A Midnight Fright
Chapter One
Summary: Spencer is through with letting 'A' control her life; she's getting Toby back, but 'A' has other plans.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars.
It was the day after A had framed the girls for Alison's murder and Spencer couldn't sleep. Yes, she and the other girls had been released on bail with a bunch of community service hours tacked on to their already stressed filled lives, but that didn't make it any easier to sleep.
Finally giving up on sleeping, Spencer threw her covers off of her and got out of bed. Looking at her clock as she went to grab her jacket, Spencer noticed that it was ten minutes to midnight and she let out a sigh. Putting her jacket on, Spencer grabbed her keys and was about to head towards her bedroom door when the storm outside cast the shadow of a person onto her wall. Glancing at her window, Spencer let out a scream.
"Spencer, what's wrong?" Peter Hastings asked as he ran into his daughter's room.
"There's someone in the tree outside my window." Spencer said with a shaking voice.
As Spencer watched her dad walk towards the window cautiously, she clung onto the post of her bed.
"Who's out there?" Peter asked once he opened the window.
When there was no answer, Peter motioned for Spencer to turn on a light. Doing what she was asked, Spencer hurriedly turned on the lamp that was on her bedside table.
"Toby? What are you doing out there?" Spencer asked when she saw who was in the tree.
When he still didn't answer, Peter looked closer and quickly turned to his daughter.
"Call 911. NOW!" Peter exclaimed and Spencer quickly dialed the police.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Spencer asked.
"Just get the police on the phone and let me talk to them." Peter said.
"911, what's your emergency?" a female operator, who sounded strangely familiar, asked.
"One second." Spencer said as she handed the phone to her dad.
"Spencer, go next door and get Jason DiLaurentis." Peter said before holding the phone to his ear.
As Spencer hurried out of her room and down the stairs, she tried to listen to what her dad was saying to the 911 operator. Rushing out of the house to go next door, Spencer decided to head by the part of the house that her room was in. Looking up at the tree outside her window, Spencer let out a small cry; Toby was hanging from a branch, but since his feet were barely resting on the branch below him, it looked like he was standing there.
As tears started to fall from her eyes, Spencer ran towards the DiLaurentis' house. Taking the front steps two at a time, Spencer started banging on the front door. Had Spencer not been so focused on getting Jason, she might have noticed Aria's car parked in the driveway; had Spencer not been so focused on getting Jason, she probably wouldn't have been so surprised when her friend answered the door.
"Spence? What are you doing here?" Aria asked in surprise.
"I could ask you the same thing Aria. It's midnight. What are you doing here?" Spencer asked in return.
"I needed to get out of my house and so I came here. Jason and I were TALKING!" Aria stressed.
"If you say so; but I need Jason. It's about that bitch, and Toby is in trouble." Spencer said, putting Aria being at Jason's house aside.
"JASON! Spencer needs your help… NOW!" Aria yelled and in a second, Jason was standing there.
"What's wrong Spencer?" Jason asked.
"Just come on. My dad will fill you in on everything." Spencer said as she pulled Jason towards her house with Aria not far behind.
As the three teens raced back to Spencer's house, Spencer's phone started beeping. I told you to keep Toby safe. You failed. – A. After reading the text, Spencer held Aria's arm and puked onto the ground.
"Spencer, are you okay?" Aria asked as her friend continued to puke.
"Just read it." Spencer whispered as she shoved her phone into Aria's hand.
"Oh my god." Aria whispered as she read the text.
"Aria, I need some help over here. Get Spencer somewhere comfortable so she can sit down and come help me please." Jason said from the base of the tree.
"Come on Spence. Let's get you to the porch so that you can sit down." Aria said as she led Spencer towards the porch.
"Don't leave me." Spencer begged as she held onto Aria's arm.
"I'll call Hanna and Emily and ask them to come over." Aria said gently.
"Stay with me until they get here?" Spencer asked weakly.
"Spence, Jason needs my help. I promise that Emily and Hanna will be here soon." Aria said as she pulled her phone out and called Emily.
"Hello?" Emily said groggily from the other end of the line.
"Both you and Hanna need to get to Spencer's house, now." Aria said quickly.
"Is she okay?" Emily asked fully awake now and shaking Hanna awake.
"No, she's not. A got to Toby and Spencer is freaking out." Aria said. "Now get your butts over here." She added before she hung up.
"Are they on their way?" Spencer asked in a small voice once Aria hung up the phone.
"Yes, they are on their way. But I need to go help Jason now." Aria said softly.
"Okay, go help Jason." Spencer said as her body shook.
About 5 minutes or so later, Emily and Hanna pulled up and rushed to the backyard and to Spencer's side. No sooner had the girls shown up, the sounds of sirens started to get closer.
"What the hell is going on out here?" Melissa asked as she came out of the barn.
"Melissa, go back into the barn. This doesn't concern you." Peter told his oldest daughter from Spencer's bedroom window.
"I'm not going anywhere." Melissa said as she folded her arms across her chest and stood her ground.
"Melissa, NOW!" Peter said sternly.
With a shocked look on her face, Melissa turned on her heel and headed back into the barn.
"Peter, what do we have here?" a paramedic asked as he walked into the Hastings' backyard.
"My daughter's boyfriend has been hung from this tree. I believe that he is still breathing, but I am unsure of how long he has been here." Peter explained.
As Aria went to correct Spencer's dad on the status of Spencer and Toby's relationship, Spencer quickly shook her head, silencing what Aria was about to say.
"Okay then. Gentlemen, let's get this young man down." The paramedic said to the others that had shown up with him.
As Spencer watched silently as the paramedics got Toby down, she held Emily's hand and she knew that her friend was thinking the same thing- 'please don't let Toby be dead'.
"Daddy? Can I go with them please? I want to make sure that Toby is going to be okay." Spencer asked her dad who had just come down to the backyard.
"Of course you can." Peter said as he kissed the top of his daughter's head.
"Thank you." Spencer said as she broke away from her friends and ran after the paramedics who had Toby on a stretcher.
"Jason, will you please give me a couple minutes with the girls?" Peter asked the other guy.
"No problem." Jason said as he kissed Aria's head and started to walk in the direction of his house.
"Girls, do you know how Toby came to be hanging in the tree? Or who would want to hurt him or Spencer?" Peter asked his daughter's friends who just looked at each other before Aria spoke.
"Yes, we know of someone who would want to hurt Spencer and Toby. But we can't tell you who it is. It's not that we don't trust you or don't want to tell you; it's just that you would be in danger if we told you." Aria explained.
"Aria, if you girls don't tell me, there's nothing that I can do to help you." Peter said with a sigh.
"We're sorry Mr. Hastings, but we can't tell you." Emily said.
"Can you girls go to the hospital and make sure that Spencer is okay? She hasn't had a good night." Peter said with another sigh.
"We'll go." Hanna offered as she linked arms with Emily.
"Aria, what about you?" Peter asked; she was the one who had shown up with Jason and Spencer.
"I can't right now Mr. Hastings. I was already doing something." Aria said slowly.
"If you were able to stop what you were doing to come here when Spencer went to get Jason, you are able to go to the hospital and make sure that my daughter is okay." Peter said sternly.
"With all due respect Mr. Hastings, the reason I came here when Spencer went to get Jason was because I was with Jason. Not to mention the fact that you are not my father, so you cannot tell me what to do. Now yes, Spencer is my friend, and I hope that she and Toby are okay, but right now, I cannot go check on her. Spencer is a big girl Mr. Hastings; she doesn't need all three of her friends at once to make sure that she is okay." Aria said before walking over to where Jason was waiting for her.
"Emily, Hanna, are you two sure that you can't tell me who did this?" Peter asked.
"Mr. Hastings, everyone we have told has ended up hurt in some way. We aren't going to put your life at risk by telling you; that would be too much for Spencer." Emily explained before she and Hanna walked away.
Who are you girls protecting? The ones you love? Or yourselves? - A