The four girls tentatively walked down the long dark hallway, refusing to let go of each other; Spencer was slightly in front of them, trying to look for any indication of where they were. They followed the lights around a corner and stopped in front of a tall yellow door.
"I feel like Alice, trapped in a room that's too big for me…" Aria murmured under her breath.
"Should we open the door?" Hannah asked, timidly looking at Spencer. Spencer inhaled sharply and grabbed the doorknob. She slowly pushed open the large door.
The girls let out a collective gasp. They were in a room identical to Ali's living room, and in the center was a blonde girl with a mask on, sitting at a large grand piano.
The four girls filed into the room and the door slammed closed by itself. Emily and Aria jumped, and the girl at the piano stood up slowly and ushered them to a couch against the back wall of the room.
"It's tea time" the girl said dreamily. Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hannah all squeezed onto the small couch, refusing to leave each other's side. The girl in the mask made herself busy arranging teacups in front of each of the girls and offering them finger sandwiches. Hannah made to reach for one and Spencer slapped her hand glaring at her.
"What I'm hungry!" Hannah whined, slouching back and grumpily crossing her arms.
"And you don't know who made those and what they have in them" Spencer snapped angrily. "Who are you!" Spencer jumped up from the couch and shouted at the girl in the mask. The girl simply looked up and leaned across the table, moving her face very close to Spencer's. She reached out a tiny finger and pushed Spencer, decidedly, back onto the couch. Spencer fumed and tried to stand up so she could strangle the bitch, but Emily and Aria grabbed her and held her back.
"Careful Spence—" Whispered Aria, who nodded up to the top corner of the room. There was a video camera with a blinking red light "We're being watched…"
Spencer snarled.
"What the hell is going on" she spat. The girl in the mask sat down, her back to the camera, and very slowly reached up to her face and slid the mask off.
"Mona!" Hannah sprung up from the couch and ran to her former best friend.
"Sit down Hannah" Mona whispered tensely through clenched teeth. Risking a small glance at the camera, the light was still blinking, they were still being watched. Hannah pouted and retreated back to her seat on the edge of the couch. "And don't call me that" She said significantly louder nodding at them urging them to play along "That bitch is dead to me" she giggled! "Guys it's me! Alison".
Aria glanced at Emily behind Spencer's back and Emily shrugged.
'ding-dong-ding-dong'
There were 4 chimes. Mona/Alison stood up and motioned the girls towards the door.
"Four chimes means it's game time!" She said, with a smile on her face. She bustled past the line of four friends and led them back into the hallway.
Spencer followed Mona closely, holding onto Aria's hand. Hannah was shuffling as close to Aria as possible, with Emily tagging along behind everyone, looking very suspiciously at the walls surrounding them. They came to a junction, and Mona turned left down another dark hallway. They quickly reached another door, and followed Mona inside. The room they were in now was lined with bookcases containing comic books, toys, magazines, and lots of board games. There was a circular, magenta, table in the middle of the room with a game box in the center, and 5 chairs surrounding it. The girls tentatively took their seats and Mona unpackaged the game.
"It's called the Mystery Date Game" Mona chirped happily "The object of the game is to be ready for your date by acquiring an outfit. Then you get to open the door and find out who your mystery date is!" She beamed at them.
Aria reached over to the board game and pulled open one of the little plastic doors.
"Ezra!" she gasped. The picture inside the door had been replaced with a shot of Ezra from the Winter Ball. She quickly opened the other three doors and found pictures of Caleb, Toby, and Paige.
"I'm not playing this stupid game!" Hanna shouted, scraping her chair backwards and standing up. Mona gave her a terrified look, begging her to sit down.
"ding-dong-ding"
"Ahem—It's mail time!" Said Mona, in a strained voice, giving the girls a large fake smile. She shuffled over to the mailbox next to the door and returned with 5 envelopes. There was one for each of the girls.
Aria opened the black envelope carefully and read her card aloud.
"My house, My dolls, My rules. Or Ezra dies.
With lots of love
-A"
"Mine says that too. Only A threatens to kill Paige in mine." Emily sniffled.
Hannah jumped up once more and glared directly into the camera.
"You've won! Alright- You can have us as your precious dolls. But if Caleb shows up here, if you do anything to hurt him, I will kill you."
"Hannah! No!" screamed Mona, but it was too late. Ear piercing sirens had gone off. The girls clamped their hands over their ears and Mona ran to the door.
"It won't stop till we are all in our rooms!" She yelled, and then ran out back towards her room. The rest of the girls followed down the hallway quickly. They all looked at each other before stepping into their rooms, and the doors slammed shut behind them.