Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT x enjoy
WARNING: intense death scenes
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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞
Sofia, Bulgaria
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Bucky hastily jammed the keys into the ignition and pulled the car out of the park. Not caring to warn Allie whose face nearly hit the dashboard as he did so. Ignoring the strings of curses that fell past her lips and how she roughly gripped onto the edge of her seat as he pushed the car into drive.
Within seconds he was swerving around the airport car park, cutting in front of cars and swearing beneath his breath at people who didn't take off fast enough for his liking. He drove as if he was on a mission, that being to get home as fast as possible without getting into a major accident. He didn't quite care about minor ones.
Allie absolutely hated his driving. But until she learned how to drive herself, she couldn't force him to stop.
"What did you do while I was gone?" Allie asked, flicking her gaze over to Bucky.
"Nothing really." He shrugged nonchalantly.
"Surely you did something?"
"I did go shopping and buy some food yesterday morning." He replied, rolling his eyes at her unamused tone.
"How did you get the money?" She inquired, furrowing her brows quizzically. Knowing that they had only been able to buy groceries and stuff from shops with her powers.
"I pretended to be homeless and collected money." He smirked.
Allie gasped in shock and swiftly leaned over the console to smack him on the arm. "You did not!" She gaped at him in disappointment.
"Well, we are homeless when you think about it." He commented, shooting her a smug grin.
"We are not! And that's stealing from good, kind people which we don't do." She emphasized in disbelief.
"And the shopkeeper that we usually steal off isn't a good person?" Bucky pointed out, tearing his gaze from the road over to her with a quirked eyebrow. When she didn't reply to his statement, his smirk grew and he turned his attention back to the road.
"Exactly."
"That doesn't mean what you did was right," Allie argued stubbornly.
"Yeah, yeah." Bucky chuckled, laughing at the obstinate face that she was making. Finding that she looked quite cute when she acted that way.
With an exaggerated eye roll, Allie turned her eyes from Bucky's side profile and into the rear mirror. She barely glimpsed into the glass but she did a double-take when she saw a large, black van following them from a distance. It looked like an ordinary car, but for some reason, Allie felt a wave of apprehension overwhelm her.
She didn't mention it to Bucky at first, believing that she was just overreacting. That Bucky's incessant worrying had finally rubbed off on her. So she tried to push it from her mind, only looking back in the rear mirror to ensure that she was wrong.
She let one mile pass, then a second mile and then a third.
But the van refused to budge, still sitting a few feet behind them. Despite matching Bucky's overzealous speed, they didn't overtake them. Instead, choosing to follow them down the long and windy road. And Allie began to think that maybe she wasn't crazy after all.
"Take the next left," She ordered, causing Bucky to look over at her in confusion.
"Why?" He questioned.
"That black truck has been following us for the last three mile at least." Allie informed him. Bucky immediately looked into the mirror and frowned as he noticed the dark car.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"No, but it's better safe than sorry." She answered.
"Alright, I'll try lose them." He replied, quickly taking the next left just as Allie had told him.
Allie kept her gaze on the mirror, anxiously waiting for the car to come into view. They were a few seconds behind them but she knew that it wasn't just a coincidence. She knew that she wasn't overreacting and freaking out over nothing.
And of course, she was right.
The black van had followed them around the corner, prompting a sigh to fall past Allie's pink lips. Anxiousness rising within her as she immediately began thinking about how they would fight their way out of this one.
"Take the next right and get back onto the road we were on. If they are still behind us, then they are definitely following us." She explained.
Bucky nodded at her words before he took the next right and got back onto the highway, internal praying that her gut instinct was wrong. That her intuition was lying.
But just as expected, the car was right behind them within seconds. Following them down the long, dark highway.
"They are still following us." She groaned, frustration welling inside her. "It has to be HYDRA."
"Allie, we are the most wanted criminals in the world. It could be multiple different agencies that are following us." Bucky challenged, cocking a brow at her.
"Yes, but who would only send a truck full of soldiers to arrest us when we are 'enhanced individuals'?" She pointed out, curling her fingers around the words with distaste.
"You are an enhanced individual, not me." He countered and Allie just shook her head.
"It's HYDRA." She said confidently.
"Well, how do we lose them?" Bucky asked.
Allie cursed beneath her breath, being much too tired to deal with this at the moment. Car chases were definitely not their forte. They were made to be fighters, to take out their opponents by any means necessary. So the obvious answer was to find someplace to take them out where they had the advantage.
Or just run and hide, which sounded much more appealing.
"Do you remember that building under construction near our hotel?" Allie questioned to which Bucky nodded.
"There's a subway just across the road. If we use the building to get across to the station we can get out of the city." She explained.
"And our stuff?" Bucky frowned.
"We literally had nothing Bucky. Besides, we can always get more." She told him, shaking her head lightly.
"And what about the car?" He asked again.
"We'll lose it in the city." Allie answered, shrugging her shoulders.
"Alright, we aren't that far away so we should be there in five minutes." Bucky informed her, turning his gaze back to the road.
"You are never going to hear me say this again, but you need to drive faster." She cringed, her hand immediately going to clutch the overhead handle as Bucky began to grin.
He didn't need to be told twice.
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Fortunately enough, it didn't take Bucky 5 minutes to get the two of them into the city.
Bucky had roared down the roads as if he was out of some street racing movie. He had heeded Allie's words too much, driving almost twice the legal speed limit to make it into the city within minutes. He zoomed around other cars, receiving numerous honks in protest as he overtook them. She was surprised that they weren't engaged in an official car chase with the police yet.
But of course, HYDRA was hot on their heels. Another car had even joined the chase, prompting a string of curses to fall from both Allie and Bucky's lips. Being chased by one car was bad enough, but being chased by two was even worse. And it also meant that there were at least 15-20 soldiers in the vans, which was very bad news for the two of them.
When Bucky finally pulled up in a mall car park, the two jumped out of the car with unprecedented speed. Allie didn't even bother to push her dark hair back from her face as she followed after Bucky, unable to bring herself to look back and see where the HYDRA soldiers were.
"Was that fast enough?" Bucky called out over his shoulder as they dashed around the people walking on the sidewalk.
"Shut up." Allie glared, ignoring the looks that the crowd was giving them.
She faintly heard his chuckle over the pounding of her feet against the concrete. She swiftly evaded the many people on the sidewalk, trying her best not to hit them as she ran. Her heart was pounding in her chest, thumping even harder when she heard the people behind her scream as the HYDRA soldiers followed behind them.
She pushed her feet to move even faster, right on Bucky's heels, as she realized how close she was to being back in HYDRA grasp. She wasn't even sure where she was going, she was just following Bucky and hoping that he knew where he was going. Which was hopefully anywhere away from HYDRA.
Fortunately enough, Bucky knew where he was going. All those morning walks around the city finally paying off as he led Allie to the half-built building.
Allie's eyes widened as she saw another HYDRA car pull up at the end of the street, with another 10 soldiers pouring out of the vehicle. They were being ambushed left, right and center and she wasn't too sure how they were going to make it out of this one.
Without stopping, the two of them leaped over the tall wire fencing, grasping ahold of the top bar and swinging themselves over. Landing on the ground with a loud thud before they were back up on their feet.
There was barely any time for the two to think about how they were going to deal with the HYDRA soldiers who crashed into the fencing behind them. Instead, they chose to focus on making it to the other side of the building, escaping into the small alleyway and hitting the subway.
But of course, that wasn't what happened.
A gunshot pierced through the air behind them. Allie felt fear course through her body but it didn't stay for long as Bucky pulled her towards him. She felt the air get knocked out of her lungs as he slammed her against one of the concrete pillars in an adjacent hallway, shielding her body with his.
Her head was held between his arms which were clutching onto her tightly. Their bodies were pressed together, with hers also being squished against the cement column uncomfortably. Bucky towered over her, having to crane his neck to gaze down at her.
"Are you okay?" He questioned breathlessly, worry swirling in his bright eyes.
They were so close she could feel the soft exhale of his breath against her skin. She could truly see the shades of blue that made up his captivating cobalt eyes and the light stubble that adorned the pale skin of his jaw.
It was a sight that she didn't appreciate enough.
"I'm fine." She responded with a nod.
But Bucky had to make sure with his own eyes. He pulled away from her slightly, looking her up and down to check for any injuries. When he didn't find any, he returned her nod and stepped back.
Almost too quickly for her liking.
He turned his gaze to the HYDRA soldiers who finally made it over the fencing and were now searching the building. Cursing beneath his breath, Bucky turned back to Allie and whispered to her softly.
"Got any ideas for how to get out of here?"
"None at all." She answered, shaking her head.
She quickly peeked around the column to search for any soldiers, but instead found her gaze trained on the dart sticking out of the opposite wall. A dart that would have embedded itself in her neck if Bucky hadn't have pulled her out of the way. A dart that she knew all too well.
"They're shooting us with tranquilizers." She informed Bucky, pulling herself back out of view.
"So they want us alive." He muttered.
Allie nodded before peeking around the corner again, this time surprising herself as she caught sight of a group of HYDRA soldiers. They were all wearing their black combat gear, all donning the blood-red HYDRA insignia on their chests with guns strapped across their backs.
Bucky and herself were at a clear disadvantage against these men. More so Allie as all of the men were wearing their typical black helmets to protect them from her manipulation. She knew that the two of them were excellent fighters, but up against so many enemies who also knew how to fight was going to be seriously problematic.
But what truly frustrated her wasn't the number of soldiers they were up against. It was despite how powerful she was, HYDRA still made sure that she was weak. That they could use the helmet to take away to one gift she had been given.
They made sure she was still beatable.
"We are going to have to fight our way out." She grumbled, turning back to Bucky who nodded grimly.
"Together." He affirmed.
"Together."
And that was the last thing they said before they sprinted out from behind their hiding spot.
Gunshots were heard immediately, prompting Allie to use the pillars as her shield. Bucky managed to use his metal arm to dodge the darts, flicking them aside as if they were foam bullets. He quickly drew two or three of the soldiers towards him, taking them down effortlessly while leaving Allie to deal with the others.
Allie crept around the column, inching towards one of the soldiers who was just about to take off after Bucky. But she grabbed him by the shoulders before he could do so, slamming his head against the concrete with astounding power. His helmet shattered upon impact, instantly alerting the other nearby soldiers to her presence.
Another soldier who was only a few steps away turned towards Allie, gun raised, and ready to fire. But she hastily jerked the now unconscious soldier up, using him as a shield.
She walked towards the firing soldier, letting the unconscious man take the bullets meant for her. And when she was only a few feet away, she threw his body towards the other soldier.
Her attacker managed to jump out of the way of his unconscious comrade's falling body. But he wasn't quick enough to dodge the knife that Allie sent hurtling towards him, painfully implanting itself deep in his shoulder. A scream tore through his throat as Allie lept towards him, ripping the knife from his body before kicking him to the floor. And finally finishing him off, she slammed his head against the ground, knocking him unconscious.
Allie slipped her knife back into her pocket as she yanked the gun from the soldier's hands, feeling the familiar weight of the firearm rest in her own hands. Ready to knock some HYDRA officers out. But she didn't have much time to contemplate the feeling as a punch landed itself on her cheek.
Allie groaned at the pain that flared through her face, but she didn't focus on it as she turned towards her attacker in fury. She ducked under his next punch that was aimed at her head before she propelled herself towards him.
She used a wooden box to leap on top of the soldier, wrapping her legs around his neck to cut his air supply off. She slammed the butt of her gun down onto his helmet, watching it crack at the action. She repeated the action, watching as the crack grew with each assault. But she was brought to a halt as the soldier slammed her against another concrete pillar, once again knocking the air from her lungs.
Biting back her groans, she flipped off the man, landing gracefully on her feet. And without a seconds hesitation, she lifted her gun up and pulled down on the trigger, sending a tranquilizer dart into the exposed skin of his neck. Within seconds, his body was falling to the ground and joining his other two comrades.
She heard the footsteps of more soldiers running in her direction, arousing a wave of panic in her. And before she knew it, she felt the presence of another man standing behind her.
With surprising speed, she dropped to the ground and kicked her leg out to trip the soldier over. His body landed on the floor with a loud 'thud' and she quickly sent a bullet into the chink of armor on his chest.
She swiftly jumped back to her feet and turned to face the other two soldiers coming her way. She didn't even have time to appreciate the mess of HYDRA soldiers littered around her feet before she was once again engaged in the fight.
She dropped her gun and pulled the knife out from her pocket. Letting it fly into one of the soldier's arm, who this time was holding an electric baton. With an audible grunt, the weapon fell from his hands and clattered to the floor.
She jumped back as the other solider went to jab her with his own baton, narrowly avoiding the sparks of electricity that the weaponized stick emitted. But before he could pull his hand back, Allie slammed her own hand onto his, forcing him to drop the baton into her other hand that was waiting below. Once she felt the cool metal wrapped in her fingers, she twisted her arm and jammed it into the soldier's stomach.
She let his body fall to the floor, convulsing from the onslaught of electricity, as she turned around to face the other soldier. She sent a forceful kick into his body before jabbing him too with the baton. Letting him fall beside his still shaking colleague.
But it wasn't long before she got a taste of her own medicine.
It was poor form on her part not to realize that there were two other soldiers creeping up behind her. She was too captivated by the other three henchmen coming in front of her, readying herself to take them on. She was on the balls of her feet, ready to take off and meet them halfway when an overwhelming pain entered her body.
The two men behind her had sent their own batons into her neck, unleashing a barrage of pure agony through her. She immediately fell to the ground, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to will the pain away. Begging that the deep-rooted agony in her head would disappear.
But of course, that didn't work. She was a prisoner to the pain.
She felt her body involuntarily convulse on the ground. All logic fled from her mind as she couldn't even concentrate on a single thought. The entire world faded away as all she could focus on was the torture that consumed her mind.
Eventually, the electricity ceased. But the men's assault didn't stop there.
They kicked, punched, slapped, and slammed her already broken body. No doubt leaving bruises and broken bones for her to find later. The number of soldiers around her seemed to double with each passing second, with every one of them inflicting their own torture on her trembling body. Her face was bruised and battered, with tears falling from her eyes as they continued their attack. Her own guttural screams piercing the air.
She was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness and she prayed that her body would just give in. All she wanted was darkness. She craved it. Begging to seek some solace from the agony that overwhelmed her body.
She wanted Bucky. No, she needed Bucky.
She needed him to save her because she knew that she wasn't going to make it out of here alive otherwise. She could feel her body giving up on her and the only one who could possibly save her now was Bucky.
But he wasn't there.
He was in the next room over, trying to take on other soldiers who were desperately trying to subdue him. He had heard Allie's screams and fought with a newfound passion that he lacked before. Fighting his way over to her. But even then, it wasn't enough to take on 10 heavily armed HYDRA soldiers by himself.
So Allie was alone.
One of the soldiers punched her across the face, causing more blood to drip from her already beaten face. Tears poured from her eyes endlessly, and she hated herself for it. She didn't want to cry. She didn't want the men to see her weakness, to see that she wasn't as strong as what she thought she was.
That she was the weak person that HYDRA, that Schmidt, that Zola believed she was.
That the memory of herself being stabbed, whipped, beaten and electrocuted by Schmidt was a lie. That he hadn't cursed at her in German for being a baby, for being weak, for being too much of a woman. That she hadn't cried with every mark or cut he left on her, cried for Mikael or Erksine to save her.
But every time it was the same. Every flashback featured her being beaten for being weak, and all she did was cry for others to save her. She begged him to stop, to have mercy on her. She played the weak damsel in distress perfectly, and she still did. Only this time turning to Bucky and Steve for saving.
But no more. No more would she be that Allie.
And that thought triggered something in Allie's mind. It was like a switch had been flicked, igniting something in her that she didn't know she had.
Her eyes immediately opened, revealing their bright silver coloring. Her senses had been pushed into overload. She could hear every heartbeat, every footstep and every movement of the soldier's within the room. But more importantly, she felt their brain waves.
And so she screamed.
A power, so unadulterated was unleashed on the soldiers, penetrating past their dark helmets and into their brains. Allie could feel it, she could feel her control over them as if she literally was holding their lives within her hands. And she didn't hold back.
She let go over the power, let her instincts run free.
She wasn't sure how many heartbeats fell still. She wasn't sure how many brain waves had been silenced or how many lives she had taken. But it felt good. Letting the power go was relieving. She had stopped the assault on her, she had stopped the pain.
Eventually, her screaming ceased. She still laid in a ball on the concrete floor, covered in her own blood. Thin streams of the scarlet substance dripped from her nose, from the corner of her mouth, from the crown of her head. Dark bruises decorated her cheeks, her nose and the clothed parts of her body.
With every breath, she felt her body ache in protest. Every muscle begged for a moment to rest and recover. Her bones throbbed at the most minuscule of movement. Her head was spinning and her vision was blurry, probably from the tears. Allie guessed that she probably had a concussion, but at the moment it was the least of her worries.
Despite the pain, Allie rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up onto all fours. The overwhelming pain nearly made her collapse in agony, a cry threatening to push past her lips again.
But she didn't let it. Instead, she forced herself up to her feet, leaning against the nearby concrete pillar to maintain her balance. Her bloody hands left stains on the concrete, but she paid no mind.
She was too horrified by the scene that laid in front of her.
Bloodied bodies littered the floor of the room. The crimson liquid had escaped from any possible openings on their bodies. It fell from their eyes like tears and dripped from their mouths as if they were salivating. It trickled from their nose and leaked from their ears.
They were all dead. She had mercilessly killed them. Every single one of them.
She felt a wave of nausea overcome her at the sight of the pure annihilation. She had killed at least 20 men, who all laid on the floor in front of her, a painful reminder of the monster that she was. She had taken their lives without a single thought, and even their helmets couldn't withstand it. The very thing that they thought would protect them from her failed.
She stared at their bodies in a state of horror, unable to stop herself from shaking as she slowly fell down to the floor. Her hands curled into her hair and pulled at it roughly, helplessly gazing at the devastation that she had caused.
"No, no, no..." She murmured, her voice trembling softly. "No."
She was a monster, and this time she couldn't even blame HYDRA. She wasn't brainwashed anymore. She knew the consequences of her actions. She had no one to blame but herself.
She didn't even want to see what was in the other room. If she had killed the rest of the HYDRA soldiers. If she had killed Bucky.
Bucky.
She hadn't even thought of him, prompting another wave of horror to crash into her. A wave that was inching closer to completely submerging her, drowning her in despair. What if she had killed him, if she had murdered Bucky too. She wouldn't know what she would do if she had. She wouldn't be able to cope if he was dead because of her.
As those thoughts ran rampant through her head, she felt her body begin to hyperventilate. Her breathing became rapid and shallow, her heart hammering inside her chest. The room began to spin as she squatted on the floor, rocking herself back and forth.
I killed them, all of them. I killed him, my Bucky. I am a murderer, a monster.
Those were the only words she heard, the only words that mattered as she sat there.
And that was how Bucky found her, staring into the pile of dead bodies. He was almost horrified by the sight, all the blood that decorated the once clean floor and the acrid stench that filled the air. But when he glanced at Allie, he soon connected the dots.
He had been in the other room, slowly but surely fighting his way free of the HYDRA agents. He had about 3 or 4 left when he heard Allie's scream intensify. A new wave of fear captivated him, forcing him to fight harder and faster.
He was down to the last one when he heard her go completely silent. And that had sent a completely different type of fear spiraling through his body. The same type of fear he felt when he had found Allie lying in the grass outside of the HYDRA base back during the war. Back when Jones had returned to the group without Allie on that fateful mission. Back when he found out that she had died.
With speed that would have made Quicksilver proud, Bucky finished the man off before he sprinted towards Allie. Unable to shed the worry that was swirling in his veins.
But now, as he stared at Allie's traumatized state, all he felt was guilt. This was his fault. He should have stayed by her side, protecting her from this. But no, he had tried to lead them away from her, leaving her to fight them all off by herself.
"Allie..." Bucky murmured, slowly inching towards her.
Timidly, she began to raise her head up, not bothering to hide her puffy eyes or the tear stains that adorned her pale face. Not hiding the disgust that surged in her own eyes, disgust in herself.
"Doll, it's okay." He tried to reassure her but failed miserably. Allie immediately shook her head at his words, knowing that it most definitely was not okay. Murder was not okay. Being a monster was not okay. She was not okay.
But Bucky didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to tell her that she was not all those words that were swirling around in her head. That she wasn't a monster, a murderer, a butcher. He didn't know how to tell her and make her believe it.
So he did the only thing that he could, and that was taking her away from the mess that she created.
"C'mon doll, it's time to go." He whispered softly, pulling her tired and beaten body into a cradle hold. Hiding the sight from view.
But little did he know, that the sight was permanently engraved in her brain. And it wouldn't disappear like he had hoped it would.
. ☾ .
Hey loves,
May the 4th be with you!!
So there's officially only 10 chapters left of the book now! It only feels like yesterday that I started writing Trickery. It's crazy how time flies. But ngl, quarantine has really helped me with getting these chapters out on time so if this quarantine continues, I won't exactly be mad.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT THOUGH:
There will be a sequel to Trickery! It will be the 3rd and final book in the Tricks series and will follow the events of Captain America: Civil War :)
(I'm pretty sure you guys can guess what the title will be haha)
I have actually had this entire trilogy planned since the beginning of Tricks so I have always known how the series would end. I won't give too much away but man, it has been a wild ride and it hasn't even finished yet!
Also p.s, shoutout to luckyvirgo for the absolutely beautiful covers!
ANYWAY, onto the questions!
1. What did you think of the chapter?
2. Do you prefer angst and action chapters or fluffy chapters?
3. What would you like to see in the sequel?
4. What's your favorite song or album atm?
Until next time!
- Grace x