Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 25 - Scorched Hauntings

It was a dark night, and the moon was hidden beyond the treetops. The cold wind was tugging at her hair while the snow swirled all around her, stinging her eyes. Stars looked down at her, unblinking and indifferent to the scene happening beneath them, unobscured by any clouds.

Despite it being past midnight, she wasn't tired. She knew exactly what she had to do, her instructions were crystal clear.

The air was thick with the smell of iron and the fire crackled wildly, devouring everything in its path. She just watched as the flames danced, bathing the snow in an orange light, the only light source for miles. The sounds of children screaming reached her ears, but she didn't do anything about it.

She felt no joy, no remorse, no sorrow. All she felt was emptiness.

People scrambled through the broken windows of the building, trying to escape the burning flames. Their skin melted off their bones as they tumbled out into the snow, screaming for their life. It was admirable that they kept fighting even when it was pointless.

The heat burned her face as she watched it all happen. Then, suddenly a loud rumble could be heard, and the upper floors came crashing down, the walls caving in and the whole building teetered dangerously. Thick black smoke swirled into the air, covering the stars more thickly than any cloud any could.

If not for the dancing flames, the scene would be covered in darkness.

Most of them had gone quiet by now. Either they had been crushed as the upper floors came crashing down, or they had suffocated due to the lack of oxygen in the air, smothered by the smoke.

But some were still fighting. Crawling through the crumbling foundations of the building, not giving up hope. It was to no avail, however. There would be no help waiting for them, even if they made it outside. All that awaited them was a slow and painful death.

And even as the fire slowly died out, she wouldn't leave. She couldn't. So, she just watched it all burn.

There was something in the orphanage that HYDRA desired, and they would get it, no matter the cost. She had no other choice but to wait for the fire to settle. She needed to get in there before the authorities arrived, but without getting burned. Without anything to do, she crouched down and traced some figures into the upper layer of the thick snow.

As the fire slowly died out, running out of fuel to devour, she stood up and slowly walked down the hill, treading carefully. She glanced back to see how heavy her prints became in the deep snow, but considering the snowstorm swirling around her, the last traces of her would soon be eradicated.

The once high building was nothing more than a ruin now. Its roof was caved in, the windows blown out by the heat, and shards of glass littered the snow all around it. Something small and brown on the ground, next to the stone stairs drew her eyes, and she wandered over to it to pick it up.

It was a teddy bear, its fur scruffy and burnt. Half of it was covered in soot and it was missing an eye. But the other black eye was staring into her soul, asking her why she had done this. And why had she done this? Because she was ordered to, and orders were all that mattered. She carefully brushed off some of the soot from its ear and tilted it around and saw a singed tag sticking out from its back leg.

'Anya, my sun.' The tag said, half of it burnt away. She didn't know what made her do it, but she glanced upwards and noticed an open window. Something was sticking out of it. It looked like a burnt twig, but in her heart, she knew better. A child's last desperate wish to save their stuffed animal before themselves.