Hello, my lovelies! Welcome to chapter ten of "Sister By ChAnce!" Please enjoy!
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Of course, when everyone told Toby what had happened, he was pissed. In fact, Alex had never seen him so angry before. He was usually the calm and levelheaded one between him and her sister from what she had observed. So to see him so upset was unsettling. And it didn't help that his eyes practically screamed that he thought she was somehow behind this.
And it definitely didn't help that all eyes were on her as she explained to the group how Charlotte was her and Spencer's sister.
Aria scoffed. "Why should we believe this?" she demanded, obviously suspicious. "Spencer would have told us if Mrs. Hastings wasn't her mother and if CeCe was her sister."
Charlotte raised a challenging eyebrow at the small brunette. "Really? And why would she do that?" And that's when, in Alex's opinion, everything went to shit. Aria and Charlotte had started screaming at each other. Hanna and Emily aided Aria in her defense, insisting that they were her best friends and she told them everything. Alex and Toby stood off to the side, with her watching the scene in front of her quietly and him fuming silently next to her.
Finally, Alex decided to intervene. "Alright, all of you stop," she commanded.
What surprised her was that everyone immediately seemed to listen and (even more so) that Toby nodded in agreement. "You all tearing each other's throats out is not helping," he added. "What matters now if finding Spencer, Alison, and Mona."
"If we tell the Hastings what happened, they'll think we had something to do with it," piped up Hanna.
"What if Alex pretends to be her?" suggested Emily. "The Hastings will go crazy if they can't find Spencer, but if they can't find Alex..."
"They won't care," finished Alex blankly.
Emily winced. "Sorry."
Alex shook her head. "No, you're right. It would probably be best for me to take Spencer's place so that there isn't any panic surrounding her."
Charlotte regarded her with concern. "Are you sure you can do that?"
"Me and Spencer are already alike," Alex pointed out. "I just have to learn to control my mouth, I guess."
"Well, what about Ali and Mona?" asked Aria.
"That's the tricky part," Charlotte chimed in. "We don't have any identical twins lying around and Jessica will try to blame Spencer. Either that or people will think Mona kidnapped Ali for payback."
"Then we let them," decided Toby. "Ali and Mona dug themselves in their own holes, right now our priority is Spencer."
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"Ali," whispered Spencer between the space separating their rooms. "Mona. Are you guys okay?" Her entire body ached all over and she could hardly see three feet in front of her. Mona was right when she said this new A was crazy. It had only been a few weeks (from what she could tell) and she was already on the brink of insanity. She had a feeling that even if they did escape, the aftermath of what happened here would be just as draining.
"I'm alive," deadpanned Ali.
"That's not what I asked," retorted Spencer.
"I'm okay," responded Mona. "For the most part, I guess. When is the generator shutting off?"
"In about a minute," Spencer answered. She had figured out numerous things while being trapped here. a) The cameras in their rooms didn't record sound, only the ones in what they called the 'Torture Room' and the 'Heart' did and b) Every night at eleven o'clock, the generator that kept the Dollhouse running shut off for an hour. This gave them time to talk and plan and plot their escape.
She was proven right when the lights suddenly shut off. "Let's go."
The girls met up in the hallway just outside their rooms. "Guys, we have to get out of here," insisted Alison. "I feel like I'm going crazy."
"Same," murmured Spencer and Mona in unison.
"What we need to do," Mona said. "is hit the heart tonight."
Spencer nodded in agreement. "We do. That heart is the only thing that holds any value to A. We hit there and she has no choice but to let us go."
"Or, you know, the bitch could drug us and drag us back to our rooms," Ali muttered.
Mona glared at her. "Do you want to get out of here or not, Alison?"
"Of course I do," snapped Ali. "I'm just saying that destroying what A loves most might just piss the bitch off."
"It might," admitted Spencer, taking the blonde's hands. "but it also might be what frees us."
Alison rolled her eyes, but held her friend's hands tight. "Fine, let's just go."
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Spencer leaned close to the one way mirror as they entered the Heart. "Kiss your heart goodbye, bitch," she hissed as she, Alison, and Mona began destroying everything. There were dolls, toys, and other various child-like things that filled the room. Almost everything was either smashed or tossed into the small fireplace in the center of the far left wall.
"You either let us out, or we burn this place to the ground, A!" added Ali as the fire gradually began to grow.
Mona smirked. "Your choice." In the distance, a click was heard. "Good choice."
"What if it's a trap?" Ali asked.
Spencer looked slightly conflicted. "We'll have to take that chance." The three of them began running to where they knew the exit was. They had discovered it a few days ago, but it was locked, leaving them with no way out. As they reached the door, she looked to the girls beside her. "Are we ready?"
Mona nodded. "Open the door."
Spencer obliged, but tripped and fell into someone's arms. She looked up to meet familiar blue eyes and almost cried. "Toby," she breathed.
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"So, how long were you able to keep up the act?"
Alex grimaced. "Not even two weeks," she confessed. She really thought she had being her twin in the bag, but of course her mouth was what gave her away. "Melissa was actually the one to figure out I wasn't you." She chuckled hollowly. "As you can probably imagine, she ran off to tell your parents as soon as she could. Let me tell you, Peter was ready to send me back to Radley."
Spencer winced from her place in her hospital bed. "That bad, huh?"
Alex nodded. "Yeah. Veronica was the only one who gave me a chance to speak. When I told them you were kidnapped along with Mona and Alison, they went crazy. You should have seen it, Spence. The Hastings' were yelling at the DiLaurentis' and DiLaurentis' were yelling back at them and the Vanderwaal's were blaming both of them."
"Wow," was all Spencer could say.
"Yeah..." Alex regarded her twin. "Spencer, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," answered Spencer curtly, looking away. She didn't want to go into what her sister was alluding that they talk about.
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"
"Yes," snapped Spencer. Her twin was touching a subject she didn't want touched.
Alex sighed, getting up from her chair. "I'll go get Char," she uttered quietly.
"You do that."
Alex left and Charlotte emerged a few seconds later. "I won't pretend to know what you're going through," the blond began, getting straight to the point. "because I don't. I don't know and I probably never will. We don't have to talk about it either." She carefully took her sister's hand. "But I'm here for you, okay? I just want you to know that."
"Thanks, Char."
Charlotte smiled and kissed the top of her head. "No problem, sweetie." She began to get up.
Spencer lightly grabbed her sister's shirt, stopping her. "Char?"
Charlotte looked down at her. "Yes?"
Spencer looked embarrassed. "Can you get Ali and Mona for me?" She knew it was an odd request, especially considering she and Mona were barely acquaintances, but when you're trapped with someone for weeks (a little over a month, she found out), you get close to them. Besides, there were things that the three of them needed to discuss. "Please?"
"Oh, Spence," muttered Charlotte, trying to find an excuse not to do that. "Wouldn't you rather see Aria, Hanna, and Emily? They're all worried about you. Heck, see Toby for all I care. Anyone but them."
"Please," Spencer practically begged.
Charlotte sighed, giving in. "Fine," she agreed.
Spencer sighed in relief. "Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah."
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"Guys, I know what I saw," insisted Mona. "When we were leaving, I saw her. She's not A, but she was there."
Alison crossed her arms in disbelief. "I don't have a twin sister."
"I didn't think that either, you know," Spencer piped up. "Next thing I know, Alex is in my room standing over me. Ali, you have to admit, our family is hiding a lot from us. The fact that you might have a twin isn't that far fetched."
"Then why hasn't Charlotte or Jason said anything?" Ali challenged.
Spencer shrugged. "Jason forgot Charlotte," she pointed out. "And I forgot Alex. Anything is possible, Ali. Are there any imaginary friends you remember having? That's what happened with me and Jason."
Ali thought about this before shaking her head. "No."
Spencer nodded, accepting this answer. "Okay then, go back to your rooms," she decided. "Try to get some sleep. We'll figure this out later." Mona and Alison agreed, both of them giving the girl in the hospital bed a quick hug before leaving. Spencer was alone to her thoughts, trying to decipher if there really was an Ali twin running around Rosewood.
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A week later, the girls were free to leave. Spencer immediately turned down any painkillers and other pills, knowing that using them could turn into an addiction and she didn't want to repeat the past. She felt like she made the right decision, reading up on how easy it was to spiral again. Still, she was haunted by nightmares and random panic attacks during the day.
She and Ali mostly avoided the other girls, actually hanging out with Mona more. It wasn't something they did intentionally, it just seemed to happen. They found that it was much easier to talk to someone who went through what you did. All three of them were slowly pulling away from their friends and family, unable to talk about what had transpired in the Dollhouse.
One day, however, it seemed like their friends had had enough.
When she went down to the living room one day, Spencer found herself surrounded by Alex, Charlotte, and Toby. "What is this?" asked Spencer, warily approaching the three.
"An intervention," answered Toby firmly.
"An intervention," repeated Spencer incredulously. She chuckled, shaking her head. "I don't have time for this."
"You've been pulling away from us," piped up Charlotte, stopping the girl in her tracks.
Spencer kept a straight face. "No, I haven't."
Alex walked up to her. "Yes, you have."
Spencer was about to tell her to get out of her face when Toby spoke, "Spencer, what happened in the Dollhouse?" His voice was quiet and gentle, as it always was when it came to her. But it didn't calm her down like it usually did.
"That's none of your business," snapped Spencer.
"I know I told you that you didn't have to talk about it," Charlotte admitted. "but we have to know, Spencer. You didn't tell anyone at the hospital and you aren't telling us. We have to know what you're going through."
The rational part of Spencer's brain told her that her sister was right, but the emotional side (the side currently in control) was only angered further. "No, you don't!" she yelled.
Alex scoffed. "Oh, we can't, but Alison and Mona can?" She was obviously hurt by the fact that her twin felt she could confide in them, but not her. "That's how it is, huh?"
Spencer glared at her. "Yeah, it is!"
"Why?" asked Toby.
"BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T THERE!" Spencer screeched at the top of her lungs. That stunned the other three into silence. But Spencer wasn't done. "You weren't there, going through everything with me, okay?! You weren't being held somewhere against your will and you weren't tortured for over a month!" By this time, she was full-on sobbing. "Y-You weren't there..."
Toby was the first one to speak, reaching a hand out to her. "Spence..." Spencer pulled away and yanked the door open, taking off down the street before anyone could stop her.
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Aw, my poor baby Spencer. To say a few things, what she, Ali, and Mona went through will be revealed soon. Just wanted to show them escaping first. And can anyone guess who the girl who looks like Ali was? Anyway, please review!