Well, here it is, the last proper chapter (there will be an epilogue to follow, which will explain a few things). This has been amazingly fun to write, and I can't thank you guys enough. To everyone who favorited, followed, or reviewed, thank you so much. I couldn't have done this without you. At the risk of getting sappy, this has been such a great journey and I'm glad you guys encouraged me to keep writing. And without further ado, here it is. Enjoy, and don't forget to review!
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The five of them cling to each other, a mess of tears and ash, burnt clothes and singed hair. Toby is still on the ground, looking the tiniest bit more alive than he had before, watching the reunion with guarded eyes. Jason and Paige stand off to one side, the former with his arms crossed and the latter running her hands through her hair over and over again. The fire rages behind them, but the girls allow themselves this moment of tenuous peace before they break apart and start moving away from the lodge.
Emily staggers forwards, clutching Hanna's arm with one of her hands and holding onto Alison with the other. She doesn't know how this has happened, but right now she doesn't care. She's with her four best friends, and she's just escaped a seemingly inescapable situation. Even the sight of Paige can't destroy the faint stirrings of happiness that are growing in her heart.
But it's not over yet.
Sirens are wailing in the distance, although Emily can hardly hear them over the roaring of the flames. They're engulfing the building, which only has two walls and no windows now. Half of the roof has collapsed, and the sky is obscured by a thick blanket of smoke. The lodge won't be standing much longer. They need to get as far away from it as possible.
As they get further from the lodge, they get closer to Jason and Paige, who still haven't moved. Emily looks at Paige, unsure what she's doing here and even more confused about why she helped them. Was anyone on the A-Team actually evil?
As if to answer her question, someone steps out of the shadows behind Paige. Mona's black hoodie is sprinkled with dirt and leaves, and there's a kind of wild look in her eyes. She glances at Jason, raising her eyebrows, and asks, "Well? Are you just going to let her go?"
The girls pull up short, staring at Mona in confusion. Alison steps away from them, and Hanna and Emily draw closer to each other. Spencer bends down and hauls Toby to his feet, and he leans against her gratefully. Aria wraps her arms around herself, doing her best not to look at Jason. Mona, meanwhile, surveys the whole scene before her with distaste.
Jason clenches his fists, the fire reflected in his eyes. "No."
And suddenly he's running towards where they stand rooted to the spot. He reaches them, barely slowing down, and crashes into Alison, who lets out a surprised yelp. He tackles her to the ground, his hands around her throat.
"You ruined my life," he snarls. "You turned my parents, my friends, the whole town against me."
"J-Jason," she gasps, her arms flailing in front of her. She wraps her hand around his arm and tries to pull him away, but he shrugs it off like it's nothing.
Emily's a second away from intervening – just as soon as her legs start working again – but to her surprise Aria moves first. She dashes across to him and starts pummelling him with her tiny fists. Although it can't possibly hurt, he looks up, his grip around Alison's neck loosening a little.
"Jason," Aria sobs, tugging at his arm for all she's worth. "Please. Just stop. Stop!"
He pulls away from her a bit, looking at Alison with murder in his eyes. His grip tightens again.
"Please." She's crying now, the tears leaving tracks down her soot-streaked face. "Jason, you're killing her."
Something in her voice gets through to him. He sits up, letting go of Alison, and then he lets himself fall to the side, not looking as his sister scrambles away towards her friends. He looks up at Aria, stunned.
"I didn't -" he whispers, looking at his hands in horror. "I -"
The sirens are louder now. Aria glances at the direction they're coming from, and Emily can see the indecision in her face. And she knows what she's going to do, a second before Aria does it.
"Get out of here," Aria says urgently.
"What?" His eyes widen.
She looks at her friends, then down at her hands, then back at Jason's face. She meets his eyes, searching, longing. "Go," she says, her voice soft but insistent. "Before they get here."
At last he catches on. He reaches forward, gently brushing her cheek. Then he kisses her on the top of her head, whispers a shaky 'Goodbye', and takes off into the trees. Nobody tries to stop him.
Emily walks forward and carefully puts her hand on Aria's shoulder. Aria flinches a little, but then she stands up and throws her arms around Emily's neck, burying her face in her shoulder. Emily stands there letting her cry, and in that moment she forgets who the real enemy is.
A wild, animal-like shriek goes up from behind them, and they spin around to find Mona charging at them. The next few minutes become so blurred in Emily's memory that she's never quite sure how it happens. Somehow they all dodge Mona, who turns around and starts towards them again, looking half-crazed with her hair in a mess and the fire burning behind her. She moves towards them again, but there's a flash off to Emily's left and suddenly something collides with Mona.
Emily watches as Paige wrestles Mona to the ground and holds her down as the smaller girl tries to claw her way back to the group huddled nearby. They tumble over each other, pulling hair and clawing any limbs they can find. Mona scrambles to her feet, but Paige is only a second behind. She grabs Mona's shoulders and swings her around, so that she's closer to the fire. As she does, Emily catches Paige's eye, and she understands the message there: This is for you.
Mona latches onto Paige's arm, trying to push her away, but Paige is strong from months of swim practice. She forces Mona back a step, then another, towards the lodge that's now nothing more than a ball of flame. Emily's heart is in her throat. She just starts to think that she should do something, but it ends too quickly. Mona makes one more desperate bid to escape, but Paige's grip is unyielding. Paige pushes her again, and she loses her balance. At the last moment Paige lets go, but Mona grabs her hand and pulls her.
Horrified, Emily watches as Paige and Mona fall into the fire, their shrieks being drowned out by the approaching sirens. Emily sinks to the ground, barely aware of her friends crowding around her, of the ambulances and fire engines that pull up a few minutes later, of the paramedics who pull her to her feet and examine her for physical injuries with no clue that it's the wounds on her heart that will take years to heal.
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Things look pretty grim, I know, but I promised you a happy ending. You'll get it, don't worry. On that note, if there's anything you didn't understand or that you want explained, let me know and I'll see if I can stick it in the epilogue.
In the meantime, please do check out my other stories. I have some older PLL stories (mostly about Spencer, Aria, and/or Wren); I'm also just starting to publish a Sparia story called 'Flaws of Attraction', and very soon I will embark on an Aria-centric multi-chapter story called 'A is for Arlene'. So I hope to see some of you over in my other stories. Thanks again for your support with this one. :)
