𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐊

38. 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱

PAIN IS AN ALL TOO FAMILIAR FEELING FOR ESZTER. After experiencing the most physical, mental, and emotional pain, Eszter felt almost numb at this point in her life; a heart that's full of pain and a head full of anxiety and stress, rendering the person into exhaustion from having to bear that kind of grudge. It began to feel like Eszter was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and for once, the enhanced wished to feel peace in her Godforsaken life. But no matter how hard Eszter tries to avoid it, the pain will always find its way trailing back to her.

     There are two types of pain--one that hurts you and another that changes you.

     Eszter tried and tried every day, from the beginning of her powers to the impact of her friends' deaths, but some old wounds never truly heal; they can bleed again at the slightest. No matter what Eszter does or says, and it doesn't matter who tells her, Eszter will never feel good about herself. She ruined herself the moment she agreed to Hydra and participating in their experiment; if Eszter knew that her life would spiral out of control more than it had, she'd never allowed her or her siblings to agree.

     It always falls back on Eszter, doesn't it?

     The nightmares continue to haunt the enhanced's mind, never seeming to grant Eszter a second of a break before the girl is thrown back into the war, fighting for her mentality. Memories dating back to the bombing and the loss of her parents--people she can barely remember anymore--to the terrifying experiment and the losses of Pietro, Tony, Natasha, and Steve.

     To make these emotions disappear, Eszter would do anything to allow contentment in. Maybe a slumber that would last forever, or a world that Eszter can be with Wanda and Pietro and be a family once again; to have Tony and Pepper there with Morgan, still being the adoptive family to Eszter. Imagine that. A world that could be designed to what the mind chooses, to create something incredible--imagine that.

     There wouldn't be any pain.

     Flashes of the day Strucker approached her and proposed an idea that granted them powers to destroy the Avengers. Eszter remembers being scared and nervous for the moment of facing the scepter, and no one would tell her whether or not her siblings were alive in weeks or even months. She didn't think she'd survive the experiment after hearing that not many others had survived after coming in contact with the Stone. However, Eszter remembered how the Stone jumped out from its casing, revealing itself to the enhanced as she noticed a figure lingering in the bright light.

     It was like a calling.

     Then, another memory scorched her brain as she recalls being locked inside a cement room with nothing but a bench and a TV to keep her entertained. Eszter was still new with her powers, and everything felt hypersensitive, and her mind was always hurting from the strong emotions that radiated from the building and surrounding areas. And there was her telekinesis; Eszter found it difficult to cope with the energy that coursed through her veins and trying to control, but then when the darkness presented itself, Eszter struggled tremendously. It felt intense, but strangely, Eszter craved that feeling.

     The memory burns away as if lit on fire from a lighter, crumbling away and replaced with another memory. Eszter was at the Avengers Tower hours after the attack in Sokovia. She and her siblings had changed paths and decided to right their wrongs--when they worked with Ultron. Suddenly, an imagine spit in Eszter's mind, striking the enhanced with bright robotic eyes.

     But then, Eszter's memory changed like a channel on TV, and suddenly, the enhanced was having another out-of-the-body experience because she was staring at herself from a distance; Eszter had screamed on the top of her lungs, crying out in almost slow-motion, but her eyes were trained on the body across from her. Pietro's body slowly falls to the ground roughly. Eszter gasped when her body was jerked forward, suddenly standing beside her brother's dead body. Horror flashed across her eyes as she gawked at her brother, appalled because Eszter had desperately erased this memory from her mind, but here it was again.