Soldiers (Completed) •Soldiers Series• Bucky Barnes/ Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 3: Illustration

I was back in time.

The house that I stayed in for most of my childhood was quiet around me. The table was in the kitchen was neat and clear, like how my mother liked it to be. The shelves were tidy with rolls of books and cans.

The door behind me creaked open. To my shock, my mother walked into the room with a smile on her face.

She looked so young, and mostly important, she was actually here with me.

For the past few years, I didn't dare to pull the picture of her out of my purse. The memory of her pained me. The reason she left failed me for she never said a word about it, even on my eighteenth birthday when I so desperately thought she would at least send a card. She never called or tried to contact me.

Nearing me, my mother knelt so we were at eye level. "You've grown so much,: She started tenderly. The way she spoke reminded me of so much. Too much. I winced under her eyes and tears began to well up in my sight. She stroke my hair with a hand and I contained the urge to jerk away. This felt too real, her touch was just as soft as I had remembered it, and her eyes were glinting without the usual tint of craziness.

"You never visit."

"I have my reasons not to, Charlotte, and that is to keep you safe."

I stared at her, "Why did you leave?" My voice was trembling with remorse and hatred, to my surprise. "You left me with this curse. There's not a day I can't hear the mothers warning their children about me. Do you even know how that feels?" My mother continues to caress my hair, the base of her wrist occasionally brushed my cheek. Her smile never faltered. A small part of me could feel that something was off, but I was too mesmerized in the moment to catch up.

"I hated you, Mum," I bit my lips as I confessed cruelly, hoping that my harsh words could hurt my mother like how she had damaged me when she decided to leave. "At some points I gave up trying to come up with reasons for you to leave me. I just began telling the others and myself that you died, in some sort of pathetic accident." In fact, the lie was repeated so often that sometimes I had forgotten that it was a lie at all.

I tried to move out of her reach, but I was rotted to the ground. "But Charlotte, your ability is nothing near a curse. This is a family gift. You have been blessed with the power to control the weather and thunders. People don't understand that and sometimes they envy you. Sometimes, they fear you. But that is what makes you so special. There is a power in fear itself. You have got to realize that."

I stepped back alas.

"I don't want to be feared, Mum. Don't you understand that? I'm not a monster, like you."

My mother's hand dropped, her eyes bored into mine, and I could see the strange light flickering in her diluted pupils. A wicked smile lingered on her face. It was only stopped when a patch of blood blossomed in her stomach. "Mum?" I gasped. Glancing down nervously, I caught sight of the blade in my hand.

Her dress was getting bloodier and she held onto my shoulders. "No!" I cried as she grinned even brighter, blood began to tickle down her nose.

"You should be proud, Charlotte. One day, you'll be just like me."

I shook my head. I didn't want to be like her. I didn't want to be the rumours that flew about, the unwanted within a society.

When my mother had placed her hand upon mine, she closed her fingers around the dagger as well and pulled back. I watched the tip of the metal closed distance to her chest.

I screamed and fell back. The ground disappeared beneath me. The image of my childhood house and my mother was torn to pieces. Gravity pulled at me like a hungry monster preying with lust. My instincts kicked in and tried my ability to fly.

Nothing.

My power was gone for good, and I was falling freely and wildly into the endless pit. Panics and horror clawed my inside as I waved and grabbed at nothing for the sake of doing something. To find a spot to hold onto. My sights were watery as I struggled to see past them.My mother's words kept on replaying in my head. The way she had looked at me before fading away. It was all too overwhelming.

Dead leaves accompanied me in the free fall, until my back hit something hard and cold.

I was in the central park this time. Matron and I used to come her for picnics when we were much younger. It was the time when my mother hadn't left me. Matron had known of my power. She knew I was the tale that hunted the city, and she pair no care in others' words.

The park was empty, except for a familiar figure that was approaching me. "Matron?" I called out, fearful of what was about to happen. "Why are you here?" When she was close enough, it became clear to me that my luck was running out. Her eyes were pure black, and there was not a hint of a her usual smirk on her small face. Matron's hair was blonde, like how it was when she was younger. She stared straight past me, and it sent shivers down my spine.

Behind me, I could hear footsteps nearing as well. I spun around, only to see Auntie Marie, Matron's mother, approaching me as well.

I blinked hard, trying to think on my feet. What could I do now? Eagle was glowing hotter on my pinky, but I paid no notice. I could not hurt them, even though their eyes were dark like the devil's.

But it all changed when Matron shove me onto the ground. I hit the floor hard, grunting and pushing myself up when she dug a knee on my chest, driving it downwards and cutting off my air. I gaped, and Eagle had taken the form of a blade in my hand. Panicked and scared, I slashed out.

Her jeans were ripped. Blood smudged the fabric but Matron barely grimaced. She advanced me again and I avoided her narrowly, while Auntie Marie launched at me. I was knocked onto my front, and for a brief second, I could see stars before my eyes.

Auntie Marie's nails dug into the back of my neck, and Matron pressed down on my head. I was pinned against the ground. I struggled and kicked but they kept me down. I could see the blood on Matron's thigh from the corner of my eyes, and guilt flooded my chest. I couldn't believe I had hurt my best friend like that. She was the only one there for me when everybody was distant, even my own mother.

She wasn't Matron, I reminded myself and coughed when Auntie Marie closed her fingers around my neck. Blood surged into my brain and I gagged. From distant, I could see another slim figure closing in.

It was my mother. She was not bloody, or smiling. In her hand was a gun.

I fought for air like a fish on land. It was no use. My own mother leveled her gun as she walked near us calmly. Matron was pressing down my head, and Auntie Marie tightened her grip on my neck.

The will to survive was overwhelming. In this instant, all I knew was that my closest loved ones and my own mother were trying to kill me. Something snapped within me, and I tugged on the string within me that I hadn't gone near for the last few years. The string that triggered all my power.

Everything was white or grey. I couldn't make out people's cried or the whipping the world's screams. I'd imagined myself screaming as well with the unlimited power unleashed in me.

My blood was pure adrenalin and my skin was hot as fire. The earth seemed to crack and the grass was ripped up. Everything was storm and thunders. Everything was nothing as my friends disappeared behind the blinding lights.

I had used and released my deepest power. Nothing was not destroyed, including my mother, Matron and Auntie Marie. I couldn't stop. I was standing in the middle of the storm eye, swirling the world around me as power bursted from me.

Then I felt it. The moment when I had used too much of my power, my mother had told me that I would dissolve into nothingness. I felt claws digging into my organs. I was ignited from within.

And perhaps, when I had opted to destroy my friends, I had also gave in to destroy myself.

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An extra long chapter to make up for the days that I haven't updated. You know, I really hate traveling to places without network;( Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this so far and please vote if you like the story:)

-Rivers