Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I hope this makes up for it :) Thanks to ashley62197, Princesa Solitaria, HollyShannenForever, CharmedFanP3 and hannalovespll for reviewing the last chapter :) I'd love to know your thoughts on this one.
"What? Alison's alive?" Aria asked. "She can't be. They found her body."
"I'm not saying she is for sure but it's a possibility. Maybe you should ask your mom for help with the spell. If the power of three can't bring her back then I'd be willing to say it's because she's not in the spirit realm." Prue reasoned.
"Can you ask for her help please? I don't think she'll take it very well coming from me."
"Ok but you'd better be ready to explain why I'm here when she comes downstairs looking for answers."
Aria nodded and Prue left to make her way to the attic. She had to admit she was excited. She'd be able to meet Paige for the first time and she hadn't seen Phoebe in ages. It felt good knowing all four sisters could be together, even if only for a short while.
She knocked on the door to the attic, not wanting to barge in unannounced.
"Byron is that you?" Ella called out. "I'm busy with my sisters at the moment."
"It's not Byron." Prue called out through the door. She was greeted by silence from inside the room so took it as her cue to enter.
"Prue!" Phoebe yelled, running towards her sister.
"Prue?" Paige asked.
"It's me." The oldest sister smiled. "Aria summoned me. It's nice to finally meet you Paige." She said, giving her youngest sister a hug. Paige smiled nervously, unsure as to how she should act around her. Both Piper and Phoebe really loved and admired Prue. They spoken so highly of her that Paige was a little intimidated.
Prue turned to Ella who was struggling to fight the smile forming on her lips. As much as she wanted to be annoyed with Aria for practicing magic unsupervised and summoning Prue to probably try and talk her around, she was happy to see her sister again. They hadn't been able to spend much time with each other earlier and after the day she'd had seeing all her sisters was exactly what she needed.
"A truth spell, really?" The oldest sister questioned her. "Haven't we all learnt our lesson from that one?"
"As if you wouldn't have done the same." She sassed back, glad that they were still as comfortable around each other as they had been twenty years ago. "I can't believe you were watching that."
"After what happened did you really think that I wouldn't be watching over you?" Prue questioned and Ella had to admit she had a fair point. "How are you holding up?"
"A lot better now I've got my sisters with me." Ella smiled.
"Good because I have some more news for you and I don't know how you're going to take it." She started. The three sister's faced dropped for the first time since Prue had entered the room. From the tone of her voice they knew it was serious.
"Aria's been trying to summon her friend Alison." She started.
"What?" Ella asked in shock.
"Who's Alison?" Paige asked.
"She was Aria's friend. She went missing last year and they found her body a few weeks ago." Ella replied.
"Oh my God that's awful!"
"I know." Prue said sadly. "The problem is that she couldn't do it. It didn't work."
"What do you mean? Nothing happened?" Phoebe asked.
"Nothing." Prue clarified. "She summoned me to ask for help. I guess she thought it wasn't a good idea to disturb you. Anyway, she couldn't do it which leads me to think you either need the power of three or she's still alive somewhere."
"We should go down there and try and help her." Phoebe suggested. "That way we can know for sure."
The other sisters agreed and they made their way to Aria's bedroom.
Ella knocked on the door. "Hey sweetie, can we come in?"
"Yeah." Aria replied through her tears. She'd had such an overwhelmingly emotional day that she couldn't hold it in any longer. She had no idea how her mom was keeping it together so well.
"Prue says you've been trying to summon Ali?" Ella asked tentatively. Aria nodded silently, not sure what else she could say to defend herself. "Do you want our help?"
Aria looked at her mother in shock. She'd expected her to be angry or at least try to stop her. How was she being so calm about this, especially after the day's events? It was all she could do to nod her head again. She didn't really understand what was happening and why her mom was acting so understanding so she just stood there and watched as the three sisters joined hands. Prue reached out and placed a comforting hand on her niece's shoulder and they watched as Ella, Phoebe and Paige recited the summoning spell.
"Beloved spirit Alison, we seek your guidance,
We ask that you commune with us and move among us."
The five witches waited patiently, watching the circle of burning candles in silence as they hoped for something to happen. After about a minute Phoebe broke the silence with a sigh as she let go of her sister's hands.
Turning to Aria, she spoke gently. "I'm sorry honey. It's not working. We can't contact her."
"But does that mean she might be alive?"
"I don't know. There might be some other reason that we can't talk to her. Sometimes the Elders have their own agenda." She replied, somewhat bitterly.
"I don't think that's the case here." Prue spoke up. "There's no reason why the power of three wouldn't work when summoning a mortal's spirit, especially if they didn't know the girl before she died. They kept me from you because you needed to grieve for me but none of you have that close connection with Alison and you have long since accepted her not being here." She explained.
"How do I find her if she is alive?" Aria asked. "Is there a spell for it or something?"
"Not if she's a mortal. There are specific spells for witches and demons but there isn't one for mortals." Phoebe explained.
"Couldn't we write one?" Paige asked.
"Or we could try scrying." Ella suggested. "It'll give us as good of a chance as anything else. Aria, honey, have you got anything of Ali's we could use?"
Aria immediately moved over to her dresser where the bracelet that Alison had given her was. "Would this work?" She asked her mom.
"We'll try it." Ella said. "Phoebe, can you go and get..."
"Already on it." Phoebe interrupted her sister, half way out of Aria's bedroom already. She came back minutes later with a map and scrying crystal.
"Remember how I taught you to scry?" Ella prompted and Aria nodded, lifting the crystal and bracelet above the map. The crystal started swinging of its own accord but didn't seem to be settling anywhere. Aria continued o concentrate on the map for a couple of minutes but her arm was starting to ache. "Do you want me to take over?" Ella asked, noticing her daughter getting tired.
"No it's ok." She replied. Suddenly the crystal started moving faster. It was circling the outskirts of Rosewood but appeared to be closing in on the woods. It landed directly on top of the writing telling them that it was Rosewood forest. "I've found her!" Aria screamed, dropping the string attached to the crystal in shock. "She'd alive! I need to go there!"
"Wait a minute, Aria." Ella warned. "You have no idea where in the forest she is and I don't want you wandering around there on your own at night."
"You can't stop me from going out there and finding her. She'd my best friend." Aria protested.
"At least let us come with you." Paige suggested, trying to keep the peace between mother and daughter. "I can orb us there."
"No one's going to the forest until the morning." Ella said firmly. They'd been through enough in one night and she convinced herself that Alison would still be alive tomorrow and Aria could find her again then.
Aria, on the other hand, couldn't wait until the morning. Having grown up with her mother she'd long ago learnt when to stop pushing, however, so she backed down. Besides, she couldn't afford to put any more strain on their relationship.
Shortly after their argument Prue decided to leave and Ella and her sisters went to bed. Aria lay awake in bed until she was certain that everyone was asleep before she snuck outside. She took the map and scrying crystal to her car to check where Alison was. Once again the crystal landed in the middle of Rosewood forest and Aria started her car and drove there. She had a strong suspicion she knew exactly where Alison would be: the kissing rock. There were few landmarks in the forest and that was one that she was almost certain Alison knew of.
Aria walked through the forest, using the light of her cell phone as a torch. She approached the clearing of the kissing rock and let out a gasp when she saw the shaking form of a girl with long blonde hair sitting there. It looked like the girl was crying but she couldn't be sure that she wasn't just shaking from the cold. Not wanting to startle whoever it was, Aria contemplated turning back for a second but the thought that this girl could be Alison stopped her. More than stopping Aria from turning away, it stopped her in her tracks. It took all her strength to make the next step and she second she did she heard a crack from under her feet. Crap! She'd stepped on a twig. The girl must've heard her. Aria took a deep breath and prepared to run.
Slowly, the girl turned around.
"Aria!" She yelled in surprise.
"Ali?" Aria asked, her voice high pitched and questioning, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
All of a sudden Alison took off, running away from her friend.
"Alison! Wait!" Aria called after her as she followed her through the woods. "Ali!"
Alison stopped running, gasping for breath as she leant over and clutched her side.
"Why did you run?" Aria asked, also out of breath.
"Someone's after me. They can't know I'm alive." She said. In all the time Aria had known her, she'd never once seen Alison cry. To see her this close to tears told Aria that something was seriously wrong.
"Let me help you." Aria insisted.
"You've heard from them too haven't you?" Alison asked. Aria looked at her questioningly. "The texts from 'A'?" She clarified.
Aria nodded. "We've all been getting them. Who is 'A'?"
"I thought I knew but now..." Alison trailed off. "I want to come back but I need your help."
"Of course, anything."
"Can you tell the others? They need to know. They're not safe. None of you are. I'm sorry." Alison cried. She was becoming panicked and Aria pulled her into a hug.
"I'll tell them." Aria promised. "Do you want to meet here tomorrow night?"
Alison nodded. "Midnight at the kissing rock. I'll see you then." She said before walking off.
"Ali!" Aria called out. Alison turned around and gave her a sad smile before walking deeper into the forest. Deciding not to push her any further, Aria turned and walked back to her car. She spent the entire journey back home trying to process what had just happened, the rest of the evening's events completely out of her mind.
The next morning, Ella came in to Aria's room with a stack of hot pancakes.
"I'm sorry about last night." She said, handing her the breakfast that she'd made.
"It's ok." Aria replied, hoping her mother would drop the subject.
"Do you want to try scrying for her again?" Ella asked, handing Aria the map and crystal.
After the fuss that she'd made about finding Alison last night, Aria knew that her mother would never believe her if she didn't try and find Alison. She sat up in bed and held the crystal above the map. Scrying took a lot of concentration, like most magic did, so Aria decided to focus on anything but the task at hand. With any luck the crystal wouldn't drop.
It had been a couple of minutes when Ella sighed, thinking that it wasn't working.
"I'm so sorry honey. Maybe we could try again later?" She suggested. Aria nodded, not trusting herself to talk.
"Can I have a moment alone?" Aria asked. Ella got up silently and left the room.
Knowing that she had to talk to her friends, Aria picked up her cell phone and sent them each a message. She couldn't go into too much detail so settled for '911. Meet at Brew in 1 hour.'
Aria started to eat her pancakes, enjoying the taste of her mom's cooking. Within five minutes Emily, Hanna and Spencer had all replied letting her know they'd be there. Aria quickly got out of bed and got dressed, shouting to her mom as she left that she was meeting her friends and didn't know what time she'd be back.
Spencer and Emily were already sat at a table when she arrived and Hanna walked in seconds later.
"So, what's the emergency?" Hanna asked.
"Not here." Aria said. "We need to find somewhere private."
"My house is empty." Emily suggested.
The short walk to Emily's house was filled with everyone asking Aria questions about what was wrong. What was so secret that she couldn't tell them at the brew? Or walking down an empty street?
Once they were inside and sat down in the living room, Aria took a deep breath and started to talk.
"Ali's alive."
Her words were met by a stunned silence.
Spencer was the first to gain her composure. "Are you sure?" She asked.
"I saw her last night." Aria clarified.
"Why did she just come to you?" Emily asked. "Why didn't she tell all of us?"
"She didn't tell me. I found her." She replied, hoping that no one asked how. "She wants to meet us all tonight. She needs our help."
"With what?" Spencer asked.
"Apparently she's being threatened by 'A' as well. She didn't tell me much but she's scared."
"How do we know she isn't 'A'?" Hanna questioned. Everyone turned to look at her. "Don't tell me you haven't all been thinking it. Alison was always manipulative. She knew everyone's secrets and exactly when to bring them up to cause the most trouble. Sound familiar to anyone?" She asked rhetorically.
"Just because 'A' is like Alison in some ways it doesn't make her guilty." Emily defended her friend.
"Doesn't it?" Hanna questioned.
"I think we should meet her and hear her side of the story." Spencer suggested. "She's our friend and she's alive. We should be celebrating."
"Then why don't I feel like throwing a massive welcome back party?" Hanna asked.
"Spencer's right. Ali is alive. For whatever reason she's scared and she needs our help. I think we should meet her." Aria said.
"When does she want to meet?" Emily asked.
"Tonight in Rosewood forest."
"Ok." Hanna agreed.
"And you're sure this isn't some kind of trap?" Spencer asked. "If Hanna's right and Ali really is 'A'..."
"She isn't." Aria said firmly. "You didn't see her. She was terrified."
"How exactly did you find her?" Emily asked.
"I can't really tell you. It's a long story."
"We've got all day."
"Em, now really isn't the time." Aria replied, raising her voice slightly. With everything that was happened she was feeling really stressed. As much as she hated herself for taking it out on her friend it was better than the alternative of them finding out she was a witch, she reasoned.
Sensing that everyone was starting to get a bit too tense, Hanna tried to steer away from the subject of Alison.
"So how is it now your aunts are staying with you?" She asked Aria.
"Stressful." Aria answered honestly. "Between them and my mom there's more drama than us."
"I thought you said they got along well." Emily said.
"She gets on with Aunt Phoebe but she's only just met Paige. That's not what I meant though. Mom found out about my dad's affair last night."
"With his student?" Hanna asked.
Aria nodded. "Yeah. 'A' was threatening to tell her so I asked my aunt what to do. She said she'd tell her for me."
"So what happened?"
"Dad doesn't know that she knows yet. I just hope I'm not around when she tells him."
"Do you think 'A' will ever stop?" Emily asked.
"Not unless they're caught." Spencer replied.
"I just wish there was someone we could talk to." Emily said. "An adult, I mean."
"We can't. 'A' knows stuff about all of us that we don't want anyone to know. If we tell they'll only make things worse for us." Hanna argued.
"What about the police?" Emily asked. "Or our parents."
"Do you really want your parents knowing everything?" Hanna pointed out.
"We can't tell them. What if 'A' starts threatening them?" Spencer said.
"They've already started." Aria whispered.
"What?" Hanna asked.
"My mom's been getting texts too. They started around the same time as ours."
"So she knows?" Emily asked. Aria nodded. "Everything?"
"No. She doesn't know about Ali or what your texts were about, just that you've been getting them."
"Should we talk to her?" Emily suggested. "She might be able to help."
"Maybe we should wait a while. She's got a lot on her plate. Let's meet up with Ali and we can tell her everything if we need to later." Aria said. She wanted to keep her mom's secret as much as her friends'. If she could postpone this for as long as possible maybe she could prevent them from finding out that her family were witches. That was just something that she couldn't deal with on top of everything else and she knew her mom would feel the same.
The four girls made arrangements to get together an hour before they were due to meet Alison and head to the kissing rock together. In light of everything that's happened the past year or so in Rosewood no one felt particularly comfortable having to make their way there alone. While Aria knew she could protect herself to some extent with her magic, she knew the same couldn't be said for her friends.
With plans for the night sorted and alibis agreed so that their parents wouldn't know where they were, they said goodbye and headed home.
Aria was thankful that her mom and aunts seemed to be out when she got home and took advantage of the rare quiet moment to have another look at the Book of Shadows in private. There was so much she knew she needed to learn and some things she couldn't ask her mom about. She settled down on her bed surrounded by pillows and her comforter and started reading from where she had left off. Learning about the magical community was taking her mind off of everything else going on in her life and she started to feel more relaxed. Nothing made her feel like that more than a good book and anyone would argue that she needed some relaxation right about now.