For You Only

Chapter Four

Ethan tightened his deathly grip on Aria's bruising arm. His icy, cold eyes bored into her skin, staring strongly at her, waiting for her to crack. She whimpered and jerked her head to the side, too disgusted by him. A wry, turbulent smile twitched on his omniscient face. His rough hand cupped her chin, and he twisted her forwards. He snarled.

"Ethan," Ezra exclaimed urgently, rattling his cage like an uncontrollable beast. "Stop!"

He let go of the cage, his knuckles white. He quickly surveyed his cell for anything that could help get him out or save the young, helpless brunette he loved.

"You're coming with me." Ethan instructed, twinging his fingers through her ratty hair. Aria trembled. She knew what was coming up next and recoiled.

"Please," she rasped, tears staining her eyes. "Don't do this."

Ignoring her sudden plea, Ethan tugged her along to the end of the door. He smiled giddily like a child early on Christmas morning, spying the bundle of presents.

"Take me!" intervened Ezra. His eyes were sparking with hope. Tears stroked his face. He no longer bothered hiding them. All he wanted was to get Ethan's nasty paws off of Aria.

Ethan snapped his head in Ezra's direction. He dropped Aria to the ground; she watched frozenly. Ethan yanked the cell door open. Ezra straightened his posture, his chest huffing out and bellowing in rapidly. His eyesight was pointed forward, not risking darting a glance towards Aria to see if she was somewhat okay. Aria sucked in her breath in anticipation.

The next seconds unraveled blurry and unearthly. Ethan, who only studied Ezra, had balled his hands into fist. Then he hooked Ezra's right jaw. Ezra tumbled backwards in shock, cupping his cheek. Blood dotted on his ghastly pale skin. Aria's hazel eyes widened.

Ethan had only begun.

Anger exuded from his body. Darkness seeped in his face, sending chills down Aria's spine. Ethan chucked discreetly. He cocked his head back and his eyes glowed. Ezra pulled in his bottom lip. He started to throw a punch to Ethan's gut, but Ethan caught his fist midway. He tweaked his smile when he crunched Ezra's fingers. Pain twisted on Ezra's face, but he kept silent as Ethan warped his hand.

"You think you can win?" Ethan demanded, twisting Ezra's hand deeper. Ezra gasped when Ethan let go of his hand. Blood colored Ezra's raggedly fingers, but none seemed broken.

Ethan pounded his palm against his chest. "You think you can defeat me?" he shouted piercingly. He punched Ezra in the gut. Ezra bowed over, sputtering. He hacked up blood.

Ethan swung his leg and kicked Ezra in the ribs. A defiant crack ricocheted off the walls. Aria squeaked in fear. She watched powerlessly as Ethan kept hurting Ezra repeatedly, nonstop. Her eyes caught a metal crowbar inches by the corner, closest to the locked door. She scrambled to her feet and dashed to the crowbar. Ethan was unaware of Aria; his prime focus was on Ezra. She dove for it, grasping it hard to her chest as she hit the ground noiselessly.

Ethan's attention was fixed on Ezra, who was laying limply on the ground. Blood mixed with his salvia as he coughed. A pool of blood enclosed Ezra. Ethan looked amused alongside pissed. He scooped Ezra up and growled prominently in his face. The brawl barely was a brawl. "You should never test me, brother." Ethan said conceitedly in a low hiss. He slammed Ezra hard against the stone wall.

"Get away from him!" Aria screamed rebelliously, whacking Ethan upside the head with the crowbar. Ethan, dazed, collapsed on the ground. A bulgy bump sweltered on the backside of head.

Ezra and Aria panted. Ezra slid to the ground, his legs like jelly. His body ached from the ever-present pain. He arched his head back and moaned. His hand fluttered to his heart, and he squeezed his tattered shirt. Tears welled up in his swollen eyes. Aria dropped the crowbar; she had never seen him so deflated. She crouched down next to him and inspected his wounds.

"Oh, Ezra," her voice cracked. She blocked back a sob. She wiped the tears off his bloody cheek with her thumb.

Neither one of them saw or heard Ethan getting back on his feet: Ezra's eyes were squeezed shut; Aria tuned out the world, primarily focusing on Ezra's wounds. Ethan was stealthy. His eyes narrowed at the two lovers. Hatred boiled in his veins. He started for the crowbar but stopped. He weighed the pleather of options. Picking the best one, Ethan gripped Aria's hair, lunging her close to him.

She yelped.

Ethan, breathing heavily, brought her eye-level to him. "You think you're clever?" his words came in slurs. Aria narrowed her eyes.

Ethan punched her square in the jaw. She whipped backwards and landed on the floor.

"Aria," Ezra moaned. His head lolled. He blacked out and laid stiffly on the ground.

Ethan hoisted Aria back up. She trembled in his arms but fought back the best she could. She began to kick wildly. Her nails dug into his cheeks, blood spurring out. Ethan roared. He slammed her against the wall and howled shrilly and gravely. Aria squeezed her eyes shut and craned her head to the side, ready for the upcoming blow.

Ethan calmed down. Aria opened one eye reluctantly. Ethan had his eyes aimed on hers. A tart smile played on his thin pressed lips. His hands traveled down underneath her shirt, feeling her smooth, flat stomach.

Aria whimpered and tried wriggling free. Her hands groped for something to pry him off of her. All she found was thick walls surrounding her, caging her in.

Ethan leaned forward, his nose touching the tip of hers. She could feel his hot breath against her. The hairs on the back of her neck stuck up. She slapped her hands over Ethan's and tried prying them off as they crawled up her stomach, close to her breast.

Ethan's lips were close to her ear. Aria stifled a sob.

"Don't think for one second I won't hurt you. I can do more horrendous things; I bet you can imagine." he whispered, his voice hollow. His hands flapped to his side. He licked his lips and pulled back. He shoved her back in her cell. The doors creaked as it slammed shut. Her eyes darted to Ezra. Ethan's eyes followed. His features were impassable.

He trekked over to Ezra's stiff body. Aria secretly hoped he would at least put him in the cell. Sadly, she knew that Ethan would do the total opposite.

Before Ethan did anything, though, his eyes darted back to Aria. He chuckled lowly and went to his worn leather bag. He pulled out a thick needle and walked to Aria. He put his finger to his lips, ordering her to be quiet. He crouched down and stuck the syringe in her neck, pulling it out slowly. "One way to torment you…" his words thinned out as Aria saw passive blackness.

The pain she felt all over her body was leisurely fading away. Her breathing seemed slow even though Aria still felt petrified. It seemed Aria was falling into a black abyss. With tears streaming down her face, Aria saw the white light that was reality fade into nothingness.

The darkness…

Oh how the darkness was building up and encasing her…

*PLL*

It was midnight. Spencer, Hanna, and Emily were huddled close together as they were being led by Noel Khan, who had mysteriously reappeared after a long absence.

"Where the hell are you taking us?" Hanna demanded.

"She'll be there." came his reply.

"Who? Alison?" Emily's voice reeked with excitement, mentioning the infamous teenager.

Stepping around, roaches, rats, and stray cats, Noel led them down a dark alley, ignoring Emily. A rickety door was at the end of the adjacent building next to a rundown motel with blinking letters: CME.

Noel unlocked the door and a musty smell enveloped them. "You'll get used to it." Noel said soberly, shrugging off his jacket. He dropped it on the plaid chair by the dirty window. The tacky, cliché purple curtains were drawn over them, a sliver of the glass visible.

"Enough games," Spencer departed from the girls. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"This is nowhere near a game, Spencer." he snapped. "You, out of them, should know this."

Spencer, astounded at first, regrouped herself. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Noel snorted. "Please, you're the most desperate for answers."

"And why would I be?"

Noel stepped close to Spencer. Spencer could smell cigarette smoke and detergent coming off of Noel. His face, once clean and kept groomed, was scratchy and stubbly, unshaven. His looks seemed battered and tired. She shifted her weight, uncomfortable. "You're not the only one with secrets." he hissed.

"Enough Noel," a feline voice barked, drawing the attention of all in the room. Alison stood proudly opposite of the room. Her hands were pinned on her hips.

Noel backed off and walked to her and hugged her. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded tersely. Then she pushed him behind her, and he exited.

"God," Hanna breathed, amazed. "It's you."

Alison nodded briskly. "It is, but we don't have much time. I need to tell you something." she paused. "It's about…Aria."

Each girl huddled together gave one another uneasy looks. They slowly disbanded when Alison eased into a chair. Alison eyes were red and swollen. Her lips were cracked, and she had a hollowness attended to her cheeks. She ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't have much time." she admitted.

"What do you mean?" Emily's voice quavered.

"What I'm about to tell you can easily cost my life, but I have really no choice but to tell you since he's gotten Aria." she said.

"Tell us," pleaded Spencer rationally. "What happened to Aria?"

"Ezra Fitz abducted her." Alison whispered.

The three girls stared warily at her. Ezra Fitz was their English teacher, not their tormenter. "Are you on drugs?" Hanna asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Alison swallowed thickly. "No, Hanna," she forced an awkward giggle. She fiddled with her thumbs. "Ezra Fitz is the guy I was seeing back then. He…he became fed up with me in an obsessive way." Tears started falling down Ali's cheeks. "He had hurt me when I tried to escape. I told him it was over and he…he tried to kill me."

"Why would Ezra want to kill you?" Emily asked, confused.

"I have my reasons!" Alison snapped defensively. She softened. "I can't tell you. Not right now, anyway. This is about Aria. You three are her best friends. You have to find her, and I think I know where she is. But once I give you the address, I'm leaving Rosewood. I'm moving out of the country with Noel. Redoing my life,"

"So you're just giving up?" Spencer summarized with a low growl.

"For my protection," countered Ali.

"You've had two years to confide in us, two years wasted in secrecy, and you chose now on the night of your departure to confide in us?" Spencer said, her eyes narrowed. "Pathetic." she spat.

"Look Spencer!" Alison barked. Detest twinkled in her eyes. "I don't have time to argue with you," she dug in a bag next to her feet. A flimsy piece of yellow paper was handed to Emily, the girl she most trusted. She cupped her fingers over Emily's, squeezing tight.

"Here's where I'm sure he's holding her hostage." Alison said lastly. She got up and hoisted her bag over her shoulder. "I hope you can save her in time." she whispered, making no eye contact as she departed.

She got to the door before a hand rested on her shoulder. "You can't leave." someone instructed.

Alison stiffened. She craned her head to the side. "Noel," she said slowly. "Our train leaves in twenty minutes. Let's go."

Noel, his dark eyes alit with hatred, shook his head. He tightened his grip on her shoulder. His eyes glazed over. "We're not leaving." he hissed.

Alison tried to wrench herself free, but it was no use. Noel was by far stronger than her. "What do you mean?" she scoffed, annoyed. "I've done all I need; let's go."

Noel's eyes flickered to the three girls huddled together. His eyes softened. "We can't leave," he repeated. He licked his dry, pink lips. His eyes locked with the three teenagers. "I know I haven't treated you girls kindly for quite a while now, but I feel obligated to help you. For Aria's sake." he admitted.

"We aren't helping." Alison refused.

"Shut up, Alison" Spencer chastised. Her eyes locked with Noel's. "What made you want to help us?" she asked, suspicious.

"You're going to need some help defeating Fitz." He replied. He straightened his posture. "I owe it to you girls."

"I could get killed, Noel, killed!" Alison shouted, horrid. "I'm not risking my life!"

"Shall we go?" Noel suggested, seemingly ignoring the facetious blond and her rant.

To Be Continued...

A/N: So Noel's on team good guys? Hmmm? Thoughts? Next chapter will consist on Ali meeting her tormentor and seeing Aria. Until then!

*Disclaimer: I own nothing!