A dull thumping in Spencer's head awoke her from a restless sleep. As she opened her eyes, she did not find the creepily familiar reproduction of her room. Instead, she was sitting in a dark room. All she could see was a window into another room, behind which stood a dark figure. Confused, Spencer tried to get up but looked down in horror as not one limb moved.
Only when she noticed she was hooked up to an IV did she understand what was going on. This was just one of Charles' sick games. Whatever he wanted from her, he was not going to get it.
"Are you that scared of me? Not only am I paralyzed but you're standing behind a glass. You know what they call that? Being a coward!" she spat at the shadow.
"Spencer..." Mona's voice emerged from the darkness and approached her, placing a shovel in her limp hand. She was wearing an Ali mask but the voice clearly Mona's.
It was the strangest thing ever, watching her put the shovel in her hand and not feeling a thing. Mona was having a hard time placing it in her grip so she resorted to leaning it on the chair near her hand.
"Mona, what's going on?"
"I'm not Mona."
She placed a paper on Spencer's lap and took her place in front of her, another sheet in her own hands. Spencer didn't think she would be able to read it from her lap but the large font had carefully been picked to make it visible. Her head was spinning but she tried to concentrate on the words. It looked like a play script but Mona's turns were left blank.
"No one likes you, you know," Spencer began reading robotically, "You hurt everyone you know and you don't even care. Maybe one day someone will do something about it."
"What are you talking about? Are you okay?"
Spencer didn't know if the second utterance was scripted or not, but she felt her eyelids getting heavy. The room was spinning around and soon she was seeing two Monas before her.
"A-Alison, do you, do you know what your problem is? You, uh, you're such a brat that there's no way to fix you. We would all be b-better off without you."
Spencer breathed out heavily. Muttering a couple of sentences had never been so hard.
Mona turned to the glass and the mysterious person came out of the shadows momentarily. Even though her perception was severely altered, Spencer could see someone in a black veil nodding before disappearing into the shadows once again.
Hanna grabbed the neatly folded towel and pile of clothing that had been delivered to her and made her way to the bathroom. Around the same time each day they were each allowed a few moments in the shower. It wasn't long but it was a small relief.
She headed to the usual door down the hall, following the twinkling lights in the hall indicating the path. Once she was in front of it she realized it was locked. She struggled with the handle, thinking it might be stuck.
"Please use the next door," the plastic voice on the speakers advised brightly.
Hanna had never entered the adjoining room and turned the door handle slowly. When she opened the door, she discovered the same white tiles as in the other bathroom. A sharp odor hit her square in the face and it was enough to retreat, but she knew she had to obey. Maybe Charles should hire someone to clean up a bit, Hanna scowled, covering her nose with one of her hands. She set her things down on the counter and caught her reflection in the mirror.
The bags under her eyes and her frazzled expression were no surprise. She felt even worse than she looked. However, when she could take a bath was the only time she could forget. She knew she couldn't stay long but it was the only place Charles didn't have a camera. For that reason, anything that could remotely resemble a weapon wasn't available for their use. The shampoo and conditioner didn't come in bottles but in little single-use sachets. Hanna wasn't sure how a bottle could be dangerous but she was sure it had all been carefully planned to avoid inconveniences.
She wondered what her friends were going through. More than anything, she hoped they were all okay. The only thing that comforted her was the fact that she would be able to see them that night, when the power was temporarily cut. She looked forward to that part of the day with an ardent fervor that was almost sickening.
Grabbing on to the edge of the counter, Hanna closed her eyes. She could feel the all too familiar feelings returning. She tried to convince herself that she was alright, that it wasn't her fault she couldn't figure out a way to rebel. But she had too much time to think about things. Before she could control it, she emptied the contents of her stomach into the sink. Tears streamed down her face as she turned away from her reflection. She quickly wiped them away.
As she reached to open the shower curtain, it fluttered and revealed a pool of blood. Hanna shrieked and jumped back. She was sure there was a dead body in the tub, but she hadn't seen who it was. What was she supposed to do? She ran to the door, but it was locked. Shaking the handle didn't help and she collapsed to the floor. Her breath came out in short gasps and she shut her eyes tightly. The smell invaded her nostrils and she felt like she would be sick again.
Hanna knew she had to draw back the curtain and see whose corpse lay in the bloody water. She crawled over to the bathtub and stood up on trembling legs. Her hands were shaking as she grabbed the fabric between her fingers.
