Mona counted to ten, then counted backwards to zero, repeating this three more times with her eyes shut. All odds pointed to the fact that the picture in front of her would be completely different when she finally did open her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she slowly pried them open.
Nothing changed. The owls still hooted and hollered in the dark night. She could still feel herself shaking from the cold and see her frosty breath rise. She could still see Toby's shocked reaction, his mouth silently forming one name then another.
She could still see Ezra in a black hoodie, one of his eyebrows raised at her expression, laughing, but they both knew that he's not who she was staring at in shook.
No it was Hanna. Hanna, whose eyes usually simmered and shined in mischief. Hanna, who after Mona's first boyfriend ditched her, told her that she shouldn't get upset over a soon-to-be dead piece of meat.
Hanna, who yelled at her for hours after she figured out she was part of the mess that was A. Hanna, who she admired and loved.
Hanna, who currently had a smirk sketched on her face, clad in black much like the rest of them. She laughed at Mona's expression, just like the other unmasked member had, like Ezra had. Memories of a small girl with brunette hair flashed through her head, she wondered if she would be facing the same confrontation.
Maybe with a added gun or knife, for the day that one of the four (three, she had to correct herself) finally figured out the truth of the two members who were deepest into the shadows of this lie.
"Cat got your tongue, eh?" If Mona squinted perhaps she could see the impish glimmer that usually rested in the blonde's eyes, then it disappeared.
Ezra chuckled at the look on Toby's face. "The same goes for you, man." That snapped him out of his daze. "What about Aria?" Toby demanded. The question made something flicker in Ezra's orbs. "Nothing I ever did wearing this uniform was about Aria."
The answer was stoic, she recognised that break in his tone from when Toby talked about Spencer and she knew it lingered in her own when she talked about her friendship with Hanna.
There was something that he wasn't telling her but like she and Toby do for each other, she simply ignores it. Hanna yawned and so carelessly, like she wasn't taking to a room full of capable murders, she asked the others. "So Ezra and I were told to unmask by Reddy, but for what reason?"
As Toby asked Hanna who Reddy was and received "a nickname for Red Coat", Ezra and Mona both received texts. Each telling the respective member of their mission.
As such the blonde's question would not be answered, for the two liars disappeared, blending into the night, fulfilling their duties.
When there were only the other two left, the male turned to the female. "I should tell Spencer." Toby Cavanaugh said.
Hanna Marin answered. "But you won't?" He nodded. "We all have to do things we aren't proud of."
She walked away but paused. "I'm sorry. For everything." Toby simply said. "We aren't good people. We do bad things and our reasons aren't fully good. Still Aria, Emily, Spencer...they don't deserve it. Yet..."
Hanna for once knew exactly what he was talking about. "It makes you feel powerful, entitled."
He nodded once last time. "Till next time?"
She continued walking, but not before she said one more sentence.
"Yeah. Just remember that this is a dangerous game and even if it's fun, we can't let the losers be the girls."
Toby stood by himself and whispered into the crispy air. "Trust me, I know."