T he Devil within

A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction

Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"

Title: The Devil within

Author: Myself

Co-Author: -

Fandom: ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

Pairings: Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

Spoilers: SE04 & SE05

Posting: Romance/Drama/Mystery

Rating: MA

A/N: All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

Synopsis: Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

Sorry for the late update, but I had so much stuff to get done, I barely got time to even think about this story. Hope you don't mind and I wish you an enjoyable read!

The Girls

The voice of the news anchor still echoed through their heads when they met at Spencer's the next morning, the picture of Shana's shocked facial expression imprinted to their memory.

"Guys, we knew this would've happened sooner or later. It's not like we did anything in order to get rid of the body." Spencer felt her skin crawl when she processed the words that had just come out of her mouth.

Hanna buried her head in her hands and let out a shaky breath. "This can't be happening", she murmured.

Emily compulsively ran her fingers through her thick black mane, her face drained of all color. She looked like her circulation would give in at any second. So many thoughts were running through her head, so many emotions overwhelming her all at once. She glimpsed at Spencer, who catatonically fixated a spot in the distance. It wasn't much of a surprise that her sister, Melissa, had chickened out in the very last second. Admitting to a murder – independent on the reasons behind it – would've ruined her life and future for good. For some bizarre reason, Emily even felt a little sorry for her.

"Are you sure what your sister told you is true?" Hanna asked, her eyes rimmed with purple circles from the severe lack of sleep in the last week. "Why would Ms. DiLaurentis kill this girl?"

"I don't know, but you heard it yourself. There's a connection. Maybe they knew each other from Radley? Ms. D used to work there, remember?" Spencer reasoned.

"Ugh I am getting a headache", Hanna groaned. "Nothing makes sense anymore. Melissa killed Ms. D, who allegedly killed the girl in Ali's grave for god knows which reasons and what role does Shana play in all of this?"

Spencer shrugged. "Rosewood is full of people with secrets."

"Maybe the girl in Ali's grave … Bethany … was the one to hit Ali with the rock?" Emily suggested.

"But what reason would she have had?" Spencer questioned, absentmindedly staring at the ceiling and caressing her chin with her thumb and index finger.

"Ali knew plenty of people from all around town. Maybe Bethany used to be a friend of hers and then Alison did something so … gruesome … that Bethany wanted revenge for. I don't know, it's just a theory", Hanna explained, incessantly chewing on her lower lip.

"Alison has tortured numerous of people and even though some of them were totally bonkers, none of them had ever tried to kill her or harm her physically. What would enrage somebody that much that they would kill someone else? I mean committing a murder comes with certain consequences. There must be a significant reason if you are willing to take this risk", Spencer reasoned.

"Bethany was a patient at Radley's, right?" Emily asked. Spencer nodded in response.

"Well, what if she wasn't aware of the consequences? What if her – whatever mental disability she had – stopped her from thinking rationally? Correct me if I am wrong, but that sounds like a plausible explanation", Emily concluded.

"You do have a point", Spencer responded. "Yet, I still believe there is more to that than we see."

Hanna let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, isn't there always?"

Aria

When she woke up, every part of her body was aching. Her limbs felt as heavy as stone and her head was spinning. Memories from yesterday sneaked into her consciousness and then she noticed something warm lying next to her, something breathing. She blinked a few times until her eyes had adjusted to the brightness of the day and was surprised to find Ezra lying next to her, his hair tousled and his shirt revealing a bit of his giant scar. He was snoring quietly and his eye lids twitched now and then, but Aria was certain that he would not wake up. She slowly heaved her tired body off the couch and tiptoed into the kitchen. With every passing second, yesterday became more vivid and clear on her mind. She remembered visiting Ezra and talking to him, telling him things she had refrained herself from telling because simply uttering the words out loud caused her enough pain to break down emotionally. Her heartbeat increased noticeably. Why did she have to drag him into this? Wasn't it enough that she had used his gun? An unexpected urge took control of her and she felt the need to look for something to drink. With as cautious movements as she could muster, the raven-haired girl opened up every possible drawer or cabinet in the kitchen, frantically searching for something to take her mind off things. Eventually she succeeded and took a half-full bottle of Dom Pérignon out of one of the cabinets and a corkscrew out of one of the drawers. With a quick gesture she opened the bottle and took a huge, satisfying gulp. The bitter taste prickled on her tongue and a woozy feeling washed over her as soon as the alcohol showed its effect. Warmness spread in her stomach as the liquor had made its way down to her digestive system. A noise resounded from the living room area, a yawn, then the shuffling of feet on the wooden floor. Aria's heart started to race. She quickly plugged the cork back in the bottle and placed it behind her back when a drowsy looking Ezra entered the kitchen. His eyes were only half open and he looked like he hadn't really slept a lot last night. "What are you doing up so early?" He asked a little confused, not yet noticing his former girlfriend's awkward behavior.

"I, uh... was looking for some coffee", she quickly made up an excuse.

It took the male some time to respond, but then he pointed towards a Nespresso machine sitting in the corner. "Right there. You want me to make you some?" He stepped threateningly closer and Aria pressed her back hard against the kitchen counter. It was then that he noticed that something was most definitely off about her.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a puzzled look.

"Uh, yeah, I am fine, why?" Aria responded with a high-pitched voice, mustering up a weak smile.

"Are you sure?" Ezra walked towards her, eventually noticing the bottle behind her. "What's that?" He asked, reaching for it before Aria could stop him. A pathetic "no" escaped her mouth, when the man picked up the bottle and examined it with a hard to define expression on his face.

"Is that mine? he asked, still a little confused. "Did you... did you drink it?"

Aria bit down hard on her lips and avoided his gaze.

"Aria..." Ezra said softly, but with a hint of worry in his voice. "I know that the things you have done weigh heavily on you, but this..." He lifted up the bottle, the content sloshing against the glass. "...this is definitely no solution." He placed it on the counter to his right and wrapped the distraught girl in his arms. Aria hesitated a little, startled by this sudden gesture of affection but then she eventually melted in his touch, savoring the warmth that radiated from his body and inhaling the familiar scent of his cologne. "We can get through this", he whispered calmly and Aria fought hard to hold back another oncoming rush of emotions. A single tear streamed down her face and wetted his shoulder but she felt somewhat protected by his strong arms slung tenderly around her body. After some time had passed, he loosened his grip a little and stared into her fawn eyes, taken aback by the rare beauty of her face that never ceased to fascinate him. With some hesitation he cupped her face and leaned in a little closer, trying to pin down her reaction before he would ultimately do what he had wanted to do for so long after he had woken up at the hospital. Their lips met slowly but at the same time with a desperate longing. He gently placed his hands on her hips and started kissing just a little bit harder.

Alison

"Since when are you back?" Alison asked, leaning her fragile figure against the door frame of her brother's room. Jason was busying himself with rearranging stuff in his room without so much as looking at her. A minute of silence passed.

"Jason." Alison said sternly. "I thought you were dead, for god's sake. Is it too much to ask for a simple explanation?"

"How does it feel?" Jason responded bitterly, placing a pile of documents on his desk.

Alison sighed and opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, although she wasn't sure what she could say.

Jason walked up the door, glimpsing at his younger sister who looked just the slightest bit frightened by his proximity, before he eventually walked out wordlessly.

Alison watched him walk down the stairs, his face contorted with pain when his bruised arm brushed the metal stair-rail. The picture of his brutally battered body swam into her mind. Blood gushing out of his lips, his face strewn with hematomas and bloody scratches – although they never had the closest relationship to each other, Alison had literally felt her heart crack at the sight of her brother's state. It had ultimately led her to break down mentally which was followed by a hard, still-in-progress, recovery. Alison understood that what her brother had gone through must have been

the worst kind of all tortures and it was only reasonable that he did not want to talk about it in detail, yet his behavior was somewhat suspicious. There was this strange, gnawing feeling that he was keeping a secret. In fact, Alison was sure that her brother had plenty of skeletons in his closet, he had always acted a bit too secretively, but then again that obviously ran in the DiLaurentis family.

She pushed herself away from the door frame and checked whether her brother was really gone. Then she tentatively took a step in his room, scanning every inch of the familiar surroundings. The wall was empty and cold, no posters, pictures or anything personal. His desk was littered with documents, empty cigarette packs and other small things. A few pieces of clothing were lying on the floor, a few school books here and there. In the corner of the room sat a dirty hockey stick which was almost broken in half. Alison walked up to desk and shuffled through the papers, but asides from essays, some scribbling and school notes she could not find anything of importance. All of the sudden a hardly audible noise caught her attention. She pivoted her look to the half-open window. The curtains were moving slightly, but then again it could have just been the wind outside. Then a crack resounded and her heartbeat paused for a few milliseconds. Cautiously and with trembling limbs she sneaked towards the window pane. Already dreading what she would possibly encounter, the young woman looked outside.

A gust of wind blew a few leafs across the empty street. It was eerily silent in Rosewood today. A broken street lamp crackled and almost made her topple over with shock. She eyed every yet so little detail of the scenery outside, but there was nothing suspicious to be found. Still she couldn't shake the feeling that something or rather someone had been here before, watching her. The mere thought of it made her skin crawl.

CAleb

A light breeze whistled through the empty streets of Ravenswood when Caleb Rivers walked alongside the lifeless shops with their bleak windows and dusted entrance doors. Sometimes it felt like passing the border to another world, a world full of unsolved mysteries and buried secrets. There was indeed some truth behind this imagination.

His secret rested heavily on him and he knew that sooner or later he couldn't but reveal his gruesome deed to Hanna. However, some precautions had to be taken care of before he would do that.

At a narrow side road he came to a halt and let his look swipe through the city. After having assured that nobody was in his proximity, he continued walking until he reached a secluded door, labelled with golden lettering. He took a deep breath and knocked 3 times. About half a minute letter someone cautiously opened the door. Caleb was instantly greeted by the familiar scent of marijuana and cigarette smoke. A young male, approximately the same height as Caleb, stood there in the cold evening breeze with nothing more but a dirty tank top and a pair of red and white striped boxers. A cigarette butt hung loosely from his lips and his eyes were rimmed with redness. He scratched his stubbly chin and needed a few seconds to recognize his visitor.

"Ahh, Caleb, old pal, what brings you here to the town of the dead?" He joked and took a step aside to grant his friend entrance.

The smell of weed intensified with every step he took and soon he was enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke. A large glass bong stood on the table and a few nameless people were gathered around it like it was a holy relic. They all had equally red eyes and an equally satisfied look on their face. In this very moment Caleb wished he'd still smoke.

"So, what can I do for you? You want some?" The male gestured in the direction of the bong. Next to it laid a clump of weed the size of a brick.

"No, thanks, I am good." Or was he?

"Suit yourself." The male sat next to the other people and lit another cigarette.

"Dan, I need your help. You remember what happened with Miranda, right?" Caleb started, feeling a little uneasy with the presence of all the other people. "Is there any chance we can talk in private?"

Dan seemed somewhat startled by the mention of Miranda, but he nodded slowly and rose from his seat. "Sure, bro, let's go to the bedroom."

Once in a secure and private atmosphere, Caleb began to talk. He told him every detail from the incident between him and Travis to the fact that his girlfriend demanded to know the truth.

"Tough decision, man." Dan comradely put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know. It's a huge secret. We haven't told anyone about this. What if she goes to the police?"

"I do trust her", Caleb responded seriously but with a certain hint of doubt in his voice.

Dan sighed audibly and lit his – if Caleb had counted right – tenth cigarette since he had arrived.

A full minute of silence passed, the cigarette smoke dancing in the dim light of the bedroom lamp.

"You know what? If you trust her, so do I. Tell her, man. She deserves the truth", Dan eventually said. One of his eye lids twitched and he looked just a tiny bit frightened, but he stuck to his decision nevertheless.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, sure, I won't stop you." He mustered up a smile.

"Thanks man." Both males rose from their seats and gave each other an amicable hug.

Toby

His heartbeat rose noticeably when Toby Cavanaugh stood in front of the huge, metal gates of the Radley Sanatorium. The building complex rose to the sky like a dark monstrosity, ready to swallow him as a whole.

He mentally went through all the steps again, everything had to happen according to plan or he would get caught. With one last deep breath, he took out a needle-looking object with which he expertly opened the lock of the gate. A terrible screeching sound resounded when the doors flung open and Toby couldn't keep himself from wincing. It was 5pm in the afternoon, but Rosewood was awkwardly silent. A couple of crows flew above his head and landed on the thick branch of a nearby tree. The scenery looked like it was directly cut out of a horror movie.

He made his way to the front door and opened it with the same device he had used before. With a loud "click" the door went open and he went inside.

There was a middle-aged nurse behind the reception, apathetically tapping away on the keyboard, the bright light of the screen illuminating her facial features. Toby had memorized every inch of the floor plan and it didn't take him a long time to find the place he was looking for – the storage room.

He made his way inside and when he reappeared, he was dressed in a pair of sterile white trousers and a white polo with a Radley logo imprint on the breast pocket. When he casually walked through the long, cold corridors he was greeted by some of the caregivers who did not even directly look into his face. They probably thought he was an intern.

At the end of the corridor was a steel door with large lettering that said "Entrance only for staff members". He reached into his pocket to fish out a key ring with at least a dozen of different keys. The third one worked.

Stiff air welcomed him and only a single light bulb swung from the ceiling. Piles and even more piles of documents were stacked in the corner on an old wooden table and huge metal cabinets, which supposedly contained all the patient files, covered the bleak walls. It took him about half an hour in which his nervousness grew and grew, until he finally found what he was looking for.

Patient name: YOUNG, Bethany

File no.: SP-303

Admitted: August 24, 2008

Released: -

Diagnosis: Schizophrenia

Report (Aug, 24th, 2008): ...

With sweaty hands he went through all the reports that were included in the file, frantically looking for a connection, not only to his mother, but to all the other people concerned by Bethany's mysterious death. On the 11th of June in 2009 he stopped.

"...she was insane, but she didn't know it. She thought I was the crazy one, everyone thought that. She made everyone think I was. But she's bonkers, she had already tried to get rid of me, and she is going to do it again. And he? Not any better. They probably share the same bed, those sick psychos. I wouldn't be surprised..."

There were no names, no specifications, just endless pages of how insane those nameless two people were and how they had managed to make Bethany's live a living hell. Toby fished out his cellphone and quickly took a few blurry pictures of the file. Steps resounded from the hall and he instantly froze. Someone came to a halt in front of the door. He intuitively packed the files back to where they belonged and exited the door. An old male with a patient robe looked at him. He was pale as a ghost and had a long, frizzy beard. He didn't say anything, just blankly stared at the young male with his hollowed eyes and thin lips. Toby's pulse slowly but surely went back to normal and he passed the man without a word. He returned the clothes and unobtrusively made his way out of the sanatorium.

HAnna

Hanna casually slipped on a freshly brewed cup of coffee, a mixture of voices and sounds she didn't really perceive, resounding from the TV in front of her. The latest revelations spiraled through her head. There were so many dots but no reasonable connection. And what was up with Caleb? After smashing her ex-boyfriend's face, he had been all anxious and freaky that the police could uncover something he did in Ravenswood. The blonde was so sick of the secrets in her proximity. After Alison's disappearance, a cascade of lies and mysteries had been triggered. People – one by one – had been buried in neighboring backyards, their secrets having been taken to their grave with them. She turned off the TV and shuffled into the kitchen to refill her cup.

When she returned to the living room, a sudden, shrill noise interrupted the soothing silence. She stood there for a few seconds, until the noise resounded again and she identified it as the doorbell. She mentally went through the work schedule of her mother, but it couldn't be her, she wouldn't be home until 8pm. With a skeptical look on her face, Hanna moved towards the front door and peeked through the spyhole. What awaited her on the other side almost made her drop her cup.

It was an overwhelmingly unfamiliar situation to sit across from him again. His impeccably clean skin glowed lightly in the kitchen light, his teeth sparkling white like in a TV commercial. He smoothed the surface of his white cashmere pullover and then folded his hands on the table. Sean Ackard used to be Hanna's boyfriend about a year after Alison's disappearance. He seemed to be what others would deem as the picture-perfect boyfriend. Nice smile, good demeanor, perfect grades – however, their relationship was disturbed by a particular conflict of interest. Whilst Hanna was ready to be intimate with her boyfriend, he was participating in a no-sex-before-marriage club and it was undeniably hard to get him to change his mind. Thus after an argument between them at a party of Noel's had escalated, they broke up and never really talked to each other again. Hanna also hadn't seen him a lot in the last few months, leaving her to wonder whether he still went to Rosewood High.

"So?" She asked, driven by curiosity

"How are you?" Sean asked casually, as if appearing on her doorstep for some Smalltalk was the most normal thing to do.

"Wha...good, I am good. How are you?" Hanna couldn't really tell in which direction this conversation was going, but she was willing to play along for as long as she could contain her curiosity.

"Well, fine, I guess. Had a lot on my mind lately." He looked aside briefly, the sparkling in his eyes vanishing for the split of a second.

"I see..." An awkward silence filled the room and Hanna sipped loudly on a glass of mineral water. The ice cubes clinked against the glass when she set it down on the table again.

"Look, Hanna, there's something I need to tell you", Sean broke the silence. "I should've told you a long time ago, but I guess I wasn't ready. However, I think, you deserve the truth." He took a huge breath and continued to talk. Hanna's eyes grew wider and wider as the conversation went on.

Spencer

Spencer browsed through her history folder, her opened algebra book was lying a few centimeters away, showing a couple of unsolved equations. The desk lamp burned on her forehead and her eyes and head hurt from having stayed up so long. An enormous, half-empty cup of coffee sat to her right and with a frustrated grunt she threw the twentieth piece of paper from the last 10 minutes in the bin.

Studying used to be something so natural for Spencer, she had no problem with learning for 2 or 3 objects at the very same time. But with all the A-stuff going, her sister's recent revelations and her boyfriend nowhere to be found again, it was becoming an increasingly difficult challenge to concentrate. She had about 5 tests in the next week, some of them quite essential for her grade in the concerning subject. She couldn't put her future career at risk, just because of some, well, let's call them "irregularities", in her life. A Hasting was always able to work even under the most severe pressure, no excuses allowed.

She thoughtfully played with one of her pencils, assessing all the possible options she had at the moment. At last, she grabbed her phone and quickly typed in the number of Andrew Campbell.

After having set up a study date with her former colleague and rival, she went downstairs to prepare herself something to eat. While moving towards the fridge, she overheard her mother talking animatedly in the living room area. Being too curious to ignore it, Spencer inched closer and tried to perceive what her mother was talking about. However, the woman deliberately tried to keep her voice at a rather low volume. Spencer could only pick out some key words, such as her sister's and father's name. She also believed to have heard her mother addressing the person on the other line with "Detective" so it wasn't very hard to tell who she was talking to. When she realized her mother had stopped talking, she rapidly went back to the fridge and acted as if she had just arrived there. Mrs. Hastings briskly entered the room and abruptly came to a halt when she noticed her daughter standing there. Spencer's heartbeat increased but she acted as innocent as she could. Something she had learned from her parents – keeping your emotions underneath when it was necessary.

"There is a small piece of steak left in the fridge, if you're hungry", her mother said with a strangely calm voice. Then she muttered something under her breath and went upstairs.

Aria

When Aria woke up, she smelled the familiar scent of Ezra's perfume next to her. Silk covered her bare skin and she had goose bumps on her arms. When she touched her face she noticed that her mascara was smeared all over it. As soon as her eyes had adjusted to the darkness surrounding her, she could perceive the silhouette of a body lying next to her. Taken aback by the sudden realness of the situation, she almost jumped off the bed. She moved a few safe inches away. Ezra Fitz was lying on his stomach , his bare back rising with every breath he took, his mouth slightly agape. Every now and then he let out a satisfied sigh. Aria tried to control her breathing, her head was spinning and she tasted a mixture of Ezra and alcohol on her tongue. Had she been drunk the whole time? She only remembered Ezra finding her with the bottle in his kitchen, then he had moved closer and ... and then?

She slowly and silently climbed off the bed and hurriedly put on her clothes which were strewn all over the wooden floor. A single strip of moonlight shone through the window and illuminated parts of the room. Aria managed to make it to the door without making any loud noises. When she was outside, she let out a shaky breath she had at least been holding for a minute.

Spencer

After going through all the subjects Spencer had to study for, she and Andrew had decided to grant themselves a couple of drinks at a nearby bar. Spencer knew it wasn't the wisest thing to do to consume alcohol right after studying, but she needed something to take her mind off things and talking to someone who was completely unaware of the chaos in her life, seemed like a good opportunity to escape her problems for a while.

They seated themselves on the leathern bar stools and ordered two Martinis. Their conversations started off with day-to-day matters, as Andrew seemed to try very hard to avoid anything that had to do with the recent events. However, at some point they dived into more personal topics. After ordering a couple more drinks, Spencer started to talk about how her boyfriend was never around when she needed him and how he had been acting so strange and secretive the last few days. Andrew just listened patiently and provided her with another drink when her glass was empty.

At some point, Spencer felt dizziness overcoming her. She looked at her half-empty glass, then back at Andrew who was equally wasted and stared at a neon sign above the bar with a drunken smile on his face. "Esssuse me for a minute, I need to go to the toilet", she slurred and shakily walked in the direction of the sanitary installations. Andrew was still busying himself with the glowing colors of the neon sign and did not notice the hooded person behind him. Until he eventually realized the presence of someone behind him, the person was gone. He simply shrugged and ordered another drink.

Spencer looked at herself in the dirty bathroom mirror. There were a few puns and names scribbled on it with a sharpie. She hiccupped and felt her stomach tighten. The wooziness was getting to a point where it was becoming uncomfortable. She decided it was the best to go home, even though in her current state this seemed to be a mission impossible. She pushed the door open and moved towards the bar.

"Drink up", Andrew demanded with a stupid grin on his face. Spencer hesitated for a second. She knew the reasonable decision would be to deny his offer, but for some unexplainable reason her hand almost automatically reached for the glass and she downed the last half with one gulp. The sourness of the liquid hit the sensitive nerves on her tongue, rushed down her throat and spread with warmth in her stomach. "Okay, but thaass it, I need to go home."

"I'll bring you home", Andrew offered. Even though he was evidently drunk, he was still able to formulate proper sentences in marked contrast to his company. He pushed himself off the bar stool, handed the barkeeper a 100, and accompanied Spencer outside.

The cold air hit her with a sudden harshness. Despite the fact that the alcohol took away most of her temperature sensation, the coldness still went through her body like sharp icicles. Andrew noticed the girl shivering and as the gentleman he was, he put off his jacket and handed it to her.

The rest of the night went by faster than Spencer could realize it. After she had left the bar, something inside her head had obviously broken free, something she had never been aware of. Only bits of what happened had remained in her memory, but if she remembered correctly, she had went from hyperactive to close-to-sleeping-on-the-pavement in the matter of seconds. And then something else happened...

The DiLAurentis Family

A shrill noise on the door let Jason DiLaurentis almost fall out of his bed. He confusedly pushed hair strands out of his face and looked around his dark room. A few noises floated upstairs. The click of the light switch being turned on, a door being opened, voices.

He pushed himself off the bed and quickly tiptoed downstairs. The bright light in the living room burned on his retinas and he covered his face with his hands. His father stood at the window, apathetically staring outside, dressed in his pajamas and evening gown. It only took a few minutes until Alison appeared as well, her hair uncombed and her eyes rimmed with black. The sounds were soon identified as police sirens. Jason walked up next to his father.

Cars circled the Hasting's property, all of them with rotating, red lights. Police officers stood in front of the huge entrance door, waiting for ... for whom? The Hastings family was full of secrets, to be quite honest, every single one of them could be a possible target of the executive forces.

Spencer

Her sight was blurred and she felt like going through a psychedelic rush. Spencer clumsily climbed out of her bed and staggered towards the door. Sirens howled through the night and even though she didn't have her head on straight, she could swear they were coming from right in front of her door. She did not at all notice the body that had been lying next to her.

She rushed downstairs and was greeted by the bright light of the living room. Her mother stood a few inches away from her, but Spencer could only perceive her silhouette. Muffled voices came from every direction and the red light of police cars shone through the windows. Spencer felt her heartbeat increase and the fact that she could not tell what exactly went down at the moment frightened her even more. She could only see two people walking out of the door and then the last thing she could remember was that everything had been sucked into an endless darkness.

A

Somewhere far in the distance, completely secluded from the whole drama, a hooded person was calmly leaning back in their leathern stool, watching the camera footage of a middle-aged men being taken away by police officers.