Marvel: The Awakened One

Mystic Falls, Georgia, sat nestled among dense forests and rolling mountains. Despite its remote location, the town’s long history and stunning natural scenery had kept its population steady at around ten thousand. Every year, a decent number of tourists made the trip out to visit.

(PS: Have you guys watched The Vampire Diaries?)

On the highway leading into Mystic Falls, several cars shared the same destination.

Hawk and Gwen were in one of them.

Gwen sat in the passenger seat of the rental car Hawk had picked up at the airport earlier. She was practically bouncing with excitement as she rattled off every landmark and attraction the town had to offer.

Like the clock tower in the town square.

Like the mysterious falls that gave the town its name.

Like the cemetery rumored to be filled with buried vampires, and the Founders’ Museum, which supposedly housed artifacts and tools used to hunt them down.

Hawk kept one eye on the GPS and the other on the road, smiling as he listened to his fiancée enthusiastically recount every ghost story and legend Mystic Falls had to offer.

Stories about vampires, werewolves, hunters, and witches.

Gwen was all over the place, jumping from topic to topic as they popped into her head.

Hawk just smiled and listened quietly.

After a while, Gwen noticed Hawk hadn’t said a word in response. She blinked at him. ”Hawk, I’m telling you—there really are vampires in this town. The Fox family used to be famous vampire hunters back in the day.”

Hawk glanced over at Gwen, who looked equal parts mysterious and proud, and smiled as he nodded.

”That’s amazing.”

”...”

Gwen stared at Hawk’s indulgent expression—the one that basically screamed, Whatever you say, dear—and rolled her eyes. ”Hawk, I’m being serious.”

Hawk shrugged. ”I didn’t say you were lying. Besides, you’ve already met a witch. And not just any witch—a Salem witch. Plus, you’ve met the most powerful sorcerer on Earth.”

Carrie—the young girl covered head to toe in pig’s blood whom Hawk had brought home after a Hell Witch showed up on his doorstep asking for help. Gwen had been the one to help clean her up.

The Ancient One—the most powerful sorcerer on Earth. No contest.

Gwen heard Hawk’s response, blinked, then seemed to consider something. She turned to him. ”Hawk, who do you think would win in a fight? A vampire or Carrie?”

Hawk thought about it for a moment.

”Depends.”

”On what?”

”Neither of them are stronger than me.”

Hawk glanced at Gwen again and smiled.

It was the absolute truth.

Vampires, werewolves, Grimm hunters, witches—none of them were worth worrying about at Hawk’s current level.

One sentence summed it up perfectly: He didn’t even need the Phoenix Blast. A single Optic Blast—equivalent to hundreds of supersonic punches condensed into a beam—and how many supernatural creatures could actually survive that?

Gwen had been expecting Hawk to give a serious comparison. Instead, she got that answer. Her mouth twitched.

”I wanted you to compare vampires and witches.”

”Fine.”

Hawk shook his head with a laugh. They still had about half an hour left on the road. He glanced at Gwen again. ”What do you think?”

Gwen, who had kicked off her sneakers and was now sitting cross-legged in the passenger seat, shrugged.

”I think witches would win. Carrie’s really strong. When she awakened, didn’t she tear apart the ground across an entire town?”

”True.”

Hawk nodded. ”Carrie’s an incredibly powerful witch. And she’s a Salem witch, which makes it even more impressive. Even an Original vampire wouldn’t stand a chance against a witch who’s lived long enough.”

Witches, like sorcerers, got stronger with age.

The older they were, the more powerful their magic became.

Of course—

The Scarlet Witch was the exception.

Speaking of which...

He’d just raided Strucker’s base in Sokovia, and the guy had already bolted. He hadn’t accidentally erased Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver from the timeline, had he?

Hawk found himself genuinely curious about that.

Gwen, meanwhile, latched onto a specific phrase Hawk had just used.

”Original vampire?”

”The progenitor of a vampire bloodline. Basically, the source—the first vampire of that particular line.”

”DRACULA!”

Gwen’s mind immediately jumped to the most famous vampire of all time.

Hawk smiled faintly.

”He’s one of them.”

”One... of them?”

Gwen’s eyes widened slightly. ”There’s more than one Original?”

Hawk chuckled. ”Witches are divided into Hell Witches, Salem Witches, Dream Witches, and Dark Witches. Vampires are obviously split into factions too.”

Gwen blinked, then shifted her entire body to face Hawk, sitting sideways in her seat.

”Tell me more.”

”Sure.”

Hawk laughed, grabbed his phone from where it sat next to the GPS, glanced at the remaining route, then turned off the navigation and tossed the phone to Gwen. ”Check your email. Natasha sent something over. Look at it yourself.”

He had zero issues with his fiancée using his phone.

After all, Hawk barely used the thing himself. Half the time, if Gwen didn’t remind him, he’d forget to bring it at all.

That was why people like Sharon and Tony had stopped trying to call Hawk directly. If they needed to reach him, they just called Gwen instead.

Gwen unlocked Hawk’s phone, opened his email, and checked the timestamp on Natasha’s message.

”She sent this email this morning?”

”Yep.”

Hawk glanced at Gwen with a smile. ”You’re the one who said Mystic Falls has vampires. Just in case, I figured I should do some homework first.”

Gwen laughed and shook her head. ”I was joking. There aren’t actually vampires in Mystic Falls.”

Hawk looked at Gwen again, smiling. ”Better safe than sorry.”

Are you kidding?

This was Mystic Falls.

He’d believe you if you said there were no demons here.

But no vampires?

Put it this way: If you climbed to the top of the clock tower at night and threw a brick into the crowd below, you’d hit a vampire seven times out of ten.

...

Twenty-five minutes later.

Hawk was driving through the final stretch of forest road leading into Mystic Falls. The bridge marking the town’s entrance had just come into view.

His eyebrow twitched. He glanced over at Gwen, who had just finished reading SHIELD’s file on supernatural vampire factions. She’d opened the window to breathe in the fresh mountain air and give her eyes a break.

More accurately, Hawk’s gaze cut through the car door and into the dense forest beside them.

He didn’t stop the car. Just kept driving toward town.

Gwen felt Hawk’s eyes on her. She met his gaze, then glanced toward the trees herself.

She didn’t see anything unusual.

But—

Gwen was absolutely certain Hawk had just spotted something.

”What did you see?”

”If I said vampire, would you believe me?”

Hawk smiled.

Gwen raised an eyebrow. ”Dracula line? Cain line? Or Blood God line?”

Those were the three largest vampire factions on Earth according to SHIELD’s files.

Dracula, Cain, and the Blood God were the Originals of those three bloodlines. While the vampires from each line had some differences, the supernatural world grouped them all under the broader category of ”vampire.”

Gwen had just finished reading all about it in Natasha’s email.

And after reading it, she’d had one overwhelming thought:

She should probably thank SHIELD for keeping her alive all these years. According to their files, New York City alone had a significant vampire population. The only reason they weren’t running wild was because SHIELD’s headquarters was right there in the city, keeping them in check.

Good Lord.

She’d lived in New York her entire life and had no idea there were that many vampires around.

So when Hawk mentioned seeing a vampire just now, Gwen’s mind had immediately jumped to those three major factions.

Hawk shook his head.

”None of those.”

”What?”

”The vampires here...”

Hawk thought back to the file SHIELD had sent. ”Should fall under the Mikaelson line.”

Gwen’s mind immediately pulled up SHIELD’s entry on the Mikaelson Originals. ”Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah?”

Unlike the entries for Dracula, Cain, and the Blood God—all of which had a certain mythological quality to them—the Mikaelson line was different.

There was nothing mythological about them.

According to SHIELD’s records, the Mikaelson bloodline could be traced directly back to the Mikaelson family: Klaus Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson, and Rebekah Mikaelson.

But because those three Originals moved around constantly, kept to themselves, and seemed to be running from something, SHIELD didn’t have much information on them personally.

However, SHIELD had plenty of intel on other Mikaelson-line vampires—the ones who’d been turned by those three Originals.

For example, Mikaelson vampires couldn’t enter a home without an invitation. If you stabbed them in the heart with wood, they dissolved into blood.

Gwen recalled the details from SHIELD’s file.

But—

She looked at Hawk with a somewhat helpless expression. ”There really are vampires in Mystic Falls? I was just making that up. And I’ve been here before—I never noticed anything.”

Hawk laughed and glanced at Gwen.

”New York has vampires too, and we’ve never seen any either.”

”Fair point.”

Gwen thought back on her nearly twenty years living in New York without ever once encountering a vampire. She nodded reflexively, then turned back to Hawk with curiosity. ”Hey, Hawk—do you think we’ll actually get to see a vampire this time?”

Hawk looked at Gwen.

”You want to?”

”I’ve never seen one. I’m curious.”

Gwen was completely honest.

She’d met witches. She’d visited the most powerful sorcerer on Earth with Hawk.

So, If the opportunity presented itself, she’d definitely like to see a vampire.

Especially since Hawk would be right there with her.

Hawk looked at Gwen’s curious, sparkling eyes, then turned his gaze toward the town now coming into view ahead. The corner of his mouth curved upward.

”If nothing goes wrong, you’ll get your chance this trip.”

”...”

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