𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄, doctor strange.

Nightmares

                  A sixteen year old Ana stood in front of a tall mahogany door, a small brown suitcase in her left hand, tears sliding down her rosy cheeks. Kids stood around, pointing and sneering to each other, smug smiles on their faces as a grim-looking nun stood behind her, frowning deeply under her large nose. She placed a hand on Ana's shoulder, and gave her a firm shove, sending Ana stumbling through the door and sliding down the steps into the pouring rain outside, deep cuts and bruises lining her arms and legs. She groaned in pain as she stumbled up, dragging her suitcase behind her before she ran down the street, her tears mixing with the rain that fell down her face and she choked back a sob, echoes of the children's laughs on replay in her ears as she kept running.

                 The scene changed, and Ana now sat slumped in an alleyway, her grey tee shirt and black skinny jeans covered in mud as she sat eating a fresh piece of bread from a generous shop owner, and she wiped her mouth hurriedly as she pushed a tangled stray hair from her face, sniffing as the wind bit her face. Looking around as the dark streets of New York filled with the last few footsteps of late night pedestrians passing by, she slid from the wall and climbed to her feet, rounding the corner, only to be shoved hard again. She looked up to see a boy a few years older than her sneering down at her with a smug expression, his dark eyes looming and twisted. She felt the presence of other people surround her, and she spun in a circle as other teenage boys laughed at her, making her frown deeply. Making a split second decision, she darted in between two of the boys, leaving them yelling and chasing behind her. 

                Ana screamed as she jumped up in bed, sweat dripping down her forehead as her breath rising and falling wildly as she looked around fearfully, the echoes of the boys' shouts echoing through her head, though her room was empty. She gritted her teeth as she let out a small choke, gasping for air as she pressed her palms into her eyes, biting her lip. She heard frantic footsteps echo down the hallway, and she jumped when Steven shoved her door open, panting wildly, his eyes wide and worried. " Are you alright?" he asked in a gentle but frightened voice, and Ana shook her head wildly, looking up to her ceiling as water pooled in her eyes. Steven frowned and quickly sat beside her, placing his hands on her shoulders tentatively, rubbing them up and down her forearms with a sympathetic gaze. 

            " They were right there, and they were chasing me, and I didn't have anywhere to go, and it seemed so real," Ana said quietly, her voice cracking, leaning back into Steven's embrace, who softly set his chin on top of her head, frowning deeply as he continued to run his hands up and down her arms. " You're fine, you're safe now, they weren't real," he whispered quietly, and her breathing began to slow gradually as she breathed deeply and heavily, shutting her eyes. Steven inhaled sharply, wincing at how bad her dreams must have been. The thought of going through something like she did purely terrified him, and a million car wrecks and a million ruined careers could possibly never measure up to how much she had been thrown out.

           Ana finally sighed, and Steven realized she was asleep, and he chuckled slightly, realising this had become routine now, she falling asleep out of nowhere. Gently but reluctantly prying her off his shoulder, he gently laid her head back down on her pillow, and her deep set frown worn from years of heartache was sketched upon her face. He swallowed the bile in his throat and his heart clenched at her expression, and he cautiously set down against the edge of the bed by her head, leaning back against the frame edge and letting his eyes flutter closed, and he felt his consciousness drift away.