Enid went with Peter to pick up Lorna a few hours after her incident. She loved Peter's little sister, especially when it came to playing dress up with her. Fairy wings, princess dresses, the whole shebang. It was always a glorious mess in Lorna's bedroom when they were done, but it was always worth it. But the most fun was when Enid yanked Peter into their madness.
"Wow, you look beautiful," Enid snickered. Peter's hair had been braided and tied in as many ways as humanly possible and he had glitter splattered across his face. And fairy wings, at Lorna's request.
"Thanks for that," he replied, putting a hand to his face. It came back covered with sparkle dust. "How long does this stuff take to wash off?"
"Er...." Both girls burst out laughing. Peter groaned, then stormed out of the room, presumably to take a shower.
"Good job, Lorna," Enid gave the little girl a high five.
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It was a few hours later. Enid and Peter were relaxing in the basement again. Rather, Enid was relaxing while Peter hopped from game to game to game to keep himself occupied.
"Do you ever think about the future?" Enid asked. It was a strange off-hand question, to be sure, but she was a girl full of those.
Peter looked to her, then shrugged. "Not really," he said, throwing a ball against the wall and catching it. "What about you?"
Enid paused. "I guess not," she said. 'Not that I really have one of those.'
The room grew very quiet for a moment. Peter was thinking of asking her something, Enid was still processing, and the only noises were coming from Ms. Maximoff, who was upstairs in the kitchen. Before either of them could speak, the upstairs phone began to ring.
Click. "Hello? Yes, this is she," Ms. Maximoff said. Peter went to the basement phone and tapped in to the conversation.
His bright eyes dimmed. "Oh, it's...I think it's your sister?"
Enid rushed to him and listened in. "No, that's my mom," she jumped away from the phone as if it were made of acid, slipped on her backpack, and nearly tripped over her untied laces. She scrambled to get them tied. "Dammit." She left the laces half-tied and turned to Peter. "I'm sorry, I've got to go...thanks for the distraction."
Peter opened his mouth to say something, but the girl was already halfway up the stairs and completely out of sight. He ran up the stairs and saw that Enid was gone.
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Enid sat in the kitchen and watched her mother hang up the phone. The mother's eyes came to rest on her daughter's face. No words were spoken between them, only mutual understanding. Silent tears rushed down both of their faces.
Katarina was out. She didn't know.
The mother opened her hand and the piece of paper dropped lifelessly onto the kitchen table. Enid was scared to pick it up. Her trembling fingers slid the paper close. Her eyes flitted across the page but her mind failed to register what any of the words meant.
A choked sob came from mother. "They...the doctors..."
"What does this mean?" Enid bit her bottom lip. She jumped out of her chair, pointing at the paper with trembling hands. "What does this mean?!" Tears rolled down her face. Her whole body felt like it was burning. Enid's body racked with sobs.
The girl took one look at her mother's vacant face before bolting out the front door. She didn't look back as her feet carried her down the sidewalk, through their estate complex, and towards an empty children's park. Something was growing within her stomach, pulling her insides apart with every aching moment. She needed to let it out.
Enid halted at the swing-set, holding onto the stability bars for dear life as her breathing quickened. There was a moment of silence. It started off with a mere glow that slowly worked its way up Enid's arms and down to her legs. Then it was as if the sun itself was blooming within her. With a mighty scream, the girl's body let out the most exquisite explosion. It enclosed the park with its brightness before deflating as Enid's body curled up and collapsed.
It was about ten minutes before Enid came to, body aching and heart thumping out of her chest. The park was barely recognizable. All the play-structure was now a puddle of plastic and molten metal. The earth was still smoldering from the impact, grass now browned and dead, with the young girl sitting in the very middle of it all. On top of that, it seemed the power had gone out with the giant electrical surge Enid generated.
Enid shrieked, backing away from the remnants of the park. Her arms wrapped around her chest as she trembled. Suddenly, a car pulled up to the sidewalk. The girl backed away and hid behind the pile of molten goo.
The car turned off and three men stepped out.
One of them, taller than the others, inched closer to her and held up his arms in a sort of surrender. "Hey, it's okay," he said. "We're not here to hurt you."
Enid flinched, creeping back further. "W-who are you?"
"My name is Hank McCoy," he said, kneeling before the rubble with a curious gleam in his eye. "And these are my friends."
The man carefully held out his hand to her and she recoiled instantly. "No, get away from me," she shrieked. "You'll just get hurt."
There was a sudden slam as another car door opened. A young man stood at the curbside, taking in all the glorious chaos. His headphones made him oblivious to the conversation happening around him. But he stopped entirely when his eyes locked on the girl at the center of the destruction. He fumbled to get his headphones off his ears.
"Enid?"
The girl's eyes darted to the source and she found herself even more scared than before. "Peter."
YOU ARE READING
To Live Forever || p.maximoff
Fanfiction"There's no chance for us, It's all decided for us, This world has only one Sweet moment set aside for us. Who wants to live forever?" ((Queen)) When a girl's world comes tumbling down, her best friend tries to help her build it back up. "I can't st...
