(Song: Drag Me Down)
《 Tia's POV 》
The mahogany door creaked as I shoved it open. The soft tinkle of a bell rang out.
I stepped inside, shooting a weary glance around at my surroundings. It appeared to be an administration area. It was rather bare. On one side of the room, a row of squashy armchairs were lined up next to a stack of outdated magazines. The front desk was a plain blue, with a dusty computer resting upon it. A kindly looking woman behind the desk smiled warmly at me.
"Hello, dear! How can I help you?" She inquired.
"Oh, I was, uh... I have a grandmother who wants to go to a retirement home, so I'm checking out some options..." I recited the cover story. The woman beamed and jumped up. She hurried around the desk and beckoned for me to follow.
"That's very sweet of you!" She patted me on the shoulder, "We welcome any new residents! Here, I'll give you a tour! Most of our occupants are in the library right now. Follow me!"
She bustled down a corridor and ushered me up a flight of wide stairs. I glanced sideways as the woman hustled me along. Several doors stood out against the navy blue painted walls, each with a dull bronze handle.
"This is the entertainment corridor," the elderly woman indicated the doors fondly, "We have a magnificent library, as I mentioned before. We also have a Games Room, recreational kitchen, though our staff prepare most proper meals, which are eaten in that furthest room over there- it's the largest room on this floor."
"Mmm, really?" I allowed my gaze to drift over the closed doors, scanning for any signs of an 'unnatural' nature. The woman continued to walk, oblivious. She seemed to be ecstatic at the prospect of a new resident, bless her heart.
"Well, we'll get to those later. Up another floor, then!" She told me.
"Oh, right... Okay," I nodded. The woman climbed up another flight of stairs, this one shorter than the first, pausing at the top step to wait for me. I'm just gonna say this once- I hate stairs... Especially having to do sprints up and down them. It. Was. The. Worst.
Alas, I still reached the top. Give it up for perseverance, ladies and gents. I peered down the new corridor curiously. A row of faded doors lined each wall, with an open window marking the end of the hallway.
"We'll officially start the tour here," The woman explained, "These are the rooms where our residents stay. Ooh, that reminds me... We can also accommodate for any medical ailments! Hmm, let's see... This one should be free... Mr Sun moved to another home yesterday. Apparently, there was some family issue he had to deal with..."
She produced a large, slightly rusted, golden key from her pocket and slotted it into the lock, pausing for a moment to look over at me to add, "I have a master key to all the bedrooms. In case there's an emergency... But we haven't had any urgent matters in all our time here!"
"That's good!" I nodded politely. The woman twisted the now-unlocked door knob, launching into a speech about what was in each room, and how residents were made as comfortable as possible. I was only half-listening. Well, I was trying to fully listen, but the woman was talking so fast that I could only made out about a quarter of what she was saying.
"Anyway, here's one of the rooms. We have exceptional cleaning services, but all our residents are rather tidy, if I do say so myself!" The woman swung the door open proudly, stepping inside. I followed her in, privately marvelling the neat space. The walls were painted a pale cream colour, with several hooks, undoubtedly used to hang pictures. An empty bookcase stood to my right, next to a small, rectangle table. A cushioned armchair was comfortably nestled in a corner near a window with lint speckled curtains.
"Wow, it looks really-" I began, but was interrupted as a loud 'thunk' echoed around the room. I swivelled on the spot to face the woman. She had dropped her metal key onto the soft carpet and was gaping towards the open closet next to the bed... where a strange figure was standing with his back to us. He had light, ginger-coloured hair tied messily back into a short ponytail, and wore a (slightly oversized) dark grey hoodie, tight jeans and combat boots.
"You're not a resident here!" The woman spluttered in a scolding tone, "Sir, I am going to have to ask you to leave the property or I will call the authorities!"
This threat apparently had no effect whatsoever on the guy. My stomach twisted with unease. Something about this guy didn't feel right.
"Sir!" The woman repeated sternly, "I will not ask you again! Please leave the premises."
After a solid ten seconds, the man turned to face us. I felt like my heart had dropped into my stomach. His eyes were a startling onyx-black with bright purple flecks.
"Huh. Well, that's unfortunate," He remarked. He flicked his hand, almost lazily. A wave of what looked like a dark wind swept across the room.
Fuuuuuuuuuu...
Luckily, the woman had good reflexes. She let out a strangled gasp of horror, and instinctively gripped my arm. She hauled me backwards towards the hall from which we'd come.
"FWOOF FWOOF, DINGLEBERRY! HOPE YOU LIKE BARBECUE!" I yelled at the intruder, extending both hands and flinging twin handfuls of fire at him. The woman kicked the door shut. I stumbled, but smiled grimly in satisfaction as I heard a muffled grunt from the other side. Haha, guess who just got a face-full of fiyah!
"You have to get out of here," I told the woman firmly, "Assemble the residents of this place and get somewhere safe. I'll call for my friend and we'll deal with this."
The woman looked like she wanted to protest, but at that moment, the door from 'Mr Sun's' old room shuddered under the weight of a human body. I nodded to the woman reassuringly, and she stumbled away, vanishing down the stairs. The door trembled again under a heavy force.
I jumped backwards with a flash of bright orange flames. There was another 'BANG' from inside the room, and the door finally gave way, splintering into a burst of wooden shards.
Welp, I wonder how mad Tony's gonna be when he finds out about this?
The boy stalked into view from behind the fractured remains of the broken door, furiously swatting at his hair to extinguish some stray flames. Now that I got a closer look at him, he didn'tlook too much older than I was. He narrowed his eyes at me.
I swung my combat staff from the hook on my belt, allowing it to expand to full fighting length as he began to advance, "PETER! I FOUND SOMETHING!"
YOU ARE READING
Rise || Marvel
Fanfiction" My gaze rested on the sleek alarm clock on the floor. Out of instinct, I reached down to pick it up... only to realise that my right hand was on fire. "WHAT THE FU-?!" I screeched, stumbling backwards before running around in circles, waving my ha...
