The game was just starting and, like dolls on a shelf, Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily were in their rooms, unmoving. The familiar whereabouts were of no comfort. No matter how much it looked like home, it was a pantomime. The concrete wall behind the windows taunted them constantly.

Aria closed her eyes for a second and breathed out. She had had trouble sleeping for nights on end. After tossing around for hours, she would resign to her darkest thoughts. It was exhausting to give that little voice in her head center stage.

"Please remain calm," a voice on the speaker said.

This made Aria quickly sit up straight.

"Please remain calm," the voice repeated.

She jumped to her feet, anticipating something but nothing came. The minutes ticked and Aria sat back down. Maybe it was just another way Charles was having fun: making them think something would happen when it clearly was not going to. A sickly sweet smell invaded her nostrils as she grabbed on to the edge of the bed and laid back.

She breathed out, filling her lungs with air but not feeling like her head was any clearer. Bunching up the fabric of the duvet in her fist, she realized it felt just like the one in her house. The entire bedroom as an exact replica, without a single flaw. There has to be one, she thought as she desperately scanned the floor, the walls, the furniture to find some hint. It was as if she could find that one revealing detail then she could convince herself that she was really back home, just about to go to bed, worried about a mid-term and nothing else.

What if the dollhouse was only in her head? What if she was back home and had convinced herself that A had locked her in a bedroom that looked exactly like hers? How could a person that wasn't her know about the mark she had made the one time she was young and dumb enough to try smoking a cigarette? It had to be a dream or a hallucination...

...There was nothing but darkness and a sharp pain at her temples. As Aria regained consciousness, she realized she was in a different room. She lifted her head off the table quickly, which only made the pain in her head worse. Looking around, all she could see were white walls but no door. Turning her head, she caught sight of pink hair in the corner of her eye. She reached out a hand to feel the strand.

Only once the shock disappeared did Aria notice the four monitors before her with a button in front of each. They had displayed nothing but static until that moment. The first screen came alive with security camera footage, as if they had been waiting for her.

"Why are you showing me this?" she managed to cry out.

She was not granted a verbal response. However, to Aria's horror, she soon discovered why she was there. The door that the first camera was focused on opened and she could see Ezra entering his apartment, leaving his jacket on the couch as he switched on the television.

"No! Don't hurt him!" Aria screamed, frightened and unable to peel her eyes away from the image.

The second screen switched from static to the DiLaurentis household where Jason sat at his desk, typing into a laptop. Before Aria could react, the third showed Noel rummaging through a refrigerator in what she presumed to be his kitchen. Finally, the last one turned on to show Sean Ackard deep in thought with an array of textbooks scattered around a desk.

Aria didn't understand what was going on. Was she supposed to be frightened by the fact that A could spy on everyone she knew? The thought was definitely daunting but she had known that for a long time.

"Once upon a time, in the perfect little town of Rosewood, four friends resided," a cheery, artificial voice began narrating over the speakers, "They were all cursed by their friendship with the queen bee but none wished to fight it. One fateful night, the leader strayed far from her nest and it caused a series of fatal events. The other bees were not still; they were not asleep. They were up to mischief of their own and in lies, neck deep. Aria Montgomery, the girl with pink hair, left the barn and wandered off somewhere. She got cozy with a Rosewood boy under September skies. Remember the ending or someone dies."

Aria was covered in cold sweat as she observed the buttons lighting up in front of her. She knew she had to choose one but she couldn't remember anything from that night. There was no doubt in her mind that Charles was capable of killing them, even his own brother. She didn't want another death to be her fault. There was already enough blood on her hands. Her hands started shaking uncontrollably. She could have been with any of them that night, except maybe Ezra. Unless she was so drugged that she didn't remember ever meeting him. But that was not possible. Just thinking about it made her head spin.

"Remember the ending or someone dies," the speaker repeated impatiently, beginning a countdown from twenty.

"I don't know!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face, but the seconds kept ticking away.

Aria closed her eyes, trying to force herself to think but nothing came to her.

"Five, four, three..."

Aria panicked as the countdown was nearing its end and closed her eyes, pressing the fourth button. She slowly opened them as silence filled the room. After hearing zero, she had been expecting something dramatic and horrific.

The first three screens were now filled with static again and all that remained was Sean studying in his house. All of a sudden, Sean's body fell limply atop his notes. Covering her mouth with her hand, Aria pushed her face closer to the screen. Only when she saw the dark fluid spreading over his papers did she realize he was dead.

Through her tears, Aria saw the other monitors turn back on.

"Remember the ending or someone dies."