Part 3. This chapter is particularly dedicated to Em Loves Ali- I hope you are no longer in the fetal position pressing F5. And I hope you made popcorn this time, wishfulthinkingpowell. And to everyone else who kindly demanded I updated, thanks for kicking my ass to write this cause I loved writing this. Hope you love reading it. :3
x-x-x
A month ago, Emily hadn't felt close enough to her friends anymore to spend Christmas at home. Spencer was busy with getting into law school and Toby, Hanna was busy with conceptualizing her new fashion line and Caleb, and Aria was in the middle of writing three different books, having problems with juggling school and writing. Not to mention balancing her relationship with Ezra.
Nobody even asked if she was coming home until the week of Christmas. She had isolated herself unintentionally by dating Paige, ignoring the far and few attempts they made to reach out to her.
Emily remembers this moment distinctly: she received a phone call on the morning of Christmas Eve, from Toby, her dear old neighbor, asking where she was and if she wanted to get coffee at The Brew. She told him she was staying in Philadelphia, and that she thought Spencer would have told him.
He had heard the despondence in her voice.
"Don't spend Christmas by yourself," he had tried to sway her.
"I'm single now, so," she had argued weakly.
"Single is good sometimes! Think about all the things single people can do. You know what I used to do with my friends when they were newly single? We'd hit up a strip club."
"Toby!" she never thought goody two shoes Toby would have partaken in such activities.
"Relax Emily, it's not like I did anything. I was there for my buddies. It was a good time. The girls are usually nice, and what's wrong with eye candy right? At least they felt the freedom of being single."
So, stupidly (she thinks now) she had decided to blindly follow his advice. And then she had found herself in a strip club. On Christmas Eve. She had been so close to leaving, wondering what she had been thinking, and then she had somehow appeared right next to her, eyes bright and a knowing look on her face. Emily isn't sure how she hadn't noticed Alison until that moment, and she wonders if Alison had noticed her before that moment.
It's on her growing list of things she wants to ask Alison when she finds her. She wants to know if Alison had been waiting to talk to her, if she knew that Emily was seconds away from leaving, seconds away from making the worst decision of her life.
She wants to ask Alison what her secret is to making her cookies so damn good. Or if she would be okay with the king size bedroom even if the queen size one had a better view in New York. Emily wants to let Alison know that she can tell her the exact location of her tiny birthmark on her inner thigh about a hands length away from her center.
There are just all these things she wants to share with Ali when all of a sudden she can't.
"Did you hear me?"
The brunette shakes her head as they approach a lonely city house.
"I need you to stay focused," Spencer tells her in a firm but gentle voice as she rests her hands on Emily's shoulders.
"Sorry," Emily mumbles and Spencer shakes her head, dismissing her kindly and squeezes her arms comfortingly.
"We'll find her, trust me," she says earnestly and Emily realizes now that even though they had drifted, those three girls never stopped caring about her. There are no amount of words she could say to them to ever thank her for being with her through this.
"Now listen to me," Spencer orders her quietly. "Stay very close behind me. I have the gun on the inside of my jacket."
"It doesn't look like anyone's home," Emily comments.
"Yeah, let's hope he's not and she is," Spencer dryly retorts as she starts to move carefully towards the house.
X
She can't sleep. No matter how hard she tries, she can't even force herself to just shut her eyes. Of course, sleeping while kneeling on a filthy floor with your arms behind your back against a cold pole isn't exactly how Alison would describe her ideal bedtime position.
The blonde winces every time she shifts because she can feel the skin on her wrists rubbing raw, and she's sure that soon they'll start bleeding, the cuffs snug on her.
He hasn't come back, and she wonders if he's sleeping, or what he's doing.
It's dark except for the pathetically dim light bulb, and she doesn't know how long she's been in there but she's pretty sure it's the middle of the night.
When she hears a shuffling noise across the room in the corner, her eyes dart around nervously.
Please don't be a rat, please don't be a rat, please don't be a-
Alison shrieks as she sees a giant rodent leering at her in the corner and she struggles against her restraints, trying to put as much distance between it and her as possible. But it's only hurting her wrists, bruising the bones.
X
"Let's take this and run, I don't want to be here when he gets back," Spencer shudders. The two of them are at Wilden's desk in his house, gathering as much important looking stuff as they can. Tax files, accounting records, bullshit like that.
"He'll know," Emily says hesitatingly.
"So? He took your girlfriend Emily, I'm sure taking revenge by taking his papers is morally sound," Spencer pushes her limits.
When the two of them get back to Emily's, files in hand, Cece springs on them, wide awake.
"So when I was going through his case files, I read his psychiatric record from high school. In his grandpa's house, a little outside of the city, he'd have kids hang out there since his grandpa was mostly in and out of the hospital. That's where all the bullying would happen. Maybe he's a creature of habit."
"True, but we don't know if someone's taken over that house since then or if it even still exists, or where," Spencer quips.
"So let's find out," Emily says hastily and they all sit down at the table, save Hanna and Aria who have passed out on the couch.
X
"I stopped by my place to grab a few things. Do you know who I just saw outside there?"
Alison stars blankly ahead, not wanting to answer..
"Take a guess, she was a tall, tan, lean brunette, looked like she'd be fun to play with," he taunts her and Alison's eyes turn black out of hatred as she stares at him loathingly. "I wonder what she sounds like when she begs-"
"Don't touch her!" Alison shouts with blind anger as she tries to lunge forward, suddenly seeing red as her body suddenly comes to life at the mention of Emily being threatened. But her body is on autopilot, her emotions are volatile and uncontrollable.
"I'll do what I want with her," he snarls as he kicks Alison's side harshly, causing her to yelp like a puppy. He leans down next to her, determined to make her suffer.
"Does Emily know what a whore you are?"
Alison looks at him with pained eyes and keeps her jaw locked. "Remember how pathetic you were? It was so easy, you'd crawl right back into bed with me and beg. I still have those lovely pictures, do you want to see them?"
The blonde's body trembles with memories of the past, and she finds her mind slipping back into a vast black hole of hopelessness.
"I'll show Emily, that's a better idea," he says. The blonde hopes he's bluffing, because she knows those photos of her would destroy Emily. Not because she looked like a whore, but because Emily knows the truth- and Emily knows how humiliating that was, how terrible Alison felt. She knows the brunette loves her so much that those pictures would haunt her.
When Alison doesn't respond, doesn't give in to his taunting, he scowls fiercely.
"Have you ever heard the saying an eye for an eye?"
She looks up at him blankly. He walks over to a table, fiddling with random objects on it, his back to her as he continues.
"I know you know what it is. So, Alison, let's see if you can wrap your head around this. Remember that scar you gave me? How did you do it?"
Her stomach twists as she thinks about where he's going with this.
"I'll tell you how," he says as he turns around and her stomach starts flipping and she thinks she's going to throw up any second. "You took a knife and tried to stab me."
He's holding a knife in his hand- a small knife, but still one all the same.
"Eye for an eye," he says as he walks over and she tries to refrain from squirming but as he kneels down in front of her she tries to wretch herself away from him.
"If you move, I'll accidentally cut deeper than I meant to," he says with a smile as if hoping so and places the blade flat against her face, running the dull edge down her cheek to her neck.
"D-d-d-o-n't," she barely manages to say before he goes behind her, leans down, and clamps his hand down in front of her mouth. In one swift motion, he brings the knife down to her thigh and slashes- she releases a loud, agonizing but muffled scream.
X
"You guys are still awake?" Aria mumbles as she steps into the kitchen, half asleep, to grab water. She goes over to Emily and leans on her, looking over her shoulder. She kisses the top of Emily's head sweetly and the brunette lets herself relax for just a moment before her eyes spot something.
"Look at this," Emily grabs a stapled document and flips through it.
"What is it?" Cece pauses.
"A deed, to a house, and it's not the address we were just at," she says as her eyes furrow.
"This is the address from the high school files," Spencer grabs the documents and puts them side by side.
"Guys I have a really, really bad feeling that she's there," Emily says with a growing sense of urgency building up all over again.
"Me too," Cece mumbles and jumps up.
"We have to go, now," Emily reaches for her bag and Spencer nods.
"Aria, wake Hanna up, let's all go," Spencer says as she grabs her stuff.
"All of us? Is that wise?" Cece questions as she grabs a jacket and makes sure Emily puts one on as well.
"It's better if some of them stay in the car, backup," Emily suggests and the law studying brunette nods. She watches as the blonde goes through Emily's kitchen and pulls out two very sharp kitchen knives with their blades protected. Cece hands them to the tan brunette hesitatingly.
"Don't use it unless you have to," she says cautiously, not wanting Emily to lose her shit and stab Wilden to death (as much as they all want that to happen). Her voice is quiet as she continues. "This is about getting Ali out of there okay? Not extracting revenge. He'll get what's coming for him."
"I just want her safe, here," Emily says in a strained voice as her eyes threaten to spill over.
"Come on, she's waiting for you," Hanna says with a smile as she hugs Emily from behind. "Let's go save your hot stripper!"
"Hanna!"
x
Alison's little cries and whimpers as she tries to cope with the excruciating throbbing from her leg are the only sounds in the room as Wilden cleans off his knife and puts it in a well hidden spot along the walls.
"That was fun, but this is suddenly losing my interest," he says in a bored tone as he walks over to her body as she squirms, trying to make the pain stop.
"I have nothing to lose," he says grimly as he paces in front of her as if debating something internally. "I should really just kill you now and leave town. It'd be a few days before anyone found you."
Alison doesn't know what the hell to say, so she stays silent (except she just can't stop her little whimpers, it hurts so damn bad). She sees blood trickling rather quickly off her porcelain skin and she tries to shut her eyes, block everything out. If there's a god out there, she's praying that somebody, anybody will come find her before this lunatic kills her within the next few minutes.
"I want you to tell me about Emily," he says as he sits down in front of her, and she can't believe he can sit there so calmly like a school boy. He looks at her expectantly; she looks at him like he's crazy. "Come on, tell me about her."
She doesn't answer, only blinks at looks at him. He grows impatient at her silence and takes the butt of his gun and whacks the side of her head, just hard enough that it doesn't knock her out but so that she's reeling in more pain.
"Talk, or I'll fucking blow your brains out," he growls pointing the gun to her temple and she begins to shake.
"W-w-w-hat do I s-s-say?"
"What's your favorite thing about her?"
Alison has to think, because she loves everything about Emily. And it's not like she really cares whether this bastard knows the truth or not.
"She's kind," Alison manages to say between her increasing cries as he presses the gun harder against her temple.
"What is your favorite memory with her?"
Alison doesn't think about what game he's playing. Her mind finally let's her escape and she gets lost in her memory for a few second.
"Wanna taste how sweet it is?" she askes.
She brushes her lips against Emily's.
Emily kisses her.
Emily's fingers are cold, touching the small of her back, sending shivers.
She presses her body against Emily's, tightly.
Emily's hands run up and down her back.
They pull apart, chests heaving, catching their breaths, foreheads pressed together.
Everything is perfect- it smells like cookies, the Christmas lights are on, with Christmas music playing, and Alison's always hated this holiday but she can no longer hate it when she's in the arms of the person she just knows is going to be her forever.
But she's brought out of her memory by the cold barrel pressing again into her temple.
"Christmas," she simply says.
He smirks, knowing she's getting lost in her thoughts.
"Does she make you feel safe?"
Alison thinks to how Emily is the only person who makes her feel safe. The brunette's strong, warm embrace is the only place she knows to call home. So she nods pathetically.
"Do you know how to please her? Make her scream?"
Alison can not even think about that right now with this monster in front of her. Her eyes narrow, as menacingly as she can with her body in this much pain, and she lowers her voice.
"I will not talk about her like that with you," she defies him bravely. It's the one thing that's sacred to her. She might joke about her sex life with Hanna and Cece and anyone else, but even they don't know how truly intimate her and Emily are.
Because when it's more than just sex between them, it's a whole new world of feelings for Alison. Fooling around in the back of Emily's car was nothing. Doing it for the first time, or after the hospital, or any time with intense emotion was terrifying and wonderful and exhilarating. It all makes her dizzy with emotion and she just can't fathom how someone could make her feel so goddamn special, someone she views as perfection.
And she refuses to degrade their intimacy. It's a line she won't cross.
"I bet she's going to ask you to marry her, that girl is crazy about you, even I can see that," he says dryly and Alison doesn't understand what he's doing.
"Too bad all she's going to find is your body. Can't marry a corpse."
If she wasn't tied up, she'd annihilate Wilden for threatening Emily's happiness like that. And then it hits her, that he really intends on killing her.
"Open your mouth."
She looks at him, trying to remain calm, and stays completely still.
"Open wide."
He glares at her, and she begins to wither, cowering, but still abstaining.
"I said fucking open your mouth!" he shouts and she tries to back away from him but he grabs her nose with one hand, pinching it shut until she can't breathe, until she's forced to breathe through her mouth, gasping for air, and to her horror he shoves the gun inside as she gasps for air.
And she just loses it. She's never felt more fear in her life, nothing else compares to the way her body is violently jolting with panic and her eyes are wide with terror and she's screaming at the top of her lungs, but every word is muffled and incoherent.
He had brought her to her favorite memories, brought her to her safety- and now he's ripping it all away from her. All she can think of is Emily.
"You fucking ungrateful bitch!" he yells at her as he shakes the gun in her mouth and tears stream down her face. Her muffled shouts of fear are lost, and she's never felt more alone.
"You deserve all of this!"
He cocks the safety back and Alison's eyes widen and she screams at the top of her lungs, hoping someone hears her before it's too late. She can't even see, her tears have blurred her vision, her body is on fire- and she knows, she's going to die completely alone.
x
"There doesn't look like there's anyone here," Emily says from the car as Cece gets out with Spencer.
"We have to check, come on," the older blonde says.
"Stay behind me," Spencer leads and they stay very, very close.
When they get to the front door, they're not surprised to find it's locked. Spencer pulls out a bobby pin type of little metal and begins to pick at the lock. Cece gives Emily a look.
"It's how we got into his house," Emily explains as Spencer works her magic.
"Got it," Spencer says as she jiggles the knob and it turns all the way. "Got Hanna still on the phone?"
"Yup," Cece says pulling it out and holding it up to her ear. "We're going in."
Hanna sees the three standing at the door as she sits in the car with Aria.
"I don't have a good idea about this," Hanna murmurs to herself as she hears Cece speak.
"Just be ready for anything," Cece says and puts her phone back in her pocket, still on.
Spencer slowly turns the knob and pushes the creaking door open.
"Careful-" Cece is cut off by a faint scream- it sounded excruciating.
"Ali!" Emily yells with panic and shoves Spencer out of the way, darting inside the house.
"Shit," Spencer curses as she chases after the tan girl with Cece hot on her tail.
X
Her heart is pounding wildly, threatening to beat out of her chest. He fingers the pulled back safety, gives her a smug look, and says, "It's over Alison."
She watches in slow motion as his fingers land on the trigger.
He pulls it-she squeezes her eyes tightly, and her body convulses in panic.
And then, after a few moments of dead silence, and her terrified sobs, and the rattling of her cuffs against the pole, she hears his deep, sadistic laugh as he pulls the gun back.
He meant to do that.
"Dumb fuckin-"
But he never finishes as a blur of brown hair tackles him to the ground, fists flying wildly as his gun drops.
Alison can't see through her shaking vision and blurry eyes what's happening, and her heart is still beating rapidly, her body and mind in shock.
Cece and Spencer come bolting down the stairs after Emily and see the blonde helplessly shaking and sobbing with blood all over her leg.
"Oh my god," Cece runs over to her with Spencer and tries to free her from the cuffs but the blonde is frantic, like a scared deer, and she keeps backing away from her and screaming.
Emily focuses on nothing but beating Wilden until he can't fight back- but he's stronger than her and eventually flips them so he's on top. She can't reach the knife that's inside her jacket.
"I fucked your girlfriend," he taunts Emily as he puts his hands around her throat and slowly chokes her. "I fucked your girlfriend long and hard before you ever did. And I had her trained, she crawled like a good little bitch. Does she-"
He's cut off again as Emily throws him off of her, not hard, but enough to sit up. She pulls her knife out, and unsheathes it.
"You're a fucking monster," she seethes as her killer personality shines through and she fights back with just as much venom as he has, lunging but missing him though her knife grazes his shoulder.
Spencer fingers her gun in her pocket, ready to draw when the time is right, too scared that she'll shoot the wrong person in a heated fight.
It all happens too fast- he gets to his feet somehow, knocking Emily backwards to the ground and her weapon goes flying. He grabs his knife off of the table, and lunges for Emily on the ground, missing her but able to grab her arm and crawl on top of her. He swings wildly, attempting to stab Emily right in the stomach, but a whirl of blonde hair interferes by getting right between them, and there's a loud bang- and then all hell breaks lose with panicked chaos in the aftermath.
There are footsteps on the stairs and Hanna appears with a look of horror as she sees blood.
"Oh my god!"
A/N: I hope this is as good as you guys anticipated! Was nervous as I wrote/posted it. Also. The aftermath is pretty brutal. Just a warning. Like, emotionally brutal.
Also, to guests Z, emisonbish, buttahbenzoteam, and tash, and all the other anons, thanks for your kind words! They made me laugh, and smile, and write.
And I do mean to respond to everyone, I love talking about writing and hearing feedback!
Feel free to PM me anytime :) and review as always if you feel so inclined :3
Much love xx