ECCENTRIC ➲ a Pietro Maximoff fanfic | based on AOU

CHAPTER 7: Hawkeye Sizzles My Friend's Forehead

I locked gazes with him, and for a fleeting second, I swore I saw tears in his eyes. He slowly held out a trembling hand to touch mine. They felt icy.

"El...It's me. It's Austin."

-

It's Austin. It's Austin. It's Austin.

A wave of dizziness suddenly swept across my mind, and my vision was tinged strangely with white. I stared at the guy standing in front of me, feeling disorientation rather than shock. I was close enough to spot every single detail on his face. The stray strands of hair concealing the top of his wide forehead, his dark orbs with a deep brown rim around the iris, the discrete, tiny patches of freckles scattered across his nose like fallen leaves. My eyes were almost level with his, except, much to my annoyance, he was taller than me. I took a tentative step back, a massive heap of garden weed tangling themselves around my brain. Finally, I came to a conclusion that he was trying to fiddle with my mind. Maybe he had similar powers like Wanda's.

I felt provoked nevertheless. How dare he joke about the existence of my brother like it was nothing? "Austin is dead," I said sharply, a dangerous tone laced in my short sentence. "Dead fifteen years ago."

"You can get your little mind-power friend over here to prove I'm not lying!" he demanded, gripping my hand like it was a lifeline. "Please, El -"

Before I could shoot a retort at him, his eyes suddenly went blank, crimson aura draping over him in wisps before dispersing into thin air. Wanda emerged from the shadows behind him, a victorious smirk on her face.

-

[AUSTIN'S P.O.V.]

"You can get your little mind-power friend over here to prove I'm not lying!" I said desperately. I was on the verge of breaking down in exasperation. My very own sister was standing in front of me, alive and kicking, yet she didn't believe I was her brother.

I clutched her hand, holding it tightly, hoping it would bring some senses to her. Maybe a bit of recognition would form in her eyes, and she would acknowledge me as her brother again."Please," I pleaded. "El -"

The image before me suddenly twisted, turning distorted. A fraction of a second later, I was no longer in the present, neither holding El's hand.

It was dark. No, scratch that - it was completely black, like I had closed my eyes, but I hadn't - I was perfectly aware that my eyes were open. Silence enveloped my surroundings in an eerie ambience to the point where I could actually hear the blood rushing through my veins.

I heard laughter and turned abruptly. My family was standing there in clouds of white mist - Eleyra, her head thrown back in a cheerful laugh, brown locks of hair flying around her. My mother, her auburn hair tied back into a neat bun, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening as she smiled warmly, her plain and simple brown dress reaching down to her ankles and swaying at the slightest movement. My father, his old eyes crinkling into a proud smile, white strands of hair on his head indicating signs of age. He slipped an arm around my mother's shoulders affectionately.

I took a step towards them, a small smile appearing on my own face. My dream, my only dream of my family reuniting once again, had finally came true.

But everything shattered.

The moment I made a move to approach them, their expressions darkened rapidly at the sight of me going near them. El stopped laughing abruptly, as though somebody had flipped a switch, glaring at me with utmost hatred. Glowing spheres of energy formed in her hands, ready to attack, as though I was a monster about to pounce.