Alex can feel her heartbeat expanding her wet skin with every breath. Her sweat dribbles down her forehead as she is struck by fear. The greenhouse is clinical and the circumstances make it even more so.
Every paranoid thought, every accusation, every damn time she was made to feel like she was going crazy. It was all for this. This is why. This is what she was afraid of. And this is it. This is the end.
Alex, barely able to hold herself up, is shaking unbearably as she looks at the sinister smile on Aiden's face. The barrel of his gun holds her death so close she can smell it.
"I've been waiting so long to do this. You know, it was easier to get in here than you think. Unlucky for you. Vause, I always thought you were a smart girl, but when Kubra told me what you did to him, to the whole business..." - Aiden smirks. "You're just a pathetic little girl."
"Please don't. Please. Aiden. You don't have to do this."
"Vause, you've been in the game long enough to know what happens to snitches"
*BANG*
Aiden pulls the trigger, with the bullet just missing Alex's head. Various pots and gardening utensils smash to the ground with a noise that suppresses Alex's ability to hear adequately. Aiden laughs vindictively as Alex forgets how to breathe.
Images suddenly race through her mind.
Diane
Kubra
The drugs
And Piper
Oh god Piper.
What Alex would give to just be with Piper right now and forget all this. In times of fear, you forget about all the horrible things they've done. All the hurt and all the anger that you had embedded inside is lifted. Paris, the panty business, Stella, it doesn't matter anymore. She can't even say goodbye to the one girl that made her forget about all the bad she had ever done and gone through.
Alex snaps back into reality with Aiden sending off another shot even closer to Alex than the last one.
Alex's reality isn't with Piper. It's Aiden and a revolver.
Alex knows she can't die like this. It's not heroic, it's not courageous, it's not something you see out of a James Bond film. It's fearful and pitiful. But she can't help but be terrified. Even with the paranoia that was eating Alex alive, she still can't believe the situation she is in.
"Aiden. Stop"- Alex pleads with every ounce of strength she has left.
"Goodbye Vause"
Alex instinctively launches herself at Aiden as she hears another bullet hurl through the barrel. She struggles to grab hold of Aiden's shirt but when she does, she slams him into the wall with a force she didn't know she had. She hears the sound of the gun again. Everything sounds distant. She ignores it and hits Aiden's face until her knuckles are red raw. The imprints of blood are speckled on Aiden's cheek. Once her knuckles can't take anymore, she turns for the door and begins to run.
Heaving already, Alex sprints outside.
She looks back in a hope to see nobody but indefinitely, she was wrong.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Shot's scatter above and beside Alex as Aiden starts chasing with the revolver ready in hand.
Alex forces herself to keep running despite the immense fear she is enduring and as she looks down, she sees blood seeping through her chest onto her prison uniform.
"Fuck" Alex whispers to herself.
In the focus of looking at her wound, Alex trips and falls over the uneven pathway and lands with a harsh thump. Her mind suddenly becomes a concoction of different forms of panic as she lays frozen on the cold pavement.
She can hear Aiden approaching...
"You thought you could get away Vause? I thought you were smarter than that. You just made this a lot harder for yourself. A lot more painful than it could have been. More enjoyable for me though, don't you agree?" Aiden speaks with cockiness and brushes Alex's hair behind her ear as she turns around to face him. Without sympathy, he hits Alex across the jaw with the back of his gun and enjoys the excruciating sound that Alex makes. He chuckles.
Alex starts sobbing in pure pain and fear as she wonders where the hell everyone is. Where are the guards? The inmates? Anybody?
She closes her eyes as Aiden's finger slides over the trigger.
*BANG*
Alex screams in agony as the bullet enters her right thigh.
"It's just begun Vause. You did this to yourself and now it's time to pay."
Alex can taste the tears that have dripped into her mouth and the blood splatter that is now all over her face. She hovers over the freshest wound with her fingertips and finds the gaping hole where the bullet had entered.
She needs to get out of this situation. Instinct is all she can use when her mind is so blocked with pain. In a fearful rage she kicks her unwounded leg with power and hits Aiden right in the crotch with a loud grunt. He hits the floor in agony with the gun still embraced in his hand.
Screaming, aching and crying, Alex claws at the floor in attempt to find stability. She manages to get herself up and heads for the door to the inside of the prison. She knows Aiden won't be down for long, so she attempts to run although her right leg gives way continuously and excruciatingly.
As she reaches the door, she can hear Aiden.
"VAUSE" his scream echoes through the yard.
Alex tramples through Spanish Harlem, the ghetto and white suburbia in a horrid attempt to find a guard. There's no one. Not even an inmate. The familiar location of prison, now feels like a labyrinth. It's a cat and mouse chase, and all bets are on the cat. With no luck and no sense of understanding as to why no one is around, Alex heads for the chapel with only a need and desperation to get away from Aiden.
Alex flings the church doors open with a loud moan as she feels her consciousness slipping away. She sees a recognizable figure, startled, standing in pure confusion.
"Alex?" screams Piper.
All she can see is Alex covered in blood.
"Piper, run."
Bullets fly past Alex and in a moment of realization, Piper runs to Alex and grabs her by the hand, pulling her in the opposing direction of Aiden.
"Run Piper" Alex pleads. There's not much that could make this death any worse but Piper dying at the hands of Aiden is something that would kill Alex faster than the bullets would.
Alex's vision is diminishing but she catches a glimpse of the horror on Piper's face. Floating in and out of consciousness she can feel Piper's hand pressing against her wounds while they are still in active motion. It feels oddly soothing and brings back nostalgic memories of all the amazing places they had been together. All the memories they had made. All the stories they have to tell.
The places, memories and stories all fade to black with Alex's consciousness.
"Alex, stay with me. Alex, it's ok. I'm here. I'm here Al. I'm here."
Alex wakes in a startled mess and confusion. She can feel the recognizable warmth and subtle smell of Piper that keeps her conscious. She smells like home. Like love. Like safety.
"Piper" Alex squeels painfully
"Hey shh, it's ok Alex. You're going to be ok. I'm here to look after you" Piper embraces Alex's body softly minding her wounds and kisses her lips with a tenderness that Alex had forgotten. It seems like a lost memory or a distant dream that wasn't ever reality. Alex becomes emersed in Piper's touch and wants more. She forget's how good it feels.
Piper pulls away and shares a grateful smile with Alex as she nuzzles back into her chest when suddenly Alex is struck by an indescribably sharpness in her thigh
"Fuck" Alex holds her wound as she rocks back and forth in an attempt to ease the pain. Piper's hand lays on top of Alex's, stroking it, as she whispers comforting words in her ear.
"Everything's going to be ok Al. I'm here. I'm always going to be here" Her soft kisses continue, traveling from Alex's forehead to the side of her face.
"I need help Pipes" Alex starts sobbing. She can feel her tears, warm on her face. She sits in a pool of her own blood but when she glances up, she drowns in Piper's eyes. Alex's own eyes plead for help. For life. The more she cries, the more it hurts.
"Alex, I know, I know it hurts, but you're going to have to stay with me until someone comes around. There's no one all through the prison except for Aiden. I need to keep you safe." Piper wipes Alex's tears with the back of her fingers as her own chest begins to tighten.
Alex rolls over to get a glimpse of her surroundings. "Where are we?" Alex asks puzzled with tears still rolling down the side of her pale cheek.
"Where in electrical. I figured Aiden wouldn't find us here and even if he did, there's a wall full of weapons I can use to beat the shit out of him"
Alex let's out a suffering moan that rips Piper to pieces.
"Piper please. Help me. I need help" Alex loses touch of her pain and begins to fall back into unconsciousness.
"Al, Al you need to stay with me. Alex please just stay with me. Alex." Piper begins to fill her eyes with tears as her struggle to keep the sounds suppressed becomes more and more evident. Her tears start falling on Alex's face as she tries to wake Alex up from unconsciousness once again.
"Alex wake up. Please. I heart you."
She suddenly hear's the rattling of the door. Her hearts stop as her tears keep rolling.
"GET AWAY FROM HER. JUST GO AWAY. SHOOT ME IF YOU WANT, I DON'T CARE. JUST LEAVE ALEX ALONE. SHE'S IN FUCKING PRISON, ISN'T THAT ENOUGH AIDEN. JUST LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE."
She can hear Aiden kicking the door. After several quick but powerful attempts, the locked door bursts open with a phenomenal crash. Piper just sits there, pulling Alex's head to hers. She wails and cringes as she anticipates the feeling of the bullet shooting through her skull.
"We need an ambulance"
Piper looks up, to see Mr Caputo standing at the door looking terrified.
"What the fuck happened?"
Piper recites the events that occurred in her head but all that leaves her mouth is "Aiden".
"Aiden? The new guard? I just saw him leave through the front gate. I walked straight passed him. What the fuck? I can't believe this is happening right now. This is all going to fall back on me, like I'm the bad guy. How do this many inmates escape a correctional facility? HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?" Caputo rambles to himself while Piper maintains a firm grip on Alex. Mr Caputo calls an ambulance as Piper pleads for Alex to wake up.
She doesn't.
In complete desolation, Piper watches Alex's body get hauled into the back of the ambulance. She is numb. She stands frozen, even after the ambulance drives away. The guilt is making it's appearance. Oh the damn guilt. Flashing images of Stella make it's way into Piper's mind and no matter how hard Piper tries to fight them, they keep re-appearing even more vividly. The first kiss. It wasn't even fucking worth it. She feels disgusted with herself.
"Inmate, inside please. Go get changed. I.. I.. I hope she'll make it"
