The Black Winter

Chapter 44

Joan's pov
  After I finally calm down, everyone is in my room again, standing around my bed, looking at me.

  "What happened Joan?" Natasha asks softly.

  "I don't know," I respond, looking down to my hand.

  "Can you identify the people?" Tony asks.

  "No, I don't know who they are."

  "Can you explain them? Anything at all, even it they had a mole or freckles?" Clint asks.

  "They were both Polish. The woman had long red hair that was pulled back in a tight bun. She had hazel eyes and freckles. She was thinner and about 5'5, maybe 5'6. The man was about 6'2, he was strongly built. He had blue eyes, just like the girl."

  "What girl?" Steve asks. "You never said anything about a girl," he adds.

  "She was young, maybe four or five. She had dark red hair and was covered in blood," I explain.

  "Do you know the year?" Nat asks, typing on a keyboard.

  "It had to have been early 1900's. Between the furniture and wallpaper," I tell her. James places his hand on my back and I let out a shaky sigh. I shouldn't have been that scared, but it was like something right out of a horror movie.

  "I got a list," Nat calls out.

  She walks over with the laptop and places it on the table that attaches to the bed.

  "I'm going to scroll through the women and you tell me which one was the woman that you saw, ok?" She asks.

  I nod my head and pictures of women pop up on the screen, none of them matching. Until, one does.

  "That's her," I tell her pointing to the screen.

  Natalia picks it up and starts to read her profile.

  "Anna Andrysiak is her name. She died in 1937 when her and her husband were taken by German troop. They both died in a concentration camp. Her husbands name was Felix Andrysiak. They had a daughter named Joan Andrysiak. She was born in 1915 and after being called a witch, went missing in 1922. No one has seen her since, many speculate that she died during the war and haunts that area. Apparently its a big tourist attraction," Natalia reads.

  "Wait, so you're Joan Andrysiak?" Tony asks.

  I just shrug my shoulders. "All I know is my first name. I don't know my family, unless you count Hydra."

  "We could take a DNA test," Tony suggests.

  "I think after that, I would rather not know," I admit.

  "But you could find out what your life was like before Hydra. You could remember who your parents were," Clint says.

  "After last night, I don't think that would be wise."

  "What else happened? What are you not telling us Joan?" Steve asks.

  "None of your damn fucking business Steve!" I snap. I throw the covers off, and stand up. I grab my stomach with my hand and walk up to Steve, pushing down the pain. The tiles are cold against my bare feet, and the gray sweatpants rubbed against my inner thighs as I walked.

  Once I was only mere centimeters away I stopped and looked him in the eyes. I can tell that he feels threatened, Steve straightens up and looks down to me.

  "Ok, let's just take a breath," James says, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I relax my shoulders under his touch. I turn around and he helps me back to my bed. I take a seat on the edge, not wanting to lay down anymore.