Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars.
Warnings: Child Abuse, Foul Language, Violence, Death, Mental Illness.
They spilled into a dimly lit cement hallway one level down from where they were in the Prom room, Mona led them further in until they stopped in front of eight heavy vaulted doors. Four on the left, Four on the right.
"What is this place?" Ezra murmured looking at the heavy metal doors.
"Something abandoned and most likely military," Mona muttered as she stared at Alison. "Pick a door, Ali."
"We don't have time for your stupid games, Mona," Caleb shrieked at her. "Where are they!"
Alison ignored them and stared at the doors, part of her just wanted to grab one and wretch it open but something felt off down here. She inspected the one on her right reaching out a hand to touch it. There was a speck of paint on the door and Ali stared hard at it. Green. She checked the next one over but there was no paint.
"The colours," Alison cried. "Green is Em, Purple is Aria, Pink is Hanna and Spencer is blue. Find the colours on the door."
They all scrambled to find the small paint specs.
"Pink," Ezra cried in front of one.
Caleb flew down two more doors.
"I got Purple," Caleb finally yelled to Ezra, the men switched doors quickly.
"Blue," Paige cried in front of the last.
Toby and his team hurried down to it and Paige sprinted back to Alison.
"Alison," Toby called as Alison reached for her door again. "Don't fuck up."
Alison threw him a wicked grin.
"Its not me I'm worried about," she snarked, hauling open the huge door.
Paige, Sydney and Maya scrambled to help her and together they got it open. Alison peered into the space as her eyes adjusted to the bright lights.
"Em," Paige cried rushing over to the box.
It was sealed tight, from what Alison could see it didn't even have a way to get Emily inside let alone out. There was nothing around them that looked like it would be strong enough to break the thick glass either.
Emily was pounding on the glass as Paige pressed herself against it.
"We'll get you out," Paige shouted.
Like no shit Alison thought we're just going to leave her here.
Desperately Alison scrambled along the room trying not to look at Emily as the brunette kept surfacing in the tiny space of air she had left. If she looked to Emily for too long Alison knew she'd get caught up in the futility of this, and she refused to let her mermaid drown.
Sydney and Maya fanned out as well searching through the piles of junk left in the space, rusted tools, wood, baby toys it was such a weird collection but none of it looked helpful.
"What about this?" Sydney cried as she emerged from the pile with a crowbar.
Yes, that could work.
Alison nodded and Sydney rushed over to the box to join Paige with her prize. Paige took the crowbar and started bashing it into the side of the tank and Alison couldn't believe this idiot.
"Its too thick," she instructed trying to stay calm under everyone else's panic. "You need to-"
Alison was suddenly grabbed from behind and wretched backwards for a moment she was certain Bethany or Andrew had come back but as she hit the cement and peered up Maya smirked down at her.
"You don't look surprised," Maya noted as she lifted her foot and stamped down at Alison's head.
Alison rolled to her side narrowly missing Maya's boot and tried to sit up. Maya lunged for her, wrapping her arms around Alison's throat in a chokehold as she fished something from her jacket.
"You haven't exactly been.. subtle," Alison wheezed as Maya drew out a hunting knife.
"Hey back off," Sydney yelled grabbing the crowbar from Paige and waving it at Maya.
Maya just smirked at the little swimmer.
"Help Emily," Alison gasped, what the hell was this idiot doing. "Pry it-"
Maya constricted her hold on Alison's throat tightening her forearm. Sydney didn't move back to the box and instead stood over Maya and Alison in frozen indecision.
"Paige," Alison gasped as Maya kept squeezing.
"Running out of air like your precious mermaid," Maya murmured in Alison's ear.
Alison flung her head back suddenly and knocked into Maya's nose, the stronger girl let go for a moment and Alison pulled away as fast as she could. Alison grabbed the crow bar from a stunned Sydney and threw it at Paige who caught it easily.
"Pry open the side!" She screamed at Paige.
Maya rubbed at her nose and got to her feet slowly, the knife gleaming in one hand.
"You know I never got why she liked you so much," Maya conversationally started. "I read your journals and you seemed like such a bitch."
"I still am," Alison promised as Maya got closer.
"Oh I don't doubt it," Maya chuckled. "Bethany told me all about you when she got me on board."
"And when was that exactly?" Alison's eyes briefly drifted up above Maya, trying to find something to drop on the nutcase.
"She came to visit me at your house, just after I moved in, she wanted to know what you knew. But it was Mona who my deal was with, she needed someone to get to Emily, something to blackmail the little saint with and I needed money."
"Money?" Alison spat. "You seduced Emily for money!"
"She really enjoyed it too, you had her so tied up in knots a tiny bit of affection and she was in my bed in seconds," Maya cackled.
Alison tried to keep herself under control, tried to stay calm in the face of an obvious taunt designed to make her lose focus. She wouldn't though, no matter what Maya said because none of it mattered if Emily didn't make it out of here alive.
"Should I thank you for teaching her some stuff then," Alison spat crossing her arms.
Maya faulted slightly.
"Maybe Paige should thank you," Alison goaded. "Paige thank Maya for teaching Emily how to please women, like the prized whore Maya is."
Paige ignored Alison still working on prying open the box with Sydney.
"Cause thats what you are Maya you got paid to have sex," Alison smirked triumphantly.
Maya's glare hardened and she lunged forward with her knife, Alison ducked out of the way and waited for the next attack.
"If you get her out of the box who gets to keep her?" Maya asked sadistically, taping the knife to her chin.
Alison tried not to flinch but Maya could see it.
"Exactly," Maya smirked. "You don't know, she could go running back to Paige here or maybe she'll be so overwhelmed with her first love coming back from the dead."
"Please bitch I already did," Alison spat.
Maya chuckled darkly.
"Does it hurt Paige?" Maya asked as she spun round to face Paige, who was still trying pry the damn box open.
"Don't listen to her," Alison cried.
"I'm just commiserating," Maya waved off Alison with the knife. "Does it hurt knowing Emily threw you over for not one but two dead exs."
Paige clenched her jaw but kept prying.
"You want to fight lets go," Alison shoved at Maya's back, she couldn't have the sociopath distracting Paige if they had any chance of rescuing Emily it was going to be on Paige's brute strength.
Maya stumbled forward and then spun around glaring at Alison murderously.
"I was having a conversation," she screamed slashing the knife at Alison's face.
Ali got an arm up to shield her face and the knife scrapped along her forearm, she cried out as it cut in and fell back hitting the cement floor hard.
"How did you even survive on the streets?" Maya muttered unimpressed, looming over Alison.
"Resourcefulness," Alison murmured kicking at Maya's shins forcing the sociopath to crumple to the floor. The knife fell from Maya's grasp and slid across the floor.
"You little bitch," Maya hissed as Alison scrambled over to the fallen girl.
Alison punched at Maya's face with several quick jabs. Landing six good punches until Maya blocked the seventh and grabbed for Alison's hair. Maya pulled sharply and Alison's head snapped back painfully as the other girl pretty much dragged the blonde off her.
"I was going to drag this out," Maya muttered as she got to her feet, still holding Alison by her hair.
"Stop," Sydney cried as Maya dragged Alison over to the knife. "She's the only one who knows the way out."
"Help Paige you pathetic fish lipped idiot!" Alison barked.
Sydney just stared at her in disbelief, Alison kicked the knife away when they were close enough and Maya backhanded her in retaliation. Alison caught herself on the cement to find Sydney still frozen.
"Help Paige!" Alison cried again. "I'm not getting us out of here without Em-"
Maya grabbed Alison in a chokehold again and dragged her to her feet, Alison swayed under the crushing pressure of Maya's forearm and gasped for breath.
Alison could see Emily had no more air left as Paige pushed on the crowbar as hard as she could, Sydney finally joining her. Emily was looking straight at her and Alison tried to be strong for her mermaid.
"Does it hurt?" Maya whispered in her ear. "Knowing I had her first."
Alison struggled against the hold, she could feel herself losing strength, the world fading away as her air supply was cut off. Emily pressed a hand to the glass just floating in the water, staring at Alison. Was this all a dream?
"She was so worried," Maya was still talking. "So worried she'd be bad, but she got there in the end."
Alison could barely make out the taunting whisper in her ear.
"And now you'll never know," Maya promised.
Emily pounded on the glass suddenly and Paige forced the crowbar one last time. The side came lose and as water rushed into the room, Alison made her move.
She grabbed a hold of Maya's arm firmly with both hands and dropped down pulling Maya with her. The other girl cried out as they fell and Alison rolled to her side, sliding across the wet floor.
"Em," Paige cried in relief as Emily spluttered for breath.
Alison got a hand on the knife and as Maya lunged for her Alison turned plunging up. It sickened her how quickly it went in, sliding past flesh as it buried itself in Maya's chest. The girl on top of her wheezed and looked at Alison in total shock, her eyes wide in disbelief.
Maya choked and spluttered and Alison watched in horror as Maya's dark eyes rolled back and she slumped forward on top of the blonde.
Dead.
Alison lay there for a long moment, breathing heavily as she tried to tell herself it was self defence Maya was going to kill her and Emily and probably Paige and Sydney too, she had to, she had to stop Maya.
"Alison," Sydney carefully asked somewhere behind Maya, Alison couldn't see anything with the dead girl on top of her.
"Ali?" Emily whispered.
"Em," Alison cried so thankful she was alive but suddenly the reality of where she was and what she had just done came flooding back. "Get her off!"
Alison pushed at Maya's dead weight desperately, the feeling was suffocating and the smell of blood and sweat made Alison want to puke. The others scrambled to help and heaved Maya off Alison, Sydney gasped when they pulled the body away to reveal the knife still imbedded in Maya's chest.
Alison rolled away quickly and sat up onto her knees only to curl around herself and dry retch. She was shaking as she tried to get a hold of herself, suffocation, dirt filling her lungs, the smell of death all assaulted her mind as she curled onto the cold wet cement floor. Tears were blurring her vision and a deep sense of emptiness settled in the pit of her stomach.
Murderer.
"Ali," Emily whispered as she knelt down next to Alison.
Alison could only just hear her and see the vague outline of her mermaid as she stroked Alison's face carefully.
"You had to do it," Emily softly assured Alison. "You didn't have a choice."
Alison shook her head. She did have a choice, she had a choice and she made the easiest one for her, she picked her own life over someone elses and she didn't know how she'd ever be able to live with that.
"Alison listen to me," Emily begged. "You saved me."
Saved?
Emily could see Ali was slowly coming around.
"Yeah you saved me, you saved all of us," Emily nodded. "She was.. she wasn't well and you protected us."
Protected. Yes, Alison protected Emily would always protect Emily even when the price seemed too high to pay she would do it. For Emily.
"Em," Ali whispered peering up into her mermaid's eyes.
Emily gathered Alison to her in a tight hug, she was sopping wet but Alison didn't care she buried herself in Emily neck and breathed deeply trying to stop her tears. Emily rocked her. Whispering in her ear that they were safe.
"We still have to get out of here," Sydney reminded them none to gently.
Alison pulled herself from Emily's arms as Paige shot her a withering glare. Alison ignored her and reached for Emily's hand to pull herself up, the brunette laced their fingers together as they stood.
"We have to find the others," Alison pulled Emily towards the exit.
"Should we just leave her," Paige murmured briefly looking towards Maya's lifeless form.
Alison felt like she was going to throw up again but Emily squeezed her hand.
"Lets get out of here first," Alison directed.
The others nodded and they spilled into the hallway. Toby had a half conscious Spencer in his arms, Wren was inspecting her with his torch light. Melissa hovered over the three worriedly. Hanna was curled around Caleb who kept kissing her hair and tightening his hold as though he expected her to slip away at any moment. Mona and Lucas stood off the to the side, Lucas glaring at the couple and Mona attempting to appear indifferent.
The last door burst open and Cindy and Mindy came out dragging a screaming Jenna between them.
"She killed Shana, she deserves to pay," Jenna howled.
Ezra emerged with a limping Aria and Alison breathed a sigh of relief. Her girls were safe. For now.
"How do we get out, Alison?" Sydney begged and all eyes turned to stare at Ali.
She looked to each of them, varying levels of hope stared back and Alison took a deep breath.
"I lied," she admitted. "I don't know the way out."
The hallway descended into chaos.