Twisted

Hanna clamped her mouth shut, feeling immobile. Then, the girl took a lurching step toward her, seemingly crossing the crow’s nest in one step. Her drink sloshed in her glass. Her wide eyes didn’t blink. In seconds, she had pinned Hanna to the low wall that surrounded the deck. Up close, she smelled like vanilla soap and rum. When she gazed into Hanna’s eyes, she let out another lilting, familiar giggle. Hanna’s heart banged. She thought of the times she’d heard Ali’s giggle even after Ali had supposedly perished in the Poconos fire. The mornings she’d woken in a cold sweat, sure Ali was after them. Now, it was coming true.

“What do you want from us?” Hanna cried, shielding her face with her hands. “Haven’t you taken enough?”

The girl stuck out her bottom lip. “Why are you so afraid of me?”

“You know why,” Hanna whispered, staring into the girl’s crazed eyes. “You’re Alison DiLaurentis.”

A flicker of something—maybe surprise, maybe amusement—passed across the girl’s face. “The dead girl?” She pressed her hand to her chest. “The crazy murderer? Now why would you say something horrible like that?”

“Because of everything you’ve said to us!” Aria said behind Hanna. “Everything you know! A-and because of the burns on your body. Are those from the fire?”

The girl glanced at her burned arms and smiled playfully. “Maybe. But I didn’t survive that fire, did I?”

“No one really knows what happened,” Emily said shakily. “Everyone thought you died, but . . .”

“But what?” the girl interrupted in a teasing voice, her eyes gleaming. “But I escaped? Any ideas how that could have happened, Em?”

Emily paled and took a step back. Hanna, Spencer, and Aria glanced at her for a moment, not knowing what the girl was getting at.

Then, the girl advanced toward Hanna. Hanna shrieked and jumped away. “What’s the matter?” The girl looked offended. “What do you think I’m going to do?”

“Leave me alone!” Hanna screamed, lurching back. The rough bamboo that lined the walls scraped against her skin. She sensed the open air behind her, the wall giving way to a thirty-foot drop. The ocean crashed far, far below.

“Don’t touch her!” Aria ran up to the girl, grabbed her arm, and spun her around. “Didn’t you hear her? She wants you to leave her alone!”

“Just tell us who you are, okay?” Spencer called behind Aria. “Just be honest.”

A slow smile spread across the girl’s face. “You want an honest answer? Okay. I’m Tabitha. And I’m fabulous.”

Everyone gasped. Hanna was pretty sure she screamed. Ali always said that.

Tabitha really was Ali.

Ali broke from Aria’s grasp and turned for Hanna again. Hanna tried to press against the wall, but her ankle turned and she lost her balance. She wheeled around, face-to-face with the crashing ocean below. With just one push, she’d fall down, down, down . . .

“Help!” Hanna screamed now in the elevator just as she’d screamed then. “Someone help me!”

Suddenly, the lights snapped on again. The car bounced once, throwing Hanna to the ground. The motor began to whir, dragging the car toward the lobby.

The bell dinged. The door opened smoothly at the ground floor, as if nothing had been amiss. Hanna stepped out into the empty atrium, her heart chugging fast, her body both sweating and shivering, and the horrible memories she’d long suppressed now flying around her head like a flock of geese caught inside a shopping mall. It had happened. All of it had happened. A was right—the past was never far away.

Something off to the left caught her eye. A small, gray utilities closet stood slightly open. ELEVATOR, said a sign on the door. Levers, gauges, and switches lined the wall. It certainly hadn’t been open when Hanna arrived a half hour ago. In fact, she’d never seen it open before today.

She peered into the room and sniffed. It smelled the slightest bit like vanilla soap. Someone had been in the elevator room, tampering with the controls. And Hanna knew just who it was.

Ali.

Chapter 28

When push comes to shove

That same morning, Aria pulled on her ski pants, layered on an extra pair of socks and a wooly sweater, strapped on her ski boots, and waddled out to the slopes. The Kahn boys were milling around outside the lodge, gearing up and surveying the latest snowfall. Klaudia sat alone on a green bench, strapping on her skis.

When Noel noticed Aria, a tiny, repentant smile crossed his face. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Aria crunched over to him.

“You sleep okay?” Noel said in a stilted, overly polite voice.

Aria nodded. “Just fine.” Then she turned to Klaudia. “I want to talk to you.”

Klaudia glanced at Aria for a split second, then looked away. “I busy.”

Aria gritted her teeth. This was going to be harder than she thought. But she had to talk to Klaudia. She’d come to a decision.

After she’d gone up to her room last night, she’d had horrible waking nightmares of the Kahn boys having their way with Klaudia in the tub. She’d picked up her phone a million times, daring herself to compose an It’s over text to Noel, but she kept putting it down, something inside her not quite ready.

Then, about forty-five minutes later, she’d heard footsteps in the hallway and ran to the peephole and looked out. Noel plunged the keycard into his room across the hall. He was alone. There was no sign of his brothers or Klaudia. And then, five minutes later, a text appeared on Aria’s phone: Good night. See you tomorrow. XX, Noel.