Vengeance [Avengers Fanfiction]

[Chapter 32]

[A/N:]

Here's a longer than normal update as an apology for being late on posting new chapters! :) This hasn't been edited too harshly, so please feel free to tell me if you catch any mistakes!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Quinn]

    Drowning. Lungs burning, eyes stinging from the salty ocean water, my fingers clawed for the surface hanging tantalizingly above me, beams of light sweeping the inky ocean surface.

    Drowning. The only word echoing through my mind, the only one I could think of as I struggled for breath, invisible hands dragging me deeper into a watery grave. My wings weighed me down, fighting against my kicking legs as I desperately tried to swim, something I had never been able to do.

    Painfully, my heart thudded against the inside of my chest like it was attempting to throw itself from my body, knowing I was dying. My left shoulder throbbed dully, dislocated after my fall. It had prevented me from opening my wing and caused my crash into the dark, cold casket of God knows what that I was currently thrashing in.

    My vision blurred, my mind fuzzing as bright spots danced and flickered behind my semi-closed eyelids, like fireworks. Slowly, I stopped struggling, feeling myself sink deeper, deeper, into the frigid darkness, the water so cold that it burned like fire.

    Like a small movie playing in my head flicked on by a switch, a memory surfaced of my eight-year-old self, playing at the lake while Camilla read a book on the shore.

    Bare feet speckled with sand padded against the rough, worn wood of the small boat dock jutting out onto the lake. My loose, white, cotton dress brushed my legs as I skipped down the pier, water weeds poking up through the slits of the planks and tickling my feet.

    Venturing further down the dock, the weeds thinned out as murky, greenish water could now be seen beneath me, lapping at the supports that kept the dock firmly grounded.

    The musky smell of the lake prickled my freckled nose, a symphony of seaweed and fresh air and wildlife. Giggling, I twirled, watching my pristine dress swirl around my legs. Dizzily, I stumbled to the side, onto a rotten board.

    Crack.

    The board gave way under my feet, splitting in the center. I jumped away from it, my mind still spinning from my playful twirling.

    My foot caught on my dress, the hem ripping as I twisted in mid air, a squeal escaping my lips as I tumbled over the edge of the dock.

    "Mommy!"

    The next thing I knew, the air was knocked from my lungs, replaced by foul tasting water that scorched my throat.

    I fought, my little feet kicking the water frantically, my hands attempting to grasp something, anything. Sunlight filtered through the murky water, dazzling me as my red hair fanned around my head.

    There was a blurry figure swimming towards me in the green hued water.

    I blinked, the water turning dark. Someone or something was next to me, their hands brushing my wings as an arm wrapped around my waist. Sluggishly, my eyes slid closed, my heartbeat slowing.

    A boy's face came into view, white blond hair floating around his head, impossibly pale, blue eyes looking at me. A hand wrapped around my small wrist, tugging me up towards the bright light.