This chapter is so dramatic! Its kind of dialogue heavy because of that, sorry if this isn't your thing. Nearly finished this story now ahhh! Thanks for reviewing everybody :)
The truck screeched to a halt outside the Hastings mansion. Toby leapt from the driver's seat, wrenching open the door and grabbing Adrianne into his arms.
"We know Wren has Spencer," Caleb said, jumping out the truck. "I just watched hours of counselling footage between him and CeCe. He was relaying the –A thing to her again and again, what she told you at prom? But in the earlier sessions she didn't seem to believe it."
"What does that mean?" Emily demanded. Caleb ran his tongue over his teeth.
"It means… or I think it means that CeCe was never –A. But Wren made her believe she was."
"Look, let's leave the mystery solving to later," Hanna snapped. "Where's our best bet to find Spencer?" Toby threw his hands in the air and stalked behind the van. He had no idea of the best course of action. All he knew was that he had to see her again. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and absentmindedly glanced at it. His blood ran cold.
"Hanna," he called. "Hanna!" The blonde appeared round the side of the van. He thrust the phone before her; her eyes widened. The message was from an unknown number, and was just a photo. Spencer was slumped in the sofa, her dark eyes filled with tears of fright and fixed on the figure who was crouched before her. The figure who was also wielding a gun. Emily and Aria appeared behind them, the latter clapping a hand over her mouth at the sight of the photo.
"Oh my God, Wren." she breathed.
"Ali's house," Emily snapped. Toby glanced at her wordlessly. She sighed. "Look I recognise the curtains. It's the DiLaurentis house."
"Let's go," he said shortly, passing his daughter into Aria's arms. "Ady, Aunty Aria's taking you to see Grandpa and Grandma. I'll see you really, really soon. Daddy just needs to sort something else first." Aria squeezed Adrianne to her side, smiling falsely.
"We'll have so much fun! Look Toby, please be careful. And please call me the second it's over."
"Promise," Emily said, hugging her tiny friend. Hanna nodded tersely.
"We'll be fine Aria." Aria sighed deeply before walking down the drive towards Spencer's old home. Toby watched his daughter move further down the driveway for a few seconds, before turning back to his friends.
"Let's go."
"Woah," Caleb grabbed hold of Toby's arm. "You're just gonna charge in there and talk Spencer out of gunpoint? Is that the plan?"
"I'm going to go through the front door on my own. You three are coming through from the back, surprising him. We'll save Spencer, overpower Wren and get the hell out of Rosewood."
III
This was it. There was no escape, no way out of this dire, dire situation. A whimper slipped from Spencer's parted lips as the cool metal of the gun caressed the side of her head. She could feel Wren's breath on her face. It made her shudder. Melissa's soft sobs drifted across the room, but the elder sibling made no move to save the younger. She felt his fingers raking through her hair, almost tenderly.
"You should have chosen me," he murmured. "Whilst you had the chance." At his words, something inside Spencer snapped. Her eyes flew open, her weak terror transforming into rage. She shrieked, flinging herself up from the seat and pushing Wren aside. He stumbled slightly, and she seized her opportunity, tearing across the room and attempting to wrench the front door open. Her fingers fumbled shakily at the handle; she could hear him approaching quickly behind her. Crying out in frustration, she finally threw the door open and exclaimed. There, framed in the doorway, was Toby. She slumped in relief.
"Spencer!"
"Tob-" Her eyes widened as she felt strong arms wrap round her waist from behind and pull her back into the house. He sprinted after them without a second thought for his safety, and recoiled at the sight of Alison and Melissa in the room. The former folded her arms defiantly as she looked him up and down, whereas the older woman kept her eyes trained shamefully on the floor. Wren was stood with his back to the door on the other side of the room, each of his accomplices beside him. One arm was fastening across Spencer's torso, trapping her against his body, the other supported the gun rammed against her head. She scratched desperately against his arm, but to no avail. He was too strong. "Toby!"
"Let her go Wren," he shouted, stepping towards them. The gun flickered momentarily in his direction, stopping him in his tracks, before returning to Spencer's head.
"I'd stay where you are if I were you, carpenter," the man whispered. Toby nodded furiously, raising his hands in surrender.
"I will Wren just please… please let Spencer go." He reached inside his pocket a held up the disc labelled 'NAT'. His hands steady, he reached out proffering it to the man. "You can have the footage. I don't care anymore." Alison jumped forward, snatching it from him and passing it to her leader. He grinned.
"You're weak. You gave in so easily."
"Now you let Spencer go," Toby responded. He stared into Spencer's eyes, silently promising her it would all be alright. She barely dared to breath, let alone talk.
"I don't remember making that promise," Wren said slowly. He turned to Alison. "Do you remember me making that promise?" His playful expression was not mirrored on the girl, whose fingers were twitching with anxiety.
"We've got it, Wren let's just get out of here. Kill her or don't kill her I don't care. Come on. Please." He groaned.
"Fine." He twisted Spencer round in his arms so her face was mere inches away from his. "It's been nice to play this game with you, Spencer." He threw her backwards violently, and she was sent tumbling into Toby's arms. Relieved, he crushed her into a tight embrace, one hand cupping the back of her head as he rocked her gently in his arms.
"You're okay, we're okay," he whispered to her. Spencer turned to face the trio, still clutching to Toby.
"Melissa you don't have to choose their side," she said hoarsely, desperately. "You can still back out."
"You know I was going to just let you walk away! But now…" Wren exclaimed, pointing the gun directly at the couple. Toby started and took Spencer by the shoulders, trying to place himself between her and the weapon. She resisted, instead stretching her arm in front of his torso as if her slender form would somehow protect him from a bullet. "She could see the insanity in his eyes, and she knew he would never have been able to bear to let them go.
"Toby," she whispered. "Toby I'm sorry. I really love you." He leant down, touching her hair away from her ear and whispered, his cool breath against her ear sending shivers down her spine.
"It's going to be okay."
III
"I don't like this," Emily said uneasily, craning her neck behind her to see Toby waiting patiently by the truck. "He shouldn't go in there on his own. Wren has a gun."
"Toby will be fine," Hanna stated, grabbing her friends hand and pulling her through the trees towards the back of the DiLaurentis property. "And so will Spencer and me and you and Aria. And we're all going back to New York in time for our wedding."
"Okay, quiet now," Caleb said, his voice lowering to a whisper. The house was in sight now. All the rooms were darkened, except for the room at the front of the house. The room Spencer was in. Her heart in her mouth, Hanna quickly crossed over the lawn and pressed herself against the backdoor. She turned to Caleb.
"You know how to break in right?"
"Obviously." He shouldered gently past her, and began picking the lock. Emily touched Hanna on the shoulder.
"Look don't say anything, but I bought this." She extracted a slim pistol from her hoodie pocket. Hanna's eyes widened.
"Em!"
"It's my Dads," she replied defensively. "When you told me what we could be dealing with, I figured it would be better to be safe than sorry." Hanna opened her mouth to retort, but the darker girl stopped her. "I said don't say anything."
"Fine!" she threw her arms in the air and turned back to her fiancé. "Can you hurry up?" He grunted, the door clicking open and the trio tumbling into the kitchen. Blinking owlishly in the dark room, Hanna turned back to Emily. "Okay do you remember how to get to the front room?"
"Oh I don't think you'll be getting that far." The light in the room snapped on, glaringly bright, to reveal Sara Harvey. Hanna looked at her accusingly.
"You're meant to be in hospital."
"Yeah well it's not Radley. They try to 'treat us right' over there so security is lax! Hi Emily," she said waving sarcastically. "How come you never called?"
"Yeah whatever," Caleb dismissed. "Now excuse us we need to get past." The girl raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not gonna let you do that," she warned, grabbing a knife from the side and casually holding it up. Emily flinched, holding up her own weapon to her former lover. Caleb looked warily from one girl to the other.
"Okay let's just stop."
"Screw that," Hanna muttered, snatching the gun from Emily and, in one swift motion, knocking Sarah's weapon from her hand. The blonde gasped, but had no time to react before Hanna pushed her against the kitchen counter and held her there. "You too go. I'll hold her here." She threw the pistol back to Emily. "Go!" Caleb nodded, planting a kiss on his fiancé's cheek, and leading the way through the door. Finding themselves at the foot of the stairs, the pair quickly saw the line of light beneath the door.
"They're in there," Emily murmured. Sharing a quick look with her friend's fiancé, she crouched at the door and slowly, silently pushed it open. "There's Toby and Spencer." Caleb knelt beside her, peering through the small gap between the frame and the door.
"And Wren." His eyes scanned over the scene. Spencer and Toby were clinging to each other, and Wren was stood between two women. One he immediately recognised as Melissa Hastings, and the other…
"Alison?" Caleb could hear the break in the girl's voice, he touched her shoulder comfortingly. Emily bit back a sob, and let out a rattling breath. "I don't understand, why… why would she?"
"So many people died in this house. Why not make it two more?" Wren's threat broke the silence between the pair, and Emily's vision clouded in anger. Spencer was frozen in panic, whispering something in her boyfriend's ear. Toby, however, seemed to be looking past the man holding the gun and, indeed directly at the door she was cowering behind. A hint of a hope seemed to pass over his face, and he murmured something back in her eyes. Taking this as her cue, Emily burst through the door her weapon held aloft.
"Everybody stop!" she yelled. Alison turned, her slightly widening eyes the only betrayal of her surprise. The darker girl pointed the gun at the blonde, before training it to the doctor. "Put down the gun, Wren." Spencer saw his focus shift from her and Toby to their two friends in the doorway, and she snatched the opportunity. Darting forward, she grabbed hold of Wren's arm and twisted it mercilessly. With a cry, the gun clattered to the floor. Throwing her off him and nursing his injured wrist, Wren fixed Spencer with eyes filled with rage.
"You..." He lunged forward, clearly intent on causing serious damage to the slender brunette, but Toby got there first. His fist connected with the Briton's skull with a sickening crunch and Wren crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Emily stepped over his prone form, training her father's weapon at the two girls.
"Go and sit on the couch," she yelled, a slight tremor in her voice. Alison's lip curled, but she did as she was told and Melissa followed. "Caleb call 911." The boy obeyed wordlessly, taking a step back to use his cell.
"Is everybody ok?" Hanna burst into the room, her fingers tight around Sarah's forearm.
"We're fine, Han," Spencer rasped, her arm snaking around her boyfriend's waist.
"Oh thank God, Spence we found you." Spencer smiled weakly, tilting her chin up to look her boyfriend deeply in the eyes.
"You did." He mirrored her expression, his hands falling from her shoulders to her waist as he leant into her gentle kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and raked her fingers through his thick hair, reassuring herself that he was real. They were together again. And she loved him so much. They withdrew from the kiss, and Toby looked down at her lovingly as he drank in her beauty.
"Spencer I-" The silence was shattered with a shot, and a scream. Toby flung himself in front of his girlfriend, sending them both flailing to the ground. Emily looked wildly around to locate the source of the shot. Wren. He'd regained consciousness and had the abandoned gun clasped between his fingers, and was raising his arm to shoot again. She didn't think twice.
Emily pointed to gun at his head, and pulled the trigger. Silence.
Hanna looked across at her friend. Emily touched a spot of blood on her forehead, and the pistol slipped from her trembling hands. Her eyes flooded with tears, and she swayed slightly as if about the collapse in shock. Caleb was at her side in an instant, prising the weapon from her and guiding her to a seat. "Is everybody okay?"
Spencer sat up, adrenalin pumping through her veins and making her heart beat dizzyingly fast. "Tobes? I think you just saved my life, babe." She crawled over to her boyfriend who was still sprawled out on the floor, probably in shock. She touched his shoulder, causing his arm to fall slack and reveal a dark, growing stain of red against his side. She screamed in anguish. "Toby!"
"We need an ambulance!" Caleb was yelling down the phone. Hanna flew to her side and grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her up. Spencer could hear her shouting but her words didn't register. She shrieked again, pushing her hands desperately against the wound in attempt to stop the blood loss.
"Toby, no please!" His eyes were sliding shut, his face blanching. Blood was leaking through the gaps between her fingers. Her screams dissolving into gut wrenching cries, she fell forward onto him. "Toby!"