For the next few days, I searched the town for a house I could live in. I saw a few places closer to a school, but there was one I loved on the backroads into the woods. It was big just for me, four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a back porch, 2 acres of land, and a three-car garage. But it was modern, with large windows and a gorgeous stone fireplace in the living room. I thought it might be good to have the extra spaces in case Mom came over with Morgan or any of the Avengers—those who are left anyway. I hoped Bruce would come around and we could fix things, my feelings were still hurt, and I was sure he was starting to feel wrong about them. I made an offer on the house and waited for the owner to let me know if I had gotten it. I decided to grab lunch when my phone rang.
"Hey, Jake," I said as I saw the number pop up.
"Hey, Claudia." He said, but I could tell he was distracted. "If I send you an address, can you come by?" I could hear people in the background, mostly one angry tone above the rest.
"Send me the address. I'm on my way." We hung up, and once he gave me the address, I plugged it into my GPS and was on my way. This house was close to mine, built in dark wood, with large windows like mine. Well, hopefully, mine, anyway. I parked behind a silver Volvo, and Jacob left the house. He had no shirt, only shorts, and I noticed a circular tribal tattoo on his arm.
"Thank you for coming." He said and gave me a quick hug, which I was shocked about but hesitantly returned. I was worried; I could feel the tension in his back. He pulled away and motioned me to follow him.
"Where are we?" I asked him as we walked up the stairs, and he seemed to think about how to answer when we got to the door, and a man with blonde hair, light skin, and golden eyes answered the door with a kind smile. "Oh," I said, the only word coming to my mouth.
"Thank you for coming. My name is Carlisle Cullen; please come in." I followed Jake into the house and passed Carlisle, giving him my smile. I followed Jake into the living room; large white couches filled the space, a staircase was decorated with a frame of graduation caps, and a tv hung on the wall that was currently off, but there were nine pairs of eyes on me, only two of which were human. The vampire next to the human stood first and held out his hand.
"Edward Cullen." I shook his hand, showing no emotion to the coldness of his skin.
"Claudia Stark."
"We know." A large buff vampire with short black hair said, a smirk on his face. "A small town tends to talk when a superhero moves to town." I felt uncomfortable and shifted between left and right on my feet.
"She caught a spaceship." The blonde vampire woman said next to him. "Hard enough winds could do that on its own." I raised an eyebrow at the angry vampire but shrugged.
"I've also fought aliens, demons, vampires, djin, and a god if that helps your feelings." I snapped at her, and her eyes met mine before she looked away.
"Rosalie, she's a guest," Carlisle said as he entered the room. "That's my son Emmett, my daughter Rosalie." He pointed to a vampire with pixie-cut hair and a man who looked almost afraid next to her. "That is my daughter Alice and son Jasper."
"I'm Esme, Carlisle's wife." A red-headed vampire said with a wide smile, and I shook her hand.
"I'm Bella." The human said, waving awkwardly.
"It's nice to meet you all," I said, noticing Jasper grinding his teeth. "Whose going to explain why I'm here? A vampire or one of the humans?" If they could control the temperature, I was sure the room would be ice covered.
"You have to understand," Carlisle said, hugging his wife. "It's dangerous for humans to know of our existence." I put my hand up to stop him from continuing.
"I was human. Back then, another Asgardian and, I believe, I turned into one. Genetics, I guess, and Hydras concoction." I shrugged. I didn't know, but I learned from moving on. Everything changed on the hellicarrier when I faced Ian Quinn. "Since then, I have died, and I'm back. I don't think that qualifies me as human anymore. Plus, who is attracted to my blood?" I asked the room, and no one said a thing.
"Your blood smells bad," Jasper said with a pained look. "Almost more like telling us to run from you." I thought about it for a moment, and I nodded.
"If I were a human, I would be your prey. If I am Asgardian." I stopped and shrugged. No one needed me to explain I was higher than them on the food chain. I wasn't their prey; they could be mine.
"There was a group of nomad vampires." The one with short black hair, Alice said. "They heard us playing baseball, and we had Bella with us."
"They smelled her blood, and one of their members, James, became obsessed." Edward finished, pulling Bella closer to his side. She gripped his hand and offered him a reassuring smile. She was okay.
"After that, we had to put him down," Emmett said, leaning back in his seat. "His mate, Victoria, is coming for Bella."
"She's been creating an army of newborn vampires," Carlisle advised. "Incredibly strong, stronger than any of us."
"That's why you asked if I knew about vampires." Jake nodded and replied.
"I couldn't risk putting more people in danger." He said honestly, and I was surprised by the looks of the other vampires. Shocked would be an accurate description.
"There's no way I can do anything," I told them honestly. "Vampires here and there are different. While I'm Asgardian, I'm not all-powerful. I'm stronger than humans; I can pull off some neat party tricks many people don't know about. But newborns that are stronger and faster than you." I bit the side of my lip while my mind ran a mile.
"We would never ask you to risk your life," Carlisle said softly, and Esme nodded.
"It's not that," I told them honestly and sat on the couch. "I'll do whatever I can to help, but I need some training. I need your fastest runner and strongest of the group. You're going to help me train."
"That's Emmett and me," Edward said next to Bella. "I'm fast; he's strong." I looked at Emmett; his smirk was all I needed to know.
"We start tomorrow. I will get in touch with some of my contacts and see what I can come up with weapon-wise."
"Weapons?" Alice said, sounding confused.
"I'll need a backup plan if my initial thoughts fail," I said with a shrug.
"Our skin is like marble," Rosalie said, sounding as if she were bored. "Metal won't cut us."
"Normal metal, no, I doubt it." I agreed with her. "I have someone who might know where I can get something stronger. Enough strength behind it, and I'm sure I'll be playing bowling." Jasper slightly smiled at my comment, and the others, apart from Rosalie, "I don't sleep well; as a rule," I was admitted to the group. "I'll be here at 5 am sharp tomorrow. Be ready for a long day."
We all said our goodbyes, and I shook hands with Carlisle at the door.
"Thank you for your help." He said with a quick smile.
"Don't thank me yet. I haven't done anything. I don't even know if I can." I told him honestly I had no real idea how different or similar they were to the ones I fought. We let our hands drop, and I saw understanding in his eyes. We nodded, and I got in my car and left. My mind wandered so much that I didn't know how to get to my hotel room.
I got out of my car and went inside, sending Bucky a quick text about the weapon I had in mind. By the time I got out of the shower, he still had not response, so I drew out the symbols I wanted to be etched on the blade, took a picture, and sent it to him. It was around 6; I decided to have a salad for dinner and try to watch tv. People were discussing the blip and how I had been spotted at the airport.
"It's been about ten years since Claudia Stark has been seen." The woman in the burgundy dress said to the camera. "She was last spotted to have been checking on some portals in the city's outskirts. We were given some information shortly after she had died." The woman paused slightly before continuing. "The intel we received was false. But the question remains, where was Claudia Stark when we needed help, and where is she now?" I flicked the tv off and resisted the urge to throw the remote.
I knew I should have been here but didn't understand what Hydra had planned. If I had, I would never have gone in that barn. I missed Sam and Dean, of course, but my earth, my planet, faced severe problems while I was gone. An extra super ally would have been at least a bit more helpful. I threw my salad container out and decided I would call it an early night. I told them I'd be there early and I'd better keep that promise.