❝Drowned in darkness, confined in pain.❞

☀︎

ANNA DRUMMED HER FINGERS nervously against the cool windowpane. It was five thirty, not the best time to have nerves. They would reach Genesis Financial Corp. in a matter of minutes. She was nervous but she knew what she had to do.

Harry could have killed her and no one would have been alerted until it was too late. He had given her a second chance at life. That was as good as her owing him a life debt. She intended to repay him in ways that would not backfire.

Anna knew that if Harry valued anything, it was loyalty. The one thing he wanted though, was the Agapi Mou. She could not just hand it over to him. Her heart sank. She could very well be fired and disgraced or even jailed if she did anything of that sort.

She clicked her tongue in exasperation. "What are you worried about now?"

Mia's analytical face came into Anna's view. She was sitting right in front of her. Noah was listening to Back in Black beside Anna and Harry was asleep next to Mia. He was taking a power nap for later. Mark was on the wheel and Jeremy was riding shotgun. 

Mark had not said a word to either Harry or Anna since the day they had come clean to each other. He had not told the crew anything either. That was the least of Anna's worries, what with Harry's crazy, not dead, father trying to kill her.

But Mia did not need to know that. "Nothing. Just nerves."

"Are you sure? You look a little pale." Mia laid back lazily into her seat, waiting for Anna to reply.

"Nerves."

"Okay, seriously, what's wrong?" Mia pulled Anna away from Noah, closer to her. She whispered slowly, "Did you, you know, talk to my brother?"

Anna bit her lip. Among all the other things that were happening to her, she had completely forgotten about Mia. Anna wanted to punch herself in the face. She had promised that she would get her back into the agency but so far, she hadn't even acknowledged her presence.

That's the kind of friend she was. The backstabbing and dishonest kind. Anna clasped her fingers tightly and she could feel her nose starting to flare. She hoped Mia would not notice.

"I- I kind of, you know," Anna stuttered, flicking the beads on her bracelet. She'd never leave it behind but it was proving to be a hindrance to her lying.

"You didn't talk to him, did you?" Mia said, crossing her arms in defiance. She kept her eyes level with Anna's, drilling into her mind.

"I did," Anna blurted out. She was lying but that was all she did these days anyway. "I mean, I might have hinted but I don't know if-"

"Save it, Anna. Your nose is flaring and you're fidgeting with that bracelet." Mia leaned forward, her arms resting on Anna's thighs.

"You know, I never trusted you. I knew you were bound to put yourself before anyone else again. You are disgusting in that way. You have never treated anyone else the way you want them to treat you. So, don't worry about me, I have learnt to take matters into my own hands."

Anna reached out to grab Mia's hand before she could move it away. Her eyes were pleading with her friend to listen to her just one more time. Mia did not want to give her that chance but surprisingly for Anna, she relented.

"I'm sorry about this. I promise you, once we get out, I'll personally talk to Damien. I'll take your responsibility, I swear. Just don't abandon me now. You need to have faith. I will help you back to where you were.

This is not who you are, I know. Look at you, Mia. The first time I saw you after years, you had dirt in your nails, matted hair, tough and tight clothes. You were a lavender dress and diamond earrings girl. Today, you are nothing. I can-"

Mia held up a hand, stopping Anna in her tracks. The gash across Mia's cheek twitched. Her hands were trembling and her face had turned red. "Stop. Please. If this is how you apologise to people, I can do without one. Do you even hear yourself, Anna?

You sound so superior on your high horse right now. Knock your ass off of it. Then, what are you? Nothing, just like me. So, if you are trying to say that I am any less of a human being than I was before, then save it. I'm not interested."

"I did not-" Anna stopped abruptly when Harry stirred a little. He rubbed a tattooed arm against his face, trying to erase the tiredness off and sat up straight.

"What's with the continuous whispering? I need to sleep before I could probably get myself killed." Harry cracked his knuckles and stretched his long arms. Anna gulped, her attention wavering.

Mia threw up an exaggerated gesture with her hands. "Great, now ogle at him. First my brother, now our boss," Mia muttered under her breath to which Anna wrinkled her nose, narrowing her eyes.

Noah pulled off his earphones, a slight smile that seemed to teeter on the edge of a loud cackle, playing on his full lips. "Shouldn't you be enjoying life before you do something that can kill you?"

Harry raised his eyebrow, the amusement shining on his sleep laden face. "I'll give you that point but there's something about sleeping and knowing you'll wake up again. That control you see? That's what I want to feel before I jump into a fire with an unknown outcome."

"Death isn't amusing. You should never even consider controlling that. It's better to live every second as it comes. We never really know, do we?" Anna spoke up, her emerald eyes looking up from under her lashes at Harry.

Harry stopped himself from talking back. This was not a debate. He had grown up being in control of his life. If you can do it with something as unpredictable as life, why not death?

A loud bang sounded on the side of the van and it jolted to a halt. Mark's voice picked up from behind the partitioning. "We are here, get out!" The sound of him slamming his side of the door was heard and a few moments later Mark swung open the back door.

Noah jumped out, followed by Harry, Mia, and Anna. They stood surrounding Mark in a circle, who handed them bio-tracking devices. They were tiny, thread-like bands with a small screen in the centre. "Put it on your wrist. We can track your heat signatures from the van."

Harry took his, moving aside to put it on. Mark handed another one to Noah who walked to the foot of the hill. Mia clasped hers and walked over to Harry, talking animatedly about the cold weather.

Mark shoved the band at Anna, not matching eyes with her. The corners of Anna's mouth drew downwards. Tears threatened to hit her eyes but she sniffed them back. This was no time for weakness, she consoled herself. She slapped on the band and pushed past Mia towards the hill.

Noah had already taken a head start. He looked down at Anna scrambling her way up. "Can't wait to get away?"

"You have no idea." Anna shook her head, easily matching Noah's long strides. "It's too much to wrap my head around."

"You'll get used to it." Noah trudged on, a distant look in his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Anna asked, making her way around a rock outcrop.

"I mean, you'll get used to not having a life, the long hours, the lying, the running. All of it," Noah said, looking up at the sky. "It gets easier."

It hit Anna then. The regret and sadness in his tone. She was all too familiar with it. She had the same voice after all. "You lost someone close to you, didn't you?"

Noah nodded slightly. "Violetta. My — " he stopped, his words catching in his throat. "My ex-girlfriend. She did not know what I did for a living. I was on a job once and she came around to my apartment. I asked her to leave because it was not safe. She blew out on me, saying that I never let her into my life.

Violetta broke up with me on the spot. I was devastated. I didn't follow her out. The rival gang had sniffed out my hiding place and she bumped into them on her way out. They couldn't risk a local seeing them, so — " Noah shuddered, unable to go on.

Anna immediately placed her arm around his strong back. He was shaking slightly and Anna pulled him close. She placed a hand on his cheek. "You had no way to know."

Noah's eyes turned glassy and he lost focus for a second. He shook his head. "It was my responsibility to protect her, Anna. I will always regret not taking the bullet for the one I loved," he said, letting himself out of Anna's arms.

"We should go," Noah said, his voice turning soft. He shrugged and started moving up the hill again.

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━