Prophet - Five Hargreeves X oc UMBRELLA ACADEMY

17

"Hi, where is the nearest bus stop from here?"

The older lady barely looked up from her magazine, glasses practically falling off the end of her nose.

Anneli subtly pointed her index finger out by her side, waiting for the plastic of one of the room keys to slide into her hand.

"Hm?" The old lady glanced up, eyebrows raised just as she clutched her fingers around the keys and slid her hand behind her back. "Oh, two blocks away-"

"-okay thank you!"

And Anneli left through the ajar door, speedwalking away. The older woman tutted at the rudeness of the young girl before going back to her magazine.

Head down, she looked at the key card in her hand. 082. She made her way to the room and firmly locked it behind her, switching the light on and pulling the blinds shut. She fumbled for the plastic chain but yanked it down, stepping back nervously, eyeing the room.

The bed was small, pushed up to the wall and looked barely clean enough to sleep in. Dust rose from the carpet when she walked over it, dropping the umbrella on the floor and the letter opener she'd stolen.

Sighing, running a hand down her face, Anneli checked the bathroom quickly, noted the tiny window up above the sink and the most likely moldy shower head half attached to the wall.

She grimaced and plunged the room into darkness, pulling the gun out from her waistband and sinking to the floor at the end of the bed. Her back rested against it and she placed the gun in front of her near the two other things she had brought with her.

Exhaustion weighed her down and she put her head in her hands.

This was not how she expected the last few days to go.

Worst of all she was being hunted by people she knew. People who, once upon a time, she had been quite friendly with. One quite a lot.

The end of the world was about to be upon them, she had no way to fix it, she had no idea if Five had tricked the commission or if he was still with them or if he was planning something, had no idea if he even trusted her anymore - everything was a fucking mess and she didn't know what to do.

"Jævla..." she whispered shakily, fighting the urge to cry as her chest became tighter and breathing became more difficult. She sniffled and tried to take deep breaths, wiping her eyes. "Jævla helvete!"

She grabbed the nearest thing which happened to be the stolen umbrella and threw it at the wall opposite, shattering a picture frame to pieces. It thudded on the floor and she covered her face with her hands.

Anneli could have screamed at the top of her lungs out of pure frustration, but instead found herself lying on the floor staring blankly up at the ceiling, waiting. For what, she wasnt too certain;

A noise, a broken window, a gunshot...

She kept the gun by her left hand the entire night, and the letter opener on the desk.

Not expecting ti have fallen asleep given her paranoia, It ended up being three heavy knocks that woke her far into the night.

Anneli jolted up, heart leaping to her throat. Her hand went to the gun and she stood, spinning around the dark room checking every corner.

Had she dreamt that?

She crept over to the door and dread pooled in her stomach as she went to look through the glass spy hole.

Nothing.

She looked every direction, but there was no one. No new cars in the parking lot that she could see, no wet footsteps on the dry concrete landing. No strange shadows caused by the light above.