no suprises. marvel

03. Safe?

Chapter three.

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5 Days later.

I ran as fast as my feet would take me, sprinting through a random sketchy alleyway in New York. It had been a couple of days since I'd been exposed to the antidote, and if I'm going to be honest, I have no clue what I'm doing. I've been surviving off a couple of dollars and clothes Akria had in her duffle bag.

I can think about that later, however, currently I'm being followed by a couple of widows. I don't know how they're finding me. I took my tracker out and smashed it, I'm not being mind controlled anymore, so there's really no explanation.

I spot a couple of boxes ahead and decide to try and hide there. I speed up my pace to make it easier to avoid being seen. Once I reach the boxes, I quickly duck and pull one over my head. This is so nasty I need to take a shower so bad.

I hear their loud footsteps approach, then suddenly stop. Please don't look under the boxes. I hear quiet mumbling for a second, but nothing. The silence continued on for what felt like hours.

Damn my back hurts. The silence became too deafening, so I decided I needed to look. Grasping the edges of the box, slightly lifting it up just enough to peek through. I see what looks to be 3 girls slowly walking around, observing every detail in the alley.

They all stop abruptly. I lift the box up a little more, still not being able to see more than their feet. Another girl walks up and they turn towards her.

"...Dreykov said... lost track. Retreat... base." She mumbled so quietly those were the only words I could make out with her thick Russian accent. All of the widows walked away, I assumed they were either looking somewhere else or just gave up for now. I knew Dreykov would never really leave me alone. I could go to another planet and he would still show up and try to find me.

Lifting up the box a little more, I stuck my head out and looked around. After coming to the conclusion the widows probably gave up for the night, I got out. I stretched my back and checked my pockets. $12.25. That's all I have left. It's around 4pm, and last time I ate was leftovers from yesterday this morning. I am kind of hungry, but I need to save my money.

Shoving the cash back in my pockets, I determined I should go right, since the widows went left. I forced myself to start walking, dragging my torn up converse on the concrete floors. I don't really remember where or when I got these shoes, most likely from Dreykov, but I love them. I have had them for a couple years though, so they do have a bunch of holes in them. But it's nothing duct tape can't fix!

If I have enough money to buy some... Besides that, I'd say New York is pretty great. If I were here on different circumstances, and by different circumstances I mean I never went to the red room and hopefully had a loving family, It'd be pretty nice. It's kind of crowded, I always feel suffocated, but it has a lot of cool things! Like the Eiffel Tower! Or maybe It's the Statue of Liberty. Either way, It's pretty cool.

I started to hear footsteps behind me, gradually getting faster and louder. I don't have to turn around to know that it's the widows. I was barely out of this damn alleyway and they're back? So extra. I turn around to be sure, and my heart drops. There was atleast a dozen of them behind me. I really don't wanna go back. I know I'm going to be punished; I know I might even be killed. But right now it doesn't look like I have another option.

I book it out of the alley, making a sharp turn to the right. I stumble onto the street, looking for another place to lose them. I spot a gap inbetween houses and quickly make it over there. I thought it was just a dead end, but it turned out to be some sort of tunnel to another street. It wasn't a straight path, more curved which made it easier to hide.

I made it to the end of the tunnel, looking behind me to see that no one was there. I was just about to step out into the open area when I spotted a group of people. There was a man with blonde hair, another one with black hair and a oddly shaped mix of a beard and a mustache, but the last person looked familiar. She had bright red bob that was slightly wavy. I don't know the reason why, but I was drawn to her for some reason. I felt like I knew her, and like she knew me.

Our eyes locked and I could see her face merge from happy to confusion and concern. I'm not sure if it was because I looked scared, or maybe the fact if you took one look at me you could tell that I had been living in dirty alleyways, but she started slowing down her walking and didn't take her eyes off me. It scared me. I slowly walked backwards, but she started to come my way.

Maybe shes a decoy. One of Dreykov's helpers. I turned around and started to run the other way. As I'm running, I can hear the widows starting to come towards me. Just my luck. I have two options, go towards the actual widows or go back towards the possible widow. I turned around but was suddenly grabbed by my shoulders and backed up against the brick wall. It was the woman from before, I guess I didn't hear her coming up behind me.

"Who are you?" She urged. I didn't say anything, still paralyzed by fear. I looked to the left, now seeing the widows peek their heads down the alley. I need to run. I see the womans brows scrunch together and she looks over to where I was just staring at. I can tell when she realizes what's happening, because her face is just a mixture of emotions. Confusion, anger, sympathy but also guilt.

How does she know what the red room is? No one knows about it except the widows, workers, and Natalia Alianovna. The only widow who managed to escape. I still remember that day, I was really young but I can still recall the anger on Dreykov's face. I don't think I, or anyone really, has ever seen him that angry. Natalia also had bright red hair, just like this lady's. They both do look really similar... Oh. Obviously I'm not the smartest widow, but it's the thought that count's right?

She looks back at me and lets go of my shoulders. The woman, or Natalia, starts to slowly walk over towards the widows. I grab her arm, knowing what they'd do to us, and look her in the eye.

"Don't." She turns back and faces me. "I don't wanna go back there. Please don't let them take me." I plead. She grabs my hand and glances back over, to now see they were slowly coming down the alley.

"It's okay, I got you."

Translations ;
none :)

livie speaks ;

soso sorry for the delay and how short it is ive been so busy with dance nd my grandma came to visit but hopefully once school starts i can avtually post when im supposed to .. but anyways im seeing olivia rodrigo today im so excited😋 okay byebye ive yapped too much