Have not been here for a very long time. Has it really been almost six years? So, sorry for not adding any chapters recently. A very long period of time.
Trigger Warnings for mentions of violence and sexual abuse and severe mental illness
I've come to realize that Courtney basically needs to come with her own trigger warning. Courtney, as I have realized, given her very screwed up upbringing in Radley and how little affection she got as a result, she thinks very lowly of herself. She basically thinks, because she's mentally ill, she's screwed up. As a result, she will say many things about her mental state. Very self-deprecating things. And they won't be very respectful of the mentally ill. Then there's the whole consent thing. Courtney just doesn't understand it.
In other words, Courtney is basically a walking, talking, breathing, giggling, cursing trigger. So just an all around trigger warning for her presence in general.
And warnings for manipulation, a child abuse as well.
And a severe trigger warning for a child being offered the chance to be given a gun. Yeah, a kid potentially handling a gun.
Chapter 31: Such a willing puppet
Alison stared down at the message and heard the footsteps coming toward her from Cece and Spencer's direction. Her heart fell and her eyes shot up to Spencer, wide, blue eyes nervous and riddled with unsettled thoughts mounting. "Ali?" Spencer asked, immediately trying to figure out what was wrong. Cece began walking toward the younger blonde, and Alison, in a panic, pressed on the message till the menu came up with the "delete" option. She pressed the "delete" tab fast and the message disappeared within seconds.
Cece narrowed her eyes, seeing the action. She walked over and looked at the phone in Alison's hand. She saw no text except the usual ones from that blocked number. Cece thought about the hand movements she had just seen. Alison had just deleted something. But what?
Cece looked at Alison curiously and the younger smiled, putting the phone away. "It's fine." She said, turning to Spencer, "I just got a text from Noel saying he met up with the others." Alison trained her face to be absolutely neutral. But the suspicion appeared strongly in Spencer's eyes. Alison averted her eyes from the brunette and turned to Cece. The older girl tilted her head slightly. Alison could see the words dancing in Cece's blue eyes. You're hiding something from me, Ali.
Alison looked up defiantly at the older, thinking about how squirrely Noel and Cece had both been acting last night. And you're hiding something from me.
The battle of wills lasted for what felt like five minutes before Cece turned away, sighing. She turned to Spencer. "I'll get you home. I know you don't trust us, but you need to get back to school today, don't you? Unless you want to draw suspicion to yourself." Spencer nodded hesitantly. She had no idea what had just happened with Alison, but knew something weird was going on, if that little staring contest between the two blondes was anything to go by. "What about the recording box with the footage of Hanna and Wilden?" Spencer pressed, "And what about the other USB drives with the NAT club recordings on it?"
"We'll take care of it, promise." Alison said, shoving her phone back into her pocket. "We'll destroy the recording box and we'll transfer the footage from the USB drives onto mother drives." Spencer looked like she was absorbing this, but looked more determined. "Let me see you destroy the thing. I want to see for myself that you'll do it." Cece looked at Spencer, startled, and laughed. "Alright. I guess if that will make you trust us more."
Alison shifted, trying to stop thinking desperately about how Courtney might know Spencer. How much contact had they had in Radley? Had Wren hurt the both of them? Was that why Courtney was as deranged as she was? Alison's blood ran cold and her teeth clenched at the thought. Wren. She wasn't sure she could uphold her self-installed rule that she wasn't going to hurt him anymore. If he had hurt Spencer or Courtney…
Alison's teeth tightened. She was frankly surprised she hadn't heard any cracking from her teeth yet.
Her mind was distracted when Cece called out, "Ali? We should destroy this, right?" Alison looked up at the still inquiring Cece and turned to see Spencer and Maya watching her. She felt flustered a moment, but kept her emotions in place, not showing any embarrassment. The recording device right. A thought then struck her, thinking about the document that they had on Wren and his time at Radley. They had been so concerned about covering things up for the girls and having things they could use against the enemy, that they hadn't thought about what they could use as a means of helping the girls legally. The legitimate way.
"Alright," Alison said, looking at the other girls, "We'll do that, but Cece, can I talk to you a moment?" Cece looked curious for a second and nodded, smiling and Alison's heart fell, realizing that Cece was thinking that her younger sister would open up to her about what she had been keeping. Alison looked at the other two. "Just a moment. We need to talk." Spencer was still eyeing the two of them, and Maya lifted an eyebrow but respected that they had their own stuff to speak of. Alison pulled Cece over to the bathroom. When they were away from the other two girls, Alison whispered to Cece, "Don't destroy that box just yet. Or at least until we know for sure that Hanna and her mother are out of the clear." Earning a confused look from the older blonde, Alison sighed, "Cece, think about it. We need that footage. What if someone finds out what happened to Wilden? We need a defense for Ashley Marin. That footage, does it have Wilden threatening Hanna? A child? In front of said child's own mother? Does it show him reaching for his gun?"
Cece thought back to the footage. "Yeah, it does." Along with the footage of Charles grabbing Wilden, Cece thought to herself uneasily.
"Right," Alison nodded, "Good. Then we have something we can help Mrs. Marin with if she's caught. It was self-defense. We use this."
"And if your honey wants us to destroy it?" Cece pressed, waiting for the answer, nodding to Spencer in suggestion, smirk only on her face to distract her own tenseness. Alison grunted at Cece's way of referring to Spencer, but knew her sister had a good point. Spencer wanted them to destroy it and she wanted to see it destroyed.
Alison looked at Cece and said in a low voice, "There's something inside that box, right? We can just destroy the box and make her think it's destroyed. Keep the footage."
Cece tried not to bit her lower lip at the demand. She knew that it was a great idea. Showing evidence that it had been self-defense, should it ever be revealed that Ashley Marin had hit Darren Wilden? That was a great idea! But here was the thing, she and Charles were on that footage too. Well, Charles was on it, and her voice was on it. If they could avoid playing it at all while detaching it from the box that it was in, that would be really helpful.
"Do we have to watch it?" Cece groaned, "There's only so much of that creep, Wilden's face that I can deal with seeing."
Alison smirked. "Don't worry about it. We don't have to. We just have to make Spencer think we're destroying it. Help me get it out of the box. We'll figure out where to hide it after Spencer gets to school. And we have to hide those USB drives, fast."
Cece smiled, relief flooding her that that excuse had worked. Great. Now hopefully they could get the footage hidden. And they really needed to see who was on those USB drives, assuming Charles had been honest about that at all, which she had serious doubts about.
Alison turned to Spencer and Maya and called out loudly, "We'll get you both to your houses. Spencer, you want this destroyed?" She held up the recording box. "Alright then." The blonde smiled at the other girl, "We can do that. Just give me a moment." A moment long enough for Alison to pull the actual footage out of the box and deceive Spencer anyway. Alison knew maybe she should feel guilty for this, but she'd explain it to the other girl later. They needed to move now. "Cece, get Spencer to school." She gave the older blonde a pleading look and Cece dropped whatever questions she had ready in her arsenal to throw at the girl and just nodded.
Alison turned to Spencer. "I don't think I need to tell you that we're risking –A's wrath if you mention anything about me to the others at school today," She quietly told Spencer.
Spencer nodded, still looking doubtful about everything. "What exactly do I tell them?" She asked. Alison paused, unable to answer. The text Courtney had sent had been clear, but last night…Courtney had implied that she wouldn't mind if there was a way she and Spencer found to tell the others about Alison still being alive, just as long as it wasn't directly telling them or texting them.
Alison tried not to laugh. It was a game. That was it.
This was a game that Courtney wanted her sister to play. Courtney was playing with her.
Alison felt a strange, jubilant smile cross her lips. She shouldn't be so happy about this, should she? But she was. She felt like she could be laughing over this. In her own, sick, messed up little way, unless Alison was misinterpreting what her other half had said last night during her "visit," then Courtney was inviting her sister to play a game that involved subtlety and using loopholes. This was a game. This was Courtney being a mischievous little sister.
Alison almost laughed, but kept a restraint on the sound that would have more than likely startled the hell out of her companions.
She tried to keep her smile from growing and keep a neutral look on her face. She glanced at Cece, Spencer and Maya, noticing their inspection of her, all of them looking curious about what she was thinking. She chuckled, forcing her muscles back into place into a peaceful smile, trying to calm the bout of excitement that was stirring in her. Her sister wanted a game. She would have it then.
"It's fine." She mumbled, knowing, even if she did tell Maya and Spencer about Courtney, or Cece about what exactly had been said to her by Courtney in her encounter with the other girl last night, she might not truly be able to convey why she was so excited. She wasn't sure she understood it either. She forced a serene look as she regarded Spencer. "Promise it's okay," She lied, but she wasn't entirely sure it was a lie, "I was just thinking." That part wasn't a lie. "I'll bring the box to you when you meet with us again. We'll destroy it in front of you then, promise. But right now we need to get you to school. Unless we want people to get suspicious. One of the two of you need to get her to school." She nodded to Maya and Cece. Considering Cece had hung around Spencer a few times and Maya was Emily's girlfriend, them driving Spencer to school wouldn't be too suspicious.
Cece maintained a calm and cool appearance somehow. She knew that if she wasn't careful, Alison would start asking questions. Questions she wouldn't be able to answer. She forced a well-trained mask, a mask that wasn't at all unlike Alison's own mask that the girl wore every day to fool those around her that she was either untroubled or with her victims, feigning helplessness and baiting them into attacking her-then unleashing a set of blades of her own.
"Understood." Cece offered. She turned slowly to Spencer, making the brunette look to the older. "So," Cece said, forcing a teasing smile onto her lips, "I guess it's time I drive you to school then, huh?"
Spencer held Cece's gaze, then she looked to Alison. Alison saw the question in Spencer's eyes. What about you? Are you just going to disappear again?
Alison smiled at Spencer. "It's alright, Spence," She promised. "You'll see me again. Soon." Her smile widened. "In fact, now that you know about us Redcoats? There's more of a chance that you'll see me. If you want to contact any of us Redcoats, want to get us alone, then you know who to contact. Noel."
Alison watched as Spencer absorbed this information. She saw those beautiful brown eyes stare at her, freeze in their sockets. Alison chuckled, shaking her head. "I know that's not what you want to hear. But sorry, Spence. I need you to tolerate Noel. Even if you don't trust him? Trust that he benefits nothing by ratting you out to –A. Trust that he gains nothing by hurting you and the other girls. Because he doesn't. He certainly won't do anything to hurt me. And hurting the four of you will hurt me. Trust that at least, even if you don't trust him."
Alison could see the troubled contemplation go across Spencer's face. Eventually, much to Alison's relief, Spencer nodded.
Alison smiled. She met Spencer's eyes and said in a gentle voice, "I know my promise doesn't mean much to you, but I promise I won't disappear again, okay?"
Spencer didn't say anything, just nodded. Alison tried not to let her disappointment at the doubt in Spencer's eyes show. She forced her smile to remain. She added, remembering what Spencer had asked about what she should tell the other girls, and wanting to distract her thoughts, "You could tell them plenty of things. That you're helping Cece with some clothing or setting things up. You could say that Cece was showing you around where she used to live around here while going to Rosewood High. There's a lot of things you can come up with. I'm not going to tell you what to say."
Alison waited for Spencer to interpret that as "I won't help you," which was not what Alison meant at all, but suspected that Spencer would see it that way. She meant it as "I don't exactly have the right to tell you what to say." But Spencer would interpret it how she wanted to.
Thankfully Spencer showed no offense, just nodded again. She still looked uncertain, but said nothing. "I'm going back with Maya, okay?" Alison smiled, realizing that this might be the best way to earn Spencer's trust. If Alison wanted Spencer to start trusting her, then she'd need Spencer to do what she wanted in order to feel comfortable.
"Do what you want, Spence." Alison answered, "I trust you." She added at Spencer's frown and at seeing Spencer starting to turn back to Maya who started heading to the door, a perturbed look on Maya's face. "And Spencer?" Spencer turned around, curious. Alison continued, "We're not the enemy. I promise we're not. I know that's hard to believe, but it's true. If you really are still not trusting us in a few days, consider getting to know some of us." Alison offered another smile, "You might find we're not as bad as you think we are. I promise we're not a bunch of black hoodie wearing stalkers." Even as she said it, she felt like she had just walked into a trap.
No, dumbass. She thought to herself, You're a bunch of RED hoodie wearing stalkers. Not to mention thieves, arsonists and stone cold killers on top of everything else.
Alison fought a sigh. Right. If Spencer chose to say something like that, then Alison had walked into that one, hadn't she?
Spencer however, hadn't commented. Alison watched as she contemplated Alison's words. She then turned and walked to Maya, joining her. Maya opened the door and headed out, Spencer following her. Spencer turned her head and watched Alison and Alison wondered if Spencer thought this would be the last time she would see her. Alison didn't want to think that she had caused Spencer that much pain and distrust, but she knew she had. And it hurt knowing. Then again, she deserved it, didn't she?
Alison gave a small wave to Spencer as Spencer went to Maya's car. They got into the vehicle and drove off.
Alison turned to Cece who still looked like she was trying to figure Alison out. "You're hiding something." Alison said at last.
Cece nodded. "So are you, sweetie," Cece said, "But I doubt I'll be able to get it out of you."
Alison sighed, smirking. She was right, of course. And there was no way that she'd get anything out of Cece. Like her, when Cece had a secret she intended to keep, she kept it locked up tight.
"Well," Alison said, "We need to figure out what to do with that recording box. Then we need to speak with Noel." What she didn't say was, And I need to figure out how Courtney, Spencer and Wren are all connected, before I break my frigging brain.
Cece sided up next to Alison and leaned down, whispering into her ear, "And at some point, we need to talk about your little…discussion with Courtney outside, last night."
Alison froze, feeling her heart hammer. Shit. Cece had heard that. Had she expected anything else?
(Page break)
Courtney shifted her eyes to the window of the cottage. She saw no rapid movement or any indication that anyone was going towards the front door. Good, she might have some time alone with Patrick. See how much influence she had over him. She turned back to the curious Patrick, kneeling down slightly to his eye level. "I did miss you, little guy." She lost her smile. "I'm sure you've been told a lot of not nice things about me."
Patrick frowned, nodding, brown eyes sympathetic. "Yeah," He said quietly, "Noel, Ali and the others told me. But I don't believe that you're bad. You're not a bad person. Not if you love Ali. That's what you said last time, right?"
Courtney's smile came back, going wide. "Yes, Patrick. I do love Alison. Very much. That's why I'm hoping you'll help me."
Patrick stood straighter then, alert. "Me help?" He asked, voice hopeful, "Like going to fight the bad guys?"
Courtney smirked. "Well, aren't you a little warrior?" She chuckled, "You want to fight people that will hurt your family?" Patrick nodded, a vigilant look on his face. Or as vigilant as a young boy that hadn't yet gotten to his eleventh birthday could look, Courtney imagined. "Alright then." Courtney's smirk softened somewhat. "How about this? I'll tell you something important. And you promise me that you'll do what I ask, when I eventually ask something of you."
Patrick hesitated, deflating for a moment. "What if you tell me to do something bad? I think you're a good person, but my family always tells me that people are complicated and sometimes good people do bad things."
Courtney was not deterred. Her smile just widened. "And your family's very smart for telling you that. But don't they do bad things too?" She stepped closer to the concerned boy. "Doesn't your family commit crimes because they need to? Haven't they killed people too to protect each other? I know things too, Patrick, just like your family does. I know that sometimes, your family has to do terrible things to protect each other. To protect you." Courtney made sure to keep her voice even, stepping closer, eyes narrowed, a gentle smile still adorning her face.
She watched as Patrick's innocent brown eyes watched her with awe and interest. She picked her next words carefully.
"You want to protect your family too, don't you? And you want to protect Alison. Does it matter what else happens? Why should it?" Courtney cocked her head, still smiling. "Didn't you come from an abusive home?" She watched as the boy tensed and let loose a quiet whimper. She forced herself to be apologetic. "Oh hey, I'm sorry, sweetie. But it's the truth, isn't it?"
Patrick nodded, sniffling, eyes cast to the dirt. "Yeah." He whimpered. He looked up again at Courtney and for a moment, she almost thought she had a heart when she saw how pained the boy looked. "My dad used to hit me after my mama died. But…" Patrick's countenance brightened, "But now my family takes care of me. My dad-I mean, big brother Noel rescued me. He brought me here and made sure I was taken care of." Courtney tried not to smirk at the boy's Freudian slip.
It was as she suspected. Patrick saw Noel as a father, not as a brother. She withheld a laugh. That might make him a bit easier to lure to her side, mightn't it? The stronger the relationship, the bigger the reason Patrick had to side with Courtney, so long as she made him think that he had something to gain. "That's great," Courtney said, leaning down slowly, now at Patrick's level. The boy was strangely small for someone who was ten. He was probably going to grow to be a short height when he got older. Either that or he'd have one hell of a growth spurt.
She was at eye level with him and her voice came out in a calm, soothing tone again, "That's wonderful. But that's my point. Your real family did what they had to in order to protect you. I would do the same. Surely, if it was needed, I would hurt anyone that tried to hurt you." She smiled at him, earning another big smile on the boy's part. "And," Courtney added for good measure, "I'm sure you would hurt anyone that hurt your family, including Ali. I'm not going to tell you to do anything, sweetie, I promise," That wasn't a lie. She really wasn't going to tell him to do anything. She was just going to…suggest something. "But I'm going to inform you of something important. About enemies of your family, of Ali."
Patrick's head lifted, eyes now narrowed in attention. Courtney smirked. Such an attentive little soldier. Those types of people made the best pawns. They were called soldiers for a reason. People to pull the strings of, manipulated by the hands of their masters. Courtney opened her mouth to begin, when the front door of the house opened and Courtney let out a hiss, hiding behind the wide tree so she wasn't seen. She could see knobs of the tree sticking out that she could use to climb it if the dog came running out at any point. The door closed and Courtney peeked her head out only a little to inspect who had just exited the building. She saw a tall, slender young man with golden hair that she had seen before. She recalled him being called "Duncan." Another brother of her dear Ali's?
Duncan looked at Patrick, confused. "Patrick? What are you doing out here? I thought you were getting something for Zoomey." Courtney's heart raced and her whole body tensed. Her hand went to her pocket, ready to put her mask back on and pull her hood over her head again if she needed to hide her identity, should Duncan spot her. She nervously glanced at Patrick, her whole body tense.
Patrick however, didn't say anything, just faced Duncan and called out, "I'm going to go to the shed for a little while. Is that okay, Dunc?"
Duncan cocked his head at the boy and nodded, smiling. "Alright, kid. Do you want me to come with you and help?"
Patrick just smiled and shook his head and Courtney personally was impressed by the boy's ability to appear normal, despite there being someone he knew nearly nothing about behind him, hiding, "I want to try out some drawings on my own, if that's okay. Can you and Jack play with Zoomey? I don't want him to get lonely."
Duncan chuckled, nodding. "Okay, little guy. You know to stay nearby? Within the fence, right? The alarm will go off if you step outside." Courtney smirked. It was a good thing she had taken precautions with that before breaking onto this ground, otherwise there would have been a very unpleasant sound surrounding her. Patrick nodded again. And Duncan leaned down, picking up a short rope with a red rubber ball attached, again, Courtney assumed that it was for the overgrown, excitable, slobbering ball of fur that was back in the house and the man walked back through the door, closing it.
As soon as he was out of sight, Patrick turned back around to where Courtney was hiding. "It's okay," He said quietly, as if he was the dangerous stranger and not her, "You can come out now. He's gone." Slowly, Courtney slipped out from behind the tree, pulling her hood back and stuffing her mask back into her pocket.
"Thank you." Courtney said quietly, surprised at how genuine her voice sounded. She really was thankful to this brat for covering for her. Sure, she was gonna use him and him covering up for her probably was just a sign of how good a pawn he was, but that was some quick thinking on his part.
Patrick smiled. "It was nothing. I like you. I like having friends. I know what Ali and the others have said about you. But I don't believe it."
Courtney smirked, thrilled at how easy this boy was. "You see me as your friend, little guy?" Courtney asked, hopeful. All too hopeful because the more this boy saw her as a friend, the more likely he would be to believe what she said.
The boy nodded again happily, looking towards the right end of the house.
"I've been wanting to go to the shed for a few minutes now." Patrick pointed over to another small structure, smaller than the house and Courtney observed the darkened windows and the deep brown wood that the structure was crafted from.
"There's artwork in there?" Courtney asked curiously, looking down at the boy. Patrick nodded, gesturing for Courtney to follow him as he started walking and the white-blonde haired girl pursued. As the two walked along the property getting close to the shed,
Patrick elaborated. "There's a bunch of paintings and drawings in there that some of us worked on. I draw in there too. I'm not really good at it, but I try."
Courtney smirked, more than happy to use Patrick's ego. "I'm sure that's not true, little man. I'm sure you're perfectly good at drawing. It just takes some practice. Let me see some. I'd like to see your work." She smiled in what she hoped was a genuine way at Patrick. The boy beamed excitedly and seemed to increase his walking speed toward the shed. Courtney planned carefully. If this boy was already taking a liking to her, then just maybe a few more nice little lies and he'd be willing to do what she said in a heartbeat.
Patrick went to the door of the shed and opened it, hand going to the wall and flipping what Courtney assumed was the light switch, florescent light filling the room. Patrick turned to a wall, plastered with pages and pages of drawings and paintings. The doorway was tall and wide, giving Courtney who was already slight of frame easy access to the shed and its contents. She slipped inside, looking around the room. There were toys scattered all over one side of the shed. A foosball table, an air hockey table and a small pool table here propped up against the wall, four pool cues on top of the table. Courtney smirked, wondering where this family had stolen those items from.
There was no way they could have bought them without bringing up some questions, or risking expenses. Then again. She knew there were some members of this family that had money, like the blind lady, Noel and perhaps Cece Drake. Maybe they had bought them. Maybe the boy, Noel had tricked his parents or brother into buying them and then had pretended to throw them out, bringing them to Patrick and Jack instead. And if Courtney was completely honest, she didn't know that many of the Redcoat members. Only a few. It was possible more than a few of them had money on them for these kinds of things.
Patrick's voice caught Courtney's attention. "These ones are mine!" Patrick proudly announced. When Courtney turned to him, she saw he was pointing to the closest, left corner of the wall. Courtney eyed the papers, seeing the bright colors of the dried paint. One painting was of two people. True, the drawing wasn't sloppy by any means, (Courtney was actually quite impressed at the boy's drawing ability,) but she couldn't quite make out their faces. But she could see that they were a man and a woman. The man was large, with blonde hair and black clothing. The other was a woman with long black hair and bright gold clothing and a purple sash. Courtney narrowed her eyes, confused. That woman, she had on clothing she had seen only in some movies that Charles had shown her, and on the Internet while trying to make sense of the world that she had been brought back into by her brother, after he broke her out of Radley.
Given that she had been locked up for so long, she had no idea what the world was like. So for years before moving in on the girls in Rosewood, Courtney had been all over the Internet, looking up things. Including different culture clothing. That clothing that the woman was wearing? It was Southeastern Indian. Courtney cocked her head, looking at the painting. She looked over at Patrick, pointing at the specific painting. "Who are those two supposed to be? That man and woman?"
Patrick followed the girl's gaze to the painting. "Oh, them?" Patrick asked, a small smile crossing his face. "That's uncle Wolfgang and auntie Kala." Courtney bit her lip, troubled. Wolfgang. Kala. Had she heard those names before? She tried to recall what she had heard so far, both from surveillance and from her connection with Alison and think about it. She didn't recall those two particular names.
"What about the other paintings?" Courtney tried, looking at the works of art next to "Wolfgang and Kala's painting."
"Oh," Patrick beamed, grinning, getting closer to the paper plastered wooden wall, "This one is of aunt Riley." He pointed to a painting with a young woman with white, long hair. Her mane bearing a few stripes of blue in it. This "Riley" was leaning over some papers in concentration and writing. "This is uncle Lito and uncle Hernando. Lito is like Riley, Wolfgang and Kala." Courtney eyed the new painting, one of two men dancing together, a black-haired man had his bespectacled face buried in another's neck.
What Patrick had said caught Courtney's attention. She looked at the boy. "Like Riley, Wolfgang and Kala?" She echoed, "What does that mean?" Patrick's eyes widened and he immediately closed his mouth, paling. It was as if he realized he had said something that he really shouldn't have said.
Courtney fought her need to smile. Here was something important, she could tell. Patrick was about to spill a very important secret. "Hey, Patrick," Courtney said in an overly sweet voice that it even sickened her, "We're friends, right? You can trust me. I won't tell anyone. I promise. How are Lito, Riley, Wolfgang and Kala all alike? I swear, I won't tell anyone." She gave her most sincere smile, which wasn't easy for her to pull off, but she did. She could watch the uncertainty in Patrick's eyes as he shifted his gaze back to the drawings.
He hesitated and began to speak, "Well…you can't tell anyone, okay?" With a final nod from Courtney, he began, "Do you know what a Sensorium is?" Courtney frowned, not sure she understood the question. Maybe it was just because she had all these voices in her head, but she couldn't quite understand what he meant. She felt like the term "sensorium" was an actual real term. But by saying "a sensorium," he was talking like it was something else.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean, kid." Courtney admitted, troubled by the fact that there was something in this world she didn't understand.
Patrick nodded and said helpfully, "Sometimes, there are people that are born at the exact same time as seven other people. And somehow they're connected." Patrick smiled and he looked excited, as if so happy to share this sort of secret with someone he considered a friend. Courtney didn't even have it in her to be amused by that. She couldn't quite make anything out of what the boy was saying. Just what was he saying? People being connected…
Thankfully, Patrick was continuing, "They could live in all these different countries, but the eight people would still be connected. They'd see what the others would see. Taste their foods. Feel their pain sometimes. Feel their loneliness." Patrick's bright brown eyes flickered with sadness, as if remembering something and his eyes shot to another painting, this one of a woman with short black hair, in a brown garb, standing in what Courtney deduced was a garden or something, kicking her leg out, right arm out in a type of defensive fashion. She was doing some form of martial arts. Courtney knew there was a story behind this, but she waited for the boy to spill. He was already being so helpful. Patrick spoke again, looking at the floor. "The Sensoriums, they're a type of human beings. Different from us. There's eight of them in all. Lito, Wolfgang, Kala, Sun, Riley, Capheus, Will and Nomi."
Courtney opened her mouth, then closed it. She should have a response, but she wasn't sure she could. Her mind started searching. The boy didn't look like he was making this shit up.
Was he like her? Was he mentally ill? If he was, that might mean that he could be manipulated even more easily. She said nothing, however, not wanting to damage the relationship that could get her further along with knowing more about the Redcoats.
"Okay," Courtney continued cautious, "These Sensoriums? Are there more of them besides these eight? You said this happens sometimes. Are there other groups of Sensoriums?"
Patrick nodded, smiling, "Yeah. They're called Clusters. There are more of them than you think. And not all of them are as good as Lito, Riley, Wolfgang and the others." Patrick shuddered a little, as if remembering something awful. Courtney furrowed her eyebrows. For the first time, she was worried. Was this boy's condition tormenting him, as her own hurt her sometimes? Hallucinations of torture or mind games?
She ignored her sympathy. She needed information, not to feel sorry for someone. That was an inconvenience. This boy was a puppet. Nothing more. Patrick didn't seem to notice Courtney's new conflict as he kept talking, "One of the Sensoriums that aren't like the people in my family, they were hunting Nomi for a long time. Nomi had to hide all over the place in San Francisco before leaving with her girlfriend, Neets, and going to Maine to meet with Riley, Will and Ali."
Courtney blinked at this information. Wait…this was starting to sound familiar. "Nomi," Courtney repeated, "What is her last name? What is Neets's girlfriend's full name?" Come to think of it, when she had been helped out of Radley, there was a story she had been following on the web.
Patrick supplied Courtney's answer, "Marks. Her name's Nomi Marks. And Neets, her girlfriend is named Amanita."
Courtney considered what she heard. Maybe there was more credit to Patrick's story than she had originally thought. She knew about Nomi Marks and her girlfriend. Some organization called BPO had been looking for them. Specifically looking for Nomi, because according to them, the woman had some type of medical condition that needed to be taken care of. Then one day, Nomi and Amanita and everyone they knew just vanished. It was like they had gone underground or something. Their last trip supposedly had been to Maine. Courtney then considered something else. Wait, BPO? Wasn't there a lab they had had in Iceland?
Courtney remembered. During one of her transferences of seeing through her sister's eyes, she had seen that her sister had been busy blowing something up in Iceland. It was one of the reasons why she always had to laugh at her sister's claims of honor. Her sister was a murderer, whether she wanted to admit it or not.
And hadn't there been a story on the news about BPO's labs being attacked by some terrorist organization and being blown up? Courtney looked uncertain. There was indeed something strange going on, even for her. "Patrick, I have a question," Courtney began, looking at the boy carefully, "Does BPO have anything to do with this?"
The boy's head snapped up, eyes huge. "How did you know?" He asked, stunned.
Courtney smirked, "I've heard stuff over the news. I heard there was a lab up in Iceland that was blown up. Now my sister wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would she?" Patrick now looked nervous, like he knew he shouldn't say the next words. So he just gave a small nod. Courtney sighed. This was going to get complicated, wasn't it? She knew for a fact that her sister had been in Iceland. She knew that her sister had, or had helped blow a facility up. But she just hadn't known why.
Maybe Patrick wasn't making this up.
Maybe he wasn't mentally ill after all. After all, she could occasionally feel what Ali felt, right? And Ali could sometimes feel what she felt. So was it possible?
Deciding to get more information, Courtney continued, "Now, these Sensoriums, do they have anything to do with our sister, Ali?"
Patrick's eyes lit up again happily and he nodded. "Yeah! Ali went to Maine for a while. And Riley and Will were there. Will was asleep the whole time because he had a bad Sensorium in his head." Courtney watched, fascinated as Patrick shuddered, as if thinking of something particularly horrible. "Whispers." He mumbled.
Courtney cocked her head. "Whispers?" She repeated, curious.
"Yeah." Patrick said quietly, looking up at Courtney, "That was the name of the dark Sensorium. Whispers. He was horrible. I never met him, thankfully. But he was bad." Patrick turned back to the drawings, still looking sort of queasy at what he was thinking about, "He was in uncle Will's head for a long time, till he was killed." His face twisted in disgust. "He sent another Dark Cluster after the Sensoriums, and Ali. It was really bad. Ali got hurt by one of them, with these iron claws on the Sensorium's hand." Courtney's eyes narrowed at this information.
People had hurt her sister? Or Patrick had imagined that they had? Courtney would admit that her and Alison's connection was a bit foggy at best. There were times when she'd feel Alison's pain, and sometimes Alison would feel her pain, but sometimes the connection wouldn't work at all. And often it wouldn't work of their own free will.
Patrick went on, "And after everything, after Whispers and the other bad Sensoriums were killed, we all went back to our safe house. In…" Patrick's voice trailed off as he looked at Courtney, as he realized that he might be giving away too much information.
Courtney held up her hand. "It's alright, sweetie." She chuckled. "You don't have to tell me your secret locations. So you guys won, right?"
Patrick nodded. "Yeah. I mean, Ali and the others had to some really awful stuff to make sure we survived, but Whispers and his people were going to kill all of us if they didn't. But we're all safe now!" Patrick gave a big smile and Courtney was still unsure about whether or not this boy was making this all up. She just nodded, ignoring the giggling voices in her head. She would go along with this boy's flights of fancy till she figured out any valuable information.
"And this family of yours," She continued, thinking about the train of events this boy was claiming happened, "Try to keep you and the other kids in your group safe from harm or from battle?"
Patrick nodded and before he could say anything else, Courtney added, latching onto his forlorn look, "Why would you want to be involved with fighting if Alison and the others had to do such awful things to make sure you were all safe?"
Patrick frowned and shrugged. "Because then they wouldn't be alone. Then I could do something too!" Patrick's bright brown eyes gleamed with conviction. "I could fight our enemies too." Courtney fought her smirk. Good. This was good. Very good. The boy wanted to fight. And his voice and appearance was anything to go by, he might not care who the enemy was. He'd be easy to manipulate. Good.
Courtney smiled. "I'm glad to hear that you feel that way, Patrick. Because Alison might be in danger sooner than you think." Patrick's smile fell and the boy backed away, jaw dropping a little in fear.
"Ali," Patrick mumbled, "Is…is she hurt?"
Courtney shook her head. "Oh no, sweetie. Not at all. But she might be in danger soon. Allow me to explain. Alison has come to a point in her life, as I'm sure you know, where she believes that killing should only happen in the worst situations. The worst situations and only the worst situations. But Alison might not always know when she's in true danger, would she?"
Courtney could almost hear Patrick's heart skip a beat at this information in alarm, his head rising as he stared at the girl in front of him in question. Courtney smiled at the boy, more than sure that she appeared gentle. Gentle enough to lead him onto the path she desired him to venture down. "Patrick," She said gently, "I don't want to upset you, but what I mean to say is that Alison might not always know what is best. She wants to do the right thing, but doing the right thing might come at a cost. You see, Alison doesn't want to believe that she'll have to kill regularly. But she might have to, even if she doesn't know it. What I mean is that people close to Alison, people that she loves and trust, are most likely going to betray her."
Patrick almost whimpered when he heard that and while Courtney almost thought she felt a glimmer of guilt for what she had just told him, she knew that the noise he made only was evidence that she had his attention on this issue. "I'm sorry," She said, and she thought that if she didn't know any better she might have thought that she actually meant what she said, "I didn't say this to upset you. I'm saying this because I'm worried about our sister. I want her to be as safe as you want her to be. But I'm afraid Alison might not know that she's in danger."
Patrick's eyes darkened in alarm. "How is she in danger?" He demanded, voice strained. "Who's going to betray her?" Courtney made sure she looked guilty, lowering her head.
"Patrick," She began, voice heavy with sorrow, and she fought her grin, the laughter in her mind growing strong with the monstrous images of how she wanted to slice open Jason, Kenneth and Jessica DiLaurentis in the recesses of it, "I know you don't want to hear this, but it's someone Alison thinks she can trust. People she loves very much." Courtney fought the smugness that was clawing to reach the surface of her mind, the recordings of all the times those four girls had blamed Alison for everything happening to them.
Courtney began again, "Patrick, I'm so sorry to tell you this, and I truly hope I'm wrong, but I believe that the people that will betray Alison are the four girls that Alison is trying so hard to protect back in Rosewood. What are their names again?" Courtney feigned ignorance as well as the desperation on her face, "Spencer, Hanna, Emily and-?"
"Aria." Patrick mumbled, eyes bulging out of his skull. "You're not serious. That's not true. The girls would never betray Alison!"
Courtney again was able to keep herself from smirking, and continued in a sad tone of voice, "I'm sure that's true. But I've heard them say things that makes me a little worried."
Patrick stared at her, appearing more alarmed by the second. "Heard things?" He asked. "What things?"
Courtney now had sad smile on her face. "I'm afraid some very mean things." She said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, turned it on and went to the "pictures" icon.
She pressed the "video" part of the screen and saw her list of videos that she had saved up on her phone.
The video she selected was one she had remembered and remembered well. She had caught them blaming Alison not once, not twice not even three fucking times, but four times. How lucky could you get? She played the video and watched as Patrick paid attention. The four girls were in their room and Courtney had recorded while they had obliviously talked. Hanna was the first to speak.
"I can't believe this," Hanna was occasionally pacing back and forth, staring at the screen with the video of Garrett, Jenna and Ian in Alison's room. "Ali's dead but we're still cleaning up after her mistakes."
Emily was rubbing the back of her neck, looking nervous. Aria shook her head, apprehensive when her words came out, "Well, we know that when Ali laid it on people, she really laid it on them. I mean," She shook her head, knowing that what she was about to say was out of line, but said it anyway, "I know what Garrett and Jenna are doing unbelievable, but I can't really be surprised that they got like this. Because we all know what Alison was like."
Spencer grumbled, "Okay, we need to focus. And not think about Ali's greatest hits. We ALL know what she was like, but we need to figure out what else happened in that room. Alright, w-we know that Alison had the home videos that Ian was making. What were they looking for in her room?"
"I don't know," Aria said, looking at the screen where Garrett held the box and had it opened and looking into it. "But whatever it is that Alison had on them, videos or more, I don't think Alison was able to pay enough for it." She shivered after she said that.
Alison turned off the video, putting her phone in her pocket and looking at Patrick. "There are more if you want to see them." She suggested. Patrick shook his head, looking at the ground, pale.
"There are more of them blaming Ali?" Patrick said numbly.
Courtney nodded, making sure remorse was in her tone, "I'm sad to say it, but yes. I wish there weren't so many videos. But there are. They blame Ali for everything."
Patrick shook his head, face clearly fighting to put resolve back into place. "But that doesn't mean that they'll betray her." Patrick protested, looking at Courtney now. "Sure, they might blame her, but that doesn't automatically mean that they will stab Ali in the back."
Courtney tilted her head, right eyebrow raising up. "It doesn't? Usually when people blame other people for something, it ends with the person that's been blamed being betrayed. I'm afraid human history is full of people doing things like this. But…if you are so sure that they can be trusted, fine, don't believe that they'll betray Alison. But that's what I think. I'm certain they will betray her. However, that's what I've given you. An important piece of information. If I were you, I'd keep my ears open for any information on those girls. That's my feelings about it." Courtney hid her amusement well as she saw the doubt on Patrick's face and watched as he nodded.
"Very good." Courtney said. "Now here's the task I'll ask of you. You can always choose not to do it. But I suggest you think about it. Firstly, Patrick, have you ever seen a gun before?"
Patrick's eyes widened at the question, staring up at Courtney. Suddenly all doubt and nervousness gave way to shock. "What?" The boy asked, stunned.
Courtney smirked. "Have you ever seen a gun before? I've got one. Do you want to see it?"
Patrick's mouth dropped and then closed again. He mumbled, "Here? Now?"
Courtney chuckled. "No, no. Not here. It's at a cabin that belongs to the DiLaurentis family. A revolver that's hidden in the house." She wasn't lying with that piece of information. There was a handgun at that cabin and it was exactly where Courtney had heard Charles putting it last time. She had seen it.
Courtney continued before Patrick could ask anything, "Agree to what I ask of you, when I say that I want you to do it, and I will bring you the gun."
Patrick shook his head, "The Redcoats, we have all the guns we could ever need."
Courtney smiled. "I'm sure you do. But the first rule of pulling off a vigilante crime, little man? Is making sure that there are no witnesses and no evidence. That means that if you want to use a gun, use a gun that isn't tied to you in any way. The gun from the DiLaurentis cabin, it has no tie to you or to your family, except for Ali, and everyone thinks she's dead, right?"
Now Courtney was lying. That handgun wasn't tied to Alison in any way. It was tied to the Hastings family. Courtney had stolen it from Peter Hastings's desk quite a while back.
She had given it to Mona, while wearing a mask and ordered Mona to keep it handy.
Had she known that Mona would use it against Spencer that night Spencer discovered that Mona was -A? Courtney never would have given the bitch the gun.
After Mona was arrested and committed, Courtney had stolen the gun back.
But there was no reason for Patrick to know that, was there?
Patrick, after a second's hesitation, nodded. Courtney grinned. "I won't give the gun to you now. And I won't even expect you to do what I ask. I'll just tell you what I want you to do. You can decide yourself when things get hard whether you want to do it or not. And when you decide, tell me, and I will come to you and give you the gun."
Patrick bit his lower lip, then nodded. "So…what is it?" He asked. "You're…not going to tell me to kill any of the girls, are you?"
Courtney let loose a small chuckle. "Oh, no, no, Patrick. Not at all. I just thought you should know about it, is all. That's my proof of loyalty. Showing you that there are four traitors in our midst. But don't worry, I would never ask you to shoot any of them."
For many reasons. For one thing, Alison wanted the known threats extinguished. She knew she didn't have any proof against the girls, save for the videos. And that didn't amount to much.
For another thing, Courtney knew if anything happened to the girls, Alison would never forgive her. And Courtney knew she wouldn't be able to deal with that.
Then there was the most evident answer of them all. An untrained boy firing a gun near Spencer? Her and Ali's Spencer? No, Courtney could not allow such a thing, could she? She couldn't allow Patrick to accidentally shoot Spencer. So that was a big fat, Hanna-sized, fucking no.
"I want you to shoot someone I tell you to. I won't say who it is now. But when the time comes," Courtney smiles, "I hope you'll be up to the task of protecting our sister."
Patrick looked uncertain, but nodded. Courtney smiled. "Alright. I won't ask you to do anything else. Just think about it, okay? And here's the number I want you to contact when you decide you want to talk more. When you call me, I'll have your number and save it and then I'll call you when I want you to do it for me. You can decide then. How about that?"
Patrick nodded, still looking uncertain. Courtney reached into her pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper that had the number written down on it and handed it to Patrick. Patrick took the paper and looked at it. Courtney said, "Don't lose that number, kid. I didn't call your numbers, because I didn't want to risk there being digital evidence of that number. So hang onto that piece of paper, okay?"
Patrick nodded again. Courtney said, "I'm going to head back to my home now, okay, kiddo? It'll take me a few hours to do so. How about you call me later on tonight? I'll be back by then. That is, if you want to."
Patrick looked up at her and put the piece of paper away in his pocket. He said, "Alright. You're leaving now?"
Courtney nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. Right now I should get going."
"Okay." Patrick answered and came closer, startling Courtney when he hugged her. Courtney gasped at the surprise. Patrick mumbled against her. "Thank you. For looking after Ali."
Courtney smiled and patted the boy's back. "No problem. She's my sister too."
Patrick parted from her and led her outside. When they got close to the edge of the property, Courtney said to him evenly, "You know the deal, right? Don't tell anyone you saw me. And don't tell anyone that you're going to call me, if you choose to call me. And if you do call me, don't tell anyone you did, alright?"
Patrick nodded and Courtney could see the promise in his eyes. The boy meant it. She tried not to smirk. She had chosen her pawn well.
"Very good." Courtney said. "Goodbye, Patrick. I hope we can speak again soon."
Patrick nodded as Courtney pulled out her mask and put it over her face. "Bye, Courtney."
Courtney then bolted quickly from the property, going towards the train station. Patrick's hand traveled down to his pocket and brushed over where the piece of paper was put safely away. He tried not to feel nervous. He wanted to help. But what would Courtney ask of him?
Author's note:
Okay, sorry for the disappearance. My deepest apologies. "Bows down and grovels" -bear in mind, I can't sink down and grovel and more or else I'll start to dig into the Earth's crust.
I'll try to update more often. I will keep everyone updated, in case I can't. But I'll try. And thank you, everyone, for the reviews.
Almost six years. Wow.
