The Monster Within - Avengers

Chapter 16

WARNING: There will be a panic attack in detail in this chapter and I do not want to trigger anyone. If you do not wish to read this chapter I will put a recap at the beginning of Chapter 17. Panic attacks are nothing to joke about and I don't want to hurt anyone emotionally or bring up flashbacks by not telling you beforehand. Otherwise, enjoy the update!

I was sitting by the window, reading a novel for the third time when it started. Chills crept up my spine and closed around my throat, suffocating me even when I knew there was nothing there. The lights flickered, sparking furiously and giving out altogether. My eyes moved in all different directions, to the door, ceiling, bed, and then they glanced at the balcony. The demon from the night before sat holding a rose the color of the blood on her dress.

"Go. Away." My lips stumbled over the words as I tried to stand. My heart raced. I couldn't feel my hands. Oh God am I dying? Is this what Death feels like?

"Almost." She giggled, letting the flower dissolve into ash in her palm. "I want out."

"Out?" I couldn't even register that my mouth was moving. The room swayed beneath my feet and I fell, knocking my head against the headboard. The demon delicately jumped down from her perch and took slow, agonizingly slow steps towards me.

"The attacks are just the beginning sweetie. You will let me out. After all, we are the same scared, helpless little girl, aren't we Echo?" She purred, lifting my chin to meet her striking blue eyes.

"No," I muttered, using my energy to swat her hand away. It felt like my heart was trying to rip through my chest. The noose around my neck tightened, and I frantically tried to loosen it, clawing at the skin with blunt nails.

"Well then." The girl snapped. "I'll leave you to your thoughts. For now." And with that, she flickered and vanished.

I reached out to the spot where she was moments ago, verifying that she was gone with a hand that could not stop shaking. The music that had been playing in the background began to distort as if I was suddenly in a tunnel. I think the door opened, but I couldn't distinguish what was real. Was any of this real?

Blurred figures came into my squished line of vision. Is it just me or are the walls getting closer?

My mind went back to the first vacation with my family. I was four. We were skiing in Colorado when suddenly the world stopped. And the earth started shaking. As a child, I had no idea what an avalanche was or that we could have died, but now I felt like an avalanche was raining snow and rocks on me, its only purpose to drown and destroy.

"Hey!" I heard someone yell, felt a hand on my face, another on my leg, but I couldn't see anyone. It was black. My body felt like it did the night I had Blair, but instead of contractions, it was blinding pain.

"Echo! Hey!" Why did the voice sound so far away? I blinked a few times, regaining some vision, shaking my hands to try to get feelings back into them. I flexed my fingers, rubbing them as the blurriness receded. The rope around my throat dropped and I took in long, agonizing breaths, no matter how much it hurt. My ears rang and I could make out two faces, one metal arm on my leg, and a wing jutting out from behind. The metal hand was shaking my leg, trying to snap me out of it. I'm not sure how effective it was.

El passed me a water bottle and I chugged about half of it before my hand let go and it fell. Bucky caught it with his other hand before it hit the ground.

"We heard screams from down the hall." She said, helping him steady me. I sat down on the bed, trying to process what the hell just happened to me.

"What the hell was that Echo?" The soldier leaned against the wall, next to a doodle Elytra had drawn a few hours before.

"There's someone in my head." I felt the weight on my chest get heavier just by saying it. I looked down at the blood on my nails, and my hands went to my neck. "But, its not me."