sands of time

A fly whizzed around the room, the beat of its wings heavy against the cool air. It swirled and swirled, rising and falling, looping and travelling around the bed. It lowered itself, until it was perched against the bars of the windowsill. Spencer quietly peered at it from the corner of the room, where she sat crouched in the worn out chair that had been be from even both Mona's time in this very room.

She slowly unfastened herself, and perched herself on her knees in the chair, her hand slowly extending in the air, as the fly once more resumed movement. The sound of its buzzing wings, once more reverberated around the room. Spencer grimaced, subconsciously, as she saw the blur of arm as it struck down against the fly. A blur later and the sound had reached an abrupt stop.

Spencer chuckled quietly. It's ever so easy to kill, she thought, her mind dragging her back to the time she spent playing A's game.

*earlier*

Time was going too fast. Spencer felt her heart leap from her chest, the movement causing significant pain in her torso. This was too much. Once she'd been under the impression that Toby had died, and long after she'd found out that it was a lie, her heart still ached at the memory. But what would she do if he died, for real this time. Her Toby. Gone before her eyes. Because of her. As if losing him once wan't excruciating! She could only imagine the torture she'd face for a second time. She was unsure whether she could handle it. Whether anyone could.

She looked up at him, as he stared at her. He's face confident, though she knew. he was putting on a brave face for his Spence, the girl he loved. The girl who had been through the wrath of A for years now. It was nothing more than a facade, for her. He smiled at him, before the figure in black smacked the butt of the gun into his face. 'NOO,' she screamed, but it was too late. When he next looked up, she saw blood dripping from the side of his mouth... staining his shirt.

Tears streamed down her cheek, powered by anger and remorse. Toby was hers, what made this intruder think that they could touch him? She pulled herself from the floor, dusting her clothes. If A wanted to play dirty, she wouldn't give in. These were the people she loved and cared about, and if A thought that they could use them as pawns from a game of chess... they were wrong. She wouldn't let them. This was her family. She made her way to end of the corridor, quietly peering into everyone of the rooms for which had lighting. Each was inhabited by a black hoody and the faces of those she considered loved ones: Melissa, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Toby.

She felt her chest rising with indignation and determination. A was about to play it her way.

' YOU WANT THE RV, DO YOU?' she shouted up at the ceiling. 'THEN YOU'R GOING TO HAVE TO RELEASE ALL OF THEM. YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PLAY IT MY WAY. And you wonder why? I have nothing to lose. You have taken all that I love and used them to force my hand. Bad play. You know what they say... the most dangerous of us all is one who has lost everything.' Silence, it consumed the whole building, tightening its grip against the air and causing the pressure to harden Spencer's breathing.

A few more painful moments passed, before the phone started ringing beside her. The caller ID was as expected: BLOCKED NUMBER. She reached out and grabbed the mobile, answering the call. The next words she heard were hard to make out, against the loud/deep noise produced by the voice alternator. 'Clever Spencer,' the voice sounded almost amused. 'Well, I believe we should change the rules. Give me the RV, and I'll let you friends go on the condition that they each do me a favour. Think of it as an exchange. Are you willing to comply?' even under the scrambled mess of that she heard, she could tell that the voice sounded arrogant. It knew that she had no other choice, and that was the truth. 'Yes,' she replied tonelessly. 'Remember Spencer,' the voice spoke dangerously... almost as if it knew something she didn't. 'I do this not because your words have me concerned,, but that you have something I want. And next time you try to force my hand, things will not turn out half as pretty'. The phone cut abruptly.

Spencer looked up, her face bright with a smile. She couldn't believe she had succeeded, but before she had time to tell her friends the smile fell off her face. She found herself staring as the white mist once more surrounded her, tugging at her mind until she fell, unconscious.

Spencer found herself back in her room, in Radley, as the door of her room was pushed open. Aria walked in, her face searching for Spencer's and when she found it, she smiled. 'I thought you might be lonely,' she breathed out as she took a seat by her best friend. 'How're you doing, Spence?' she inquired in a friendly fashion. Spencer looked up at her, half-mindedly and smiled reassuringly. 'I'm fine, Aria, how're you? Is everyone doing well?' Aria cast a glance at her, before deciding against answering her question. 'Don't worry about us, we're good. It's you that we're worried about.' This caught at Spencer, her chest recoiling at her words. She hated being treated like this. As if she were fine china or brand new cutlery. This wasn't her.

'Aria, stop. I don't need you fawning over me... I'm o—'

'You're not okay, Spence. You need to get over this. It wasn't your fault. You didn't make him betray us like that. He wasn't on our side all this time. He deserved what he got.'

'No one deserved that, Aria'.

'He was in league with her, with red coat'.

'I should've known, okay. Right from the moment that I found that doll. From the moment he escorted me. I should've known it was him!' The memory of the moment engulfed her, transporting her back in time.

She woke up, her head aching from being knocked out. She pulled herself into a sitting position and looked around her. She was in a car. Alone. Her hands scrambled with the door, but it was locked. On the dashboard was a creepy doll, once she seen once before... she knew what it meant. She picked it up slowly and pulled on the string. Waiting for the doll to give her instructions. Waiting for a doll to give her instructions, what had her life come to?

A voice exploded from the doll, enveloping her in it's wrath, and for a brief moment in time Spencer thought about how such a small and childish toy could have such a loud and impossibly deep voice. 'Spencer. Spencer. You have 4 hours to put the RV in my possession. The sands of time are already falling.'

Spencer looked at the watch strapped around her wrist: it was 14:09. She had until 6pm. She knew where she had to go... Toby – it hurt to think of him, the memory of his callused fingers stroking the skin on her back was like a knife to the chest- had once told her that he'd hidden the RV in one of the parking lots of a motel he'd once lived in... Motel Derenhale. She put the car into motion and lurched forwards, turning the corner to morph with the rest of the assemble of cars and vehicles...