Ardent [PETER PARKER]

SIX

SIX.

SHE WAS TEARING him apart, every bone and nerve a single thread she unraveled with her bare hands.

He was screaming, but she didn't let go. She gripped his wrist and clenched her teeth. Every inch of her skin was burning with raw power, a delicious scorching pain.

"Please," he sobbed. "Please, make it stop."

His face was a shattered mirror, distorted and ugly. His eyes were open wide, fixed on something only he could see. Tears slipped down his cheeks, carving a path through the marble of his skin.

She didn't let go. Instead, she pressed her fingers into his skin harder, feeling every nerve in her body ignite—

"Will?"

She blinked.

The gray man and his screams faded away into the pale yellow walls of the classroom. Her ears were filled with the chatter of voices instead. Her heart gave a jolt as she returned to reality and Midtown High.

She looked down to see her hand curled into a tight fist. She unclenched her hand, letting her fingers fall free. Will's fingertips traveled over the skin of her wrist. A mark had appeared there overnight, a dark twisting thread beneath her skin like a lightning strike. It was as if the blood in her veins had gone bad.

She pulled her sleeve down over it.

When she looked up she found Michelle sitting across from her, eyes filled with concern.

"Uh, are you okay?" she asked, waving a hand in front of Will's face. "Did you just have a vision or something?"

Michelle's mouth opened.

"Oh my god, did you see me die? How do I die, Will?"

Will ran her tongue over her bottom lip, tasting salt. She blinked again. She felt the cold linoleum under her feet, tethering her to reality.

Michelle was still looking at her expectantly.

Will cleared her throat. "Pigeons."

"What?"

"How you die. It's pigeons. Rabid ones. Thousands of them. It's a bloodbath. They go for your eyes first, those bastards."

Michelle narrowed her eyes and huffed.

"Okay, you know that's not funny. Being afraid of pigeons is a perfectly rational fear. They're carriers of disease."

"Michelle, I already listened to your PowerPoint presentation on pigeon danger. I get it."

"They're the rats of the sky, Will! Ever heard of a little something called the avian flu, huh?"

"They're like three inches tall. Nothing that tiny is intimidating."