Scarlet Dawn
Chapter One
Disclaimer: All characters and locations in this story belong to Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. The story title is courtesy of Myth Queen, who also gave me the encouragement I needed to publish this.
It was a chilly evening in New York, and rain poured down incessantly. The red-clad figure pulled her coat more tightly around her slender frame, and brushed wet strands of auburn hair back from her forehead. She huddled closer to the small fire she had made, rubbing her bare hands together for warmth, trusting the shadows of the alleyway to conceal her. She glanced around anxiously. It should not have taken him this long to find what he was looking for!
"Where are you?" She murmured, almost inaudibly. She shivered- being left alone always made her remember things she had spent years trying to forget...
She was trembling in Mama's arms, trying to explain that she was scared of the cursed mountain, scared of the voice that had seemed to call her, that promised her power. People from the village said she had caused all the crops and livestock to die that summer. They claimed that she was a witch, or else a demon. But it wasn't her- the thing in the mountain had told her it would happen and she had tried to warn the farmers, that was all! Mama kept her and her brother in the caravan while Papa went to speak to the torch-bearing angry villagers. Loud shouting was heard, then the smell of burning reached them, and the caravan filled with smoke. Mama quickly lifted her, then her brother, pushing them out of the one small window. They watched in horror as the entire caravan went up in flames with Mama still inside. She screamed.
The villagers caught hold of her, dragging her away, planning to kill her. Some of them were throwing stones at her. Papa tried to rescue her and she fell. She was scared, and Papa was getting beaten! She couldn't even see her brother any more. A strange reddish-purple light surrounded the mountain in the distance, and her hands glowed the same colour. Suddenly, she felt as if she was watching the scene from a distance, and she couldn't speak or move.
"YOU WOULD ENDANGER MY FAVOURED ONE?" She felt really frightened now- the words were coming from her mouth, but she wasn't speaking, and the voice wasn't hers!
The villagers backed away in a panic, some of them running. The light surrounding her hands blazed, and engulfed everyone nearby. They all began screaming and convulsing in agony, and blood was running from their mouths, ears and eyes. Even Papa was being hurt. She tried as hard as she could to make the red light disappear, but it didn't work- she couldn't even move her hands!
As soon as it had started, it stopped. All the villagers fell to the ground, like marionettes with their strings cut. None of them got up or moved. She realised she could move again, and gasped, running to Papa, ignoring the horrible laugh in her mind. She shook him, crying. He was in the same state as the others, and she began to shake. What had she done?
Her brother crawled out from the hollow log he'd been hiding in, and walked towards her nervously.
She tried to step towards him, but suddenly felt so tired... Everything went dark.
She shook her head, blocking out the hideous memory. The next thing she remembered was waking up in her brother's arms as he ran, faster than anything she'd ever seen, certainly faster than anything a normal ten-year-old should be capable of. Everything they ran past was a blur. He had told her that he would always take care of her, whatever happened. She told him, hesitantly, that the voice that had spoken to the villagers sounded like the one that kept calling her to the cursed mountain. Upon hearing that, he had taken her from their homeland, as far from that place as possible.
They had travelled together through Europe for more than ten years, stealing food to keep from starving. But they had been unable to settle anywhere for more than a month or two. She still had recurring nightmares, calling her back to that mountain, and the power she had gained all those years ago was still present, but uncontrollable. She tried her best, but wherever they went, eventually the power flared up, and more often than not, innocent people got hurt. She had told her brother numerous times to leave her, that he'd be happier by himself, but he always refused, unwilling to part from his only remaining family. He always said he didn't care if she was cursed. By this point, she firmly believed she was.
An incredibly strong wind blew into the alleyway, extinguishing the small fire and pausing right next to her. Her brother smiled warmly.
"I found a shelter for homeless people a few streets away. We should be able to stay there for a few days, if you think you're up to it?" He narrowed his eyes, examining her anxiously. He wasn't going to take her anywhere if she thought her powers might cause yet another freak accident.
She took a deep breath. "I think I'll be alright. I'm not in a bad mood or anything," - anger often seemed to fuel her losses of control- "and I really do want to get out of this rain!"
He outstretched his arms, ready to lift her so they could travel at his accustomed speed as they made their way to the shelter- he hated walking at normal speed. She acquiesced silently.
She smirked. "Oh, and by the way, Pietro? They're not referred to as 'streets', they call them 'blocks'. We're in America now, remember?" She laughed at his disgruntled expression as they disappeared in the blink of an eye.
To be continued...