𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭¹ − b. allen

∟ 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐲-𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞. ✔️

the race of her life
—the finale

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ANNA LET OUT a scream that made her throat burn, hot tears streaming down her face and coating her skin in a thin layer of tears. Her vision blurred and she became light-headed, blinking slowly as her mother fell to the floor, dying, like she had once before already and Anna wasn't sure she could handle it again.

The world seemed to be moving in slow motion as her brain tried to piece together what was happening right in front of her. Her body didn't want to move; her bones and muscles frozen in fear and shock. Anna wasn't new to loss, she wasn't a child and she wasn't fragile, but even the strongest people crumble.

"Mom!" Anna yelled and ran just two feet to reach Elizabeth, snapping out of her daze to catch the woman before she could hit the floor. She dropped to her knees and cradled her mother's head on her lap, shaking her head as tears trickled from her jaw onto her mother's green blouse. "Mom, please don't do this. Don't leave. Don't leave Cody and Harry and Jesse. Don't leave me. I can't do this again, Mom, please. I can't lose you for the second time. I can't."

Elizabeth gasped and coughed lightly, tears rolling across her temples as she groaned in pain, her eyes glossing over.

"No. No, you can't go," Anna snapped and shook her head, pressing her lips together as more tears ran down over her cheeks. "You can't do this to me again! Come on, okay? You're gonna be okay. Come on, Mom. Please," she whispered and wiped the tears away from her mother's face, shaking her head quickly. "Please don't do this to me again. I need you to tell me what to do."

"My sweet little Annie," Elizabeth breathed out and touched the girl's face, inhaling a breath that fell apart before it could reach the back of her throat. Anna melted into her mother's touch and shook her head, causing her mother to shush her softly. "It's okay. I get to be with my Anna now. I'm okay. It doesn't hurt, I promise. I'll tell Anna all about you. It doesn't—" her voice came to a stop and she inhaled another shaky breath. "It doesn't hurt."

Anna shook her head and held her mother's hand against her face, her whole body feeling empty as Elizabeth fell limp in her lap. "Mom?" She whispered, furrowing her brows as the tears halted, her body going into shock. She slowly laid her mother's body on the floor and rolled onto her knees, cupping the woman's face lightly with her free hand while the other held her mother's hand against her face. "Mom, open your eyes. Mommy, please," she pleaded softly, shaking her head as tears dropped onto the woman's soft skin. She stared into Elizabeth's lifeless eyes, searching for the smallest sign of life that would give her enough hope to fight against the man towering over her. "No," she muttered once Elizabeth's head slowly turned to the side. "No!"