CHAPTER ONE

Gryphon Comics was stuffed fuller than a Bath and Body Works on Black Friday.

The owner of the comics store, a nice older man named Carl, liked to host events for freaks and geeks and every nerd in between. They were usually themed, like the events around Halloween were always Halloween themed or the Christmas events were Christmas themed. Last year, one of the Halloween events was Five Nights at Freddy's themed and Carl had set the lights on a timer so they turned off every once in a while making everyone scream. Or sometimes they coincided with a movie trailer drop or the release of a new book or comic.

This event was Avengers themed in honor of the new Avengers movie Age of Ultron. Dozens of people were dressed as an Avenger, most notably Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America. There were some Black Widows sprinkled in here and there, and I could have sworn a saw a Hawkeye or two. Mostly, though, I saw a lot of people in t-shirts or sweaters that gave the general idea of their favorite Avenger.

My brother Eli was dressed in a very authentic Captain America costume. Shield and all. Then he'd suggested I wear a t-shirt with the shield on it and my sweater that was designed to look like Cap's suit from the beginning of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I was more of a casual Marvel fan, myself. I didn't read the comics and whatever knowledge I had of them I got from Google. Eli was the real fanboy. I came to these things with him because I thought they were fun, even if I didn't talk to anyone. That, and because Mom always made him take me. She hated to see me home alone on a Saturday night even though I didn't mind one bit.

A little after we showed up, everyone gathered to watch the most recent trailer and now they were standing around in small groups talking excitedly and discussing their theories.

I caught snippets of their conversations as I made my way through the crowd looking for Eli. I heard murmurings of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver and mutants. A few people were talking about the things they wanted to happen in the movie ranging from certain character arcs to funny one-off scenes between characters. One woman was getting upset over a scene that seemed to show Natasha getting up close and personal with Bruce Banner.

"Obviously, she's meant to be with Steve so I don't know why they think they can have her coupling up with just anyone, especially Banner," The woman said. Her cheeks were flushed.

I could only smile and move on.

Finally, I found Eli near the front of the store talking to a girl in a Black Widow costume. She looked bored as hell but he looked like he was having the time of his life.

"Oh, hey Mavis," Eli said when he spotted me. "Amy, this is my little sister Mavis."

The girl looked at me. She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. I saw her scan the crowd behind me like she was looking for a way out. I could only imagine what Eli was talking to her about that made her want to jump ship as quickly as possible.

"I'll let you go then," Amy said without even looking at Eli.

Eli opened is mouth to respond, but she was already gone.

"What were you two talking about?" I asked. "She walked away pretty fast."

Eli shrugged. "I mean, I was telling her my theories for the new Avengers movie. I think they're going to introduce mutants and maybe even the X-Men. After what they did in Days of Future Past I think we deserve a good X-Men movie again."

I looked at him. "Were you just swapping theories or were you making her feel bad for having a different theory?"

Eli blinked. "Ah, shit. If I did I didn't mean to."

"Just get the car," I laughed. "I'm ready to go home."

Eli sighed. "Fine. Did you have fun at least?"

"I always have fun," I said.

"Wait by the front door and don't move," Eli said once we left the store, then he started down the street to get to the car.

I zipped up my sweater and shoved my hands in my pockets. Gryphon Comics was about one street removed from the main shopping district in our city. That street, more like a strip mall, was chock full of stores like Macy's and a two story Target and Barnes and Noble. You could always tell the tourists from the locals because the locals stayed away from the mall most of the time. The locals knew about all the really good places and none of them were there.

My favorite ice cream shop, Eye Scream, was down the street from Gryphon Comics and sometimes Eli and I would stop there and pick up some ice cream on our way home. Our favorite restaurant was about a block away in the opposite direction. It was the restaurant that Mom and Dad had gotten engaged in. They had their first date there, too, and it was the first place they'd gone out to eat at after Eli was born, and then again after I was born.

I was considering asking Eli if we could stop for ice scream on our way home when I heard a crash in the alley next to the comic store. I jumped and looked around, but there was no one there. I hadn't seen anyone go into the alley, and there definitely wasn't anyone coming out of it.

Part of me wanted to go back into Gryphon to wait. I would text Eli that I got spooked and didn't want to wait outside anymore. But this wasn't a dangerous part of town. In fact, it was absolutely one of the safest in the whole city.

But that didn't mean much if someone wanted to hurt me, did it?

I heard a crash again, this time, quieter. I took a few steps toward the alley.

"Hello? Is someone there?" I yelled as loudly as I could. A little voice in the back of my head was telling me how dumb I was for saying anything and even getting near the alley.

But… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. If I got murdered, at least it would be sort of mysterious, right?

I took a few tentative steps down the alley. The light from a nearby street lamp wasn't strong enough to reach all the way to the end, but it wasn't dark in the alley. There was a strange blue light at the end. A deep, dark blue, and it pulsed in time with my heartbeat. I couldn't tell where it was coming from. It was just there all around me swallowing me whole.

And then the light was gone and all that was left was pain.