Chapter 5

Teleportation

When Kaethe came home from her shopping she found Amanda curled up in the chair crying into her knees. “Amanda? What’s wrong hunny?” She said with a comforting hand resting on the girl’s shoulder.

“Kurt’s gone,” Amanda sniffed.

Kaethe looked at her. “What do you mean he’s gone?”

Amanda proceeded to tell her mother’s cousin about what happened that afternoon. Needless to say Kaethe was very disappointed in Amanda’s behavior. “I’m going to call your mother. She’ll need to know about what happened. Then we’ve got to find Kurt.”

The phone call to Margali wasn’t easy. The circus woman was silent for a long time when she learned her little Nightcrawler had run away from home—one of the many fears of having children.

“I’ll call the police right now,” Kaethe said.

“N-no,” Margali told her. “We can’t get them involved. They’ll hunt Kurt down like an animal the moment you describe him.”

“Well, I’ll go out looking right now. How hard could it be to find a blue kid?”

Kurt had walked the streets of Munich for several hours before he finally found a seat in a deserted alley behind some trashcans. He sat down on the cement, pulling his knees up to his chest, wrapping arms and tail around his legs. He was scared. He had never been out on is own before. He just didn’t know what to do.

As if being called, the sound of church bells rang through the air. Kurt had never been in a church before. Margali wasn’t religious enough to make it to church every week; she had her beliefs, including that there was a higher being, but she rarely preached to herself about His goodness.

Kurt got to his feet and followed the sounds of the bells. He noticed a large cathedral situated at the end of the street. Making sure the coast was clear of the normal people, he ran across the street and proceeded to run up the large stone stairs and open the massive wooden door.

Kurt’s eyes couldn’t take the architecture in all at once. It was breathtaking to say the least. Every window was made of stained glass, depicting some sort of scene. Statues and pillars lined the large room that was filled with pews on both sides of a long open isle. Ahead of him knelt a man in front of an alter. Over this area was a large cross that portrayed a man hanging by his arms; Kurt knew who this was—it was Jesus Christ.

Kurt wasn’t sure if he could talk to the man or not. He was about to go forward and ask for help when he realized that the man would think of him as Satan and run off. Kurt’s blood rushed through him. He started to become very scared. He had never ventured away from home before, and now that he thought of it, it hadn’t been a good idea.

Kurt looked above to see several balconies. He wished he could get up there without being noticed. Maybe he’d be safe up there, away from everything and anyone. But the nearest staircase that he saw was to the side of the praying man.

Determination set into Kurt’s mind as he tried to figure out a way to get up to the balcony. He wanted to get up there. He had to get up there.

Then suddenly…

He was there.

Kurt’s chest huffed and puffed for air. His head felt like it was spinning and he couldn’t stop it. What had just happened? And where was he?

Then he noticed the large stained glass window over the alter he had been facing only moments before. He was on the balcony.

“But…how?” He asked himself out loud. He didn’t understand. He just thought of getting up there and he did it.

The idea confused yet intrigued him. He wanted to figure it out in the worst way, but he didn’t know how too. He looked over to a bench that sat against the wall behind him. He looked at it and nothing happened. The young mutant was now more confused than ever. He stood there, staring at the bench, trying to figure out how he could get there.

Then it dawned on him, as if a little light bulb was switched on inside his brain. Kurt imagined himself atop the bench…and there he was.

“Whoa…” He said as he felt like his body had been sucked inside out. “That’s…so cool.”

For several minutes Kurt practiced with this technique, moving from balcony to balcony, side to side, up and down. On his short jumps he noticed that the air had a funny smell to it, but he couldn’t figure out what. Not only that, but if he turned around fast enough he’d see a dark blue smoke evaporating in the place he had been at.

“Who’s there?” came an older sounding voice.

Kurt’s heart jumped a mile out of his chest. He had been making too much noise and now someone was coming. Forgetting about his newly found power, Kurt dodged behind the statue of a woman holding a baby in her arms.

“Hello? Who’s there?” called out the voice.

Kurt peered around the base of the statue and saw the man that had been praying coming forward from a staircase. The last thing he wanted was to be called a demon again.

“I know someone’s here. Come out,” the priest said. “If you’re not that of evil, then you will show yourself.”

Kurt knew it was impossible to try to hide. And he wasn’t bad, that was for sure. He stood up in a timid stance, his knees bent slightly as if afraid of the priest.

The elderly priest turned around and looked at Kurt with soft, questioning eyes. “There you are. No need to hide in the shadows, come on out.”

Kurt hesitated, but finally took a step forward; and to his surprise there was no reaction from his appearance. “Sorry,” Kurt said shyly. “I didn’t mean to…I didn’t know where else…”

The priest held up his hand. “Calm down, my child. I am not cross with you. I understand you perfectly.”

Kurt raised a dark eyebrow and tilted his head ever so slightly. “You do?”

“Come down with me and we can talk.” The priest didn’t wait for any reply before making his way back down the stairs.

Kurt followed him down to the front of the church where he had seen the man praying earlier. “Excuse me, but are you one of those people who talk to God?”

The old man laughed. “You could say that,” he said after he calmed himself down. “But God listens to everyone. Even you.”

Kurt shook his head. “Why would he? I’m not like everyone else.”

“Neither am I.” There was a twinkle in the old man’s eye that Kurt liked. He was shocked when the man raised his hand and floating above his palm was a yellow orb of light. Kurt took a step closer to get a better look, taking in its magnificence.

“You see?” The old man said. “You’re not the only mutant on this planet. Some are less powerful than others. But I can see that you’re heart is in the right place, which is what counts.”

Kurt listened carefully, already feeling better. The man seemed to understand Kurt better than anyone else ever had, even Trent knowing about his sister.

“But my friend called me a demon,” Kurt admitted. “Can God help me?”

The old man smiled. “You are no demon, child. And unfortunately, God can’t make you like everyone else. You are what you are. But God will guide you through life with an undying faith if you let him.”

Kurt thought about what the old priest had said for several minutes. He didn’t even look up from his stare at his feet until the priest held out what looked like a necklace at first. “Take these,” he told Kurt. “These rosary beads were made in France. And that cross is pure silver.”

Kurt waited for a moment before taking the beads in his own hands. “You’re just giving them to me?” The priest nodded. “Thank you…” He took the beads and held them in his hands, the cross dangling towards the ground.

“You see, I went through the same thing at your age,” the priest explained. “And I know how difficult it can be when you have no idea where to go or what to do. But God can help you, child. Just give him a chance.”

Kurt nodded and then glanced up at Christ hanging on the cross. He began to understand now—that everyone suffers in some way. “I think I better go home now,” he said softly.

“That would be a good idea. Your family must miss you.”

Kurt thanked the priest again and began his walk home. During the walk down the back streets of city to avoid large crowds of people, Kurt’s fingers played with the rosary beads resting in his pocket. Perhaps God could help him.

Margali had taken a bus back to Munich as soon as she could. Her heart sank when she discovered that Kaethe’s search came up empty handed.

“I’m sorry, Margali,” she said softly. “I looked everywhere. And people only laughed when I asked if they saw him.”

Margali nodded and tried to give her an assuring look, but she couldn’t help but think of her little Kurt wondering the streets in the city by himself. She was about to make a call to Chester and the others, who waited anxiously for any news on Kurt’s disappearance, when the front door’s hinges squeaked as the door was pushed open.

Kurt’s blue figure appeared, his eyes avoiding the two women that sat in the room. He knew he was going to get it this time. And he understood, to a certain extent that he deserved whatever punishment was dealt out.

“Kurt Wagner!” Margali shouted, getting up and seeming very angry. She went over to Kurt, who stood in a slumped position, waiting for a slap across his face. But it never came. “I was so worried!” Margali dropped to her knees and gave Kurt the biggest hug he ever remembered getting. She backed away and looked him over, making sure he was all right. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I was just mad.”

“I know. I know,” she said softly as she hugged him again. “Don’t do that again…please Kurt. You’re like a son to me. I couldn’t bear losing you.”

Margali’s words brought Kurt’s low spirits up a considerable amount. And the appearance of Amanda on the staircase looking very sorrowful made him feel even better. Especially when she said, “Kurt, I never meant to say what I did. You know I love you…I’m very sorry.”

Kurt nodded with a smile, his yellow eyes twinkling with happiness. Perhaps God was already helping him out like the priest said he would. Maybe having faith would make his life easier to handle after all.

***********

AN: Honestly, I have no idea about if the church exists in Munich…I made that up. I suppose I could’ve done research…but eh, I’m lazy.