A/N: Hey guys!! Here's the next chapter. This one's one of my personal favorites! OH! and just a warning, I decided to make Paula nice, because I can. So she likes Ashley. Okay, that's about it. I'll update again soon! Thanks sooo much to those who have reviewed this so far!

Disclaimer: Yah, don't own 'em.

Chapter Nine: Lockdown

Next Day (Wednesday)

Ashley stood in her backyard before the dirt path once again. She found that running cleared her head and calmed her down considerably. Her and Spencer decided to date, officially, making Ashley more happy than any words could describe.

School was going to start in three hours. She had been getting up early every morning just to take a run to the creek and back, just in time to go pick up Spencer. She stretched her back, and took off running, her sneakers hitting the mushy undergrowth of the woods.

She reached the creek bed in roughly ten minutes. She took her usual seat on the roots of an old Oak tree. She stared into the creek, looking at her reflection. This was her routine every time she came out here. She would just stare at herself, but this time, unlike the first time she came out, she wasn't empty. She was full to bursting with happiness, and her eyes finally showed it.

She got up, stretched a little, and took off toward her house.

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Spencer had decided not to let Ashley die, no matter what happened to her. The fact that they were now together made things that much easier. It wouldn't be hard for her to keep an eye on the brunette.

The blonde got out of bed, and into the shower, waiting for her girl to come.

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Ashley pulled up to the Carlin residence, just in time to see Spencer fly out of the door.

"Bye dad!" she yelled through the crack, just before she slammed it shut. Ashley smiled widely as Spencer jumped into the passenger seat.

"Good morning!" she said, giving the brunette a kiss. She happily returned it, and they headed off to school. Once they got there, Ashley parked near the front and helped Spencer out of her side, entwining their hands.

They walked up to the school, heading toward their lockers, but they saw a huge group of people in front of their row. Pushing themselves through, the arrived at the front to see what everyone had been staring at. Ashley's eyes grew wide and Spencer gasped at the sight.

Scrawled in untidy writing along the entire row of lockers, even over theirs, was:

"Sister, I found her!"

The minute she read it, her hand felt cold. Spencer had fallen to the ground, she had fainted.

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"Spence? Spencer, wake up."

Her head hurt so badly. Her hand immediately went to her temples as she groaned in pain.

"Ugh." She said, trying to sit up, but then deciding that it was a very bad idea, flopping back onto the pillow.

"Thank god!" she heard Ashley say. She smiled, and Ashley laughed. Spencer opened her eyes only to look straight into dark brown ones.

"Well hello!" Ashley said happily. Spencer laughed once more, and Ashley joined right in. Her head throbbed once again, and she groaned louder. Trying to remember what happened, she recalled the writing on the lockers, and her eyes went wide.

Ashley realized that Spencer remembered the words.

"Was that for you?" Ashley asked quietly. Spencer lowered her eyes from Ashley's and nodded her head. Ashley tilted her girlfriend's chin up to give her a quick kiss.

"I'll be alright." She said, unsure of her words. Spencer gave her a disbelieving smile, but said nothing about it. Ashley helped her off of the nurse's sick bed, and walked out into the hallway, slightly supporting the groggy blonde.

All of a sudden, the fire alarms went off. Blaring sounds echoed in the breezeway as the entire school filtered into the parking lot only to see a car on fire. Ashley and Spencer ran to the parking lot to get a better look. It was Ashley's SUV.

Her SUV was blazing in orange flames. They licked the windows and bumpers; fire everywhere.

"Everyone, in their classrooms now! Teachers, lock your doors until we tell you otherwise!" the principal yelled as he rushed through the crowd.

"Who's car is this?" he asked, scanning the crowd. Ashley timidly raised her hand, still staring at her charred vehicle.

The teachers began herding students back into their classrooms, everyone but Ashley and Spencer. The principal walked slowly over to them, covering his face as he walked past the SUV. The Fire department had shown up, and were blasting the fire with a giant hose. The principal ushered them into his office.

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"Names?" The principal said.

"Ashley Davies, and Spencer Carlin." Ashley said, her voice shaking violently. Spencer put her hand on Ashley's arm to try and calm her down.

"Okay, Ms. Davies, that was your SUV?" he asked her. She nodded slowly, still picturing the scene in her head.

"Do you know anyone that would do that to you?" he asked, with sincere worry in his eyes. She nodded once more.

"Who might it be?" he prodded. She opened her mouth to say the name, but found that she couldn't. She was truly scared now.

"Glen. My brother." Spencer said quietly.

The principal nodded in understanding. He picked up his phone, and dialed a number. He mumbled into the receiver and hung up.

"Okay, here's what we'll do," he began, looking intently at the two girls, "Ms. Davies, you are excused from school for a while, just until they can capture him once again. Ms. Carlin," he looked at Spencer, "You will be on a half day schedule, you will have all of your core classes, and you will take Ms. Davies her work. Your father has already approved of the plan."

Spencer nodded, agreeing with the plan. Ashley stared blankly at the desk, not saying a word.

"Be very careful. Don't go anywhere by yourself, understood?" he directed this at Ashley, who nodded her head carefully. Spencer thanked him, and lifted Ashley out of her chair, and to the front of the school to wait for her dad.

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They all walked inside the Carlin house, Arthur, Spencer, and Ashley.

"Paula, we're home." He yelled. She came out of the kitchen and immediately engulfed the girls in a huge hug.

"Thank god you're alright." She told them. Shocked for a moment by this display of affection toward her, Ashley stiffened, but hugged back awkwardly. Paula let go and looked at the girls.

"Arthur, if it's alright with you, I'd like Ashley to stay here for a while. For protection. She'll be much safer here, than by herself." She said.

Ashley's face lit up. She couldn't believe it. Someone actually cared enough about her to protect her. She was genuinely glad at the comment. She smiled, if possible, even wider as Mr. Carlin nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay. I just need to get some things from my house." She said. Clay walked down the stairs right as he heard this.

"I'll give you guys a ride." He offered.

"Thanks, Clay." Spencer said.

"No problem. Come on."

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Ashley got out of the car and began to walk up the front door.

"Oh, no you don't." Spencer and Clay said at the same time, getting themselves out of the car.

"What?" she asked.

"You're not going in by yourself." Clay said, walking up to the front door, holding it open for the girls to enter. They all went up to Ashley's room. The brunette went straight into her closet to pack clothes.

"So, how long am I staying?" she yelled from the depths of the closet. Spencer looked to Clay for a moment.

"We don't know, so pack a lot." Spencer yelled back.

"Okay!"

They were there for an hour, helping Ashley pack all of her stuff. They hauled it all downstairs and into the trunk of Clay's car, and headed home.