"No!"
BANG!
Spencer's body thrusted back violently from the force.
Everything seemed to slow down. Her head was flooded by a drowning daze, all sound reverberating in a chamber of echoed silence.
It hurt…
There was a piercing sting radiating from her chest, as if sending out a distress signal to the rest of her body.
Drenched…her hands…she didn't realize she had told them to move.
She lowered her head searching for where her hands had landed. But whether it was the darkness of the room or the enveloping vignette of her vision, she could not make out the extent of her injuries.
She felt it though, that much she knew.
And then, time snapped back.
A steady, shrill ring hollowed out her hearing. She stumbled awkwardly down the hallway, arms outstretched wading through the darkness. Desperately she grasped, clawing onto a railing, the grooves of the wall panel, then to a door frame – anything to keep her body upright and her mind grounded.
She was still in danger. She had to keep moving.
Her legs felt heavy yet flimsy as she willed them forward. With shaky hands and even shakier breath, she pulled herself through a doorway with dizzying steps. She hoped she was nearing an exit. She didn't know how much longer she could hold off the darkness.
"Hel…" she tried to call out, but her chest protested with an unforgiving lurch. A new wave of pain flooded her body. Her eyes shut involuntarily as she went into a violent coughing fit spouting up blood. When it finally passed, she opened her eyes and tried to reclaim control only to have a kaleidoscopic scene wash over her vision. A hot, pulsing numbness overcame her body and she crumpled sideways in a freefall. Her shoulder slammed into the floor clumsily. The pain was overwhelming and for a moment, she thought the darkness would win.
She laid there on the floor, breath hitching and yanking her chest upwards in a painful jerk every other second.
Breathe… Breathe…
It was taking a conscious effort just to breathe.
Then she heard footsteps on the creaky floor.
You can't give up. You have to keep moving.
Breathe… Breathe…
With renewed resolve, she applied more pressure to her wound. And with whatever strength she had left, she began her agonizing crawl forward, alternating between pushing off the hard floor with her hand while her unsteady legs propelled her body through the pool of her own blood.
Breathe… Breathe…
With every inch forward, a fresh stream of blood seemed to pour down from her chest.
"Is that you, Spencer…hiding in the corner?" Jenna called out as she entered the room pointing her gun, "I smell your blood."
Spencer tried to keep moving but she hit something solid.
It was a dead end. There was nowhere to go.
"This is as much for me as it is for Charlotte."
Spencer tried to silence her ragged breaths, hoping Jenna would miss. But it was useless.
This is how she was going to die…alone. Her friends still in peril. Never getting to say goodbye. Never getting to be with the one she loves…
Toby…
His name brought her a tinge of comfort and Spencer readied herself to face death.
But suddenly Jenna screamed before falling to the floor with a thud. A dark figure emerged from behind her unconscious form. Spencer squinted to see who her savior was, but as the figure came into the light, her relief dissipated.
Mary Drake came into view with Jenna's gun in hand.
Panic filled Spencer's eyes. Her brain shouted at her to move but it had lost all command of her body as she sank closer to the floor slowly giving in to gravity.
Breathe…
Breathe…
What is she doing here? What is she going to do to me?
Spencer heard a low hum as Mary approached. Mary took hold of Spencer and cradled her head onto her lap. Spencer instinctively struggled against her grip but Mary's firm but surprisingly gentle touch kept her down. Mary brushed away Spencer's blood-stained hand that listlessly hovered over her chest. Instead, she used her own gloved hand to reapply pressure to the wound that was still bleeding freely. Spencer gritted her teeth from the contact, but she was grateful to be relieved of the responsibility of stemming the blood.
Breathe…
Breathe…
It was so cold.
Mary was humming? A lullaby…strange.
Over Mary's voice, Spencer heard a faint sound.
What was it? It sounded like voices…somebody familiar. They were looking for something, no, someone…it was her name they were saying S…
"Ssss!" Spencer hissed interrupting her own thoughts as her body jerked. The pain. It was burrowing further into the cavity of her chest. The adrenaline had worn off, and now she was ever more attuned to her nerves on fire.
The voices…they were getting louder but softer at the same time. Desperate.
They came running. Spencer saw them one by one.
First Ali, and Aria.
Then a brief pause…
The others? Where were the others?
Spencer's heart leapt in fear and she choked out a gasp. But as she turned her head slightly, she saw another blonde form enter her view.
Her vision was getting blurry. It was getting harder to breathe. She didn't have much time left, but she had to be sure first.
And finally, she heard the unmistakable sweet voice…
Emily.
If but for a moment, Spencer's chest felt whole.
Breathe…
Breathe…
Safe. They're all safe. Good.
Her throat was so dry and she could feel herself slowly suffocating. She shivered.
The pain…it was excruciating. Her head…it was getting hard to think, hard to hear, hard to focus.
Spencer's eyes darted to try to lock onto an anchor point. They found…
Mary. It was foggy. Her lips were moving. She was saying something. It seemed important but the sounds…they were fading.
Spencer's eyes began to slowly roll back.
Breathe…
Br-Brea…
And in a cruelly peaceful way, her eyes fluttered shut.