𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐊

45. 𝗴𝗼𝗱, 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲

A pang sliced at Eszter's heart, nearly knocking the wind from her lungs as she got a harsh reminder of their last situation. "They're good. Michelle knows about Peter being, you know . . . Spidey," she nods her head when Pepper turned her head, perking a brow. "Yeah, that happened."

"And Peter? I heard about what happened. Is he okay?"

Emotionally, Eszter bobs her head as her vision got blurry. "Yeah. Yeah, he's fine," the cracking of her voice caught Pepper's attention, and as the woman glanced back at Eszter with a concerned frown. To her surprise, Eszter was on the verge of crying, but the girl was trying to keep herself composed even when her mind told her the opposite. "He's fine. Uh--" Eszter felt something touch her face. Quickly, she wipes her cheeks. "Everything worked out for him, so that's good. He got back E.D.I.T.H."

Pepper turned the dial down on the stove to let the eggs cook slower, not wanting them to overcook. She walked around the island and beside Eszter. "And what about you?" Pepper tilts her head to get a better glimpse of Eszter, but the witch had turned her head slightly that her gaze avoided Pepper. "Sweetie, you know you can always talk to me."

Eszter looked at Pepper, mustering a weak smile. "I'm fine. Really, I'm--I'm awesome," she laughs through her tears, making Pepper's heart hurt increasingly.

Before Pepper could speak, the doorbell rang. The woman didn't move as she kept her gaze on Eszter, wanting to understand the girl better and what happened during her trip, but was interrupted. Never mind that, but Pepper was certain Eszter wouldn't want to talk about the situation back in London.

Pushing herself away from the table, Pepper drags her bare feet to the front door.

But the hair on Eszter's skin stood up, and the witch turned her head directly at the door. "Wait, don't open it," she stood from the chair.

Pepper scoffed lightly. "I think I can handle whoever it is," the woman peels the door open, greeting two strangers. "Uh, hi? Can I help you with something?"

     "Sorry to bother you Mrs. Stark, but we've got a call to bring in the enhanced that you've been holding."

     "What? What are you--this must be some kind of misunderstanding . . ."

"Mrs. Stark, I believe you're hiding an illegal immigrant within your facility," the man abruptly says, speaking hard. "I'm gonna need you to release her, or we will be forced to enter the building."

Protectively, Pepper blocked the man's view. "You can't just show up at my house in the middle of the night calling out demands," Pepper snapped, gaining dominance. "Show me some ID."

Sighing, the man takes out his badge from the inside of his blazer. "Tyler Hayward, Acting Director of the Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division, otherwise known, S.W.O.R.D.," he flashes his badge to Pepper. "I know you have the enhanced known as Eszter Maximoff."

Pepper crosses her arms. "And your point?"

Eszter approaches the door and peeks around the barrier that hid her from Hayward's view; the witch walks around the door, narrowing her eyes darkly at the man before her. "I didn't do anything," Eszter flicks her eyes at the woman beside Hayward. "I just wanna be left alone, that's all I ask . . . please."

Hayward presses his lips into a thin line. "Sorry, kid, but that's not how the real world works," there was a sense of taunting and knowing that radiated from Hayward, and Eszter immediately caught it. "I think you know why we're here, Eszter." Hayward glances at Pepper. "Mrs. Stark, I assume you don't, so I thought it would help to explain the trouble Eszter is in."

Agent Rodriguez held a table in front of her as she tapped on the screen, turning it around when a video started to play. Eszter furrows her brows as she drifted her eyes away from the strangers and to the tablet, examining it with Pepper at her side. To Eszter's dismay, it was the same scene where the witch had fought Beck's drones, but it didn't appear that way; instead, Eszter was fighting civilians with her magic, and it was brutal.

Eszter's eyes widen. The witch stammers breathlessly, suddenly growing faint. Jerking her head away from the tablet, Eszter turns her attention to Pepper, but the woman had kept her gaze stuck on the video. She could feel Pepper's thoughts shifting. This wasn't right.

That wasn't real.

Eszter knew it wasn't real, it was all an illusion. However, it didn't seem like it to Hayward. It looked like the enhanced had brutally attacked a group of civilians.

"Eszter Maximoff, you're under arrest for the murder and several assaults you've committed overseas and on US soil."

Eszter Maximoff
will return.

☁︎𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞☁︎
❝ it's official, the dusk is completed and we're at the end of our story with peter and eszter. however, i know you might be confused since eszter already embrace her witch, but there's a twist! you're gonna have to read and find out. i can't believe how long it took me to even finish this, but it's actually kind of sad.

unfortunately, my baby essie doesn't get the happy ending as everyone else and is still undergoing more and more crap :(

3 books and this is how far the dusk series have come :') i can't believe it. thank you guys sooooo much, seriously. i've grown to love eszter and a few characters that i made along the way. i made this when i was about 16-17 years old, so it's nostalgic to me. i pictured eszter in each scene that i decided to finally write her a book.

thank you to every single person who interacted with this story--thank you for commenting and voting! i loved reading every single comment, and interacting with as many of you as i could--wattpad notifications suck and so most i never noticed until months later, i apologize. you guys made me laugh, scream, tear up, and feel loved. i never expected this story to ever blow up the way it did, and i appreciate every single one of you guys.

part of me still wants to in a way incorporate my other oc's into their own books, but with this semester coming up, i already know it's going to be difficult. i've struggled with theirs but i still haven't made up my mind, lol.

if you guys have any questions regarding future stories or want to be updating, follow me and i will keep you posted. you can also message me on my message board any questions--i don't recommend the private messages because then i won't see it.

I hope to see you guys again in the unnamed book 4 :)

love, isabel ❞