The sirens seemed to have set an alarm off. It was a chaos. I could hear frantic shouts. I could hear footsteps. Quick footsteps as I tried making out noises.

I couldn't possibly pick my ownself up. Although, the sirens had sent a chain reaction within me as I felt adrenaline rush through me. The sooner I would get out of this place, the sooner I could get medical help. I somehow got up and put myself against a wall. I started taking in deep breathes as it proved to be a great exercise.

Taking in another huge gulp, I tried standing up, only to fall down. But I wasn't giving up. I tried again and stood up with a whimper.

To be honest, sitting up was harder. Which is weird since I felt the cuts on my thighs. I slightly brushed my fingers agaisnt them and hissed. They weren't deep but they were many. I took a few steps when I heard footsteps and sensed someone enter inside.

I looked up and saw Bryan enter followed by Suzie.

He looked furious.

"How the fuck did they get here?" He roared at me as I took another breath. I could clearly see the storm in his eyes. Either he was here to finish me off, or finish this all away.

He quickly jumped at me and caught me by my hair as I shrieked out in pain. This encouraged him to pull them even harder. I was still on my feet as he started dragging me out of the room and into the small corridor.

"You did something, didn't you? I should have been carfeul! I should have been. They told me how cunning you are! They warned me. They fucking told me. I should have killed you like they said, shouldn't I? You had something up your sleeves, didn't you?"

I didn't reply as I whimpered further and he continued to pull me, his hands still in my hair.

"Didn't you?" He shouted right next to my ear and that was the last string. His face was in my reach and I poked his eyes with my fingers. And buried them. I hardly had nails but eyes was a weak spot. Next, I simply stabbed my elbow on his face. He stumbled back as Suzie came to his rescue.

But even while being dragged away, they never noticed as I easily slipped in a knife from Bryan's side pocket. I had noticed it when he came to drag me away. And in the chaos, he couldn't barely make out that I sneakly picked it. It was sharp. I could feel the blade slightly cut my fingers. But I cared less. Knives were my strength and weakness and right now, I wanted it to be the former.

I quickly pointed it at Suzie who took a cautious step back. He had seen me play with one of these. Last time, it was blunt. This time, it wasn't. He took steps as I heard more chaos above me. Just what the hell was happening?

Suzie got distracted for a second and I took that as a moment to kick his jaw. My high kick sent him stumbling back. And then, I ran like hell.

I didn't know where I was going but my legs were on my side and pumping as much energy as they could. I tried my best to concentrate on the noises and find a way out.

I weaved my way through the unknown place as gunshots began ringing in my ear. I was close. And I knew someone was following. I would be more worried if they weren't.

And Bryan definitely had more than two men. Because when I peeked through the door that I had reached, I saw a good amount of built up people like Jonah shooting and defending the place...from cops.

I could see the red and blue siren in the stark darkness of night. I could see the swarm of cops replying with just as much vigor.

And amidst all those cars, I saw a black...what the hell?

What the fuck was Walker's racing car doing here?

Please don't tell me he raced to this place, which was still a mystery to me by the way. I looked around and saw a mini-van near by. Maybe it was used to carry me. I don't really remember.

With heavy feet, I crept to the van and hid myself behind it. I knew staying back at that place meant to be manhandled further by the gang. I would probably die fighting my life away. While here, they didn't know it and atleast I was just a few feet away from home. I stooped down a little, my legs finally feeling their exhaustion as I coudn't put much pressure on my thighs anymore. And my head seemed to have gained more weight as the sound of fires sent another ripple of pain through it.

My body was giving up. Whatever ounce of energy I had left in me, it was drained away. I didn't know how much longer I could take.

But the hope that it was just a matter of few seconds and feet, was still just as blinding.

After so long, I wanted to hold mom and cry. I wanted to have a fight with dad. I wanted to go tease Ian and Allison. I wanted to kiss Stellan. I wanted to chat with Bella and Nat. I wanted to break in Romanov's again. I wanted to do so many things. I always wanted to do them.

It was again like that night 17 years back. I was running away, and I fell not knowing I was a few feet away from love.

And today too, I was falling, knowing I was few feet away from love.

And the best part, he didn't even know it. Or maybe he did.

Either way, he better be there with his arms open or I will become a good reincarnation of Satan for him. That seems like a tempting idea though.

I took a deep breath again, sending my jumping heart to a little rest. I had no plan of action. My body ready to give up just any moment. I looked at my side to find the shield of cops still shooting away. Amidst all te noise and chaos, they could neither hear me nor see me.

I placed my head back at the car and closed my eyes. I was suddenly too tired. Maybe it was the fact that I was almost in the cop's radius that made me feel safe and bring me out of the flight and fight mode. It really won't work in my favour though. It really wont. And as I continued to gather some more energy, I missed the steps approaching the car. I only felt the prick on my neck. Again.

I snapped my eyes open, looking up to see Jonah discard the needle.

"What the hell did you give me?" I hissed as I stood up and moved back, my hands on my neck.

He grinned, which wasn't assuring in anyway.

"Won't you wanna know? Avrei potuto divertirmi di più con te. Purtroppo, hai finito le vite."

The moment the words left his mouth, I was charging at him. My exhaustion long forgotten.

I knew exactly what he said.

I could have had more fun with you. Sadly, you ran out of lives.

And I knew exactly what it meant.

You ran out of lives.

You ran out of lives.

You ran out of lives.

I was alive still. But I couldn't say the same about future. That needle had something in it. Something I didn't know. Something I would probably find out in a hospital.

I should have ran away. I should have somehow made it to that coast and begged for medical assistance.

But me being the revenge seeking bitch I always am, I used the knife I had saved and showed him just who he messed with.

When has my life ever been precious to me anyways?

Thinking that I wouldn't react, he didn't expect me to throw a dagger straight at him. My aim had always been bad but he had a big, bulky body. It hit him just between the neck and the shoulder, a spot just a few inches away from the sensitive spot. All I had to do was pull it like a lever, leading him to death by blood loss. In a few seconds.

But this was just enough as he got probably stabbed the second time at the same spot. Oh well, I did warn him.

He shouted at me, his rage clear in his bloodshot eyes. He had his hands at the knife, trying to get it out. I didn't let him as I jumped and twisted it along. This wouldn't kill him but leave him disabled enough. The next second, he howled in pain and dropped next to me, his hand still trying his level best to get the knife away.

I would let him be busy with that.

I quickly moved away, still using the van as a shield and saw Bryan's people had lessened. Some on the ground, writhing with pain and some, just gone.

I was either going to be shot if I jumped in between or be killed if I not run away.

I have never had a dilemma before in my life. Decisions have always been at the tip of my tongue, ready to be out the next second. But this, I had no idea. Just what would I do? And I was carrying god know's what in my body.

Jonah was still whimpering as I moved on a little bit.

A bad move.

Because the second I did that, the shots stopped and a creepy silence fell over us.

Like dead, dark silence.

And I didn't know what was happening until I saw Bryan look directly at me, from metres away. He knew I was here. He could get me any second but he resorted to a smile.

These guys and their creepy smile is blowing me off.

I gave him a strong glare.

"Oh come on, Ophelia! Don't make me shoot you from here. I have the best snippers on you right now."

The next moment, I heard the many clicks of gun pointed at Bryan. He waved them off.

"Oh, leave it. I won't shoot her."

I looked at him, challenging him.

Why would he let go of that pleasure?

Ignoring that, he beckoned me to come out. I didn't.

"Ophelia, come here. Stand in the front. Just see what an army Brooke Falls has sent for you."

I didn't want to look. I knew it would be large. Although my brain wasn't focussing on it, I knew the number would be large.

He frowned.

"Why? Don't want to see that Walker succeeded in finding you? Tore the city apart to find you?"

Stellan did that.

Tore the city apart! What was he thinking?

Bryan's eyes moved away from me and focussed at somenone far away from him, at his front. I couldn't see much. I had to move out sometime.

He still had that frown on his face and tsked loudly.

"Oh Stellan. Look! The girl you wanted his right here. Yet she refuses to come out. What? Did you fall for a coward?"

He knew it would trigger me.

You call me anything but that. Anything but a coward.

Maybe Stellan knew this too. Because I could hear him, shouting which felt like a deep distant voice as I moved away from the van and stood directly in front of the two stands.

Just in the middle.

In the middle of the chaos. The one I had caused.

I looked at Bryan once.

"It's rich coming from you, Keller."

His smirk vanished as I looked to my left and saw the cops with their guns ready, their positions rigid. My eyes kept searching for the blue.

And not a second later, I saw them.

The blue in his just always catches the brown in mine.

I couldn't see him properly. My vision wasn't that good.

But I wish I could. I wish I could see how he looked. Memorize each and every of his features. Memorize the right shade of blue in his eyes which never fail to love me.

I wish I could. I don't know why but I wish I could.

I couldn't really smile. My cheek did hurt a lot. I blinked at him once and looked back at Bryan.

To curse him.

Send him to darkest pits of hell.

To break his bones.

But my eyebrows coiled when I saw his face blurring away slowly.

Just very slowly.

"Looks like it's happening. And I thought I won't shoot her. She is gonna die anyway. Heroine overdose isn't good for health, now is it?"

I felt a cough leave my lips as I leaned in the van behind me.

Heroine?

Overdose?

What was he talking about?

"But I like seeing her in pain, you know. I enjoyed it so far. She inflicted a lot on me. So, I inflicted a lot on her."

I could him chuckle as I tried lookind around.

"But I am gonna die anyway so why should she live a second more? What can I say Stellan, she is too tempting, isn't she?"

I didn't know what his words truly came from but if there was a place that gave birth to hatred, then that was this place. Because the venom in his voice sent even a shiver down my spine. He wanted me dead. He wanted to have his revenge. And something told me, he was ready to destroy anything in his part, even himself.

And I could make out him raising his hand, something in his hands which my memory and betraying eyes told was a gun, even from this distance. I couldn't see that clear anymore. I couldn't really make out much as I heard the cops shout him to put the gun down.

He didn't. I heard a click and I closed my eyes waiting for the bullet. Waiting for it to come and find refugee in my body.

But it never did and instead I heard gun shots after another. The war ensuing again.

But my vision had been hazy and I fell down. I slipped on my own legs, my weight taking me down. I slipped down, my back tightly pressed against the surface of the van as it gave me enough support to sit down.

My body was weak. It was. My vision wasn't at its best. My ears could pick up even the slightest of the movements, the gunshots and bangs growing louder every second.

I groaned and pressed my hands to my ears, pressing them harder to let the sound out. But it was no use. It kept on growing and growing. With every second I breathed, it went on growing.

Tears spilled down my eyes as I cried, my frustration getting the best of me. I could hardly make out anything. I could see a limp body on the ground where Bryan once stood. I could see his men retreating. I could see Suzie as he shot his last bullet and a his cry reverberated as a bullet hit his legs. Out of them all, he did seem the smartest to me. He already guessed it would be a bad choice. And it was a bad choice, alright.

But I couldn't really tell if it could favor me anymore as I sagged down, my hands still wrapped tightly around my head, my hands just coiling themselves tighter till the moment I felt...I felt I would burst.

And then the next, there was no more shots. No more shouting. No more screams. No more whimpering. No more pain. No more of those dark things that reminded me I was living but on the verge to die any second.

Because now, all I felt was the deafeaning silence. The silence of my wildly beating heart, my blood through my viens as my hands left my ears and I pulled my hair.

The pain meant I was living.

But all I could feel now was the numbness. The deafening. The silence. To the point where it all ended. It all finished. Fin. Finito. Where it was all over.

Everything was over.

And somehow, I knew it wasn't any better.

I screamed again, my brain brimming with the worst of the thoughts and the best of the memories. It was a mess. It was a complete mess. And it was so classic of me. To be a mess.

I felt hands engulf me as I pulled my hair harder, ignoring the minute pain it caused and the warmth that enveloped my body. Ignoring who ever was insane enough to try and clean me up. To bring comfort to my chaos.

And I had only ever known two men who fit just right in the equation. But I knew who he was. I could recognize his aura anywhere. I could count his presence anytime. It was written in the way my body reacted to his existence. Just to his mere existence. The warmth that he brought with him and my urge to pull him closer was something I can never understand. Something I don't wish I do. Sometimes, things are best left unexplained.

I knew dad was somewhere near too. I would always be able to know the presence of people I love. The presence of people I need. But more than that, the presence of people I want.

And I would always want these constants in my life. These stars in my dark night sky.

Stellan held me tighter as I screamed even more so, my agony passing right through the night.

I don't know what I was screaming for.

Was it the pain?

Was it the wait?

Or was it the fact that I knew what was coming?

Because deep down in my bones, I knew that needle had enough to extinguish whatever life I had left in me.

I could be wrong. And I wish I was. For the first time, I was hoping I was wrong.

Because I didn't wish to give up on life yet.

I didn't wish to give up on myself yet.

I didn't wish to give up on the man who rocked me back and forth, his sobs breaking him.

As the last strands of my screams took turn, I shimmered down and before anything, Stellan picked me up. I seemed to be dazed as he carried me, my body limp in his hands, too exhausted from the actions of the past few days.

"Stay with me, love. Just stay with me."

I could hear him say it as he carried me to a place. Somewhere. Somewhere I was safe enough. Somewhere I knew I could close my eyes peaceful.

It didn't really matter to me as he laid me on a soft surface, his instinct to pull my head in his lap.

"Please, don't give up Ophelia. Don't do that to me."

I could barely understand anything but then again, I knew I could always mark him away. Even in a crowd, I could pick him. Even in the middle of my chaos, I could choose him. I would choose.

Short, ragged breathes left my mouth as I moved my eyes the best I could, his hands cupping my face, wiping the last evidence of my tears and suffering. My eyes giving me a shimmering picture of him. I had tears at the corner of my eyes because I wasn't crying anymore. I wasn't wasting my time on that.

Because if this was all I left, I wanted to see him better. I wanted to see the blue go darker. I wanted to see his lips smile. I wanted to feel them on my lips too.

But I couldn't do much as I saw the tears glistening in his eyes.

What had I ever done to have people crying for me?

And I wanted to shout at him, slap him hard for not letting me have what I wanted. For not letting me have my wicked ways with him.

And maybe.

For not letting me have my....last wish.

And as the world started blacking out, I chose him again. Just like I did then. Just like I would always do.

Because if he was holding me closer, who was I to not let our hearts have that pleasure.

I smiled a bit at him as I saw his tone changing to urgency, his hands shaking my face, his face closer as his one hand supported my head and other held my face.

"No, no, no! You are not leaving me, Ophelia. Keep your god damn eyes open. YA ne pozvolyu tebe umeret' na menya. YA ne pozvolyu tebe vyrvat' moy mir. You don't get to make that choice for me. You don't get to make that fucking choice."

My brows moved a little. Did he expect me to understand Russian right now?  I could hardly form a thought, much rather say something. But maybe I had to try for him.

Maybe this was what had to happen.

Maybe this was what my stars were destined for.

He deserved knowing that. To the very least, he deserves hearing it from me before I lose myself to oblivion. Before I lose myself to everything.

I placed my shaking hands over his, his eyes still on me as I heard another sob pass through his mouth.

Oh, my love. Does he know I don't want to die seeing him cry? Does he know that I want to see him happy.

I always will want to see him happy. And if that's without me, then it's alright. Because I only ever loved him to put him before myself. Because I wanted to see him smile as I hung to my last remnants of consciousness. Because I wanted Stellan Walker to know that he never was alone at falling. I had always been falling for him. I will fall for him as long as eternity. As long as I breathe and far beyond that.

And this was love, wasn't it?

So he needed to know that. He needed to know this. He had to.

Gathering the only energy I had left in me, I formed those words. So that he could just listen. He could just know. He could just realize. He could just feel how much I loved him.

"Choose you, always."

They were the truest words I ever said. The most honest I have ever been. The most sure I could be.

And I don't think I could put it any better. Stellan was a smart man. He would know.

And he did, because a broken laugh and a sob left his lips as he pressed his lips to my forehead and whispered loud enough for my tired self to hear.

"Don't go just yet. Show me you love me. Show me what it is to be loved by you. Make me feel how it is to be loved by you. Show me love, moya lyubov'. It is all I know. It's all I will ever know."

He stroked the hair out of my face as I felt my eyes becoming too heavy.

"Don't take my love away. Don't take my breathe away. It's all my heart is beating for."

And it was as soft as a feather. His words easily dissolving in the air as I barely heard what he said. But I did.

And I couldn't do that.

How could someone take something so precious from him while he still had me close?

It was over my dead body, wasn't it?

Destiny sure had plans.

But when had I not played with it? When had I not defied destiny?

And I held onto that thread of hope. I held it with both hands. That I had to give his beat back to him. I held on to the faith that I was a fighter. That it wasn't my nature but in my blood to fight and not give up on things that were mine.

Death better know I wasn't going down without a fight.

And with those last rebellious thoughts, I was whisked far away from his warmth.

This chapter was unedited so sorry for mistakes.

AND I MISSED YOU ALL SO SO MUCH. I HAD TO PUBLISH THIS COZ I WAS DYING WITHOUT READING YOUR GUYS COMMENTS AND WITHOUT HAVING TO TALK  TO YOU ALL  T_T

I don't know. It feels good to be here again.

So here's the chapter guys. I know, it's been more than a month and idk, if the chapter did justice to it. But I hope you liked it.

I don't know when the next update will be. Not any sooner than two weeks. After that though, I'll try coz I'll be free. but no promises.

And I have so so many many things to talk about. But I feel like this will be too short.

Jeez. If only I could hold a party and call y'all and talk about life and AVENGERS END GAME!

*sigh*

If only.

But then again, life's a bitch.

Thanks for all your support guys. I would be nothing without all your support.

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And please please please, if you like this book, please do share it. With your friends and family if they like romance stories. Reads and votes always encourage me to write and continue the story! ❤️❤️

So then, see you all soon.

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Adiós!