The Hollow (An Avengers FanFiction)

Chapter Twenty Four

I gained determination as I began to swim down and eventually, the voices began to get smaller and smaller. As I continued to swim down, there was a dim light. It was dim, but it was definitely there.

I reach it. It's like a giant wall of water, but it was also like a mirror. Without even thinking, I pull myself through the wall and I was suddenly in New York with the sun shining bright. I stood up; I was no longer in that sea of misery. I was soaking wet as water dripped from my body to the ground.

That's when I finally realized what I was wearing. I was only in a hospital gown. I guess that made sense; I was just in the med bay after all.

I take in my surroundings, realizing some parts were blurrier than others. The ground felt so real under my bare feet. My attention shifts however when I hear heavy breaths run past me. That's when I see seven-year-old me running down the street, her feet also bare.

It was so odd seeing my younger self. Her hair was in pigtails and she wore a pink skirt. This really was a different person.

I began to run after her, calling her name, hoping that I'd be able to interact with her just as I had in the mirror, but it was as if I was just a ghost.

She eventually stops at an ally on Madison Ave. She curls up into a ball by a big blue trash can. Her cries were silent, but it was heartbreaking. "Mommy changed her number. She doesn't want me," she sniffled, "Neither does Daddy. How can anyone love me now?"

I sit next to her as I bring my knees to my chest. "Don't worry. They were nobodies anyway," I chuckle as I put my hand on top of her head. She didn't notice, but that was okay. I think I mostly did it for myself anyway. "Soon, you'll find some friends. Now, they may annoy you sometimes and they aren't perfect, but, to be fair, neither are we," I sighed as I remembered the family I had built, "You've already met one of them. I remember now. I remember we gave him a locket that we found in the park. Keep Jordan close, okay?"

I continued to follow her as she aimlessly walked around the large city. She'd stop occasionally to look at the cafes or to just rest her blistering feet. I didn't really realize the pain in my feet until we did stop. I wondered where we were even going. She always seemed in a deep daze when I observed her.

It was weird following myself around the city. She seemed more dead than me and that's saying something. "I wish I knew what was going on," I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair. Then it was as if everything had frozen; like someone had pressed pause on the movie.

Then I see a filing cabinet right in front of me. I cautiously open it to find different files all from my memories. I looked and looked and couldn't find any information on how I knew Jim Moriarty. I'd been looking under J amd M for what felt like hours until an L file fell out of the cabinet. It revealed the night I first realized my mother was leaving. Left. My eyes go wide as I realized that he was in L for left. He left, that's what he said.

I begin searching through the L file, finding it to be the biggest one. Then, I found it; Jim Moriarty's whole file was in my hands. I hesitantly open the file. Questions circled my mind. Did I really want to know what damaged me so badly that I forced myself to wake up? No, I've come so far. I have to know.

I fully open the file to see things suddenly speeding forward in front of me. The scenes change as the little girl walks from place to place, but then it suddenly stops when we're inside a small coffee shop. When I noticed she was sitting at a booth, I sat next to her. Why had it stopped here? Then, in the corner of my eye, I see a short man wearing a blazer and sunglasses walk into the coffee shop. He pulls down his sunglasses just below his eyes as he examines the area around him. That's when he sees her with her dead stare. She hadn't realized his almost predatory glare on her.