Eliya Ranter. 20 years of age. Parents deceased. Single older brother. Adopted by Mr and Mrs Ligther. San Francisco.
Her footsteps echoed, silent thumping like those of a heart beat. As the lights flickered off streetlights tinted the dark aisles yellow, growing shadows over the shelves of food. The bell rang as she exited the shop, locking the door as she left. The walk wasn't long back but she walked quickly, the streets emptying quickly as night descended. Some of the roads she had to walk had dodgy streetlights, rarely did they even work. She thought about the work she had to do for classes. Some men rounded a corner nearly bumping into her, she jumped at them. She wondered what had her so at edge, she had walked this route for months now. The small shop paid minimum wage but it wasn't too bad considering she was still in University. Just needed some extra money, her adopted parents were well off enough to help her and her brother out. The building of their apartment came into view, the lights on per usual. Staying home while going to University comforted her, her brother was the opposite and was only back for Easter holiday.
When she trudge up the stairs she heard the glass breaking, she assumed it was the neighbours. She reached their floor the door was wide open, she ran in finding the place scattered, everything thrown out of place. There was blood on the wall, her breathing quickened panic setting in. Where was Robert?
"Get away from me!" She heard her brother yell from one of the bedrooms. She could see the shadow of the beast before she saw her brother crouching in one of the corners. With spikes from it's head this creature was not human. She saw it raise a large sword in it's arm, screaming she ran towards the creature. There was a large blast of light that threw her backwards, screams seemed to sound from everywhere, she couldn't tell if they were only from her.
Her head spinned from hitting the wall behind her, when she looked up the creature was gone but her hands were numb. She looked down and there were red sparks dissipating from her finger tips. They seemed to dance around, not touching her fingers and not coming from her fingers, just there. The sparks just seemed to be there, she almost thought it was just a trick of the lighting. Her brother was looking at her, fear in his eyes. She realised then that the light was from her, she'd somehow created it or moved it.
"Eliya?" Robert slowly got up then, hands raised in a surrender position. "What was that?" She stared at her hands, the red lights still there but disappearing quickly. There was a large noise coming from the front of the house, breaking the siblings from each other.
"We need to go," She quickly spoke, her brother confused look stayed. "Please just listen to me, I don't know what that was or what I did but it will not be good to stay here," He nodded then and they both slowly walked out. Robert grabbed a brown wallet on the way out, Michael's wallet. They both stalked quietly, checking the corridor before walking out. The lights in the corridor near the door were off, some flickering further away. Eliya could hear talking then from down the stairs, angry voices but they were loud. She went towards the voice, Robert followed her unsure of what his sister was doing.
"If the monster was here than so is an inhuman, we need to find the inhuman," Eliya didn't understand, what was an inhuman?
"We need to find them before SHIELD gets here," Another voice growled, Eliya could hear footsteps coming up the siblings spun around, realising there was no way out for them.
"Get behind me Robert," Eliya commented to her older brother. Two men dressed in full black armour, holding some type of gun. She knew they were not to be trusted and that thought was re-enforced when the men raised their guns. Before he could even speak Eliya raised her arms, making a pushing motion towards the men, sending them flying backwards in a red blur. Eliya started running towards the stairs, Robert was too stunned to move for a few seconds. The two sibling ran down the stairs as the men got back up, they were yelling inaudible things at them but they weren't about to stop to figure out what they said. The two of them ran through the dark street cutting through the aisles trying to make sure to leave the men behind. "Let's get to a motel, they hopefully won't be able to find us there," They slowed to a fast walk after they didn't see much of the men in black, staying within the shadows until they found a small motel. They got a cheap room paying with Michael's credit card, the woman at the desk didn't ask any questions. Once they got into the room, locking the door and closing the shades.
"What the hell was that Eli?" Her brother finally broke down, head in his hands as he collapsed on one of the beds. "What was that monster? What is an inhuman?" Eliya paced the room, having all the same questions. The red sparks still snaked around her finger tips, she was captivated with the amount of energy she contained there. She didn't know what to say to her brother, where should she even begin. She flicked on the tv, flicking to the local news. Michael and Aubrey's face's were cast on the screen, before it faded to a video panning the destroyed apartment.
"In local news the home of Michael and Audrey Ligther were destroyed earlier in the night and both bodies were recovered in the rubble." Eliya gasped Robert didn't tell her about their foster parents, but as the video of body bags being pulled away she felt a pull in her heart. Despite them not being her true parents, they took her in since she was just a preteen. They convinced her to go to University, helping her out with funds and letting her stay in their house longer than she would've ever asked from them.
"The top suspects are their adopted children Robert and Eliya Ranter, who have lived with the couple for the last decade." A photo of Eliya and Robert flashed on the screen, it was taken during a camping trip a few years before. Eliya was disturbed at the idea that she would ever harm her own family. "If anyone has seen or has any information on the two suspects please call…" A number flashed on the screen and Eliya's heart jumped. She wondered if the woman downstairs would see the news and if so would she call them in, worry plagued her.
"Who were the men chasing us?"
"I don't know!" She finally exclaimed, tired of the questions that she didn't have answers for. The tables were turned with Robert asking his younger sister the questions instead of the other way around. "I only knew to run away because of their weapons, those guns are nothing I have seen before," Eliya paced once again, picking at the fabric of the pillow she grabbed from the couch. The binding twine split between her fingernails, floating to the floor. The silence in the room stretched much like the shadows. Robert heard his sister sniffle, when she turned to face him her eyes were red and wet. His eyes softened, patting the bed beside him. She sat down as he snake his arms around her shoulder pulling her closer.
"We will figure it out Sis," They sat there for awhile, her propped up by his shoulder. The closest the two had been since they were children. Soon they quietly got ready to sleep, the lack of clothes from having to flee the house made them just lie in their clothes.
A knock on the door startled Eliya awake, glancing out the window she saw the sun barely rising above the horizon. It was still dark but the sky was lightening with colour streaks. There was a peephole on the old motel door and when she looked through it she was met with a figure of a young woman dressed in all black, much like the men from the night before. Eliya stomach rose to her chest. The lack of a weapon on the woman was noted in Eliya's mind not knowing what to do she stayed standing there.
"I know you are standing there so I'll just talk," The woman began, keeping her voice low but not quite a whisper. "I am Daisy. I work for SHIELD or the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. We know about your powers and I am here to help,"
"How do I know you can be trusted? How do I know you won't shoot me the second I open this door?" Daisy didn't seem fazed by the aggressive questions but she did however raise her hands, the door between them still. The woman flicked her fingers towards a nearby lightbulb, instantly shattering the bulb. Around Daisy's fingers the air danced in a zig-zag, hurting Eliya's eyes. The door swung open and Daisy walked in. Daisy could hear a rustle in the room before the siblings began talking.
"Who is she?" Robert growled his eyes darkened. A look was shared between the two and Daisy tapped her foot on the wood floor.
"She's like me…I need answers Rob," Daisy twirled her fingers in a circle the air around her hand followed suit, like a small tornado gathering. Robert's eyes fixated on the manipulated air his eyes following the spins. Around and around, seemingly impossible.
"We have some time now that the feds have lost you… You're an inhuman," Daisy paused briefly searching the faces of Eliya and Robert before continuing. "There is a small percentage of the general population with a alien gene, susceptible to rearrangement of the DNA by a chemical that was released into the ocean. You are one of the many who have changed and that SHIELD is trying to protect."
"Protect me? Or from me?"
"Both. The powers range from telekinesis, to invisibility, or to control of the elements. We won't know until I get you back to the helicarrier but your power appears to be a mixture between control of electricity and of naturally occurring heat. We need to go soon before the feds find you and your brother," Daisy's weight shifted from foot to foot and Eliya glanced at her brother. She nodded slightly but neither Robert nor Daisy missed the 's dark brown hair bounced as she led the siblings out of the motel. Sitting in the field behind the roadside motel was a plane, dark metal with wings facing downwards. Robert's stepped slowed before realising that his sister or the strange woman didn't stop and his jogged to catch up. As the trio approached the jet the door descended downwards to meet the ground like a ramp, Daisy's steps were long and covered the ground up the the ramp. The siblings feet shuffled, short choppy steps. "Quinjet. SHIELD owns a few but this is my team's," As soon as both of their feet made it into the vehicle to ramp began to lift, closing the door of the quinjet. Daisy gestured towards the leather seats as she passed them, slipping on a pair of earphones she settled into the pilots seat. Looking behind her at the standing Robert, she smiled to herself. The turbines began to start disturbing the grass and trees around the jet Robert sat down. The quinjet took off directly upwards, barely alerting the newcomers of their ascending journey. Eliya could hear a faint ringing, patting her pockets before Daisy greeted someone. "Nice to hear from you Lincoln, leaving me with the retrieval," The monitor in front and above Daisy lit up, revealing a man. His dirty blond hair was dishevelled and his eyes red.
"How did it go?" The smooth voice rang throughout the whole jet, Eliya was still watching the screen. The sibling's couldn't see what Daisy did but then Lincoln changed his attention to them. "If she let you on the jet you must be stable. I am Lincoln Campbell and right now SHIELD has awarded me the duty of inhuman 'rehabilitation', so I will be talking you through your abilities and the changes you will go through. However that can all wait until you reach us, which will be within the next minute. See you soon," The screen disconnected and Rob gave Eliya a comforting nod. The jet made a shuttering noise, shaking the whole thing in the air. That was when a massive plane came into view. Spotting the runway Eliya knew where they were going, the plane seemed to be big enough to hold a few hundred if not a thousand people. The quinjet leaned upwards to land before the aircraft crew below them waved them to a stop next to a few different planes. Eliya rubbed her hands, not noticing the faint sparks until she look down. She picked up pace to keep close to Daisy as her brother spun, checking out all the other planes parked on the carrier. Going down in a glass elevator the familiar face of Lincoln.
"Why don't I show Robert around and you can stay with Lincoln so he can introduce you to the basics," It was structured like a question but Eli could tell she had no choice. It wasn't long before she sat on a couch facing the young man that wasn't much older then her.
(First few chapters will be mostly Agents of Shield characters this will progress to include all of the avengers and more but let's not shock poor Eli yet. Thanks for reading!)
~Isabele A. Harts