Chapter 21:

And the Devil Comes to Collect His Own

Spencer had grown up watching the empowering movies where the friends got in a car and drove through a city with lights flashing by, the perfect song playing loudly in the background, all the while the craziest of the group leaned nearly their entire torso out the window.

Bliss. Pure bliss.

And, every year, on December 9th, Spencer got her dream movie moment.

"Crank up the music!" Hanna commanded Ezra, who was being the steering wheel, "I can still hear myself think!"

Spencer laughed and took another drink of her hot cider. She, Hanna, Bree, and Toby were crammed in the back seat of Ezra's new (ahem, used) BMW, while the engaged couple lounged up in front. All six of them were well equipped with scarves and sweaters for the cold Pennsylvania night.

Toby, whose arm was wrapped tightly around Spencer, pointed out the window at one of the houses that buzzed past, "Whoa, look at that one!"

"Damn!" Bree agreed, "They pulled out all the stops for that one!" Bree looked over her shoulder as the exquisitely decorated house loomed further and further in the distance.

""Shhh! This is my favorite part of the song!" Hanna, who had had maybe one too many martinis back at Ezra and Aria's apartment, shouted, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the headrest of the chair.

Spencer giggled and returned her gaze out the window.

Ever since the friends had started college, they had made it an annual holiday custom to go Christmas light-watching in Pittsburg on December 9th. They all met at one of their apartments beforehand for dinner and then piled into a car and drove off into the night. It was always one of Spencer's favorite parts of the holidays, spending time all together.

Of course, this year, they were missing a member of their group.

Hence the reason for Hanna's excessive martini intake.

But, the blonde-haired fashionista appeared to be fine as she waved her hands back and forth to the song that blasted through the speakers.

"Look at that one." Toby whispered in Spencer's ear, predictably causing shivers to burn through her veins.

"It's beautiful." Spencer said in awe as they passed a tall house with twinkling gold lights, and a full Nativity set out front.

"Yes, you are." Toby murmured, absently nuzzling her temple.

"Psh, shut up, Leonardo DiCaprio."

Toby chuckled against her cheek and Spencer took another sip of her cider. He lightly kissed her hair and then looked back out the window.

"Ah! We're coming up on the bridge!" Bree exclaimed, clapping her glove-clad hands.

"Ooh!" Hanna said, and promptly sat up on her knees, clambering over Bree and onto the stretch of space between Aria and Ezra's seats.

"Hanna what are you doing?!" Aria asked, halfway between laughing and scolding.

"Shh!" Hanna waved her hand in Aria's face and fumbled around on the ceiling for the button that opened the window on the roof of the car. Once she located it, she pressed it and peeked her head through the opening, balancing on her knees.

"Hanna!" Spencer laughed, her eyes wide.

"I got her." Toby said, reaching out and getting a good grip on the back of Hanna's jacket to keep her from falling backwards. As the chorus of the song came around Hanna stretched her hands over her head in the night air, letting her head fall back as they began to cross the bridge.

"Whooooo!" She exclaimed.

The rest of the crew laughed and sang along to the rest of lyrics with her, all of them overcome with the feeling of togetherness and holiday cheer.

"It's time to begin, isn't it?

I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit

I'm just the same as I was

Now don't you understand

That I'm never changing who I am…"

"Next time, if I pick up a third martini, get it away from me. I don't care if you have to sit on me and hold me down by my hair to pry it out of my lifeless hands. Just get it away from me." Hanna shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. Her short blonde curls stuck up in odd, furry tuffs around her head and her old eye-makeup rimmed her eyes like she had just escaped from Azkaban prison in the cold of night – the signs of a signature Hanna hangover.

Spencer snorted and set a glass of ginger ale in front of her from across the counter. "Drink up. This kind of drink will actually help you."

"But did you need to put it in a martini glass?" Hanna asked bluntly, lifting the glass to her lips.

"Hey, it's not my fault you haven't done dishes in the past week. It was the only thing left. Plus, it's a good reminder for you to have better judgment next time."

Hanna sighed and set the glass back on the counter.

"Hey." Spencer reached out to cover Hanna's hand with hers. "Are you alright? Are you still sad about seeing Caleb?"

"No." Hanna said blankly after a moment.

"You're lying."

"I know. But I can't let him see me look weak." Hanna replied. "He needs to make this choice on his own; without any intervening from me. We're two different people now. I have to get used to that."

Spencer shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Han."

"Yeah, well, me too." Hanna said bitterly. She bit her lip and shook her head slowly from side to side. "I wish I had been smarter about this. Now look. I've lost him forever."

Spencer didn't want to discourage her, but she didn't want to give her false hope either.

"Look, I have to go. I'm meeting Aria. But, hey, call me if you need anything."

"Spence, I've had a hangover before; I'm pretty sure I know how it works."

The side of Spencer's mouth quirked up in a bitter smile. "Alright. But call me anyway, alright?"

Hanna sighed and she looked up at her, shaking her head in a very "What am I going to do with you?" sort of way, "Mmm…okay."

"Try not to watch too much Law and Order."

"Might as well ask me to bend water with my own mind…"

"Hello? Mr. St. Clair?" Spencer knocked on the half-open office door. "Are you in there?"

The door opened slightly more to reveal Toby's boss sitting at his desk. He looked up at her with a sincere smile on his face, "Oh, hi, Spencer! I didn't see you there! Come on in, have a seat."

Although she had only met him at a few company get-togethers, Mr. St. Clair had taken it upon himself to befriend Spencer, as well as the rest of his employees' girlfriends, and treat them with their desired respect.

"Oh, no, actually, I can't stay – I'm meeting a friend for coffee. I was just wondering if you had seen Toby – I wanted to stop by and drop off his suit jacket for the dinner tonight. Have you seen him?"

"Actually, you just missed him." He replied, "He ran out to get some food on his lunch break. But hey, you can leave it here and I'll make sure it gets to him when he returns."

"That would be great, thanks." Spencer smiled. She stepped into the office and laid Toby's black jacket over the back of a chair in front of Mr. St. Clair's desk.

"Oh, and hey, if you happen to talk to him," Mr. St. Clair said as Spencer was on her way out the door. "Would you mind telling him that he needs to call Henry Peterson back? I'll probably forget."

"Uhm, sure…" Spencer furrowed her eyebrows. "Who, uh, who's Henry – "

But Mr. St. Clair cut her off, "I guess it seems like a nice thing for Kevin to do for him for the holidays – but Toby doesn't seem too into the idea does he? I mean, he'd have to fly down right after Christmas if it all works out."

"Uh…" Spencer, still lost, stood in the doorway while Mr. St. Clair rambled on.

"Of course, it would put his career years into the future, and do wonders for his resume." He continued, "It just doesn't seem like he wants to go down for the job interview."

"Job interview…?"

"Oh, well, you two are probably still discussing it. I don't want to influence his decision or anything. But, I just have to say that we'll miss him if he does take the offer."

Spencer, finally catching on, felt her eyes go wide. She cleared her throat and faked understanding, "Yeah, well, uhm, he's still trying to…figure some things out." She cleared her throat again.

"Yeah, well, if you could just let him know that Henry called, that would be great." Mr. St. Clair smiled. "Hey, are you alright, Spencer?"

"Hmm? Oh, fine. Just fine."

"Wait, slow down – job interview?" Aria asked, knitting her eyebrows over her eyes, which were widened in shock.

"Yeah." Spencer nodded, letting out a hard breath. She stared intently into the top of her coffee cup, still semi-frozen from the news.

"Well, what did Toby say when he told you?"

"Ugh, he doesn't even know that I know." Spencer groaned, her head falling back against the back of her chair, "And I'm really hesitant on telling him."

"What? Why?!" Aria demanded, "You should be mad that he hasn't told you!"

"Well, it wasn't like he went out of his way to try and get the job." Spencer rubbed her temples, "One of his co-workers set him up with it."

"Well, is this guy trying to doom your relationship?" Aria asked, "Because, I know a guy that can make him go away – "

"It's not necessary, Aria!" Spencer rolled her eyes.

"Well…do you think he's going to take the job?"

"Well, I don't know. I mean, he obviously wouldn't ask me to move with him; he knows that I'm knee-deep in school and I've already transferred once. It wouldn't be fair. But do you know how selfish it would be for me to ask him about it? It would only make him feel guilty, and influence his decision."

"He's not going to take it, Spence. He wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with you here in Rosewood."

"What, in this little shoe-box apartment in this run-down town that everyone dreams of getting out of?" Spencer replied bluntly. "I'm the one who's keeping him here, Aria. I'm the reason he wouldn't want to take that offer. I'm the reason he can't make anything of himself outside of Rosewood."

"Spencer." Aria grasped Spencer's hand. "Listen to me. That is not true at all. Toby loves you. More than anything in the world. It only takes a second of knowing him to realize that you're his whole world. You saved him Spencer, the same way he saved you. For the longest time, you were the only one he could trust. And he was there for you when no other guy was. You complete each other. Just like Ezra completes me. That's why you take these hard obstacles one at a time and face them together."

Spencer smiled wryly and sighed, shaking her head. "I just don't want to tell him that I know. I really want him to make the choice on his own. Even if he probably won't take it…I want him to make the choice."

Aria nodded. "You'll figure it out. I promise. You two always do. Just…keep thinking about your proposal. It'll keep your mind off of it."

"Well, right now, we have to think about your wedding." Spencer decided, hastily fishing out a tablet from her bag. "Now, red or white roses?"

During the years of high school when Mona tormented her life, Spencer learned the practice of forced relaxation. She'd used that tactic for multiple things in the years following, rather it be for the stress exams, problems with friends, or the occasional fight with Toby, Spencer developed a way to forcibly calm herself down so that she wouldn't be struck with a panic attack.

Like that night, as she sat alone in her dorm room, she turned on Mean Girls on the old, staticy TV, prepared a bowl of chips and a heaping plate of hummus, and raked her hair back into a messy bun to take her mind off of the three things that were rattling her cage: tomorrow's exam, her proposal, and Toby's mysterious job interview. She flopped down on her bed, stretching out her arms and trying to get comfortable, when her cell phone rang. She squinted in the dim light of the lamp at the caller ID and hesitantly hit ACCEPT.

"Hey." She said softly, unsurely.

"Hey, beautiful." Toby's optimistic voice replied on the other end, "How are you holding up?"

"Fine." She replied, a small smile gracing her lips. "How's the dinner going?"

"Well, it's…it's going."

"Mmm, food not so good?"

"No, it's fine, it's just…not something I'd like to be going at the moment. Kevin keeps hounding me with questions and Jim brought his new wife, Kara – complete with the mega-botox and all."

Spencer snickered. "I think I remember her from the last company barbeque." She nervously fingered her comforter. "So…so what's Kevin asking you about?" She held her breath, wondering if he would, in fact, confess to having been offered the job.

"Just the regular old stuff – nothing special." Toby responded, sounding at ease. "Are you sure you don't want to head out here? I think you'd have fun."

"You know I'd love to be there at the company dinner, but I have an exam tomorrow. I need to get a good night's sleep."

"Then are you sure you don't want me to swing by your dorm and pick you up and take you back to the apartment? We can watch old movies."

"As intriguing as that sounds, I seriously need to have a clear head tomorrow." Spencer said. "Not hurrying in there five minutes late with a comb stuck to my hair and wearing one of your t-shirts as a dress."

"Ah, that would be rather unprofessional." Toby chuckled on the other end. "Wait," Spencer could hear suspicion in his voice. "Hang on, what are you wearing?"

Spencer bit her lip with a smile, "Nothing."

"Alright, first of all, that's a lie, because I happen to know that Thursday night is flannel pajama night for you. And second, was that really necessary? It's not like I can actually enjoy this dinner with that thought on my mind…"

Spencer giggled, "Well, it's fun to send up follow ups and confuse you. Trust me, it's like my favorite pastime. Why did you ask anyway?"

"There's just a girl here that looks a lot like you from the back…but then she turned and I realized that she looks nothing like you."

"Maybe you're seeing things. You're probably going through Spencer-withdrawal syndrome."

"I saw you this morning!"

"Yeah, a whole twelve hours ago. That's what I mean."

Toby chuckled. "Are you sure you don't want me to come home?"

"No, no, please. Stay there. Kiss up to your boss and put in a good word for me."

Toby laughed on the other end. "Alright. Goodnight. Get some sleep so I won't have to drag you to your final tomorrow."

"Roger that, Romeo."

"Love you, Juliet."

"'One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun, Ne'er saw her match since first the world begun." Spencer replied verbatim.

"I'm rolling my eyes now…"

Spencer giggled. "Alright, alright. Just brushing up on my Shakespearean sonnets. Love you, Romeo."

"Sleep tight."

Spencer hung up and set her phone on her side table, fishing her textbook out of her bag. She had hardly read a single page and tasted one bite of hummus before a thought began to peck at her like a bird.

Her gaze rose up to Toby's watch, which sat completely unguarded on her dresser, and pursed her lips. She couldn't just keep it here, could she? She would need a place to hide it in case Toby found it. Not like he was one to go rummaging through her drawers for a pair of nylons – that was more Hanna's area – but with Spencer…you could never be too careful.

She slid off of her bed and grabbed a pair of jeans off the back of her desk chair and changed quickly, throwing on a pair of sneakers. The night air would be cold at this time of the year, and she hastily rummaged through her tiny closet in search of her winter coat. Damn. Bree must have borrowed it when she went out to her study group with some friends. Turning back to the bed, Spencer's eyes fell on a pile of black fabric – Jenna's thick jacket that was returned to her by Dr. Hale a few days before. Spencer had made arrangements to visit Jenna and return the jacket to her at Radley within the next few days, but for the time being, it sat untouched on her dresser. Like aging mummy wrappings, something that once covered someone who was now dead inside.

Like it had beheld some kind of leprosy.

Spencer shook her head, chasing her thoughts away and numbly grabbed for the jacket, sliding her arms through the holes and depositing the watch in its case in the pocket. Reaching for her bag, she headed out the door, locked it, and found her way to her car.

Aria and Ezra's new apartment was just off of the main road near Hollis. Spencer could get there blindfolded. She hated to admit that in the rare occasion that Ezra was out of town, she and Aria and Hanna had spent some rather alcohol-induced nights in his living room, dancing around to Gaga and jumping on the couch. Of course, when Ezra returned and asked why the place reeked of Chanel No. 5 and Hanna's puke, Aria came up with some clever lie and it all just disappeared under a rug.

Spencer thought that the Fitz-Montgomery apartment would be a perfect place to hide Toby's proposal gift. If worst came to worst and Toby did, indeed, stop by Ezra's place to pick up who-knows-what and discovered the watch, Ezra could at least make up a decent, realistic lie and be done with it. Of course, Toby would have to be rummaging uselessly through Aria's bathroom drawers or through the couch cushions to even come close to finding it, but it gave Spencer some peace of mind to know that it would be safe, guarded, and well hid.

As she came upon the light before the turn onto Ezra's street, she spotted Hanna's car parked outside Hollis Bar and Grill. Furrowing her eyebrows, she drove straight through when the light turned green and parked behind Hanna's BMW. Getting out, she sauntered onto the sidewalk and into the bar.

Two years previous, the owner of Hollis Bar and Grill, Jack Jacobs, had died from cancer and left it to his son, Kenny. Of course, Kenny was only eighteen at the time and on his way to UCLA for a full ride football scholarship – not exactly the prime time to pick up a life in the restaurant business. So, he sold the place to Harvey and Vienna, who made some major renovations (but not too many, seeing as it would take away the 'ambience' of Ezra and Aria's first meet), and turned it into a pretty decent joint. Their group of friends went there on occasion – a Friday night or perhaps for a birthday party – but other than that, Spencer and her friends rarely visited the bar.

Which is why it surprised Spencer to see Hanna, perched on a bar stool, upon entering. She sat alone, her elbows on the table, her body bowed over whatever she was drinking. The bartender stood behind the counter polishing scotch glasses, but other than that, the place was empty. One of Hall & Oats' songs played low in the background, the only sound to be heard.

"Hanna?" Spencer knit her eyebrows and hesitantly approached the bar, "What are you doing here?"

Her friend turned to her. She didn't look too much different than the way she had when Spencer had seen her that morning, bedridden with a wicked hangover, but somehow she must have managed to pull herself together enough to wander down the street to the bar.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Spencer asked accusatorily, her eyes going wide at the glass of vodka soda in front of her. From the dilated pupils and misty look in Hanna's eye, Spencer could tell it hadn't been her first drink of the night, "I thought you were completely hung over this morning!"

Hanna looked back into her drink, picking it up and swirling it around in her hand. "I saw Caleb today. He was by the train station. I think he was buying a ticket for Montecito." She said coldly, her voice slightly uncentered.

Spencer grabbed at Hanna's drink, yanking it away from her, and Hanna closed her eyes tight. "I just wanted to forget. Is that so bad?" She murmured softly, her voice slurring a bit. "I know this has happened to you before, Spence. You're just a big of a screw-up as I am."

Spencer narrowed her eyes, letting out a sigh and shaking her head. "Han…you can't keep doing this."

"You know, you don't know how it feels, though." Hanna said, completely ignoring Spencer's comment. "To wake up in the morning, maybe a little hungover, and realize that you're completely alone in the world. And that there's nothing you can do about it."

"Hanna, believe me, I – "

"And then when you try to get through the day, you just think "Why? What am I looking forward to? What am I working towards?" Because when you get home, there's no one waiting for you. There's no one to hold you or tell you you did a good job or anything…it's just you and your old couch." Hanna let out a hard breath. "And you hate feeling that way."

"Okay, I'll talk to Caleb for you…Just, just let me drive you home, okay?"

"No!" Hanna exploded, and the bartender turned. Spencer waved him off, mouthing that she was taking care of it. "I don't…I don't want…want you to talk to him, Spencer." Her eyes were unfocused, her gaze hazy. She swayed back and forth as she turned sharply in her seat. "I don't wanna…" She said incoherently, the words bubbling past her lips drunkenly.

Spencer sighed and shook her head. "Alright. No Caleb. I won't talk to him, ok?" She took Hanna's hand. "Now will you please let me take you home?"

Tears welled up in Hanna's eyes and she pressed her lips together. Her chin trembled and she nodded, looking so helpless and childlike that it almost made Spencer weepy as well.

"Come on." Spencer helped Hanna slide off the barstool and fished into her own jean pocket, pulling out a tip for the bartender and setting it on the bar beside Hanna's unfinished drink.

She led Hanna out to her BWM, reaching into Hanna's purse and pulling out her keys. "Here, I'll drive you home and then walk back to get my car, alright?" She said as she helped Hanna into the passenger's seat. Hanna fell into the car like dead weight and Spencer closed the door, rounding to the driver's side and sliding into the vehicle. Sticking the key into the ignition, she put it in drive and pulled the car out from the curb, driving down along the street towards Hanna's apartment by Hollis.

"You know, you're lucky, Spencer." Hanna said. Her words were slightly slurred, but Spencer understood them.

"Oh really?" Spencer asked absently, her voice slightly bitter. "How so? With my newly pregnant sister, my boyfriend's psychotic step-sister, and my fresh-out-of-the-hospital half-brother?"

"No…" Hanna replied. "Because you have Toby."

Spencer sighed, "Han…"

"No. No, it's not just because you have a screw-buddy or anything." When Hanna was drunk, all filters – if she had any to begin with – crumbled to dust, "Or because you have a man to call your own but because Toby really cares about you. I see it. I know it. You guys, like, change each other for the better. You make each other stronger…like, like in that movie with the vampires, remember that?"

"Twilight?"

"Yeah."

"You always hated that movie."

"I did?" Hanna asked hazily. "Hmm." She shrugged and continued, her eyes wandering to the golden lights that whizzed by as Spencer turned the corner onto her street. "Well, you guys found a way to be together, through all of the hardships. And Caleb and I couldn't even last through a single fight…"

"Hanna, you either have to forget about this or call Caleb. Because one of these nights, I'm not going to be here when you pick up a bottle of scotch, or order a few too many drinks at Hollis Bar because the bartender is too lazy to put you on limit. Okay?"

But Hanna was already snoring, sound asleep beside her. Spencer snorted and rolled her eyes. She got out of the car and walked around the side, opening the door and pulling a half-alseep, still-mumbling Hanna out of the vehicle and helping her up the stairs to her apartment. She unlocked the door with Hanna's keys and led her into her bedroom, where she let her collapse, fully clothed on top of the covers on her bed. Hanna murmured something Spencer couldn't make out, followed by a slurry "Caleb…" before curling up into a ball and drifting away into a full state of sleep.

Spencer kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, Hanna."

If there were ever a more inconvenient time to close a shop at night, it would be now… Spencer thought scornfully, giving the front door to Hollis Bar a few more good yanks, but knowing the attempt was useless. After walking back to the bar to retrieve her car and finish her drive to Aria and Ezra's place, Spencer realized she had forgotten her keys on the bar counter inside the building. Cursing under her breath, Spencer began to walk towards the alleyway that separated Hollis Bar and Grill from an old abandoned shoe store. She figured that the bartender would probably still be in back, gathering up his things before leaving for the night, and she could ask him to unlock the door and let her kindly retrieve her keys and be on her way.

Even though Spencer had spent years getting used to the creepy horror-movie-like scenarios that A had so generously laid out for her, she still got chills down her spine in moments like this. A dark, abandoned alleyway late at night, when the rest of the world was asleep and the street lights flickered on to illuminate the streets…it all made Spencer's skin crawl. She cleared her throat and began to walk briskly along the alley, avoiding dumpsters and piled of garbage.

The alleyway reeked of old garbage – probably from the bar's leftovers – and she could see the heaping amounts of graffiti tattooing the red bricks of the walls. Spencer didn't even want to imagine the kind of gangs that hung out there on a daily basis.

Suddenly, two black figures in coats appeared at the end of the alleyway. Spencer froze, having immediate flashbacks, which she ultimately chased away. She stood still for a moment, but when the hooded figures came closer chattering amongst themselves, she backed up and began walking the other way, back to the front of the alleyway. But before she could reach it, two more hooded men closed in over the opening of the alley. Her heart quickly sped up and she backed up involuntarily, until she was in the middle of the alley, between the four men. She wet her lips, trying to think over the loud sound of her pulse pounding in her eardrums. As if on queue, the four figures began to loom closer, closing in on her. She stood planted to the spot, desperately trying to think of a way to get past them.

"Ooh, hey look who it is…" One of the voices on her right slurred. The four of them came even closer, until they were in a circle around her.

"Uhm, I don't know who you're looking for but…if you could just let me through I'll be on my way…" Spencer said, hurrying to brush past the one on her left.

"Not so fast…" The figure grasped her shoulders tightly, preventing her from getting past him. He roughly pressed her back into the middle of the circle and the other three men chuckled. It was obvious that all four of them were drunk out of their minds, and the second one to her right had a half-empty bottle of whiskey in his grasp. Spencer's breathing was getting too fast. Her palms were sweaty and she felt clammy all over. Immediately, her mind went into full panic mode.

"Hey, why don't you hang out with us here tonight…after all, you owe it to us, don't you?" One on her left said, reaching out to grasp her arm.

She flinched, jerking away. "Don't you dare touch me." She replied harshly, narrowing her eyes. "Move aside and let me go." She said, hoping that the rough approach might make them back down.

But they just cackled with laughter, like four hyenas, their whiskey breath condensing the air around her, surrounding her. It made her want to puke.

"Hey, don't be like that…" One on her right tried to grab for her, and she quickly turned, snapping out her fist and nailing him in the nose. She felt the bone crunch beneath her force and he stumbled back, his hand flying to his face.

"Why…you…" He came up to her fast, grasping her shoulders and shaking her hard, "You little bitch! Did you forget everything we did for you, huh? Did you?! We came back to collect, Jenna. And collect we will."

Confused and terrified, Spencer knit her eyebrows, "Jenna…?" But then it hit her. Jenna's coat. She was…she had put on Jenna's coat and these four drunken men had mistaken her for Jenna.

"Wait, I'm not – !" She tried desperately, but the man behind her had already clapped his hand over her mouth. She frantically tried to bite into his flesh, but his grip was too tight. The third man pinned her arms down while the one she had punched leered over her.

"You think this is some kind of a game, Jenna? We had a deal, remember?" His words were garbled, but his tone was harsh enough for her to recognize his intent.

When she tried to drive her knee up and hit him, he clutched the front of her shirt beneath her coat, hauling her into the air and driving her back hard against the brick alley wall. One of the other men groped beneath her shirt, feeling around her stomach drunkenly and she thrashed and kicked to get him away. Before she could scream, the one pinning her against the wall put his hand over her mouth, and her cry was muffled. The one touching beneath her shirt let his hand venture further upwards, and he made a low wolf-whistle, "Hey guys, are you sure she's the same Jenna? I mean, she doesn't feel more than a twelve-year-old girl." Spencer could barely hear their low laughter over the sound of her racing heart and tears welled up in her eyes, her face burning. The rest of the men didn't seem to take the other's comment too seriously, or maybe they were just all drunk enough to believe she really was Jenna. She could finally squirm hard enough to kick the stomach of the man who was grouping her, and he groaned, doubling over and stumbling back. The one gripping her shirt leaned into her face, and she could hardly breathe as the neck of her t-shirt, strained in his grasp, constricted her airways.

"Did you forget what we did for you, Jenna? Huh?!" He demanded, and the whiskey smell on his breath made her nauseous. "Did you?!" Suddenly, she felt his hand leave her mouth and second later, his fist drove into the right side of her rib cage and she cried out in pain. His hand that was still holding the collar of her shirt pulled her from the wall, holding her above the ground, only to drive her backwards into the same position again, smacking her head hard on the bricks and she shrieked in agony again. She tried to form words, cry out that she wasn't Jenna, but his hand closed over her mouth once more. The other three men loomed behind him, leering closer, and she felt the edge of something sharp glide across her shoulder, slicing into the coat and onto her skin. The coppery smell of her own blood filled her nostrils and she knew that she was close to passing out. Her vision was cloudy and her limbs felt weak. The blow to her head had made her weary, and she could hardly keep her eyes open.

I'm just…so tired… she thought incoherently. And I'm not…Jenna. Exhausted she gasped as the man pinning her against the wall shook her violently. Her feet were still elevated above the ground and his hold on the front of her shirt made it nearly impossible to breathe now. She just…wanted to sleep. To give in.

She could vaguely see him raise his fist and she closed her eyes tight, expecting another hit, but suddenly, the sound of tires screeching against pavement made the four of them turn their heads towards the front opening of the alleyway.

"Oh dammit…" The man holding her muttered. The three others mumbled and fumbled around, and one of them dropped the bottle of whiskey, the glass shattering on the pavement.

"Someone's coming…"

"Oh crap."

"Go, go, go!" The men exclaimed amongst themselves, and the one holding her let go of her shirt, taking off down the backside of the alley with the other three. Having been elevated so high off of the ground, her body feel forward, and she tried to catch herself, but her arms felt like jelly. She crashed hard against the ground, her temple cracking against the cement. She groaned and her vision got even cloudier. The smell of her own blood was almost overwhelming, now, and her sore airways could hardly choke back any oxygen. She needed to succumb.

The last thing she saw clearly was a pair of car headlights shining in front of the alley opening, and she heard the sound of a car door closing and footsteps hurrying down the alley.

Then, everything went black.

dun dun dun! hope that wasnt too...uhm, intense for you guys. i love all of the feedback i'm getting from you! you guys are all amazing, really. i love you all more than anything.

so im sooo sorry its been a billion years since i updated. i just started back up with classes and theyve been kind of consuming my life.

so what do you think jenna's done to make these four drunken men so angry? ;)

cant wait for the finale on tuesday! hopefully i'll have time to update tomorrow!

i'd love it if you guys would keep the reviews coming - give me some feedback! ;)