A/N: Mentally prepare yourselves for this episode! And feel free to yell at me in the reviews or PMs afterward. I will understand.

Song of the Episode: "I Can't Do This" by Plumb.

Episode 17: I Can't Do This

Cara squeezed through the air ducts, groaning as she forced her body to fit in the tight space. You're almost there, she thought. Just hang on. She finally arrived at the grate and she sighed in relief. "Thank god," she whispered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then searched for Anna. She felt a tingling in her head and opened her eyes in confusion.

Cara found herself in a white room, lying on the floor as she was in the duct. The room was empty with nothing but a twin bed frame and mattress in the corner.

Cara stood quickly, unsure of her surroundings. Everything had a fuzzy white glow to it. Her vision wasn't all that right. She swiveled in a circle, looking around. When she came back around, she startled. A young girl with dark hair, freckles splattering her face, and bright green eyes sat on the edge of the mattress. Her hair was neat—two strands pulled back from the front, the rest free flowing. Her clothes were that of a school uniform. The girl just sat there, staring into space.

For a minute, all was quiet. But then the girl snapped to attention and settled her eyes on Cara. "You're not supposed to be here," she said, her voice trembling with fear. "You have to leave."

"I don't even know where here is," Cara said, gesturing to the room. The girl stood. "Leave, now, while you still can!" the girl said. Suddenly, footsteps echoed a second before a door opened in the wall and Anna was standing in the doorway. Except Anna had black hair and she wore black, skin-tight leather pants, black boots, and a deep purple halter top that had some kind of symbol on it that Cara didn't recognize.

Anna went to the young girl after seeing Cara and grabbed the girl's arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you little bitch?" Anna seethed.

"I'm sorry! I didn't bring her here, I swear!" the girl cried.

"You're sorry? You really thing that's gonna cut it?" Anna hissed.

"Anna," Cara said, catching Anna's attention for a beat. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Anna chuckled humorlessly. "I'm dying."

Cara blinked and suddenly she was back in the air vent. She quickly looked through the grate in front of her. In a dark surgical room were several surgeons operating on Anna. Cara took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to focus with the constant beeping of heart monitors. Suddenly the monitors flat lined, and the surgeons panicked. Cara gasped and tried to get a better view of the mess down below. "She's crashing!" one man in blue shouted.

"Get the crash cart!" another said, and a woman hurried out of the room. No, no, no, no! Cara squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus. Suddenly, she wasn't in the vent.

Cara blinked hard, and the ground beneath her feet trembled. She teetered to the right and fell into a wall. Confused, she looked around. Somehow she was in a hazy looking hallway. The hallway was dungy, dark, and it stank of mold and something metallic. "Hurry!" Cara jumped as hands latched onto her arm and the young girl came into view beside her. The whole hallway shook and dust sprinkled from the ceiling. "You have to run! Come on!"

The girl started pulling Cara, and Cara followed. "Why? What's happening? Where are we?" Cara asked.

"You're in my head!" the girl shouted, over the noise.

"You're Anna," Cara realized. They stopped at an intersection and the girl nodded. "This is you—what's going on? How do I stop this?" The young version of Anna's face fell. "You can't," she said. She grabbed Cara's arm and pulled her down a hallway to the right and into a room. "That's why you have to leave, now!" The room led to another door, being empty. Anna led Cara through the other door and into another hallway.

The right was consumed with fire, so they darted left, coughing from the sudden smoke filling their lungs. "There has to be a way, Anna!" Cara coughed, as they rounded a corner. Anna pushed into a door and it flew open, and they scurried into the room. The door snapped shut behind them, and the scene in front of them was horrific.

The Anna in dark clothes was no longer strong and tough looking. She was on her knees, blood pouring from her abdomen. Anna raised her head and Cara froze with panic. Blood slowly dripped form the corner of her mouth, her hair covering some of her face as it draped down. Just then, she lurched forward and slammed into the floor, and another Anna became visible. "You don't deserve to be here!" an Anna dressed in civilian clothes said.

Her hair was blonde, her clothes completely normal. "No!" Anna dressed a Domino ran up behind normal Anna from out of nowhere. Normal Anna turned in time to block a hit from Domino and Cara looked at young Anna. "What's going on? Why are they killing each other?" she asked.

"Because we're dying," Anna said, her voice echoing loudly.

"No, we can stop this," Cara stepped forward, but Anna pulled her back. "No!" she said. "You'll make it worse!"

"Worse than dead?" Cara asked, rhetorically. "This isn't right."

"It's too late," Suddenly, the young Anna's body fizzled into a texture of particles, and then faded. Cara's eyes went wide and turned to the others. Domino faded, and then normal Anna started to fade. The only one left was the darker version of her. Cara ran and knelt beside the half-dead Anna on the ground and picked her up, propping her in Cara's lap. "Hey, hey," Cara held up Anna's head as best she could, and Anna's eyes opened roughly. "Look at me, stay with me."

"I'm…s-scared," Anna said, her voice barely a whisper. Blood began filling her eyes, until they were red and then they closed. Anna fell limp in Cara's arms, and Cara felt hollow. "No…no, no, Anna? Anna!" Cara shook her, but she didn't open her eyes again. Cara kept Anna close as she watched the roof start to collapse in large chunks above them.

Cara gasped a breath, her whole body jolting back to life. John sighed in relief, and so did Cassie. After losing contact with Cara, John went into panic mode, and he and Cassie managed to pull Cara from the vent. Cara was on her back, her shoulders and up in John's arms. Her body was slick with sweat and she struggled to breathe slowly. Her eyes were wide, and she stumblingly got to her feet. "No, no…no," she mumbled, practically running to the hallway.

She arrived at the doors, John and Cassie hurrying up behind her, just as a doctor was exiting. He looked grim. "Are you Anna's family?" he asked them all. Sophia and David hurried forward, with everyone else crowding behind them. "I've got some bad news."

Drake sighed, leaning back into the bench. The fresh air was nice. Oliver was quiet, he had been for the past three hours. The automatic doors opened and Drake perked up, turning around on the bench. Cassie walked out, still wearing bloodied clothes. Something was wrong. Drake stood to get a better look and started walking to her. "Cass?" he questioned. She choked on a sob as he approached and he wrapped her in a hug. "She's gone, Drake!" she cried. "She's gone!"