The last month had given London rain and cold, leaving Christmas shoppers to hurry out of stores into their cars, trying not to soak themselves. However, one day, a Friday, was different. The sun shone bright across the flats of London and everyone was out and about, except for one person. She had blonde hair, with brown eyes and a sassy attitude that would charm even the most horrible person. She stood at a reasonable five foot four and was never caught not wearing heels. Her name was Rose Carter, a multi millionaire who ran a fashion company, called Spring.
Rose was holed up in her home, trying to piece together the puzzle that had baffled her for days on end. Samantha Freeman was the chief marketing officer of Spring, and Rose’s best worker and friend. Last Saturday, she hadn’t shown up to work, and had been gone from then on. Rose had tried looking everywhere for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Rose even tried going to the police, and asked everyone she saw on the streets “Have you seen a woman with black hair, usually found in a mini skirt? Five foot seven? Blue eyes?” but no one had any information. Samantha had been acting strange the day before she left, randomly speaking phrases such as “almost ready now,” and saying something about avengement, but Rose had simply passed it off as Samantha being drowsy.
So here Rose was, hobbled over her office desk in her home, when suddenly she heard a knock come from the front door. She walked over to it, and noticed a note on the floor that must’ve been slipped through her mail slot. The note was simple, with one word written on it in black ink: run. The knock came again, louder this time. Rose curiously peered through the peephole and saw several policemen, with angry looks on their faces. Rose didn’t know why she had to run, but the police seemed to be after her, so she followed the note’s orders.
She ran out the back door without a second glance back. It was only when she reached the end of the street that she realized how stupid she'd been. She didn’t have a single pound with her, or any other clothes. And she was running in high heels, which she hadn’t taken off after coming home from work early. She knew that she needed to stop or she would end up twisting her ankle and land herself in the hospital. She slowed to a brisk walk and checked her watch, feeling lucky that she had had it on her wrist when she left. It read 8:17. Realizing that it would be dark soon, Rose decided to find an empty warehouse or something of the like to sleep in. Seeing an abandoned candy factory, she headed inside it.
Rose saw some passerby outside, and shrank farther into the shadows of the old building. It was extremely musty, and smelled like rotting eggs, with the beams on the ceiling looking like they would fall down at any second. She did a walkthrough of the place, checking as she went to make sure there were no rats or other animals in the building. Rose hated rats. The last time she saw one she had screamed and called Samantha to get her to take care of it... Where was Samantha? The note must’ve been from her, since there was no mistaking Samantha’s scribble like scrawl. When or where could she find Samantha though? Rose was so caught up in her thoughts that she very nearly ran into a pillar. Luckily she saw it just in time, but wait, there was another note on the pillar! It was just like the last and stated: Wait here till morning. Rose knew she had to do as the note instructed, in the hopes that Samantha would come in the morning. How could the note have gotten there though? How did Samantha know that she would spend the night here? There were several other places Rose could’ve chosen to stay at.
As Rose lay down that night dozens of thoughts swirled through her mind. She lay awake nervous for morning to come. What awaited her in the morning? And what was exactly happening? Rose tried her hardest to block all the new questions that kept zooming into her head, and eventually fell asleep.
She woke up just as the sun was starting to rise. Another sunny day, she thought drowsily. She then remembered what had happened the previous day and woke up completely. What was she supposed to do? Just wait here? She suddenly saw someone approaching her, a woman. Was it Samantha? But no, it couldn’t be, this woman had reddish hair and was wearing all black. But it was her! You couldn't mistake Samantha’s face. Rose ran towards her and they hugged.
“What’s happening?” Rose exclaimed. “Where have you been?”
“Rose,” Samantha said carefully, “ I’m not Samantha. I had to use a cover name so that I could make sure you were the person we needed.”
“What do you mean? If you aren’t Samantha then who are you?”
“My name is Natasha Romanoff, and I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.”
Epilogue
Rose learned that she had a superpower, the ability to charm people into doing what she wanted them to. That was why she had such a successful fashion business. She lived a good life with the other Avengers, and became a hero, charming villains into being good people. From Dr. Banner’s advice, she chose to donate her skeleton to English and science after she died, so that she would be a hero and inspiration even after death.
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