Disclaimer: Still don't own it.
It was obvious that they could see me.
As the two continued to stare down at me, I had a good idea why they were here in the first place.
"Let me guess; Hanna told you about me?" I asked sarcastically and both of them just nodded; kind of comically, with their mouths slightly open.
"Of course she did; I am surprised though that you believed her," I said as I got up off the ground. They still appeared to be in shock in seeing me, and I was annoyed when Aria reached out to touch me only for her hand to go right through me.
"It's so cold," Aria remarked as she jerked her hand away, and she cringed as I glared at her.
"We need to leave; Mona's mom might be home at any second," Emily said, and she still appeared to be in shock but was suppressing it due to the urgency of the matter.
"Fine; my mother is the last person I want to see right now," I said as I made my way to the front door. I just went through the door while they had to open it; which must have freaked them out since they rushed out the door and followed me closely.
"When Hanna said you had returned as a ghost, we thought she had been drinking again; I still can't believe that I am seeing you," Emily said as we headed to her car.
"Believe it; I need to get to Caleb," I said and got into the backseat of Emily's car while the other two got in the front. Emily then pulled out of my driveway and we headed off.
"This is just insane," Aria said from the front of me, and it was amusing to see her reaction to me while Emily drove.
"How can you see me? It's not like there was a dramatic situation we were in like with Hanna last night," I remarked and both girls looked at one another in puzzlement.
"We have no clue; we just entered your house and found you lying on the floor," Emily told me as she looked around as if she were paranoid.
"Something must be going on; I wonder if that Reaper has anything to do with this?" I wondered out loud and Aria turned her head to look at me.
"Reaper? As in the Grim Reaper?" she asked, both alarmed and confused at the same time.
"Maybe; I have no clue. He hasn't been exactly forthcoming about the grand scheme of things though I know that there is indeed a Heaven and Hell," I said to her and I watched as Emily's eyes widened in the rearview mirror.
"There is?" Emily asked and she seemed surprised despite the fact that I knew she attended church with her mother on special occasions.
"Apparently so," I said dryly and it appeared that she was processing that.
"So what now?" Aria asked and it was the question of the day apparently.
"Well I know who A is now so we go from there," I answered and Emily nearly swerved into a parked car while Aria whipped her head at me with her eyes bulging.
"You know who A is? Who is she?" Emily asked as she just smiled in apology at the angry pedestrian whose car she almost hit.
"The person who murdered me," I simply said and I ignored them the best that I could while they tried to question me.
I was still getting over watching my own death and wasn't in the mood for anyone right now; even Hanna if she had been here instead of them. The way that I had died was violent and bloody, not to mention traumatic since I had to relive it. It angered me to no end and I wanted to charge after the person who had did this to me. However, I needed to control my anger for the time being until I had a clearer picture of whom I was dealing with.
At some point, they must have realized that I wasn't going to divulge any answers since it had become quiet all of a sudden. While I brooded, they just kept looking at each other and truthfully I was slightly sympathetic to their situation. I had always been a specter to hover over them and now I was the real thing. I should have been amused and taken advantage of the opportunity, but the situation was currently too serious.
"What's it like being dead?" Aria asked suddenly as we neared Caleb's cabin. I assumed that given the situation, the pow wow must have been moved to a place more private.
"Hanna asked me that," I stated, not really answering her question. I really wasn't in the mood to play twenty questions.
"Sorry, I was just curious," Aria said and she seemed sincerely apologetic about asking the question. I sighed and felt a little guilty about being rude, since I would have asked the question in her shoes.
"I'm cold all the time; like a house that can never be heated up," I replied, adding the poetry to my answer. It had a little more depth to it than how I answered Hanna and she should be grateful. Then again, these girls were never grateful when it came to my help.
"Did it just get icy in here?" Emily inquired as she turned on the heater. I smirked since it was apparent that my mood was affecting the environment like always; this time though I could have some fun.
"Have you seen any other ghosts?" Aria again asked and I had to admit that I never thought of looking. If I were a mistake then maybe there were others out there; not that we could form a club or anything.
"No; but I haven't really looked in all honesty since I have only been back a few days," I told her and she nodded.
"It makes you wonder though; if anybody else that we knew is out there," Emily stated and I suspected who she was talking about.
"Well I haven't seen Maya and Nate if you are curious," I said, almost smirking at her, but managing to keep my face neutral. The statement had the desired effect given the reaction on Emily's face at the mention of the two people who had quite an impact on her life.
"Why are you still here? Hanna didn't say why you were a ghost," Aria stated and I decided to break the news to her; especially since it was her fault.
"Because you were too slow getting to me when I needed help so thanks Aria," I said snidely to her and I made sure that it got even colder in the car.
"What are you talking about? How is this Aria's fault?" Emily asked, coming to her friend's defense.
"Aria was supposed to come straight to me; instead, she went to pick you and Hanna up, thus taking too long to get to me in order to save me. So my death was an unplanned event that wasn't supposed to happen," I explained to them and I made sure to emphasize my anger as much as possible.
The car became really silent after that; no sound coming from either girl except the sound of chattering teeth. Apparently, the heater wasn't providing as much warmth to counter the iciness coming from me. I guess I struck a cord and it stayed like this all the way to the cabin. I might have gone too far, but I was just telling the truth after all so it really wasn't my fault that their feelings were currently in flux; at least that was what I kept telling myself.
As soon as we got to the cabin, I was out before Emily stopped the car.
"Honey, I'm home!" I yelled as I came through the wall and found the assembled group gathered in the front room. Besides Hanna and Caleb, there was the rest of the gang including their mates.
Apparently, Aria and Emily weren't the only ones who could now see me since Spencer's eyes bulged as well as everyone else. Toby, in his police uniform, took a step back while Ezra and Paige's jaws dropped. Normally, I would have relished in their shock and awe at the sight of me; but I had more pressing matters to deal with. So I ignored everyone and went straight to Caleb who had his laptop out.
"I need everything on Bethany Young; specifically any siblings she has," I told him and he was momentarily puzzled by my question until he saw how serious I was and got to it.
"Why do you need information on Bethany?" Hanna asked me as Emily and Aria came into the cabin. Each went to stand by their respective mate and everyone still looked shocked to see me; Spencer even reached out and tried to touch me.
"I am really getting tired of people trying to do that," I announced to the assembled group, and Spencer at least looked like she was sorry.
"I have never believed in Ghosts before; I guess now I do," Ezra said and I gave him a bored look.
"Listen, I get that you are all shocked to see me, but can we just focus on finding A right now because I am not in the mood to play twenty questions," I said to them and to their credit, they looked like they acknowledged me.
"We're sorry you're dead," Paige said and I smiled at her since she was the second person to tell me that besides Hanna.
"Thank you Paige; it's nice to see someone understand my sacrifice for you girls besides my friend over there," I stated while motioning to Hanna. I was genuinely thankful to the swimmer and it was a shame that her girlfriend was a little slow on that front.
"Excuse me, but we've been thankful," Spencer objected and I narrowed my eyes at her and did my best to keep my anger in check.
"And yet, I've managed to find out who A is even though I am dead," I said to her and she recoiled slightly at my announcement.
"So who is she?" Toby asked, stepping in to separate me and his girlfriend; like he could since I was able to move right through him. Everyone looked eager to know what I had found out while Caleb focused on his laptop.
"The person who killed me and she looked like Bethany; who is also working with Alison," I answered him and everyone looked puzzled.
"How can she look like Bethany since she is dead?" Hanna asked and that was a good question since I didn't know. Maybe I did at one time but still couldn't remember currently.
"Because Bethany was a twin," Caleb suddenly answered and moved to his side to read over his shoulder. If he was uncomfortable with me there, he didn't say anything and I didn't care.
Caleb had managed to look up Bethany's family on the internet and there was, thankfully, a good amount of information to be found. One of them was a family photo which showed the two sisters side by side and the resemblance was uncanny. One of them was dead and the other had killed me. I never got a name but at least we now had a face to go by to our enemy; now we just needed to find her.
"And we think this twin is working with Alison?" Emily inquired, stunned at the news.
"I do; she called Alison as I was dying," I answered and Caleb turned to look at me.
"You remember your death?" he asked me and I nodded while Hanna looked sympathetic, walking to my side and would have hugged me if she could.
"I'm sorry that you had to relive that," my blond friend said to me and gave her a grateful smile. The memory was still fresh in my mind and I could still feel the blade of the knife as it stabbed me in the chest.
"What is this twin's name; if it was Bethany in the grave?" Ezra asked and Caleb focused in on the name before responding.
"Courtney; Courtney Young and she is about two years older than Alison," Caleb answered and I could see some confusion on a few of the faces in the room.
"That still doesn't make sense. When Hanna said that you mentioned Alison having a sister, I had trouble believing it since there could be no way that Jessica could hide a pregnancy and birth a child without anyone knowing," Spencer stated and I agreed with her along with a few others.
"Unless Jessica DiLaurentis wasn't the only one having affairs back then; Alison and Courtney could share the same father," Ezra speculated and that made complete sense given what we now knew.
"That is so twisted; each parent of Alison's had an affair with a member of the Young family. No wonder Alison and this sister of hers is so screwed up," Hanna said and you could hear the disgust in her voice.
"Makes you feel even more for Jason, that's for sure," Spencer said and I could hear the sympathy she had for her brother.
"Should we warn Jason about Alison; he needs to know about this in case she goes after him to get to us," Emily said, and I was tempted to mention that he had the situation well in hand; but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"I'll do it since he is supposed to come over for dinner tonight," Spencer said and that seemed to satisfy everyone.
"So now that we know who A is, what do we do?" Hanna asked and everyone seemed to think about that including me.
"Do you remember anything else besides the face?" Caleb asked me and I appreciated his compassion in his voice.
"Only that I am buried near their lair; which I suppose works since this means that my body can now be found once we locate where Courtney is hiding," I said with some satisfaction.
"So we have to find her lair; any ideas where that might be?" Toby asked and it was directed to everyone than just me.
"Maybe Alison can lead us there; we know she is in contact with Courtney," Ezra suggested and it was a good plan.
"But how do we do that without tipping our hand? We know A watches us and is probably doing that right now," Aria stated.
"We distract her; we find something that Alison and her sister can't resist while we spring a trap so that we find the lair," Spencer said and this was her taking charge; it was a good plan so I just stayed quiet until a thought came to me.
"Excellent plan but I have a part to add; I could watch Alison since she can't see me and A doesn't believe in ghosts," I suggested and I was met with surprise stares.
"That is incredibly risky; you are getting stronger and might lose your temper again thus killing her," Caleb stated as he stood to face me. I could see the intensity in his eyes but I wasn't hampered.
"Maybe; but I want my eternal rest to be comfortable so I am pretty sure I can control myself. Now if you all excuse me, I have a bitch to follow," I told all of them quite forcibly.
And then I just left.
Walking out on them was actually really easy and I didn't think twice about doing it. I just walked through the nearest wall and headed away from the cabin; not in a real hurry but not strolling as well. It wasn't like they could have stopped me anyways; they needed me just as I needed them. Also, all their senseless planning would have just been boring and unimaginative so there was no point in staying.
It would take me a while to get to Alison's house if I walked so I decided to get a ride. I waited until a car slowed down and at the right opportunity, I phased into the backseat. Whether by luck or divine intervention, I happened to be in the backseat of a car driven by Lucas. After getting over my shock, I became curious to where he was going since we weren't anywhere near his usual hangouts. There was a chance that he was heading back to his personal lair, and I was tempted to go see if there was anything new; maybe he had a lead on the location of Courtney's lair in the area.
He turned suddenly, and I was confounded when it appeared that he was driving away from town. He was also acting suspiciously since he constantly checked his mirrors, as well as his dark clothing which was reminiscent of the hoodies he had worn when he had been still working for me. Something was going on and I needed to know what; it just sucked that I couldn't ask him and had to just sit back and watch.
After a while of driving, he turned off the main road and onto a dirt one that led into the forest. It was getting dark outside, and it was apparent that I was going to miss watching Alison tonight since it would take me a while to get back to her house if what was going on here didn't pan out. I didn't believe that this was a wild goose chase though since Lucas would not go to all this trouble for something light. Eventually he stopped the car and got out; I phased out of the car and followed him into the trees.
I followed him for several minutes as he made sure he was alone and not followed. I had to admit that it was nice to see him this cautious given the threat of Alison and Courtney being out there. It was sad that no one else shared his attention to being careful and off the radar; but he did learn from me after all. If the girls hadn't squandered the opportunity when I had still been alive, I could have taught them as well and this would have all been over a long time ago.
He reached a small clearing a few minute later and I followed him into it; seeing that there was someone waiting for him.
I was caught off guard when I saw that it was Cyrus.
Please Read and Review; also a big thanks to Paraddicted for the pre-read as always. She is a fellow writer and you should check out her stories