dedicating this chapter to nevermindthebuttocks. Your review meant a lot! While I can't promise a daily update, I can pledge to be in the 3%. Don't you worry, friend...I plan to break that curse of yours.


Toby drummed his fingers idly against the arm of the musty chair, searching for any viable distraction to take his mind off of the intolerable sensation reverberating through his head. Spencer's disapproval was more than enough to spur his regret, but this was certainly an effective additional penalty. His eyes zipped over the dismal surroundings—a crusty futon, wooden chair, old CDs stacked around cobwebbed baseboards. The place could use a makeover. He attempted to pick a speck of lint off of his jeans, only to realize it was a stout droplet of dried blood. Oh well.

He bent to fix the laces of his boot—bad idea. Toby winced as fresh pain shot across his abdomen. Noel had gotten more punches in than he'd had remembered.

"I hate it when she's right," he mumbled sullenly to himself. Not that he would ever give her the pleasure of knowing it, but with the high subsiding, he knew her protests were well-founded. Ultimately, he'd accomplished nothing.

But with a small smirk of satisfaction, he also knew he'd do it again.

So he reclined further, closing his eyes and tapping his foot to the redundant beat that raged from down the hall. This was not his ideal Saturday night. Sure, the fact that he was sporting a bloodied lip contributed to his gloom, but it was more than that. Multitudes of his former peers, all yelling and drinking and morphing together into one unintelligent mass? Not his scene. It almost made him laugh. Most of these people would cross to the other side of the street just to avoid him, and yet here he was, supposedly partying it up at Noel Kahn's kegger.

No, he'd much rather be somewhere quiet, just him and Spencer. No blaring cellphones or monitoring parents. Most of all, no –A.

He hadn't worked with Mona for long, but it had been long enough for him to grasp the severity of her particular lunacy. He felt his skin crawl at the thought of her tireless ranting. Her inexorable fixation on the girls…it was beyond revenge. It was a manic disorder.

So he knew that logic didn't necessarily play into the overall structure of this –A thing. The new puppet master could be just as crackers as the last one. Spencer could sniff out motives and counterstrikes until the apocalypse, but that didn't cut it for him. Everyone hated Alison. Everyone hated her posse by association. There might not be an endgame. It could be as simple as a disturbed psychopath with too much time and money.

Or it was Alison. She was the queen of games, right? They were all her little chess pieces, manipulated dolls forced to sit at her abysmal tea party. Even in death, there was no reprieve. It was as if she'd never left.

And apparently, she hadn't.

But how could he say that to Spencer? She didn't want to hear it, couldn't even entertain the thought that Alison was the catalyst to this whole -A plague.

Spencer.

Where was she? The kitchen couldn't be that far off.

He leapt up immediately, gruesome panic spreading like a virus through his system. Forget a few bruises, they were inconsequential. She said she'd be right back.

"No, no, no…" he set off down the hall, following the flicker of strobe lights and a stream of half-crushed beer cans. He dismissed his earlier assessment—he now wished that he was an avid partier with an extensive history at Kahn-sponsored raves. Then he would have some clue as to where the freaking ice would be.

"You look lost, baby."

Toby frowned down at the tottering redhead who had materialized at his side. Her neon tank top was extraordinarily bright and too low cut. His natural disposition screamed for a quick removal of all uninvited attention. He didn't do this kind of stuff, but he couldn't afford to have a personality disorder right now. This was his opportunity. "Actually, I am lost. Point me toward the drinks?"

Her shrill laugh grated at his already rattled nerves. He shifted forward, confused at her response. He hadn't said anything even remotely funny. "Well do you know where they are or not?"

"Yeah, we're at Noel's cabin! Where do you think we are?" She broke out in more raucous giggles, her hands flitting wildly through the air as a new song came on.

Okay, this wasn't going anywhere. "Yeah, thanks."

He wound through another cluster of people, his eyes bouncing riotously through the room. A group of guys knocked into lamp, sending it clattering to the ground. Someone shrieked over the music. The distinctive stench of weed wafted around him. This was impossible.

"Toby!" His head whipped to the left, praying to see Spencer there.

It wasn't her, but at least he was getting somewhere now. " Hanna! Have you seen Spencer? I can't find her."

"No, not since we got here." She glanced around for a second, her eyebrows curving upward. "Aria! Have you seen Spencer?"

Toby followed her gaze, watching as Aria spun away from another conversation. "No. Is everything okay?"

He felt the crushing weight of both sets of eyes boring into him. Words stuck in his throat. His head shook in an almost imperceptible declaration of ragged concern.

Aria was next to him in less than a second. "Where did you see her last?"

"And did you really knock Noel out cold?"

"Hanna!" The brunette scolded sharply, "Focus!"

His anxiety level was rising at an alarming pace. "She left to get ice for my lip and she never came back. I thought she'd be with the drinks and I asked this girl for help but she was way too plastered—"

"Probably Brenda Wu."

"When did she leave?" Aria ignored Hanna's side commentary, her eyes bugging out as she swayed from side to side.

"Maybe ten minutes ago...I don't know."

Hanna swore and bit down on her thumbnail. She turned to him with uninhibited fear coating her face. "I was out by the coolers for a while before I saw you. I wouldn't have missed her."

Toby was ready to throw a few more punches. "Why, why, did I let her go by herself? God, I—"

A gentle hand braced his arm. He met Aria's unassuming scrutiny with wary apprehension. "We don't have to time for you to beat yourself up."

She said it so calmly, like she didn't have an ounce of resentment to offer him. He took her words and clung to them, nodding brusquely. "I'll go back to where we were before. Maybe she didn't get far."

"We're coming with you." Hanna latched onto his arm. "The last time I got separated from the group, someone trapped me in the phone booth from hell!"

Toby's pulse jumped, a barrage of similar –A scenarios playing across his brain.

"Not helping, Han." Aria shushed reproachfully. "I'm sure she's fine. Lead the way, Toby."

He did all he could to shut out the quiver in her feeble reassurance. The pungent scent of alcohol and perspiration splashed over him in waves. His stomach tossed vehemently with raw adrenaline. Someone could have dragged Spencer out by her hair and no one would notice in this place.

Focus on finding her. We have to find her.

The search party of three bobbed past the outskirts of a mosh pit and staggered into the shadowy hallway where he'd last seen her. As expected, the room was still empty.

"She's not here." It was obvious without any mention, but he felt an absurd need to fill the dead air.

Aria wandered back toward the vacant hall. "Should we split up and hit different floors?"

"No, not happening, I will not take a turn crawling around the basement. Gross! And upst—" Hanna's discourse broke off as she joined Aria at the room's entrance. "Who was that?"

Toby slid past them and craned his head to look. "Where?"

"Wait…there." Hanna nudged his elbow, her head slanting along with her whispered words.

He sucked in a hard breath and dashed back within the cover of the door frame.

"Toby? Do you know him?!"

Both girls gaped at him, clearly awaiting some sort of explanation.

"Yeah…his name is Nigel. Caleb and I tracked him down at the airport Red Coat flew out of the night of the fire…but the flight plan was forged and he had something to do with that."

"What? You and Caleb?! When?" Hanna's blue eyes were wide as her jaw went slack.

"Hey, keep it down, okay?" If Nigel heard her, they'd lose their only advantage. "It was before he left…back when your mom got arrested, we did a little digging of our own. He was worried about you."

Aria cut back in, her gaze silencing Hanna's inquiry. "You think he'd do something to Spencer? What reason would he have?"

Toby shook his head insistently. "More like, who is he working for? If he's pacing around down there…"

"You think he's on patrol." Her tone spoke plainly. She felt the same way.

Apparently his altercation with Noel was only meant to be the warm-up round. "Listen to me, both of you. Stay here. Don't let him see you. If it sounds like things go badly, call for help, but keep your distance and stick together. Okay?"

They looked up at him with distress scrawled blatantly across their faces, offering nods of confirmation. It was a welcomed response; he never got that sort of compliance from Spencer. He nodded back at them, then stole another peek down the hall. The blonde boy had just swiveled away, his attention concentrated elsewhere. Perfect.

Toby barreled past several darkened doors, his steps as subtle as possible while still picking up decent speed. Nigel's head snapped sideways just as Toby prepared for impact. The move worked as planned, his sheer tackling force catching the other boy off guard and flinging him into the rim of the door.

"What the f—"

He didn't bother to catch the end of that question. He threw his weight against the door and throttled the knob with animalistic instinct.

"Toby?" Jenna yielded her spiteful grip on her Spencer's arm, a hot glare of dissatisfaction contorting her features. "This was invitation only."

"Toby?!"

The room was nearly pitch-black, but both voices were permanently ingrained in his memory. He fumbled around for a split-second before his hand found the switch on the wall. A faded yellow light bathed the small room in a streak of diluted brightness.

"Spencer," he breathed out his two favorite syllables, crossing to her without hesitation. Her eyes were dilated with an acute look of torment that could bring him to his knees. Toby drew her into a tight embrace, tenderly rocking her shaking form and kissing the top of her head. "What the hell, Jenna? What is this?"

"No need for the hysterics," she muttered sardonically. "She's fine; we were only having a little heart-to-heart. What did you do with Nigel?"

The seething blonde appeared as if he had been anxiously awaiting mention. "Jenna, I'm sorry, I don't know where he came from."

Toby clenched his jaw as fury sizzled through him. The dots were connecting and the picture was ugly. "I always knew you were sick, Jenna, but I wouldn't have ever dreamed you'd go this far. You're tied up with him? With Red Coat? You tried to kill us in the lodge that night, didn't you?"

"Because you're Mr. Innocent? Please. I know about you, all of you. When the going gets tough, the tough get a black hoodie…that's how it goes, right?" Her repulsive smile was tinged with animosity. "You're as clueless as your girlfriend, coming in here saying things like that."

"Stop." Spencer straightened, her eyes bouncing between the two stepsiblings before transferring back over to Nigel. "You know him, Toby? What am I missing here?"

"Oh, honey, we don't have time to cover all of that right now." Jenna began to strut along the wall, her nonchalant demeanor suggesting that she was finished with the whole ordeal.

Toby watched with unease as Spencer purposely positioned herself as a roadblock in the other girl's path. Her voice was hard and flat as she loomed threateningly over Jenna. "We aren't done yet."

"Not your call, sweetie. Why should I show my cards when you won't show yours?"

Spencer swallowed heavily. To his immense surprise, she sidestepped toward the window and allowed Jenna to make her exit.

"That's what I thought, Hastings. Still letting that bitch run things straight into the ground."

What was that supposed to mean?

He didn't get the chance to ask. A deafening shatter of glass vibrated through the room, followed closely by a wrenching scream.


Thank you all for the reviews ;)
Hope this satisfied some protective Toby-ness that you all expected! More of that to come!