The Winter Wraith

Chapter 17

With the power dampener off, Adina was free to use her powers and teleport far away from here. The problem was she had no idea where here was. Plus, she couldn't really teleport long distances. She had a few times, but those rare instances always ended with her passing out and waking up with a killer headache and a spotty memory of the last few hours.

She could already feel her power coursing through her body, impatiently waiting to be called upon. A plan was starting to come together in her mind. It wasn't a very good one, but she didn't have the time to come up with a better one. This would have to do.

Of course, Adina waited for the mac n' cheese to finish cooking before she made her escape. She had her priorities straight. So, she was impatiently waiting on the stool, bouncing her leg up and down, as time seemed to go in slow motion by how long it was dragging on.

Clint dished out some cheesy noodles into a bowl and put a spoon into it, handing it to Adina.

"Here you go, kid. Eat up," he said.

Adina muttered a small thanks and quickly ate all of the delicious noodles, slightly burning her mouth in all the rush. It was worth it, of course. She got up and put her dirty dishes into the dishwasher by the sink, slightly surprising Clint with her manners.

"Thanks for the meal, but I really should be going," Adina politely said as she started to walk towards another hallway connected to the kitchen area.

"Wait, wait, where are you going? Hey!" Clint yelled as she began to speed up and run.

Sighing, Clint alerted Friday about the escapee and her lack of a certain metal band, who then relayed the message to most of the team.

Meanwhile, Adina was on the move. She had memorized the complicated layout and knew exactly where the nearest exit was. As she turned another corner, she saw Bucky barreling straight at her to tackle her. Just before they would've collided, she teleported a few feet behind him, causing Bucky to grab at nothing but the empty air she just was at.

She didn't stop her run and kept going, not looking back even as Bucky called out to her. A slightly robotic female voice suddenly announced that an emergency lockdown was in place. She recognized the voice as Friday. Adina hoped that her escape would still be open, but it was unlikely. She would probably have to find another way.

After another minute of running at full speed, she arrived at the exit. Unsurprisingly, it didn't budge when Adina tried to force it open. She rammed her shoulder into it and regretted it instantly as a sharp pain jolted up her shoulder. She turned, ready to try a different way to get out of this compound. Before she could head down the hallway to her left, someone had caught up with her in the hallway directly in front of her.

Adina engaged Natasha Romanoff in a difficult sparring match. She got in a few good punches before Natasha landed an especially painful one to her nose, causing her to stumble back a couple of steps. Using her sleeve, she wiped off the trail of blood leaking from her nose. She rolled her shoulders back, a look of determination set on her stony face, and launched herself at the red head.

Fighting with a new found ferocity, the Wraith was beginning to get the upper hand in the fight, until Natasha zapped her with one of her trademark widow bites. Adina was starting to get annoyed with the way electricity always found a way back to her as she convulsed on the floor with a menacing Natasha standing over her. Natasha raised her arm as Adina's spasming began to slow down, preparing to fire another shot. Before she could, the Wraith teleported away.

As she took in her new surroundings, Adina guessed she was on the third floor of the compound, which is also the floor with her room. She was in a slightly messy bedroom. She could tell someone had just gotten up, as the bed sheets were ruffled and tossed to the side. She could hear someone running the sink in a bathroom attached to this room, lightly humming an unknown song.

Adina did not benefit from being in this foreign room with some random person just a few yards away, so she quietly walked to the door to leave. She twisted the knob and was in the motion of opening the door, before it was opened for her as a voice with a thick accent came from the other side.

"Wanda, are you almost done getting ready? You're taking forever," an impatient male voice said, drawing out the last word, as he also pulled the door open, coming face to face with Adina.

Adina's and the stranger's eyes grew wide, both confused on why the other was there. A spark of recognition started to flicker in the blonde's eyes, causing him to pause in confusion. The Wraith used his hesitation to teleport away before he recognized her. She faintly remembered seeing the young man with bleached hair and she somehow knew he was a potential threat, but she couldn't remember more than that. So, she just took the safe option and punched him in the jaw before teleporting out of there.

She stayed on the same level, but was a lot farther from that weird man and the other unknown person, whose name is Wanda. She glanced back as the young man watched her from a distance, before he disappeared into the bedroom. Shaking off the faint feeling she knew him, she continued on with her escape.

Adina was unable to find an open exit, so she just teleported out of the compound. In front of her was a vast expense of green grass and a few smaller buildings. The area was surrounded by a thick, extensive forest, with a lone road cutting straight through it, before curving and disappearing from sight. As she surveyed the area, the others were closing in on her. At that moment, Steve and Bucky burst through the main entrance's doors.

"Wraith!" Bucky called as he and Steve chased after her.

Adina chose the smart way out and teleported far away from the situation. She reappeared on the side of a crude, dusty dirt road that led on for some time. It was just her alone by the road surrounded by a thick forest. Although she didn't seem to teleport that far away, her head still throbbed in pain with the use of her powers.

She wearily lifted her hand up to gently rub her pounding temples as she began a long walk down the dusty road. She had no idea where it led, but anywhere seemed better than here. So, the teenager mindlessly walked along the road with no thoughts running through her head, just simply trying to get to the next destination.

Only a couple of minutes had passed before she heard some rustling coming from the forest behind her. Warily, the Wraith turned around to locate the source of this new sound and slowly walked backwards.

Her vision darted from tree to tree. The once faint noise quickly got louder and sounded closer, causing her panic to grow. She still couldn't locate the cause, though she swore she had seen a flash of blue light in the brush.

Published: 5/4/22

May the fourth be with you!