Author's Note: I do not own anything from Marvel. Just the OC characters.
Also,
Thank you to all those who have reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. The positivity I received helped motivate me to push out two more chapters in the course of 24 hours. Also thank you to all those that have read this story so far. I hope that I can continue to keep your interest.
Chapter 3
During the next few weeks things were starting to get back to normal. It had been two weeks since she saw the interview with Eric and his mother, and her life has thankfully remained quiet. Her initial panic turned out to be for nothing. Life continued on, the city was recovering and rebuilding, and life was returning to normal. Due to the invasion, her university was closed for the past couple weeks. Also because of this is the USMLE was postponed, giving both her and Erica more time to review. Which was why the spend most of their days and nights hidden in the back of the library.
"Come on Thea, I'm just saying we've been at this for weeks. We've been stuck in this library studying our assess off. We need a break, come out with me tonight. We both could use some time to cool down and relax." Erica reasoned with her.
"Not tonight Erica, you don't want me tagging along. Even if I went out with you tonight, I wouldn't be able to focus on the night. My mind is going crazy trying to relearn the past two years. The levels of stress and anxiety I feel right now would just prevent me from being able to calm down and enjoy myself. I won't be able to stop until after this damn examination is over." Anthea sighed out.
"I swear, you honestly make me so worried around exam time. You are practically studying yourself into an early grave. When was the last time you actually sat down and ate a meal?"
"I grabbed a sandwich for lunch, and ate some almonds." She listed off, "honestly I just forgot to eat."
"Thea, you need to stop. The past couple weeks have been a routine of gym, class, study. You've been getting back to the apartment late, and I know you're barely sleeping. I know you won't come out with me tonight, but as soon as we kick this exams ass we are going to take a week off and celebrate. Just the two of us, and we are going to take a mini vacation with the congratulation money my parents give me."
Anthea knew better than to try and talk her way out of it. She also knew that she was taking things too hard the past few weeks. Between worrying about the examinations and about what the Captain said she had been having trouble sleeping. When she did manage to get to sleep she had flashbacks of the invasion. They always ended with the gun pointed at her, but with no one there to stop it. A break away from the city was exactly what she needed.
"Yeah, a mini vacation with just the two of us sounds perfect. Let's get away from the city. We could always head down to DC and visit Jacob and Clay." She same with a sly smile.
"No, no way in hell. Time spent with those two idiots will never be considered a vacation. Honestly, I don't know how you manage to be around those two. It's bad enough they crash at our apartment one weekend a month." She fumed.
Jacob and Clayton were Anthea's best friends during high school. The three of them were inseparable, and all three attended NYU for undergrad. Clayton moved to DC after graduation, after he got accepted into a pharmacy school in DC. Jacob followed Clayton to DC, and is in his last year of his master's program in advertising. The three still meet up for one weekend every month.
"Fine, fine I was just joking anyways. The thought of those two always riles you up." She smiled. "Just me and you far away from this city."
"Deal, now with that decided I'm going to go and enjoy the rest of my night. Don't wait up for me." She finished with a wink.
"Should I fall asleep with headphones on tonight? You know the walls are thin." Anthea laughed as Erica threw a book toward her head.
Anthea stayed at the library for a couple more hours, before she realized how late it had gotten. The library was closing in 10 minutes, so she started packing her bag up. She waved goodnight to the librarian as she passed, and left the library and started walking home. She only lived 15 minutes away from the library, but recently she had been having a rough time with the walk.
Ever since the invasion, she has begun to feel uncomfortable while alone or when surrounded by large groups of people. With the invasion demonstrating how dangerous the world could actually be, and how close she came to dying, she begun to be more paranoid. She constantly felt as if there were eyes watching her every move, and she became suspicious of people who passed. It was not just when she was alone, but also when she was in large crowds of people. She hated how she felt, and had been overdoing it at the gym every day to try and stop feeling so defenseless.
She turned down the next street and froze, there was a man standing at the end of the block. Anthea weighed her option, considered turning around and just walking down just walking one more block down and then cutting across the street, but stopped herself. She was tired of feeling so paranoid. So with that though, she began walking down the street. She got her phone out to send Erica a message, saying that she was on her way home. She also wanted to keep it close in case she needed to make any emergency call. As she was approaching the end of the block she realized that the man was watching her.
She held on tighter to her, and opened up the Erica's contact in case she needed to make a call fast. She approached where the man was standing, and walked past at a faster pace. And then she continued on. The man stayed where he was. He did not attempt to follow her, nor harm her in any way. Anthea started to feel completely ridiculous and angry with herself. The rest of the walk to her apartment went by fast, and she headed straight to bed hoping to get a few hours of sleep.
A few hours later Anthea woke up gasping for air. The nightmare continued to prevent her from being able to sleep. She got out of bed, knowing she would be unable to get back to sleep. She checked her phone and saw that it was 4:00 A.M. Instead of sitting at the apartment waiting for Erica to wake up, she decided to head into the gym earlier than usual. As she was getting ready she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked paler than normal, which made the dark circles under her eyes stand our more noticeably. Her brown eyes looked dull, and her brown hair appear dull and flat as well. She splashed some water onto her face, and grabbed her bag.
She left the apartment and started walking to the gym. Although she had begun to hate her walks home, she loved walking early in the morning before most people were out of bed. It was relaxing to walk without a care in the world, knowing you were the only one out on the street. Once she made it to the gym, she started her normal routine. She went harder than she normally would. She ran longer and faster, with thoughts of improving her edurance so she could outrunning whoever was chasing her. She pushed herself harder while working her arms, determined to be strong enough to defend herself from an attack. She continued to push herself until her entire body ached. By the time she finished, she was exhausted. It was still early in the morning, and she considered taking a nap when she made it back home.
As she was leaving the gym she accidentally bumped into someone. She had been reaching into her bag, and was not paying attention to what was going on in front of her. The man she ran into immediately grabbed onto her arms to help steady her.
"I'm so sorry sir, I wasn't watching where I was," and then she stopped. She stopped as soon as she looked up into the man's face. His blue eyes looked so familiar, and he was staring at her face with an intense look. "I'm sorry for running into you sir, I'll be on my way." She tried to move past him, but the man held on to her right arm.
"Anthea, I think we need to talk." The man said, as his hand slid down her arm and his thumb rubbed her soul mark.
