The shadow Hunter

Chapter 16

That night i sat at dinner with Pepper and Tony. "How was school?" Tony asked. I shrugged. "Fine." I replied. "Did Peter look after you?" He asked. I scoffed. "I don't need looking after. So can you tell him to back off." I insisted. "You do need watching. Besides, what's wrong with Peter? Don't you like him?" Tony asked. i shook my head and he cocked a brow. "He is annoying and will do anything you tell him." I explained. Tony tilted his head, neither agreeing or disagreeing. 

Pepper leant forward, a sweet smile on her lips. "Did you make any other friends?" She asked. "I don't really do friends." I replied, nonchalantly. Her smile faltered slightly, i could tell she had been making a really big effort these past three weeks. A part of me appreciated it a bit but most of me just wished she would stop acting like a mother. The three of us continued to eat in silence. "And don't worry Tony- I stuck to the story. You're not my dad, you're just a generous billionaire who took me, a refugee from Sokovia, in to his home." I muttered sarcastically. Tony sighed. "That's good. It's for your benefit, remember that." He said. I leant back in my chair, "I'm ok with it. I'd rather people not know you are my biological father." Maybe it was cruel but he had been the one to leave me after all. 

I lay in bed, sleeping for the first time in a long time, when grunts of pain woke me up. I opened my eyes and lay in the darkness, listening to the voices coming from downstairs. They were speaking Russian. I slowly crept downstairs, the voices becoming clearer. "Who's instructions were you under?" The gruff voice of a Russian man. I reached the bottom of the stairs and inhaled sharply. Three men stood in the darkness. They moved out of the way and in the middle of the kitchen, tied to a chair sat a women with shoulder length, blonde hair, a soft face and chocolate brown eyes full of fear. However the rest of my mother's face did not show fear at all. "Clara! Look away!" She screamed, noticing me. This time, i squeezed my eyes shut as the gun shot went off. I slowly opened them and became confused to the change of scene. This place had haunted my mind for weeks. Sokovia. The buildings were rubble but no one was around, just me. Or so i thought. Labored breathing behind made me turn around. Pietro's silver eyes looked up at me, the life slowly leaving it. He clutched the wounds in his chest as i knelt beside him, tears filling my eyes. "Clara..." He struggled to say. I  pressed my hand to the wounds, desperately trying to stop the bleeding but of course it wouldn't help, it hadn't before. One last breath and his eyes would stay like those lifeless orbs forever. 

I gasped as i woke up. I looked around in the darkness and found my self still lying in the bed. My face was wet with sweat. I sat up trying to calm down my breathing. I balled my hands up in my lap and closed my eyes, shaking my head. I got out of bed and walked to the window. I peered out at the night. Buildings lit up the skyline and the streets weren't dead like you would expect early in the morning. My head rested against the glass like it had done so many times when Pietro was on the other side. I wiped away the sweat as my breathing finally became steady. I would give anything to have him with me now. I would take my own life to be with him but i feared we would end up in two separate places. He was too good to be where i was heading.

The next two weeks at school were merely bearable. The rumors hadn't stopped circling but now i just ignored them. Peter still wouldn't leave me alone no matter how many times i tried to escape him. I arrived at school on Thursday of my second week as normal. Happy drove me to school and like always, Peter was waiting on the curb. I trailed through the day, homeroom first followed by Physics, Gym and Literature. It was at lunch time that it happened.

 Once again, despite my attempts to sit alone, Peter, Ned and MJ had joined me. "Have you enjoyed your first two weeks at school?" Ned asked. I shook my head. He looked back at his food awkwardly. "I heard Dina Asher is throwing a party tomorrow night." MJ said. Peter's face lit up slightly. "Really? Is she back?" He asked. MJ laughed at his reaction. "Yeah, she got back yesterday from her stupid trip to Africa to help orphans." She put quotation marks around the last two words. "I think we should go to her party. I don't like her but you know, free drinks." MJ suggested.