***Chapter 35***

**Aria's POV**

Hanna was already at Mona's when I arrived, so I wouldn't have to deal with the awkwardness of being the first one there. Mona and I weren't really on the friendliest of terms, not even after the dollhouse. I trusted her more now than I had before, but still given my initial reaction to her and Mike's relationship, not to mention the time she had spent torturing us, we weren't going to be best friends anytime soon. Besides the fact that I knew she was still hiding things from us, I couldn't shake the suspicion that she was helping whoever this new A was. After all, Mona had gotten a gas mask when the rest of us hadn't. I was a few minutes early for our meeting, but apparently Leslie wasn't here yet.

"Hey, any word on when Leslie is gonna be here?" I asked when I made it up to Mona's room.

It was kind of strange to be in her room again; the last time I was here it was because of her apparent murder, something which seemed so long ago. Someone had cleaned everything well since then, there was no sign of the blood that had painted the walls before. I set my purse down next to Hanna, who was sitting on the bed while Mona paced slightly next to her desk.

"Nothing yet."

I checked my phone, seeing that it was just about 7. With Ali out of town, we really needed to have Spencer with us as well. I sent her a quick text, reminding her that she needed to get over here quickly.

"Did you hear anything from Ali?" Hanna asked, looking up from her phone.

"No, but I went over to her house. Jason said she and his dad left town late last night and he doesn't know when they are going to be back." I told her.

"Wait, Ali just left?"

"Yeah, I guess." I replied, shifting uncomfortably under the weight of not only Hanna's gaze but also the still eyes of Mona's dolls.

There were dolls throughout the entire room, all looking towards the center of the room and no matter where I moved it felt like they were watching me. I understood what Mike meant when he said that all my photographs were creepy now, considering Mona's dolls were seriously freaking me out. My gaze caught on one doll, it was positioned so that it was looking directly at me, which on its own didn't make the doll standout at all. But it was dressed in a white nightgown, so familiar to me that I knew if I touched the fabric it would be the same silky material I remembered. The hair was cropped short to the doll's head and I had to fight the urge to finger my shortened locks. I felt my stomach turn with nausea as I looked at the doll, meeting its blank gaze. I had to look away if I didn't want to run to Mona's bathroom, throwing up. Maybe it was just a generic doll dress, and curly brown hair was common enough. But it still unsettled me and I couldn't completely ignore my suspicions that there was a connection.

"Where is Leslie?" Hanna broke the quiet which had formed around us, drawing my attention temporarily from the creepy doll. The wait had apparently been too much for Hanna.

"I don't know, she promised she would be here." Mona rebutted, checking her phone for an update.

"Call her again." I directed Mona before returning my gaze to the still staring doll. "Sorry, that doll's bugging me."

I moved over to the doll, which still kept its haunted gaze on me, the face worn since it was so old, there were little tiny cracks in the surface of its porcelain skin. I carefully turned its reluctant head, trying to avoid touching the dress it wore. The joint was so stiff that I had to grip the slippery clad shoulder to turn the doll from looking at me. I could feel the nausea rise as my fingers made contact with the slick fabric. It was like I could feel the fabric leave a film on my hands, not just on my hands but coating my whole body. I desperately wanted a shower to wash it all away.

"Sorry, I came as fast as I could." Spencer blazed into the room like a hurricane of frenetic energy making me turn. My hands still settled on the doll's form trying to twist the joint as she came to an abrupt stop. "Where's Leslie?"

"We don't know." Hanna informed her.

"Aria," Spencer called to me, her tone confused.

"What?"

"Leave the doll alone."

My gaze went back to the doll, its head turned unnaturally to the side so far that it was looking slightly over its shoulder. If that had been a human neck, it would have clearly been broken it was turned so far. I turned my back on the doll, pushing down my distress from seeing it, knowing at least now it wouldn't be looking at me. There were enough other eyes still on me that it barely seemed to make a difference. Suddenly, Mona's phone chirped loudly and she sighed reading the message she had gotten.

"Leslie just texted me that she's not coming." Mona informed us, shoving her phone into her pocket.

"Unbelievable."

"Tell her to get over here now." Hanna put in, getting up from the bed in her anger so that she was standing in front of Mona.

"She says she's making progress with her stability and she thinks a confrontation like this will only be a setback for her."

"Tell her to get her ass over here, I'll show her confrontation." Hanna was riled, I almost expected to see her pulling the long dangling earrings out in preparation for a fight.

"Come on, field trip." I grabbed my purse off the bed and moved towards the door expecting the others to follow me. Hanna was right, we needed to get this taken care of. Leslie didn't get to hide from us. "Leslie knows who Charles is, and you know where that bitch lives. So let's go."

I was so not in the mood to have to deal with a shy psychopath who flip-flopped back and forth as to whether she was going to help us deal with Charles. I wanted to get this over with so we could get Charles arrested and finally be done with this whole mess. Leslie's mental health was not as high on my priority list as getting Charles taken care of, making sure that the other girls and my family stayed safe. And this just seemed like she was trying to avoid us, despite the fact that she had picked a fight with Mona and Hanna a few days before. It hardly seemed like confrontation was really her problem.

"Nobody's going anywhere. That girl is one lost marble away from a total breakdown. I swear, Leslie doesn't know anything else. If she did, she'd tell me. And I'd tell you." Mona returned, crossing her arms defiant that she wasn't going to lead us to her crazy friend.

"The night that Bethany and Charles escaped from Radley, you were with Ali. She told us that you took her to the Lost Woods Inn that night. Maybe you saw someone, some guy that might have been Charles." Spencer diverted, clearly wanting to get something out of today.
"I wish that I did. But I didn't see anyone else." Mona replied.

"What about at Radley?" I asked her, hoping that maybe there was something from her time there that could help us. "Someone stole the A game from you while you were there. Do you remember anything about that person?"

"I know I did. But I was on so many drugs that I didn't know what I was talking about. Half the time I thought I was talking to Ali, the other half I thought I was auditioning for American idol."

"So what's the plan then?" Hanna asked.

"I don't know. We needed the lead. We'll just have to wait for another clue." Spencer told her, making my heart sink into the pit of my stomach.

This morning had been a total waste, waking up so early in the morning because we were trying to work within Leslie's schedule just for her to flake. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or just that I had to come over to Mona's and be watched by all the dolls lining her walls and drawing me back to my nightmares. But I was pissed. We weren't any closer to catching Charles, even with the stupid microchips in our necks we had nothing. Maybe we should just tell the cops what was going on since we weren't getting anywhere on our own. Despite my frustration, I knew that we couldn't yet. Charles was still threatening Sarah if we spoke about it. Not to mention if we wanted the chance to trap Charles, with the lookout for him all over the radio, he would slip back into some crack and we wouldn't see him again. But that didn't help the urge to get that thing out of my neck. We weren't in the dollhouse anymore, despite all the dolls around me. But I couldn't help feeling like we were still trapped. That it was all a rat trap that Charles had closed us into. I could feel my eyes watering, from exhaustion, anger, and frustration. I needed to get out of here before I lost control.

"So we'll meet up later?" I asked, wondering if there was a plan for the rest of the day. I knew that the others needed to head to school soon, though neither Mona nor I were attending classes.

The other girls agreed, and I headed out from Mona's. I considered the possibility of grabbing more coffee and settling down at my dad's office to work through my days homework, but the thought of facing the stack of books caused my eyes to droop. Maybe I could grab a quick nap before my doctors appointment and wake up again for a better start of the day. With the sun in the sky, it might be easier for me to sleep in my room. Like it had been yesterday. My homework could wait a little longer.

***End Chapter***