Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Finding Hanna in her underwear was more annoying than embarrassing.
I had seen her naked a number of times when we had still been hanging out together; during our many trips to the mall with us showing off our various outfits.
The problem now was that it had been pretty obvious to what had been going on before I had arrived; making me glad that I had taken the long way home. Given that the cabin was a good distance from anywhere, finding something to do while Caleb and Hanna entertained themselves would not have worked. If I had the ability to smell, I am sure sex would have been in the air.
Hanna was currently asleep on the couch, all laid out in lacy white underwear and a marching bra. She was curled up, facing the door, which was stupid since anyone could walk in and see her. Of course the risk of that was null given that it was the middle of the night; unless Ashley came knocking which would be hilarious in my opinion.
The thing about being a ghost was that I didn't make a sound when I moved; allowing me to sneak up on anyone I wanted. As Caleb sat at the table in his boxers and nothing else, I slowly made my way towards him without being detected. I stopped when I was only a few feet away and stared at him, pondering on how to get his attention. Eventually, I just decided on the easy way.
"Whatcha doing?" I asked in a sweet voice I mimicked from a cartoon I once say; couldn't remember the name other than it was on Disney. Caleb practically jumped and turned towards me in surprise.
"Shh…don't want to wake the n*** girl on the couch do we?" I indicated as more of a statement than a question as I put my finger to my lips.
"It's not what it looks like," Caleb said, and I almost laughed on how embarrassed he looked right now.
"Really? Looks like you and Hanna had a productive day," I mocked, emphasizing the productive part of the statement. I knew Hanna used birth control, but it was fun to mess with Caleb like this.
"We didn't have sex; Hanna just decided to spend the night but forgot to bring something," Caleb said, almost stuttering his words.
"And you couldn't lend her a shirt?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him. I didn't buy his explanation in the slightest.
"I didn't have any clean ones because I forgot to do laundry. Listen, I already went through this with Hanna, so let it go." Caleb said in a quiet, but annoyed tone of voice in order not to wake Hanna. I just snorted and rolled my eyes.
"Whatever; I have something for you. I found the car that the person who tried to break in last night was using," I informed him as I took a seat at one of the chairs at the table; specifically the one that was pushed out since sitting at a chair that was pushed with the table phasing through you was kind of silly to look at.
"Where is it? Did you recognize the owner?" Caleb asked, excited, but still keeping his voice lowered while glancing at Hanna.
"No; she was all covered up. Which was hilarious since she wasn't pulled over but then again, this is Rosewood," I sarcastically answered.
"What about the car?" Celeb asked, moving the conversation along though he seemed to have agreed with me.
"In the lake on the other side of town; A decided to dump it for some reason, we need to check it out in the morning," I said.
"Didn't you see anything?" he asked.
"It was dark and I didn't realize that the car was being dumped until we were both in the lake," I informed him with a frown on my face.
"Are you okay?" Caleb asked, actually sounding concerned.
"Yeah; it's not like I could die again," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. I was slightly touched by his concern but it was still a stupid question.
"So you have been at the lake all day?" He asked me and I found myself in a bind. While I was tempted to tell him about the trio of Mike, Lucas, and Jason; I was reluctant to do so given that those three were still under the radar.
"Mostly but I ran into my friend from the church; I now know what is going on with me," I stated and I proceeded to tell him everything the Reaper said.
He sat there and listened to me while Hanna slept on the couch. He seemed to be taking it very calmly, and I remembered that he had encountered the supernatural before. When I mentioned what the Reaper had said about how I was supposed to have survived my attack, he seemed taken aback and looked at Hanna with concern.
"I don't blame her, so relax," I stated and I meant it. He nodded and looked relieved; he must have thought that I had blamed her and would have it out on her."So did this Reaper give you anything else useful besides how you are supposed to move on?" Caleb asked, looking at the sleeping Hanna to make sure she was still out.
"Only that my memories might come back when I encounter something familiar," I told him and he nodded.
"So we have to take you to places that you have been before in order to jog your memories," he stated and I nodded in agreement.
"Just little steps for now, but we need to get to that car before its discovered by someone else," I said, looking at the clock and seeing that it was only a few hours until daylight.
"Well I can't yet; I have school and I can't afford to miss any classes, or Hanna will get mad," Caleb said, taking another look at the sleeping blond on the couch.
"Then I'll go with you," I said reluctantly; Caleb look at me in surprise.
"Are you ready to take that step? You still haven't learned to control your emotions and school should be the last place you go," he cautioned me, looking concerned.
"School was where I made most of my plans and where I needed to store material when I couldn't get to my lair. It's the perfect place for me to try and remember things," I argued.
"Do you really think you might have hid clues at school?" he asked me, crossing his arms and still keeping his voice low.
"I might have, we will just have to see," I said as I indicated to him that this was going to happen whether he liked it or not.
"Fine but you have to stay close to me and away from Alison," he practically ordered and I was tempted to say something snarky in response.
"Are you afraid that I will do something to her? I am a ghost. I can't do anything," I said and I was glad that Hanna couldn't hear me since that would have woken her up for sure.
"You may be a ghost, but you can still hurt someone if you really mean it," Caleb informed me and seemed quite serious about it.
"The Reaper said that; how can I though?" I inquired, more for curiosity than anything else.
"I am not sure I want to tell you Mona," he said, looking like he didn't trust me in the slightest.
"If I wanted Alison dead, I would have killed her years ago and dumped her body where no one could ever find her," I said, angered that he thought I was a murderer.
"Even though she might have something to do with your death now?" Caleb pressed and I was starting to get annoyed.
"I am not a killer and besides if I do anything to her, it's straight to the pit," I said, pointing straight down.
"But there is still a risk," Caleb argued, shaking his head.
"Then don't tell me if it makes you happy; I am a smart girl, I can figure it out on my own," I said angrily.
"Just be careful when you see her," he said, shaking his head and sighing.
"If Alison dies now, then she dies a martyr and I want her to suffer. I would rather see her in jail with her reputation in the town destroyed forever than a fast death," I stated, fully meaning it. I wanted Alison DiLaurentis to live a hellish life on earth before she was sent to the abyss.
"That sounds like the Mona I know," Caleb muttered as he yawned and stood up, walking out of the kitchen and into his room. He returned with a blanket which he placed over Hanna before shutting off the lights and curling up on one of the other sofa chairs.
"Why aren't you going to your bed?" I asked as I sat in the darkness. It seemed kind of silly of him to lay there when there was a more comfortable place on the bed.
"Because I am not about to leave Hanna alone out here in her underwear while A is still out there," Caleb whispered in the darkness. I had to admit that he had a point.
Looking at the clock, I saw that it was almost 2am, and I decided to let him sleep since he needed to get up for school in about five hours. I was once again bored and given that every light in the cabin was off, it wasn't like I could move to another room in order to find something to do. There was nothing outside for me to do and I wasn't much of a stargazer; going to town wasn't an option given that there wasn't anything for me there currently.
Plus, I had done enough walking for the day.
Getting out of the chair, I lay on the floor and looked up at the ceiling, trying to concentrate on recovering my memories. I had often lain like this when I needed to study for a test, pushing out all distractions. I focused on all the information that I did know and then tried to fill in the gaps that were in between holes in my memory.
I also considered places where I could have left clues by imagining if I were still A. I thought about places that I knew were safe to store little pieces of information that I could easily get to without anyone noticing. Though most were now compromised by some of my former partners, there were still a few that I had kept to myself and would reveal to Caleb since I could no longer use them.
I lay in one spot all night; never having to move since there was no need. I could hear both Caleb and Hanna in the night, slightly snoring when they moved into a different position. While I never paid much attention to Caleb, I knew full well that Hanna always snored when she was on her back. She always stopped when she was on her sides or flat on her stomach; I had to move her into those positions when she had slept over at my house on occasion.
As the sun began to rise and light shined into the cabin, Hanna was the first to stir as the sunlight directly fell on her. As she stirred awake and stretched out, I sat up and smiled since I knew what was going to happen here in a few seconds. Though it was still some time before school, Hanna always panicked when it came to getting herself ready.
"Damn it; I need to get home," stated Hanna, she jumped up from the couch and went for her clothes that were lying in a pile in the corner. While Caleb blinked himself awake, Hanna gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, before running out the door; somewhat dressed though missing her shoes and socks.
"That was entertaining; kind of," I said as I sat on the floor. Caleb stood up and stretched, looking down at me on the ground, puzzled.
"Why are you on the ground?' he asked me, almost demanding and looking around at all the unused chairs that I could be on.
"I needed to meditate and I found that lying flat on my back helps," I informed him, slightly irked by his tone.
"Since when do you meditate?" he asked me, a little more sarcastically than I would have liked.
"When I needed to think up stuff for my schemes back in the day," I answered him with a smirk. Caleb just glared at me and headed into the bedroom to get ready for school.
It was about forty-five minute before he was ready to go. When Caleb came out, he looked a lot more cleaned up than I have seen him so far; he even shaved with his face looking smooth. He was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a checkered flannel over-shirt that looked ugly in my opinion, but it was something Hanna would find attractive.
"So are you still coming?" Caleb asked me as he put on his shoes and tied the laces.
"Yep; can't do anything here and there are a few places I need to check at school," I answered him and I stood near the door.
"What do you mean?" he inquired as he checked his backpack to make sure that he had everything he needed.
"Back when I was the only "A", I had secret hiding places that I used to store stuff in the school. I am hoping that the ones that I only used might have something," I informed him and he nodded, putting his bag on his shoulder and grabbing his keys.
We walked out of the cabin and Caleb locked up behind him while I got in the car, taking the passenger seat. While he was buckling up, Caleb looked at me and was about to say something when he suddenly shook his head and started the car. Puzzled, I was about to inquire on what he was going to say when I realized that the idiot was going to ask if I was going to put my seatbelt on; at least he stopped himself before asking that stupid question.
"How has school been?" I asked, ending the silence after a few minutes on the road.
"About the same, though your death is still the talk of the class, as well as the animosity between the girls and Alison," he answered while he drove.
"At least I am not forgotten," I said, a little sadness in my voice. If there was one thing I never wanted, it was to be forgotten.
"I don't think Rosewood High will ever forget you Mona," Caleb said and I wasn't sure whether he was being sarcastic or sympathetic. I would like to think it was the latter rather than the former.
It was about ten minutes before we had arrived at school and I realized that it was still early. Classes would not start for another hour and there was little need to show this early unless Caleb had to do something. As he pulled into the parking lot and found a space towards the front of the school, I noticed Hanna's car parked as well as Emily's.
"Why so early?" I asked perplexed as we got out of the car.
"You'll see," was all that Caleb said and I followed him up the steps to the main entrance where we went inside. He opened the door while I just went through the wall.
In the main hallway I saw Hanna and Emily lighting candles, causing me to look at Caleb in puzzlement, he just motioned for me to go look. After closer inspection, I realized that the candles were part of a memorial dedicated to me; I then cried out, putting my hand to my mouth and dropping to my knees.
Sitting on a small table was a picture of me taken just after my makeover; I was smiling and my hair was down, wearing a white t-shirt.
All around the picture were candles of various types and sizes, illuminating the photo of me. With the way it was set up, the memorial was the first thing seen when one came into the school.
To say I was touched was an understatement.
"When was this done?" I asked, barely a whisper coming from my mouth.
"It was set up after Thanksgiving when you were confirmed to be dead," Caleb answered, keeping his voice low so that only I could hear him.
"And it's been maintained for this long?" I asked, looking over at him. Caleb nodded in reply as Hanna and Emily finished the lighting.
I was still on my knees on the floor, affected by the scene. Alison never got a memorial such as this here in school; even by the girls when they were still her friends. Only her mother ever really made a big deal about Alison when she was first gone, doing everything possible to remind the town of the blond. It was nice to know that I was getting little things like this that meant something rather than some grandiose event.
I was in a happy place despite my situation; until Alison and her posse appeared.
Please R&R and a special thanks to my Beta for the pre-read!