Disclaimer: Still don't own it
"And you haven't seen this man since?" Caleb asked me as we both sat at the table.
It had taken me a while to completely calm down, which worked out since Caleb had to change a few light bulbs and move some of the furniture back to where they were before. After that, we both sat at the table opposite from one another. I then explained everything that had happened since I came back.
"No; I still don't get the "figure it out" advice he gave me. What am I supposed to figure out?" I asked sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"I would have answered with "telling us what we need to know" but that's down the drain. So what do you remember?" Caleb asked me intently.
"Just stuff that is already out there or has nothing to do with Alison being A. I know that there were things I knew, but now it's just blank," I answered, frustrated.
"That doesn't make sense. How can you not have any memories of what happened to you, and everything about Alison? Also, where have you been for the last few months? You should have been a ghost when you first died," Caleb said, but in a way that seemed more to himself than to me.
"I don't think I went to Hell, and if I did its better that I don't remember." I stated, shivering slightly.
"But why no memories of what we need? You didn't make these clues easy to figure out," Caleb said, irritated.
"I don't even remember leaving clues for you to figure out. Are you sure they're from me?" I asked, curious.
"We hope so since one of them got Spencer out of jail. We are hoping they lead to more tapes," Caleb said in an optimistic tone.
"I remember making that tape and not losing it to "A" when I lost the RV, so can see myself making sure it got out in case Alison tried something," I said and Caleb nodded.
"What else do you have?" asked the guy in front of me.
"I don't know. I only remembered the tape because Spencer and Toby mentioned it. I get the memories back when something is mentioned being found, but nothing beforehand," I explained to him.
"So there could be other tapes that you just don't remember?" Caleb asked, rubbing his forehead, clearly frustrated.
"Yes, this isn't easy for me either. I hate that I don't know anything, I hate being this useless," I complained, anger cropping up in my voice.
Caleb sighed and got up, walking over to the fridge. Opening the door, he pulled a can of soda and snapped the lid, taking a big gulp. He seemed to be deep in thought, and I was curious to what he was thinking about. Since this was an opportune time, I decided to ask some questions of my own.
"What are they saying about me at school?" I asked, curious to how my death was being depicted.
"I don't think anyone really knows what to think about your murder. Your locker has been emptied, and the school put up a small memorial in the front; Hanna and a few others keep watch over it. There really isn't a lot of talk about what happened to you, other than whispers," Caleb told me. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or relieved at that.
"What about Alison? I heard from Spencer that she has a new group of friends," I said, more curious about that than anything else.
"More like dolls than anything else. She dressed them up to resemble the girls, which is a little creepy," Caleb informed me, anger in his voice.
"That sounds like her; has she said anything about me?" I asked, wondering how vindictive Alison was regarding my death.
"Nothing specific. She seems to have backed off calling you names. But we all think it is because she is trying to put up a front. There are a few people wondering if she was responsible in some way," Caleb explained and I found that interesting.
"Well I agree with that though I don't think she killed me herself," I stated and he didn't seem surprised by the statement.
"Her partner; any ideas?" Caleb asked, seemingly curious to my thoughts. I was surprised we were getting along right now given our history.
"No, I don't think I knew, even with the memories that I lost. Whoever he or she is, they have to be the tech support, since Alison could never figure out how to hook up a computer let alone hack," I stated, shaking my head.
"Well we've been looking for a while but it's been hard since the cops are keeping an extra eye on everyone these days. Also, A has been targeting Emily now," Caleb informed me with a frown.
"How? Spencer and Aria didn't say anything," I said, now confused since I would have expected that should have been topic number one.
"Only Me, Hanna, and Paige know. A messed with Emily's dad's medication, nearly giving him a heart attack, and someone tried to drown Paige in the school pool by activating the cover. If it weren't for Hanna, Paige would be dead," Caleb explained, and I could hear the desperation in his voice.
"Alison is punishing Emily; any way she could. No one walks out on her," I said and I felt a chill down my spine on how far this was going.
"Well so far, we are doing what we can but sooner or later Emily will find out, and go after Alison and that can't happen," Caleb stressed to me.
"Especially since we don't know who her partner is, and we can't risk the retaliation; I get it," I said and I really did.
"Any ideas?" He asked me, I was nearly floored by the question given that it seemed sincere.
"You're asking me?" I inquired, not sure how to process it.
"If you can't help by telling us what you know then you can at least help come up with the solutions," Caleb said, he sounded annoyed.
"I feel so needed," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. He just snorted and took another drink from the soda can.
We sat there in silence for a while, not sure what to say to one another. Out of everyone, I always considered Caleb as more of an annoyance than a threat. Oh sure, he was a great hacker, and could help the girls but his level of intelligence paled in comparison to mine. He could never get a leg up on me no matter how he tried; it was also why he failed to help Hanna's mother while I could.
"So I am guess you are staying here?" he asked, shaking me from my thoughts. It had been my plan originally, but that was before Caleb could see me.
"I'll take the couch," I mocked, waving my hand at it. Caleb just smirked at me and threw the empty can in the recycle.
"Hanna's been hurting over your death," he said suddenly and I wasn't sure if he was mad about that or sympathetic.
"I know." was all I could say. I mean, what else was there? She was once my best friend and I was hers.
Hanna had been my first friend ever, we had met in middle school. Those three years had been the happiest in my life but they wouldn't last. When we entered high school, Hanna had been poached by Alison and I had been dubbed "Loser Mona" with no more friends. Ever since then, I had longed for those days anew.
Now it was never to be.
"Did you want me to leave a light on?" asked my new roommate, surprisingly courteous.
"Sure. Do you have anything to read?" I inquired, looking around for anything to read. I saw a television, but there was no point given that I couldn't flip the channel.
"Just books from school. Can you actually turn the pages?" Caleb asked, slightly surprised.
"I can cause a draft so yes. I can get things to move but only when I get angry," I told him and he nodded.
"Miranda could do the same thing so I'm not surprised. You should be able to learn how to interact with time," Caleb explained to me from his room.
"Again, who is Miranda?" I asked, wanting to know. I was now regretting not looking into Caleb's absence when he first left for Ravenswood.
"Goodnight Mona." was the only answer I got, and I saw the bedroom light go off and heard the door shut.
Looking around, the place was a lot messier than Spencer's, which didn't surprise me since it was a guy's place. Mike, Noel, and Toby's rooms had always looked messy when I was in them, so it didn't surprise me that Calebs would be the same. Ezra's apartment was always tidy, but he was an adult.
The school books were on the table and I sat down, looking through them. Unfortunately for me, I had read the books before so there was nothing new for me to see. I sighed and leaned back on the chair. Maybe closing my eyes would help relieve the boredom.
A twig snapped outside and caught my attention. More curious than startled, I walked to the window next to the door, which was open; these people never learned from their stupid mistakes. Looking out, I spotted someone in black moving in the trees, and I decided to get a closer look; since I was dead, there was no way I could be in danger.
Going through the wall of the cabin, I walked out into the night and towards the mysterious person. I had a suspicion on who it could possibly be, and I cursed that Caleb wasn't better prepared for company like this. The idiot even left his laptop on the table to be easily grabbed with all of its valuable data stolen.
I got a good look at the person and my suspicions were confirmed; it was a hoodie which meant that it was "A" or a subordinate. Though completely covered, I could tell it was a girl since she definitely had b***. She was also taller than me, her boots looked a bit too stylish to be worn for a place like this. When I was still "A", I had worn flats so that I could sneak around better.
Realizing that Caleb had to be warned, I turned and ran back to the cabin.
The one benefit I found in being a ghost was that there were no obstacles for me. I ran right through the wall of the cabin, through the furniture, and into Caleb's room in seconds. Given the large amount of time I had surveyed him and Hanna, the site of him in only his boxers lying face down on the bed didn't really affect me.
"Wake up!" I yelled at him, somewhat in a panic. Thankfully, he stirred rather quickly which meant that he was already partially awake.
"What do you want Mona?" Caleb asked from the bed, and I didn't care if he sounded annoyed.
"A is here and you left your laptop in the kitchen," I told him, matching his annoyance with mine.
To his credit, Celeb reacted to the news as he should have. He jumped up from the bed and grabbed what looked like a gun at first glance. It wasn't a real gun but a paintball pistol, he had it drawn while he moved slowly to the door. Deciding to help, I stuck my head through the wall to see what was going on.
"Well?" Caleb asked quietly.
"She's still at the window, it looks like she is trying to take the screen off," I informed him as I watched the woman use a small screwdriver to do what she needed.
Caleb smiled and before I could stop him, he opened the door and pointed the gun at the window. The hoodie saw and turned to run, leaving the window screen partially off and just hanging there. The gun went off and red paint splattered against the window and wall, making a mess. While Caleb was blocked by physical obstacles, I had no problem chasing after the hoodie.
I was always fast; I had to be when it came to being in the hoodie all that time ago. As I chased the person in black through the woods, I had hoped that the fact that I was a ghost would give me the edge. Unfortunately, the hoodie was faster than me and had a head start. Whoever she was, this girl knew how to run.
The good thing was that I wasn't getting tired so I was able to slowly catch up to the hoodie since she obviously was. The rate of her speed was falling, and I could hear the huffing of her breath. I was getting excited since this person could be the one who had killed me, and I really wanted to know who she was.
We both exited the woods and there was a fast approaching light from the road we were now on. As I closed in on the hoodie, a car pulled alongside her, and she jumped in the passenger side. I screamed in frustration as the car took off, since I was not fast enough to catch up, even in my current state.
"Damn it!" I yelled as I watched the car disappear down the road. I couldn't get a good look at it but it might have been a blue dodge.
I stood there for several minutes, trying to calm down, I had been so close to finding out who the hoodie was. If it hadn't been dark out, I might have seen the license plate number, or some other part of the car so that it could be traced. Though blue dodges were common in Rosewood, it was at least a start.
It took a while to walk back to the cabin; I hadn't realized how far I had traveled when chasing the hoodie. The moon was bright in the sky so there was some light to go by, not that I was afraid to trip over something. By the time I arrived back at the cabin, all the lights were on. And the windows were all closed.
Caleb was washing paint off the wall when I came through the other side. I nearly smirked when it appeared that I had startled him. He was trying to scrub the paint off with a wash cloth, which I took for a sign that he didn't have any scrubbers to do the job. I was glad he was having a hard time since it was his stupidity that caused all this.
"Did you catch her?" Caleb asked as he scrubbed a little too demanding in my opinion.
"No, she wasn't alone; a car came by and picked her up," I informed him, annoyance in my tone.
"How do you know it was a "she"?" he asked, turning to look at me.
"She had boobs," I said simply glaring at him.
"What?" He asked, sensing that I was mad at him.
"You should have waited until she was in the house before shooting her with the paintball gun, you idiot. We could have unmasked her and gotten some answers," I nearly yelled at him.
"Well I'm sorry that I wanted to chase an intruder away from where I am staying. Some of us don't have the benefit of being a ghost!" Caleb yelled at me angrily. My eyes widened as he realized what he had said.
As the lights flickered and furniture moved, all he could say was "Crap."
Please R&R and once again thanks to Paraddicted for the pre-read.