Broken in Half - Avengers

Chapter 11 - The Chains

Elytra landed on the roof of the compound, slightly scratching her wet feet on the concrete.  She quickly descended the stairs, taking them by two's. Steve's door came into view as she raced down the hall, frantically knocking on the door. She didn't quite know how to describe the feeling she had, just the memory of how it started.
The wind was beating against El's wings, pushing her towards the ground. Her wings faltered, causing her to plummet into the icy water of the lake below her. Slipping through the surface of the water, the cold raced into her veins, memories began to play in her mind. The five cold, agonizing days she had spent in the ice only a few months ago. The pain, the cold, the numbness, the fear, all rushing at her like waves. She heard a scream.
Steve answered the door, looking down at Elytra's wide eyes. She was currently holding back the urge to scream. "El? What's wrong? Hey, El?!"
Steve cupped her face, brushing the wet strands of hair out of her face. "It's cold, Steve." She whispered, barely audible. "I know. I know."
He scooped her soaking wet body up, carrying her over to his bed. El had bit her lip so hard it started to bleed, dripping down her chin. She refused to scream.
Her eyes were wide, staring into oblivion, while Steve dried her off with a towel. Her hands shook with every unsteady breath that she drew. El felt her heart race inside of her chest, her vision becoming dizzy, and the bedroom began swaying under her feet. "Hey, it's okay, El." He attempted to comfort her as she clung onto his shirt, which was dripping with water and blood. "You're not the only one."
The air grew thin, causing her to gasp for breath. Steve grabbed his inhaler out of the nightstand, handing it to her. Elytra's shaking hand put it in her mouth, and pressed down, letting fresh air fill her ice cold lungs. She dropped it in her lap, leaning her head against his chest. The numbness receded back into the dark, the cold feeling retreating. El wiped the sheen of sweat off of her forehead, her other hand turning white in Steve's.
"Why?" She asked, "W-What was that."
"How did it happen?" Steve gripped other hand, wiping the blood off of her mouth.
"T-The wind. It pushed me into a lake. It, it was cold. I felt like I was trapped in the ice again, Steve. And I couldn't do anything about it."
Sobs racked her body, and he held her closer, her trembling hands wrapping around his.
"Okay, okay. You just had a panic attack. It's normal, it happened when an action triggers a bad memory, in this case, the lake. I knew I shouldn't had let you out of the compound. El, what were you thinking?"
"I had to get my stuff." She said, unlatching the clasp on the bag. Pulling out the laminated photos, undamaged by the water, she passed them to Steve. "Cam took them."
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Her white, satin dress was stained with blood. Wrists bound, chains connected to the floor. Mouth gagged, lip bleeding. El looked down at her little white dress, flecked with blood. Her horns had been recently cut, blood dripping into her eyes. She yanked and pulled on the restraints, but they refused to budge. Blood began to trickle down her back, and a searing hot pain shot through her chest. The ice was blocked by the burn cuffs, fresh burns running against the chains. El looked up.
Hundreds. There were hundreds. Children and dragons alike, all chained down to the floor, wings and horns cut, dressed in little white suits and dresses. They all stared at her with soulless black eyes. Three children were chained in the front, Cameron, Tundra, and Mavi. "Cam?" She whispered, yanking her hand up to reach him. He recoiled, looking at her with an angry expression spread across his face. "You put us here." He spat, "You killed us. You're the origin of the plague."
"No." She said, scooting as far from him as the chain would allow. "No, I didn't, Cam."
Mavi, her once blue, now black eyes filled with rage, screamed, "You killed us El!"
"No!" Elytra refused to believe she was the reason for this. An eerie shriek was heard in the distance, and just as she turned, a Chitauri serpent slammed into her, letting its metal armor draw blood on her skin. But, it hadn't come for her.
"Tundra!" El screamed, as the iron jaws of the snake bit off his chains, threw him into the air with its nose, and its mouth closed around Tundra's torso, snapping his spine. She turned around, tears running down her cheeks and sobs racking her body. The Chitauri glanced up, blue blood dripping down its muzzle. Its gaze locked onto its target.
It let out a bone-chilling shriek, and two others materialized behind it. Gesturing towards Elytra, the trio began to circle her, their scales scratching the concrete floor. Elytra looked up, ice burning in her eyes. "This is not real. YOU are not real."
And the world fell into an ocean of red.
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A/N - Do you like the dream parts of the story? I like writing them, and feel as though they're important, but am I putting too many in? Also, Infinitely Mistreated has 880 reads!?! WHAT?!?!?
Word Count - 913