Which Aria Is It Anyway?
Chapter 2.
Three days had passed since Dr. Sullivan had visited Aria the first time, and evasively answered her questions – or avoided to was more precise. As promised Dr. Sullivan proceeded to visit Aria three times a day, but each visit left her more convinced that there was something suspicious going on.
Dr. Sullivan had just been in there for the third and last time that day, and given Aria the last pill of the day that she had convincingly pretended to swallow as she'd done with the rest as well. They'd had the oddest of conversations because Dr. Sullivan kept the agenda where Aria wasn't allowed any answers.
Unwillingly, Aria had accepted this as she had far more urgent things to deal with, and Dr. Sullivan had eventually left. Aria wasn't certain how long the visit had been – she wasn't even certain what day it was, or if her count of three days was correct. Her mind was a jumbled mess, but there was one thing she knew; she had to get out of there!
But how? She was always locked in as if she was some sort of monster who'd run amuck if she wasn't. She wasn't insane, and she couldn't tell the difference going from the pills that they had forced into her, and when she'd stopped taking them. That just confirmed the notion that she wasn't crazy, but keeping her isolated from the world would eventually do the trick.
There weren't any objects in the room that could do physical harm, in case a patient was self harming (or in harm to others), and that meant there was no way to force herself out of there.
The room irritated her. It was clinical and impersonal, and she'd rather sit on the cold, hard ground than in one of the chairs or the bed. Despite that, it was how she mainly spent her days; sitting on the bed, moving to the comfortable chair across from it, and then over to the wooden chair by the desk in one of the corners of the room, and then back to the bed. There was nothing in there that could help kill the time – if the times that she had counted the bricks in the wall weren't considered.
She refused to go to bed, and wake up the next morning to another day at Radley as though she was okay with being there. She wasn't, and she had to find a way to get out of there tonight, and find her friends so they could get to the bottom of this. If it was A's plan to isolate them from each other, she wasn't gonna let the person win.
She glanced around the room in the hope that an idea would materialize itself in front of her. The light outside of her room was turned off, and she knew she had to act fast. Soon someone would be by, and look through the small window in the door to check if she was in her bed.
Driven by desperation, she ran to the side of the room that was furthest from the door, and leant against the wall. It didn't feel right, something was hurting her back, and she spun around to find the source, and that's when she noticed she had been leaning against the window – not the wall. The things that had dug into her back were the bars covering the window, and she knew they were the answer.
She grabbed a hold of one of the bars with both of her hands, and tried to forcibly pull it off, but it wouldn't budge. She wasn't gonna give up, though. She kept pulling, and tried different methods; her feet on the wall, and thereby putting her legs into it, didn't help. Turning her back towards it, and trying to drag it off, didn't help.
"You're just a bitch, aren't you?" She hissed at the bar she had attempted to pull off, and at that point she didn't care how crazy she appeared by talking to a non-living object. It was mocking her, she was sure of it. "You may laugh now, but I will beat you!"
She studied the bars, thinking there had to be some way to remove it without tools. It couldn't be impossible, and she was desperate to get out of there. Surely, that was a great form of fuel to get things done?
The bars were screwed in so near the window that she'd have to bend her hand in a way that seemed impossible, and would probably break her wrist, and therefore that wasn't an option. Smashing the window to allow more room to remove the screws wasn't an option either. That would merely draw attention to her that she did not wish to have.
"You're screwed in," She told the bars in a threatening tone of voice, "And it means that if I keep pulling, you'll eventually get tired, and loosen your grip so I can get out of here."
She sighed, and pretended to give up. She began to walk away, but quickly whipped around, and ran back to the bars, and tried to pull the first bar off once again. It still didn't budge.
"I bet you're in on it, keeping me locked up in this small room like hamster." She told it, shooting it a death glare. "Just know, that it isn't funny, and I will find a way to beat you, and you'll be very sorry. Why don't you be a good bar, and tell me who's behind this, and I might go easy on you." She eyed the bar suspiciously as though she was trying to figure out its secrets. "What, have you been covering other windows on the side? Are you scared that your window is gonna find out? Hate to break it to you, buddy, but she's got three other bars covering her as well. You aren't her only one, do you really think she'd care that you're seeing another window on the weekends?" She smirked at bar as she had it exactly where she wanted it. "See, now your secret is out. Why don't you tell me who you're working for?"
The room was dead silent. Had it really come to that? Had she been deprived from social contact for so long that she'd resort to talking to metal covering a window? She'd insisted that she wasn't insane since she'd been brought there, and there she was; attempting to blackmail an object.
She wasn't insane, but maybe if Dr. Sullivan was a little less evasive during her visits, Aria wouldn't have found herself in a situation like this. Aria would question Dr. Sullivan about a hundred different things, and all she'd get was "I'm not allowed to tell you anything", and that wasn't what she'd consider to be a real conversation.
She needed contact with the outside world. She could deal with being locked up if she could at least see someone other than Dr. Sullivan. She needed to see someone who'd have a normal conversation with her, and not the psychological babble she had been used to these days. Was that too much to ask?
She shot the bars another death glare. "I will find out who's behind this, and you will pay!"
Someone behind her chuckled. "I've heard that talking to non-living objects is considered crazy." She whipped around so fast when she realized the voice didn't belong to Dr. Sullivan that she almost got dizzy, and there he stood smiling sympathetically at her (as if she didn't get enough of that from Dr. Sullivan). "Hello, Aria."
She gaped at him dumbly. She hadn't heard anyone come in as she'd obviously been too busy interrogating the bars covering the window. She absentmindedly walked towards him until she stood a mere few feet from him.
"Are you real?" It wasn't the best question to ask him, but as human contact had been rare since she'd been admitted to Radley, the question just poured out of her without a single thought behind it.
He chuckled again, and the sympathy was practically screaming at her. "Of course I am, and I'm sad to see you in here." He said, and seemed genuine, but it bothered her that he kept wearing that sympathetic smile he had been since she noticed his presence. She wasn't some porcelain doll that could break at any moment. "I had hoped the rumours were false."
"Rumors? What rumors?" She asked curiously, her eyes wide with eager. With her friends gone, she had to attain their strengths, and being alert along with asking the right questions were some of Spencer's.
"My apologies... Rumour is not the correct term." He informed her, and she suppressed an eye roll. The last thing she needed was another person who wouldn't give her straight answers. He smiled at her weirdly as if he understood her thoughts, and proceeded to talk. "I overheard a few of my colleagues discussing your case, and they mentioned your name. I know Spencer and Hanna personally, and I know how much they care for you, therefore I hoped that I'd misheard them."
"Well, you didn't." She replied with an annoyed smile, desperately trying not to take her anger out on him. She wasn't about to let him leave without finally getting some answers, and that meant she had to push aside her feelings. "But you must know why I'm in here then?"
He shook his head, and her insides were screaming at him with frustration. When would she find out what was going on? She could imagine all sorts of things, but she needed straight answers, and they couldn't come soon enough.
"Sadly, no. What I gathered from their conversation was that your case is fragile still. They're afraid that giving you any information would be too overwhelming for you, and until you're well into your treatment, they can't risk throwing you off by giving you new information." He explained, and it was the same ramble she'd heard from Dr. Sullivan too many times. "They're worried about you, Aria. You're in good hands here."
She stared at him, visually upset. "I'm in good hands here?" She wanted to yell, but she contained her voice so it came out as more of a hiss. "Nobody will tell me anything! I'm in a fragile state, they're worried about me, but I'm not being told anything until my treatment is working. What sort of treatment is that, huh? I'm being secluded from everything. The only person I've seen in days is Dr. Sullivan, and she's succesfully avoided telling me anything real, and yet she still expects me to take mystery pills three times a day." She had to pause to catch her breath, but she still had a lot to say. "I haven't seen my friends since I've been in here. Supposedly they've been offered to visit me, but they for some reason don't want to. What could possibly have happened for them to refuse to visit me? What's wrong with me? Why do I have to keep being locked in this room? I'm going crazy having to stare at just these four walls day in and day out!"
For a split second his expression changed from sympathetic to surprised, but within the blink of an eye it was back at pathetic sympathy. "Oh..." He was his reply; a simple, infuriating oh.
It did something to Aria that she couldn't explain; it was like something tried to grab her insides and pull her down, take over her body. She brushed it off as imaginary, pushing the feeling aside. Instead she decided to grab onto the conversation tighter to avoid the feeling coming up again.
"Oh?" She repeated his words, failing to hide the contempt in her voice. "Oh? Really, Wren? That's all you can say? That's the encouragement I get, huh?"
"I'm sorry," Wren apologised, although she knew he hadn't needed to. She'd feel terrible about it later, but in that moment she didn't give a damn, "But I was under the impression that your friends had been visiting you..."
Aria folded her arms over the chest as she shot Wren a challenging look. "Really? And what gave you that impression?"
Wren cleared his throat nervously. It was evident that she made him feel uncomfortable by her grilling methods, but so far he was the only one who hadn't clammed up when questioned by her, and she was gonna take advantage of that. Wren was a doctor, he should be able to handle stressful situations – maybe not exactly like that, but stress was stress.
"Your friends have been here every day for the past four days to visit your other friend, the one who was pressumed dead, and I was under the impression that they'd been visiting you as well," Wren said with a tone of voice that sounded as if he was still apologising to her, perhaps in a way to keep her heart from shattering when he broke the news to her, but if that had been the case he'd failed. It hit her like a ton of bricks. "But I think it's safe to assume that hasn't been the case."
An anger that she couldn't recognise, a hatred, washed over her for the briefest moment, and wrestled with her insides for dominance. The hurt from Wren's information, and her will for more answers kept her in reality.
She choked in the tears that were willing to surface, and looked Wren straight in the eyes more determined than ever. A lot of things weren't adding up or making sense, for instance;
"What's Alison doing at Radley? And why would my friends be visiting her, and not me? What the hell has happened?"
"You of all people should know the traumatic years your friend has been through. Someone tried to kill her, and she'd been on the run ever since, hiding from this A person. She returned home, only to find that her mum had been murdered, and it gave her, along with her friends, the determination to catch A. When the job was finished, there was finally a calm in her life that allowed her to seek treatment for the trauma." Wren explained, watching Aria carefully to see if another strong reaction was coming his way, but so far she seemed to be accepting his words. "As for your friends, I have no idea why they wouldn't want to visit you or why they haven't been, but I can talk to them tomorrow when they pop by if you'd like? I could tell them you'd like them to visit as well."
She nodded her head lightly, accepting his offer. "That would be great, thank you." She smiled at him appreciatively for a second, but it didn't take long for her to become suspicious again. "But how could you possibly know all of this, Wren?"
He chuckled softly, and looked at her with a humourful glint in his eye (which was a nice change from the one of sympathy he'd worn earlier). "Aria, newspapers haven't gone out of fashion during your stay at Radley. These past few days have been dedicated solely to Alison DiLaurentis' endeavours. Everything about A's torment from start to finish, her life in exile, and the attempts on her life."
She let out an unwilling skeptical laugh. "All that was in the paper?" She raised a brow at him, but he remained serious. That's when she finally, really accepted his words, and the realization hit her; Wren had to know who A was. "Well, if everything about A's torment was in the paper, then you must know who it was?"
"Sadly, I don't," He said as he shook his head apologetically, and Aria got disappointed for what felt like the billionth time since she'd gotten there. "This time, when interviewed, Alison and your friends chose to keep the indentity of 'Big A' a secret. They said it would do more harm than good, and they wanted the person to be able to return to a normal existence at some point without the judging stares from the people of Rosewood."
This confused Aria. Who'd have known that given a fraction of what she'd wanted woud leave her with that? "But why would my friends be cutting A so much slack? They didn't with Mona, and this person was so much worse than her. This person stole the game from Mona, and was more malicious than can be put into words, and they are willing to sort of let him or her off the hook by not outing the identity. It doesn't make sense?" She voiced her confusion, and looked to Wren for answers that she at some level knew he didn't have.
Instead of answering, he offered her a smile of encouragement. It did more for her sanity than he could ever comprehend, and despite the fact that their conversation had been infuriating at times, she was still satisfied with it. Had she gotten the answered she wanted or deserved? No, but she was one step closer!
She was certain that somewhere in the bits and pieces of information lied the answer, she just had to put them together in any way possible. She would even try to look between the lines... The answer had to be in there somewhere; why was she in there? Did she need to be? And if not, who had put her in there? Who was behind this? - That was just some of the questions regarding herself. The list of questions she had about Alison, her friends, and A's identity was even longer.
No matter how much she desperately wanted to get the hell out of Radley, she had a feeling she needed to stay in there to get as many answers as possible. That's what Spencer would have done in her position, and she wasn't the only one who could uncover secrets in the group. Aria planned to figure everything out, and nail A's ass to the wall.
It seemed nearly impossible, though, when Dr. Sullivan (and whoever else was in charge of her 'treatment') kept insisting that she should remain in her room at Radley. There wasn't much to uncover in there, unless of course you didn't factor in the room's efficiency to drive its occupant utterly insane.
"Thank you for answering my questions, Wren." She said with an appreciative, albeit false, smile, hoping that the sympathy he felt for her without a doubt would once again rule in her favor. "But there is one thing that bothers me still. I feel so contained, locked up in a cage, almost like a hamster. No wait, a hamster gets to come out sometimes, but not me. I get that I'm fragile, but you don't think I'm so dangerous that I shouldn't be let out of this room, do you?"
Cue the puppy dog eyes that once earned her a free teddy bear at an amusement park, followed by some fluttering of the eyes, and the icing on the cake; the innocent smile. Then hold it, hold it, hold it...
"I suppose not. I suppose we could work something out, but it needs to stay between the two of us." Wren said, caving into Aria's manipulation technique that she'd perfected over the years. "There is a window of opportunity at this hour every day, right before the full night shift begins, and they do another nightly round. However, there's only fifteen minutes left, so perhaps we should..."
"Go right now?"
"... wait." He finished his sentence at the same moment Aria made her request, and therefore he knew she had no intention of waiting until another time. He looked her in the eye, and saw how desperate she was to get out of the room. He couldn't bear that look on her so he gave in. "Fine, we'll do a brief outing tonight, but we must haste so we don't get caught."
Wren had been standing between Aria and the door, and now he was opening it for her to allow her out, and in that moment her escape seemed so easy, but what was important? Answers or freedom?
She sauntered past him, through the door that he closed behind them. He gently placed his hands on either side of her shoulders, and led her through a dimly lit hall into a larger room, and despite the lack of light Aria quickly recognised the room. She had been there before when Mona had been admitted at Radley, she had been sent there to interrogate her at the request of her friends. She had also been there when Spencer had gone, as Hanna would say, cray cray.
It looked the same basically. The piano that Spencer had liked to sit at stood in the exact same place. The sofas around a table in the same place as last. The tables, along with chairs, that stood around the room for when a patient had visitors in their usual spots? Check. Shelves with cards, games, and other activities? Double check.
It seemed smaller in a way now that she was a patient at Radley herself. When she was simply a visitor, the room had seemed so much bigger. She'd gotten her wish, and had finally gotten out of her cramped room, but she still felt captivated. Something didn't feel right. Something felt odd inside her, and she couldn't pinpoint what it was. Had she made the wrong choice when she decided to stay?
She turned around and faced Wren, a determined look in her eyes. "What would you do if I kicked you in the croch and ran?"
"I don't think you'd do that." He said firmly with a knowing smile, but it was followed by a nervous chuckle. He didn't yet know her, he'd only heard of her. "From what Hanna and Spencer have told me, you could never hurt another person no matter how upset you get."
Damn it, he was right! With a defeated sigh, she sank into a chair by the nearest table. She couldn't hurt Wren to get where she wanted, especially not since he'd been so helpful, and answered any question she had to the best of his abilities. He was just so kind... How could she have, for the briefest second, considered it?
"Do you think I need to be in here, from a professional perspective?" She asked him softly. Her voiced was so fragile that it was on the edge of breaking, and her eyes were glistening from the tears she was trying to fight back. She still strongly believe that A was at play here, but she also had to be realistic and consider every possibility, even this one.
It seemed that one question switched on doctor mode as he sat down in the chair across from her, folding his hands and placing them on the desk, and his eyes grew serious like when a doctor were to give his patient some life altering news.
"Yes, I do believe you need to be in here, Aria." He replied, making Aria's fear come to life. She could tell he wouldn't lie to her, he just couldn't. His eyes were too sincere, too pure and honest that he could ever bear lie to her. "For what, I don't know, but I'm a doctor, and I don't believe they would make such a fuss over you if the situation wasn't dire. You'll find out at the proper moment, though. When they believe you're ready, you'll know."
She smiled sadly, but yet appreciatively at him for being so honest with her. "But if you had to take a whack at guessing, what would your diagnosis be?"
"I'm not a psychiatrist, nor have I spent enough time with you to draw such a conclusion." Wren explained, and Aria looked at him with pleading eyes, desperate for his opinion. He gave into her eyes once again and continued; "I suppose if I had to make an assumption in regards to your condition..." He paused as he thought it over. Aria was hanging on his every word. "You seem to be in your right mind at the moment, very much so. Perhaps a little upset, but that's to be expected. You don't remember how you ended up here. I suspect a deep psychological issue that causes you to black out from time to time. It could be anxiety related as an anxiety attack could make you feel as though you were suffocating, and that certainly would cause you to black out. However, I don't think that's it because that wouldn't be severe enough to have Dr. Sullivan take such precaution."
"In other words; no idea?" Aria concluded, trying to disguise the disappointment. She deemed that attempt unsuccesful when she received yet another sympathetic look from Wren. "Thanks, though."
He responded by giving her a slight nod, after which they sat together in silence for a couple of minutes until it was broken by him. "We must get you back your room this instant. The next round will be in a matter of minutes, and you should be back in your bed by then, otherwise we'll be in deep trouble."
In silence he followed her back to the room, and although she'd only been out for a short amount of time it had done wonders for her sanity. She was thankful that Wren had come in the nick of time, and allowed her out of that depressing room she'd been stuck in for days.
When they reached the room he opened the door, and held it open for her. She hesitated, and instead she turned around to face him. Her eyes were more fragile than they'd been previously that night, and she felt much more desperate. She'd had company, and she couldn't go back to the loneliness. She just couldn't.
"Will you be back tomorrow? Please..." She added, and a smile spread across Wren's face, and she took that as a yes. "Could you let me out tomorrow, too? It was nice to get out of the room for a change."
"If it stays between us." Wren said to which Aria nodded her head, agreeing to his terms. "Good. Although my residency here is nothing more than an internship, I do fancy not getting fired from it."
"And you'll speak to my friends about visiting?" She asked pleadingly, and this time Wren was the one to nod his head in agreement. "Thank you so much, Wren."
He smiled. "No problem, Aria, but you must hurry to bed before they discover you've been out."
"See you tomorrow." She said, walking past him back into the room that she'd grown to hate so much. He closed the door behind her, but she didn't hear it lock. She assumed it did, though. Wren wouldn't leave it open like that.
She stepped across the room, and sat down on the bed, contemplating whether or not she actually wanted to go to sleep. It was tempting to have another go at the bars covering the window, despite knowing that they wouldn't budge, but surely it was just like opening a jar? She just had to loosen it a bit.
It had been quite the day. Wren believed that she did need to be in there, but he had no idea what for. She did take his words into consideration, and she believed that she could trust him, but she wasn't entirely convinced that he was correct in his assumptions.
She glared angrily at the bars covering the window. "This isn't over!" She muttered to herself, and then she got underneath the covers of the bed, deciding to call it a day after all. Tomorrow was another day for answers, and she certainly wasn't done looking, no matter what Wren had told her that night.
She would get answers. They were closer than she thought, but the answers she'd get wouldn't necessarily be the answers she wanted. Despite this, they were coming like rapid fire.
Her head was filled with thoughts and questions, but in spite of this she fell asleep quickly. She was snoozing soundly, subconsciously feeling secure for the first time in days, but she was in no means safe.
Outside the window she'd looked through only minutes ago, a hooded figure was watching her intensely. Another hooded figure was watching her through the small window in door of the room. Their eyes met, and the hooded figure by the door gave the hooded figure outside the window a confirming nod. Satisfied that the plan was now well on it's way, the leader of the hooded figures returned the nod.
They watched Aria intensely for another minute, and then the leader turned around and walked into the night, leaving Aria to a fate that was slowly coming. A fate that the two hooded figures believed that she deserved...
Which Aria Is It Anyway?
Disclaimer; No ownership of Pretty Little Liars since the last chapter, sadly. Oh, when you wish upon a star... makes no difference who you are. Sorry, couldn't help it. Disney freak over here ;).
Dedication; This chapter was dedicated to; PaigeW-PLL. I simply adored your review. It was amazing, and it really warmed my heart that you took the time to write such a kind review. It was lengthy as well, my kind of review. So thank you so much for that review. I'm struggling to find the right words to express my appreciation. We have a saying in my family; Thank you is but a poor word. It means that thank you is the word we have to show our appreciation, but at times it doesn't seem strong enough. Still, thank you. I loved your review, and I hope you're still reading this, and will review again :). I hope you found this chapter worthy.
Firstly, let me thank the rest of you for your reviews as well. They warmed my heart just as much, and it was hard for me to pick someone to dedicate the chapter to. Chapter 3 is still up for grabs, though ;). But yeah, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the reviews. I hope you're still with me after this long delay that I'll explain to you now.
So let's talk the delay. This chapter was difficult for me to write. I mean, it was easy to actually write, but difficult to get going. Reason? I really, really want to get to the angsty stuff because it's gonna be soooo good, I promise. These first few chapters are necessary, though, to establish relationships and stuff. But the more juicy chapters are coming soon, very soon. Answers will be coming as well.
Next, let's discuss this chapter. What do you guys think? I hope I excited enough to get some follows and favorites. I also hope I raised a few more questions to be answered. Like; can Wren be trusted? Is he right about Aria? The main question is the trust one as he will play a huge part in this fic, and he'll serve somewhat as an ally for Aria, therefore the question of trust. Should she be so quick to trust him? Hmm...
Then there are those hooded figures? The general and easiest assumption to make would be; A! But the easiest way isn't necessarily the right way. Word is that A has been caught, and if that in fact is true... then what's with those figures watching Aria? What do they want with her? She is definitely not safe, that much I can reveal.
Lastly, I leave you with my thanks for reading the second chapter of Which Aria Is It Anyway? I hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully more than I enjoyed writing it. Despite my discontent with writing this chapter, I hope that it came out nicely. I would love to hear your feedback; love, hate, in between. I want you guys to review :). So please, please review. Next dedication might be yours ;).
Oh, and next chapter should be here much sooner. I vow to never make you wait as long again. You do whatever you please to me if I should fail. If you should desire to poison me or whatever, I'm extremely allergic to blueberries, ginger, cola, gluten, artificial coloring. In the non-food department; wool, most beauty products (make-up, perfume, deoderant, shampoo, etc), anything made of gold. - But please don't ;).
Laters,
AK-tutti :)