Violet Barnes

A Strange Figure

Three weeks after Bucky finally came home, The Avengers offered to give Bucky's sisters lessons on how to use their powers. The sisters were finally letting Violet have time with Bucky, too, so she forgave them, and put a smile back on her face.

What they didn't notice soon enough, was that something was different about Rachael, something was changing. Every way she did anything was different from the way she used to do it... in a bad way.

"Rachael, can you take the garbage out for me?" Aunt Betty asked, one day. "My knee is hurting, and I can't go down the stairs."

"Don't boss me around," Rachael glared, as she passed the kitchen. "You have no right to tell me what to do."

"You're starting to sound like Loki," Steve said, and meant it as a joke, but Rachael didn't take it that way, and she always knew when someone was joking, but this time she took it offensive.

"I'm nothing like Loki, and I don't even know who that is," Rachael glared. "So... watch your mouth!"

She rudely pushed him out of the way as she walked passed him. Everyone was surprised, and became worried for her, but she had done something like this before, so they gave her a few days, but nothing got better... it got worse.

Now they started to notice something extra different. She even yelled at Bucky, who had only been there for three weeks. They didn't know what to do. One night, when Rachael was away on her daily walk, Violet, the rest of her sisters, Bucky, Aunt Betty and Steve had a little meeting in the kitchen.

"What are we going to do with her?" Katrina said. "It's almost like she's gotten worse since Bucky came."

"Then it's my fault?" Bucky asked, almost glaring at Katrina.

"No, no," Katrina said, her face turning red with embarrassment. "Not in that way."

"We need to think of something," Freya cut in. "We... we need to tell each other what we've seen her do that is unusual."

"You mean... everything?" Katie said, with a shrug.

"No, something extra unusual," Freya said, thoughtfully. "Something that's really weird."

"Well... one time I saw her in the living, at night, when I went to get a drink of water. She had her head out of the window and she was talking to someone," Michelle said. "Or... at least I thought she was. I asked her what she was doing, but she just quickly turned around, and closed the window... and I swear I saw something move away from the window."

Everyone looked at each other. "Listen," Katie said, with a sigh. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"Katie, this is serious," Aunt Betty said. "Michelle doesn't just see things, and she never lies."

"I agree," Bucky nodded. "Steve and I can stay up, and hide, so we can see what she's doing. I'll go outside, and Steve can stay in here. Now that I have a phone and I've learned to use it, Steve and I can text each other what's going on."

Everyone agreed. "It's worth a try," Katrina nodded.

That night, Steve found a good hiding spot in the kitchen, where he could see the living room really well, and Bucky went outside, and found a good spot where he could see the window from the alleyway.

"Please be careful, Steve," Katie said, and grabbed his hand. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"It'll be okay," Steve told her. "Go to my room, and spend the rest of the night there with everyone else, and don't worry. Bucky and I can handle this."

Katie nodded, and took a deep breath before she went to Steve's room. Everyone tried to act as normal as possible around Rachael when she got home. Steve and Bucky had quietly snuck out of the room, and went to their places once everyone was asleep, but Katie followed.