Fading Screams

Fading Echoes won with the Halloween-chapter contest! 🎉! Thanks to all that entered and here you go!

Enjoy~!

~.•🎃•.~.•🎃•.~.•🎃•.~.•🎃•.~.•🎃•.~

Ekka sat on the sill of the window, watching the wind howl outside. It was early in the morning, and it had been very cold. Of course, that was expected for a October morning, but she hadn't known it could get this cold. Flutter sat perched in her lap, snuggling into Ekka's warmth. Ekka had wrapped herself up tight in a blanket, making her a bit warmer, but that didn't stop coldness from penetrating her window. Ekka tried not to mind. She had experienced colder nights back at the Circus, but she supposed Flutter hadn't.

"Ekka!" Someone shouted as the door swung open. Ekka jumped, barely catching Flutter before she slipped off her lap. Vera stood at her door with a wide smile on her face.

"Wh–What is it?" Ekka asked, rather startled by the girl's sudden entry. Ever since her enrollment into Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, she and Vera had become rather good friends. Vera had entitled herself as Ekka's 'Unofficial Big Sister', and enjoyed talking with her. Vera herself loved speaking French, and since Ekka was still learning the English language, it made her a great study partner.

"Professor is going have one of the teachers buy a lot of candy!" Vera exclaimed, but Ekka was confused.

"Candy? For what?"

"For Halloween, of course!" Vera was smiling from ear to ear. "They're going to divide it evenly among all the students so everyone can dress up and we can go trick-or-treating here! And after that, they're going to throw a huge Halloween party!"

"'Trick-or-treating'?" Ekka repeated. She had heard of the holiday 'Halloween', it wasn't uncommon in France or in the traveling Circus. Children and adults roamed the streets when it was dark at night, getting candy from strangers. The Circus set up a haunted house for people to come and enjoy. Father used to love that, especially when little kids began to wander around unchaperoned, because he got to scare them back to their parents.

Ekka herself didn't quite enjoy the holiday simply because she hadn't quite understood it. That, and she along with the rest of the children, were never allowed to go trick-or-treating. Now that she had the chance, Ekka didn't really know how to feel, but since Vera looked rather excited, she decided that she should be too.

Ekka smiled, it was small, yet genuine, "That sounds fun, Vera."

"I know right!" Vera grinned. "Now, we gotta make costumes, and we only have five days!" Vera grabbed Ekka's hand, pulling her out of the room, "How good are you with a sewing machine?"

That was an odd question. Ekka was required to make all her costumes back in the Circus, so making another one shouldn't be so hard. Ekka recalled telling Vera that she could sew, now that she thought of it. Maybe that was the cause of the odd question. "I can use a sewing machine," she answered. Vera led her down the hall and to her own room, where there was a white machine and a lot of material beside it.

"Great because I told Jess that I could sew, since she had a old sewing machine that her mom gave her before she came here. She said I could use it, if I made her a costume too. I don't know how to sew, but I just remembered that you told me that you could! So, will you please help me make a costume?!" Vera inhaled at the end of her explanation, then looked at Ekka expectantly.

"Y–Yes, of course," Ekka said, not really knowing how else answer.

Vera squealed in excitement, "Thank you!" She led Ekka to the table, and handed her the cloth, some old patterns, and other accessories. "Tell me what else you need and I'll get it. Buttons? Zippers? Uh, polka dots!?"

"... Measurements," Ekka answered. "I would not want to guess your sizes and then be mistaken. If... You could measure your friend, uh, Jess. And, I would need to know what kind of costume she wants too... And... Maybe a reference?"

"Right! Got it!" Vera zipped out the door, leaving it swinging, but came back two seconds later. "Haha, almost forgot!" She squeezed Ekka with a tight hug, and she stiffened, "Thank you so much!"

"Uh, y–you are welcome..." Ekka whispered, very surprised at the girl's sudden actions. Vera let go, then grabbed a note pad and pen off her desk, and left.

~.•🎃•.~

Vera's friend's costume was a lot easier to make than Ekka thought it would be since she requested a, 'cat costume' — she had described it to her as a 'sexy cat', but since Ekka didn't quite know what that was, she just stuck with cat. It might have been for the lack of clothing the girl specifically requested — mostly on the legs, her shoulders, and on her torso — but otherwise, came out pretty well. Ekka had finished it in a matter of hours and was able to work on Vera's.

By the time Ekka finished Vera's costume, word had gotten around that she was making them pretty quickly. It had only been a matter of time before Vera had a crowd of students standing outside her door, desperately requesting Ekka to make costumes. Ekka had been so startled herself, that she panicked and hid in Vera's closet. It had taken her twenty minutes to calm down, and even then, she was much more reluctant to finish the costumes. Vera persuaded her to finish, promising that she would take Ekka out on a walk — she promised to do so days before, but hadn't gotten around to it.

Vera had even set up a system to make the costumes: the student would need to have a reference to the costume, wait their turn. While they were waiting, Vera would measure them for Ekka. Then, they would pay five dollars per hour it took. Because they were on such short notice, it usually only took two or three hours, mostly because the costumes were rather simple.

In the span of five days, Ekka had made nearly twenty costumes, and almost three hundred dollars! Vera insisted on Ekka taking at least two hundred, but Ekka refused. She had enjoyed making the costumes, so there was no need for her to make a profit from it. Vera decided to save at least one hundred fifty for her away, just in case she would need it later.

Ekka made herself a simple costume; it was from a book she read in class called 'Red Riding Hood'. Her costume was a simple red hooded-cloak, and regular clothing underneath. Ekka had told Vera her costume idea, and she loved it, suggesting that she'd carry around a basket as well, as use it for the candy she'd receive. Ekka was a bit confused, but Vera explained that in the story, the character was bringing goods to her grandmother in a wooden wicker basket, so the accessory was needed.

Ekka decided to make a basket in her free time, when she wasn't sewing together clothing. Vera chaperoned as she went into the thicker part of the woods to find stray branches. Then, she weaved them together, making a small basket.

~.•🎃•.~

The day of Halloween came, and the students went all out. Orange pumpkins were placed around every corner and carved with different designs, some being scary faces, that spooked Ekka, and others being intricate designs, that charmed her. A few students got the permission to turn one particular hall to a haunted maze, with dangers and jump scares around every corner.

There were also a few stations set up where the older, more responsible students and teachers, would help some kids carve their own pumpkins. Or, they'd supervise the few party games set out, such as bobbing for apples. Once night had fallen, the students would take their portion of candy, and wait for their hall's turn to go trick-or-treating with one another. After everyone had finished, they would be instructed to go to bed, and that would be the end of their All Hallow's Eve celebration.

Ekka had been nervously excited for the entire event. She had never been to a party before now, and since all the other students had been buzzing with the excitement, she couldn't help but feel the same.

Ekka didn't want to bother Vera, who had been hanging out with her own friends, so, she decided to venture the new Halloween mansion herself. She had a general idea of where everything was since she had came, so it wouldn't be that hard to know her way around.

Ekka donned herself with her costume, and placed Flutter on her shoulder. She tweeted, equally as excited. Ekka smiled, rubbing Flutter's small head as she headed out into the door and into the new 'halloweened' mansion.

~.•🎃•.~

Ekka decided immediately that she wouldn't not go to the haunted house, she didn't want to be scared anymore than it already looked.

As she walked down the halls, a few students thanked her for the costumes she made them. Ekka was barely able to give out a flustered reply, and continued walking.

The Halloween party room was filled with people. There was music playing and a lot of the students were talking or dancing to the music. A few students were dunking their heads in a bucket of water, which looked very strange from Ekka's view.

Ekka decided to go to the pumpkin carving station, since it looked rather tame compared to everything else. She sat down in one of the empty chairs and waited.

"Hello there!" Ekka jumped, frantically looking around. A rather tall upperclassmen in a red and blue superhero outfit-like was waving at her. "You wanna carve a pumpkin too?"

"I–I... Yes, I... I thought that..." Ekka stammered, and the girl laughed a little, walking to the other side of the table.

"You want a big pumpkin or a small one?"

"Uhm... A–A small one?"

The girl laughed again, "Great." Suddenly, a small pumpkin was dropped gently in front of her. Ekka's eyes widened, but the girl didn't look surprised at all. "Okay, so first you need to draw what design you want on the pumpkin. It could be a scary face or a heart, et cetera. Whatever you want."

"Okay..." Ekka paused, "... Can I draw a... A bird or something?"

"Of course!" The girl helped Ekka draw the bird on the pumpkin, using Flutter as a reference. Then, she took the pumpkin and cut a hole on the top of it. "Okay, now here's the gross part. You have to put some gloves on and take out all the pumpkin stuff inside of it."

Ekka nodded, putting on the gloves the girl offered to her. She carefully scooped out all the inside seeds and set them to the side. Flutter bounced off her shoulder, and began to peck at the seeds she discarded. Ekka smiled at her, "Do those taste good?" She asked the bird quietly. She thought with all the music and talking that she wouldn't be able to hear her, but she tweeted loudly. Ekka giggled, easily finishing her scooping.

"That's great!" The girl smiled, "I'll carve out the bird for you and then you'll be all set." The girl proceeded with using the carving knife to cut out the bird they drew. It came out rather well, and looked really pretty too. She also drew a few designs around the bird, making it more appealing to the eye, and even made a small branch for it to be perched on.

"And... We're done!" She smiled, handing Ekka the pumpkin.

"Jean!" Someone shouted over the crowd, making the girl look up. A male student reflective red glasses approached them, along with male student who was blue and had three fingers on both hands. The red-glasses student had a costume Ekka recognized as one of the ones she made. It was supposed to be a vampire cloak; black on the outside with red on the inside and a long collar. It was one of the easier ones she made.

The blue one was wearing a costume that made him look wolfish, with fake, blue hair shoved in every nook and cranny, a shirt that was designed to give him toned abs, and ripped shorts. "Who is this?" The wolf-boy asked. Ekka suddenly realized she was sitting between the three. Ekka gave a squeak of surprise, wanting to hide under her hood.

"S–Sorry... I will go now..." She murmured shyly. "Thank you Miss Jean..." Jean smiled at her.

"No problem, Ekka!" Ekka blinked, she had never given the girl her name. "I can read minds, don't worry."

"Oh..." Ekka felt stupid for being so surprised. She was in a school where every child had supernatural abilities. Another telepath shouldn't be so surprising.

"'Ekka'?" The red-glasses repeated. "Hey, aren't you the same kid that made all those costumes?"

Ekka seemed to shrink at the attention, "U–Uh... I–I did..."

"That's awesome," he laughed. "This costume is so tight man!"

"Ah, uhm... Th–Thank you..." She whispered.

"Name's Scott, by the way. Scott Summers, and this is Kurt Wagner," he pointed to the blue boy beside him, who waved at her with his three fingers.

"... I–I am Ekka, but I suppose you already know that..." Ekka replied. Flutter gave a angry tweet when Ekka failed to introduce her. "Oh, a–and this is Flutter."

"That is a pretty bird," the blue boy spoke up. His accent was as thick as her own, making it almost hard to understand with all the noise. "What kind of bird is it?"

"She is a hummingbird," Ekka answered.

"We're gonna go to the haunted house, wanna tag along?" Ekka blinked, surprised at Scott's offer. She definitely didn't want to go anywhere near that haunted house, but she also didn't want to be rude. Ekka didn't quite know why they would even offer to take her along, but she definitely knew that they didn't have to. If there was one thing she learned at the Circus, it was to never turn down an offer for anything. It was rude and always made Father upset — she didn't want them be upset too.

"Ah... Uhm... Sure," Ekka answered.

Jean gave her a look, "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Ekka shook her head firmly, "N–No, it is okay. I would like to go too." It was only a haunted house after all. None of it was real, so what could possibly go wrong?

~.•🎃•.~

In retrospect, it was a pretty bad idea to attend a haunted house where every student in the building had some sort of superpower, that — with much determination, and creativity — could be used to scare the bejesus out of someone.

For example, take a student with a affinity for making plants grow in their favour. Then, using it to weave a monster-like man out of a small patch of — what Ekka had assumed was fake — grass, armored in bark, with feet of soil, carrying an axe that formed out of its hands and then chasing them.

Or, two students working together, one with the uncanny ability to make one see false things in mirrors, and the other with the ability to create these fake things. The four of them had a great time running from a clown with a twisted, almost demonic face, wielding a baseball bat with nails, and laughing with a high pitched voice that Ekka knew would haunted her dreams.

Or maybe — which happened to be Ekka's absolute least favorite — a room that was filled with wispy ghostlike people that embodied your worse fear. It had been different for each one of them. Ekka had nearly screamed when she saw a angry ghost version of Father, shouting soundlessly at her.

Needless to say, they quickly left that room.

Once they had finished, Scott was laughing loudly, "That was fun!"

"I disagree," Kurt replied. "That was horrific."

"I think we scared Ekka into silence," Jean commented, staring down at Ekka. Ekka was literally trembling, her eyes wide. "Ekka? Are you okay?"

"... A–Ah, yes, I, uhm, I a–am fine..." Ekka lied, trying to calm her heart that was attempting to jump out of her chest.

Jean gave the girl a pitying look, "How about we go back to the party? They'll start the 'Best Halloween Costume' contest soon."

"Huh? What contest?" Ekka frowned, she had never heard of such a thing.

"Basically, everyone in the gym starts pretending to be their costume, and the judges will go around and tag people. If you're tagged, you're out. The finalist then go against one another, and we decide who wins," Jean explained.

"Oh... Okay," Ekka murmured, twisting her hands around her homemade basket. She didn't quite know if she wanted to participate, but it was better than the haunted house she was just traumatized by.

As they walked back to the gym, Scott decided to make small talk. "Where did you get that scar from, Ekka?" Ekka blinked at the sudden question, raising a hand to her face.

"I... I..." She stuttered, as her mind flashed back to that night.

"Fira! No, please, do not die!" Ekka sobbed as Fira's eyes glazed over an her head lolled to the side. "I am sorry Father! I am sorry! Do not let her die, please! We will not do it again, I swear!!"

"Stop your whining, and get up," Father hissed, yanking the bloody girl up from the ground. "Get in. It's your turn now."

"Ekka?" Ekka snapped her head up, shaking. All three of the upperclassmen were staring at her.

"... Sorry," Ekka murmured, beginning to walk again. "The scar was from... A lion."

"A what!?" Scott exclaimed, making the girl jump.

Ekka ducked her head, a feeble attempt to be smaller and more unknown. "A–A lion. It scratched me..."

"How did a lion scratch you?" Kurt asked, equally as surprised as Scott.

"It's... A long story..." Ekka said in a whisper tone.

"If you don't feel comfortable with explaining, then you don't have to," Jean assured. "Scott shouldn't be so nosy." Jean sent a sideways glare his way, and the boy's eyes widened.

"I didn't know!" He exclaimed, but went silent again. A few minutes later, he and Kurt engaged on a conversation on something called 'video games'.

"Hey," Ekka turned to Jean, who had slowed her pace to walk beside her. "I'm sorry for your friend." Ekka stared at the girl, momentarily confused. Then, she realized who she was talking about.

"Oh... I... It is okay... Th–Thank you..." Jean nodded and nothing else was said on the subject.

~.•🎃•.~

"Okay, everyone! We're gonna start our Halloween costume contest now!" One of the teachers announced. "Everyone do your best impression of your costume!"

The music in the background was turned up, drowning out the sounds of the student loud imitations of their characters. Ekka didn't really know what to do so she simply stood there, looking around and holding basket. Eventually, she was tagged out and told to sit on the bleachers. Ekka complied and began to walk towards the hard wooden seats. The sound of a whip made her stop in her tracks.

"Jump through the hoop!" Someone shouted. Ekka scanned the crowd, looking desperately for where the sounds were coming from. She finally caught a glimpse of them when the crowd parted. It was two students a few years older than herself, one was dressed up as a lion, the other... Was in a orange leotard. Was she supposed to be a lion tamer...?

The sound of the whip cracked again as she hit the lion. It wasn't hard by any means, just a tap, but Ekka didn't register it as that.

"Work harder!" Father screamed in her ears. "Make them jump higher!! Do you want me to whip them!?"

"No..." Ekka gasped, her mouth suddenly feeling dry. Her heart hammered against her chest and she swallowed a knot in her throat. Ekka pushed through the crowd, not taking her eyes off the duo. "... No, stop!"

Ekka finally made it, barely catching the whip before it hit the lion, "Wha—Hey! That's mine!"

"Stop...!" Ekka cried, tears filling her eyes.

"Let go!" The girl demanded, pulling the whip back. She tried to go around the girl, but Ekka was blocking her from reaching the other boy. All she could think of was how Father might punish her later for being insubordinate.

The girl glared at her, then roughly pushed her to the ground, Ekka gasped as she fell. "What's wrong with you, weirdo!?" The girl hissed.

"Do... Do not hit him anymore..." Ekka whispered, her body trembling. It was too late. Father was going to kill her, just like how he killed Fira. He was going to take another finger! He could make her drown herself! He'd–He'd let her step over the edge of a cliff! She was stupid to try to defend Frais! Had she learned nothing!?

"... It's not even real," the girl said above her. Ekka hadn't realized she was speaking. "It doesn't even hurt. See?" She raised the whip and aimed it at Ekka. Ekka stared at the girl, and for a second, her reality shifted. Instead of a simple student standing before her, it was Father. His dark eyes clouded with anger that seemed to pierce through her. His shadow loomed over her as he gave her lashings, but this time, he didn't stop. He just kept hitting her and hitting her and hitting her and—

Oh god, oh god, no. No! Ekka panicked. Help me help me help—

A low growling rose beside her, making both her and the girl turn. The boy in the lion costume was on all fours, glowering at the girl. His eyes were wild, like a angered beast, and before either of them could react, he jumped at the girl.

He tackled her to the ground, clawing at her face, tearing at her hair, biting her. The girl screamed, kicking and struggling to get him off, which had drawn in more attention. Several students came to her aid to pull the boy off her.

Ekka sat, shocked at the scene. The girl's face held several scratches and she was crying. The boy was still growling, but backed away like a cautious animal. Everything was in chaos, and... It had all been her fault.

Ekka felt like she couldn't breathe. She needed to leave, now. So she did. She grabbed her stuff, pushing her way out of the crowd and ran.

~.•🎃•.~

A knocking at the door made Ekka stop crying for a second. Vera had tried to come in, but Ekka locked the door. She didn't want to hurt anyone else, especially after what she did to those two students. "Miss Ekka, please unlock the door, you are not in any trouble," it was Xavier. Of course. Ekka had disappointed him. He offered her safety in his school and she... She repaid him with that!?

"I am coming in now, Miss Ekka," Xavier said softly. Ekka heard the door open, and she didn't make a sound. "Miss Ekka?" She heard his wheelchair roam the room before stopping in front of her hiding place. He opened up the closet doors to reveal Ekka hiding in a small ball in the corner. "Why are you in the closet?"

"... I..." Ekka's voice cracked and she swallowed down the knot in her throat. "... I did not want to s–soil my bed... I thought you wo–would get upset..." Xavier chuckled at this.

"Come out, please, Miss Ekka," he coaxed, but Ekka shook her head.

"I... I made that boy hurt the girl..." Ekka whispered, more tears threatening her eyes. "... I am sorry, Mister Xavier. I did not mean to, I–I just...—I saw the whip and I..."

"Don't worry," Xavier insisted. "No serious harm was done, it was just an accident."

"I–I do not even know what I did to him!" Ekka sobbed, "I was scared and–and then he just... Attacked her!"

"I know," he coaxed. "It's over now. The students already finished the trick-or-treating activity, and were all send to bed, I advise you do the same. After all, you do have class tomorrow." Ekka sniffed, but nodded, climbing out of her hiding spot. She curled up on the floor beside her bed, like she always did. Charles gave her a strange look, but didn't comment on it. Flutter tweeted beside her, as Charles rolled out of the room. "Goodnight, Miss Ekka."

"Goodnight, Mister Xavier."

As Ekka drifted to sleep, her thoughts were still haunted by what she did to that boy. Xavier had been right, it was merely an accident, but, she couldn't help but think that if this... Happened again, and she controlled someone like that again...

Then, Ekka was no better than her Father. And to Ekka, that was the scariest thought of all.

~.•🎃•.~.•🎃•.~.•🎃•.~.•🎃•.~.•🎃•.~

I honestly don't know what to say here... So many little Easter eggs for the future! And Ekka's power, hehe, do you guys get it yet? Tell me what y'all think she can do!

Happy Halloweenie everyone—I didn't get to go trick-or-treating ,_,—have fun getting cavities and stomach aches and questioning what you're doing with your life (ooo~ existentialism! Now that's scary!).

By the way, if this "🎃" just looks like a rectangle to you, then don't worry, it's a jack-o-lantern. I understand the struggle, I used to have a Nokia >~>.

Also, big big biggie big big thanks to Absolutely_Positive for giving me that suggestion on what she could do. Ugh, I never even THOUGHT of that XD! All credit goes to her! Check her out, her fan fiction, It's Callie and the sequel It's Us was amazing and so is she! (If you're reading this AP, then hai). She also has a account for her original stories called AJCuff which is eqUALLY AS AWESOME!

(Not to... Uhm... Fangirl or anything, but my favorite story is The Other Side because o m g it's so good and I love how the character is developing and then stuff happens and I can't wait for the next update ^w^!!)

But hey... I am a very serious human bean. I am capable of giving a simple shout out to an amazing person and she's like totally my senpai and—

...

I'm gonna stop here before I write like an thousand word long note—which she absolutely deserves. I'll see y'all next time, and remember...

Don't scream~!~ Happyritas~!

🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃

~.•*•.~.•*•.~.•*•.~.•*•.~.•*•.~.•*•.~

Edited: 3/19/17