Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Tabitha sipped her soup, relishing the peace.
Sitting in a tiny bistro in Philadelphia, she was in her usual spot near the window; watching as the people of the city passed by.
She made a point to come to this place every day at the same time; her usual routine which the staff was used to. The young woman had been coming here for about six months and ordered the same thing, never asking for anything else. Tabitha loved minestrone soup and had gone from place to place in order to find a restaurant that served the kind of soup; finally finding this place in an older section of the city. It was a small family owned business in an old red brick building that had a classic look inside. The floors were made of a brown wood and the walls were painted red with images from Italy on them. The tables were all handmade oak as well as the chairs; giving a nice family atmosphere.
Of course, Tabitha Clark couldn't care less about the family setting as well as the staff; she was just here for the soup. Given her background, family was something that she could never really get into; her only real friends being her dolls. Since she was a fully trained therapist with a master's degree in psychology, the young woman knew she had some sort of mental disorder that needed to be treated. She didn't care though since unlike her patients, Tabitha fully embraced what she was and nurtured it. She was smart enough to manage her disease, even using it to make the world a better place. The young woman was like a gardener pruning an endless yard full of weeds; getting some solace along the way.
Speaking of which, she was surprised that her latest project was taking so long to break; given that the woman was a drug addict like Alice. Unlike Alice though, her victim was an angry drunk whose stubbornness was a shield to mask her inner pain. Tabitha had seen it before in past patients and knew that she just needed to step up her game; maybe even going for some good old sleep deprivation to break the woman. It would be a new thing for her to do since the last two dolls had broke pretty quickly after only a few days of starving them. She had confidence though that she knew what to do since she had just the right reading material on the subject given that she knew where to look on the internet. Charles had also taught her a few things but she liked to do her own research other than relying on someone else's.
As soon as she was done with her soup, Tabitha stood up and left a solid twenty dollar bill on the table to cover both the food and the tip. The staff never bothered to collect her money before she left given that she was a valued as well as trusted customer; which was interesting seeing that she never really communicated with them. In fact, other than getting what she wanted, the woman never really talked to anyone unless she had to. Her previous job was sometimes unbearable since it required having to deal with people she considered lower than herself. Tabitha knew she was the smartest person in the prison and found it degrading to even doing what was required of her. Charles had changed all that and she learned a great deal from him until the young man was no longer useful.
Tabitha then discarded him like a ruined doll; which he was anyways since in the end, the young man was a failure.
Walking down the street, Tabitha kept her arms at her sides and eyes straight forward; expressing an aura of superiority. Every person she passed, she ignored without giving them a second thought. Unless they were in the middle of some task, Tabitha forced people to go around her as if they were in the way. While no real conflict arose because of it, it did provided the occasional insult which she promptly ignored. Insults and mocking had been with her all her life; from the various foster homes to the schools she attended to get her degrees. The young woman had created a shield though to block it from affecting her though and it had allowed her to accomplish her goals when others would have broken down. What was an added benefit was the fact that she had done it all on her own without any help.
She approached her home, an old two story office building, and unlocked the front door before proceeding inside. The building was suited to hold half a dozen small firms, though now converted for her personal use. Made of old brick and mortar, Tabitha had it completely restored on the outside to project a classic feel while converting the inside for her own personal use. It had taken quite a bit of money to do the job as well as making sure that the contractors had a sense of ambiguity; so that her privacy was protected. It had cost her a little extra to make sure certain things stayed off the books but it was worth it in the end. Her game would not be interrupted by anything no matter what the cost; money not being an issue for her. As A, she had an unlimited source of money due to some side businesses to fund her projects.
Once she was inside, Tabitha sealed the door behind her and headed to her own personal space; smiling at the various security cameras along the way. The inside of the building was wired with more surveillance equipment than a typical CIA office in order to make sure she was well protected. While the block had its own private officers that patrolled the block and crime was practically nonexistent in this part of the city, the young woman was extremely paranoid. Besides the cameras, there were invisible sensors that lined the halls as well as other surprises in case someone broke in; or if the police decided to come calling. Given that she had left at least two bodies so far, it was only a matter of time before it happened. Once she was past the main part of the building, Tabitha slipped through a hidden panel to her own private space.
The room itself served a variety of purposes; also being the only place she hung out in unless she needed to check up on her subjects. Large enough for at least three people to sleep in and had a solid wooden floor with black colored walls; it held everything from a work space to watch her victims to a bedding area where she needed to rest with that being a small cot in the corner. She never really slept so having a fancy bed was not a thing for her. The cot itself was something that one bought for camping trips with two simple pillows as well as a green comforter; providing for both the heat and the cold. There was a small table next to the cot with a desk lamp for reading as well as some reading material stacked on the floor; which were mostly books dealing her chosen field of study. Next to the sleeping area was a small bathroom that held a toilet, sink, and a small shower for her to bathe in. A dresser lay not too far away which had her clothing as well as a large closet.
Her work area was the fanciest part of the room and her own private kingdom so to speak. There was a large light brown desk made of redwood, imported from the west coast, which had all of her material used to deal with her subjects as well as a small green desk lamp for illumination. In front of the desk and mounted to the wall were many flat screens that showed every room in the place as well as smaller monitors for the outside. Everything was wired to a central control panel that was used to activate the various equipment placed inside the rooms to control her victims; from speakers telling them what to do as well as other things that could be used to punish them. Tabitha could even control the temperature of the various rooms in order to really make it appear as if she was some sort of deity. Her last doll had an issue with the cold so Tabitha lowered the temperature to forty degrees for punishment.
Taking a seat in her brown leather chair, Tabitha watched as her latest victim defiantly sat on the floor; refusing to eat any of the food she had provided. Ever since the young doctor had abducted the drunk from an AA meeting a few days ago, the victim had refused to participate in her assigned activities; even trying to break out at various times. The room was made of brick and plaster, supported by solid metal panels on the inside which could not be breached. It was designed as a room for a typical teenage girl; full of clothing that matched the size of the victim and styled the way Tabitha wanted. Before abducting the woman, the Doctor had gotten to know the young woman rather well thus knew what was needed to make her comfortable. Charles had given her quite a detailed setup of his dollhouse and Tabitha had mimicked him with her setup; with a few tweaks for the modern age.
When Tabitha left for her time in the bistro, her subject was usually allowed some time to herself for personal things; she had even left some food that she had cooked herself. The building had the most modern kitchen that money could buy with everything needed for meals. Her current abductee was refusing to do anything; though she still complied with Tabitha's orders when prompted by force. The young woman's weakness was loud noise due to sensitivity with her ears; so the Doctor blasted a siren when she needed to. The room was soundproof so there was no risk of any of the neighbors hearing anything. In fact, the whole building had been converted to suppress any noise coming from inside as well as outside for maximum privacy. After several minutes of the siren blaring, the subject complied with the orders.
It was by luck that her latest abductee had natural blonde hair; which meant that she didn't need to color her hair. On the wall directly above the main screen were pictures of six young women from when they were in high school. Though she really wanted to do her own thing, Tabitha decided to start out with the girls whom Charles's harassed as a template and practice until she considered herself ready. The young doctor had researched the six extensively; some based on Charles's journals, and knew how to dress up her own victims to match his. She also kept tabs on them after high school though she never managed to find out where Mona Vanderwaal disappeared to. So far, she had left the templates of Hanna Marin and Aria Montgomery for the police to find; with Alison DiLaurentis as her next doll to be discarded. She planned to leave that one at City Hall where a small park lay.
Something on her computer caught Tabitha's attention away from her doll and she saw that she had an e-mail from one of her sources. Ever since the first body had been dumped, the young doctor had been paying special attention to how the investigation had been going. Given her massive amount of funds available to her, it was easy to hire a few people to take photos of the crime scenes from a distance; then having them emailed to her directly in order to protect her privacy. She had been especially surprised when it was revealed that Spencer Hastings, Toby Cavanaugh, and Mike Montgomery were involved in the case; all whom she had learned about through Charles and his journals. This gave her a sense of euphoria since this made the game all the more fun; which was the only reason why she was doing all of this.
Clicking on the email, a series of photos came up; all taken at her former job at the prison. She had several of the guards on her payroll in case the police managed to come by; which had happened a lot sooner than she would have thought. Tabitha shouldn't have been caught off guard by that, since Spencer had been a part of the A Game before along with Toby and Mike; so it was probably likely that they had caught one of her A Messages. This of course led them to the prison and to Charles; then to her since she was his therapist and the one he was closest to.
It probably didn't help that the prison was already looking at her for some infractions as well as the possible death of Charles DiLaurentis; which she was responsible for.
However in the end, she really wasn't worried that the police knew all about her. Doctor Tabitha Clark had changed her entire appearance since working at the prison and had enough aliases' to keep herself hidden from the police indefinitely. Her money was in dummy accounts all over the country and there was no paper trail to be traced back to her. She also made sure to do things differently than Charles in terms of her own Lair and Dollhouse; making sure that her enemies would be looking in all the wrong places. She wasn't using some abandoned bunker out in the middle of nowhere or an unused factory; she was right in the middle of town without anyone one the wiser. Her location was also just a few miles away from the Federal Section of the city and she often laughed that all this was happening right under their noses.
One photo really caught her attention and she clicked on it to make it bigger; her eyes widened at the person shown. Things clicked in her mind on why everything was being traced back to her since it was news to her that there was a new member of the team out to stop her. This put everything into perspective and she smiled on how the game just got more fun. From her countless interviews from Charles, he only considered one person a true threat and that was Mona Vanderwaal; which was why he made sure that she was knocked out of the game often since the times she worked with the other girls, there was headway made against him. Tabitha could tell that her patient had admired Mona and that had perked her interest since according to Charles, the teen had never broke; in the dollhouse and out. Going over his journals extensively, Tabitha had learned to admire Mona herself after studying her profile; taking time to go to other sources such as Ezra Fitzgerald's book as well as her Radley file. The young doctor couldn't observe Mona since she had disappeared but maybe now was the perfect opportunity; she thought as she printed out a picture.
Since her latest subject had another hour of free time, Tabitha decided to pay someone a visit. She thought about changing her attire since she was currently dressed in a blue pantsuit; never really liking skirts since they were always too flashy for her tastes. As someone who never dated, Tabitha Clark was someone who always was in pants no matter what. Given her short nature as well as the fact that the young woman never wore makeup, guys never gave her a second glance. Her really pale complexion often was mistaken for her being sick; which wasn't the case since she never really ventured outside unless she absolutely had to. Figuring that she was fine and wouldn't be that long, Tabitha decided to stay as she was.
Rising from her chair, she grabbed her purse and headed out of the room to go back outside. After locking up behind her, the young woman hailed a cab and gave the driver an address; which earned her a strange look given that it was for a more seedy section of the city. When they arrived at her destination, a beaten down apartment building, she got out but gave the driver some money for him to stay where he was since she wouldn't be long. Then Tabitha pulled out a burner phone and sent out a text to one of the residents of the apartment complex before heading to a small space on the side of the building to wait. After a few minutes, a gruff looking man in a pair of blue jeans and white shirt came out to where she was.
"What do you need?" asked Jonathan Myers, curious on why the woman needed to talk to him in the middle of the day. The man was on her payroll and a former cop who had been busted for corruption; now a low level enforcer for the mob.
"This woman's name is Mona Vanderwaal and I need you to bring her to the usual spot," ordered Tabitha as she handed him a picture as well as an envelope full of cash.
"Where is she? I can get her to you tonight," stated the older man as he took the contents from her hand. He was someone who didn't care less about abducting people as long as it paid well; and didn't cause problems though he was always careful.
"I don't know; I will have an address for you in an hour or so. I need her alive so be careful since she might be problematic," informed the young woman. Since Mona was working with the others, it was assumed that she was involved in law enforcement somehow; which only added to the fun of the game.
"This short thing; please, it won't be an issue," stated Jonathan with a scoff. This was what she liked about the man; that he did any job and never asked any questions.
Tabitha nodded and then headed back to the cab after their business was concluded. It took only ten minutes for her to arrive back at her lair; finding that her new doll hadn't moved from her spot and still defiant. Ignoring her for now, Tabitha went to her computer and put Mona's name into a special program to find out where she was staying; not bothering to look up which Agency the former teen was at. It took a while but the doctor managed to find an address for the residential section of town; sending the information to Jonathan. Since he was more than reliable, it was likely she would have Mona in her hands by morning; thus she needed to get a room ready for her. Since the role of Alison was being used, perhaps she use Mona as Emily or even Spencer for kicks.
Either way, she was going to have some fun tomorrow.
Please Read and Review; also a shout out to my friend Paraddicted for the pre-read and you should check out her stories!