Picking Up The Pieces Sneak Peek
This is for the newest chapter:
“Did you get the files?” Betty asked Thomas and I curiously as we took the last two remaining spots at the group’s makeshift table. Thomas merely replied with a grin, pulling the flash drive out of the pocket of his grey sweatshirt and placing it in her palm. “Wicked.” Not many people were aware of the greenhouse Midtown Tech had hidden on the outskirts of its property. To be honest, that group of people included several of the teachers. Faith had found it last year and cleaned it up from an overgrown dump to its current picture-perfect beauty. “MJ, catch.”
“Yep,” the brunette said curtly, throwing up her hand and catching the tiny device without a single glance. She twirled it between her fingers before plugging it into her open computer, a smile growing on her face as the application self-started. “How did you even get this?”
“She can manipulate and project thoughts,” Peter called out with a smirk, nudging me from behind as he stood up from his spot under a large potted plant. “Besides all the other cool stuff.”
“I can second that; I saw her do it in DC,” Ned piped up from his place next to Faith. We were all spread out throughout the small building, working both individually and in groups to find anything that could help us find a single clue. The two were scouring everything online related from news articles on kidnapped teens to old tweets from when SHIELD was still under the radar. Peter was keeping up on the students’ gossip while ‘receiving intel’ from Spider-Man while Michelle scanned over any seemingly important information on the student files Thomas and I stole from the front desk.
As crucial as it was to keep myself on the UN’s good side, I couldn’t trust them. If Toomes’s had men working for Hawkes under his nose, I wouldn’t be surprised if American government officials were already in his grasp. Not to mention the fact that I wasn’t telling my father or Earl squat until I found a single clue. We had all formed our very own Scooby-Doo squad, but we all knew that our villain wasn’t just a man hiding under a white blanket pretending to be a ghost. This wasn’t make believe.
“I still can’t believe Ned of all people knew before the rest of us,” Michelle commented, the sound of her fingers on the keys playing between her words. “He’s like… the worst at keeping secrets. The fact he managed to keep his crush on Stacy a secret was a mystery alone.”
“Yeah, and I never got to tell her, thanks for reminding me.”
“No, you will,” I insisted, giving the boy a smile. “Right after I rescue her from wherever her and the others are being kept.”
“I think you mean after we rescue them,” Thomas corrected me. “You aren’t going anywhere solo. He hates you the most out of the four of us.”
“True, but I’ve taken another dive in the memory box from SHIELD to relearn a few old tricks.” Thomas gave me a quick glare, making sure no one else saw it but me. It was strange how we both envied each other in a way. He remembered everything he went through and wanted so desperately to forget it all. I remembered nothing and was having to piece it all back together. Our whole argument started when he found me hooked up to the memory box with an old pair of Dad’s AI glasses on. I’d found a way to make it so I was re-experiencing the past. Granted, it hurt, but I knew there would be more pain if I let Hawkes get his way.
The greenhouse door slammed open, and we all froze in our tracks. A girl I assumed to be a freshman was staring at us with a blank expression, scanning the room until her eyes landed on me. Her hair was tied up in a ratty black braid, and she didn’t look strong enough to stand up…. but somehow she did. “Um, are you lost?”
“Give up,” she rasped, making her way right in front of me. It was like a fog had coated over her wide eyes. There were smudges of dirt around her hairline.“You’re going to lose.”
“Is she okay?” Ned whispered loudly to Peter, who’s middle and ring fingers were already reaching for his web-shooters.
“You’re going to lose,” the young girl repeated with a giggle, rocking back and forth on her feet. “You’re going to lose, you’re going to lose!” Her burst of energy died down, and she hunched a little. “Give up. You’re going to lose.”
“It’s like a recording,” Faith murmured, coming closer in curiosity before pausing in horror. “Oh my God… she’s one of the taken.”
“How can you be sure?” Betty asked her, sharing a perturbed look like the rest of us. “She could be another one of those kids who kept coming up to Bella for an autograph.”
“And sound this insane?” Faith shook her head, crossing her arms across her chest in unease. “I saw her photo in a newspaper article two days ago, I’m sure of it…” she trailed off, watching the girl continue on her tangent. “Why won’t she stop?”
“You’re going to lose, you’re going to lose! Give up.”
“Yo, shut up? Please?” Michelle scoffed, raising an eyebrow at the girl, who didn’t even bother looking away from me. “Hello?”
“Can she hear us?” Peter stepped in her direction slowly, giving me a wary glance. “Sorry, I don’t know your name, but we can help-” The girl screamed as Peter’s fingers brushed against her arm. We all reached to cover our ears, but she stopped the moment he lost contact with her skin. “Jesus!”
“You’re going to lose. You’re going to lose. You’re going to lose. You’re going to lose.”
“Someone has to have heard that,” Ned winced, rubbing the side of his head. “What do we… how… I’m so lost.”
“Well, we can’t touch her. We know that thanks to Pete,” Thomas sighed in annoyance. “Galli? Anything from your little brain gift?”
“Now’s definitely not the time to make a comment on it, Bennet!”
“Give up. You’re going to lose. You’re going to lose.” I tilted my head down harshly and reach out, placing my hand on her forehead. She didn’t scream again to my surprise, but began to chuckle darkly, causing a few yelps of terror or “Holy shit!” cries to echo in the room.
“He’s going to kill you,” she rasped, her eyes starting to roll back into her head. “He’s going to kill everyone you love… everyone who helps you. Punishment is due.”
“Tell Hawkes to come up with a new threat; I’ve heard that at least five times from several different people,” I hissed, trying to use my powers to release her from whatever held her in the trance. “I can save Amy. I can save all of them, including you!”
“I had a feeling you would say that,” the girl giggled, taking a step back from me and giving me a wide grin. “I thought so. You’re wrong. Wanna see?”
“No, don’t-” I couldn’t even finish my sentence before the girl ran into the wall beside me with a loud bang. Her momentum sent her flying backwards, but she picked herself up and repeated the action. Faith screamed in terror as blood began to stain the green-tinted windows.
“You’re going to lose! You’re going to lose!” Thomas brushed past me and tried to stop her, but she was a girl on a mission and shoved him aside with inhuman strength. “You’re going to lose! You’re going to-” Her fourth hit was her last, and she fell to the floor in a crumpled heap… right at my feet. I could hear Betty crying and Ned’s short gasps for air as he tried to keep his lunch down.
I felt sick to my stomach as I looked down at the girl. Her mouth was open while blood slowly dripped onto the floor, her teeth stained red. Her nose had been smashed inwards, covered partly by her left eye that had popped out of place. Blood caked her inner ear and seemed to already be hardening to the oxygen. I had never met this girl, yet she still suffered and died in my name. It was my fault.
“W-what do we do?” Michelle stammered, the first one to speak after what we had all witnessed. I had never heard such fear in her voice before. “Guys?” No one dared to move or speak. “Bella?” I was frozen in place, stuck looking at the newly deceased girl while the scene of her dying replayed in my head. “Is… Isabel?”
I took a shaky breath, closing my eyes. “We need to find Principal Morita. If word gets out that a student died on campus-”
“Forget worrying about that, they’re probably going to shut the school down for who knows how long,” Peter cut me off. Thomas met me with a shared troubled glance. “I… I think we need to call Mr. Stark.”
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