Chapter 10

"I'm not sure about this," Alison sounded worried.

"You don't trust Mona," Charlotte guessed.

"I don't know," Alison said honestly, "I trust her to stay away. I just don't know if I trust her with you."

"Ali… I was the one who used her, remember?" Charlotte pointed out.

Alison shifted uncomfortably, "I know. I just don't…" she shook her head, "I don't know. I worry about you being back in that familiar game playing kind of situation."

Charlotte nodded, "I know, I get that. But it's using our powers for good."

Alison smiled, "Yeah, I guess it is."

Charlotte grinned, "So it's okay?"

Alison sighed, "Hey, even if I said it wasn't, I'm not the boss of you. You know that, right? You're an adult and you're free to make your decisions."

Charlotte bit her lip as she nodded, "Yeah, I know… but your opinion is important to me."

Alison smiled, "Same to you."

"Well, the phone that's been texting the girls was a disposable," Mona noted, "No surprises there."

Charlotte nodded, "Can you at least get an area estimation?"

Mona smirked, "Already done. It came from Philly…" she watched her laptop intensely, "Right about… there," she pointed to the map on her screen.

"Well, look up Sarah's address," Charlotte said.

Mona looked at her, "As if I haven't already," she said pointedly, "Stop giving me orders."

Charlotte bit her lip, "Sorry," she mumbled.

Alison watched the interaction curiously.

"I'm just kidding," Mona smiled, "I'm as good as this as you, remember?"

"Sure, you're right. So, did you find anything?"

"She's not listed by name," Mona explained, "Nowhere in Pennsylvania anyway. There's a million Harvey's but no way of sifting through them."

"She's probably with her parents, right?" Alison suggested.

Charlotte frowned, "So, dead end."

Mona rolled her eyes, "You're not giving up that easily, are you?"

Charlotte blinked, "Of course not," she thought for a moment, "Do we know what hospital she was staying at?"

Mona thought for a moment, "Yeah," she typed into the computer, "Ha. Interesting."

Charlotte watched her impatiently, "Care to share?"

"The hospital was in the same grid as the phone's signal… within a few blocks by the looks of it," Mona said, "It's not confirmation but I'd say Harvey's worth checking out."

There was a knock at the door. Charlotte stood up and walked over to it.

"Parcel."

Charlotte took the package, turning it over, "Does it say where it's from?" she asked.

The courier shrugged, "No sender."

Charlotte signed and let the courier go before opening the package. She tensed.

"What is it?" Alison walked over to her.

Charlotte handed the parcel to her; two black hoodies with a note. Game on.

"I'm not playing," Charlotte said stubbornly as she paced the room.

"It's not playing the game, Charlotte, it's using our powers for good, remember?" Mona pointed out.

"Well, it's starting to feel the same," Charlotte snapped.

"Okay," Alison intervened as the voice of reason, "Why don't we just go to the cops?"

"I don't exactly have the best record with cops," Charlotte bit her lip, turning to Mona, "What do you think?"

Mona was surprised by the question, "I think I like doing things myself… and so do you," she said slowly, "But I think whoever this is is trying to tempt you into going backwards with your recovery and that's the most important thing so… I say," she sighed, "leave it to the cops."

"This A… hasn't done anything to hurt the girls, right?" Charlotte asked Alison, "It's just texts?"

Alison nodded, "So far, yeah. It was just Aria first but they've all started getting them… it's obvious whoever it is has been watching them though."

Charlotte nodded, "Okay. Well… I guess it's them who has to go to the cops, right? Technically Inferior A hasn't actually contacted me. Well, other than the hoodies."

Alison chuckled, "Inferior A? That's what you're calling them?"

Charlotte smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, well, it was Mona's idea but I like it."

Mona smiled proudly.

Alison rolled her eyes, "I'll talk to the girls about going to the police. We should probably go in too with that note," she picked it up from the table, "This would have all been so much easier if computers didn't exist," she grumbled looking at the typed note.

Charlotte laughed, "You're such an old soul," she teased.

"Do you mind if I come to the police station too?" Mona asked, "I mean, I'm kind of involved right. Those hoodies… they were obviously aimed at me and Charlotte."

Alison nodded slowly, "Sure. I'm gonna call Emily."

"Oh yeah," Mona smirked, "I heard you two finally hooked up. Took your sweet time with that one, didn't you Ali?"

Alison smiled, as she shook her head, "Yeah, well… good things come to those who wait."

"So then why'd Emily get you?" Mona shot back jokingly.

"I'll be back," Alison rolled her eyes as she walked away.

"So do you see Emily then?" Mona asked, turning to Charlotte, "That must be… interesting."

Charlotte shrugged, "I've seen her a few times. It was awkward at first but it's getting better. She came and saw me in hospital, at my request so I could…apologise."

"And the others?" Mona asked curiously.

"I haven't spoken to them," Charlotte answered, "Ali said Spencer wants to talk to me but Ali wanted me to settle in first and then…this…"

Mona nodded, "Alison really cares for you."

Charlotte smiled, "We're family."

"You know in a different world we probably would have made good friends," Mona noted, "You know, rather than just psychotic team mates."

"Pretty sure I was the boss, not a team mate," Charlotte joked.

Mona rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Well, maybe we could catch up from time to time… if it's not too much of a trigger," she suggested, a little apprehensively.

Charlotte tilted her head, "It's not. I'm just surprised you would want to voluntarily see me. Like ever."

Mona shrugged, "Everything we did was… intense. But you're one of the only people who kind of… get me. You felt a lot of the same things I felt. You've been through a lot of the same stuff and now you're trying to move on. So am I," she smiled, "Plus nobody else can really keep up with me. Do you know how hard it is to find a decent chess partner?"

Charlotte laughed, "Yeah, I do. Ali sucks at chess."

"Oh, thank you," Alison drawled as she wandered back in, "Emily's on her way over. She's gonna get in contact with the others and we'll all go the police station."

"Together?" Charlotte nibbled her lip.

"Is that okay?" Alison asked.

"Sure, I just…haven't seen everybody since I was let out," Charlotte mumbled.

Alison nodded, "I know. But we're all on the same side this time."