tainted dreams | chapter two
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Rosalie Evans, seven months in the future

It had become a routine-like event.

Rosalie would open the door of her dusty motel room, wherever in the world she was hiding at the moment, rise her face to the shining sun and smile.

Then, she would find a murderous gang or organisation and steal from their heavily guarded warehouses. Every time she did so, the leaders sent a troupe of their best men to stop her -her, a woman. They were always pissed when she managed to escape their sharp claws.

Because she was a woman. And she beat them all to a pulp. Sometimes killed a few of them if the situation got out of hand too quickly.

"Well, well, well." Rosalie spoke to herself as she counted the money that was left on the small hole under her mattress. "I really am poor."

She had enough money to pay for her room for another day and food for three meals. Sighing, she stuffed the money inside her back pocket and left for another walk around the bustling city of London.

The streets were quieter than usual. The air was not filled with laughter, exotic accents and the characteristic smell of cigarettes. Instead, gunshots were heard in an alleyway close to Rosalie's motel and yells for help echoed in her ears.

It wasn't her call to make, it would be wiser to call the authorities and wait for them to do their job. She couldn't -or shouldn't- risk exposure, and she would need her powers in order to stop a serious fight with weapons.

When she heard a children cry out for help, Rosalie's tingling arms and legs worked on their own and directed her to the centre of the problem.

A woman and a small child, no older than five years old, holding each other for dear life as five armed men stood around them, taunting them with their guns and searching the woman's bag and pockets. The child was not left alone, one of the thieves pinching his sides and pulling his hair.

That image alone turned Rosalie's stomach upside down. She knew what she had to do, even if she didn't want to get involved.

These guys are going to pay for this.

"Hey!" She yelled to get their attention, pulling her hoodie over her face. Her mask was sitting on her bag, back in the motel room. "Aren't you old enough to know you don't mess with a lady?"

Without giving them a chance to reply to her comment, she struck them with a wave of black mist, her hands moving in circles and forming boomerangs with sharp blades on the edges. Scratching the men was her goal, not sending them to their eminent death with deadly cuts.

Rosalie stepped forward and held her arm in front of the woman and her child, shielding them from any potential danger. Looking back at the small boy, she noticed his eyes light up as he stared up at her.

"You're my hero!" He squealed, rubbing his teary eyes. "What's your name?"

"Call me Rose." She winked and gently pushed them back to the entrance of the alley. "Get out of here, now."

She caught the woman's bag and belongings, sending them back towards her as she lifted her arms and threw the men away. Once she saw that the pair was no longer standing behind her, she decided to give the five men a piece of her mind before she called the authorities.

"Listen here, you little shits." She waved her hands and brought them closer to her face, allowing them to see the rage seeping through her every pore.

They were just as scared as she was angry, trembling from head to toe and gripping the invisible hold she had on their throats. Strong enough to hold them in place, but not too strong that it suffocated them.

She was just scaring them.

"This is the last time you do this." Bringing them as close to her face as possible, she sensed their fear and her powers loved every second of it. "If I find you robbing anyone else, I will slaughter every single one of you, limb by limb. Very slowly. Are we clear?"

As they nodded, Rosalie blinked and felt her eyes change color, going from a deep blue to an enchanting red.

"Oh no." Holding her face between her hands, Rosalie groaned. "Get the hell out of here."

The men didn't waste any time, running away as fast as they could.

But it wasn't fast enough. They weren't fast enough.

Her knees trembled as a wave of burning flames erupted from her chest, catching everything and everyone around her in that alley. The fire was too intense and Rosalie couldn't control it, and she was trying so hard to stop it. Her hands didn't burn as she pressed them against her chest, yelling for her powers to stop.

"No!"

Yells of pain came from behind her. She didn't want to turn, but the smell of burning flesh was too disgusting for her nose to handle.

And when she did, her bones burned and heart broke.

Falling to her knees along the ashes, Rosalie felt her entire soul leave her body as the memory of Peter's death invaded her mind. He had dusted away in the form of tiny little particles, much like the ones she was kneeling on.

She tilted her head back and stared at the sky with her mouth wide open, eyes watery and lungs ready to explode. Why her?

It was all her fault. She did this. Her powers burned these not so innocent men to the ground -no mercy shown. Staring at her hands in fright, Rosalie could see small black flames dancing around her slender fingers, as if taunting her.

"Why am I like this?"

And because there was no one to answer her burning questions and newly-discovered powers, Rosalie was left alone in the alley. She cried and sobbed until sirens were heard in the distance, telling her it was time to leave. It was time to run. Once again.

That was exactly what she did. For hours and hours after gathering her belongings and leaving some extra money on the motel bed. She was saving as much money as she could in order to stop stealing from shops, but it was becoming scarce.

Waiting in the shadows of another alleyway, Rosalie was sure no one had followed her and advanced towards the shining street lamps. The yellow circles of light on the ground brought some peace to her troubled mind.

And peace always meant one thing. Or better, one person.

Peter.

Once she felt at peace and calm somewhere, her mind went back to the good old days and all the memories they shared together. One that always stood out was a peculiar afternoon they spent at a coffee shop, being normal teenagers for once.

He had told Rosalie how much he loved her and her "big bad wolf" attitude.

She had told Peter how much she loved him and his nerdy theatricals.

Wiping away the stray tears that streamed down her tired face, Rosalie shouldered her bag and started walking away from the city of London, where she had even hiding for the past month. It was time to move on to another city, another country if necessary. Her actions were untraceable, but she was sure someone had connected the dots already. Various delinquent organisations had been attacked or robbed since Rosalie left her life behind, and the girl knew that Nat and Steve were too smart to not know it was her.

Even if she masked herself and never used her powers in public. A detail had certainly gone over her attentive eyes, she wasn't a perfect thief.

Rosalie only hoped that she could run away fast enough to avoid any problems.

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this is a sadder chapter, my baby is hurting! as always, don't forget to vote and comment to show your love and support!
see you guys very soon (: