The door closed again. They finally left. It had been a recurring event these past few days, ever since I hurt Steve. I simply wasn't doing it anymore. I'd stopped responding, and it definitely wasn't for their lack of trying. They visited me several times a day, but I laid in the corner, unresponsive, until they eventually gave up and went away again. They always left, because they knew I wouldn't move if they were there, even if that meant skipping meals. So they left me alone, trying to give me time.
They had given me an earpiece, however, which I had accepted and I kept it in my ear at all times. It was a possibility of communicating with them over a safe distance, though I hadn't used it so far. I sighed. I could tell that I was giving them a hard time, and it bothered me. I couldn't be trusted, I knew that. Why couldn't they accept that as well and continue with the life they'd had before they met me?
I knew why, deep inside of me. Tony had said it himself that night: "family". They were my family now, of course they wouldn't abandon me. But couldn't they see that that didn't count anymore? I'd broken their trust. I had hurt them, hurt family. I'd never even done that to my own parents. And the guilt, every time Steve came to check on me I could smell it, the bandage, the wound, the blood. Even thinking of it made me shudder. I couldn't bear to be in Steve's presence, let alone that I could possibly be hanging out with them like before it … happened. I sighed, leant against the wall and slid down until I sat. Perhaps it was for the best if I stayed here, or …
What if I went away? I'd been thinking about that a lot. To leave this place and go somewhere far away, where I could try to make peace with myself. And if I ever did, I'd come back. It seemed like a great idea to me, but would they agree? I shrugged my shoulders. It couldn't hurt to ask. I reached for my earpiece and hesitated for a moment before I pressed the button. "Hey uhm, I know it's been a while since I talked to you guys but to whoever this is, hello?"
I knew that they had a system for the other earpiece. They'd decided to keep only one other earpiece in connection with mine, for my privacy. At all times one of the avengers had it on them, ready to communicate whenever I was ready.
I didn't have to wait long for an answer. "Hey Accalia. God, it's good to hear from you. Look I'm not trying to push you, but we just uhm … well, we miss ya kid." I smiled, it was Clint. "I know, and I know I've been very tough on myself, but I can still feel that something's wrong Clint. I mean it's been I don't even know how many days? And I know that I still don't feel right. It's a gut feeling, but I know it's true. So, I can't do it. Not until that feeling goes away. I can't risk hurting anyone … again." I added quietly.
I heard Clint sigh "Look I get that, but I … we feel that this is not the way. We're a family, remember? We've never abandoned you before and we're sure as hell not going to do it now, but you have to trust us. Please Accalia, you have to let us help you, let us in."
"I can't, I'm sorry, not while I can't control myself, but I do agree that this is not the way. Actually, that's why I contacted you in the first place. I wanted to run something by you. Do you think it at all possible that you guys release me for a while? Not from this room, you know I don't mean that, I'm in here because I want to be. No, I was thinking maybe somewhere in a large forest or something. I think I need to disappear for a while Clint, get my stuff together. And when I do I promise I'll come straight back, but for now this doesn't work. I can't be around you like this, even you know that this doesn't work." I answered. "No Accalia stop, don't even think that. Listen, we're not leaving you behind, under any circumstance. So, you can put that thought straight out of your head." "But …" I tried.
"No, this is final." Clint interrupted me. "I know it's hard for you right now, but we're solving this, together. We're not letting you run off somewhere where we can't keep an eye on you, you know that. Accalia, this is difficult for us too. We want to help you, but we're all a bit in the dark as to what is the best way. But I hereby promise you that it'll be okay and that some day in the future you'll be among us as usual, bantering away at something silly."
I couldn't help but snort at that. Clint continued "We can do this kid, we have all the time in the world. We won't give up on you. I mean, you've only been in that room for a week, I think you asked earlier. It's the fifth of April now. You just need to give it some time. We can afford to take it slow, alright?"
I conceded "Yeah, you're right." But something bothered me. "What did you say the date was, the fifth of April? You said I'd been in here for a week, you mean exactly one week? Seven days?" Clint answered "Yeah. "Exactly one week, why?" I started pacing the room. Fifth of April, why did it seem so significant? Why did I recognise it? There were not many days when I was aware of the date in the past. So, this particular date had to mean something, I had to figure this out. It was exactly one week after David had been defeated, it seemed a bit too coincidental. They hadn't found out where David's factories were yet and although we still had a week, it worried me. What if it had something to do with Yellow-X?
Okay, I needed to find out what was particular about today, but how? Clint just told me they weren't going to let me out. I could carefully try once more, now that I had a more solid reason. Plus, I had been silent for a while now, a longer silence would only raise suspicion. "Uhm Clint" I began carefully, "I think there's something about today, but I can't put my finger on it. I need to look around and try to remember what it was, it might be something important."
Clint responded "Alright, if it seems important to you. I'll get the others and then we'll head out straight away." I shook my head. No, whatever was wrong with today, finding out was going to be something personal and meant reliving painful memories. Perhaps it was even going to be dangerous, and I wasn't about to endanger the others. No way. I said "No Clint, I mean just me, I have to do this alone. I have to check some places, search around a bit, but I need to do this on my own. I know that whatever this is, is something personal. I'll be looking around a lot of places which hold old memories of my past. Please understand Clint, I have to do this alone."
Clint replied "Accalia, we talked about this, that's a firm no and you know it. I'm sorry, but we're not taking any risks, especially when you're still not feeling like yourself."
Clint sighed, before he continued. "Look, I can see Bruce coming up to me, it's his turn to keep the earpiece. Talk to him, but don't try and convince him to let you out alone, that's not going to happen. Bruce's been wanting to talk to you for a while, we all have. So, let this topic slide for now, okay? We want to work this through with you, that means no solo trips. I gotta go, we all care about you kid, don't forget that." I ran a hand through my hair. "I know Clint … and thank you. It was nice to talk to you again." I said. "Any time." Clint answered.
There was silence on the line for a second before I heard the voice of Bruce "Hey, I heard you talking to Clint, that's great. How are you feeling?" I silently shook my head with a fond smile on my lips, Bruce, always the doctor. "Hey Bruce, I'm …" I bit my lip, I didn't want to lie to Bruce. "I'm getting a little better every day, but I'm not quite there yet. My wounds have mostly healed though. Thank you for attending to those each night." Bruce answered "My pleasure." He hesitated before continuing, I think he could feel that I didn't want to talk about me not being ready to come out of the room yet. "Anything in particular you wanted to talk about? Clint said something about today's date being important?"
Thoughts ran through my mind before a plan formed. Decidedly, it wasn't the most refined one, but maybe it could work. They'd be hella pissed once they found out though, but it was the only way. I had a bad feeling about today and whatever it was, the least I could do was find out what it was and face it. My instincts told me it had to do with Yellow-X. It was one week after David's demise and one week before the liquid was to be released. He must've planned something for today as well then. If only I could figure out why today's date seemed so important. I nodded to myself, I was going to get out of here and figure it all out. This entire mess was my fault anyway. I owed it to them. Nobody was going to get hurt because of something that was caused by me, by my family, my past.
I closed my eyes, my plan beginning to take shape as I answered Bruce. "Uhm yeah, but I remembered and turned out it was nothing. It's the day on which my parents used to do their annual check on me, and did some extra tests." I had to suppress a sigh as I lied to Bruce, it hurt not being able to tell him the truth. But if my hunch was right, then we could all be in danger. I needed to know for sure.
I spoke up "Actually, could you do me a favour?" Bruce answered without skipping a beat "Always". "Could you maybe send Nat up? It might be good to try and talk to someone again and I think she understands what I went through with my parents the best as she had a rough childhood too." I blinked and let a silent tear slip away. I was about to upset them again, but there was no other choice. I quickly wiped the tear away. No, this was not the time to get emotional, focus Accalia.
Bruce replied "Yeah, I'll ask her to come up and I'll give her the earpiece too. This is a great step in the right direction Accalia, I'm proud of you." I smiled sadly and responded "Thank you. I missed you Bruce." Bruce answered "I miss you too kid. We all do, more than you can know. We've gotten so used to your presence and spunky attitude around us all the time that it's been too quiet without you. But I'm holding you up, I'll go get Nat for you now." I answered "Thanks Bruce, bye."
Alright, that was step one. Now step two, getting out of this room and then the building. "JARVIS" I said. "Yes, Accalia?" JARVIS answered. "Look I know you heard all that and I don't have time to explain, nor can I explain exactly what is going on, but I need to get out, on my own. I'm about to do something really stupid and when I do, I need you to lock the door behind me and not open it under any circumstances. Can I rely on you for that, JARVIS?" I tried to emphasize my point a little more when JARVIS did not answer. "Please JARVIS, I would not be asking it unless I thought it was extremely important." JARVIS was quiet for a while, before responding "Very well, Accalia. I will trust you on this. Please be safe." I released a breath of relief. "Thank you JARVIS, thank you so much."
I walked to the door, standing behind it and getting ready, before turning into my wolf form. I would only get one shot at this. I groaned, how bad of an idea was it to jump an assassin? Probably not a great one, but it was the only plan I could come up with right now. I closed my eyes, focusing completely on my hearing. There, footsteps. Nat was coming up. The sounds came ever closer. I shook all over my body in anticipation and dread. Don't think, act immediately. Go for the neck and take out her air supply long enough to knock her out. She shouldn't be able to react fast enough, even as an assassin … I hoped. The footsteps stopped in front of the door. I released an unsteady breath, alright, time to test that theory.
The door opened and Nat walked inside. "Accalia?" I jumped and bit. "Wha …" She was cut off as I held her at the neck, before I felt her body slump. I released her and licked at her neck where my teeth had left an imprint. I carefully nudged her with tearful eyes. I'm so sorry Nat, I wish there was another way. I turned around, changed back to my human form and closed the door, hearing it lock behind me. "Thank you, JARVIS" I whispered.
Next step: leaving the building undetected. I walked up to the door that led to the staircase and listened carefully. Nothing, it should be safe. I took the stairs as quickly and silently as I could. Finally, I reached the bottom. I put my hand on the door. If anyone was in the hall that'd be it, they'd see me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Come on Accalia, you've made it this far and time is of the essence. Nat will wake up and the others will come looking for her eventually either way. I pushed the door open.
Nobody was there. I ran for it. I ran and ran and didn't stop running until I was at the edge of town. I turned into my wolf and sniffed the air. I thought of the place where I was first taken to when we came to America and it took me a second to figure out which way I had to go. Then I ran. It was quite a journey and by the time I could see the house looming in the distance I was exhausted. No time for a break, push on Accalia.
I came up to the house. It was quite a small house. If I remembered correctly there was a tiny kitchen and living room and 2 bedrooms upstairs. But of course that wasn't why my parents had bought it. No, it was the other reason. The house seemed to be completely cut off from the world. You could look at the horizon in every direction and not see a single sign of civilisation. I moved closer to the house, sniffing the air as I did. Strange, there seemed to be fresh scents. I noticed that the lights were on too, and came to a standstill with shock. There were people currently living in the house.
I sneaked closer to get a better look inside. There were a man and a woman, probably in their end thirties, sitting in the kitchen. A small child on the other side of the table was demanding their attention. I was mesmerised by the little familial scene and had to shake myself to wake up. Hmm, I hadn't expected to find much here anyway, but had thought that it might be the place to start. But I wasn't about to break and enter if I didn't have to.
I knew that finding anything here had been a slim chance anyway, but it meant that I didn't have to start going to my next destination. I gulped. It couldn't be avoided. I'd have to face my demons and go back to the place that had made me who I was, what I was. The same place where mom had died. I shuddered and took a few deep breaths. It was going to take a long time to get there. I'd need a good rest after this was all over. But those were worries for later. I took one final look at the house and set off.
An hour of running at full speed later I moved to a slower trot. There it was, just as I remembered it. I looked at the house, or rather, the remains of it. It seemed civilisation had not yet discovered this place. I slowly walked towards it and stopped near the rubble, looking at it. This was the place that had turned me into a wolf. This was the place where mom had never gotten up again. I felt the memories course through my brain and was taken aback by the intensity of it. I don't know how long I sat there looking at the rubble, before I snapped myself back to reality. I stared at the fragments of the house that were still left. Where was I going to begin? Had anything even survived the blast? I started digging a bit in the rubble, but only came across charcoaled pieces and broken items. I hung my head. This was hopeless.
I closed my eyes and tried to think of something. I couldn't give up. I had to find out what was wrong with today, what David had planned. There must be some way that I could find out. A memory crossed my mind and my eyes shot open. That's it! I put my nose to the ground and started sniffing, where was it? Come on, come on. There! I finally smelt it and began digging.
A floorboard became visible. I kept digging until I had completely dug it out. I turned back to my human form and pulled on the latch, holding my breath and looking inside. I stepped in and released my breath. Everything was still intact! My father's study and it hadn't been touched in all this time. I shook my head as I remembered the day David had built this. He had refused to keep his study inside the house, saying this was a much safer place. Well, he hadn't been wrong.
I looked at the place. There were shelves on every wall with endless amounts of paper and books stacked on them. At the furthest wall I could make out a desk and a chair. Books and large amounts of paper filled the floor as well. Other than that, the room was empty. Hmm, no computer then. I was going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.
I carefully made my way over to the chair, trying to avoid knocking over any of the stacks of paper. I sat in the chair. Okay, this was where he sat. Now, any human being who is so caught up in laboratory experiments needs to carefully note the dates down on which he administered the liquids. He must have an agenda somewhere.
I started moving the papers on the desk and gave out a squeak as a pile of paper came down on me and I was covered. I shook it off and continued searching. Where would I place something as important as an agenda? I opened the drawer of the desk but was only met with more paper. Okay, not there then.
I looked around. It needed to be reachable from the chair, I assumed. Where could it be? There, I saw something glistening behind a set of books. I shoved them to the side and gasped. That was it! An agenda. It was five years old. That meant that it was from two years before the house blew up, but I hoped that it would do. I opened the book and went to the fifth of April. My eyes widened as I almost fell out of the chair. I stared at the page for I don't know how long before I came to my senses again and said "Of course. That's it. This is why today's date is important".
It was mom's birthday. The fifth of April, of course. But what did David have planned? He loved mom like no one else, so he must've had some plan for today, it fit too perfectly. I flipped through the pages. My hand froze as I reached the end of April, where there was some space left for notes.
I read the entry "Tahlia just had the most wonderful idea, god I love that woman. If only we didn't have that stinking brat. But no matter, she might actually help us with Tahlia's plan by being our lab rat. We can do as many tests on her as we like until we'll get it right. We are going to create a serum that will make everyone who drinks it obey our commands. What a brilliant idea. And then, because she's such a wonderful wife, I'll make sure to release it on her birthday, at the time she was born. When I told her of my intentions to release the liquid on her birthday she was over the moon. She loved the details of the time as well. She even pointed out a factory that will do perfectly. It's been disused for years and due to confusing plans that kept being discontinued, the factory has been forgotten. We could work on the final stages of the liquid there and then spread it from the same factory. Creating such a liquid will take a very long time, but it'll be worth all the effort. God she is so brilliant. I'll never want for anything in my life again with her. We were made for each other." The details of where the factory stood had been scribbled down just below the entry.
My eyes widened with realisation. Today. The serum was going to be released today, on mom's birthday. My mind was racing. Perhaps he had never planned for me to steal the accelerator. He had probably only been trying to throw me off the scent.
I shook my head. This was it, a final tribute to mom. I had to stop this. I knew when mom's exact time of birth was. My parents had always been fascinated with numbers and her time of birth was always celebrated. It was 22.07. However, I had no idea what the current time was. I vaguely remembered that it had still been bright outside when I had walked into father's study. I stood up from the chair and walked outside. Dusk had fallen.
Okay, first things first. Figure out the time. I ran away from the house into no particular direction, knowing that no matter which way I went, it would take a while to get back to any civilisation. I finally reached a house, where I looked inside and could see a clock hanging on the wall. It was close to eight o'clock. I roughly knew the place where the factory was supposed to be, according to David's notes. It was going to take me around two and a half hours to get there. Maybe a little under two hours if I ran at full speed.
I would have to, I needed to be in time to stop this. I orientated myself, turned into my wolf and set off at full pace. I ran like hell. I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life and yet with each step a feeling of dread followed, which spurred me on to go even faster. Please let me get there in time to stop all this. Eventually as I was running through a forest, I neared the place where the factory was supposed to be. As I got closer and closer the smell suddenly hit me, yellow-X. I was definitely in the right spot. I continued my way and saw a clearing up ahead. Finally reaching the end of the forest, I walked out into the open space and saw it. There was a giant factory, which was undoubtedly in use right now. I could hear the sounds coming from it and saw the smoke coming from the chimneys. I turned back to my human form.
Alright, now think about how you're going to approach this, Accalia. Chances are that there's security or other followers of David on site. I approached carefully, and try as I did I could not smell or hear any humans. Perhaps David had automated the entire process, ensuring its success without needing any people who could possibly make human errors, or worse, be taken out or have a sudden change of heart.
As I approached the factory, I noticed the big front doors. I walked up to them and pushed them open … or tried to do so. The doors didn't budge in the slightest. Hmm, he must've locked the factory from the inside, so that if someone accidentally stumbled upon the factory they'd have no easy means of getting inside. I started walking around the factory. Perhaps there would be another, more unconventional way, to get inside. I had almost gone full circle before I spotted it. There, a vent. I walked up to it and had opened the vent within a second. I turned into my wolf and slipped inside, while silently thanking Clint for teaching me how to unlock vents.
The smell of yellow-X became stronger as I made my way through the vents. I followed the intensity of the smell, passed several rooms that seemed insignificant, and soon found myself looking into what seemed to be the control room. Bingo. I pushed the vent open and lowered myself into the room. No alarms went off, phew. However, my moment of celebration was short-lived as I looked at the controls. There were so many, and there was no way that I knew which buttons would be the right ones to turn the entire factory off.
I looked at all the controls, trying to find some kind of clue as to which buttons I should press. I noticed a blue button which said "options" and pressed it. The screen lit up and a text appeared on it. "Full authorisation has been successful and the system is in automatic mode. The procedures and instructions have all been confirmed and the system is preparing to launch in thirteen minutes". I reeled, thirteen minutes?! How was I going to stop this? I tried to stop myself from panicking and began to pace. Okay, easy Accalia, you just have to think your way out of this. Come one, you're smart enough. What should you do?
Suddenly, I stopped pacing. Of course, you idiot, why didn't you think of this before. My hand trembled as I reached for my earpiece. Tony would know what to do. He could hack any system on the planet. If anyone could tell me how to prevent the liquid from launching, it would be him. However … that would be under the assumption that Nat, or any of the other avengers, would still even be wearing the thing.
I pressed the button and turned the earpiece on: "Hello?" I waited with bated breath, watching the seconds tick away on the screen. I heard a crackle on the line before a voice thundered through "what the hell do you think you're playing at? Where are you?"
It was Tony. "Tony, listen …" I tried interrupting him, but Tony was having none of that. He seemed livid. "No, you listen. Do you even know how worried we've been? We find Nat yelling for help from your room, only to discover that you have disappeared and JARVIS was somehow offline and can't tell us anything. Then we hear from Clint that you had been talking about running away. We hear nothing for several hours, fearing the worst, and now you just pop up with a "hello"? You're in deep trouble, missy. You get your ass back here right now!"
As touching as Tony's worries were, there simply wasn't time for that now. "Tony, listen." I interrupted firmly this time. "You can yell at me all you want later but for now I really need you to focus. Clint told me today's date this morning and I knew something was off about it. I had to find out what it was, without endangering any of you. It turns out it's mom's birthday today. Tony, he's not planning to release yellow-X a week from now … He's releasing it today."
I could hear a pause on the other side. "How … How do you know?" It was Steve. Apparently, I was on speaker. "Read it in dad's journal" I replied. "Why didn't you mention before that you had your father's journal?" Nat asked. Her voice sounded raspy and I winced, knowing that it was my fault. "Look, I'll explain in as much detail as you guys want later. For now, I really need your help. I'm standing inside the factory from where the yellow-X will be released across the world, but I don't understand the controls. I need you to tell me what to do to turn this all off, Tony." I said.
Tony answered "You're where?! No alright, that's for later, and you'll be sure that we're going to be having a long conversation about all this later. But for now, where are you? We'll come to you and then we'll fix this together, as a team." I gave them the coordinates but added "Look, you can come, but you won't get here in time. There's a timer on the screen. It's currently telling me I have six minutes left until the system engages. Even with your private jet you won't get there in time. You'll have to guide me through it, Tony. You're the only one who can stop this."
There was a short pause on the other side. Steve spoke up "We're getting on the jet right now and are headed to your location. In the meantime, Tony will guide you through the controls. But I need you to remember one thing, Accalia. If at any point it seems like the situation becomes too dangerous, you're getting out of there, no matter what.". I answered "I promise, Steve.".
"Alright" Tony said "We'll be keeping you to that promise, kid. Now, listen up. I need you to tell me everything you can see right now". Tony began guiding me through the controls and before long he understood the system and began explaining to me how to shut it off. "Then you press the big red button and pull the lever next to it towards you. That should do it." Tony finished. "Okay, got it". I replied. "Here goes nothing" I muttered softly to myself. I did as Tony had instructed. As soon as I had pulled the lever towards me, a robotic voice sounded through the speakers. "System deactivated. Stand-by modus initiated."
I released a breath of relief and sagged to the floor. I heard the others' breaths of relief as well. Thor spoke up "We are not too far from you now, little one. Take it easy, we'll be there soon." I nodded absently, not realising that they couldn't see me, but they seemed to understand anyway. However, I had been so absorbed in stopping the factory from releasing yellow-X that I had not noticed the slight throbbing which had begun to form in my head. Now that the adrenaline was slowly ebbing away, I felt it and I took in a sharp breath as I realised my mistake. The others must've heard my sudden breath intake, as I heard Bruce's voice through the earpiece "what's wrong, Accalia?".
I decided to break the news gently while getting up from the floor. "Uhh, I knew when I was closing in on the factory, because I could smell it" I said. I wanted to continue talking, but Clint had already caught on. "Shit, you've been smelling yellow-X all this time, haven't you?". I nodded "yeah. So, I'm going to get out of here now and make my way outside, back to fresh air. It's only a light throbbing so far, so I should be able to walk fine for now". "Good" I heard Bruce say "Let me know if anything changes. If you can, try to breathe as little …" He was interrupted by beeping noises which came out of the speakers near me. "What was that? Nat said, but I didn't have to answer, the computer did that for me. "Password not entered within 30 seconds. Self-destruct initiated. Starting countdown. 60 … 59 … 58 …"
I stumbled back. "Shit" was all I said before I turned into my wolf, jumped into the vents and took off. "Get out of there, now!" I heard Clint shout, but he needn't have bothered, I was already racing through the vents. "How long did it take you to get in?" Tony asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. "I don't know. I took a couple of different turns, it's a big factory. But the way out is only one straight vent, I should have no trouble making it out in time." I answered, while panting from the effort of running at full speed. "We're only a couple minutes out. Run like the wind, kid. We'll be there soon." Nat said.
I mentally nodded and spurred myself on to go even faster, only to stumble as I felt a sharp pain in my head. Shit, not now. The avengers had heard me stumble as well "What's going on?" Steve asked. "The headache …" was all I got out before pain overtook me and I lost all my senses for a few moments. Then they came rushing back and I heard the avengers yelling at me. I ignored them for the moment, got back on my paws and ran on, having lost any sense of time I had. "I'm okay, the pain subsided for now. I'm on my way to the exit again." I told the avengers who were still talking through the earpiece.
The other side of the earpiece quieted down at those words and I could hear Steve saying "Are you okay? You can make it, Accalia. We're really close now. Just hang on a little bit longer for us, okay?". "Yeah" I agreed as I kept running, but it was followed by a whimper as another sharp throbbing was starting to take control. Tony spoke up "Hey, stay with us, kid. Don't you dare give up now, you hear me? Remember, I'm still pissed at you and we're going to have a long talk after this is all over. Don't you try to get out of that now". I could tell that Tony was trying to keep me grounded and I appreciated it. "Wouldn't dream … of it". I answered, but it was strained as I was gritting my teeth against the pain, fighting the headache for control.
I could feel the headache slowly winning out and it worried me. What if it took over again? If I lost my senses for a second time, I might not make it out in time for the countdown to hit zero. And if it did … "Nat?" I spoke up. "Yeah kid, I'm here. We're all here. You're doing so well, just hold on a little bit longer. We'll be with you in no time". Nat answered. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Nat. I didn't mean …" I said, but was interrupted by Nat. "No stop, dammit you're not doing this. Look, this is not goodbye, okay? You're gonna run your ass off and make it outside alive and safe so I can kill you later for knocking me out, alright?".
I wanted to answer Nat but felt that I was losing the fight to stay conscious. "I'm sorry guys." I said. "You were the best thing that ever happened to me. You gave me a home, gave me a family. I'll be forever grateful for that. Thank you." I vaguely heard the others yelling into my ear, but it quickly got quieter before eventually everything faded away and the darkness took over.
Tony's pov
No. This couldn't be happening. She did not just say goodbye. We were all yelling for her to answer us. Everyone looked as desperate as I did. That's when we heard it. I don't even know what I heard first, the explosion or the static sound of the earpiece as it disconnected. The flames went up high as we looked at the explosion which took out the entire factory, and with it the girl we'd all come to see as our daughter. God, no …
Well guys, that only took ages (sorry), but I'm back! I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Also, I'm going to be updating the other chapters over the next few days. I'm going to take out all the grammar mistakes that I could find and tiny other details that I had plans for, but decided not to use in the story after all (like the weird age not adding up to birth date thing). So, there won't be any changes to the plot and no rereading of the story is required.
Anyway, as always, hope you enjoy reading it and love all the support!
