Writer's Note: Hey guys! I'm sorry that I haven't been updating in a bit. I have been really busy with regular daily life stuff. I promise to get back to this as I can, but this chapter is a little extra long and juicy, hopefully to make up for it. Remember to leave reviews and PM me what you think.

PART FIVE

Rosewood, a few days after Addison's body was found

Hanna pulled her car into the Lost Woods Resort after working on fashion designs all day. Mona had called her sometime around noon to go out for lunch, and Hanna was shocked in her eagerness to accept the offer. She did not expect the scene she came upon when she arrived at the motel, though.

The Rosewood P.D. had infested the Lost Woods. They were inside the motel, outside the motel, and encompassing the lake and woods around the motel. Lieutenant Tanner was on the scene, and Alison and Spencer—both looking tired and annoyed—were standing with her as the forensic unit tore apart their property. Hanna stayed in the parking lot and called Mona to let her know she had arrived, but she kept her eye on the officers as they worked.

What the hell was going on? She wondered. She would have gone up to Ali and Spencer, but she knew better. They wouldn't want her to go up—it would look more suspicious to Tanner and they had not sent an SOS.

Eventually, Mona emerged from the motel. She was confident in navigating the police officers and she easily slid into Hanna's car. Hanna wasn't in a rush to leave, for she was still watching the Rosewood P.D. work.

Mona eyed Hanna warily before turning to the scene herself. "They found Addison Derringer's body in the lake behind the Lost Woods. She was hit in the back of the head with a shovel. From what I could tell, Alison and Spencer have been dealing with the police since it happened. I'm surprised they didn't tell you all, especially since the A messages have been coming in. But isn't it just fascinating that those two are in the middle of trouble again?"

Hanna bit her lip. Even she knew it could not be a coincidence that Ali and Spencer were always in the middle of things. What was it about those two? And why didn't they tell her about this new body—this new murder investigation? Did they do it? It's not like she was going to judge… It's not like any of them could judge. Mona killed Bethany and Charlotte. Emily killed that stalker named Nate. Aria killed Shana. And she had killed Archer.

She turned to Mona and said, "Hit with a shovel? You mean, like how Bethany Young was murdered?"

Mona shot Hanna a knowing look. "Exactly."

Hanna sighed. Everything was about to get all convoluted and mixed up again. Yet, as she felt before, it was normal. At least, it was normal to her. She didn't know if her friends felt the same, and she was too afraid to ask. They would think she was weird or that she was officially bonkers.

"Hanna," Mona broke her short reverie, "I know I asked you to lunch, but I lied."

"What?" Hanna was confused, but it didn't take much to confuse her sometimes.

Mona fidgeted a little before making eye contact with Hanna. "Look, I have to admit… I haven't been completely honest with you… or the other girls. And—" She looked around panicked for a moment, "I can't lie to you. Not this time. I won't risk it."

Hanna made a few strange expressions, before she finally exclaimed, "Mona, spit it out!"

Mona looked down at her hands. She had the expression of a sad puppy that was caught doing something it wasn't supposed to be. Finally, she looked up at Hanna, after a long moment of silence, before saying, "I came back to Rosewood because of Mary and Alex Drake—that was true. And I have been working on finding out who this anonymous person is. But… Listen, you're not going to be upset with me, are you?"

Hanna contemplated her question for a minute. It was true that her friendship with Mona was not the most stable, and it had its difficulties. But Mona had proved herself beyond measure at this point, and Hanna knew that Mona cared about her. She was loyal, even when she was wrong. She could almost completely disregard that time Mona hit her with a car (not that she would ever forget, not really).

"Mona, I trust you," Hanna answered seriously, "I know you have my best interests in mind."

Mona tried to hide it, but Hanna saw her face light up with happiness. All she ever wanted was approval and to belong—somewhere, anywhere. Hanna smiled and took Mona's hand in hers as they still sat in her car in the Lost Woods parking lot. Mona gave Hanna a tentative smile back.

Then, her entire demeanor changed and she let go of Hanna's hand. Mona turned from Hanna's good, old best friend to determined and investigative Mona (or at least, that was how Hanna liked to think of her as—the others would say this was A team Mona).

"I'm taking you to my lair first."

[Change POV]

Aria waited patiently as Ezra took her words in. She felt as if her insides were boiling with anticipation, but she waited nonetheless. Ezra, who had that same glassy and far-away expression he always wore when Aria had given him shocking news, was sitting across from her on their apartment loveseat. Aria had recanted the last few days to her husband—Mona's arrival, the A messages, everything she knew about and could mention. She had originally not wanted to tell him, but after consoling a soon-to-be-wed Emily, Aria had concluded that it never turned out well when she did not tell Ezra everything.

Slowly, but surely, Ezra found his words. "I-I… I can't believe this," he shook his head like a wet dog, "I thought we were passed this. I thought… I thought after that crazy Spencer 2.0 kidnapped me that this was the end."

Aria grabbed Ezra's hands in her own and said, "I know. Ezra, I know. I thought it was the end, too."

"W-what are we going to do?" He looked at Aria, flabbergasted.

Aria nearly collapsed with relief. His immediate reaction was to ask, "What are we going to do?" rather than leave her. He wasn't going to leave her. Without answering his question, Aria pulled him towards her and laid her lips on his passionately. Ezra pulled back.

"No," he pushed, "No. Aria, I mean it. What are we going to do?"

Aria bit her lip, feeling a little disappointment. "What can we do, Ezra? Just the same as we always do."

"Drown until someone miraculously comes in last minute with a life preserver?" Ezra shot back angrily, "No! Aria—we were about to file for adoption. We can't do that now!"

Aria opened her mouth and then closed it. She had felt relief much too soon. Dread replaced the feeling in milliseconds.

Ezra continued. He stood up, exclaiming, "My mother has been hounding me since the marriage about children and I finally got the courage to tell her about—about—you know. As soon as she found out, she got rampant—"

Aria's stomach sank. Of course, Diane was rampant, she thought, I cannot produce a proper Fitzgerald heir to her ritzy ditzy family. And here Ezra was. He was raging about the marriage and his mother and her being infertile and now A being back. Aria was starting to see red, and her hands were beginning to shake. Dread turned to hurt and that transformed into bitter anger.

"And now, after she had researched nearly hundreds of adoption agencies and haunted me to the edges of the Earth," Ezra went on, "We have to put that off until we figure out who this new stalker is?"

Aria couldn't contain her anger now that Ezra had escalated himself to this point. She jumped out of the sofa and threw up her hands. They were both standing in the middle of the room, arguing.

"Something tells me you're not angry because of A!" She snapped.

"Yes, that is why I'm angry!" Ezra replied.

"Well, it's not like you weren't aware, Ezra! You knew what you were doing when you came into this relationship—a little too much," she sniped.

Ezra's mouth unhinged. They both knew what she was referencing—the book on Alison. She was referencing how Ezra met her and used her as an opportunity despite her being a minor. He did it all so he could write some book and maybe have a shot at being published.

Aria shook her head. Tears were falling down her eyes. "It's not like you didn't know. It's not like I didn't warn you, either. Full disclosure. I told you exactly who I was. I told you how my friends and I blinded a girl. I told you what happened in New York. I told you all about A and the game. I even told you about Archer freaking Dunhill and the rest of it. And before we got married, I told you I couldn't have children. So, this isn't news, okay, Ezra? You don't get to be this angry! I get to be this angry. This is my life. You get to be here by choice. I don't."

And with that, Aria grabbed her keys and stormed out of the apartment. She didn't turn back. She couldn't. Her face was inflamed and beat red. Tears were running down her cheeks, and she could barely make it to her car before she nearly lost control of her emotions.

Her fingers shook as she typed in a hasty SOS to Emily.

[Change POV]

Emily's phone beeped, but she hadn't had much time to look at it. Grace and Lily were both shrieking at the top of their baby lungs, and she was running back and forth like a frantic woman until Toby managed to calm one down. The rest of her attention was on the other. They were out to lunch until the girls got too fussy, and Emily brought them to the car because the entire restaurant was glaring at her. She had thought going out to eat with Toby was a good idea, especially because she needed the distraction from the police that were currently investigating Alison. And although she wanted to be there for Alison, Ali had told her not to worry.

Spencer and I have things under control, Em. Don't worry. It will all work out—it always does.

But Grace and Lily had other plans for her nerves.

"There we go," Emily cooed to Grace. She was starting to calm down. Lily wiggled in Toby's arms.

"I really think it was just nap time," Toby smiled, rocking Lily back and forth. "Maybe we should bring them home and put them down for a little while."

"That would be best," Emily sighed, "But I think Ali said that the Rosewood P.D. were also going to be searching the houses on top of the Lost Woods."

"Seriously?" Toby's eyes widened, "Man, they've gotten more persistent since I left the force."

Emily gave Toby a look that said she totally agreed. She started putting the girls in their car seats. Once they were both strapped in, she turned to Toby, "Maybe I'll bring them to my mother's again. She loves having them at her house."

Toby nodded. They both got into the car and started towards their old street. Emily felt nostalgia as she headed to what used to be her home with Toby. She had missed his friendship. He was the only guy she had ever known that truly understood who she was and what she wanted without trying to change her. He understood her sexuality and accepted it. No other male had done that until Toby did. Not really, anyway.

"So how are things with you and Spencer?" Emily asked, trying to stir up some conversation. That, and she was generally curious about the two.

Toby fumbled a little bit. Emily picked up that the question had made him a little uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he answered, "There seems to be some space between us. It's like… one moment everything is the way it should be—the way we both want it to be. And the next second, we are both pulling away because of something, whether it be from the past or the current time… It's like we just can't get over what has happened. But we both want to, so we keep trying."

Emily nodded. She understood what Toby meant. A long time ago, she was in the same boat with Alison. When Alison came back from the dead, they had moments together. And even though they both had acknowledged their feelings for each other, they weren't able to erase the space between the two. It wasn't until they both had changed and evolved that they were really able to fall back into each other officially.

After a few moments, she replied to Toby, "I have faith in you two. I always liked you guys together. Even at the start, I could see it in Spencer's eyes. You fascinated her. She went from judging and despising you to wanting to unpuzzle and understand you. She was mesmerized. And I know it's tough right now, especially after what her sister did to you guys, but I think you'll figure it out. You just need some time to heal those wounds."

"I'd like to think so," Toby smiled at Emily. He glanced behind them into the back seat, "Hey… They are sleeping."

Emily smiled back at Toby. Her little angels certainly had fallen asleep.

[Change POV]

Mona was terrified. She was about to voluntarily allow Hanna into her lair, and even though this wasn't the first time, it was the most vulnerable time. She had invited Spencer on many occasions and the girls as a group, too, but she had never brought Hanna singularly into her lair. She didn't know what kind of reaction Hanna was going to give her, especially after she told her everything.

She brought Hanna into a small basement apartment she had not far from the center of Rosewood. Inside, her general pictures and documents were scrambled across the walls. A new dollhouse sat on one of her tables. A map of the town, the board games, the deaths, articles, and so much more were littered everywhere. Creepy dolls from her doll shop were scattered throughout the corners of the dark room. Her computers hummed in the corner, facing outward so she could see every entrance and corner from her chair.

Mona closed the door behind her. She watched quietly as Hanna walked around the room slowly. She resisted the urge to bite her fingernails anxiously. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Hanna turned to her and asked, "Mona, why did you bring me here?"

Mona closed her eyes and then opened them. She took a deep breath and explained, "To tell you the truth."

Hanna waited rather impatiently before blurting, "Well, get on with it!"

Mona chose her words carefully, but she knew it was best just to get on with it as Hanna had said. All her anxiety and fear would be obliterated once she finally came clean.

"I am the original A. I started the game. These are things we hold true, but they are things that I hold dear. I am hellbent on ending the game on my terms, because I feel like I rightly own it. I wanted to belong, and Alison always made sure I was the outsider wanting in. Once you became my friend and Alison disappeared, things changed. But then Aria came back, and that dead girl came out of the ground. I lost you all over again, so I started with the messages and the attacks and the blackmail… But the first part isn't true. I'm not the original A. I am, but I am not."

"Mona, what are you talking about?" Hanna looked panicked. Her eyes darted around the room.

Mona continued, "I'm talking about before. Before Alison disappeared, she received A messages. Threats. They weren't me. I was obsessed with you guys, but I wanted Alison to accept me. I wanted her to choose me. I only wanted her gone after I realized that would never happen, but even then, I didn't want her dead. That's why I helped her fake her death at the Lost Woods Resort that night she was buried alive. I wanted her gone, because I wanted to replace her. But I didn't send those messages… And I didn't send your guys' first A messages either. I only started playing the game once Bethany's body, claimed to be Alison's, was unburied from the Dilaurentis backyard. The other messages—before the body was found—were someone else. They never revealed themselves or sent any messages after I took over and owned the game."

"I became your friend after changing from Loser Mona to Popular Mona. You were my friend, Hanna. But after the body of Bethany Young, I lost you to that clique of yours again. So that fueled my game. Only after a little while did I realize that I wasn't the only one who wanted to mess with you guys. I wasn't the only one playing. And it wasn't Charlotte… Charlotte didn't know about the game until I went to Radley—or so I thought. I'm not so sure of that now, but… The night that Spencer and I fought at lookout point. That wasn't random."

"Spencer was getting too close to things. I was supposed to make her disappear like Alison, but I didn't. I ended up in Radley. That's where I met Charlotte and she stole the game. But even then, Charlotte couldn't possibly have done everything she did alone—or even with Sara Harvey's help."

"For example, the lodge fire. Charlotte was coming in on the plane. I was inside the lodge with you, Aria, and Emily. Spencer and Toby were outside. Sara was distracting Spencer with the red coat and Alison mask and Toby was knocked out. Jenna and Shana supposedly were spying on us, but they didn't touch us. Charlotte thinks Shana started the fire, but I'm not so sure. Alison pulled some of us out, but someone else pulled the rest. But somehow, I feel like someone else was there—someone who wasn't accounted for. And of course, someone isn't telling the truth about what really happened that night."

"Little discrepancies like this are scattered everywhere in this little game of ours. There's always been someone else in the background. I don't even think they ever really got their hands that dirty, but they've been there. Manipulating from behind. The true puppet master. Not me, Charlotte, or Alex. How else would you explain some of Charlotte's actions? She stole the game from me, but she only ever wanted family. She went to London and found her sister—only to turn back to the game. That didn't feel right to me. Neither did how she revealed herself. She loved Alison, she loved Alex, and she wanted to find Mary. And she was so obsessed with the game… So why was she willing to blow herself and Ali up in the Radley?"

"Little things here and there never quite added up. And now, Charlotte is dead and someone stole Mary and Alex Drake from my possession. I can't help but think it's this person from the beginning. They wrote 'They are my dolls now, bitch, and they always have been –A'. What else could that mean?"

Mona took a breath. She knew she was giving Hanna a lot to take in. But to her pleasant surprise, Hanna didn't look angry. She looked… relieved.

Hanna twirled a strand of her blonde hair in-between her fingers and rested one hand on her small baby bump. She slowly sat in Mona's chair and contemplated everything Mona had spit out. After what seemed like ages, Hanna said, "No, that makes sense. It all does. In a way. I mean, somehow nothing ever seemed right to me. I think… After all this time, I thought I missed this stuff."

Mona's eyes widened. Hanna continued, "But that wasn't true. I didn't miss this feeling of never being alone. I didn't miss being pigs to the slaughter. I just wasn't satisfied from the answers we have gotten. They haven't been answers at all, have they?"

"It's almost like they have been distractions," Mona suggested, "The perfect get-away."

Now things were moving. Mona felt her blood pump excitedly. Hanna wasn't upset so far, and they were really getting into the mystery of things. Perhaps they would finally, truly end the game for sure—and they would know the whole story.

"So, what do you have on them?" Hanna questioned, distracting Mona, "You said you were working to find out who they are. What do you have?"

Mona sighed heavily.

"I'm not done telling you my truth, Hanna."

[Change POV]

Spencer glared at the Rosewood P.D. They had shifted their attention from the Lost Woods Resort to her and Alison's respected homes. Ali was next door with Lieutenant Tanner. Spencer was standing outside of her barn as Lorenzo lead the team that was needling her own possessions.

Melissa stepped out of the main house to join Spencer. Spencer had already told Melissa about the Addison Derringer case, so she knew her sister was not surprised when the Rosewood P.D. presented their warrant. And Melissa was not surprised at all, but she had been plenty annoyed. Spencer even witnessed her dig into a few officers who tried to go through her luggage—when Melissa had only arrived back in Rosewood a few days prior.

Spencer gave Melissa a pleading look. She half expected a passive-aggressive comment, but her and her sister had been getting along lately, so Melissa quietly put her arm around Spencer. She was willing to comfort a very anxious Spencer much to that anxious Spencer's surprise.

"You have nothing to hide," Melissa assured her, "This will all be over soon enough."

Spencer nodded, brushing some of her hair out of her eyes. Melissa was right—she usually was. She didn't have anything to hide, and these searches were routine. Addison Derringer was a dead girl, after all. A murdered girl. And for once, Spencer was sure she had nothing to do with it.

[Change POV]

When Alex woke up, she had felt like a heavy bag of bones. Something wasn't right, and she knew it. She felt groggy and stiff—and she was extremely thirsty. She was also laying on a mattress which was flat on the floor—no frame.

Sitting up slowly, she saw that her mum—who was still unconscious—was also sitting on a mattress on the floor without a frame. They were still in their tiny hole room somewhere underground. But their bed frames were gone.

And so was her makeshift weapon.

"Bloody hell!" She cursed. It didn't take her long at all to figure out that their captor had gassed them to sleep before removing any contraband or possible weaponized substances from their underground holding cell. She was pissed. She was beyond pissed.

Alex started screaming uncontrollably. She was cursing and yelling belligerent phrases. She stood up abruptly and nearly made herself dizzy, but she persisted and started kicking the mattresses on the floor. Her mum was still conked out but breathing. She didn't stir all throughout Alex's tantrum.

After a while, she tired herself out. She plopped down on her mattress with her arms folded. All that work with the cheap metal had been for nothing. She sat and twiddled her thumbs for quite some time.

Time passed slowly. Or quickly. She didn't know. She thought about what she would have liked to do to the person who had put her and her mum in that place. She thought about what she would have liked to do to Mona or Spencer. But her thoughts slowly drifted back to Spencer altogether—as they always did since she had found out about her sister's existence. Even then, she found that she got bored thinking about living as Spencer right now.

This is getting you nowhere, Alex, she told herself, Come on. You can figure a way out of here if you don't just sit around fantasizing.

A noise interrupted her thought process. It was the food slot. It had opened. Two trays of food were pushed through the hole. It was all usually finger food—nothing that required utensils. Usually, that was it, though. Usually, the food was slid into the room and the slot was closed. This time the slot remained opened, and Alex could see that in the flood of light from outside that someone was hovering by the door.

"Hello?" Alex spoke hoarsely, "Hello? Is there anyone there?" Her accent echoed off the mostly empty room walls.

The figure at the door shifted, as if the person were sitting down. They waited there for a long time. Alex slid towards the food slot, but she didn't get too close to it. She wouldn't risk getting hurt that easily.

"Listen to me," Alex spoke again hastily, growing angry again, "If you think you are going to get away with this, you are wrong. And if you think I'm going to be down here forever, you are even more wrong. And I swear… I swear, if this is Mona or Spencer, I swear—"

"Neither Mona or Spencer is smart enough," a voice said from the other side of the food slot, "Oh, Alex, even I'm not smart enough."

Alex listened as the familiar voice hit her ears like an explosion. It sounded sad and regretful, but it was her—no doubt in Alex's mind. She felt pain and happiness all in one go. There was no way, but it was her. It was her.

It was her.

Alex gulped before she felt her voice come out in a low whisper, "…Charlotte?"

There was a pause and the sound of shuffling. "I have to go," Charlotte's voice rang through the food slot, "I only get a few minutes to feed you as a reward, and I'm not supposed to speak. If she finds out I spoke to you, she'd kill me."

"Charlotte!" Alex exclaimed in shock, "Wait!"

But the food slot slammed shut and she was gone. As if she had never been there.

Charlotte.