Chapter Eleven

You're Still Mine, Bitches

Jason stopped a few feet away from the white door in the psychiatric wing of the hospital, the one with the burly, bald security officer standing right next to it. The man stared at him, his gaze cold and calculating. Now that he was here, Jason didn't know what he was going to say. His brother, his twin brother was in that room, the one he hadn't seen in years. His memory was still a bit hazy on the subject, there were things he still couldn't remember, but he remembered Charles. The proof was in the child's baseball cap he clutched in his hands.

"Hey, are you lost or something, because this room is off-limits," the security officer called to him, in a not-so-friendly tone.

Jason looked up at him and took a step forward. "Actually, I'm here to see Charles Dilaurentis," he cleared his throat. "I'm his brother, Jason Dilaurentis."

The officer shook his head, "I'm sorry, I have orders not to allow anyone access to Mr. Dilaurentis, except for hospital personnel."

"I know and I understand, but," Jason said, sliding the hat into the back pocket of his jeans. "Here's the thing, I haven't seen my brother in a really long time and I don't even know if he remembers me, but I...I just want to talk to him. I don't have an ulterior motives, I just want to see my brother."

The officer's stern demeanor didn't change, which was why Jason thought he was going to say he wasn't allowed in, but then, his posture slackened and his head dropped. "I could get in so much trouble for this," he seemed to say to the floor. Then, he looked up at Jason. "I know what it's like to be estranged from a brother, except I never got the chance to tell him how I really felt."

Jason stood up straighter, hardly believing what he was hearing.

"Which is why, I'm going to go down to the cafeteria and get myself a cup of coffee," the security officer said. "I'll be gone no longer than ten minutes and I'll expect to find this room exactly the way I left it."

Jason didn't respond, because the officer didn't expect him to. He watched as the officer backed up and then finally turned around. Jason didn't move until the officer had disappeared around the corner. He took a deep breath and stepped up to the door, peeking through the small window. Charles sat on the bed inside the room, his leg dangling off the side. He wore white scrubs that made his skin look pale and a silver handcuff on his left wrist, attaching him to the bed rail. A breakfast tray sat untouched in front of him as he stared down at his hands.

With a shaky hand, Jason reached out and touch the door handle, turning it automatically. The door opened with almost no sound and he let it slide open all the way, his hand falling back down to his side. He walked into the room a few steps, his shoes squeaking on the shiny linoleum floor. Charles didn't even look up as he approached, if he heard him at all.

"You can take this away, I'm not hungry," Charles said, his voice hoarse, as he pushed the tray away.

"Charlie,"

Charles stiffened at his childhood nickname and the familiar sound of his brother's voice. The tension was thick as Jason waited, waited for his brother to look up. Finally, Charles did, his identical blue eyes hidden behind strands of blonde hair. Jason sucked in a breath, knowing the similarities between them, but it was different seeing them after all these years.

"Jason?"

Jason nodded, not quite sure why though and took a couple more steps forward. It looked like Charles wanted to do the same, but remembered the handcuff keeping him on the bed. Neither one of them knew what to say next, there were so many things to say, but yet, where to start?

"We were supposed to leave for summer camp together that day," Jason said, not exactly where that thought had come from. "But mom said, you were feeling sick and couldn't go. I was so excited about the camp that I didn't even notice the tears in her eyes."

"I wanted to say good-bye," Charles replied, weakly. "Dad wouldn't let me out of our room until the lovely guys in white came."

"Charlie, what happened?" Jason asked, he was now standing in front of his brother.

Charles shook his head, his bottom lip starting to tremble. "I don't know," he seemed to struggle at what to say next. "I told mom I didn't want to come out to the party, I just wanted to stay in my room. I already gave Alison her present and wished her a happy birthday, she wouldn't have even noticed if I wasn't even there, but mom was insistent."

He swallowed and adjusted his position on the bed. "He was following me around that whole day, I was trying to ignore him, but then he threatened our little sister. I was only trying to protect her, Jason, I didn't mean for any of it to happen!"

Jason could tell his brother was getting worked up, but he couldn't help to ask, "He? Who wanted to hurt Ali?"

Charles only looked up at him, his eyes glassy. Almost immediately, Jason knew who his brother was talking about and his mouth dropped open slightly. "Charles, no. We were kids—we thought—dad explained to us that he wasn't real. I didn't see him anymore after that, you said you didn't either..."

"I wanted to," Charles confessed, wiping away a tear that had fallen from his eye. "Believe me, I did, but the more I tried to shut him out, the more harsher he got." He seemed to be fighting something inside him as he started to rock back and forth.

"You could of told me, I would have helped you," Jason told him, a bit saddened that his brother hadn't trusted him enough.

Charles opened his mouth to say something, but instead he fell forward onto the bed, screaming out. Jason took an involuntary step backward, a look of horror and confusion on his face. Charles kept screaming 'no' and 'get away', Jason didn't know what to do. A few minutes passed before two nurses came into the room, brushing past Jason. He backed up to give them room to work. One nurse was attempting to restrain Charles, while the other one readied a syringe full of clear fluid. Charles seemed to notice the syringe as well because he suddenly tried lunge off the bed.

"No! I don't need that! Please, I'm fine, I don't need it!" Charles screamed. His eyes flickered over to Jason. "Jason, tell them, I don't need it! I'm fine!"

Jason opened his mouth, but no words came out. The nurse was barely holding Charles down on the bed, called over his shoulder to the other nurse, telling her to hurry up. Instantly, that nurse was on Charles' other side, plunging the needle into his arm. A few seconds later, Charles stopped struggling and slumped against the pillows, his eyelids fluttering half-closed.

Right before he went under whatever was in that syringe, Charles whispered, "Don't let him take me."

Finally, the female nurse turned to Jason. "I think you should leave now," she told him gently. Jason nodded, turning away after giving his brother one last glance. He was sleeping now, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Jason wondered if he was at peace now or if nightmares still plagued him in sleep. He left the room, with his brother's last words ringing in his head.

~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

Hanna poked the slop that was the school lunch with her fork, making a disgusted look. It felt weird to be in school when the night before everything they'd been dealing with for the past two years finally came to an end. They should be out celebrating their new freedom, not stuck in this stuffy, brick building learning which old guy started what war. She looked up at her friends, who were either looking at their phones or eating their bagged lunches.

"Does anyone else think it's strange that Alison hasn't been released from prison yet?" Hanna asked, pushing her tray away. "I mean, Mona's in the hospital, not dead, it's pretty obvious that Ali didn't murder her."

Emily shrugged, looking a bit disconcerted and Aria just shook her head. "There's a delay at the courthouse, my mom's been complaining about it all week," Spencer supplied, her eyes still glued to the newspaper in front of her.

"What are you reading, Spencer?" Aria asked, leaning over to try and take a peek at what her friend was reading. "You've barely looked up from that paper since we've sat down."

Spencer slid the newspaper to the center of the table, her eyes flickering up to her friends. "Take a look," she said. The other three leaned in to read the headline Spencer pointed to.

Mona Vanderwaal: Rosewood's Sleeping Beauty

"Sleeping beauty? Like the movie?" Hanna was the first one to speak, voicing all their thoughts. "So, her one true love has to wake her with a kiss? That's a fairy tale, everyone knows that it's not real." The other two girls looked between both Hanna and Spencer, trying to figure it out themselves.

"According to the article, there's nothing physically wrong with Mona," Spencer explained, paraphrasing what she'd read in the paper. "After a few blood tests though, they deduced that there is a some kind of drug in her system. They haven't been able to identify what kind of drug it is, but they believe that it is somehow connected to her slowing brain activity."

"What does that mean?" Hanna asked, feeling suddenly guilty that she hadn't been to visit Mona since she'd been found in the park.

Spencer sighed, "It means that if the doctors can't find out what type of drug it is or a way to reverse it than Mona could be brain-dead in a week."

It was like all the air had been sucked out of the cafeteria and none of them could move. Hanna suddenly felt very cold and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms to increase circulation. Her stomach reeled and not because of the food. Mona had done a lot to hurt her, but they had come a long way since Mona was masquerading as A. Hanna realized just then, that she considered Mona a friend again.

"I hope that monster rots in jail for the rest of his life," Aria muttered, arms crossed in front of her and hunched over the table. Hanna nodded absentmindedly.

Suddenly, there was a chorus of musical tones as each of their phones went off simultaneously. They looked at each other out of habit, and pulled out their phones. Hanna nearly froze when she read the new text message.

Charles may be gone, but you're still mine, Bitches

-A


A/N: I know this chapter wasn't long, but there was no way I could stretch it out any longer. Any idea as to who this new A could be? Hmm? Good news, I am working on a trailer for this story that should be up on Youtube in a few days. I'll post the link here, when it's finished. Also, the next chapter will be a little late because I'm going to write and post a quick Halloween story for the holiday. Just wanted to let you all know. So, with that said, please review! :)