You Better Not Be Her Prey 2

Chapter 1: Bright Lights

The steady beep of the monitor was what first caught my attention. I heard soft music playing, my senses coming back to life one by one. I opened my eyes, seeing Bucky sitting in a chair, asleep. Almost as if sensing my heart rate pick up, he opened his eyes and came over to me, sitting on the edge of my bed.

'Hey...' he said softly. 'How are you feeling?'

'It hurts. Everything hurts.' He stroked my hair softly.

'Yeah, the doc said those painkillers should be wearing off about now.'

'What happened?' I asked, letting out a small gasp as my breath caught on a sore spot in my ribs.

'You were attacked. By something. Or someone. Whatever it is, it fled the scene way before I found you. I freaked out when I woke up and you weren't there. What was the last thing you remember?'

'A shadow - or something. It was in the corner of our room; it was watching me. I don't know, my memory gets really blurry from there.' He nodded in understanding.

'The doctor said you'd probably have some sort of concussion. Give it time, you'll probably remember soon. Just so I can find out who did this to you.'

'I'm fine, really. It just all happened so fast.' He leaned forward, giving me a tender kiss on the forehead.

'I'm going to let your parents and the kids know you're awake. Just rest for me, okay?' I nodded slowly. He smiled softly, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Then he walked out of the room.

Moments later, I heard the door open and my parents came into the room with worried faces. Both of them were at my side in an instant.

'We heard what happened and came as soon as we could,' my mother said, stroking my hair. 'How are you feeling?'

'I'm okay,' I replied, biting back annoyance at being asked that question for the second time today since I'd woken up. 'It just hurts a little bit.' My father gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead.

'Your mother and I were worried sick. What were you doing outside at 3am in the morning, anyway?'

'Something was watching me, Dad. Something... Or someone. It was in the corner of mine and James' room, it was just standing there. And it had like - it had red, glowing eyes. It was just staring at me.' Erik looked to Bucky for some sort of confirmation. My husband shook his head slowly and spoke.

'I'm not sure what happened, Erik. She told me the same thing, that something, or someone, was watching her.'

'Wait... I remember something else.' The three of them looked at me. 'The face... She looked like me. Not similar, but an exact copy of me. I remember hearing her say, "There's going to be hell to pay." And then she left.'

'So this - person, whoever it was, is wearing Adelaide's face?' Erik asked.

'No,' Bucky said. 'About a week or so ago, Adelaide went to help Doctor Steven Strange with a mission. She went through the multiverse.'

'I discovered another one of myself while I was on another Earth. Another Adelaide. This one who attacked me comes from yet another universe; I know not where.'

'So you're saying you've got doppelgangers all over the multiverse?' my mother, Amelia asked, seeming like she hardly believed it.

'I don't exactly believe it myself, Mom. I'm just trying to understand it. But it's not that farfetched, considering you married my dad... And he manipulates metal.'

'It's just a lot to take it, sweetheart,' she said. 'I thought mutants and aliens were the craziest it could get. Turns out I was wrong.' Erik smiled softly and squeezed his wife's hand. He looked down at me again.

'How does that explain the bite marks?' he asked.

'Mom, Dad, James, you might find this even harder to believe,' I replied, taking a deep breath, 'but I think that our multiversal doppelganger might be a vampire.'