Chapter 2

"Em, wait up!"

Emily turned around to see her friend Aria jogging to catch up to her.

"Hey, we missed you at lunch, everything ok?" Aria asked a little breathlessly.

Emily smiled, "sure, I just had bunch of homework," she lied. She hated lying to her friends. That's why she was avoiding them.

"Oh, okay," Aria nodded, "how did you date go?"

Emily sighed, "it was… fine. She was nice, I guess."

"That good, huh?" Aria looked sympathetic.

Emily smiled sheepishly.

Aria bit her lip, looking pensive, "I know it's been hard on you, Em … maybe dating is not the best thing for you right now. I mean, you don't need a guy or girl to be complete."

Emily hummed, "yeah, well try saying that to Hanna would you? She is the one that keeps pushing me to these stupid blind dates. You don't just get over…" she shook her head trailing off.

"You still think about her a lot …" Aria said softly; it really wasn't a question.

Emily shrugged, thankfully they'd arrived at her turn off, "don't we all?" she asked casually, "anyway, I will see you tomorrow."

"Sure," Aria grinned, "you know the renovations are done on the barn, we're going to have a sleepover tomorrow. You're, in right?"

Emily smiled "yeah, sounds good."

"Your mum still coming down hard on you about homework?" Aria asked.

"Yeah," Emily nodded, "but she's gone to see dad so I'm free for a few days," she smirked.

"Sweet!" Aria exclaimed, "Hey, let me know if you want some company."

Emily hugged her friend, "thanks, Aria" she smiled "I'll be fine."

Emily unlocked the door and looked around the house and quickly heading upstairs to her room.

"Hey."
Emily threw her bag down and smiled at the blonde siting on her bed reading.

"Hey," she smiled, "you okay?"

Courtney nodded, "I'm fine. Just been going through your bookshelf," she held up a book, "how was school? Did you see the girls?" she asked a little nervously.

Emily nodded, "I saw them," she confirmed, pausing, "I didn't tell them though."

Courtney stood up, placing the book down on the bed, "you know you're going to have to though, right?"

Emily sighed, "I know. It's just…"

"They won't be as happy as you are that I'm alive," Courtney guessed.

Emily shrugged, "but if A … Ali is back, I have to tell them."

Courtney tensed, "have you any more texts?"

"Nothing," Emily answered honestly as she sat down on her bed, pulling out her phone just to make sure.

"I don't understand how she could survive… I thought she was locked inside that house. The firemen said that nobody could survive that," Courtney shook her head, "maybe it's not Ali. Maybe it's someone else."

Emily paused, "it's Ali," she said glumly.

"I left the door open for her," Emily said quietly, "when I escaped the house… I made sure the door was left open so she had a chance," she hung her head.

Courtney looked shocked, "why?" she asked incredulously, "why would you do that?"

Emily looked miserable, "I saw her on the way," she explained quietly, "she looked right at me. Her eyes looked the same as always; like she knew all my secrets. I remembered all them moments well …with you. She has your face," she shook her head angrily at herself, "I thought… and when she kissed me, it felt… I just didn't think she deserved to die," she ground her teeth. "This is all my fault. She's alive and probably going to kill us and it's all my fault." She let out a sob.

Courtney closed the gap between them and pulled Emily close, "her actions aren't your fault. You're a good person…. And she really screwed with your head, Em. She knew just how to play you… even better than I did. She knew that you would leave the door open."

"Because I'm weak," Emily whispered, disgusted with herself.

"No," Courtney shook her head, "because you see the good in everyone," she placed a hand on Emily's cheek, hesitating, "but Em, she is not me. You got to realise that. You said that yourself, she's heartless. She doesn't care about you or anyone."

Emily nodded, "I know, "she whispered.

"You have got to tell the girls," Courtney said firmly.

Emily nodded, "we're having a sleepover tomorrow. I'll tell them then."

"Hey, Em! You're late!" spencer chirped as she let her friend into the newly restored barn.

"Yeah, sorry." Emily mumbled, looking around the barn.

"Looks great in here," she tried to smile.

The truth was she'd spent the last hour pacing, trying to figure out what she was going to say to her friends.

"Yep, better than before!" Hanna grinned.

Emily ran a hand through her hair , not sitting down with rest of friends.

"Have you guys …. Had any texts?" she finally asked.

Spencer' head snapped up. Hanna frowned. Aria looked worried.

"No," Aria shook her head looking to the others.

Hanna shook her head.

"Emily, what's going on?" spencer asked, leaning forward.

"Has something happened?"

Emily paced in front of her friends.

"Emily?" Hanna asked, looking like she was ready to start panicking.

Emily closed her eyes for a moment before stopping still.

"I think Alison is still alive," she whispered.

"Why would you think that?" spencer questioned.

"I got a text," Emily answered, "From A."

Aria frowned. "What was it about?"

Emily sighed, "Well, that's the thing … there's more."

Spencer watched her friend closely, "Emily Tell us. You can tell us anything, you know that."

The other two nodded in agreement.

Emily ran her hand through her hair again, "okay," she said quietly, "but you're not going to like it," she nibbled her lip, "Courtney's alive."

"What?" Hanna asked, standing up, "you just said Ali's alive. Now you're saying Courtney's alive. Why would you think that?"

Emily bit her tongue.

Spencer and Aria stood up too.

Spencer watched her friend, "you have seen her," she said quietly.

Emily met her eyes and nodded.

"Are you sure it's her? How do you know which one you are talking too?" Hanna asked.

Emily mumbled, "She showed me this scar… that she'd shown me when she was Ali. It's her, guys. It's Courtney. And Ali knows she's alive."

"If Courtney's been alive this whole time," Aria said slowly. "Why has she just shown up now?"

Emily bit her lip, "she knew if Ali knew she was alive she'd kill her. She thought Ali was dead … we all did… but then we got a text"

"She was with you when you got the text?" Hanna asked.

Emily nodded, "Yeah."

"Where is she now?" Spencer asked sharply.

Emily looked away, "um… she's staying at my place."

"Oh my god," Hanna groaned, "Emily, she's a manipulator. How do you know you can trust her?"

"She's different," Emily claimed, "she is sorry for the way she treated us, which by the way, wasn't that bad when you compared it to Real Ali."

"You said as Ali she played with your feelings" Hanna reminded her.

"Okay, hold on," Aria said, "The important thing right now is the fact that Ali's Alive, right? Emily right, Courtney never tried to hurt us. Not physically. She could be a bitch, sure but Alison's the one to worry about. If she's alive, she's going to try again. Right?"

Spencer was the first to answer, "you're right," she nodded, "But what the hell do we do about it? The cops are convinced she's dead. Everybody's convinced she's dead."

"I can't believe she's not," Hanna groaned, "I thought all of this was over."

"So did I," Aria murmured.

"We've got to go to the cops, right?" Hanna asked, "It's the only thing we can do. At least they'll have a chance of finding her before…."

Emily nodded, "yeah, if they believe us."

"It's worth a shot," Spencer shrugged.

Then in familiar unison, their phones all beeped. With dread, they all reached into their bags and pockets to retrieve their phones.

"Oh my god," Emily face went pale.

You tell and I'll bury my dear sister in Emily's backyard. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I'm back bitches. Who wants to die first? Eenie Meenie Miney Mo… -A