ARIA'S POV
Another punch to my face leaves me breathing heavily in pain.
"No...no more..." I barely manage a whisper.
"Oh sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?" Tara stops for a second.
I glare up at her. If I was going to die, she isn't getting her way.
"Hmmp." She says and crosses her arms across her chest.
My instincts tell me to reach up and wipe my bloody nose, but then I realize my wrists are ankles are tied together.
I use my shoulder to wipe what I can. Wincing, I sit up from the cold tunnel-like thing we're in. I can barely see the thin silhouette of Tara in the pitch black darkness. We've been in this tunnel for what seems for hours. Tara kept on walking to the edge of the tunnel and checking whatever was on the other side.
She leans against the very edge of the tunnel and stares forward, her back turned on me.
I wait a few seconds and slowly turn on the ground, my stomach on the ground. Being as quiet as I possibly can, I get on my hands and knees. I slowly start to do some weird crawl deeper into the tunnel. Far away, I can see a tiny light.
I've spent 5 minutes and almost no progress. I finally get the hang of it and start crawling faster.
Bad idea.
My hands slip and my jaw collides with the concrete floor with a sickening cracking sound.
I turn to my side and wince in pain on the ground, tears filling my eyes. I see Tara whip around at the entrance and hurry towards me.
"Trying to escape, eh?" She says sinisterly.
Tara grabs my hair and pulls my whole body back towards the entrance. It feels like my scalp is about to fall off, it's burning intensely. I scream as much as my worn-out voice can.
Tara finally let's go of me at the mouth of the tunnel. She doesn't care to look back at my crippled body.
I curl up on the cold floor, tears of pain streaming down my face. I feel like a weak loser. If Tara wins tonight and kills me, I'm not going down without a fight.
I sniff up all the tears and instantly stop crying. I sit up, and the thing Tara's been staring at all night comes into view.
A huge football field is barely visible in the moonlight. I can barely catch "Northview Lions" written in huge letters on the floor.
"It's about time." Tara says. I can just hear the smile in her voice.
A single figure comes into view. It's only a mere shadow from this distance.
"Aria!" The figure yells and runs towards us.
It's almost too good to be true. "J-Joey?" I whisper, my voice raspy.
"Stay where you are." Tara commands in a cold voice, her arm swinging up with an object in her hand.
Joey immediately stops.
"Get down." She waves the gun down and Joey slowly sits. She puts the gun down, but it's still loaded.
"Give me Aria back." Joey demands.
"Why would I do that? Such an ugly girl like her doesn't deserve someone as wonderful as you!" Tara yells.
"Don't you dare say that about her." Joey spits.
A start wriggling my wrists out of mere boredom.
"Just saying the truth." Tara states.
"Give. Me. Aria." Joey has complete seriousness on his face.
I feel my wrists pull free. I try my best not to move too much. I move my hands around, stretching the soreness.
"No. That would just ruin the fun wouldn't it?"
Joey stays silent and glares at her.
"If I can't have you. No one will." She states and pulls the gun up back towards Joey.
"No!" I scream and my instincts tell me to jump.
Everything is in slow motion. I hear the loud booming gunshot. I use my tied up ankles to its full use and jump forward in front of Joey, arms extended.
The force of the bullet hits me hard, and I fall towards the ground instantly. Out of the corner of my tinted red vision, I spot Tara with the gun on her head, and her lifeless body fall to the floor.
Everything is a blur. My vision keeps going in and out of focus.
Suddenly, I'm underwater. I feel the pressure of the water, I bet I'm really deep. I feel my ears pop, and I hear my thumping heartbeat. I'm running out of air, I know it. I feel a sickening feeling in my chest. Something is dragging me deeper into the water, not letting me float to the surface. I'm sinking, farther and farther. I hear a voice. A beautiful voice. It's female. It becomes clearer and clearer as I go deeper underwater.
"Aria..." It calls.
I see a bright light illuminating the dark water. A woman with flowing brown hair is standing in a white long dress.
"Mom?" I whisper, my voice muffled by the water.
"Aria, I missed you. Come with me, I love you." She reaches a hand out.
I feel a lump in my throat. "I missed you so much."
"Come Aria, come." She smiles.
I hesitate, but reach my hand out towards her.
Off in the distance, I hear another voice calling me, buts it's blocked by the water.
I concentrate on my mom, now shining a beautiful, blinding white.
In a heartbeat, her face switches to a bright read demonic figure.
I scream, and I suddenly realize I'm out of air.
The other voice is now screaming my name. I can hear the male voice clearly now.
I suddenly whoosh upwards, going impossibly fast. I can see the surface of the water now, and the light above it-
"Aria!" I can see Joey's panicked face.
I'm not soaking wet, as I thought I would be. I just came out of water, didn't I?
I look around, and see Luke sitting next to Joey, who's directly above me. Ingrid's on the phone, giving whoever's on the other side our location.
"Aria.. Aria...don't leave me... I love you, don't leave me!!" Joey screams, staring directly into my eyes.
Memories flood through me. The only memory I remember of my dad when I was 2, him leaving the house in a rage. My mom smiling for once. Her beautiful laugh. I feel the physical abuse she did to me when she was drunk. Jade hugging me, comforting me when the kids at school bullied me. She always protected me. The horrific night that I was told my mother is dead. Her funeral. Jade again, telling me it'll be alright. Me leaving to be on my own for a while. Our sad goodbyes. Then I see Joey. I can feel the camera in my hands after I caught it. Sleeping in his bed for the first time that stormy night. The first time we ever kissed. When he asked me to be his girlfriend. The day we spent at the beach together. The first time he told me he loved me. I see Ingrid, Luke, Brittany, all giving me hugs and laughing. I remember the last conversation I had with Jade, telling her about Tara. I forget about Tara. Just deny her existence. To end everything, I see Joey. His smiling face and his laugh, silhouetted against the sunset, telling me he loves me.
I smile. "I don't feel any pain anymore, Joey. I'm happy."
And a blinding white light overtakes me.
