ASHES ↠ b. barnes [II]

thirty eight

ALLURA WAS LYING ON THE white bed in the kingdom of Wakanda. Her green eyes were open, but they held no expression in them. Her chest was rising slowly, being the only thing about her that showed that she was alive; that she was breathing— no matter how much she wished she wasn't, sometimes.

Her red hair was perfectly brushed, shining bright because of the products the people had applied to it. She was wearing a beautiful white v-neck dress. It was short sleeved and off shoulder, reaching to below her knees. Her pale skin was a perfect contrast, and her pink lips made her look as if she were a doll behind a box; which is honestly a way to describe her.

A doll. A puppet. A toy for people to use and control. For a long while, she convinced herself that she wasn't even real, that she was just there, existing between events and watching everything happen around her.

But life would never be that kind. Life would never allow her to feel anything more than aching, torture, suffering, pain. The pain was always there, like a catchy tune or a necessity. It was always there to remind her of who she was, and who she was forced to be. To set the line between who she aspired to be, and who she had grown to become.

Nothing more than a monster.

Her green eyes trailed to her empty forearm, the mark having long disappeared and leaving nothing more than a sting, as if it had never been there at all. She could feel the tears pooling in her eyes, her breaths beginning to get shaky and her abdomen hurt from the punches delivered to it.

The only reason why she wasn't covered in bruises was because of the fact that she had been healed by the best doctors and machines on Earth, directed and made by the most brilliant scientist in the entire kingdom: Shuri Udaku; who had taken an admiration to the strawberry blonde, whose scientific abilities were, literally, beyond Earth and challenged every single intelligent human.

But Allura's knowledge proved not be as useful as she had hoped. Since, all of that theory, calculations, and wisdom that would work so well back home, were just another thing to keep in mind on Earth.

She felt void. She was numb.

And as tears fell from her eyes, she suddenly became aware of the people watching her from outside as if she were an experiment. But she didn't jump, she didn't budge. After all, she was used to it, wasn't she? She was used to being tested on, altered.

But maybe that wasn't the only reason this time.

The strawberry blonde stood up for the first time in the last two days, her eyes landing on the man standing behind the glass. He had only one arm, and his shoulder was perfectly patched so that he wouldn't feel any pain. His blue eyes were soft as he observed her, his breath catching in his throat as she walked towards the thin glass that separated them and pressed the button on the wall.

"How is she?" She asked, sitting down on the chair and being careful not to hurt herself further. James chuckled, looking at the crowd of people behind them and then back at her, who was still in the small room to prevent any sort of infection or virus.

After all, she had just been vaccinated.

"Hasn't stopped crying for the past two hours." He told her. "I've been telling everyone that she wants her mom, but Ezekyel insists that she loves her uncle too much." Allura snorted loudly, shaking her head in disbelief.

"As if."

"How are you?"

"Fine." She responded immediately. "I'm always fine." James' eyes filled with pain at this, but he knew what she had been through and decided not to push his luck. "How are you?"