AN: This chapter is 3x longer than my normal chapters (6500+ words). This will not happen often.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
It had been a week since Garrett Reynolds was arrested. It had also been a week since Jason had left for his trip, which had been extended from three days to seven. Aria had gone back home the day before her mom was going to move out. All of Ella's belongings were packed and sitting by the front door. Byron was gone for the night, so Ella could spend time with her kids. Even without him there it was awkward. There was a lot of silence while the three of them ate dinner. And then they packed up Ella's car.
"This is stupid," Mike said while putting a box into the back of the car, "He should be moving out, not you," he told her.
"Mike, we both made the decision that it would be best if I moved out," Ella said, "I don't want to be in this house anymore. It doesn't even feel like I belong here," she told him."
"You belong here more than he does," Aria chimed in, "I don't think I'll be able to come back here if you aren't here, Mom," Aria said.
"Well, you don't exactly have a choice in the matter, sweetheart," Ella told her, "Unless you want your father to get the police involved, which we all know he won't have a problem doing so," Ella said.
Aria just sat on the couch in silence while Mike took more of Ella's things out to the car. She knew Byron would drag her out of Jason's house or whoever else she would be staying with; kicking and screaming if he had to. She thought it was ridiculous. Her father was cheating on her mother. He should be the one to move out, not the other way around. And Aria kept his secret for two years. If he ever got the police involved it would be very ease for her to turn it around on him. A teacher/student affair had to be worse than missing curfew.
Once her mother left later that night, but before her father got home, Aria went to Jason's. Mike decided to stay home. When she got there, she saw Jason's car in the driveway. He was back early.
Aria got out of the car and ran up the driveway. Jason opened the front door before she even made it up the steps. She jumped at him and he caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Aria wrapped her legs around him and kissed him.
"Well, hello to you too," Jason greeted setting her setting her down and walking inside with Aria right behind him.
"When did you get back?" Aria asked not letting go of his hand.
"About an hour ago," Jason told her. They walked over and sat down on the couch, "How long have you been staying here?" he asked.
"Um…on and off since you left," she told him, "My mom just left, like moved out left, so Mike and I were spending some time with her without my dad around," she said, "I just don't want to be around him right now, so I came back here. I didn't think you would be here."
"Is that a bad thing? I can leave if you want?" he joked.
"No, I'm so happy you're here. I've missed you so much," she told him, "I thought you were going to be gone for a few more days," she said.
"I missed you too, baby," Jason said kissing her forehead. They sat quietly for a few minutes before Jason spoke again, "I heard Garrett was arrested last week."
"Yeah, over at the Hastings'," Aria told him, "I was there with Spencer, Hanna, and Emily. He was with Melissa. I'm not sure why. I didn't even know they were together."
"I didn't either," Jason said.
"Yeah, it was weird," Aria said, "We were just upstairs and heard a knock on the door. We went down to see what it was and saw Garrett being arrested."
"I saw that someone went shopping and filled bought enough food to feed a small army," Jason said, "You didn't have to do that," He told her.
"I know. I wanted to," Aria told him, "You never have anything to eat except frozen food, but now I have a feeling that it's all gonna go bad," she said.
"Have you eaten anything yet?" he asked.
"We had dinner with my mom, but that was pretty early. I'm kind of hungry," she told him.
"Well, I have a ton of food now, why don't we make something to eat?" he asked.
"Go ahead and pick something. I don't care what we eat," Aria told him.
They both walked to the kitchen and Aria sat down on one of the barstools at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Jason found two personal pizzas for them both. One had pepperoni, ham, and sausage. The other had peppers and mushrooms.
"Oh yeah, I brought movies over too," Aria told him, "So we don't have to watch your movies tonight," she said.
"Your dad isn't going to get pissed if you stay over here tonight?" Jason asked.
"Maybe, but I don't really care," Aria said as Jason put the two pizzas in the oven, "How long are these going to take to cook?" she asked changing the subject."
"Fifteen minutes," Jason told her.
While they waited for the food to cook Jason told Aria about his business trip. He didn't do anything interesting is what he told her. It was just him and he was working on getting the business back up and running. When the food was done, then both went upstairs. Aria changed into a pair of yoga shorts and one of Jason's t-shirts. Jason had already been in a pair of sweatpants and a white tank top when Aria arrived.
"So, all of the movies are on the dresser. You can't pick any of your movies today," Aria told him, "But you can pick whichever movie you want that I brought over," she said.
"They aren't all black and white movies with subtitles, are they?" Jason asked walking over to look at the movies.
"No, I thought I would start you off with ones you might actually enjoy," she told him. Jason looked through the movies and tried to find one that looked interesting enough to watch.
"Did you really bring Titanic?" Jason asked.
"Yes, it's an amazing movie," Aria said, "Have you not seen it?" she asked him.
"No, I haven't," he told her.
"Are you kidding me?" Aria asked, "That movie won like ten Oscars. Who hasn't seen that movie?" she asked horrified.
"I haven't," Jason said.
"Jase, let's watch it," Aria said, "I love that movie. It's such a good movie."
"You said I get to pick the movie, Aria," Jason said, "Are you gonna bully me into watching Titanic?"
"If that's what it comes down to," she told him, "Not that I could bully you," she said, "But can we watch it?" she asked with wide eyes and pouted lips.
"You suck," Jason said taking the movie and putting it in the DVD player. Aria just smiled as Jason laid back down in the bed. Aria cuddled up to him and laid her head on his chest.
"That was fucking stupid," Jason said, "There was more than enough room for him on that thing. I swear, Aria, if you ever did that to me, we'd have to reevaluate our relationship," Jason told her.
Aria laughed while still wiping tears from her eyes. Even after seeing the movie multiple times, she cried every single time.
"Well, you would be dead, so there would be nothing to reevaluate," Aria said, "But I would let you on. I wouldn't let you freeze to death and float to the bottom of the ocean," she told him.
"Why are you crying?" he asked, "It was stupid," he said irately.
"It was still sad," Aria said, "And you said you liked it."
"Until that part, yes, I liked it. That ruined the whole movie for me," Jason said.
"Oh, goodness," Aria chuckled.
"That was four hours of my time wasted," he said, "And I saw a lot of other suspicious looking movies over there. It makes me scared," he told her.
"But you're with me. Isn't that good enough?" Aria asked.
"About halfway good enough," Jason told her, "It would have been 100% good enough if that movie wasn't on."
"Whatever," Aria said, "It's late now. I have school in the morning. I need to sleep," she told him.
"It's 10:30pm. It's not that late," he said.
"But I'm sleepy," she told him, "And I have to go to Spencer's before school. She asked me to come over tonight. The other girls are over there, but I didn't feel like it. I just felt like being alone," Aria said, "Until I saw you were home and then I just wanted to be alone with you. But now I'm tired and I need sleep. It's been a long day."
"I know. That movie took a lot out of me too," Jason said. Aria rolled her eyes.
"I have to go get my phone. I left it in the kitchen," she told him. When she got to the kitchen she saw that she had nine text messages. Six from her father; all were different variations of 'Where are you? Come home now!'. Two were from Spencer. One reminding her to come over in the morning and the other asking how everything went with her mom that morning. That last was and unknown number a.k.a 'A'. It was the most recent one from only two minutes earlier.
UNKNOWN: Your best friends know your boyfriend's secret. Why don't you? -A
Aria read the text a couple more times. She knew Spencer knew Jason's secret. She was a part of it. 'A' didn't make typos so this meant that Hanna and Emily knew as well. So, that meant Spencer had told them the secret. Spencer or Jason, but they didn't ever talk to Jason really, so it had to have been Spencer.
Aria took her phone and went back upstairs. Jason was looking at his phone with a confused look on his face. Aria laid down next to him tried to think of what to say. She didn't know what words to string together to ask him what that text meant. Then she heard Jason's voice and looked up at him.
"What does this mean?" Jason asked showing Aria the text he had just received, "And who is 'A'?"
UNKNOWN: You aren't the only one with secrets. Just ask Aria. She isn't as honest as you think. -A
"Well, what does this mean?" Aria asked showing him the text she got probably at the same time, "I'm just guessing they're talking about what you and Spencer were talking about in the park that one day when I was sitting in the car for an hour."
"Tell me who 'A' is," Jason demanded.
"Tell me what Spencer told my friends that you haven't told me yet," Aria fired back at him, "Then I'll tell you who 'A' is. They are the reason I have these secrets," she told him.
"Long story short, Spencer is my half-sister," Jason said, "Peter Hastings is my biological father, but I'm not even sure if my dad knows that or not," he told her.
"Wow," Aria said, "When did you find that out?" she asked.
"Not long ago," Jason said, "Spencer figured it out at that school event just before we found you on the roof. If she hadn't stopped me to talk about it we probably would have gotten to you before whoever it was even finished taping you to the wall," Jason told her.
"That 'whoever it was' was 'A'," Aria told him, "We don't know who 'A' is. It might be more than one person. We don't even know if it's a guy or a girl, but they know things about us that nobody else knows and they've been harassing us since Alison's funeral. We've been trying to figure out who 'A' is since then, but we've had no luck," she continued, "They thought it was Ian, but obviously not, because we're still being harassed. I don't know what to do. None of us do."
"I've gotten more than one message from 'A'," Jason told her, "The first one was a photo of you and Spencer in my darkroom."
"I just want it to be over with, so I can actually get a good night's sleep," Aria said.
When Aria walked into the Hastings' house the next morning she could hear the TV in the kitchen. They were watching the news about Garrett.
"That must be a page out of Ali's autopsy report," she heard Hanna say.
"Garrett took it, and somebody gave it back," Emily said.
"My mom is friends with the prosecutor. That someone is Jenna," Spencer told them.
"Can we finally put Ali to rest now?" Aria asked sitting down on one of the barstools.
"Or is it too down, two to go?" Hanna asked, "Jenna and Melissa were in that room too," she said.
Spencer turned the TV off. A few seconds later. Melissa walked into the room.
"True love gone wrong," Melissa said knowing what they had just been watching.
"What are you talking about?" Spencer asked her older sister.
"I knew Ian didn't kill Alison, and you four can keep a secret, but you don't have the constitution for murder," Melissa said, "I know how Jenna Marshall went blind. So, does Garrett. If he killed Alison it's because he thought she deserved it."
"She defiantly knows about the Jenna Thing," Hanna said after Melissa walked out of the house. Then their phones started beeping and chiming simultaneously.
"You still have something that belongs to me. Bering it, or one of you leaves in a body bag. -A" Emily read the text out loud.
"I don't know about you guys, but 'A' talking about body bags makes me very nervous," Aria said interrupting Hanna and Emily who were talking about 'A's phone, which Hanna still had locked up somewhere.
The doorbell rang, and Spencer went to answer it. When she got back she had a large, orange, envelope.
"Guys, it was a messenger," Spencer said. Inside the large envelope were four smaller black envelopes, "There's one for each of us," Spencer said passing one to each girl. They were invitations to a Masquerade Ball that weekend. Inside the invitation was an 'A' message.
"'A' wants to play Hide-and-Seek," Emily said.
"Be there when the clock strikes midnight," Aria read the note from 'A' that each of them had received.
Spencer walked to the window and looked outside to the barn where Melissa was staying, "Hide-and-Seek was my favorite game with Melissa," she told the other girls, "Wanna know why?" she asked rhetorically, "I always won," she said.
Later that day, after school, all the girls went to Jason's house. It was the only place they could go where there would be no parents watching their every move. Jason wouldn't even be home for another few hours. He had to go out to Philadelphia to go to some hardware store to get something. She forgot the name of it. But Jason and Toby were working on pulling apart the backroom, so it could be renovated…again.
"So, is this where you and Jason had s-e-x?" Hanna asked.
"I don't know why you're spelling it. It's not a bad word, Han," Aria said, "And we didn't have it in this room, no," she told her. They were sitting in the living room, "It was the kitchen," she joked just to see what Hanna would do.
"WHAT?!" all three of her friends jumped up from the couch.
"I'm kidding. Oh, my god," Aria said, "Can we just do this?" she asked. They had found part of a post car the other day and just found a pen that said Dougherty's Landing on it. They looked the place up on the computer. It was a tiny airstrip in the middle of nowhere. But the postcard was shown on the website. It was a postcard for Lost Woods Resort.
"The Lost Woods Resort. Find us where Greenview meets 30," Hanna read from the computer screen.
"Do you remember a while back I met with that guy, Duncan, the pilot?" Aria started, "He said that he dropped Alison off at an airfield the day she disappeared. This has to be where she went," Aria continued, "Maybe room one," she said looking at the #1 on the back of the postcard.
"Well, I hope none of you have plans tonight, because we have to go check this place out," Spencer said.
"Of course, we do," Emily said, "But no, I don't have plans tonight," she added.
"Neither do I," Aria said, "Anything to keep me away from home I'm down for."
"Well, I was gonna hang out with Caleb. I won't be able to see him this weekend because his mom is flying in from California, but I guess I can go," Hanna said.
An hour later the four girls were in Spencer's car on their way to The Lost Woods Resort. About half way there it started storming; just around the same time it got dark out. Aria hated storms.
"Are you sure this is right?" Emily asked as they got closer to the resort.
"This is Greenview," Spencer said. Out of nowhere something ran out in front of the car and across the street. Spencer was able to stop in time, but it scared them all half to death.
"What was that?" Hanna asked.
"I don't know. A deer I think," Spencer said looking around to see if the creature was still around.
"Maybe we should go back," Aria said.
"No!" Emily exclaimed, "We didn't come this far just to give up," she said.
"Careful, Spence," Aria said, and Spencer started driving again.
Soon they spotted the 'resort'. It was more of a motel than anything.
"What would Ali be doing up here?" Emily asked.
"She wasn't bagging a deer, that's for sure," Hanna said.
Spencer parked the car and they were all startled by a knock on Emily's window. A man who looked a little too much like Norman Bates was staring at them through the window.
"Are you checking in?" the guy asked. Emily only nodded. They all got out of the car and followed the man, who Aria was calling Norman for the time being, inside the check-in area of the resort, "I was surprised when you girls pulled in. Not many people come here anymore since they built the interstate," he said, "It doesn't bother me, though," he put a sign-in book in front of Spencer. She signed it as Mary Smith. Norman kept his eye on her the whole time, "Welcome to the Lost Woods Resort," he said.
"Um, is room one available?" Spencer asked.
"How'd you know about room one?" he asked.
"Our friend, the one who told us about this place she stayed in room one," Spencer told him.
"It's got the hottest water on the property. Perfect for a night like this," he said.
"Maybe you remember her. Vivian Darkbloom?" Spencer asked.
"Name doesn't ring a bell," Norman said, "Besides, I learned a long time ago not to tell tales about folks who stay here. You check into the Lost Woods because you don't want to be found," he said. He gave Aria, Emily, and Hanna a creepy look before they walked out; Spencer following right behind them with the room key.
As they were running to get to the room, Hanna tripped and fell in a large puddle of muddy water.
"Ugh! Damn it!" she shouted. The other three girls helped her up and then quickly made their way to their room.
Their room wasn't too bad considering it didn't cost very much. It was a one bedroom room with very vintage wallpaper. Too vintage for Aria even and that was saying a lot. The duvet was a pink color with a flower design on it.
"I'm not really sure what we're looking for here," Aria said.
"Ali left Ian to come up here for a reason," Spencer said, "What was it?"
All four girls walked into the room and started looking through everything. The dresser. The bedside tables. The bathroom. Everywhere.
"I love how they call this place a resort," Emily said looking at one of the postcards.
"I love how the owner looks like Norman Bates," Aria said, "I'm not a horror movie type of girl, but I've seen Psycho…it's actually a really good movie. But it's messed up. Nobody take a shower."
"I need to take a shower, I'm covered in mud," Hanna said.
"Okay, do you want to shower, or do you want Norman to kill you?" Aria asked.
"His name is Harold and he's not going to kill me. I am going to take a shower," Hanna said.
"Do you think that Ali came here to hide something?" Spencer asked.
"Or did she come here to hide?" Aria replied, "From 'A'."
"We need to get into the office," Spencer said, "Was Ali here alone or did she come with somebody?"
"Is Norman still in there?" Aria asked looking out the window with Spencer to see if the man was still in his office.
"Harold!" Hanna shouted.
"I think that he left," Spencer said, "I'm just dying to get a look at that registration book."
Aria put her coat back on while Emily and Hanna sat on the window sill shivering, Hanna had a towel and was using it as a blanket.
"Wait, really? You're gonna come with me?" Spencer asked Aria.
"Well, it doesn't look like either of them are moving," Aria said looking at Hanna and Emily.
"I'm cold," Emily said rubbing her hands together.
"I'm colder than she is," Hanna chimed in.
"You're little, but you're big," Spencer said walking up to Aria.
"Go Team Sparia," Hanna said.
"Yeah, don't get killed by Norman Bates," Emily said.
"Harold!"
After a long night and not finding much, other than that Ali had been there the day before she went missing and that room two was never available, the girls drove back to Rosewood. They had to get back in time to get ready for the Masquerade Ball and Aria still wasn't sure if she had a date.
She had bought costumes for herself and Jason but wasn't sure if he would even take her. There wasn't really a theme for either of them. She just had a long, black dress, fingerless gloves that went up to her elbows, and a black mask with a cool design on it. Jason just had a black suit, and a Phantom of the Opera mask, but instead of white, it was black. So, the theme was black if she had to say there was a theme. She had left Jason's costume at home with a note on his bed before going to Emily's house to get ready.
Once they were ready, they all drove together to the venue and walked in. Jason had not called or texted her since that morning, so she didn't know if he was going to show up or not. None of the other girls had dates, so it was like they were all each other's dates.
"This is the perfect place for 'A' to hide," Aria said looking around at all the people in their costumes. Not one face was recognizable.
"Where was Melissa when you left?" Hanna asked Spencer.
"In her pajamas, curled up on the couch," Spencer said, "But that was hours ago, remember. I was getting ready with the three of you at Emily's."
"Oh, right," Hanna said.
"We have three hours to find out who 'A' is, before 'A' finds us," Emily said, "We all still agree, right?"
"No matter what happens at midnight, we stick together, and we are night giving up that phone," Aria said.
"That's four against one. I like those odds," Hanna said.
"Should we split up and look around?" Spencer asked.
"None of us have dates, so…" Emily trailed off.
"Let's meet back here in an hour," Aria said, "And keep your phones close."
Aria was down on the dancefloor when she saw that Caleb had surprised Hanna. She was happy for her friend. She wished Jason could, or would, have been there. Then she saw Hanna hugging Mona. They were talking about how Mona had helped Caleb with his costume. When Hanna and Caleb walked off Aria walked up to Mona.
"That was a nice thing to do," Aria said, "I know you and Caleb don't exactly like each other."
"But we both love Hanna," Mona replied.
"You're a great friend to her," Aria said, "I don't know why you hide behind that layer of superficial bitch. People just might actually like you if you didn't," Aria told her.
"Maybe that's why I hide there," Mona told her, "Thanks to Alison, I went years without having friends."
"And we never stood up to her," Aria said, "I'm sorry for that."
"I quit thinking about that stuff a long time ago," Mona said, "But it's funny. Today I couldn't get her out of my mind. I took Caleb to that store I was telling you guys about yesterday. The one in Brookhaven. It's a tiny place. You would never know it's there if you weren't looking for it," Mona told her.
"I know Brookhaven," Aria said.
"It's the last place I saw Ali alive," Mona said, "About a week before she went missing. I left her a message that night. Then she went all M.I.A. on us and she never called me."
"Wait, did you see who Alison was watching?" Aria asked Mona.
"Do you mean who she was spying on?" Mona asked, "No, it was probably just some guy she had a crush on."
"'A' wasn't watching Ali in Brookhaven. Ali was watching 'A'," Aria said.
"Okay, wait. If this is 'A' code, I didn't get the handbook," Mona said.
"Look, Ali checked into a motel the day before she went missing. She didn't go there to hide from 'A'. I think she followed 'A' there," Aria told Mona.
"What motel?" Mona asked.
"The Lost Woods Resort in Greenview," Aria said, "It's not a resort at all."
"I've never heard of it," Mona said.
"I think we need to go back up there. We need to see what's in room 2," Aria said, "Oh, my god. When did Spencer enter my body?" she asked only half joking.
"I can take you if you need a ride. I'm not having any fun here anyway," Mona said setting down the cup of punch Aria had handed her a moment ago.
"Yeah, let's go," Aria said, "I'll call someone from the car."
"You know, we could have been great friends," Mona said as they were driving down the road, "Short people need to stick together, you know. And all your friends are really tall. Like Amazonian. You're like a little pixie next to them."
"Oh, I know, and they don't let me forget it," Aria said, "Hanna is the shortest of the three of them and she still seems way taller than me."
"But you own it, so it's all good," Mona said, "You should probably call someone, hon," Mona told her, "Just so they don't think you were abducted or something."
"Right," Aria picked up her phone and saw that Emily had already tried to call her, "I guess I'm calling Emily," she said.
"Where are you?" Emily asked as soon as she answered her phone, "Jason just showed up. I had to tell him you were in the bathroom because I have no idea where you are," Emily said.
"I'm on my way back to The Lost Woods," Aria told her.
"Now?" Emily asked.
"Yes," Aria said, "When we checked into the motel there was a key for every room except for room two. Room two hasn't been booked since before Ali went missing," Aria told Emily.
"How do you know that?" Emily asked.
"Spencer," Aria told her, "We figured it out when we went to get the registry book, "Don't you get it, Em. Nobody checks into room two because it's already been rented. And Ali checked into the room next door because she was spying on 'A'."
"Aria, don't do this alone. Wait for us," Emily said, "And what am I supposed to tell Jason? That you fell in?"
"No, I don't want all of us to leave. We can't tip 'A' off. Plus, I'm not alone. I'm with Mona," Aria told her, "And just tell Jason I had to go do something important and I'll tell him what's going on when we've figured this out," Aria said.
"Fine," Emily said, "You've got to hours to get back here though."
"Okay, I'll hurry."
"Be safe, Aria," Emily said.
"I will," Aria told her before hanging up.
When Mona and Aria got to the motel they went into the office. Aria's job was to distract Norman (Harold!) while Mona got the key to room two. They talked about how he didn't have many visitors anymore and that he ends up talking to the taxidermized creatures. Aria was getting uncomfortable talking to the man, but luckily Mona got the key and they were able to leave.
The two girls went to room two and Mona handed Aria the key. She unlocked the door and the two were shocked by what was inside. Pictures of Alison covered on wall completely. There were MISSING posters hanging down and then there was a large collage of photos of the rest of the girls. They didn't even know they were being followed let alone photographed.
"What is this?" Mona asked.
"'A's lair," Aria replied. There was a dollhouse with five dolls in it. One on the top floor with a crown. It had to be Alison. The other four were the other girls below her. Like they were her puppets. On one wall was a rack of black hoodies. Filing cabinets on one side of the room. It looked like the kind of place a serial killer would go to stalk his victims.
"Aria, this has to be 'A's costume," Mona handed Aria a folder with costume designs inside of it. It was the Black Swan.
"The Black Swan," Aria said, "Call Hanna and let her know so they can keep an eye out," Aria told her.
"Okay," Mona said. Aria saw Mona take her phone out and went back to looking through everything she saw. There was so much there. She started looking through a diary she found when Mona spoke from behind her.
"Gum?" she asked holding out a pack of gum.
"No, thank you," Aria said and went back to looking through a diary of Alison's she had found, "Why aren't they calling us back?" Aria asked flipping through pages of the diary. She came to a page that was bookmarked with a Spearmint gum wrapper.
"Spencer's sister was the Black Swan at a charity ball last year. I remember seeing pictures," Aria said.
"You don't think she would do anything to hurt you, do you?" Mona asked.
"I don't think so. Why would you ask that?" Aria asked.
"Well, I just thought that's what you meant," Mona said, "Melissa's the Black Swan. Maybe she's 'A'?"
"Actually, can I have that gum now?" Aria asked.
"Sure," Mona said, "Oh, this one's empty. I think I have more in the car. Let me go check," she said and left the room to go check her car for gum.
Aria watched her leave and looked at the gum wrapper again. Then she looked at the hoodies. They wouldn't help with identifying anyone. They were all size large. They would fit a lot of people even if they were too big on some people or too little on others. Aria found two bags full of sweaters that were about the same size she wore when she heard Mona's voice again. This time it was deeper and more monotone than before.
"I found the gum," she said.
"You didn't call Hanna, did you?" Aria asked not turning to look. She already knew, "Because you're 'A'."
Mona had changed out of her dress and was in a pair of black pants and a black hoodie with the hood pulled over her head. She had a crazy look in her eye. Unlike just moments ago when she was smiling about gum.
"Congratulations, Aria. You figured it out," Mona said. Mona walked closer and Aria felt a sharp pain in her head. The next thing she saw was darkness.
"Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Jason asked. He went to meet Aria for the stupid costume party and she wasn't even there.
"I told you, we can't tell you yet," Emily told Jason, "If everything goes as it should tonight you will know everything and there will be no more secrets," she said.
"What does that even mean?" Jason asked, "What if everything goes wrong? What happens then?"
"I don't want to find out," Hanna said from beside Emily, "How long ago did she leave?"
"About an hour and a half ago she called me. I don't know how far away she was when she called, though," Emily told her, "This one has been antsy as hell since he got here. I told him to just go home."
"I was going to until I heard you mention that 'A' person," Jason said, "Aria and I talked about them and she said you would be finding out who they are soon, but it seems kind of dangerous if you have to hide to do it," Jason said.
Emily was about to respond when Spencer started walking towards them, "I think we need to call Aria. She has less than an hour to get back here or we're all screwed."
"Okay, let's go outside and call," Hanna said. The three girls made their way outside to call Aria. Jason followed them, but stayed a behind a safe distance, "This is weird," Hanna said.
"What?" Emily asked. Hanna handed her the phone, "Your phone is set to record every time it's turned on," Emily told her. Emily called Aria's phone. She picked up on the first ring, but they could only hear Mona talking.
"I had to get you out there alone, so we could talk," Mona said.
"Why me?" Aria asked.
"I guess it could have been any of you, but we were getting along for the moment, so it just worked out that way," Mona said.
"Oh. Okay," Aria said. Emily saw Jason and waved him over to them. He was going to say something, but she put her finger to her lips indicating that he should be quiet and just listen, "Just slow down, okay. Let's just talk."
"You had to earn it. The right to be a part of it," Mona said. Aria wasn't quite sure what exactly 'it' was.
"You didn't see Ali in Brookhaven. She saw you, didn't she? You just made that story up," Aria said. Her friends on the other end of the phone listening intently.
"We're in this together now," Mona said, "You get to decide how this ends, Aria. Tonight. You can join the 'A' Team. Or you can disappear," Mona told her.
"You almost killed Hanna…she's my friend. I thought she was your too," Aria said.
"It's easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend," Mona said.
Hanna couldn't believe that two of her best friends were in that car and one of them was 'A'. One of them had tried to kill her and Aria on more than one occasion. She didn't want to believe that Mona was capable of something like that.
"How did you do it?" Aria asked, "How were you nowhere and everywhere at the same time? You were always one step ahead of us."
"Your friend Spencer isn't the only genius around, Aria," Mona said, "You bitches underestimated me."
"Mona, you're never going to make it to Lookout Point if you don't slow down," Aria said trying to stay calm.
Emily hung up the phone, "If they're going to Lookout Point I know a shortcut," she said, "Jason, call 911 and tell them to go to Lookout Point. You can meet us up there," she said as she was being dragged away by Hanna and Spencer.
"You're doing this because we let Ali treat you like that?" Aria asked.
"I'm so over Ali, I already told you," Mona said, "She was never my friend, but Hanna was. And you bitches took her from me."
"This is about betrayal?" Aria asked incredulously.
"It's not about betrayal, it's about revenge!" Mona shouted, "You deserved everything you got. It's not like you died or anything. I was never going to kill you."
"Mona, Hanna is still your friend!" Aria said. Mona glared at her, "Okay, so what's the plan? 'A' always has a plan, doesn't she?"
"Yes, she does," Mona said.
"What happens if I don't join the team?" Aria asked.
"Spencer thinks Melissa has their father's gun, but she's wrong. I have it," Mona said.
"You just said you didn't want to kill me," Aria said.
"But I will if I have to," Mona told her, "When Ali left it pulled you guys apart. It will be the same if you go away," Mona said.
"No, it won't," Aria said before pulling the emergency break. The car came to an abrupt halt making Aria's head fling forward and then back giving her whiplash. She got out of the car before Mona could and ran around the other side of the car just as Hanna started driving at Mona stopping the car only feet away from the girl. Mona looked at Hanna and screamed before running and tackling Aria to the ground.
They were like two mini-wrestlers trying to get the upper hand on the other, but they were both very good at fighting, which Aria found strange. Especially, when he wrist wasn't completely healed. They ended up near a tree at the edge of a cliff. Aria grabbed onto the trunk of the tree, so she wouldn't fall and reached for Mona, but Mona lost her grip and fell.
Hanna, Spencer, and Emily walked over to help Aria up. She was still only holding on to the trunk of the tree. Spencer tried to help, but grabbed Aria's bad wrist, making her scream. Aria let go of Spencer's hand and her wrist slipped through Spencer's grip. Spencer screamed trying futilely to reach for Aria, while Hanna and Emily cried behind her. Aria tumbled down the side of the cliff landing just feet from Mona. The two unconscious girls just laid there waiting for someone to rescue them.
AN: FINALE OF SEASON 2!
I would have had it up earlier, but my parents just got back from a cruise and wanted to spend time with us and then my dad had to go back to work in Tennessee and we don't know how long it will be until we get to see him again, so I was with them all day.
I definitely changed up the end a bit. I thought it would be more interesting than doing the same old thing. Please review and let me know what you think!