Chapter II:

She opened the door and walked into the small, dark room.

The dark-haired girl was sitting with her back facing her, staring at the wall, her shoulders shaking like she was crying. But she made no sound.

Elena approached, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder, and the girl turned to look up at her. Her face was blank.

"Here I am." The girl whispered, before suddenly reaching up to grab her wrist -

Elena woke with a start to the sound of running water. Her room was still dark, and she sat up and looked around. It must have been the middle of the night. What was that sound? It was coming from the bathroom, and she got out of bed, rubbing her eyes.

Had she forgotten to turn off the shower? After she'd come back to her room, the rest of the day had been a blur; she'd been in a fog all evening, too busy thinking about her mother and Spencer to pay much attention to anything else. But she didn't think she'd left the shower on. She would have heard it if it was on before she fell asleep. Wouldn't she? Or was she that out of it?

She walked over to the bathroom and pushed the door open, turning on the lights. The shower was on, and she sighed. She could have sworn it was off before she went to bed. What the hell is wrong with me, she thought, turning the shower off and walking over to the mirror.

This dream had been different than the others. She had no idea what it was supposed to mean. Elena washed her face, looking at herself in the mirror, and paused. There was something on her wrist, the same wrist that the girl had grabbed in the dream, and she lifted it up to the light to get a closer look. It was a reddish mark, like a bruise on her skin, and it made her blood run cold. It shouldn't have been possible.

The bathroom lights flickered. For a moment she thought she saw a shadow behind her in the mirror. When she blinked it was gone and the flickering had stopped. But something still felt wrong. Someone...something was here. Some cold, strange presence, oddly familiar.

Then the bathroom door suddenly slammed shut, and she jumped, backing away. Something started pounding on it from the other side, rattling the hinges with every blow, and she backed up towards the wall. She'd never been so afraid. Her heart was racing and it felt like she couldn't breathe.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, the pounding stopped. For several long minutes, she stayed where she was and listened in case it started again, before slowly moving towards the door.

When she opened it, her room was empty. The chill in the air was gone and everything was silent again.

She didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

It was late in the morning when someone knocked on her door and she almost jumped out of her skin. The sound was too familiar to the night before and she was still shaken up. Even a pill hadn't been able to settle her nerves.

She approached the door and looked through the peephole. Emily was standing there and she quickly opened the door.

"Miss Fields." Elena said, surprised. She didn't expect the woman to ever contact her again. "What are you doing here?"

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier." She said, a grim look on her face. "It's just...that part of my life is something I don't like to think about much. Normally, I wouldn't talk about this with anyone, let alone a stranger, but...I don't know why, but you seem sincere."

"Thank you, I appreciate this." Elena replied, moving away from the door. "Please, come in." The woman followed her inside, taking a seat by the bed.

Elena did not sit. She was too restless. Instead she walked over to the window, glancing outside at the rising sun before turning back to face her. When she'd first arrived in Rosewood, she'd had all these questions in her mind that she was planning to ask the girl, but now she didn't know where to start.

"So, what do you want to know?" Emily asked, and she looked at her for a moment, trying to will herself to recognize her face. If she was Spencer, she'd recognize one of her best friends, wouldn't she? But she remembered nothing.

"I know it's been a long time, but can you tell me what happened the night she went missing?" Elena asked. "Before she disappeared, is there anything you remember that seemed unusual?"

"No, nothing." Emily replied, shaking her head. "We were all hanging out at Spencer's house that night. We'd been talking for a while, and it was pretty late...I don't remember what time is was, but we all fell asleep. When we woke up, Spencer and Alison were gone." Then her face changed, almost like a shadow had passed over it. "Then Alison came back, and she said she thought she heard someone scream."

Elena looked down. For a moment she thought of strange voices and laughter and the sounds of a storm, but she couldn't tell if it was from her own imagination or some distant memory.

"Can you tell me about Spencer?" She asked, raising her eyes back to the girl's face. "What she was like?"

"She was...loyal. Kind. Driven, too. She was always pushing herself to be better, to do more." Emily paused, frowning. "Why do you ask?"

"This is going to sound crazy, but I think I might be her." Elena replied. "After my mother died, I found a box full of newspaper articles about Spencer's case in her apartment, and I think she was the one who took her."

Emily stared at her for a moment, her face full of shock and confusion. "That...that's not possible." She said, once she'd found her voice again. "It's strange that your mother kept all those articles, and I don't know why she would do that, but that doesn't mean you're Spencer."

"It's more than that. I don't know why, but I can't shake this feeling." Elena replied, turning back to look out the window. "All I'm looking for are answers. Believe me, I don't want to be here. A part of me just wants to leave this place and never come back."

Emily got up from her seat, approaching her. "If you want, we can go to the lake and see if that jogs your memory." She offered, and Elena frowned.

"Why would it?"

"Because we used to hang out there when we were kids. All five of us." Emily explained. "If you're Spencer, it's somewhere you would recognize."

The lake was calm, its still, dark waters reflecting the light of the sun.

She followed Emily along the edge of the shoreline until they came to an open area beside the forest. Elena stopped and looked around, frowning. This place...it felt dimly familiar. Didn't it? Or maybe it didn't. Maybe she only thought it did.

"We used to come here in the summer." Emily said, her voice wistful as she looked out at the waters. "It had been Alison's idea. She loved it here."

Elena was silent, pacing along the shoreline and waiting for some kind of twinge inside of her, any stirring of recognition. But it did not come.

"Do you remember anything?" Emily asked, watching her, and she shook her head.

"No, I don't." Elena sighed, frustrated and beginning to doubt herself. Was she really Spencer? Or was this all something she'd invented in her own mind, seeing patterns and signs where none existed? "Maybe I'm not her, I don't know." She continued, staring into the waters. "I don't even know what I was hoping to find here. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"Don't be." Emily said, looking at her with sympathy. "I don't know you, but it seems like you're going through a lot right now. Maybe your mother lived here with you when you were young. Whatever happened, I hope coming to this town gives you some closure."

"I hope so, too, but I'm not holding my breath. I know better by now." Elena said, smiling without humor. "You know what they say about hope - it just breeds misery."

Emily did not respond, frowning at her for a moment, an odd look in her eyes.

"What?" Elena asked, and the strange look was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Sorry, it's just...Spencer used to say that." Emily said, a whole range of emotions on her face. "You sounded just like her."

Elena looked back toward the lake, staring at her reflection in the waters. She thought of how she'd felt when she'd seen Spencer's photo, the memories and the voice, how the girl's face had felt so familiar-

Elena.

The voice was faint as a breeze, right near her ear, and she turned. There was a shadow in the forest behind them. A figure with a face that sent shivers through her. The face of a dead woman. Mom? She took a few steps forward, but the shadow was already gone, disappearing back into the forest.

"What is it?" Emily asked, glancing at the trees. "What's wrong?'

Elena did not answer, already heading forward and following the figure into the woods. She'd lost sight of her mother, but it felt like some strange force was guiding her path, leading her deeper and deeper into the forest. Dimly she heard Emily behind her, calling her name and trying to catch up with her, but she didn't stop until she reached a vast, open clearing.

There was an old church at the other end of the clearing, like some long-forgotten ruin.

"Elena, wait!" Emily called again, pausing at the edge of the clearing when she spotted the church. She was breathing hard, confused. "What's wrong? Where are you going?"

"I saw...I saw my mother." Elena said, before turning back to the church. How had she found this place? She'd been running through the woods with no sense of direction other than that strange feeling. Somehow she'd known this place was here. It was something important. "I heard her voice."

"I thought you said your mother was dead." Emily replied, looking uneasy.

"She is dead." Elena said, a tremor in her voice, before heading towards the church. Emily followed close behind, and soon they reached the doors and pushed them open. The interior of the church was dark and silent, like it had been abandoned a long time ago. The stained-glass windows were dull and cracked and the pews were covered in dust.

Elena walked forward a few steps before stopping. The chill she'd felt the night before...she felt it here, too. She crossed the main chamber, again feeling guided by the same strange instinct that had brought her here, making her way to one of the doors and pulling it open.

In front of her was a long, dark hallway and her blood turned to ice. She'd been here. This was the same hallway she'd seen in her dreams. Slowly, she crept down the passage before reaching the door at the end of the hall.

She opened it and felt sick to her stomach. It was the same small, dark room. She couldn't bring herself to walk inside.

"What is this place?" Emily asked, heading inside and looking around. "How did you...it's like you knew this would be here."

"I've seen this room before. In my dreams." Elena said grimly, looking away. "I've been here. This is where I was kept."