I'm super excited for this chapter - like I said, it's one of my favorites, especially the beginning. Thanks to my usual faithful reviewers, and the few people who favorited/followed this story as well. I'll update again once I get five or six reviews, or by the end of next week, so let me know what you think!

Chapter 21

"Hi. I'm here to visit a patient."

Unfortunately, I do recognize the nurse today. Her name is Sybil, she was Mona's favorite nurse when she was a patient here. She looks up at me and breaks into a smile. "Viola. It's nice to see you again."

I smile back at her. "You, too. I'm here to visit Spencer Hastings?"

Sybil turns to the computer and types for a few moments. She prints out a visitor's pass and hands it to me. I clip it to my shirt, feeling a wave of déjà vu. "That's funny. Your sister was just here this morning."

"I know." I follow her down the hallway leading to the recreation room.

"She's doing well." She pushes open the door, gesturing for me to enter.

I wince a little, doubting that, but nod to keep up the appearance. "Yeah, she's fine."

Sybil walks over to a girl with wild, frizzy hair, sitting with her back towards us at the piano. "Spencer," she says quietly, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. "You have a visitor."

Spencer turns, and I hold in a gasp. She looks terrible, worse than I could have imagined. But I guess that's what happens when you have a complete mental breakdown in the middle of the woods and have to be taken in for a psychiatric hold.

Sybil leaves us alone, and I walk over, smiling. "Hey, Spencer."

She looks at me cautiously, clearly wondering how much I know. "What are you doing here, Viola?"

I grab one of the folding chairs from a nearby table and pull it up to the piano, glancing around the large, dull room that I am too familiar with. "Well, I'm not here for the nostalgia factor, that's for sure."
She lets out a laugh that sounds more like a bark. I can tell that she's not comfortable with me being here. "Mona told you I joined the team," she says. It's not a question.

I shift a little in my chair. "Yes. Right when she got home. And I'm guessing she told you that I'm already on the team?"

"No," Spencer says slowly, still tapping away melodies on the piano. "I came to that conclusion myself." There's a note of humor in her tone that's making me a little uneasy.

I hesitate for a moment, pressing my lips together. Spencer deserves to know the truth. And if she's on the "A" team now, she might already know. "About what happened in the woods – "

She cuts me off. "Toby's alive. I know. Mona told me." I smile for a moment, relieved, but it fades at her accusing look. "Did you know what was going to happen that night? Were you in on it?"

Of course she would think that, but I'm still a little offended. I shake my head earnestly. "No. Honestly, I didn't. I was just as surprised as you when we found the body."

We sit quietly for a second, while she plays the piano somewhat serenely, and I work up the nerve to bring up the real reason why I'm here. I take a breath and blurt it out all at once. "Why did you join the team?"

She stands up from the piano and walks over to the couch, obviously trying to put off answering. I follow, sitting down across from her. She looks at me and smiles sarcastically. "Because I love ruining people's lives."

I roll my eyes, even though I really shouldn't have expected a straight answer. "No. That's why Mona's on the team."

She leans forward in one quick motion, her eyebrows shooting up. I push myself back a little. Something about Spencer's behavior seems a little erratic, and it's freaking me out. "And you," she says quietly.

I tear my gaze away, fiddling with my hands. "That's not true." I can't believe this. I came here to drill her, to find out what's really going on. And now it seems like the tables have turned.

"Then why? What's in this for you?"

For a moment, I debate telling her the truth. Should I trust Spencer, now that she's officially on our side? The best solution is to be as vague as possible, I decide. " 'A' doesn't just have information on you four," I tell her, lowering my voice as a nurse walks past, glancing over at us. "I have secrets of my own. Secrets that I don't want getting out." She leans back against the couch and glances up at the ceiling. "Your turn," I insist. "What's your motive?"

For some reason, I expect that she'll tell me this time. Maybe it's because I just confessed my own reason for playing this horrible game. So I'm surprised when she laughs and says harshly, "Why do you think I would tell you that?"

"Whatever," I snap, because I have a feeling that asking a third time won't get me anywhere. And anyway, the atmosphere of this place is making my skin itch. I need to get out of here. "I just wanted to stop by, see how you're doing…" I smile, thinking of one last way to turn this back on her, and judging by her expression when I speak my next words, it works. "Welcome you to the team."

…

I think my favorite part of most schemes is the initial stage of planning, when I can still convince myself that this is not really happening.

I'm done with my part for the day, which was to make a design for professional looking invitations, so I'm currently stretched out on the sofa that's crammed in the RV, flipping through a magazine.

Spencer is sitting at the computer a few feet away, doing something techy that I don't understand. She was released from Radley yesterday, after choosing to stay for a few days after her seventy-two hour hold ended. I'm surprised that they didn't want to keep her longer. She still seems pretty jittery to me.

"You gave your friends the invitations?" I ask, mostly to break the silence. I already know the answer, but I'm bored.

She nods, still typing away. "They'll all be there."

"Good," I say just as my sister walks in.

She fills a mug with coffee, then pushes my legs down off of the couch and sits down next to me. I resist the urge to shove her off. "We like your plan," she says to Spencer. "You'll get your reward on Friday."

I grin a little at this. The reward is that Spencer is finally going to be reunited with the very much not-dead Toby.

Mona smiles, taking a sip of coffee. "Those bitches are finally going to get what they deserve."

I shiver. She has been very excited about this plan since Spencer came up with it the other day. "You're freaking me out," I say, snatching the mug out of her hands. "You don't need this." I take a big gulp, even though I don't like coffee that much, and hand it back. "I have to go. I'll be back later."

…

The Thornhill Lodge is huge and beautiful, just like everything else that the Hastings family owns. It's the perfect place to hold a soiree…too bad that's not really happening.

What's really happening is that Aria, Hanna, and Emily think there's going to be a soiree, to celebrate Spencer's release from Radley. But when they get to the lodge, they're not going to be met with caterers and ball gowns. They're going to be met with us.

That's where the plan gets a little fuzzy for me. I know that Red Coat has something planned, something in store for all the girls. Something big is going to happen tonight, and I can't figure out if I'm excited or terrified to find out what it is.

I'm standing in front of the mirror in the lodge's living room, braiding my hair, when Spencer delivers the bad news. "They're running late," she says, checking her phone.

"How late?" I ask, flipping my braid in front of one shoulder and adjusting the hood of my black sweatshirt.

Instead of answering, Spencer leans over to Toby and kisses him. I glance at Mona and we both roll our eyes, on the same page for once. "They're on their way," Spencer answers finally. "That's all I know."

"She's expecting all of you to be here," Mona says, oddly nervous for someone who is usually calm to a frightening extent. It's making me a little jittery, myself.

Spencer sighs. "And we will be."

"You have no idea what she's capable of, Spencer. Trust me. You don't want to disappoint her."

I flinch at this. Lately, my curiosity toward Red Coat's true identity has been basically eating me alive. Maybe tonight's the night that I'm finally going to find out who she is…maybe that's the plan.

"I saw them getting ready," Toby interjects, showing us a video on his phone, of Hanna, Aria, and Emily standing in Hanna's kitchen, dressed in fancy dresses and heels. "And I have the video you asked for. They don't suspect anything."

Mona pulls her burner phone out of her pocket, dialing a number. "How far away are you?" she asks after a moment. I strain my ears, but I can't make out the voice on the other end. "It's safe for you to land. It's finally about to end. You're getting what you always wanted."

"Red Coat's flying here?" I demand once she puts away the phone. I roll my eyes and scoff, "That's inconspicuous."

Mona ignores me, as usual, turning on Spencer. "She doesn't know the others aren't here yet."

"I told you, they're coming." Spencer looks unfazed, at least until my sister grabs a large flashlight from the table.

"Why don't we go for a walk while we wait?"

She smacks the flashlight against her hand, and I feel myself go cold. This was not supposed to be part of the plan. What is going on here?

Toby reaches out, grabbing the flashlight. "I'll take care of Spencer."

He grabs her arm, and she gasps, her eyes widening. "Toby?"

Mona looks giddy. "I know how you feel, Spencer. It sucks to be lied to."

"Get up," Toby growls, yanking his girlfriend up off of the couch.

"I believed you!" Spencer cries, but allows him to pull her up. She struggles against Toby, who is holding the flashlight with one hand and her arm with the other. "You won't get away with this."

Mona smirks at her. "I'd say 'watch me,' but you won't be here to see it."

"Mona!" I scream as Toby pulls Spencer out the door. "What the hell? He's going to pummel her with a flashlight?" My heart is beating hard in my chest. I rush over to the door, but they've disappeared. I wouldn't have agreed to this plan if I knew that Spencer was going to get hurt.

I think back to that night several weeks ago, when I first discovered that Toby was on the "A" team. He told me that he was a double agent, that he was only doing this to protect Spencer.

Was that all a lie, to get me to believe him, or is there something going on here that I'm not aware of? Spencer did seem a little lackluster in her resistance, and I really can't imagine Toby beating her over the head with an oversized flashlight.

"Come on," my sister says, pulling up her hood. "She's landing soon."

I press my hand to my stomach, doing the same. "Fine," I say quietly, and follow her through the doorway.

But we don't get very far before Hanna appears out of nowhere, directly in front of us. "Going somewhere?" In the next instant, Emily comes in from the next room, and Aria rushes down the stairs. Their fancy dresses and heels have been switched out in favor of dark clothes and boots. We're trapped.

I have never seen Mona so furious. "You're making a terrible mistake," she snaps, trying to dodge Hanna.

"That's not how we see it," Emily says, moving to block the other doorway.

"That's because you don't see! You have no idea what's going on here."

"We know enough," Aria says sharply, even though they clearly don't, because I don't even know enough, and I'm in on this.

"Guys, seriously," I beg, looking at each of them in turn. "This is not a good idea. You need to get out of here."

For a moment, the three girls just look at me. I see hurt in their eyes and tear my gaze away. They hadn't realized that I was on the "A" team, I figure, suddenly feeling terrible all over again.

But really, they should have.

There's silence for a moment, as all five of us stare each other down. I'm just starting to wonder what's going to happen next when I feel heat on my back. I whirl around, my mouth dropping open, but no scream comes out. A fire is blazing right outside the windows. The others turn, their expressions turning horrified. "What have you done?" Mona cries, stumbling back.

"We have to get out of here, come on!" I rush down the hallway, away from the fire, the others following. Was this the plan all along? Was this all a trick, so Red Coat could burn us all to the ground and have the game all to herself?

The fire is spreading fast, beginning to consume the large room. I pull out my burner phone, holding it up, but the signal is gone. Emily is doing the same thing, and apparently gets the same result, because she screams out, "Mona, try your phone!"

She fumbles with it for a moment, having to yell above the sound of the crackling flames. "Nothing!"

"How can you not have a signal?" Aria demands, walking back and forth aimlessly. "We saw you make a call!"

"It's her, don't you get it?" Mona yells, in a complete panic now. "She can do anything. She's everywhere, and she's nowhere."

"Was this her stupid plan all along?" I finally chime in, racing down the hallway to the door at the opposite end. "To burn us all to death?"

Hanna shoves past me, grabbing the doorknob. "Come on, let's get out of here." She yanks the door open, and we all shriek, leaping back as we are met with a complete wall of fire.

I shove past the others, running back the way we came, but the other door will not budge. "It's locked!"

Mona lags behind us, looking on the verge of tears. "We're gonna die. We're all gonna burn."

"Shut up, Mona!" Hanna screams, pulling frantically at the locked door.

"I'm never gonna know who she is."

The room is probably near ninety degrees, but my entire body goes cold. "What?" I demand, whirling around.

"What did you just say?" Aria gasps. The raging fire is temporarily forgotten.

"Red Coat," my sister cries. "I don't know who she is either."

I feel like I am going to pass out, and I don't think it's just from smoke inhalation. I would kill her, if we weren't all about to die anyway. "I can't believe this!" I shout, grabbing her arm, partially to keep myself upright. "Are you kidding me right now?"

"You guys, we have to get out of here," I hear Emily say, but her voice sounds distant and foggy. The fire swirls on either side of us, the thick smoke filling the hallway. I cough, my lungs burning and my vision beginning to tilt. The last thing I'm conscious of is my knees giving out.

...

Next chapter, Viola and the others deal with the aftermath of the fire.