Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Spencer was starting to panic.
As she looked everywhere for Mona while clutching the fallen bag which was her friends, she knew something was wrong.
When she first emerged from the bathroom, Spencer found it odd that Mona was nowhere to be found; especially given her crippled state. After calling out her friend's name a few times, the teen spotted the bag on the ground a few yards away. It was just there and Spencer became immediately concerned since it was something that Mona had prized greatly; it being some sort of expensive purse the shorter teen had waited in line for. Running into the fog, there was no sign of Mona anywhere and Spencer pulled out her phone, dialing her friend's number. Mona usually kept her phone in her pocket and there was a large one in her dress.
Unfortunately, it went straight to voicemail.
Spencer kept calling Mona's name and as she passed other people, she asked if they had seen her; with the answer being no. As it became even darker, Spencer was in full on panic mode and realized that she needed help. There was a chance that Mona might have been grabbed and she needed to find someone, maybe a cop to report to. After looking for a few more minutes, the teen bee lined back to the party in order to see if Elizabeth and her mother would help her. With her heart pounding, Spencer ran as fast as she could and dodged various obstacles; earning angry shouts from other people. She didn't care though and her only priority was to find Mona no matter what. Given what had happened weeks ago, the shorter teen was more than vulnerable for some adversary.
As the lights from the central area came into view, someone suddenly emerged from the bushes off to the side; which Spencer collided with. Both fell violently onto the ground with loud grunts and the teen became annoyed as she tried to pick herself up. She heard curses coming from the man who was dressed up in a vintage suit like the rest of the males here. Angry herself, Spencer was about to tell off the person when she caught sight of who it was. After a minute of gaping, she suddenly lunged at him when he was facing her, slamming him against the bushes with her hands on her chest; grabbing her shirt. The man was stunned at the sight of her holding him like that, apparently not sure what to do.
"Where's Mona?" Spencer demanded to know, staring into Caleb's eyes and she put all of her strength into holding him there.
"What are you talking about?" Caleb asked, confused and dazed about the younger teen being violent with him. When it came to women, he was a little old fashioned and did his best to treat them with respect; most of the time anyways.
"Don't play games with me; I know you grabbed Mona just now. So what, you couldn't find out what you wanted to know by going through our stuff, you have to grab her and interrogate her as well?" snarled the taller teen, becoming enraged more and more every second that passed by.
Caleb didn't know what to say and was temporarily caught off guard by the teen's accusations against him. Not only was he surprised that he was found out by the two teens he had been sent to spy on, but that he was being accused of kidnapping one of them. Though he did go through their things, he would not stoop low enough to physically go after anyone; a deal breaker with his current employer as he had told her many times. Jenna wanted him to do a number of things that he wasn't comfortable doing and it was starting to get to him on how ruthless she was. When he had heard about the attack on Mona, he immediately suspected his employer.
"Well?" Spencer asked, starting to lose her grip on the young man. She was starting to wonder if she had made a mistake given the dumbfounded look upon his face.
"Listen, I didn't take Mona and I don't know where she is," Caleb said to the teen as she tried to shake her off. She backed off but continued to glare at him, seemingly not ready to believe him just yet.
"But you were spying on us," accused Spencer as she was starting to lose patience. If Caleb wasn't behind her friend's disappearance, then she was wasting her time by confronting him when she should be out there looking.
"Yes; but it's not what you think," defended the young man, the words sounding stupid even to him. Truthfully, it was exactly what she thought and they both knew it.
"Save it; I'll deal with you later after I find Mona," Spencer said, turning away from Caleb and heading back towards the direction where the party was. Maybe she could find some policeman there that could help her.
"Wait; let me help you find her," offered the young man as he ran in front of her, seemingly genuine in wanting to help her. Spencer looked at him suspiciously and considered his offer, realizing that she needed all the help she could get. Plus, this would allow her to stay close to Caleb in order to get useful information; not wanting to waste the opportunity.
"Fine; but if you try something, there will be consequences," threatened the young teen, poking Caleb in the chest. He nodded and made a note to take the opportunity to see if he could use this to his advantage.
"Where did you last see her?" Caleb asked as they ran back into the fog and away from the center of the party.
"She was waiting for me outside the bathroom and when I came out, she was gone. Her bag was a few yards away and she would not have willingly left it behind," informed Spencer as they headed back towards where she was last with her friend.
"You didn't hear her call out for help?" asked the young man as they arrived at the spot where the two teens had last been. The fog was getting slightly thicker and there was a growing chill in the air; evident by the appearance of Spencer's own breath.
"No; which is why I think she got jumped because she is still crippled by what happened to her with the attack," stated Spencer as she looked inside the bathroom to see if Mona had come back; finding the stall empty. Caleb noted how Spencer glared at him when she mentioned the attack to him.
"It wasn't me; I was with Hanna at the time, we were studying," informed the young man, trying to convince the teen that he had nothing to do with it.
In fact, he was just as shocked as Hanna was when he heard what happened; though he noticed that the blonde looked a little guilty at the time. When he had told Jenna about it, she seemed intrigued and immediately stated that it must have been Alison behind the attack. He agreed since it was obvious that Jenna hadn't done it given that he had kept tabs on his secret employer without her knowledge. That left Alison, whom he disliked greatly; who he knew from Hanna despised Mona as well as Spencer which was why he was spying on them. Given Alison's intense focus on the two teens, Jenna wanted to see what was going on behind the scenes so that she could use it to her advantage.
"Who was it? Jenna?" asked the teen, taking advantage of his sudden loose lips. Granted, she already knew who had struck Mona with the car but she was curious how much he knew about the incident. Plus, it would give him the impression that they didn't know; thus planting some misinformation.
"No; Jenna thinks it was Alison," answered Caleb as truthfully as possible. He had been struck at the time on how much the blind teen had been indifferent about how Mona was almost killed.
"Of course; why did she pay you to spy on us?" inquired the teen, knowing she should be searching more for her friend than questioning Caleb but Mona would have advised her that it was necessary.
"To get dirt on Alison of course; how did you know I had gone through your stuff?" Caleb asked Spencer, also wanting to know some things. He was quite smart and knew when someone was fishing for information; plus he was naturally curious.
"Mona has certain security systems in place; that's all you need to know," answered Spencer, leaving out how Mona had things in place on her laptop. He narrowed his eyes and simply stayed silent at that; vowing to be more careful next time in case there were cameras in the room.
"Where exactly did you find her bag?" asked the young man, switching gears back to the subject at hand given that there was someone that needed to be found.
"Over here; it was just lying on the ground," answered the teen as she pointed at the spot where it had been. They both walked over to the spot and Caleb saw that there seemed to be a path in front of it. It led into the fog and he motioned for Spencer to follow him as they walked in that direction.
The path led deeper into the cemetery and it was getting harder to see where they were going. For some reason, both teens were apprehensive and Caleb wished that he had some sort of light besides the phone in his pocket; with Spencer sharing a similar feeling. Using their phones to light the way, they trekked slowly in the dark while trying to avoid the various headstones that lay along their path. There were flowers placed at a few of the graves as well as pictures of the deceased; some showing people in vintage clothing. Spencer wasn't sure if that was because of the era of when they died or because of the event. When she found Mona, they would definitely need to get out of this place and go back to the inn.
"Do you see anything?" asked Caleb as he continued to look around; trying to see through the fog. He was getting dark vibes and scenes from horror movies were starting to play out in his head.
"No; I don't understand any of this. I hope she is okay," stated the teen as the sound of worry was evident in her voice. The idea of losing Mona, her first real true friend, was something she could not fathom; going as far as to silently pray that she would be found.
"Don't lose hope; we'll find her," comforted the young man, intrigued on how much Spencer seemed to value the other girl. He hadn't really had any true friends before and he wondered if he was missing out; though it was hard to have any when one drifted as much as he did.
"I hope so; I can't do this alone," she said and that statement caught his interest. He was about to ask what she meant when something caught his eye.
"Hey!" he called out suddenly, startling Spencer and with her looking over at him in surprise while he pointed just to the right of them. Spencer looked to where he was pointing and she spotted a figure in the fog not too far away from them; a blonde by the looks of it.
Running to where they saw her, the two teens once again saw that she was still ahead of them; though a little closer for a better look. The mysterious woman looked to be as young as they were and was definitely a blonde though they couldn't see her face. She appeared to be wearing modern clothing, a pair of blue jeans and a flashy yellow top; which made it easy to spot her in the darkened fog. The yellow top was something that Spencer had seen before and she almost wondered if it was Alison who was here with them. She shook her head at the ridiculous though since her former friend wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this; both literally and figuratively.
They followed the mysterious blonde for a few more minutes, stopping to catch their breath every time she paused. Her silhouette remained in the fog, seeming to freeze when they did; as if she was playing with them. Spencer was starting to get frustrated and wanted to get back to looking for Mona since it was getting even later in the evening. There was however the urge to follow the person for some reason that the teen just couldn't understand. Even if they were being led in circles, Spencer knew that she had to catch up and question the blonde; having a gut instinct that it was important. She also felt that the person might have something to do with Mona's disappearance though she couldn't understand why.
They ran after the person another time, rushing into the fog without thinking. It was thick and very hard to see; both teens keeping close in order to not lose track of one another. They had their phones out to show each other where they were, which helped greatly. Spencer saw that she had a number of texts and missed calls from her mother; which she wasn't surprised since the teen had missed her check-in calls. She also knew that Mona had probably missed all of hers which prompted panicked calls to Veronica; thus why Spencer's phone was buzzing every few minutes. Until Mona was found, the teen knew that she couldn't risk answering since that would lead to some unnecessary as well as unwanted questions.
"Oh my God," Spencer said as she spotted a familiar figure lying on the ground not too far from them. They had just cleared the fog and right in front of them was Mona who lay unconscious near a large headstone; which Spencer ran to in order to see if her friend was alright.
"How is she?" Caleb asked as he rushed to the two teen's sides and looked to see if there was anyone around to help. Spencer checked Mona's pulse and found that it was normal though there was a bump on Mona's head; though the comatose teen seemed to be breathing regularly which Spencer was glad of.
"She seems fine but we need to get her out of here; can you help me carry her?" Spencer asked Caleb and he nodded, helping the teen lift her friend up from the ground to get her out of the graveyard.
The two moved slowly through the graveyard though the fog seemed to be clearing and the night sky was once again coming into full view. There seemed to be no sign of their mysterious stranger and once again Spencer wondered if there had been someone playing with them; thinking that was what lured Mona away. While this could have been another prank on them by Alison, she felt that Caleb wasn't a part of it though she did not trust him at all. Truthfully, she was just feeling paranoid and suspected everyone right now of trying to hurt the teens. She even was tempted to grab their things and head straight home tonight.
They finally headed out of the graveyard and straight back to the inn, passing various people who didn't seem to be paying attention. It was a little disconcerting that there wasn't a single person who was ready to ask if they needed help; simply ignoring them as they carried Mona on their shoulders. While Spencer considered it rude, Caleb suspected that the people probably thought that Mona was drunk and that they were simply carrying her home to sleep it off. He had seen a few of the kids his age sneaking drinks while the adults were not looking; even using antique drink bottles used in that era. It was amusing to watch and they even had offered him a few swigs though he declined and walked off. Besides being in Ravenswood to spy on Spencer and Mona, he was also here to complete the same school assignment as well; though he was far behind unlike the other teens.
They arrived back at the inn and the two headed inside, heading straight to the teen's room; finding the front desk empty. Looking at the clock as they passed, Spencer saw that it was after eleven and couldn't believe how late it was; feeling that they had only been at the party for an hour. It didn't seem like they had been looking for Mona for that long though the time appeared to say otherwise. Once they got Mona on the bed, Caleb left them after Spencer thanked him for his help; though she did it half-heartily out of spite given that he had been spying on them. Once he was gone, she closed the door behind him and even locked it. She then pulled out her phone to contact her mother before posse would be round up.
"I've been calling for hours; why didn't you pick up?" Veronica demanded to know on the other line after only one ring. While Mona was still unconscious on the bed, Spencer sat at her side and watched her friend; hoping that she would wake up soon.
"I'm sorry; the party was in the graveyard and there was no signal," Spencer lied to her mother on the phone. She was tempted to say that Mona had simply hit her head and had been knocked out but that would just cause unnecessary drama.
"Leona has been calling Mona and then called me when there was no answer. The party was held in the graveyard?" inquired a quite astonished woman. Spencer chuckled silently to herself at her mother's tone since she never showed her surprise out loud.
"Yeah; I took pictures and will show them to you when we get back. We just got in and I will have Mona call her mother first thing after she gets out of the bathroom," stated Spencer as it looked like Mona was coming to; her body suddenly moving as well as her groaning.
"Make sure you do that; I'll see you tomorrow, stay safe. Love you," said the older woman and Spencer replied affectionately before she hung up. As soon as she did, Mona opened her eyes and tried to sit up.
"Where am I?" Mona asked as she blinked a few times. Her head was hurting and she could feel the bump; trying to recall how she got it. Spencer had checked the wound while they were walking back to the inn and it wasn't that serious with it being small.
"You're back in our room; what happened?" asked the taller teen out of both curiosity and worry; wanting to know why her friend had been out in the middle of a bunch of headstones.
"I was chasing after someone; a blonde in a yellow top," answered Mona as she reached for the water bottle next to the bed. Her friend grabbed it and handed it to her so that she could stay where she was.
"We saw her too; I think she led us straight to you," Spencer stated and Mona's eyes suddenly lit when she remembered who it was.
"It was Bethany and she spoke to me!"
Please Read and Review; also a shout out to my friend Paraddicted for the pre-read!