Escaping Maximoff

Curl up & Die

Rain fell from the sky in long streaks, small shimmers of light reflecting off the glistening droplets. Water mixed with the dirt under my knees, covering my legs in mud and dried tears. I cried until I couldn't breathe, until the air in my lungs and the beat of my heart faded to nothing. I was empty, a shell of the person I was before. I felt nothing. I was nothing. My life didn't matter if I had no one to love me, if I was all alone.

My clothes stuck to my skin as the sky grew darker, a swirling storm of misery. I couldn't help but blame myself for what had happened. I knew it was dangerous for Wanda to stay in the village, and yet I had given her a reason to stay. It was all my fault.

My legs felt weak as I tried to stand, as if they would crumble at any second. Memories flashed through my mind as I made my way back to the school. I remembered the first time Wanda had shown me her powers. Her furrowed eyebrows creased her milky skin as she fretted over my reaction, but I had just smiled. She'd been trying to teach me how to do an equation for my math homework, and I just couldn't get it! But with the visual swirling of red energy in the form of numbers, I finally understood what I was doing. Her face lit up, those soft emerald eyes churning with pride as she enveloped me in a warm hug.

I already missed her more than I thought possible. It was as if I didn't understand pain until my heart was ripped from my rib cage, bloody tendons and writhing muscle spilling from the hole in my chest. Thick droplets of crimson blood leaked from the imaginary wound, trickling down my limbs and onto the rain-soaked pavement.

My head hung in defeat as Sam ran up to me. I let him wrap his arms around my shivering form, but I just stood frozen, the taste of salt and dirt lingering on my tongue.

"They took her," I managed to say, the words barely escaping as another wave of despair seized my breath. The boy squeezed harder, his tears wetting my shirt. He knew how much Wanda meant to me, and he couldn't bear to see me lose another mother. "She's gone," I whispered, the realisation hitting me harder with every passing minute.

"Don't say that," he said, stepping back to look me in the eyes. "It's not over yet."

I shook my head, frowning so hard I was surprised my eyebrows didn't fly off my face. "It feels pretty fucking over."

Sam linked his arm with mine, hugging it tightly to his side as he looked around, noting how many people were around us. It was dangerous to talk about Wanda around so many nosy teens. "I'll take you home."

I nodded slowly and allowed the blond to guide me away from the school. Every movement ached; each neurone burned with the effort of walking.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, but I brushed it off, ignoring the worried questions from Victoria. I couldn't face her; I couldn't lie to her. I cared about her too much to let her get involved in my problems. I could feel her confusion radiating from behind me, but I didn't turn around, I didn't run into her arms like I knew she wanted me to.

Just another relationship I had ruined.

When Sam and I made it back to my house, we immediately collapsed onto my bed in a heap of entangled limbs. Neither of us bothered to move; we both stared blankly at the ceiling, listening to my clock tick agonisingly slowly.

My little cousin Leo joined us at one point, only to devour the chips Aunt Julie had kindly brought us, before declaring that we were being boring. He swiftly grabbed the full bowl and waddled away as fast as his little legs could carry him. His older brothers were definitely a bad influence on him. But not even my favourite cousin's cute antics were enough to break the scowl on my face. I was inconsolable.

Sam was afraid to leave me alone, so he decided to stay the night, curling up next to me on the bed this time, unconcerned about what my aunt might say. Sleep didn't come easily for either of us. My hands clutched the sheets, gripping them so violently my knuckles turned white. I longed to be back in the cottage with Wanda, to bury myself into her side and intertwine my fingers with hers, resting blissfully until the birds chirped and the redhead's soft humming woke me. I had to get her back. I couldn't live out the rest of my life with the emptiness Wanda's absence left.

"Sam, we have to go and save her."

The blond turned to me, a mischievous glint in his light blue eyes. "I was waiting for you to say that."