A/N: Here it is! Spencer's story. I know I dragged it out, but this chapter should be worth the wait I think.

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Chapter Five: Her Truth, His Understanding

Spencer's Hospital Room

"It all started two years ago, when my life fell apart at the seams. Glen was 17, and I was only 16," she began, finally able to lift herself into a sitting position, "we were happy, me in my second year of high school, and he was in his third. Everything was great, or at least that's what I thought…"

Spencer trailed off as her mind wandered as she remembered the event that changed her family's lives forever. Aiden squeezed her hand, breaking her out of her reverie.

"What happened, Spence?" Aiden asked softly.

She stared at the white wall in front of her, recalling the events of nights past.

"Glen and I were walking home after a party. I was a little buzzed, but not drunk. Glen was drunk. He couldn't drive and I didn't have my license, so I decided to leave the car at the street where the party was being held," she looked down and played with the hand that Aiden wasn't holding, "and Glen was raving about how no one in the family valued him, or really loved him. I tuned him out, he had been ranting for weeks like that."

A tear fell at the memory. She quickly regained her composure once more.

"Anyway, we took a turn into a shady part of the neighborhood, it was a shortcut to our own house. Glen was still talking, rather loudly, when I heard yelling come from a building nearby. Being as curious as I am, I walked over to where I heard the noises, a rundown building, unsuitable for anyone to live in.

"Glen was yelling at me from behind. I turned around and told him to shut-up. I think he was a little dumbfounded, because he actually did shut-up. I pressed myself against the side of the building, trying to hear the yelling voices again. I couldn't hear anything but a faint screaming in the back.

"I told Glen to stay at the front, but in a huff, he waltzed past me and to the back of the building. I followed him, pissed off. I stopped when I saw that he was staring into one of the windows that lead into what I guessed was supposed to be the kitchen. His eyes were wide, he look sobered up. I followed his gaze to the interior of the building," Spencer shivered at the memories that were suddenly flooding through her brain, as if someone had released the gate that held them back.

"What we saw, what we witnessed, changed everything for us," she stared Aiden in the eyes, "a man took a knife from a wooden block on the counter. One of the only things that was left in there really. It was rusted, but the man didn't seem to care because the next thing we knew, he had plunged it into the heart of someone we couldn't see.

"I remember screaming at the top of my lungs. The guy turned around and saw Glen and I standing outside the window. I got a good look at his face."

Spencer went into detail about the way the man looked. Tall, dark hair, leather jacked, dark blue jeans, sharp green eyes, and a scar on his neck. The lighting seemed to be the only thing that worked in that dingy place.

"I grabbed Glen by the sleeve, and ran home. As soon as I got inside, I dialed 911."

She then went on to explain the statements she had to give to the police officers, and the one's that Glen had said as well. How, when they caught the man responsible, they both were asked to testify against him.

"We both agreed to testify. The man caught was Alaric DuPonte, a wealthy landowner in Columbus, the richest man in Ohio according to the newscasts. He hired the toughest lawyer in the state. As Glen and I took the bench, he smirked at us, recognizing that we were the ones who witnessed his crime.

"In short, Alaric won the case, due to lack of evidence. The police couldn't recover the knife that we had told them we saw. Glen lost it. He was furious, saying that he was a failure, and that no one cared," another tear fell, "he disappeared one day after the verdict came in."

Aiden nodded, assuring her it was okay to continue with her tale.

"My parents then took me and Clay, and we moved out here. Mom was offered a job here," she gestured to the room, meaning the hospital, "and they moved us out here first chance they had to try and keep us safe from Alaric.

"That was about a year ago. What we hadn't realized, was that Glen had followed us out here. He showed up at the door one night while mom and dad were both home. He came in, and passed out in the foyer. He was high on cocaine. My parents hauled him off to a psychological center, to have him checked out.

"They told us that he was in a deep depression that he would never come out of, and that he displayed very violent tendencies. Glen escaped the same night. We didn't hear from him until we saw the trial on TV.

"He looked so lost. I felt so saddened by the whole thing. That he had to resort to that to get attention. I tried to forget about him, but I couldn't. I pretended that I was okay, when I was really falling apart.

"Then I met Ashley, and my world turned around. I was finally getting to be happy again," she smiled at the thought, but it fell into a frown, "until Glen escaped from prison."

Spencer paused a moment, taking a deep breath so that she could finish her story.

"The threats toward Ashley, and her reaction to his escape tore me apart. I couldn't bear to see her in such pain and fear all of the time. I promised myself that I would protect her against him, no matter what happened to me.

"When he attacked us in her house, I had every intention of killing him, but I just couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to kill him, because I felt that deep down, the reason he was acting like this was all my fault. That somehow I caused all his pain single-handedly. I know now that it wasn't true, but at the time, I felt it was.

"I tried to stay calm as I held the gun to his forehead, knowing that I was bluffing and he probably wasn't. Then you came," she squeezed his hand, "and saved me."

Aiden recalled the events of that night all those months ago.

"Then Alaric appeared," she continued, "at the funeral. He was standing behind a mausoleum in a distant part of the graveyard, but I saw the eyes, and I knew instantly that it was him."

"What about the pills?" Aiden asked, careful not to make her emotionally unstable. The last thing she needed right now was an emotional breakdown. Or any kind of breakdown for that matter.

"The pills." She laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, the pills. What was that about?" he asked quietly.

"Nightmares. Monsters with green eyes, and blonde-haired murderers."

Aiden sighed, frustrated that he couldn't help her in any way.

"I just wanted them to go away." She finally let the tears fall, full force.

Aiden got up from his chair, and gathered her into a hug. She buried her face into his neck and cried until she fell asleep.

Ashley quietly stepped into the room, just as Aiden was laying her back down. He set her down carefully, and walked over to Ashley's side.

"You heard all of that, didn't you?" she nodded in response.

He placed his hand on her shoulder as a comforting gesture.

"Tell her you know," he whispered, "and make sure she sees that you're not leaving."

Ashley nodded, and he walked out of the door, leaving Ashley and a sleeping Spencer alone. Ashley sat in her chair, taking a hold of Spencer's hand once more, and falling asleep with a fitful mind, and a heavy heart.