Vengeance [Avengers Fanfiction]

[Chapter 38]

[A/N:] WARNING: UNEDITED. Sometimes I question my sanity when I write scenes like the particular one that involves feathers somewhere down below. You'll know which one I'm referring to when you get there. This chapter is dedicated to JJawesomey as a thank you for all of her comments! :)

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[Quinn]

    Where am I?

    I was in a dank, dark room, the smell of mildew sour to my nose. The room was so lightless that it was opaque like a thick, velvet curtain draping over my senses and suffocating me.

    My hair stuck to my face because of the humidity, feeling like wet cobwebs clinging to my skin. A familiar burning in my wrists and ankles told me that I was chained to a wall, my limbs and spine aching from the strain.

    I remember this. I'm in the basement.

    "Oh, Talia." a voice drawled. "Poor, little Tally. All alone."

    My breath caught in my throat as a single light bulb dangling from a wire sputtered to life, illuminating the concrete torture chamber. I winced, the light blinding me for a few moments as I blinked away spots, my vision clearing. 

    Silas loomed in front of me, a sinister smirk maiming his chisled, cold features. The soles of his shoes tapped the floor as he paced in front of me, the sharp clicks echoing. Pale blonde hair gleamed in the dim light, cruel, icy blue eyes piercing me like a knife in my heart.

    He looked at me with mock pity, clicking his tongue. 

    "Little Tally actually believed that I loved her. Look where that's gotten you, princess. Locked away in a cold, stone room with nothing but your own, agonizing thoughts for company. How do you feel, Talia, knowing that I betrayed you?"

    Silas stalked closer, the scent of his overpowering, musky cologne choking me and stinging my eyes.

    "If only you had run away sooner with Sophia in tow, Talia. If only you hadn't let me convince you to stay and watch your mother die on the foyer rug. If only you had let yourself simply die under the knives of your father, then hundreds of people wouldn't be suffering because of you."

    With every word Silas inched closer to me so that his foul breath was mingling with mine, our noses brushing each other's. I was petrified, frozen with fear as I simply knelt on the cold, rough floor, unable to defend myself.

    He extended a hand and twirled a strand of my hair around his finger, the hair glinting a dull, dirty red.

    "Goodbye, Talia, my pet. Until next time." he whispered against my frozen lips, then he was gone.

    I blinked, and then Vincent Crowe and Howard Krale hovered in front of me. Crowe's skin was ghastly pale, like plaster. His lips were stained red with blood, crimson blossoming from a slit in his throat and oozing from around a shard of glass embedded into his stomach.

    Krale's beady eyes were panicked, sweat beading his forehead. His hands shook slightly and his carefully gelled, gray comb over was ruffled, sticking to his forehead.

    "Vermont! The demons, he's-he's creating some sort of army!" the councilman yelped, voice echoing and fading. 

    "I will not disobey the Instructor." Crowe's voice chanted hauntingly, his empty eyes burning into me. "He will bring peace, a better future, one that is shining, bright-"