The Dark Archer

Chapter 6

Kylie POV

I woke to the noise of an irritable beeping intruding on my lovely dream. I groaned and rolled over, slapping my fully functional alarm clock to shut it up. That's when I remembered how it had come to be broken in the first place and chuckled to myself.

Eight AM was way too early a wake up time for a Saturday. Why was I doing this to myself? Peter was lucky that he was my best friend, or he would be dead for making me get up this early.

I got dressed quickly and put my brown hair in a simple braid. I got my new bow and arrows from the back of my closet. How am I going to get out of the house with these, I thought in dismay.

I left my precious weapon in my room for the moment and snuck through our apartment to the entryway. I saw my dad's overcoat hanging on the coat rack and smirked. That would do nicely. I knew that there were definitely places to hide weapons in it.

I took the coat back to my room, threw it on, and admired myself in the mirror. Not bad, I thought. I slid it back off and grabbed my bow and quiver and put them on my back.

I pulled the coat back on and stuck my uniform design and phone into a pocket. I buttoned up the coat to conceal my weaponry.

I double checked myself in the mirror to make sure that the bump from my weapons wasn't visible. When I saw that it wasn't, I tried to think of a way out of my apartment.

Dad was already off to work. Even though he had 'retired' as an Avenger, he still went on missions for SHIELD. He and Aunt Nat were supposed to start work on their mission to bring in Spider-Man right after my graduation.

Mom, however, was a light sleeper, so going out the front door was a definite no. I walked to my bedroom door and closed and locked it.

I opened my window and gazed down at the fire escape. I gulped. It was a long way down, especially since my family's apartment was on the tenth floor.

I closed my eyes and swallowed my fear. I stepped out my window before I could change my mind. Then I carefully climbed down the fire escape, desperately attempting to keep my eyes up.

I sighed in relief when I felt my feet hit solid ground. I walked quickly down the street towards the warehouse where Peter and I liked to train.

I hadn't really stopped to contemplate how I could develop powers this late in my life. I might understand it more if I'd have them since birth, or undergone some event that activated them, but randomly on my eighteenth birthday? Something just didn't feel right.

My parents had never told me anything about me having powers earlier in my life, and I didn't remember having any. I could remember having excellent aim, but I think that had more to do with my father's training than the powers I had now. And my great aim certainly didn't cause projectiles to appear and reappear.

Where could they have come from? Or if they'd been there all along, how did no one notice? What had caused the powers to activate now? Nothing about this made any sense.

Before I knew it, I had arrived. I checked my phone. 8:55. Early is better than late, I thought. I timidly opened the door and walked in.

"Peter?" I called. Suddenly something landed in front of me. I screamed before I realized it was Peter. He laughed at me.

"Why would you scare me like that?" I demanded as I punched his arm. He winced and rubbed his injury.

"Geez, Lee. I was just having a little fun." I glared at him and he backtracked quickly. "Not that that was funny. At all."