Monday morning it was back to work, Emily and Paige stopping for a brief coffee date before heading their separate ways with plans to meet at Emily's apartment later. She was supposed to talk to Toby, and Paige was planning on doing some sleuthing herself, although she hadn't thought it through yet. But she was tired of being followed, tired of being scared, and she needed to put an end to it before her stalker did.
"Paige! How was Maine?" Mona asked as she passed her office. She poked her head in, laughing at the disaster on Mona's desk.
"Not bad," she replied, deciding not to tell her about the stalker part. "How was your break?"
"Not bad. Got a lot of well needed rest."
"I hear you," she replied.
"And Emily?" she asked with a wink. Paige grinned.
"She's good. In more ways than one."
Mona whistled. Paige shook her head, laughing.
"I gotta go, Mona. I'll see you later."
"Give my best to the lady," she replied as Paige walked past her office. As she was fishing for her keys she was startled by someone tapping her shoulder, her breath catching in her throat as she turned to see who it was.
"Aria."
"Dr. McCullers, I need to talk to you," Aria told her, shifting uncomfortably.
"Okay. What's wrong?"
"I was hoping we could talk in your lab. It's about Ezra and the police."
"Oh," she replied, wondering what she meant by that. "Sure."
As she slid the key into the door she suddenly had a strange feeling about what she was going to find inside her lab. She couldn't explain it, but she suddenly was overcome by a wave of fear and she wanted nothing more than to just walk away.
She pushed the door open and flipped the light on. Aria gasped beside her as she took in the sight in front of her, her mouth dropping open in surprise. Every single stool was lying on its side, ripped up paper covering the floor and the benches. Petri dishes were scattered all over the floor, pipettes and inoculating loops strewn on the counters. Dyes had been emptied all over the lab, their empty bottles tossed carelessly on the floor. And on the white board, written in red marker, read the word "Whore," over and over again.
"Aria," she started, her voice calm. "How would you like to spread the word that every student of mine will be meeting in the lobby in ten minutes?"
"Uh," she whispered, looking around the trashed room. "Okay."
She watched as Aria scurried down the hall, leaving her alone in the lab. She looked around again, far more angry than scared, as she formed an idea in her head. This seemed more like an angry student than the guy who had been following her around. It was probably someone who wasn't happy with their grade. She would use fear to get the culprit to confess. She was confident by the end of the day she could find out who had done this and at least get this out of the way.
She went down to the lobby ten minutes later, seeing a large group of her students anxiously standing around. She folded her arms, giving them a cold smile.
"Nice to see you all here," she told them coolly. "Do you know why I asked you to meet me here?" No one spoke. "Well, why don't you take a trip upstairs with me and I'll show you?"
"Are we in trouble?" Lucas Gottesman asked.
"You tell me," she replied, and he gave her such a blank look that she could tell right away it wasn't him. Lucas was such a sweet, quiet kid, and he had a high A in the class. He would have no reason to do this.
She led them upstairs to her lab, pushing the door open and letting them filter into the room. She could hear their gasps and whispers as she pushed past them to stand at the front of the room, standing in front of the whiteboard.
"So," she started. "This is why I called you all here. Someone vandalized my lab, and I would like to know who it was."
"How do you know it was one of us?" Darren asked. Paige gave him a thunderous look.
"Tell me why you think it wasn't one of you," she snapped at him. "You think a random English major just decided to trash my lab? I find that highly unlikely."
No one spoke. She looked at them, trying to read guilt. But no one offered anything.
"Okay. So this is the way it's going to be. I'll tell you what right now. I will find out which one of you did this, no matter what it takes. If you confess, I won't press charges. But if I have to figure it out myself, you can bet I will. And that will ruin any hopes you have of graduate school. Is that clear?"
The students all stared at her. She took out her cell phone.
"I'm going to call the police right now. Would anyone like to come forward?"
No answer. She shrugged and dialed the local police station.
"I really shouldn't be doing this," Toby told Emily nervously, looking over his shoulder. The two of them had met for lunch so she could talk to him about the case and hopefully get an idea as to who could be stalking her girlfriend. "I could get in trouble."
"No one's going to find out," she promised. "Please. I'm really afraid her life might be in danger."
"Okay. But there isn't really much I can tell you."
"I'll take anything you can give me," she replied.
"Well, we think the two are connected. But Paige can't think of anyone that had a link with her and Alison. Whoever did it knew her, because it was too brutal to have been random. This person had a personal relationship with her."
"How does Paige fit in?"
"That's what we're not sure of. But it probably is someone who knows her, because most stalking cases aren't random."
"I'm scared," Emily admitted. "I don't know how to help her."
Toby smiled gently at her, taking a bite of his sandwich. Emily looked so concerned, and he wished her had something to put her mind at ease.
"I've known Paige a while, and she isn't usually this much trouble. While it's too bad you had to get mixed up in all of this, you've been really good for her. She's needed someone like you."
"I'm not going to run because things are tough, if that's what you're getting at," she assured him. He looked relieved.
"I didn't think you would. I just don't think she could handle that, too."
"I love her," Emily replied. "So, so much. I'll always be there for her, no matter how hard things get."
"Good. I wish I had more to tell you."
"Yeah," she replied, nodding. "We need to get to the bottom of this. If this guy can do what he did to Alison….." She trailed off. No. She wouldn't let that happen.
"We'll figure this out, Emily," he promised.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"No. Don't meddle, Emily. The last thing you want is this guy thinking you know something."
She nodded. He was right.
"Thanks," she told him. "Please, tell us if you think you know something."
"I will," he promised. "You two stay safe."
"Hey. I came to say good night," Mona started, stopping in the doorway of Paige's lab. She had cancelled her classes and spent all day cleaning up once she had filed a police report. Almost everything was destroyed and she was in a foul mood. She just wanted to go to Emily's and forget about everything else.
"What time is it?" she asked, afraid to know the answer.
"It's late, sweetie. It's almost nine."
"Fuck!" She exclaimed, jumping up. She was supposed to be at Emily's by nine-fifteen, and she had completely lost track of time. The last time she had looked at her cell phone, it had only been seven. "Where's my fucking phone?" she asked, digging around in her bag.
"I can stay and help," Mona offered.
"No," she sighed, exasperated. "The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. I need to leave."
"Who do you think is doing all of this?"
"The hell if I know," she replied, texting Emily that she might be a little late. "I guess a student who isn't happy with their grade. When I find out who did it they're going to be very sorry."
"I don't want to leave you here alone," Mona replied, looking uncomfortable.
"Mona, I'll be fine. I'll leave soon."
She hesitated a moment, looking at her friend. Then she nodded and walked away.
"Piece of shit phone," Paige muttered as her message failed to send. She tried to call Emily instead, growing even more angry when the call wouldn't go through. "Fuck!" she exclaimed, throwing the phone back into her bag. Emily was going to be frantic when she was late, and there wasn't anything she could do about it as long as her phone wasn't sending messages.
She looked around her lab, panic starting to overtake her, as she looked at how much still needed to be done. This was definitely more than a day's work if she wanted to get to Emily's house. She could hold her lectures tomorrow as long as she spent the rest of the day cleaning.
She left the science building in a bad mood, scowling her whole way to the car. The day had been awful and she couldn't wait to hold Emily in her arms and finally relax. The nice time she had had with her parents had been completely undone by the day's events, and she was just tired. She was tired of being stalked, tired of being scared, and tired of people messing with her. She put a lot of work into her lab, and she was going to make sure the person who vandalized it was punished harshly. She hadn't thought any of her students had disliked her so much, but apparently she had been wrong.
She tried again to call Emily on her way to the car. It was past nine now and Emily was going to be frantic if she didn't show up on time. But this call didn't go through either, so there was nothing for her to do but curse and throw her phone back in her back.
Giving the car a once over before getting inside, she checked to make sure no one was hiding in the back before she started to Emily's. Every horror story she had ever read about serial killers hiding in peoples' cars came back to her as she slid into the driver's seat, realizing her hands were shaking. She took a deep breath and slid to the key into the ignition, but to her horror, the car didn't start.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" she shouted. She tried again with still no success. She stopped for a moment to take a deep breath, tears of anger and fear welling in her eyes. It was typical with how the day had gone, but she wasn't happy about the fact that she was stranded alone in the dark with no phone. She started to panic again, half debating walking back to the science building to use the phone. "Please," she whispered, ready to try to car. "Please, just start."
Thankfully, the car started, and she nearly started to cry with relief. She was late and Emily was probably going to yell at her, but she didn't even care. She could finally leave.
"Piece of shit car," she muttered under her breath as she released the break and roared away, straight past the car with the man that had been watching her from the shadows the whole time.
A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews!