~~next day~~
I wake up to find the grey clouds hanging low in the sky. I can hear the faint sound of rain pattering against my window and the distant rumble of thunder. I blink my eyes a few times pushing the sleepiness out of my system. I feel as if today is going to be the longest day of my life.
Swinging my legs over the side of my bed, I realize I slept in the same clothes I wore yesterday. After I couldn't stand watching Marc in pain, at his own hands, I left and curled up in bed. I must've fallen asleep.
Revenge fills my veins from head to toe. I can't let Marc live his life in pain. He doesn't deserve this. This is all my fault and I'm going to fix it.
I pull on a red shirt and a black leather jacket. Skinny, blue jeans and black boots. I straighten my hair and check my appearance before leaving the room.
I take the elevator all the way down into the basement. Walking quickly over to Marc's cell, his eyes follow my steps.
"Stephanie, you shouldn't be in here." He says.
"Doesn't matter. I have to ask you something." I say, dodging his confusion.
"Shoot." He says.
"What else is important to Thanos? He obviously doesn't only want you and I." I question.
Marc hesitates, "the...uh...the healing stone. Why?"
"No reason. Just wondering." I respond.
"Where are you going dressed so nicely?" He asks before I leave.
"Night on the town." I say.
"Oh. Be careful." Marc advises me.
Without another response, I turn on my heel and take off. Getting to the ground floor, the Avengers sit around.
"Hey, kiddo." Dad greets.
"I'm going out with Junior for a while. I'll be back in a while. Bye." I said, heading toward the door.
"Wait. You're not going to have anything to eat?" Steve asks.
"No." I respond, exiting the tower.
Before I could close it, a foot stops me. I step aside out on the sidewalk and watch as Loki follows me out. He stares me in the eyes and holds my shoulders.
"What do you think you're doing?" Loki asks me.
"I..I...I'm going out with Junior tonight." I stutter.
"I know you're lying to me, Stephanie." He says, narrowing his eyes, "do not lie to me. Where are you going?"
"Revenge." I respond truthfully.
"On who? Please do not tell me it's Thanos." Loki glares at me, hoping to find answers in my eyes.
"Maybe..." I quietly say.
"Stephanie, what are you thinking? You'll get yourself killed, easily. No doubt." He says.
"I have to. And you know what Marc said, you were all watching the video tape, listening to our conversation. If I don't join Thanos, he'll just come after me anyway. I might as well hand myself over." I sigh.
"Darling. We will protect you. I promise, you're safe here with us." Loki promised.
"You can't make a promise you can't keep." I narrow my eyes, turn on my heel and walk away.
Part of me, wished that Loki would have made me stay and the other part of me wishes to keep going. I'm going to save Marc from this madness.
Getting to the old saw mill, I still find everything untouched since last year when I tore through everything, looking for Demarcus. I swallow down my fear of Thanos and begin down the hatch. The stairwell still as dark as I remember it. The small vacant room, still untouched, as well. It's time to make everything better.
"Thanos!!" I yell out.
"Thanos!!" I yell again.
A deep, dark laugh spreads like fire around the room and the passageway opens up to shadows. I watch as a purple, tall figure appears in the doorway.
"Why hello, Stephanie Stark." He smirks.
"Thanos." I sigh.
"Care to join me?" He asks.
"I'd rather not." I grumble under my breath.
Suddenly, my vision goes black and a stinging sensation forms on my head. My body hits the ground in seconds.
I wake to my body laying on a metal table and my arms, legs, and torso are tied. My hands are numb as they just barely hang off the table. Stinging fulfills them. I try lifting my head to see what was wrong with them, but I'm too weak to do so.
Thanos walks in, slyly.
"What are you doing to me?" I ask.
"Well, when Marc was here, I tested on him for an entire year. Nothing seemed to work as well as this is now." He smiled.
"Worked as well as what?" I question.
"Draining your blood. Your blood and DNA hold the tesseract. Two cuts on your wrist in your veins and the blood just comes pouring out." Thanos laughed maniacally.
Quickly, I lifted my head and saw buckets laying under my wrists and blood pouring out of them. My eyes widened in horror.
"Looks like it's time to cut more." He takes out a blade and comes close to me.
I struggle to get loose from this.
"Squirming will only make it worse, Dear." He said, kneeling on my left side.
All of a sudden, the coldness of the blade touched my skin and scraped deep inside my wrist. I yelled, loudly, as he went to the other side and did the same thing again.
~~a week later~~
I'm so weak, that I can hardly wiggle my toes. Everything in me, hurts. I'm dehydrated and starving. Each day, Thanos enters the room and tortures me. Each day, he puts more and more cuts into my wrists, draining my blood for his use.
Yesterday, he made a fire, took a metal rod and laid it down on my stomach. There was no purpose to that one, besides pure evil.
Walking in, Thanos takes my restraints off.
"Quickly use the bathroom and return. Try anything and I'll kill you." He threatens.
As I stumble to the bathroom, Thanos follows closely behind. Getting to the door, he's still at my side.
"Are you going to help me use it too?" I ask.
He narrows his eyes as I close the door and lock it.
"You have five minutes. I'll be waiting out here." He yells through the door.
I collapse against the door. My muscles and bones are weak. And my wrists are going to be scarred, whether I use the healing stone or not. It heals wounds, not scars.
I lean over the sink and take in as much water as I could. Afterward, I glance under the sink and find a bunch of pipes. I would just use my powers, but when I'm around Thanos, it's impossible. Something stops me.
I grab ahold of the pipe and tug with everything I got. It hurts to do anything, but I did it. A pipe comes off and water comes leaking out, quietly.
"What's going on in there?" Thanos demands.
"Nothing, just getting myself some water. I'm coming out, though." I call, walking out the door.
I hold the pipe behind my back and point at the wall, as if something was there. Oldest trick in the book and he fell for it.
I take the pipe and stab him in the shoulder. As I did, I reached at his side and grabbed his knife. He holds his shoulder, while groaning in pain.
"You little..." He starts.
I begin running down the hallway and into a large room. I close the door behind me and run.
Suddenly, Marc runs in, with a knife in his heart.
"M-Marc?" I ask.
"I tried, Steph..." He says, falling to the floor.
Tears already swarm my face. I bend down as his side and watch as the life runs out in him.
"I love you." I admit.
He slightly smiles, "I love you too, Stephanie Stark."
His eyes flutter shut and I sob on his chest.
Out of nowhere, his body disappears. Laughing alarms me. Behind me, stands Thanos.
"What? Did that little vision scare you?" Thanos laughs.
"How could you?" I ask, standing up.
I hold the knife in my back pocket and head toward him. As I get to him, I take the knife and stab his stomach.
"Devine move." He says, slipping out the knife and stabbing me in the stomach.
I gasp as the knife punctures my insides. I stumble backward to keep my balance. I stumble, into what I think is another room, with my back turned.
"Stephanie?" I hear a familiar voice ask.
I turn around, slowly and find Marc standing there. I hold the knife in my stomach.
"I'm... I'm okay... I'm okay Marc." I fall to the ground as I feel the life being sucked out of me. I can feel myself choking on my own blood, slowly dying.