516 reviews... who ARE you people? I have the best reviewers in the world, and I have no clue what I did to deserve all of you wonderful people reading my story. THANK YOU! Also, shout out to Sarah for pushing for me to get to those last few reviews. AND shout out to elggup for getting the reference: "Sometimes when you love someone, you have to think of them before yourself." Moseby says this to London as advice for when she wanted to date the dentist. SO sweet XD

REVIEWS!

AL3110: Thank you so much!
JosieCarter: First of all, thank you for being the first reviewer on my trailer! Second of all, you'll get your Ezria eventually, no worries!
hufflepuffhaleb: THANK YOU for your suggestion! I'm so glad I took it into account :)
Sarah: Okay, I KNEW you were a Slytherin! NO ONE is that awesome without being sorted into the Slytherin house. Join the club, along with PrettyWitchyVamp and Bagilia. SLYTHERIN BROS FOREVER! Also, that tumblr page you suggested was hilarious, as well as accurate. And I watched a few episodes of the spinoff... it sucked. You are insane and fabulous and I love you, THANK YOU for those last few reviews!
Silver-Infinite: I secretly hope all of the girls leave their spouses so that they can marry each other ;)
TotalCowGirl: It could be!
elggup: Emily is the most emotionally conflicted of the liars, there is no denying that.
foreverawildandbeautifulmess: They might! Just keep reading :) thank you for your love toward my trailer and my story and for just being you in general.
Hamburger394: Welcome to the dark side! Glad to see someone new is reading my story. It takes DEDICATION to read this entire story in a morning! Props to you! And sorry about your heart... I'll try my best not to break it any further! But thank you for the compliments toward my writing :)
District7ET: Glad to see someone new reading this! And Hanna and Caleb are my favorite as well (they're tied with Ezria for my OTP).
Ayoungnovelist: Nope... but good try!
Ava B: Thank you! It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be :)
Bagilia: You are a BAMF, there is no denying that. However, you're tied with Sarah and PrettyWitchyVamp for the BIGGEST BAMF. Y'all can battle it out on your own time :) and EVERYTHING you just mentioned will be included in their trip to Hogsmeade, so you have that to look forward to! Also, your favorite shady hacker boy will come in again next chapter, so consider that all my birthday present to you :) and I showcase what Slytherins are capable of?! WHAT A COMPLIMENT! Oh my god that made my weekend, thank you! And it's always a good day when I'm not exonerated... but I'll tell people WHAT I want, WHEN I want to, and if I think Ian and Benedict look alike, I'M GONNA SAY SO! They're both hot in their own ways ;)
Forever Courage: Don't worry about it! And thank you! And whichever way I write it, I think you'll like it :) that's a good way of looking at it.
PrettyWitchyVamp: This is why I have the best reviewers ever. You all FREAK OUT whenever you don't review on time or miss a chapter, and then either go on a major reviewing spree OR beg for forgiveness, as if I'm gonna whip out my wand and go all "Avada Kedavra" on your asses. NO WORRIES! And you are exploding with feels right now, and it is very entertaining, and I'm just gonna leave it at that, haha. Thank you for the marvelous reviews!
ShadowsOnTheMoon: YOU'RE BACK! I mean, you didn't finish, but still YOU'RE BACK! Now I'm very scared because you stopped at the chapter that I was afraid everyone was gonna stop reading yet, so I hope you STAY back... thank you for the reviews, you're awesome!

Alright, this is possibly one of my favorite chapters, so I hope you guys like it as well! Enjoy, and I'd tell you to review, but you all are so amazing I feel like I don't even have to remind you anymore!


Spencer lay in bed, fast asleep and swaddled in the ratty old blanket as she cuddled against the far wall of the bedpost. She couldn't remember what she had dreamed about, or if she had even dreamed anything at all, but a simple rustle had caused her eyes to flutter open. She took a minute to take in her surroundings, and then rolled over so that she was facing the interior of the dorm room instead of the window. Perhaps one of her roommates had gotten up to go to the bathroom. Or maybe it was one of their pets pawing at their cages. Or maybe...

Nope.

Spencer shot up and out of her blankets, cowering against the far corner of her bed post as she processed the sight before her. Mona Vanderwaal, in a pair of sweatpants, a v-neck, and an oversized cardigan, was hovering over her.

"Is this a bad time?" Mona asked innocently.

Spencer rubbed her neck from the whiplash she just experienced, before gawking up at Mona. "What are you doing here?"

"Look, I know you and I aren't on the best terms," Mona went on to explain casually, as though she hadn't just sneaked into the Slytherin Dungeons in the middle of the night. "But I hope you know that I would never do something like that to you."

"And you came all the way up here just to say that?" Spencer asked incredulously.

"No, I came up here to say more. I might not get another chance to do this, and I wanted to set some things straight."

"Set some things straight?" Spencer echoed. "Mona, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that someone is watching over me," Mona whispered hastily, "and I need to tell you whatever I can now unless I want a knife in my throat. Now are you done questioning me?"

Spencer was practically seeing stars trying to get a hold of everything, but she finally nodded her head, indicating that she was done.

Mona took a deep breath before continuing. "I gave you your fang."

Spencer's jaw dropped, but Mona continued. "I gave you yours, and I gave Hanna hers. Noel gave Aria and Emily theirs."

Spencer's face contorted from one of shock to one of pure anger. "You... you were behind all of this?!"

Mona's eyes widened, and she quickly leaned over and smacked her hand against Spencer's mouth. "Quiet!" she hissed. "Do you want to see me die?"

Well, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, Spencer thought to herself, but externally she shook her head, indicating she didn't want this to happen.

Finally, Mona released her hand. "It's not what it looks like," she said honestly, "I promise!"

"Then what is it? Why did you guys give those to us?"

"Because someone is blackmailing us," Mona whispered.

There was silence, and Spencer let this sink in before asking, "What does he... she... it have on you?"

Mona took this as her cue to sit at the edge of the bed, preparing to tell her anecdote. "A few years ago, back when Noel and I were dating... we went skinny dipping in the Black Lake."

Spencer gasped, but Mona just gave her a look that said, I'm not even finished. "And about a month later... I found out I was pregnant from it."

Spencer gasped even louder this time, forgetting for a second where she was. "What did you do?"

"I aborted the baby, of course," Mona said casually, as if it were obvious. "But if something like that got out around campus... my reputation, my status as Head Prefect, all of that would be gone. And Noel... I can't even think of what people would say to Noel. It would just be horrible."

Mona then bowed her head. "But she found out. And she threatened us with it."

"So, you've been torturing us just to save your own ass?" Spencer summarized. Mona bit her lip; Spencer sure had a knack for making things sound ten times worse than they actually were.

"It goes deeper than just a simple rumor," Mona said desperately. "After a while, I wanted out. But..."

"But what?"

Mona lowered her head, and Spencer noticed that her hands were shaking. "She threatened to kill me, Spence."

Spencer could feel the hairs on her arms standing up. Something about this felt so incredibly wrong. "And everything that happened at the Halloween Ball? That was you and Noel, too?"

"Noel's instructions were to ask Aria to dance," Mona said, nodding her head. "But the rest was someone else."

"Who?"

Mona took a breath before answering. "Lucas."

"Lucas?" Spencer whispered fiercely. How deep did this go?

As if she were reading her mind, Mona responded with, "I don't know how deep he's in, and I'm not certain of his motivations. But I do know that he's working for the same person that we're working for."

"And that is?"

Mona glared at Spencer, indicating that she should ask something else. Anything but the question she had just asked.

"The fangs," Spencer breathed, changing the subject. "How… where did you get them?"

"I don't know," Mona answered honestly. "She didn't tell me."

"So it really is a girl," Spencer said softly, pulling the covers further up her body, as though for protection. Mona wanted to deny this, but it was too late; she just subtly nodded her head to confirm it.

"Noel and I think there might be others behind it as well," she said quickly before Spencer could get a word in. "We don't think one person could be controlling the three of us alone. That's why he's been dating Jenna."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Spencer said, mainly to herself, not bothering to hide the admiration in her voice. Mona nodded her head.

"So far, he's unsuccessful," she said pessimistically. "And that means that the person who is actually behind this is more powerful than we thought."

"Mona." Spencer was leaning forward, now an inch away from Mona's face as she stared at her with a pleading look in her eyes. "I know you and I have never gotten along, but if you can tell me who's behind this, it can solve all of my problems. Hell, it could solve all of yours!"

"You think I haven't thought of that?" Mona whispered frantically. "I want this to end just as much as you do, but I can't initiate that."

"Why?"

"Because it's bad enough that I'm telling you all of this," Mona said, the pleading look in her eyes matching the look in Spencer's. "If she finds out – "

"Who is she?" Spencer asked desperately.

"I'm sorry, I've said enough," Mona said, backing away from the bedspread with her hands extended in refusal. But the further away Mona backed up, the closer Spencer scooted to the edge of the bed.

"Is she the one who opened the Chamber? Is everything connected the way we think it is?"

"I can't tell you that either," Mona said, rapidly shaking her head.

"Please, just a hint," Spencer begged. "Just… something to lead me in the right direction."

The pleading, desperate look in Mona's eyes transmitted to one of fear, then to one of anxiety… and then to something else.

Ferocity.

The kind of ferocity that she used to always see in Mona's eyes when they were competing for something. Grades, privileges, prefect statuses, anything. But there was darkness in her features this time. Something much more corrupted.

"You want a hint?" she challenged darkly, her voice dropping about seven octaves. "Here's one: the Spencer you've always been? The nitpicky one who has to make sure every little thing is perfect? Has to know and understand every little thing? Ignore that."

"Ignore it?"

"Let it go," Mona clarified. "Don't get hung up on the details and miss what's parked right in front of you. I know you want to think of this all as some sort of game… but this isn't Wizard Chess, okay? This is some seriously messed up stuff. But here's your hint: you're getting warmer."

And with that, Mona pulled the hood of her cardigan up over her head, casting a shadow over her ethnic features, before she tiptoed out of the room, with Spencer being too stunned to protest.


Side Note: Oh Vanderjesus. PLEASE never change. Ever. REFERENCES GALORE! So Mona just dropped the bomb: she, Noel, and Lucas are working with A. But the question is... who is the REAL one behind it all? Sound off in the reviews!