Monsters and Magic

Chapter 1

You didn't know what the seethe had done to get on the Avenger's radar. Hell, you hadn't even known who the team of superheroes in costumeswere when they burst into the underground lair of the seethe. You recognized Iron Man from the news, but Tony Stark had announced himself before you'd been taken. There was chaos among the vampires when the team burst in, looking for the queen of the seethe, bringing the sunlight in with them.

You rose from the thin blanket that was your bed. You were the youngest vampire here, with the least status, plus you were here against your will, so you hadn't gotten comfort when you were supposed to be passed out during the daylight hours. Something had told you to stay conscious that morning and you thanked your mother's heritage for keeping you awake and ultimately alive.

The rest of the vampires rose as well, rose to fight off the intruders, to protect the queen. Most of the younger vampires didn't wake, too drained by the sun. You did. The vampires expected you to fight with them.

Morons.

You waited for your chance, then rushed forward and stopped one of the seethe from ripping the arrow-guy's throat out. You summoned a small flame, shoved it into the vampire and shoved him far away from arrow-guy. "Those things wood?" you asked him. He nodded. "Straight to the heart. They're also weak against fire," you told him.

"Can you light them?" He asked, holding out a handful of arrows. You had to be careful playing with fire, but you lit them for him with magic. He nodded. You jumped from hero to hero, helping advising, doing what you could to help. You helped the woman shove a group of the oldest vampires into the sunlight where they were much easier to take down. Iron Man's repulsers were effective in lighting them on fire, so you mostly stayed out of his way. Fire was not your friend.

You should have been tied to the seethe, should have been bound to protect them, just like the others, but you hadn't chosen this, and they could beat you into obedience, but not into metaphysical control. The same reason they had taken you in the first place was the same reason they couldn't control you now. You'd just needed help to escape and help had come from a group of six superheros.

Once the main seethe was defeated, you showed them the secret stairwell that led to the queen's resting place. "I can't go with you-" you admitted when you had opened the secret door. "I can't. I'm sorry-"

"Easy, kid, you've helped us plenty. Wait here," the guy with the shield told you. The others agreed. You had helped as much as you could. Even you couldn't face off against the queen. You found the darkest corner to wait for their return and wondered what was going to happen now that you were free. You couldn't go home, your family thought you dead, and...well... they weren't wrong.

You felt the queen's death and you didn't mourn her. You could have rejoiced in her demise. It was she who had decided you should be ripped from your life and added to her collection of vampires.

Moments later the super heroes came back up, just as a group of men in black suits stormed down the stairs. You stayed in your quiet corner out of the way and as invisible as you could make yourself until arrow-guy came over to you. "You ok, kid?" he asked.

You nodded shakily. "I can't believe they're finally dead," you told him, relieved, excited, nervous. There were too many emotions and you didn't know how to deal with any of them.

"You're ok now. We'll get you out of here. What's your name?" arrow-guy asked. The rest of the superheros were dealing with the guys in suits.

"Y/N," you said softly, unused to kind attention. Vampires were not usually pleasant, especially to you. The queen shouldn't have chosen you and they all knew it.