Chapter 10
The first thing Hayley processed when she woke up was the extreme pounding in her head and the weakness in her muscles that made it hard to move. Then, Hayley remembered the events of earlier and groaned. Fuck. Loki…
She had to apologize and make sure he was ok… Hayley wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she had ruined their relationship… Loki was the only thing on her mind as she forced herself out of bed.
“You should be resting little dove,” a familiar voice said from behind her.
She gasped and whipped around to see Loki standing there with a smug smile on his face. After recovering from shock, she cleared her throat her a little before talking.
“I’m sorry Loki... I was just mad... I didn’t mean to hurt you…,” she apologized.
“Don’t be sorry love. I had no right to keep that from you. Everything you did was well earned little dove. But, I would not like to experience it again, so I must tell you that the others are getting ready to head out to the Hydra base.”
Rage pulsed through her veins and Loki smiled at her reaction.
“Would you like to cause a little mayhem?”
“Gladly,” she growled.
Her eyes turned black as a swirl of black energy engulfed them and teleported them to the living room where the Avengers were currently getting to leave.
“You’re not going to leave without me,” she said as she emerged from the ground.
They turned with wide eyes.
“Listen, it’s dangerous and we don’t want-”
Hayley instantly cut Tony off.
“I’M GOING! THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN SAY TO STOP ME! You should consider yourselves lucky that I don’t cause you misery. I’m going,” she demanded, leaving no room for discussion as she stood next to Loki who was beaming with pride.
Despite their protests, she demanded that she go along to investigate the Hydra base with them. If anyone was to know something about their bases, it would Hayley as she spent eight years being tortured there. The team had no choice but to give in, but they brought Loki and Strange for backup with her powers… They didn’t want a repeat of yesterday (although Tony was thoroughly amused by Loki’s suffering).
That was how she ended up sneaking into the Hydra base. It seemed completely empty and lifeless, but felt so familiar… Wave after wave after wave of negative emotion hit Hayley. Hard. She felt agonizing pain and suffering that made her stumble and sway on her feet. Loki held her shoulders to keep her steady.
“Are you alright love,” he asked.
“Not sure… Something about this place is off,” she said.
The team ventured forward cautiously, careful to stay quiet and hidden. Hayley froze as she saw a black shadow in the corner. It gave off sad and scared energy. It looked like a girl was crouched in the corner while hugging her knees against her chest. The shadow’s head turned and it was like it staring straight at her.
“Hayley,” Strange called out to her.
“Huh?”
“What are you looking at,” he asked.
“Don’t you see it,” she said, pointing to where the shadow was.
Strange looked over and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“I don’t see anything,” he replied.
She frowned and the Sorcerer Supreme asked if she was alright to which she replied she must’ve just been jumpy and her mind was playing tricks on her, even though Hayley knew for a fact what was right in front of her face.
Hayley’s head tilted when it got up and disappeared into a nearby room. For some reason, Hayley knew it was telling her to follow. She broke off from the others to go investigate. Hayley didn’t have time to tell them. This was too important.
She went through the door to enter into an empty room. The shadow stood in one spot, not moving as it seemed to lay down and disappear behind a desk. Suddenly, there was a loud ringing in her ears and her head felt like it was going to explode. Her vision flashed white and she heard a loud crash and saw kids running towards a hole in the wall. Everyone was yelling and gunshots were firing. The images kept flashing and leaving.
When Hayley finally opened her eyes, she was frozen in shock. Bodies… Everywhere… Blood splattered against the wall and pooled around the dead people: a mix of kids and adults. She heard cries, screams, and whimpers, but they sounded like echos. A weird sensation told Hayley to venture further inside the room. She stepped over the mangled bodies.
As she was walking, a little boy stood in front of her. She gasped when she saw his pale skin, one eye was gone, and ragged clothes.
“He doesn’t go away…,” the boy whispered before disappearing and leaving Hayley confused.
The closer she went to where the shadow was, the more pain and agony Hayley felt. It was like someone was stabbing knives into her head and the ringing got louder and louder. Finally, she got to the shadow, and that’s when her world shattered.
Laying on the ground, was Alexis. Her beautiful eyes staring out at nothing at all, glazed over and lifeless. Blood pooled around her body and painted her once beautiful skin. Black hair was sprawled out on the ground.
“Oh God,” she breathed out.
Tears fell down her face as she looked around the room and realized that all the kids had been from the Bad Place… Hayley fell to her knees, holding her throbbing head as she cried out from overwhelming emotions. They were so loud… So unbearably loud… It hurts…
“HAYLEY,” Loki screamed, shaking her by the shoulders and pulling her back.
She opened her watery eyes, the bodies gone now, but the shadow remained. Alexis knelt down and touched her face and everything went black.
She woke in a room of black. It was just an endless pit of nothingness. Suddenly, she was standing with Alexis, who gave her a sad smile.
“Hey baby,” she said, pulling Hayley close and kissing her passionately on the lips.
Hayley melted into her arms before they pulled away.
“What is going on,” she asked.
“You need to free us… He uses you to keep us here… The spirits here are suffering… He has a device with him, you’ll know it when you see it… You have to destroy it… And him…,” she said.
“I don’t understand… What are you talking about,” Hayley pressed.
Alexis kissed her one more time before her world faded away.