❝I will not give you up this time.❞

☀︎

ANNA'S KNEES WOBBLED. Her legs gave way beneath her and she toppled to the ground like a broken doll. Silence rang in her ears, causing her to scream out in pain. A stab went through her shoulder, like fire being injected in her blood.

Anna tasted a metallic scent in the air. She felt a sticky substance under her hand. She reached out slowly, picking up some of it. She pulled her hand up with great effort and stared at the red colour staining her fingers. She could not register it.

What was happening to her? All she remembered was Mark holding a gun, her jumping in front of Harry at the sound of a gunshot, sirens, and then- darkness. She could not remember coming into contact with anything that could have grazed her.

Was she dying? Why was she bleeding? Tears slipped involuntarily out of her eyes. Anna was startled. What was she crying for? She tried wiping her tears away with her left hand. But the moment she picked up her left arm, a searing burn ran through her.

Anna yelled, her tears flowing faster. So she was hurt. Was she dying? Anna nodded. She was dying, she knew it. Her chest was spasming uncontrollably and her fingers were shaking. She felt feverish. Her eyes fluttered, wavering between consciousness and sleep.

Noah's voice rang in her ears. "Anna? Anna! Oh my god, Anna, can you hear me? Harry, let them go, Anna isn't responding! Harry!"

All of a sudden, a cold touch around her hand. Anna shut her eyes tight, knowing it was death's ghastly hand holding on to her. She did not want to leave just yet. She still had so much life left in her. "Let me go," she whispered, "I want to live."

She let more tears fall. She did not even have the chance to meet her parents one last time. She'd lost them to trauma before and now she was losing them to her own death. She'd miss them so much. "Tell my parents I love them. Please."

"I will."

Even through the pain, she snapped her eyes open. That voice. It was her life rope, pulling her out of the sea of death. She focused her eyes on the golden ones she'd grown to love and cherish. Anna would always hate him for leading her along the way he did.

But her deathbed wasn't the right place to carry her grudges to. Harry had done so much for her, he'd always been there even when he knew he was just digging his own grave. She clasped his hands tightly. They quivered in Harry's grasp. It hurt her but she held on.

"Run, Harry, please," Anna whispered, her breath catching in her throat. She involuntarily moved to cover the wound on her chest, blood spilling all over her dainty but pale hand. The sirens were at their peak now and the police and agency cars could be seen lining up outside the bank.

The agents piled out of the car and made their way towards the bank, guns and tasers in hand. Only a few more minutes before they cleared the inside and descended on the hill. Harry didn't have much time left.

Anna coughed up more blood as Harry's tears fell, one after the other, like angels falling from heaven. Anna looked up into his golden eyes which were overcome with grief. A sharp pain rushed through her chest and she knew it was not the wound anymore.

"I cannot leave you now, Anna. This is all my fault, I need you," Harry said, his voice shaking.

He cradled her head in his lap, pushing the stray strands of hair away. He couldn't let go of her hand now. She'd sacrificed herself for him. He could be a monster but he was still human.

"I took a bullet for you, Harry. Quite literally. How many people can say that? Leave me. They'll let me live. Get-" Anna coughed, more blood spurting out from her body, staining the ground.

"Get out of your father's rings," Anna resumed, the effort dripping from her lips.

She gripped his hand tighter and with her other hand, pulled his face down to her forehead. Her life flashed in front of her eyes and she breathed harder. It was now or never.

"For what it's worth, I love you. I mean it."

It was impossible for Harry to stay away anymore. Their lips crashed together in an unusual passion. Life and death separated them and Harry was trying to hold on. Her lips tasted sweet on his. They met his fervently, in desperation and fear of the unknown.

Harry slipped his hand into hers, squeezing it tight. Anna kissed him lightly before pulling away to look at the fallen golden boy who had picked her up countless number of times. She ran her fingers, coated with blood, through his hair but he didn't seem to mind.

Anna held on to him, their foreheads touching. She was so at peace even though the stabbing pain was killing her. Her world was no longer spinning. She loved him, there was no use denying it when she was dying.

She felt Noah's presence next to them. He was crying, standing a few feet away, unable to look at them. But all she did was take in Harry's face, like deep breaths of air after almost drowning.

Anna took off her bracelet with trembling fingers, unable to stop crying. She unhooked it and pressed it into Harry's waiting palm. He looked torn, his lips quivering with emotion. Her eyes held on to his, her chest heaving with exertion.

Shr sucked in another trembling breath and asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," Harry said, kissing their tangled fingers.

"Why did you call me Bermuda when yo- you already knew that it's not my name?"

Harry smiled against her lips. "It's because you came into my life like one. Just like the Bermuda triangle leaves no trace of anything that crosses it, you don't take kindly to anything negative that crosses you either."

He pulled her limp body closer to him, wiping away her tears. "You are my personal hell and heaven, Bermuda."

Anna let go of Harry's hand, pushing him away with the little strength left in her. If she held on to him anymore, her resolve would break. She would hold him forever and end up destroying his life. Harry's eyes were drowning in tears and he kept yelling at her, not ready to leave her side.

"Go," Anna whispered and kicked him in the shins. She cried out in pain, as a river of blood rained out of her shoulder due to the exertion. "Go, Harry. If you don't do this now, you will have nowhere to run. They'll kill you. Leave."

Anna screamed with pain and agony, her salty tears mixing with the blood on her chest. She loved him, he was the best thing that had happened to her in a long time after her parents' crash. A part of her would never forgive Harry for what he had done to them but her love for him negated her hate.

"I will come back for you. Please don't leave me, I love you," Harry said, tearing himself away from Anna. His eyes were glassy and red rimmed. It hurt his heart to see her this way but he had to leave if he wanted to find her again.

"Harry, we really need to go," Noah said, urgently.

The sirens had died down and only the thundering of footsteps could be heard now. Noah was right, they had to leave now or die anyway. Noah pulled Harry up and took his hand.

Anna closed her eyes slowly, the silhouette of Harry's and Noah's running form the last blurry thing she saw. She sucked in a troubled breath, her chest quivering and convulsing.

Anna could hear the paramedics closing in from around the hill on her limp form. Zach's voice ringing above them all as she heard him sprint up the hill.

She was losing consciousness fast. Her breathing was strangled. Her hands were turning blue and her lips were chapped.

"Get her into an ambulance!"

"Quick!"

"Sir, she's losing a lot of blood-"

"What do you mean the wound is too deep? Do what you are paid to do!" Zach raced to her and dropped down by her side, Tia on his heels.

"Anna! Anna, hey, stay with me. Anna, please. Don't do this to us." He patted her cheeks to keep her awake but he knew she was slipping.

Tia moved back, her eyes brimming over with tears. Her last conversation with Anna had been so low and unsupportive. She felt guilty and couldn't bear to look at her best friend's dying body on the ground.

Anna saw them both. Zachary with tears dripping down and splashing on her face, Tia trying to control her shaking form. But all she whispered as the crowd dropped in around her for damage control was, "Run. I love you. You'll have nowhere to run. Please, run."

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

a/n: we did it! nowhere to run is done and marked completed! thank you for all your love and support! if you've reached till this part, here is a cookie 🍪 for you lmao. also, if you are going to re-read NTR, please do not spoil it for anyone else :)