little wave as Anna walked by her and to the trees beyond. "It was great meeting you!"

Anna only held up a hand in recognition as she slipped back between the trees.