The Neighbor

Chapter 64

The world is on fire.

Wanda's breath comes in sharp gasps as she stands frozen, watching in horror as chaos erupts around her. The sky is red thick with smoke and dark clouds swirling above her, like an omen of something terrible. Everything feels wrong. The familiar surroundings of the battlefield are twisted, warped into a hellish landscape. Her heart pounds in her chest, frantic and desperate, and yet her feet won't move.

You're not there.

No matter where she looks, you're not there. Her heart beats harder, faster. Panic coils tight in her chest, squeezing like a vice. She can hear distant cries Isabella? The boys? You? She can't make sense of it. Her powers flare around her hands, but they feel distant, useless. Everything is unraveling.

Suddenly, Vision appears, his form looming out of the shadows, his eyes glowing coldly. His face is twisted into something dark, something cruel. He has you in his grasp again.

You're choking, struggling, your face contorted with pain as Vision tightens his grip on your throat. Wanda screams, her heart wrenching in her chest as she tries to move, but it's like she's wading through thick, suffocating air, her powers sparking around her but never fully igniting.

"No," she whispers, her voice breaking as she watches Vision's hand squeeze tighter around your neck. "No! let go of her!"

She pushes her hands forward, summoning everything she has, but nothing happens. Her magic fizzles out like dying embers, leaving her powerless. Vision smiles, cruel and mocking, as he turns his cold gaze back to you. "You can't save her, Wanda," he hisses, his voice distorted, echoing around her. "You never could."

You reach out for her, your fingers trembling as you try to call her name, but nothing comes out. Your face begins to pale, your eyes wide with fear as you struggle to breathe.

"No!" Wanda screams, her voice cracking with desperation. She pushes forward again, but her feet feel stuck, rooted in the scorched ground beneath her. She watches in horror as Vision's grip tightens further, the life draining from your eyes.

Then, in a sickening snap, your body goes limp. You fall lifeless to the ground, Vision's grip finally releasing you as your form crumples.

Wanda collapses to her knees, the breath knocked from her lungs as if she's the one who was strangled. She can't move. She can't breathe. The world blurs, her vision clouding with unshed tears.

Vision stands over your body, his cruel smile widening as he looks down at her. "You failed. Just like before," he says coldly. "You'll always fail."

The ground starts to give way, crumbling beneath her as her surroundings twist into nothingness. She reaches out for you, her hands trembling, but you're gone. You're gone.

She's falling. Plummeting into the darkness.

She jolts awake.

Her chest heaves, her skin slick with cold sweat as she sits bolt upright in bed, her heart racing in her chest like a drum. The darkness of the room is suffocating, the echo of the nightmare clinging to her like a second skin. She gasps for air, her hands shaking as they clutch the bedsheets.

It takes a moment for her to remember where she is. Home. You're safe. The bed beneath her is solid, real. The shadows from the nightmare are still swirling in her mind, but the familiar scent of you, of your shared bed, brings her back to the present.

She turns, her breath still ragged, and finds you sleeping beside her, peaceful and unharmed. The bruises on your neck are faint now, nearly healed in only a few days, but the sight of them twists something deep in her gut. She almost lost you. The fear won't leave her.