No one in the room moved.
"I don't know what’s true anymore.Do I need help?"
"I can't tell you what you need; no one can.Only you can decide that.Do you think you need help?"
"I’m so tired," Sarah said."I don't know what will help me now.I have to do this.I know I have to kill him."She looked down to where her hand was on Dr.Connor’s shoulder, and her brows furrowed a little as if she was only just seeing that she held a man at knifepoint."That’s why I brought him here, isn’t it?"
Sarah spoke as if in a daze, but Alison knew that she could flip at any time.At an eminent, the other part of her mind could come to the forefront and take over.There was no escape for Sarah now.
No, that’s not true.There is one escape, and that’s death.
They had come this far, and they were so close, and all they had to do now was walk out of the building with the two people standing in the middle of the room.It was over, the chase was one, and they had their serial killer, but how many victims would she claim?She’d brought Dr.Conor to the facility where he’s treated her brother, and there was some poetic justice in that, in her mind.Did she want poetic justice in the way she left the world?Would she kill and then be killed?
"Yes, you bought him here because you wanted to kill him," Alison said."I think you believe it will bring you some contentment.You want to punish him, but I know enough about killers to know that it’s not going to be enough for you—for her."
Sarah nodded."Shewants to kill him.I…I don't know, but I know he deserves punishment."
"That may be, but what punishment does he deserve?"Alison asked."You told me that our brother wanted to die, he wanted to kill people, he did everything in his power to fool people, and he hurt you along the way, didn’t he?"
"He never meant to hurt me, and she doesn’t want to hurt me either."
"But they both do, don't they?They did.You loved your brother, of course, you loved him, and you always will, just like I’ll always love my sister.However, he still hurt you, and you hate him for that, and you can’t ever make that right.She hurts you, too.I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice, and no one should get to hurt another.You can't hurt yourself any longer, Sarah."
"I don’t know how to stop it," Sarah said, "but she does.She told me the plan."
"What’s the plan?"Alison asked, not wanting to hear it.
"I have to kill him, and then the kid me, and all the hurt and pain is done.We'll be together again."
"You and your brother?"Alison asked.
"Me and…me.I can't fight her off any longer.I never wanted to because she could slash do what I couldn't.She was always the one in control, and now I have to."
"No!"Alison stated."She wasn’t always the one in control.She killed them, but she could only do it because you paved the way for her, didn't you?Was it she who planned all of this out?Would she have been able to kill anyone if you hadn’t planned for it?"
Alison couldn’t believe that she was trying to compliment one half of the psyche that had brutally killed four people in cold blood.
"I spent so much time searching for all of them and watching them and understanding who they were.I know them better than they know themselves.I knew them in life, and she knew them in death.Two sides of the same coin, heads or tails, life or death."
"She’s not the one in control," Alison said."You’re the one in control.She does what you can't do, but she only does it because you let her do it.You command her to do it.Tell me that’s not true."
"I don't know what’s true."
"I know one thing that’s true," Alison said."She might want to die, to go out in a blaze of glory in this very room, but you don't.You would have done so if you wanted to.It would have been easy for you, but you’ve been fighting against her, and if you let her come back now, she’ll do it before you have a chance to question her."
"He has to die," Sarah said.
"He needs to be punished, doesn’t he?"Alison asked."No one deserves to die."
"My name is Detective Moore," the voice came from behind, the first time anyone other than Alison and Sarah had spoken."I can't promise anything about punishment, but I will open an investigation into what happened to you and your brother.We know someone, a woman who’s been working to expose Judge Greene.He faced his punishment, but people can still know his crimes."
Sarah looked at Alison eagerly, seeking understanding from the woman she now trusted.
"It’s true," Alison said."You saw Judge Greene visit his sister there.It was why he sent Michael there.It’s hard to explain, but Diana Shepherd has data showing a skewed ratio of criminals being sent to facilities rather than prison.If you had a different judge, then perhaps none of this would have happened.Some of that will come to light soon.That’s the truth."
"I don't know what to do now," Sarah admitted.
"You do," Alison said."You have control, and you have the power to do it.You can live to see real change.Again, there can never be any promises, but you can be a part of that process."
