Disclaimer: I do not own the Saw series. I do not own any of the characters.
A/N: So, this is actually the first time I'm writing anything for Saw. I was re-watching the third movie (one of my favorites, really) and the idea for this one-shot came to mind.
I hope you all enjoy it. And maybe leave me a review to tell me what you think!
Make Your Choice
Lynn Denlon knew she was going to die.
Body slumped on the ground, weak from the bullet lodged in the small of her back, she could almost hear the last few grains of sand tumbling inside the hourglass of life.
Silky black hair shielding her face, a single shaky hand grazed the cool steel of the collar before collapsing with a thump against the tiled floor once more. The collar was bulky and locked around her neck.
An invention of Amanda's, Lynn supposed she should have forseen her death even then. I should know. I built it, the wiry girl had boasted hours ago. Amanda's games were unwinnable, much as it defied the purpose and meaning of Jigsaw's games.
The air was thick inside John's hospital room-if you could even call it that. It was a crude mockery of a hospital room, with tools and saws cluttering the tables. It smelled of steel, blood, and antiseptic, clogging Lynn's nostrils.
Through fluttering eyes, she watched the deadly scene unfold before her. Her former husband was contemplating his next move...but she knew he would choose wrong. There was danger all around him, and he was oblivious to it.
John was eyeing Jeff quite calmly, but intelligently, anticipating his choice. Despite the cancer that was killing him, his gravelly voice was full of control and lacked the hopelessness of other patients. John had accepted death already. It was Jeff's choice; Lynn's life was left in his hands.
"Live or die, Jeff. Make our choice." John had said "our", for Lynn's life would certainly end along with his own. Jeff hadn't noticed the detail, had tuned it out as he picked up a saw blade that had been discarded on a table in the corner. His meaty fingers dropped it with a metallic clang.
"Jeff," she whispered as he carefully side-stepped Amanda's limp, lifeless body, her brown eyes glazed and never again seeing anything of the world. Amanda had been the one to shoot her, and so Jeff had used his only bullet in return.
Amanda had unknowingly failed her game, but Lynn's wasn't over yet.
"Jeff," she tried again, but her voice was growing weaker, her throat dry as sandpaper. Time was slipping away, her strength fading fast, the warmth of blood spurting from her back. If only she could warn him...
If you kill John, you'll kill me, too. Please...I don't want to die this way, she mentally pleaded, gasping for a breath.
Face dry of tears, the if-onlys taunted her. If only she hadn't agreed to go into work that day. If only she hadn't cheated on her husband, driving their marriage into the dirt. If only she hadn't lost her child...if only...if only...
The tendrils of blackness flounced acround her vision, head spinning violently and pounding like the worst hangover.
She was no longer an active participant in this game. She was a spectator on the sidelines, awaiting the grand finale, watching Jeff with pleading eyes that he failed to notice.
John's face was blank and expectant as Jeff tentatively placed a hand on his chest, the fabric of his yellow shirt spotted with blood. The collar was so heavy atop her shoulders-a reminder of her looming death. Please...
Jeff opened his mouth and spoke three words.
"I forgive you." Lynn's heart gave a hard, painful jolt. The game was over. Jeff had chosen forgiveness. She was still breathing...
That was when Jeff raised the saw he had concealed by his side, within the folds of the dangling hospital sheets. The whirr of the blade pierced her ears, increasing until they nearly shattered. Fingers scraping the tiled floor, eyes boggling from her head, Lynn's blood ran cold.
"Jeff!" It was too late. Down the saw flew, slicing a gruesome, jagged red line across John's throat. Crimson blood sprayed across yellow and white material. The machines instantly went haywire, signaling John's rapid decline in heartrate.
It happened within a minute after that. Everything passed in a blur, those last precious moments.
The alarm on the collar blinked red, matching the angry drone of the hospital machines. John's head settled back on his pillow, the blood shooting out of his neck like a sprinkler system. His fingers exposed a white tape recorder, his muscles using their last strength to press play.
Hello, Jeff, that gravelly, familiar voice rose from the recorder and Lynn knew it was over.
Frantic, she clawed at the collar, the mechanism growing tight as if choking her. Jeff froze and then spun towards her, widened eyes realizing his mistake. His very crucial mistake.
The rest of the message on the tape recorder went unheard by Lynn, her mind was in such a wretched state of panic and fear. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she struggled in the grasp of the collar. No!
Those last two words-those horrible, haunting two words-were the last she ever heard. Game over...
At the moment that John's eyes closed forever, reduced to lifelessness and ending his reign of terror, the trigger was released on Lynn's collar.
Six powerful bullets drove into her forehead, transforming her face into a mass of chunky flesh. There was a flash of crimson behind her eyelids and the worst pain imaginable seared her mind, akin to her skull dripping in a vat of acid.
Everything went black as the blood poured from her gnarled, twisted flesh and then Lynn Denlon knew no more.
...
Ouch, that had to hurt. /= I actually listened to the Saw theme while writing this and it really set the mood. Again, I hope everyone enjoyed reading.
I appreciate any reviews-I always love to hear what people have to say! Every little bit counts! (=