Loosing

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, blah, blah, blah.

A/N: Sam, thanks for telling me to put this up. Wish me luck! As for all you readers: REVIEW

Chapter One

The man walking down the alley coughed out a cloud of cigarette smoke and then took another drag off of it. I could smell it. It reminded me of her. The Witch. Always puffing on her cigarettes and sneering at me through the clouds of smoke. My anger threatened to break through my restraints but I redoubled my efforts to keep it at bay. Now wasn't the time to let that monster go. Soon. I told it. Just wait. I'll let you free, I promise. It growled impatiently at me but settled down, and I was able to focus on the man again.

The hooker walking next to him wrapped her arms around herself and looked down. Her heels made loud echoes off the walls. They approached, making more noise in those few seconds than I usually did in a month. Stupid humans. I leaned back into the wall and relaxed, allowing the shadows to envelop me and make me temporarily their own. I flitted from one shadow to the next, always keeping close enough to reach out and touch them, but never allowing them too see my black form.

Finally the man stopped at the end of the ally, just feet away from the dead end-and me. He jerked his head at the hooker and she wasted no time in letting him shove his tongue between her red lips. I came up behind him and stretched out the tiniest tendril of shadow right into the man's pocket and slipped out his wallet. After that I took a good portion of various bills in the hooker's boots, skirt, half-jacket, and tube top. Then I flitted back to the beginning of the alley way and returned to my normal self and started toward my current place of residence, as the social workers put it.

"Where's my money?!" She said as soon as I came through the door. I took out the wallet and most of the bills and threw it at her. She caught it greedily and went though everything while puffing away at her cigarette. "Good. Now get the hell out, I've got company coming." The witch glared at me with distaste. "Do you ever take off those disgusting rags?"

I opened the fridge and looked for something to eat. "Do you ever keep your clothes on for more than five minutes?" My tone was flat and dry. She didn't deserve to be shown emotion. She slammed the wallet on the coffee table and stood up, adjusting her short skirt over her thighs.

"Don't you talk to me that way you little shit!" She screamed through the smoke cloud. "Without me you wouldn't have a home, food, or a roof over your head! You owe me!" She took several quick drags off of her cigarette and breathed the smoke out of her nose like a bull from a cartoon. Finding nothing in the fridge, (as usual) I closed the door and turned around, wrinkling my nose at the smell of coke on her.

"You keep telling yourself that." I replied dully. "Maybe someday you'll stop being a crack whore and act like a real mother. Though I doubt it." She made a growling shrieking sound and charged at me. I didn't move and she fell through me onto the kitchen table. She stood up, tank top askew and skirt up higher than it should be. "I should have them take you away you little freak." She growled, fixing her clothes and hair.

"You wouldn't be so mouthy in one of those big white jackets!" The Witch stormed past me and scooped up the money, throwing it into her purse. "I'm gong to get more cigarettes. You'd better not be here when I get back." She slammed the door behind her and I heard her clunking away down the hall. I picked up the table and fixed it, then opened a window to let some of the smoke out. The monster snarled a warning at me. I rolled my eyes then jumped out of the window onto the fire escape, then onto the roof of the next shithole apartment building. I pulled off my black hoodie and torn jeans and stuffed them into a hole.

"Alright." I whispered. Then I let the monster go.

A/N: Short, I know. Sorry about that. Review and tell me what you think. I am open to criticism, compliments, and complaints. Please don't review just to say how much I suck. Tell me specifically what's wrong. I appreciate it!