No Escape

The Curtains Open

A/N: This chapter contains violence.

They all entered the theater. Emily's pace was getting impatient and she wanted to get this over with. Whatever -A had planned, though, he or she seemed to be waiting for everyone. Emily felt something roll in her stomach. She wasn't willing to watch Alison die that night. She wasn't willing to watch Alison die at all. All she wanted to do after that fight was move on from the girl who'd strung her along. How could things have escalated in the way they were?

The police assigned to her grabbed her hand when she was starting to walk too far away. Everyone was silent, so despite feeling the annoyance on the grip on her arm, she heard no reprimand. They really were treating this as a crime scene already. Emily's hands fisted. She wasn't willing to think along those lines, yet. Ali was still alive. She could feel the strong hammering of her heart against her ribcage, loosened her damp hands. Her mouth was dry but she tried to swallow, snatching her arm away from the policeman.

The moment the group arrived at the main theater, the lights on stage opened. In the middle of the stage stood Ali, still blindfolded, hands tied behind her back, from what Emily could tell. And a noose, tight around her neck, but loose as it could be seen tied somewhere high above Alison's head. Emily was already running, unaware that the other girls were also doing so against the shouts of warning from the authorities there with them. But the sudden appearance of a pinpoint red light smack dab on Ali's forehead had them all stopping suddenly.

'A little closer and I'll shoot.'

"Ali!" Her name ripped from Emily's throat, unbidden. Ali's head snapped up, and something inside Emily broke when she saw the blonde's face crumple. It was faint, and it sounded resigned, but Emily heard it.

"Emily." Ali started to move her arms, a futile effort against the restraints. Emily was just about to start running again, not heeding the advice of the voice that had bellowed over the theater, when it spoke again.

'You're not here to save her. You're here to choose how she dies.'

Emily felt strong hands grip just above her elbows, keeping her in place. She watched helplessly as Ali struggled, the previously loose rope slowly tightening.

'If you try to save her, I shoot. If you look on, she'll be hung.'

"No!" She felt footsteps around her, and different sets of arms surrounded her. This time they were familiar. "No, no, no, no!"

Spencer's arms were already around her, holding her in place. "-A will shoot her if we move forward. Keep still, Emily."

"And she'll die if stay! Spence-"

'I'll be kind.'

Tears were already streaming down Emily's cheeks. She didn't care about the voice anymore. She needed to go up the stage. What kind of freakshow was -A pulling? He or she couldn't be serious about killing her in front of the police? "Ali!"

Ali had stopped struggling, now concentrating on standing as straight as possible so the rope wouldn't press over her throat.

'For every lie she's told, I'll tighten the rope a fifth of an inch.'

A projector from above them turned on, shining over the stage. Half of Ali was illuminated from the projected image. It was Jenna.

"What the hell is -A doing?!"

"They can't possibly flash all our secrets there, could they?"

Hanna and Aria's voices seemed far away to Emily. But she was lost. She couldn't just stand by, but her friends' arms were tight around hers keeping her in place. Even they had given up. What the hell were the police doing?

It started out slow, the photos, as they flashed across the screen. They were seemingly innocent ones, but the four girls knew what each of them meant, starting from Jenna's picture, to Toby's, to several others that were just being flashed chronologically on screen. And as each picture was flashed, the noose around Ali's head got tighter.

"They need to do something!"

Ali was now on her toes, tears already making their way down her cheeks. A few more pictures, Emily thought, and Ali will be...

-tbc-