Daffodils: An Avengers Romance

Child Labor Is Illegal

Entering alone, I closed the door behind me, knowing that she might respond better to not having men in the room. Making my way over to the bed, it was a pitiful sight. The tiny body trembling, small palms crushing the blanket between them as it wrapped around them tightly. Her head was the only thing visible, messy hair and wide eyes already red with tears.

I stopped a couple feet from the bed, quickly sitting down to try to not intimidate her anymore than she already was. I sat on a chair made of leaves and sunflowers, making it as cheerful as I could.

"Would you like to eat?" I asked, pushing the plate out on a leaf to her bed. I dropped it on the edge, letting her grab it if she wanted to.

Katheryn did not reach for it, instead staring at it suspiciously.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," I started, "My name is Aida Barons, I work in Swann Academy. Are you a student there?"

Katheryn said nothing, just gazed at me with those big brown eyes with a hint of green. The ring on my finger wasn't burning, which was interesting since she definitely was the one using the Old Magic on the field that night.

"I think you should be about 12 years old? So you would be in middle school, I imagine. You know I actually met the principal there the other day, Alexander Pierce." At that a small gasp came out of her mouth and she started trembling.

"Katheryn? What's wrong?" I wanted to stand up and go to her, but that would just freak her out even more than she already is.

"Don't-" Her voice was small, but I could still understand her, "Don't give me back to him, please." She begged.

"To whom? The principal?"

"Don't give me back! I- I can't- I won't..." She trailed off, shaking, her eyes out of focus as she kept whispering to herself.

"Katheryn! Katheryn, look at me!" I shook her, getting her eyes to meet mine as she gasped, "I won't send you back, ok? But I need you to stay with me, I need you to breathe."

I started breathing in and out loudly, getting her to copy me as she slowly calmed down. When she stopped crying, I kept my hand on hers and waited for her to speak.

"They called him bog, the others that followed him. He would keep me in the dark, bringing me out only when he wanted to kill the others, to call the monster. When I failed, he would hit me, saying it was my fault." She whimpered there, as if feeling the hits again, "Then he would throw me in the cell again."

"Do you know where he is?" I asked, "If we can find him, we can stop him."

"You can't, he's too powerful. He has monsters under his control, those he called from the Beyond."

"I've fought monsters and won. He doesn't scare me." Katheryn looked up in shock, her dark eyes wide.

"You've fought monsters before?" At her question I nodded and smirked.

"So many of them. And let me tell you, I beat them all." Katheryn leaned a bit towards me then, biting her lips nervously,

"They all stay in the mountains behind the school. I was never allowed to leave, the only time they let me out was for the rituals. They would blindfold me and carry me down to the field. But they didn't know that I could see." She whispered the last word as if it was a secret just between us. Her eyes glew faintly green and I felt so proud for a second.

"They have no idea how powerful you are." I told her, "What a waste that they were the ones that found you."

"I can take you there," She said, Ilearned the way. You can fight the monsters, beat them."

"I can." I nodded, "But I have friends that can fight too. Do you wanna meet them?"

She hesitated for a moment, "The scary one?"

Holding back a laugh I nodded again, "Yeah, the scary one. Also, the one with the white hair. There's others that would want to meet you again."

"They can all fight? The monsters, can they fight them?"

"Yeah, they are very powerful."

Katheryn looked unsure for a moment, but seemed to make a decision, "I'll meet them."

"Great," I smiled, "Thank you, Katheryn."

She gave me a confused look, "Why do you keep calling me that?"

Now it was my turn to be confused, "Isn't it your name?" She shook her head and now I had a lot of questions.

"I don't have a name." Well, that was heartbreaking, "My parents called me Sophia, but after Bog kidnapped me, they said I was nameless."

"Fuck that," I really shouldn't be cursing in front of children, "Of course you have a name. Do you wanna be called Sophia? I can call you Sophia all day."

Her entire body seemed to deflate and she looked away, "I don't really feel like Sophia anymore."

"Then you're not Sophia anymore." I agreed in an instant, "How about you find who you are now and we can decide on a name later?"

She looked back at me and gave me a weak smile. But it was a smile, "I'd like that."