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[23] There's Something About Marie

As we entered the my old room, Marie jumped from my arms and looked around excitedly. I smiled as she looked towards the stuffed animal pile on her bed, and she walked over. She picked each one up carefully, and she hugged them all.

"Do you like them?" I asked, walking over to her and kneeling down. She nodded and set the plush bear that was in her arms on the bed.

"Then they're yours. They were mine as a little girl. I thought you'd like them."

"Thank you mommy." She said softly and she went to go play with the plushies. Hmm... Something seems to be wrong with my little girl. I left her room, and went to find Bruce. The others had gone, and Bruce was just washing other dishes at the sink. 

"Bruce, what's wrong with Marie?" I asked him. He paused at the sink and went rigid. I went to stand next to him and I leaned against the counter with my arms crossed.

"Well? What happened that I wasn't around for?" I asked. He turned to look at me and sighed.

"Last night, something happened. Steve was the only one who saw. But, he won't tell anyone. We have no idea why." Bruce said sadly. I uncrossed my arms and put one on his left shoulder. He lifted his left hand up and set it on top of mine and squeezed it gently. It seemed like it really killed him to not know what happened to little Marie. Now I was curious and a little concerned.

"I tried to get Steve to tell me, I said I loved her like she was my own biological child, but he still wouldn't budge." He mumbled. At this, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He really did care for her, and Steve shouldn't be hiding the truth from us. Bruce set his arms around my waist and hugged me back just as tight. Bruce kissed the top of my head, and his lips lingered there.

"And Marie won't share with anyone. she doesn't think anyone would understand." He mumbled against the top of my head. He looked down at me, waiting for a response.

"That's insane. If anyone were to understand, it would be us. We need to go talk with her." I said, trying to keep calm. He nodded, and I removed my arms from his neck, grabbed his hand, and dragged him out of the kitchen and up to Marie's room. He stood behind me as I knock softly on Marie's shut bedroom door.

"Sweetie? Can daddy and I come in?" I asked through the door. 

"Please, don't come in..." Marie whimpered on the other side. Bruce and I looked at each other in fear and worry. I tried turning the door knob, but she had locked the door.

"Marie, let us in." Bruce said. No answer. I grew more and more panicky by the second. I held out my hand, and a small bit of ice formed on my palm. I shaped it to look like a key, so thank god the doors had key holes on the outside, so you could pick the lock easily. I slid the ice key into the slot, and the lock clicked back into place. 

"You amaze me." Bruce said as I turned the knob again, and the door opened. Bruce and I ran into her room, only to not see Marie anywhere. 

"Marie? Where are you?" I asked softly. 

"Mommy, up here." Her soft voice said. I slowly lifted my head towards the ceiling, and I screamed. Marie was standing on the ceiling as if it were the floor. Bruce gripped my shoulder, and Marie jumped down, onto her bed, and I sucked in a sharp breath.

"Marie, what were you doing? What was that?" I asked.

"I don't know Mommy. Uncle Steve saw me do it yesterday. I made him swear not to tell. I'm sorry." Marie said with tears in her eyes. She walked over to us, and I dropped to my knees and hugged her. She started crying onto my shoulder, and I tried to calm her down.

"Marie, don't be sorry. It's going to be okay, I promise." I said. She looked at me, and I wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Don't tell anyone, please?" She asked, using the 'puppy dog pout' I taught her when we had a girls day.

"I won't tell anyone, and neither will daddy, okay?" I said, looking at Bruce. He just looked relieved to have found out what was making Marie so upset. She sighed, and Bruce got down on his knees in front of her. I could tell that he wanted a moment with her, so I stood and left the room. I went back downstairs and went out to the backyard. I walked around the yard, picking up pieces of Legos, or finding old Barbie dolls. I stopped in front of my swingset and sat down on the red swing. The old swingset held my weight, but just to be sure, I encased it in rock that only I could break. I made sure I set rock around the base so I could swing. I started pumping my feet back and forth with singing 'Video Games' by Lana Del Rey.

"It's you, it's you, it's all for you. Everything I do. I tell you all the time. Heaven is a place on Earth with you. Tell me all the things you wanna do. I heard you like the bad girls, honey, is that true? It's better than I ever even knew. They say that the world was built for two." I sang as I went higher and higher. I felt like a little kid again, and I felt like I could touch the sky if I jumped off. I continued to sing and swing, wanting to be four again and having my father pushing the swing. I sang a bit louder as I pictured a younger me, swinging next to me on the yellow swing. Only, my father was behind the younger me, and they were both laughing. I smiled, and they seemed to fade away like in the movies. But, what I imagined was even sweeter. It was Bruce and Marie instead of my father and I. It warmed my heart to picture them this way.

'Cynthia! Watch out behind you!' Floraa cried. As I was high in the air, I turned my head to see an face I thought I'd never see again. I was about to react, but there was a sharp pain in my back, and when I returned to the highest point I had been swinging to, my grip failed me, and I fell from the swing. I hit the ground too hard, and all I could do was moan in pain. 

"Cynthia!" Bruce yelled. His voice was the last thing I heard before going unconscious, courtesy of Floraa trying to help with the pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{A/N}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys! First off, thanks for a thousand and up reads! You guys are the best!

Now, who do ya'll think the face was? 

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