Hi guys! Sorry for my long absence, I'm really sorry dle45, I promised a sooner update but I couldn't do it, lots of work and weariness. I hope you'll be able to forgive me.
So, like you know, AD's arc will end but, that doesn't mean the end of this story, like I said before this is a long, very long saga, so happy times will come, more babies and drama; don't ask me how many chapter will have this story I don't know, I just know I've a draft for a plot till the boys are in college, so, you can image the end is not even approaching ^^
This final battle with AD will be done in 2 parts and it's filled with twists :D. This chapter will follow after the previous one: Wayne caught Spencer and Hanna in the Emison's house, he wants answers; Aria, Noel and Emison with their boys are in a lost cabin in the forest; last scene was Alison and Mona face to face, this chapter will start the day after that. The beginning of this chapter might confuse you, each narrative segment is a time jump of what will happen next. Anyway, hope you keep with me till the end, and till that day arrives, here the new chapter… hope you like it and thank you in advance if you have the time to leave a review. Have a great day!
Chapter 77 – Endgame part 1
*Music background: Play with fire by Sam Tinnesz*
*** Emily's narrative ***
Do we really believe in happy endings?
Emily crashes her fists against the glass, tears flow from her brown eyes, Emily can't stop crying while she sees what was in the other side of the glass...
Emily cries while she hits the glass. - "No, no, no... it's no true, it can't be…" (Sobs and painful crying) "Please no... Please God noooo!"
*** Blair's narrative ***
Do we really believe we deserve happiness?
Blair hits the transparent wall of her cell and sighs…
Blair. - "You shouldn't be here..." (Tiny smile with watery-eyes) "But I'm happy to see u again..."
*** Mona's narrative ***
Do we really know on what side we're playing...?
Hanna puts her hands up and gulps. - "You don't have to do this..."
Mona points out the gun towards Hanna and says. - "Yes, I've to..."
*** Aria's narrative ***
Do we really know what we are capable to do...?
With a lost look, she drops the knife; the metal hits the floor, but the blood is still dropping from her hands...
Aria says with tears in her eyes. - "What I've done...?"
*** Spencer 's narrative ***
Do we really believe we're capable to face our demons?
AD smirks. - "You came..."
Spencer. - "Off course I came... Ian…"
AD smirks with a devious smile…
*** Alison's narrative ***
How long we can endure all the crap that happens in our lives? How long we can keep going without losing hope? Hope... Hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a happy ending... Hope... Just hope to survive this sick game...
Some hours earlier...
It was still dark when Emily stretches her arms, patting the bed, the brunette opens her eyes when she feels an empty spot beside her...
Emily mumbles. - "Ali?"
The brunette sits in bed and gulps hard since her dear blonde is not at her side.
Emily gulps hard. - "Ali...?"
*** Spencer's narrative ***
Secrets... Secrets are like playing with fire, we leave the lies get bigger and bigger and, like the flames of a big fire, they consume everything... Even ourselves... But even if we know the risks, we keep lying, we keep playing with fire, because let's face it, we like it… we like to lie… we like playing with fire…
(In the DiLaurentis-Fields house)
Like grounded kids, Spencer, Caleb and Hanna stay in silence sitting in the sofa...
Wayne gazes at them with a serious look and says. - "Really?! Silence treatment?! How mature of you…"
The 3 friends look at each other, neither of them dares to say a word. Caleb looks at the girls and, points out at his watch; both girls gulp hard because the clock is ticking and they're playing against the clock; each minute, each second could be the difference between death & survive this game but, how keep playing without involving more innocents, like Mr. Fields?
Wayne notices how they're looking at the clock and says with an irritated sarcastic voice…
Wayne. – "I'm sorry, do you need to go somewhere?"
Hanna. - "Actually yes, we..." (She whines when Spencer pinches her arm) "Aouch! What the hell, Spence?!"
Spencer. - "Don't you dare to say a word..."
Hanna. - "I wasn't going to say the truth!" (She looks at the disapproval look of Mr. Fields and says) "And it looks like I can't lie now either... Thanks for that Spence..."
Spencer rolls her eyes and, once again, the place stays very quiet till someone stands up...
Wayne. - "Sit Spencer! I said no one leaves till you tell me what is going on..."
Spencer has never liked to be scolded and Mr. Fields really chose the wrong day and the wrong brunette to try his authority figure...
Spencer snaps. - "I'm going to the bathroom, are you really going to forbid me to go?!"
Wayne. – "How I know you're not lying…?"
Spencer. – "If you don't believe me, you're welcome to come with me but I assure you, I'm not just going to pee..."
Everyone wildly opens their eyes. Hanna leans towards Caleb and whispers to him...
Hanna. - "Can we really speak to him like that?"
Caleb. - "We can't but it looks like she can..."
Wayne stays speechless, no one has ever talk to him like that. He mentally feels grateful that Emily has never talked to him like that and, he just waves his hands to Spencer, indicating her to go to the bathroom; the brunette gets inside the bathroom…
Hanna teases very loud. - "We can hear you fart, you know?"
Spencer replies from the bathroom. - "Shut up!"
Hanna giggles till she sees the look of the other men in the room...
Hanna shrugs. - "What? It was funny..."
While she was washing her hands, a text pops up in Spencer's phone...
AD text: "I'm in the mood for a game, just you & me; who am I? It's time for you to figure out the answer of that question…"
Spencer replies the text: "I know who you're: Detective Marco Fury…"
AD text: "Ha-ha-ha, guess who doesn't know anything at all: you, Marco is just another mask, I dare you to really find out who I'm. Then see if you can guess who I'm, maybe I'll let you see your dear doctor… what do u say? Are u in?"
Spencer reads the challenging message over and over and she roams her eyes all over the room till she fixes her eyes on just one thing: the window...
Caleb. – "Why you're moving so much, Hann?"
Hanna pouts. – "I wanna pee too…"
The 3 of them wait for Spencer in silence till...
Hanna. - "It's taking her a long time in there, and I need to go..." (She yells) "Spence, move it! I need to pee!"
The 3 of them look at each other since they don't hear anything coming from the bathroom; their 1st instinct is rushing towards the bathroom; they knock, once... twice...
Hanna. - "This is not funny Spence, open the door..."
Without a reply, they open the door and gasp, surprised when they find an empty room with an open window...
Hanna. - "Shit!"
*** Spencer's narrative***
Yeah, we like to play with fire but what if we get too close? Close enough that fire could burn us? How long we will be able to play with it without getting burned? In the line of fire, a lack of good judgement is a recipe for disaster and like in chess, a reckless move can cost you everything… starting with your Queen…
(In the wooden cabin at the forest)
Aria wakes up when she hears noises, she slowly opens her eyes and terribly blushes when she finds herself sleeping in the arms of Noel Kahn…
Aria blushes. – "Whaaat?!"
Her heart rises, her cheeks get really red and for a brief moment, she zones out till someone else gets her attention…
Emily. – "Ar… have you seen Ali?! I can't find her anywhere… I…"
With sleeping faces, rubbing their eyes, the 3 boys emerge in the room…
Enzo throws his arms to Emily and says. – "Mommy…"
The brunette tries to hide her concerned look, she smiles to her dear kids and, grabs them into her arms…
Emily. – "Hey boys… are you already awake?"
The boys nod and little Wayne rubs his tummy…
Aria. – "He's hungry…" (She looks around) "There's still some food cans…" (She sees the worried look of Emily and she gets out of the sofa and hugs her) "Em, it's ok… it will be ok…"
Emily asks with a wrenching voice. – "Where is Ali, Aria?! Where's she?!" (Sighs when she looks at the 3 boys gripping on her) "She wouldn't leave us, what if…"
Hearing the conversation, Noel wakes up and sits in the sofa while he says…
Noel. – "What if AD caught her…?"
They don't say another word, they just look at each other, at the boys and, Emily's eyes get bigger and bigger since an infinity of horrible scenarios spin on her mind…
*** Alison's narrative ***
You can only win the game when you understand what it's at stake; and, like in chess, the Queen has the power to risk everything just to protect what she cherishes the most… even if that means, sacrificing herself for the well-being of her crew…
(In AD hideout)
AD walks in and stares in silence…
Mona touches the board game and smirks. – "I must admit, I admire your master piece…"
AD. – "Is that the reason you're constantly seeing it?"
Mona smirks. – "Yes and no…. I mean, I'm the kind of player with just staring at the board, I can see a few moves ahead…" (Big smirk) "I see the patterns, the possible improvisations, the marginal cases and, everything I need to get my game better than anyone else…"
By the corner of her eyes, she sees how AD looks at her and she laughs…
Mona smirks. – "Don't look at me like that, I'm not your enemy, I'm in your team… remember?"
AD sighs hard, still no convinced by Mona's words…
Mona. – "You don't believe me, isn't it? Well… that's why I brought you a gift…"
AD. – "A gift…?"
Mona deviously smiles. – "Let me show you…"
They walk inside a dark room and when Mona lights up the room, a surprised look appears in AD's face…
AD. – "Is that…?"
Mona nods. – "It's…"
AD stares at the body lying down on a big table and smirks…
AD. – "You killed her…"
Mona whispers into his ear. – "For you…" (She looks at the girl lying down in the table and says with a devious smile) "I killed the Queen…"
*** Alison's narrative ***
Some people see life as a game of chess, while others prefer to see it as a game of fate; but the longer we live, the more we think of it as a game of consequences. Whatever we choose; right or wrong; we never imagine what will be the consequences of our decisions till is too late…
(In Rosewood cemetery)
Spencer says with frustration. – "Damn, it!"
AD's text: "Shall we continue with more riddles or have u figure out already who I'm?"
Spencer sighs hard, she has been walking around the town for hours. Riddle after riddle, she has blindly followed the clues which have brought her here…
Spencer reads the last riddle. – "I'm 1st in earth, second in heaven, I appear two times in a week. You can only see me once in a year, although I'm in the middle of sea. What am I?" (Sighs) "I know the answer but what the hell has 'e' to do with me, here in the cemetery…?"
She keeps looking around and as luck would have it, she finds a map, indicating the different sections of the cemetery…
Spencer. – "Section 'E'… could it be…?"
Without hesitation, she rushes to the section E of the cemetery; the brunette gasps surprised when she approaches, all the gravestones have been crushes in pieces… all except one. Spencer walks towards the only gravestone which keep in one piece; she stands up in front of the gravestone and reads the name on it…
Spencer. – "Ian Thomas…" (She frowns) "Ian…" (her eyes wildly get bigger) "Ian?!"
Still in shock of what this means, the brunette is so taken by the revelation, that she's incapable to see she's not alone till someone else speaks…
Melissa. – "It took you too long…"
Spencer turns and sighs hard when she sees her big sister beside her; pointing her with a gun…
Spencer. – "You're alive?!"
Melissa smiles and, a wave of rage, confusion and mixing feelings invades Spencer's body…
Melissa. – "Come on, Spence, we don't have a lot of time… this game is not over…"
*** Emily's narrative ***
My Dad once said, you can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it. What he meant is nothing comes without a price. So, before you go into battle, you better decide how much you're willing to lose...
(In the forest)
Oliver pouts. – "I'm tired…"
Emily caresses Oliver's cheek and says to him. – "I know sweetie, but we need to keep going…"
Aria. – "Is it really wise to go after AD with kids at our side…?"
Emily. – "And, what other option do we have?! We can't leave them alone! You didn't want to stay with them while I'm looking for Ali…"
Noel. – "It's nonsense to let you go alone… it's too dangerous…"
They were arguing and with such heated discussion, the boys quiver their lips down…
Emily. – "No, no, no, please don't…"
The boys cry very loud…
Emily sighs. – "Don't cry…"
The brunette tries to calm down the crying of her babies, so focused on her sons, she's unable to hear anything else but; her friends hear everything else…
Aria. – "What was that…?"
Noel takes his gun between his hands and says while he points out the gun in all the senses around them…
Noel. – "We're not alone…"
Hugging her boys, Emily knees while her friends stay beside her, getting ready to kill. The bushes shake, their heart rise and, then…
Hanna puts her hands up and says. – "Hey! Don't shoot!"
Noel sighs and puts the gun down…
Aria smiles. – "Hann!" (She rushes to hug her) "OMG! I'm so happy to see u!"
Hanna. – "Me too…" (She looks at the other brunette and smiles) "Thanks God, all of you are ok…"
Emily was going to say something else, but she stays speechless when the ones coming with Hanna emerges between the bushes…
Emily. – "Dad…?"
The boys smile. – "Poppy!"
Wayne rushes towards his family and hugs them.
Wayne. – "You're ok… you're ok… thank you God, you're ok…"
Caleb. – "What are you doing here? In the middle of nowhere…?" (He looks around and says) "And, with Noel Kahn…?"
Noel. – "Hey! For once, I'm not the bad guy here… ok?"
Emily gives her kids to her Dad and says. – "Dad, please take them with you…" (She kisses the heads of her sons and says to them) "I love you, be safe, I'll be back with mamma soon, I promise…"
Wayne. – "WHAT?! Emy… I…"
Before Wayne could say something else the brunette was already gone. The other friends stare at each other, neither of them was sure of what to do till…
Hanna shrugs. – "Sorry Mr. Fields, time to go…" (She waves her hands to the others) "Come on…"
The blonde leads, and the rest of the group follows. Wayne sighs hard, he wants to scold them, especially Emily but, he's stuck with 3 scared boys and he needs to prioritize…
Wayne. – "Come on boys, let's go home…"
The boys smile, feeling safe on the arms of Mr. Fields and they just hug him with a lot of love…
Wayne smiles. – "It will be ok…." (He looks at the direction where the others left and gulps) "It will be ok…" (Sigh) "Please God, let them be ok…"
*** Blair's narrative ***
At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing, it should be reason enough to celebrate but… how much can you take? How long can you keep going without giving up…? How long will take you to realize this isn't going to get better, just worse… so much worse…?
How long has she been lying down on the cold floor? How many times she received electro shocks before passing out? She doesn't know… she doesn't remember… she just knows she has no strength to move, till she hears something she thought she would never hear again…
Blair… someone says her name, it was like a whisper, it was like a dream, but someone was calling her name, and she recognized the voice… she would always recognize that voice…
Blair mumbles. – "Spence…?" (She tries to open her eyes and says with a sore voice) – "Spencer…?"
With what little strength she had, the young doctor shuffles her body to lean up against the transparent wall of her cell.
Blair mumbles with a tired voice. - "You shouldn't be here..."
From outside someone puts her hand over the wall of the cell and replies...
Spencer smiles with watery-eyes. - "Happy to see you too..."
Both girls stare at each other, they would love to hug but, there's a wall between them. Spencer roams her eyes all over Blair's body and gulps hard noticing in what bad shape she's...
Spencer chuckles with sadness. - "You look like shit..."
Blair laughs with a sore voice. - "You always so touching with your words..."
They chuckle and lean their front-head against the transparent wall, so emotional this 1st encounter after so long, so many things to say but just tears appear in the eyes of both girls...
Blair hits the transparent wall of her cell and sighs. - "You shouldn't be here..." (Smile) "But I'm happy to see u again..."
Spencer kisses the transparent wall and closes her eyes while the tears blur her vision…
Spencer whispers. – "I'll get you out of here… I promise…"
AD appears behind Spencer and deviously smiles. - "You came..."
A huge wave of rage gets over Spencer; the brunette turns her head towards him and says...
Spencer. - "Off course I came... Ian…"
AD smirks with a devious smile and by the corner of his eyes, he stares at the other Hastings…
AD. – "Are you mad with me?"
Melissa. – "Am I mad you locked me up inside a cell for weeks just because I didn't want to play your way? Or maybe you mean if Am I mad for the fact you release me just because you needed me to bring my sister here… to you…?" (She says with a bitter voice) "Is Spencer more important to you than me?"
AD. – "Don't get emotional Melissa, we're so close to win this game…"
Melissa sighs. – "I'm not going back to that cell…"
AD smirks. – "Off course not, I need you by my side, the pawns are coming, looking for their Queen…"
Spencer frowns. – "The pawns… the Queen?" (She realizes what he meant, and her eyes get really big of shock) "OMG! You mean my friends and Ali… ALI?!"
Blair mumbles. – "What did you do to Alison…?"
AD doesn't reply, he just smiles with a devious smile…
*** Emily's narrative ***
Too often going after what feels good means going to war without having time to come up with a strategy, to pick a side or to measure the potential danger… the potential loss...
Hanna. – "Is it me or we're walking in circles…?"
Aria. – "I think the same, we should stop and rethink our strategy here…"
Emily. – "I'm no stopping…"
Hanna. – "Em, please…"
Emily snaps. – "NO! I can't stop, I'll never stop no till I find her before something bad happens to her…"
Hanna. – "Nothing bad will happen to her, we've an ally on the other side…"
Aria. – "Really?! Who…?"
Before the blonde could reply Aria's question; they realize they're standing in front of a building…
Caleb. – "What is that…?"
Noel sighs. – "I know that place…"
The girls at unison. – "OMG!"
Hanna. - "You have to be fucking kidding me!"
Emily mumbles. – "The dollhouse…"
Aria. – "Could it be that Ali's inside?"
Afraid of the worst, Emily jumps inside the building, risking everything… even her life…
Hanna runs after her. – "Fuck, Emily! Wait for us!"
Both girls get inside and the others want to follow them but before they could put a step forwards, something happens…
Aria hears something and asks. – "What is that?"
Caleb looks at his side and says. – "Dogs!"
With a killer look, the dogs rush towards them, ready to kill…
Aria. – "OMG! What do we do?!"
Noel grabs her from the hand and says. – "Run!"
The 3 of them run back, inside the forest and the dogs follow them…
*** Hanna's narrative ***
In a dirty war, you never know in who you can trust. Family, friends, allies… everything which was clear once, it becomes blurry. And before you know it, you realize, friendship has a term limit… especially when the game is close to be over…
Hanna sighs. – "Damn it, where are you, Emily? Where is everybody?" (She rubs her arms) "This place gives me the chills…"
Bad memories re-emerge in Hanna's mind; fear crosses her mind and that fear gets bigger and bigger when she hears steps around her…
Hanna says with a shaky voice. – "Who is there…?!" (She gulps hard) "I don't like this…"
The steps feel closer and closer, panic gets over Hanna and, the blonde starts running without putting attention on the path she chose. She runs and runs till she hears something…
Mona yells. – "Don't move, Hanna!"
She stops on her tracks. A big relief appears in her face till she looks up and see the one she calls her friend, standing in front of her with a gun.
Hanna gulps. – "Mona…?"
Just some meter of distance between them, Mona stands in front of Hanna in what was a huge hallway. Mona rises the gun and points it out towards the blonde, Hanna immediately puts her hands up, hoping her posture will have some effect on the tiny brunette…
Hanna. – "Mona? What are you doing…?!"
Mona slides the hammer of the gun and gets ready to shoot…
Hanna says with a shaky voice. – "Mona…?"
Mona. – "Don't move, Hann…"
Hanna puts her hands up and gulps. - "You don't have to do this..."
Mona points out the gun towards Hanna and says. - "Yes, I've to..."
*** Mona's narrative ***
The clearly marked lines we've drawn become blurry; nothing is really black & white and, you never know in what side you're playing till you pull the trigger and all the cards fall down…
(Sounds of gunshots)
*** Emily's narrative ***
Do we believe in happy ending…? Do we believe we control our fate? Sometimes we're not the ones in control. We've to go with the flow and just put our game faces on. Even where we're sure we've earned that happy ending, second thoughts creep in, our worst fears sneak in. And in this game where nothing's for certain; we push ourselves forwards into a dark future. We plunge into a mysterious path which bring us directly to the battle field. We don't choose to fight… the battle chooses us…
Emily says while she hears the gunshots. – "What was that?!"
Hesitating in what direction to go, she follows her instinct and without realizing she gets in what will always be her worse nightmare…
Emily gets inside a dark room, she pats the wall and find the switch; the lights turn on and she looks around the empty room. There was nothing inside except for what looked like a big mirror fixed on the wall. The brunette approaches, she finds another switch beside the supposed mirror and without thinking it twice, she turns it on. The mirror wasn't a mirror anymore, Emily was no longer able to see her reflection, instead, she was seeing what looked like another room…
Emily mumbles. – "This is like the interrogation room in the police station…" (She stares inside the other room and says with shock) "Is that a body?!" (She says with fear) "Is that a blonde?!"
Desperation, fear, sorrow… a mix of emotions overwhelm Emily's soul while the brunette recognizes the girl who's lying down on a table, on the other side of the glass. Emily crashes her fists against the glass, tears flow from her brown eyes, Emily can't stop crying while she sees what was in the other side of the glass...
Emily cries while she hits the glass. - "No, no, no... it's no true, it can't be…" (Sobs and painful crying) "Please no... Please God noooo!" (Screams of pain) "ALI! NO!"
*** Emily's narrative ***
Yeah, when that happens, when the battle chooses us… that's when the sacrifice can turn out to be more than we can bear… more than I can bear…
Next: Chapter 78 – End game part 2
