Bloodbound

7. Graze with Death

The whole S.T.A.K.E base was focused on the attacks in the city except Agent May and Agent Romanoff. The two were working on the smuggling case in Staten Island. The others hunted for clues but always came up with dead ends. Fitz-Simmons were in west coast and the lab reports were delayed. The agents worked with the best leads they got.

Three months, Thompson asked Pietro for a drink after their shift. He had become Level 6 agent and wanted to celebrate it with Pietro. Both men went out to drink and were enjoying the cheap alcohol and fries. Pietro flagged down the waitress for the next round. The waitress set their bottle on the table.

"Here you go, handsome" she made a pass at Thompson. After she left, he turned to Pietro, "Who doesn't dig a blond?" he winked. Pietro took a sip of alcohol to hide his face turning red. He felt heat across his cheeks. He wasn't sure whether it was alcohol or Thompson's comment.

"Any idea when Fitz-Simmons will return?"

"Nope. But Dr. Benson arrived tonight. We might get some results in few days."

Pietro nodded as he stuffed his mouth with fries. When they got tipsy, they cut back alcohol and replaced with water since they have work the next day. Pietro had never been more grateful for any other decision in his life. As they drove back home, they heard a man scream. Thompson stopped the car and got out; Pietro followed. The agents ran to the dark alley towards the scream.

Pietro saw a blackish grey creature tearing apart a man. The man was desperately trying to free himself but he couldn't. The creature was far too powerful. It lifted its head up and looked at them. Even though it was cold, Pietro began to sweat. It resembled human other than the decaying skin and blood red eyes. The creature came barging towards Pietro, ready to attack him. Its teeth and claws were sharp and stained with blood. In that moment, Pietro remembered the teeth that they had got from the previous attack. Pietro shielded his face and prepared for the worst to come.

Pietro heard three shots being fired one after another. He waited for the inevitable attack but nothing came. He slowly opened his eyes. There was nothing in front of him. He turned towards Thompson. He was holding his gun out. He has shot the creature before it attacked Pietro. Pietro was grateful that Thompson was sober enough to take the gun before walking out of the car.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Pietro cursed as he went down to his knees.

Within minutes, the ambulance was there. They carried the man who was still holding onto his life. A medical personal asked if they both were okay. They were shaken up but waved them off.

Pietro and Thompson were sitting in the sofa of the common room with a coffee in each hand. Their S.O Grant Ward called them to his office. As they settled across him, waited from them to start talking.

"Well you aren't going to believe us. What attacked us looked very much like human. It had human like features but its skin was rotting"

"And it had sharp teeth and claws" added Pietro.

"And blood red eyes."

Ward face was neutral. He had studied several cases like this. He had prepared himself for any unexpected. He patiently asked them, "Did you see where it went?"

"I shot it. It dusted away" Pietro replied and Thompson nodded in agreement.

Ward raised his eyebrows at the last statement but didn't say anything. It confirmed the suspicion he had but he didn't say anything. Instead he turned to Pietro to see what he has to say.

"I closed my eyes. I didn't see that. But when I opened it wasn't there."

Ward nodded gravely. As he started speaking, he was cut of his phone ringing. He attended the call to know why Agent Hand was calling him now. His face turned more worried with each passing minute. The blonds looked at each other and shrugged not knowing what was happening.

After ending the call, Ward turned to them, "I need to leave now. We will discuss it later" he said. He walked to the exit and stopped, "Take a day off and get some rest." He walked out leaving the two men alone.

The boys can't believe they were given a day off. They stared at each other in surprise.

"Did he even hear what we said?"

Thompson shook his head defeated. "I can't believe it. We find a biggest lead for the case and we are given a day off."

"It's like he didn't believe us."

Once they got in the car, Thompson turned to Pietro, "Do you still believe what we saw?"

"Hundred percent. We were drunk man, but both of us to imagining the same thing is far-fetched" stated Pietro.

Pietro arrived at his home. Wanda had already gone to be bed. He didn't want to wake her up. He used his spare key and entered. When he locked the door, he felt he was not alone. He thought Wanda must have woke up for a glass of water and turned. But he saw something, not human, creeping near the window. He saw decaying flesh, sharp fangs and blood red eyes staring at him. He screamed. He heard the shattering of the glass followed by a yelp. It was Wanda's voice and protectiveness overcame his fear. Before he could act, the lights came on. As his eyes adjusted to the lights, he realized that there was no feral; it was just his sister, getting water like he had thought. Any other situation he would have made fun of her saying she looked like a monster but not now, not after what he saw. He was clearly shaken up.

Wanda made her way towards Pietro. She looked concerned. "What happened? You look scared."

Pietro didn't reply her; he just pulled her into a tight hug. He imagined what would have happened if there was a feral in his apartment. He couldn't bring himself to accept the consequences. He has no idea what he will do without his sister. These thoughts brought tears to his eyes. He rubbed it away at the back of his hands before Wanda could notice. After pulling away from the hug, Wanda waited for her brother to open up.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me. I have my own share of weird happening for today."

Pietro was too caught up with his near-death experience that his sister's dialogue didn't register in his mind then. He told her about what happened after he left the bar with Thompson; about his encounter with feral. Wanda listened intently and consoled her brother. She made him hot beverage and asked him get some rest.

The twins went to their room and hit the bed. They both had their respective share of weirdness for a day. Sleep came as blessing and they slipped into deep slumber.

*****

I hope the last two chapters were exciting and unveiled some mysteries that has been building on. I will be updating regularly so keep reading to find out where this all will be leading. Please leave a vote if you like it!