Boys and Their Toys
They’re piled into the car, Aria and Mona having been relegated to the cargo bay to try and make enough room for everyone.
“I feel like I have glass in my hair,” Emily says, as Alison obligingly runs her fingers through Emily’s dark tangled locks to check.
“Food first. We’ve never solved a mystery on an empty stomach,” Hanna declares.
“You’ve never solved a mystery, period,” Melissa points out.
“Well I’m not in the mood to just sit here and wait for motorcycle man to come back and try again,” Charlotte announces, turning the key in the ignition and starting the car. The doors lock automatically, and the steering wheel spins to the right all on its own, guiding them back out onto the road.
“This isn’t good,” Spencer opines. “My car doesn’t usually drive itself.”
“What are the chances it’s taking us somewhere harmless?” Aria asks. “Maybe a dog rescue? Or a bookstore?”
“More like a cliff,” Mona theorizes. “Or it’ll smash us into a telephone pole or something.”
“Charlotte,” Melissa says, “Switch places with me. If they know you’re in the driver’s seat -”
Charlotte’s eyes widen, and she stands and awkwardly slides over to the passenger’s side. Melissa buckles herself in behind the wheel. She grabs the gearshift and tries to switch them out of drive, into neutral or reverse. She stomps on the brakes and tries removing the key from the ignition. Nothing. She starts pulling wires out from underneath the dashboard at random, but nothing stops the steady progress of the vehicle, which seems to be gaining speed and heading back towards town.
“Should we try to jump out?” Hanna asks. But of course the windows are all locked and going out the conveniently shattered windshield would mean the car would run them over almost instantly. Mona and Aria are groping around for something to use to try to break the back window out when the radio console lights up. A message scrolls across the screen that normally displays Spencer’s satellite radio information.
IT ENDS TONIGHT.
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Before they can formulate any kind of cohesive plan, the car is hurling them at top speed back to the town square.
“Are we headed where I think we’re headed?” Spencer asks.
“Where it all started,” Charlotte nods.
The church looms in front of them, the bell tower a dark silhouette against the sky.
“It’s Ezra,” Emily whispers. “He hacked my GPS just like this.”
“It’s not Ezra,” Aria insists. “This isn’t his style.”
The car slows and rolls to a stop. Melissa unbuckles her seatbelt and prepares to hop out of the shattered windshield when the doors unlock. They exchange dubious glances and cautiously climb out of the possessed vehicle.
Lorenzo and Toby, out of uniform but dressed in matching dark suits and holding identical shotguns step out of the shadows.
“You two again?” Alison asks, rolling her eyes. “You’re so forgettable, I didn’t even wonder where you went.”
“Get inside,” Lorenzo growls. “Now.”
Toby is sporting some cuts and bruises on his forehead. Spencer puts a hand on his elbow as they walk towards the front door. “I don’t want us to end like this,” she tells him. He looks at her suspiciously, without responding. She brushes a hand through his hair. “Do they hurt?” she asks, her eyes on his injuries.
“Not much,” he answers.
“How about now?” she asks, striking him in the head with her closed fist at the same moment she knees him in the groin. He goes down hard. Alison and Melissa try to rush Lorenzo, but he fires his shotgun at Spencer, and the rest of the Liars hit the ground.
The shell whizzes past Spencer’s head, so close that it ruffles her hair, leaves a heat trail millimeters away from her ear. She turns and looks at Lorenzo defiantly, then spits in Toby’s face.
“Boys and their toys,” she says, scornfully. “You don’t scare me.”
Toby swings his shotgun, burying the stock in her ribs as hard as he can. Spencer gasps as she feels the swift sharp pain, as the crack of at least one rib sounds sickeningly through the quiet of the square at this hour.
“Maybe you should be,” Toby sneers, wiping his face on his sleeve. Aria, still limping a little herself, steadies Spencer as they head inside.
The sign in front bears an ominous message: “Hell is empty and all of the devils are here.”
The interior of the church is lit by hundreds of candles. Eight empty coffins are spread out in front of the altar, with large portrait sized pictures of each of the Liars above them, Charlotte at the center, and Melissa and Mona on each end.
“This is a little melodramatic, don’t you think?” Alison asks, her voice echoing through the empty pews.
“Why is your Homecoming Queen picture so much nicer than mine?” Melissa asks Hanna, studying their photos. “Did you have it retouched?”
Lorenzo locks the front doors and takes up a position to guard them. Toby does the same with the side entrance.
The organ starts playing, although there’s no one seated in on the bench. The strains of Bach’s “Ode to Joy” break over them.
“I think it’s Wren,” Aria whispers, worried.
“He’s not big on religion,” Spencer replies.
“Other than thinking he’s God’s gift to women,” Charlotte adds. “But he helped me. When I was in Radley, and after I faked my death - he helped me stay in hiding. He put me in touch with Melissa. He could have killed me a hundred times.”
“Please be seated,” a familiar voice instructs from behind them.
A figure appears, in full church vestments, scattering leafy strands of palms on the floor as if Easter is coming early.
It’s not Wren. It’s not even Ezra. It’s the smiling face of Sean Ackard, his eyes lit with religious zeal.