A/N: After this update, well, updates will get slower. I was so excited to see that anyone had even read this so thank you so much for that already! My readers are really some of the most amazing people in my opinion! I hope you enjoy this story. It's still really fleshing itself out in my head and eventually characters like Nick and Cassie will make their way into it too. Until then it's Annie's story which I hope you all enjoy reading.
Annelise Sullivan rolled over in an unfamiliar and rather uncomfortable bed and let out a soft sigh. The mattress was lumpy and the blanket wasn't nearly thick enough. Nothing about this place felt right to her at all. This wasn't home but she knew that she couldn't go home again. Annie was on the run and she had no choice. Places like this were as under the radar as a person could get after all so she had to learn to deal with the inconveniences. Annie made a mental note to pick up a blanket the next time she went to the store. At least then she wouldn't have to worry about the threadbare blankets at some of these places. She had to stay away from her parents however. She had to stay away from everything familiar no matter how hard that seemed to be.
All she wanted right now was to go back to her pampered life in upstate New York. She wanted her big house with her big bed. She wanted to visit the stables to ride her horse. Her father was a scientist, working for the government, and her mother was a lawyer. Annie had been well taken care of growing up and she wanted all of those things that she used to take for granted. She wanted her plush mattress and her warm blanket. She wanted a warm, home cooked meal instead of the food that she managed to grab when she could while keeping herself under the radar. The diners and cheap restaurants provided her with sustenance but Annie knew that she wanted a decent meal for a change. Everything about this life drove her completely crazy, made her feel restless in ways that she couldn't explain.
She had shivered until she had fallen asleep some time after midnight and when she woke up, there was gooseflesh all along her arms and legs. She shivered again and let out a groan when she saw the digital clock next to the bed. It read 4:05AM and Annie knew that there was no way that she was going to get any more sleep now that she was awake. As it was she was making due on four hours of sleep most nights. It wasn't ideal but it was better than the alternative and that was a more permanent kind of sleep, the kind that meant that someone would be identifying her body in a morgue somewhere. She could always grab a short nap later in the day after all.
Of course she worried about how her parents were doing but as she had promised, Annie didn't contact them in anyway. She didn't even have a cell phone so no one could follow her. No one could trace where she was. At least no one who was normal anyway. There was always the chance that a Watcher would see Annie's decisions or that a Sniff might be able to trace her moves. When it crossed her mind, she made a mental note to pick up a new hairbrush and toothbrush as well. She tried not to worry about those things though. It only made her feel even more concerned for her parents when she thought about the things that Division could do. She had only left home because her father had asked her to do it. One day he came home and told her that she had to leave, for her safety and for her family's safety. Annie hadn't known what to say to that but she left, just like her father asked. That felt like a lifetime ago but it was really only a couple of weeks ago.
She sat up, reaching over to flip on the lamp beside her bed. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, wiping the sleep from her brown eyes before fluffing her wavy blond hair. She yawned again and slowly pulled the covers off of herself before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Her feet hit the floor and she shuddered. The carpet was stiff and she didn't like the way that it felt beneath her bare feet and she made another mental note to get some slippers. It didn't take Annie long once she climbed out of bed for her to head for the bathroom. While she wanted to take a long, hot bubble bath, there was no way for her to actually do something like that in this motel room so she was going to settle for a long, hot shower instead. Or at least as long as she could manage. Annie had a feeling that the hot water wouldn't last nearly as long as she would have liked after all.
She headed for the bathroom, flipping on the light and letting out a heavy sigh. She had tried cleaning the bathroom once, scrubbing the tiles and the floor. Still the place looked like it needed a good remodel. It would have to do though and Annie stripped down to her bra and panties before turning on the water. She let it run for a bit and then adjusted the temperature. She couldn't get it quite as hot as she would've liked but it was still a decent temperature. Annie unhooked her bra, sliding down the straps and hanging it on the towel rack. Then she slid down her panties and stepped into the spray of the shower, pulling the curtain behind herself.
She stood under the spray of the water for a long moment, her eyes closed as the warm water rushed over her body. At least the place had good water pressure. She ran her fingers through her long, blond hair, making sure every strand got wet as she turned around so her back was under the spray of the shower. Annie felt like she was tempted to cry right now, thinking about how much she missed her parents. She knew that she'd sound like spoiled brat if she complained to someone about missing her bed and her big house and all of the things that she had been given by her parents over the years. Annie didn't care about that though. Yes, she missed those creature comforts. It would be nice to have a comfortable bed to sleep in with a warm comforter and a big tub that she could take a bubble bath in. The thing was that she knew that she would trade all of that for just a few moments longer with her parents.
Annie hadn't understood why her father rushed her out of the house like he had. She didn't understand how he had known to have the money ready to give to her so she could head out as soon as possible. Then she realized that her father had to have talked to a Watcher. Someone had to have warned him that something was about to go down or she wouldn't have had to run like she did. Annie wondered even now if maybe her father had planned the run for awhile but hadn't wanted to go through with it until he had no other choice but to tell his daughter to run. She didn't see how she was a threat to anyone. She could barely use her gift as it was. Still she knew that someone had to have seen something. She wouldn't be alone in this world like she was right now if there had been any other way.
She opened her hand, starting to reach for the bottle of shampoo when Annie decided to try to Move it to her. The bottle shook a bit as she concentrated. It shook a bit more and then it flew into her hand. Annie smiled to herself, a little surge of pride flowing through her when she realized what she had done. She squirted some of the shampoo into her hand and then set the bottle aside before washing her hair. As she lathered the shampoo into her hair, she hummed a tune to herself. Today she was going to follow up on a lead that she had on the Watcher that her father had sent her to find. She hadn't wanted to get stuck with such an early morning but sleep wasn't really her friend these days so she was going to make due.
Annie was mentally planning her day as she showered, figuring on going to get something to eat in an hour or two. Then she could maybe spend the morning sitting near a subway entrance or she could go down by the subway with her guitar. She'd set up a little spot and start to play and see if she could make a little extra cash. Then she'd head to Little Italy where someone said that she'd be able to find Marie. The woman supposedly worked in a small Italian restaurant. Sometimes, in a back room, she'd make a little extra money telling people their futures. Annie found that funny but she knew that if she needed to, she'd pay this woman to tell her whatever she could about Annie's future. Marie, after all, supposedly knew something.
She was lost in thought, going through the motions as she finished her shower. She wasn't paying any attention as she rinsed her hair and washed and rinsed her body. Annie was too busy trying to sort out what was going on in her life. Nothing made sense anymore so she was hoping that Marie would be able to tell her something, anything that might get her on some kind of 'right track' although Annie had no idea where she was even supposed to be headed or why she had to leave home in such a hurry. She was just following her father's orders and hoping for the best at this point.
She couldn't even imagine what Marie might have to tell her. It was obviously something big because her father was sending her to this woman. Annie wondered if Marie would be able to tell her why Division was interested in grabbing her. She didn't see any other reason that her father would send her off like he did after all. Someone at Division had to think that Annie was some kind of threat or that she'd be able to help somehow. Whatever the reason, she'd been told to run. She'd been told to hide. That was just what she was doing too. She was going to hide and she'd go anywhere that Marie told her to go. It was really all that Annie could do to be honest.