𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙮 [discontinued]

𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 [32]

𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙮 

𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡 :)

Tense. Bella was so tense.

It was a day that she wanted to erase from history. A day that harbored only bad memories and traumatic flashbacks. No one knew about what day it was, besides Jenna, but who would mourn the loss of a complete stranger.

The weather was weirdly chilly and muggy for the summer, filled with the whispers of the harsh wind. Clutching her coat closer to her body with one hand, Bella grips on her flowers tightly. They were white roses–basic, but her mother's favorite.

Around her, in neat rows, were large gray, black, and white stones, each a memory of a person lost. Dried up leaves lay on the ground, trees still somehow bright green.

The crunch of the leaves stops as Bella reaches one tombstone in particular. Her face remained stoic, though her heart wrenched and pulsated at the wretched fingers of grief and survivor's guilt.

In loving memory of Ester Wittek, a great mother, wife, sister, and daughter.

Squatting down to a crouch, Bella places the flower before her mother's grave with trembling fingers. She really missed her. Though, only been together for six years, the memories of her mother were enough to keep Bella grieving.

"Hey, mom," Bella plops back on her butt, crossing her legs criss-cross, "god, can you believe it's been almost thirteen years since I last saw you in person?"

There was a long pause as Bella picked at the grass beneath her. She hadn't been here in exactly a year–her heart was still fresh from that wound and she couldn't bring herself to come any other time.

"I have so much to tell you, mom," the girl sighs, "I got into NYU on a basketball scholarship like I've always wanted. It's crazy how I'll be following in your footsteps. Can you imagine it? Two Wittek girls in NYU because of basketball."

Another long pause.

"In the past few years, I've done some things I would've never guessed I would be doing. I never brought it up because I know you'd be rolling in your grave with a wooden spoon to whoop my ass," Bella lets out a breathless chuckle, "I am... an Avenger."

"You probably have no clue who they are. They are a group of superheroes that save the world–I guess I'm one of them. My superhero name is Gray."

This was something Bella had never told her mother. She remembered how her mother thought about making enhanced individuals–let's just say she didn't like it. Telling this secret, per se, was huge. She didn't know why, but she told her mother anyway.

"I'm okay during most missions before you worry too much. I always kick the other guy's ass," Bella's voice falls to a whisper as her voice wobbles and a lump grows in her throat, "but sometimes, I really need help–both physically and mentally. Mom, I really need you."

Tears slip down the Avenger's face, a sob racking her chest as her heart constricts and lurches.

"I need you so badly. Did you know dad is alive? I thought I killed him in my mission a few years earlier, but turns out, I just injured him. He's still alive, why can't you be? Why'd you leave me? Why couldn't you hide with me?"

And, soon, Bella fell apart at her mother's grave.

𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙮