2. In the beginning

2

In the beginning

I t’s quiet. It’s always quiet now.

There’s no laughter in this house.

No tiny feet padding down the hall.

No old cartoons playing on the TV.

It’s so quiet one would assume that there are ghosts living here.

I guess in a way that’s true—people in town whisper behind our backs, saying how my mom is a ghost of herself, and she made me into one too.

I don’t want to be a ghost though; I want to be an Avenger just like Natasha Romanoff. She’s brave and courageous, and not to mention completely badass, too.

I tug subconsciously at the over-sized, red marvel hoodie that hugs my small frame. It is my favorite because my mom stitched a Black Widow symbol on the sleeve.

She wasn’t always like she is now.

Some days she used to care about me.

Once, she even secretly made me Mac & Cheese even though daddy said I couldn’t eat all the carbs. Whatever that meant. He was always getting angry about that. He liked to control what I ate.

It was his way of showing his love , mom told me.

Except our cooking sessions were our little secret.

Until it wasn’t.

She told me I had his green eyes.

The eyes of the forests that roamed the landscape.

You have his green eyes.

Those same green eyes.

I didn’t know what she meant by that.

But she said I’d know when I was a lot older.

Bone shattering screams broke the silence.

Smashing of glass.

Those familiar red and blue pills.

Years passed but the ghosts inside this house remained the same.

It wasn’t quiet here anymore.

I preferred the silence.