Soliloquy to Silence

Chapter 2: Solitude

Addetta was excited. Finally, her skills and talents were being recognised as good things, as gifts. Even Scalen was recognised as the beautiful danger noodle he was.

They had been taken, by Phil, back to their house. Phil had then left, saying he had an important visit to make to a gym.

Her mom wasn't in the house. Addetta wasn't surprised: she was probably out at a bar, even though her husband had just been found dead in the East River.  Addetta had run up the stairs and into her room. It wasn't much, just a metal bed frame and a few cardboard boxes with her clothes and belongings in it. She reached into the smallest box and pulled out her iPod and a pair of black headphones that had Scalen's dead skin plastered over it, as a prevention against anyone else using them. It was a fair idea, as her last three pairs of headphones had been stolen by bullies.

She stood up as she felt the Quinjet land. She pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders. Tony had forced her to leave her still unfinished bottle of beer at the tower. She pulled out her green iPod and paused the song she was listening to: 'The Ghost of You'. Pulling down her headphones, she looked up to see the tailgate open, and she, a woman named Agent May and Tony walked out on to the tarmac of the Helicarrier. May led Tony to a room that Tony could set up his Iron Man suit in. Addetta expected to just be left somewhere unimportant but May took her to a small cabin. It had a small sign on it that read "Addetta.C". Addetta smiled, then frowned. Pulling out a green Sharpie, she doodled a small green snake on the plaque.

"This will be your cabin while you stay here. It's not designed for comfort, but it should be adequate for a teenager like you." May's voice was reassuring, and she pushed open the door.

Addetta's mouth hit the floor. The room was grey and silver, and the walls, ceiling and floor were made of metal. On the far wall was a bed with drawers underneath it. Next to the door was a TV, and there was another door on the left wall that led to a white and pristine bathroom. On the right wall was a huge glass tank, filled with logs and real jungle type plants. All of her boxes from her house were piled in the corner. Addetta guessed that Tony had explained that she hated being home, so the boxes had presumably been packed on the Quinjet without her knowing.

Addetta ran over to the boxes and opened up the biggest one. In there was her few items of clothing, plus a selection of bags from various stores. In each bag was an entire re-hash of what she was currently wearing.

In the next box was all of her jewellery, money and the few things from her childhood that she liked: a small baby's blanket and a rattle, and a little silver box that she had inherited from her grandmother, who had died when she was four. The box had nothing in it, was perfectly square and smelt like whiskey. Again, there was a small bag with some silver occultist pendants and black rope in it.

The third box had her extensive music collection in it, with everything in it from MCR and Sia to TOTO and AC/DC to Kansas and Iron Maiden. It also had a Walkman, the first thing she had ever stolen from someone, and about twenty cassette tapes. There was also a StarkPad and a StarkPhone in it. The phone had a sticky-note on it: "Hey kiddo, have some upgrades  T.S". A smile appeared on her face. Typical Tony, always annoyingly forcing upgrades that she desperately needed into her life.

She flicked her wrist casually, allowing Scalen to slide onto the floor. Another sharp movement opened the glass front of the glass case, and Scalen slid into it, starting to make himself comfortable in his new home. Addetta picked up her new phone and began to upload everything on her old phone onto the new one. As she finished, a text came through, from May that read: "Come to the bridge. I'm outside and will take you to the bridge."

Addetta hastily changed out of her rather well-worn clothing into a new set. The new t-shirt had a large occultist image on the front, at which Addetta smiled in delight. The jeans had a few extra rips in them, and her new jacket was made of real leather. She kept on the same boots though. She had stolen them brand-new out of the van that was delivering them to the store they were meant to be sold in. A new necklace with several large metal symbols on it was looped around her neck, and a brand new choker complete with metal studs was clipped securely just under her jawbone. Placing her headphones around her neck, she slid her old battered iPod into her pocket. Scalen followed her as she walked out of the room, a feigned look of confidence on her face.