Chapter Five

Aria groaned as she stretched out across the bed, shivering when her arms and legs hit cold sheets. Her eyes shot open to the darkness of the bedroom, and her brow furrowed.

"Ezra?"

He popped his head around the doorway, adjusting his tie as he looked up at her.

"Hmm?"

Aria's brow furrowed.

"What time is it?"

"Six," he responded. "I have to meet Alison about a college essay, though."

Aria frowned as she pushed herself up on the bed. Being awake at six AM on a Monday was only going to be boring as hell.

"What am I gonna do?" She asked, as if she actually expected Ezra to have a decent answer.

Ezra reentered the room and walked over to the nightstand, picking up his cell phone. He unplugged it from the charger and leaned over, kissing her forehead.

"You could work on college applications," he replied suggestively. "I know you can't send them out now, but it's an option."

Aria rolled her eyes. "How in the world am I going to explain me having a high school diploma when I technically didn't "finish" high school?" She inquired.

"I'm pretty sure that by the time we get to tell people you're alive, no one is going to be asking about how you ended up finishing high school by correspondence," Ezra replied. "Everyone is going to be expecting you to write a book and conquer the world."

"Oh, yeah?" She asked. "What about when they ask how we knew each other?"

Ezra just shook his head at her, and even though it shouldn't have, it made Aria smile. It comforted her that he didn't have the answers to everything.

"We'll figure that out when it happens," he told her somewhat dismissively. He leaned forward and kissed her again, this time on the lips. "I gotta go. I'll call you later, and if you don't pick up-"

"It's because I've found something really awesome to watch on Netflix," Aria replied. Ezra chuckled at her and then pecked her once more before standing up straight and grabbing his bag from the floor.

"Alright," he said. "I love you. I'll see you later."

"Bye," Aria called out after him.

"Cappuccino's waiting in the one-cup machine," Ezra called back from the hallway. A few seconds later, Aria heard the door open and close.

She tried to lay back down, but her body refused to work with her, and so before long, she'd gotten up and jumped into the shower before putting on a pair of sweats and heading to the sitting room. As she'd told Ezra, she decided to surf the Netflix queue. She desperately needed a break from trying to figure out what had happened the night of her attempted murder, and she figured burying herself into a new show would help with that.

.,.

She was midway through the fifth episode of Veronica Mars, and completely caught up in daydreaming what her life might be like if she could hire the teen PI to find out what happened to her, when her phone buzzed at her side. She picked it up and answered the call without checking the screen, lifted it to her ear.

"What's up?" She asked as she paused the episode.

"Your mom is out ill today," Ezra responded. "Emily told Spencer that she was in a car accident yesterday."

Aria shot up on the couch and her heart began racing almost immediately.

"Is she okay?" Aria asked.

"Yes," Ezra said in a sure tone. "Emily said it was just a fender-bender, but I guess she's got pretty bad whiplash, so she's taking the week."

Aria had so many questions, and she knew that Ezra probably didn't have a single answer for her. Still, her throat was knotted with fear. She needed to see her mom-needed to know that Ella was okay.

"I'm sorry I can't be there right now," he told her softly. "And I really have to go. I have a class-"

"It's fine," Aria said dismissively. She already knew what she had to do. "I'll talk to you later. Love you."

She didn't wait for an answer before she ended the call and grabbed her laptop off the coffee table front of her. She whipped the lid open and then logged into her account before she grabbed her phone again and dialed Caleb's number. She bounced her legs nervously as she opened up her browser, waiting nervously for him to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Caleb, it's Aria," she said quickly.

"You sound panicked. What's up?"

"My mother was in a car accident. I need-"

"What hospital," he asked before she could even finish her question.

"I'd assume Rosewood Memorial," she told him. The line became silent, aside from his clacking of computer two long minutes, he finally spoke.

"Alright, I'm bringing up the remote connection."

Aria's accepted the connection after a few seconds, and then her screen changed as Caleb clicked through several things.

"It says here she's only got minor injuries," he told her. "But they also prescribed some pretty hefty pain meds, so she's probably got a lot of inflammation and strained muscles. She was treated and released, so if she's taking the meds like she should be, she's probably pretty out of it."

"But she's going to be okay?" Aria asked.

"Yes," Caleb replied. "A little bit of rest, and she'll be fine."

Aria sighed with relief.

"Okay. Thank you, Caleb."

"Not a problem, Aria. Talk to you later." The call ended a few seconds later, and Aria dropped her phone onto the couch next to her before placing her computer back on the coffee table in front of her. She stared at it for a few minutes,chewing her bottom lip for several moments.

Knowing Ella was okay wasn't enough to make her calm. She desperately wanted-and in her heart, felt she needed-to know that her mother was okay.

She knew Ezra wouldn't agree with her; knew he would tell her that what she was about to do was the absolute worst idea on the planet, but she couldn't help herself. She had to know.

Aria closed her laptop and then turned the Wii off before walking into the kitchen. She grabbed a fresh coffee cup and placed it under the one-cup machine after pouring water into the machine, and then she added one of the packages with the mix and placed it inside the machine. She slammed the lid shut and then turned the machine on and headed out of the kitchen.

She dashed to the bedroom and quickly ditched her sweats for a pair of dark blue jeans and a long-sleeved grey shirt before she grabbed on of Ezra's sweaters from the closet. It was a bright red Aeropostale sweater that was hard to mistake for anyone else. She zipped it up tight and then walked back to the sitting room and grabbed her phone from the couch, tucking it into her front left pocket. She returned to the kitchen long enough to retrieve her coffee from under the machine. She poured it into a travel mug and then grabbed her keys from the counter. She was halfway to the door before she caught sight of herself in a mirror.

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath. She settled the coffee back on the counter and tucked her keys into one of the sweater pockets before heading down the hall to the bedroom once more. She looked around the room quickly, and then spotted a Yankees cap sitting on the dresser. Ezra had gotten it as a gag gift for her for Christmas, but it worked for what she needed.

She walked over to the dresser and grabbed a hair tie, pulled her hair up before she grabbed the baseball cap and pulled her ponytail through it, pulling it down on the top of her head. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses off the dresser as well and slid them over her face before heading out of of the bedroom and back to the kitchen. She grabbed her coffee, slipped her feet into a pair of runners and then headed out of the apartment, locking it behind herself.

She took the stairs instead of the elevator, running down them and practically running through the front door when she reached it, though she had to stop herself lest she slipped on the ice. She slowed her movement only as much as she had to in order not to fall until she reached her car. She got in, starting the engine as she pulled her seat belt across her body.

She was reckless pulling out of the parking lot, and she knew it. But she also knew that if anyone had any time to figure out what she was doing, they'd try to talk her out of it.

She headed towards the city, grateful for school being in session, and the fact that it was still morning meant that most people were already at work, leaving the roads relatively empty.

She reached her mother's place quickly, and it wracked her nerves for the briefest moment as she sat outside. Ella had moved in with the guy she was now dating, and all Aria really knew about him was that his name was Zack and that he owned a coffee house in Rosewood. The problem was that Zack's apartment was above the coffee shop, which required some finesse on Aria's part.

She headed into the building after a few minutes, looking around for a bit, though she never removed her sun glasses.

"Welcome to the Rear Window Brew," the girl at the counter said. Aria looked up at her. "Can I get you something?"

Aria shook her head, smiling. Hopefully her giant sunglasses and baseball cap kept her from being recognizable.

She walked over to the opposite side of the room, continuing to look around until she spotted a door that she assumed led up to the apartment. She picked up a magazine and pretended to be interested in it until the a timer inevitably went off in the kitchen. She watched as the barista slipped into the kitchen, and then she dropped the magazine back onto the coffee table in front of the couch and walked over to the door, opened and slipped through it before heading up the stairs as quickly and quietly as she could.

When she reached the second floor, she was grateful to find that the door was unlocked. She eased it open gently, and then peered around the room, making sure the area was clear before she headed further into the small apartment.

She walked into the living room, and then looked around, feeling her throat tighten, because she could smell her mother's scent. She inhaled a deep breath and mentally told herself to hold it together before she walked over to what she assumed was the bedroom door and gently eased it open.

Her stomach started doing flips when she saw Ella in the bed, fast asleep. Her hands shook at her side, and tears threatened to fall, but she forced herself to hold it together. She pulled the sunglasses off her face and walked over to the bed, struggled to keep from touching her mother. She looked down at the pill bottles on the night stand and picked them up, read the labels. They were pain meds, just as Caleb had told her.

"Aria?"

Panic flooded through her as she looked down and saw her mom looking up at her, though she could tell by Ella's expression that she wasn't completely with it.

"Hi, mom," she said, struggling to keep her voice from breaking.

"What happened to you?" Ella asked, trying to keep her eyes open.

Aria chewed her lip, shook her head. "I wish I knew."

Ella reached out towards her, but Aria stepped back, and in Ella's weariness she didn't question it.

"I miss you, baby. So much." She murmured. Aria gulped, shaking her head to keep from crying as she placed the pill bottles back on the nightstand. Ella fell back into slumber, and Aria turned and headed for the door.

"I miss you too, mom."

Aria turned and headed for the door, but as she did, she spotted a candle on the dresser. It was one of those small, one dollar candles in a plastic thin plastic container. It was lavender scented, which was one of Ella's favorites. Aria reached out and touched the candle, brushed her fingers around the edge of it. She glanced back at Ella for a moment, and then looked down at the candle again. She picked it up, and then slipped it into her pocket before heading out of the bedroom, easing the door shut as she did.

"Kelly, can you get those apples cored and sliced?"

Aria gulped and dashed across the room to the kitchen as the footsteps from the other stairway drew closer. She tugged the door open that she'd come through and slipped through it, pulling it shut behind her as quietly as she could. As she moved down the steps, she could hear a guy calling out her mother's name, but she didn't have time to think about it.

She took the stairs two at a time, trying to avoid getting caught. As she reached the bottom of the steps, she slipped her sunglasses back on, and then walked back into the coffee shop. It was thankfully still empty, and she could only assume that Kelly was the barista as she still wasn't at the counter. Aria walked through the coffee shop and out of the front door, being as careful as possible to not set off the bell on the door as she did.

.,.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Aria asked as she walked up to Spencer. Alison had taken off across the yard, but before Aria could call out to her, the blond girl slipped through the gate, into her own back yard. Aria looked up at Spencer.

"She's being a bitch, as usual," Spencer told her dismissively. She rolled her eyes and moved to head back into the barn, but Aria grabbed Spencer's arm.

"Wait. I need to tell you something," Aria said nervously.

Spencer looked back at her, concerned.

"What's going on?"

Aria inhaled a deep breath, looking around them. She had no clue where Emily was.

"You know how I've been seeing someone all summer?" Aria told her. Spencer nodded.

"Yeah, and you refuse to let us meet him."

"Yeah, well you're going to soon enough," Aria said as she continued looking at the surroundings. Spencer furrowed her brow at the shorter girl.

"What do you mean?" Spencer couldn't help looking around as well. "Is he coming?"

Aria shook her head, turning Spencer back to face her.

"No. No..." She paused, inhaled a deep breath. "He's an older guy."

"Yeah, I kinda figured, considering you were being so secretive," Spencer commented. "What? Is he a freshman at Hollis or something?"

"Or something," Aria muttered. Spencer looked at her like she was nuts. Aria huffed. "He's older than that. Like, he's going to be teaching at Rosewood Day this year."

Spencer's eyes widened, and she gaped at Aria.

"Yeah," Aria said, responding to Spencer's expression. "Not only that, he's going to be our English teacher."

"Holy shit, Aria!" Spencer said to her. "You guys can't keep this up."

"I know," Aria sighed. "I have to tell my parents-"

"No, you need to end it," Spencer responded. "You're crazy if you think that your parents would be okay with you staying with him. Your dad would sooner shoot him-"

"They aren't that unreasonable," Aria argued.

Spencer shook her head at Aria.

"Trust me, Aria. There's no way they'd be cool with their sixteen year-old daughter dating a twenty-four year old." Spencer told her. "No fucking way."

Aria shook her head at Spencer and walked past her, back into the barn. As she walked back into the barn, and as she did, Alison, Spencer, and Emily were seated on the couches and chairs in the room.

"Come have a drink, Aria," Alison said as she giggled. Aria walked over to her and grabbed the red cup from Alison's hand, taking a long sip from it. She could smell the gasoline scent of rum in the cola, and she could taste it as she swallowed down a large gulp.

"Be careful, Aria," Spencer laughed. "Drink too much and you'll tell us all your secrets."

"Friends share secrets," Alison replied. "That's what keeps us close."

Aria glared at Spencer, gulping down another sip of the drink. She shoved up from the couch after she'd drained the cup and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Alison called out after her.

"Bathroom," Aria said without turning around. She walked out of the barn, though Spencer quickly followed after her. She grabbed Aria's arm spun her around.

"What the hell?" Spencer asked her. "Why are you being such a bitch about all of this?"

"Why did you tell them?" Aria argued back. "Who invited you to do that?"

"I didn't say shit," Spencer replied. "That's all Alison. I don't know what's going on with her."

"Whatever," Aria responded, pulling her arm from Spencer's grip. "I'm leaving."

She walked out of the back yard and headed towards the front walk,starts walking down the block without turning to see if Spencer is following her.

"Aria!" A voice called out to her from in front of her. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't make out who it was. Even so, she walked straight to the car down the block, got into the open passenger side, let the door be shut on her. The hooded figure rounded the car and then got in next to her, and then they were driving. As they headed further into the city though, something didn't feel right, and then she was screaming and trying to get out of the car, tugging on the wheel.

"Aria. Aria? Aria!" Ezra was looking right at her as he fought for control of the wheel.

She shot up on the couch, gasping and shaking as she looked around her. Ezra was leaning over the side of the couch, his hand still on her shoulder.

"Where were you just now?" He asked her.

"M-m-my accident," she stammered. "Y-you...you were in the car, dr-driving."

Ezra shook his head.

"Aria, I swear, I didn't-"

"I kn-know," she replied. "I just...I don't understand," she said as he looked up at him. She shook her head. "I've never been able to remember anything from that night before."

"Maybe your brain is trying to fill in the blanks from Spencer told you," he said as he came around the couch. He moved her legs long enough to sit down, before he pulled her closer. He kissed her temple, and Aria sighed, leaning into him.

"I remembered everything up to that car," she told him. "Then it was like there was a ghost there. And then right before you woke me up, I was fighting for the wheel, and you were looking at me, telling me to let go."

Ezra sighed sadly, shaking his head. Aria just snuggled up to him further.

"Oh, I was going to ask," he said after a moment. "Where did the candle come from?"

"What?" Aria asked as she leaned back so that she could see him. "What candle?"

Ezra pointed to the coffee table.

"That one."

Aria looked down, and spotted the candle she'd taken from her mother's place.

"Oh," she muttered. "I, uh, I got it last night, when I was out."

Ezra nodded, seeming to accept the answer. Aria's phone buzzed on the coffee table. She glanced down at it, not entirely sure she wanted to answer it. It'd been a long couple of days.

"Spencer," Ezra murmured. Aria's brow furrowed, and she reached out and grabbed the phone. Sure enough, it was Spencer calling. She breathed a deep breath and then answered the call, lifting the phone to her ear.

"Hey," Aria said as she leaned back into Ezra once more. "What's up?"

"I have to see you tonight," Spencer told her. "It's important."

"Okay," Aria said, suddenly sitting up straight. Spencer's tone had her curious. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. At least I think it is. Anyway, can I come over?" Spencer asked.

"Sure," Aria replied. "Is this a you and I thing? Or an A thing?"

"Just you and I for now," Spencer replied.

"Okay," Aria responded. "See you soon?"

"Yeah. I'll be around soon." With that, Spencer ended the call, and Aria returned her phone to the table, her brow still scrunched in both confusion and curiosity.

"Something wrong?" Ezra asked.

Aria shook her head.

"I don't think so. But something is going on."

"Do you need me to clear out for a while?" He asked her.

Aria looked up at him, shaking her head out of her thought process.

"Huh?"

Ezra chuckled at her.

"I said, do you need me to clear out for a while? I can go back to the school and do some paper work."

"Oh," Aria murmured. She nodded after a moment. "Yeah. I think Spencer wants to talk about something. Just not sure what, yet."

"Alright," Ezra replied. He curled a finger under her chin and pulled her into him, kissing her softly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back for a few seconds before they parted. He kissed her cheek as he pulled her arms down from around his neck, and then Aria pulled her legs off of his lap, moved so that he could get up.

He grabbed the red sweater she'd had on earlier and pulled it on before grabbing his messenger bag resting next to the end of the couch.

"Hey," Aria called to him as he turned to head towards the door. Ezra walked over to her, leaning against the back of the couch.

"Hmm?"

"Don't stay gone too late," she told him before pulling him down for one last kiss. He chuckled and kissed her twice-quick pecks-before turning and heading out of the apartment.

While Aria waited for Spencer, she tidied up the sitting room, and then she sought out food. She and Ezra had basically polished off the ravioli he'd made the night before-really, he'd taken most of the leftovers for lunch and she'd been childishly pissed at him for not sharing-and she didn't really know what to cook. She spent several minutes staring at what was inside the fridge before finally deciding to make a vegan stir-fry from scratch.

She had gotten the noodles cooking and was midway through slicing carrots when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," she called out. The door creaked open, and she glanced behind herself out of habit. Spencer was standing in the doorway, looking like she'd run over a dog. Aria's brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"

"I fucked up," Spencer said. She barely stepped any further inside of the loft.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked as she turned to fully face Spencer.

Spencer chewed her lip as she stared at Aria for a pregnant moment, glancing back at something outside the door, and then at Aria again. She wasn't sure whether she should actually tell Aria the truth, or just show her. In a haste, she pushed the door open completely.

"Spencer!" Aria yelled when she saw Wilden standing behind Spencer. Instinctively, her grip tightened around the knife she was holding, ready to attack as her fight or flight instincts kicked in. Granted, she wasn't sure it'd do much against a cop...

"Holy shit," the detective commented when he was fully inside the apartment, looking at Aria face-to-face. Spencer gave him an odd look. He looked down at her.

"Part of me was still pretty sure this was all a ruse to get you out of a murder wrap."

Spencer scowled at him and elbowed him hard in the ribs. He hardly moved, but the grunt that emitted from his mouth was enough to make it clear that she'd hurt him, and she was kind-of proud of it.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Aria asked in a shaky voice. Spencer moved and shut the door, quickly locking it. When she turned around, Aria still had a firm grip on the knife in her hand. Still, Spencer's gaze shifted to the noodles on the stove.

"Aria, your noodles are going to boil over." She commented. Aria was unfazed, still looking back and forth between Wilden and Spencer.

"What, is he doinghere," Aria repeated.

Spencer sighed and strode across the room, turning off the stove herself. She moved the noodles to another burner and then gently removed the knife from Aria's hand, though the tears in Aria's eyes made it clear that she wasn't comfortable with that idea.

"Aria, he's not going to hurt you," Spencer said assuredly. "He can help."

"How?" Aria cried. "He's done nothing to find who tried to kill me. I'm still running from the past, and I still have no clue why."

"I think I might be able to help with that," Wilden commented as he moved closer towards them. Aria back-stepped involuntarily, still not sure he was trustworthy.

Wilden reached into his shoulder holster and removed the gun, and Aria flew into a frenzy, tears flooding down her face as she insisted to Spencer that he was going to kill them both.

"Aria, no!" Spencer exclaimed insistently. Wilden held all but the two of his fingers holding the gun up, surrendering his hands as he slid the gun across the counter.

"I swear," he said, "I'm not here to do anything but help."

Aria looked back and forth between him and Spencer again, still trying to put it all together in her head.

"Look," Spencer said softly. She tentatively reached out for the gun, removed the magazine just like her dad had shown her the first time he'd taken her to the gun range. Aria looked down at it, saw the bullets still inside the chamber. She looked back up at Spencer, and then back down at the magazine once more. She reached down with a trembling hand and wrapped her fingers around the cool metal, holding it for several seconds before she turned and placed it on the counter behind her, pushed it all the way back where Wilden would have to reach for it in order to retrieve it.

"I'll take care of the food," Spencer told Aria in the same soft tone. "Just...give him a chance. Maybe he can do something we can't."

Aria stared at the taller girl for well over a minute, unsure. Spencer insisted that she wasn't going anywhere, and after a bit more coaxing, Aria gestured towards one of the stools behind the counter. She grabbed her cappuccino-her fourth for the day-and then rounded the counter nervously and took the first stool on the edge. Spencer began chopping the carrots, tossing them into a bowl by the handful as she went through.

It had been at least a minute before Aria dared to speak, but she eventually found her voice.

"What do you know about that night?" She asked Wilden. His expression told her that he likely wanted to ask her the same question, but it was also understandable that if she really didn't remember, she'd want to know as much as she could.

Wilden glanced up at Spencer with a clear question of whether he should mention it in front of her, but after a few seconds, he spoke.

"We received a call at eleven twenty-nine, September third. At the time, it was just called in that a car had been in an accident and was on fire. We questioned the guy who called it in right away, but he was just passing through. Anyway, when the first-responders got there, the car was already engulfed in flames. I was called at about 2 AM, when they'd finally gotten the fire out enough to realize there was a body inside.

"We didn't know who it was at first. Your parents turned up at the precinct at about noon the next day, and normally we wouldn't have given their concern a second glance, but we had an unidentifiable body on our hands." He paused for a moment, shook his head.

"It was a long couple of days from there. The crime tech guys had to process that car top-to-bottom. We processed the plates, but as I'm sure you know, it was stolen from a rental agency.

"When they managed to find usable DNA, it was found to be yours. I don't really know what happened with the dental comparison, but from what I recall, the DA assumed that DNA said more than anything, so we went forward with the idea that you were the one in the car. Back then, Rosewood wasn't...well, how it is now."

"Were there any witnesses?" Aria asked. Wilden shook his head.

"We looked everywhere," Wilden told her sadly, disappointed. "The car from the rental agency was tracked to an identity that doesn't exist. I called in everyone I thought might of just talked to you that day, and turned up nothing." He paused, glanced over at Spencer. "Honestly, we largely centered in on your friends because we figured they knew more than they were letting on."

"Would Spencer still have been a suspect if she'd told you everything?" Aria asked. Wilden frowned.

"Truth be told," he replied. "She probably would've been arrested that very day, had she told us you two argued. Those are red-flag events that lead a cop to more questioning. But I'm also pretty sure that if she actually killed you, we wouldn't be here right now."

None of them could help a slight chuckle at Wilden's comment, because it was technically true. Granted, Aria was sure he meant that they wouldn't be there talking because Spencer would've killed her to keep her silent completely, but still.

"Now can I ask, do you know anything about that night?" Wilden asked tentatively.

Aria shook her head, chewed her bottom lip. She wrapped her hands around her mug and held it against her chest, feeling the warmth ooze from it.

"I don't remember anything. I've been able to put little pieces together from what Spencer told me she remembers...but even then, I don't remember the car, or who was there," Aria explained.

"Do you dream about it?" Wilden asked.

"I have recently," Aria said honestly. "But as soon as I get to the relevant points, it's all a blank. I can't see the person I'm with, no matter how hard I try. It's just a black hole. Literally."

Wilden nodded. He looked around the room for a moment, and then back at Aria.

"Do you have a notebook I could write in?" He asked. Aria settled her cappuccino on the counter and then walked out of the room, only to return less than a minute later with a pen and notebook. She walked back to the counter and settled the notebook on it with the pen on top, pushed them across the open space to Wilden.

"Thanks," he said as he flipped the cover open, scribbled a few things at the top of the page. When he was finished, he looked back up at Aria.

"Have you considered trying hypnosis?" He asked. "Trying to bring those memories up that way?"

Aria shook her head.

"Would you be willing to try? I can't guarantee anything, and it might take a few immersions, but it might bring something up," he explained. "Even if we can't bring up those memories, you might be able to remember something else from that night."

Aria chewed her lip nervously for a few moments, and when Spencer glanced back at her, the two girls shared a gaze for a few seconds before Aria sighed.

"I guess I'd be willing to try," she said.

Wilden nodded, and then they moved into the sitting room. It took a few minutes for Aria to immerse herself into the experience, mostly because she was on edge. Even so, soon enough she was where he wanted her, recalling the events of that evening.

"What happens after you walk out of the barn?" Wilden asked, continuously writing in the notebook he'd asked for.

"What the hell? Why are you being such a bitch?" Spencer asked her.

"Spencer and I are arguing," Aria responded. "I walked away."

"Is she following you?" Wilden asked as he glanced up towards the taller woman. If Spencer was concerned with Aria's response, she didn't show it, still completely focused on getting the stir-fry cooked. Aria was quiet for a few moments, but then she responded, sure of her answer.

"No. She's mad. She walks away," she said.

"Where do you go next?" Wilden asked.

Aria was still quiet, but then began breathing louder, quicker.

"She's- she's driving- she's gonna kill me-"

"Aria, no, you're safe," Wilden responded calmly, trying to bring her down. Still, she was becoming more frenzied by the moment.

"She's gonna kill me!" Aria cried.

By then, Spencer had turned from the food and was rounding the counter.

"What're you doing? She's scared!" She growled at Wilden. He glared daggers at her, making it clear she wasn't helping.

"Help me!" Aria screamed.

"I'm going to count back to one," Wilden told her, rushed. "When I say one, you'll wake up, feeling safe. Five, four, three, two, one."

Just that quickly, Aria's eyes snapped open. Her breathing came down quickly, but it still took her a minute to completely calm down. As she did, Spencer returned to the kitchen and filled a glass with water before returning to Aria's side. She handed Aria the glass and rubbed a hand up and down the smaller girl's back.

"Better?" She asked when Aria had taken a long drink from the glass. Aria nodded.

"Do you remember who was in the car?" Wilden asked.

Aria gulped, and her eyes became glassy with tears as she nodded, looking up at them.

"CeCee Drake was driving the car," she said as she looked back and forth between Spencer and Wilden. "She's the one who tried to kill me."