✓ THE SHIFTER, marvel

ten

10

Ana couldn't find her clothes.

They weren't where she left them in the dressing room, they were simply...gone. She needed a place to hide her gun and the lacy corset wasn't going to do it for her. Holding her arm up as she wrapped it in old fabric probably used to sew back clothes torn from the night, her blood running through the fabric easily but she knew this was the best she got for now. She went through the clothes laying around, checking through gym bags the other girls had brought in for themselves, pulling together a hoodie and sweatpants. 

She wore the clothes atop the lace, tucking the gun in her waistband as she moved out of the room, now wearing a bright red wig, hoping it helped conceal her identity. Her mind ran with new numbers, furious with coordinations for the next attack and trying to retrace her steps back to the cabin.

She pushed through the back door of the club, stumbling out into the alley as she pulled her hood up as rain began to fall. She moved hastily toward the parking lot, covering her fist with the hoodie as she approached one of the cars, one that wouldn't be missed if it happened to disappear. 

Striking her elbow hard and even into the window, it shattered, the alarm not blaring as she had suspected. Hot wiring it was easier, driving away was harder. 

The glass of the back window shattered and a bullet struck through the front windshield as she ducked, screaming. She looked into the rearview mirror, spotting two guys, dressed like the guards from inside and she cursed to herself, pressing on the gas and speeding away as she pulled her gun out. 

She needed to ditch the car, make sure they weren't following her as she skidded out onto the main road and towards home to warn everyone. She watched head lights chase after her like she was in the Fast and the Furious, cars roaring to angry life. Ana hit the gas and changed gears, turning the car in reverse and spinning it around so she was facing the two cars behind her. 

Revving her engine, she switched gears again and skidded around them, driving the other way and taking a hard left as the cars followed her and onto the entrance ramp for the highway. 

It was easy to lose them after that.

She knew they weren't as good as they probably were, just trying to hold out empty threats with cars and gunshots. 

It was nearly one A.M. as she turned onto the little gravel road, the arm of her hoodie nearly soaking through the blood that throbbed and ached as she killed the lights of the car as she parked. 

She sat still, heart racing at the idea of being held captive for running off, the thought of being taken back to her prison deep inside Torrance's mind...but Ana knew better. She knew she wasn't truly a person, as much as she believed she was, her and Torrance...they were just two of the same monster. Stuck and twisted and manipulated into something they're not.

"I'm really sorry," she whispered to herself as she got out of the car slowly. "But you don't need me right now."

Ana? What are you taking about? 

"You don't need me right now," she said again with a laugh as she looked over the car. "Call me when you need me again."

Ana-please-

She smiled, pressing her hands flat against the coolness of the car. 

You can stay a little longer if you want. It's no problem-we're a good team-you're a good person-