SPENCER'S P. O. V
Today is officially the day my parents are coming back from Philadelphia.
Which means Toby has to leave before they come which will make me feel more
scared because I have no one to protect me from 'A'. By the way, who is 'A'? I
haven't even thought about that yet, but didn't Emily push Alison off that cliff?
"Have you seen my white V-neck?" asked Toby as he was packing up.
"Um, I am pretty sure it's in my bathroom." I answered.
He nodded and went towards my bathroom until I asked,
"How am I going to be without you?"
"I actually don't know, I am sorry Spence." replied Toby while taking his shirt.
"Can I stay with you?" I pleaded with crossed fingers.
"No, Jenna's home." he answered.
"But if it will calm you down a bit, I can call you every night at 10:00 to make sure
you are alright."
"Okay, I guess it will soothe me a little." I answered.
"Look, I really am sorry." said Toby and hugged me.
"It's okay Toby." I said.
"I better head off, it's 7:30. Your parents are getting home at 8:00." said Toby.
"I will come down with you." I told him.
-20 minutes later-
"We are home!" my mom cried as she swept through the front door.
"Good morning mom and dad, I missed you guys." I said sarcastically.
"We missed you too Spencer." my dad announced.
"Mom, dad! You are finally home!" shouted Melissa behind me.
I turned around and saw her. She looked surprised and neat, like she doesn't
feel miserable from her pregnancy. Her hair was up in a bun, she was wearing
a decent amount of makeup which she hasn't for over 4 months, she had a flowy
tunic on with a pair of leggings that I recognized from a while ago.
"Melissa, you look so nice!" said my mom as she ran over to hug her.
"You look pretty today Mel." said my dad.
"Why thank you mom and dad." replied Melissa.
"Good morning Peter, Veronica." said Ian who just came in through the back.
"Oh nice to see you Ian!" said my mother in a polite, exciting way.
"Why hello Ian, how you doing?" asked my father.
"I have been feeling great, thank you." answered Ian.
As usual, I felt excluded. Also, I am pretty used to having all the attention on my
older sister, Melissa, which has happened ever since I met Alison. Which
sometimes I wish I haven't. Then my phone rang and my screen showed; ARIA
in big bold letters.
"Hello?" I asked into the phone.
"Spence, it's me Aria. We need to talk, call Emily and meet me at the Rosewood
Park." replied Aria.
"Wait in the forest or playground?" I asked.
"The forest! Just hurry up." she shouted.
"I'm on my way." I answered.
-5 minutes later-
"What's the hurry?" asked Emily as she climbed into my car.
"I don't know, Aria called and asked to come to the Rosewood Park." I replied.
"That's odd, why there?" asked Emily as I sped up.
"Does it look like I know?" I asked her sarcastically.
"Sorry, I just had a frustrating day yesterday." said Emily.
"Oh fuck red light!" I yelled and came to a halt.
"Wait what happened yesterday?"
"Maya is getting sent to rehab because of A." answered Emily.
"That's awful!" I shouted while speeding up again.
After a few minutes, we arrived at the Rosewood Park. But not the playground,
the barn where Alison disappeared which was in the forest. It was pretty quiet
and gloomy when we arrived; a couple of kids ran around the block but no one
dared to step inside the forest because of last year. Emily and I crept through
the trees, looking for Aria. Then a few moments later, we spotted a bicycle
and beside it stood Aria who was waving at us.
"You guys took a long ass time!" said Aria once we reached her.
"Sorry, there were a few red lights." I explained.
"Anyways, I found something incredible in my closet." said Aria.
"What was it?" asked Emily.
"Alison's journal that she wrote since 2006." answered Aria.
"What was Ali's journal doing in your closet?" I asked curiously.
"I don't know actually, but look at this!" Aria cried and opened up a pink book.
Today is May 24th, 2011. There is no better news yet. Well that's because the mysterious 'A'
person has been tracking me down again. I received a text before class and an IM message
after school. I am afraid to tell anybody even my best friends Emily, Aria, Hanna and Spence.
What am I supposed to do? That's what I think all the time. A.D
"This can't be true." said Emily.
"It is." said Aria.
My mouth begun to get dry and my throat cracked in despair. I couldn't believe
that 'A' haunted Ali too, not only us.
"G-give me the journal; I will study it tonight." I told Aria.
"Um okay then." said Aria and handed me the petite pink book.
"Should we show this to the police?" asked Emily.
"Em, not in a million years. They will know that we lied to them about Spain.
Remember? We told them an unknown person chased us." said Aria.
"But we have more evidence now." Emily said roughly.
"Aria's right, we can't do that." I said.
"Anyways, we got to visit the barn."
"Why do we have to?" asked Aria.
"Because I want to see if anything's new." I replied.
"How could there be anything new? No one comes here." said Emily.
"You don't have to come if you don't want to." I told her.
Emily and Aria looked at each other and walked away from me. Well, they are
such lazy asses. I put my chin up and walked through the forest, imagining that
night when Alison disappeared. The sun was setting when we were walking to the
barn, at that time that only person who was not afraid to come here was Alison.
I imagined the blond wavy hair swinging around as Ali was hopping across the
muddy dirt that smelled fresh and new after the rain an hour before sundown.
FLASHBACK
"Ali, be careful!" yelled Emily as Alison was hopping across the forest.
"Chill Em, I won't slip or anything." said Alison.
"How do you know you won't?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"I just know Spence, I know everything." answered Alison.
Just as those words speckled through my mind, I arrived at the barn. It was an
old dusty brown barn with ripped caution tape around it. The police investigated
the barn the morning after Ali's disappearance and forgot to take it off. Then I
imagined all of us crowding into the barn, and me the last one to enter after
looking around for a long time. I walked inside the barn anxiously, to find anything
from that night. There was that old painting of Shakespeare that Melissa hung
back when I was 8 years old. I remember that Alison made fun of it all the time
when we came here. 'That painting is as dorky as Melissa!' Alison would always
say. Everyone laughed at those words, even me. But I guess Melissa deserved it.
"Hello Spencer." a voice said behind me which made me jump back.
There stood Ian, very glossy eyed and his hair sparkled in the sun.
"H-hi Ian, you scared me." I told him.
"Sorry, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Just remembering the good old times." I lied.
"What are you doing here?"
"I just went for a jog, and came across you." said Ian with a sigh.
"In the forest?" I asked suspiciously.
"I was in the shady mood." he told me.
"I will be heading off, I will see you at home." I told him and budged by him.
"Wait, what's that in your hand?" asked Ian while pointing to Ali's journal.
"I-it's an old notebook Aria gave to me. She drew pictures in it as a kid." I lied.
"Oh yeah; I remember Aria Montgomery. Tell her I say hi." said Ian.
I smiled and nodded. Then I scurried away like a quick small mouse. Why would
Ian go into the forest? No one ever dared to step in here since Ali's accident.
Plus, no one has ever told me that Ian takes jogs. Especially not at 8'oclock in the
morning; that's for sure. I jogged through the dark trees, even if it was morning
it's always dark in the forest and solid cold. If you stand out at the playground,
you will feel nothing, just sunshine and burns. But if at the same time you are in
the forest, you will feel freezing wind pounding on your face and no sun heating
you up whatsoever. Then at that moment while thinking about the temperature,
I arrived at the playground and noticed a girl sitting on a bench staring at me.
She looked like Hanna with her long blond hair swishing in the wind that
came in through the forest behind me, her icy blue eyes staring at me, wearing
light blue jeans with a long sleeve fuchsia shirt paired up with tall black boots.
But then it came to me, it didn't only look like Hanna but it was Hanna! I couldn't
understand, didn't she die 2 months ago? Right there behind me? Screaming in
pain?
"Hey Spencer." said Hanna; or atleast I think it was.
"H-Hanna, is that you?" I asked with my mouth shaped like an 'O'.
"No shit, of course it's me." she answered with a smile.
"B-but didn't you die?" I asked.
But she didn't reply, instead I woke up and found myself on the slide at the
playground. Above me stood Ian staring at me with his piercing eyes; that
completely scared me.
"Spencer, are you alright?" he asked me while biting his lower lip.
"What happened?" I asked as I sat up.
"I saw you trip at the forest. You were unconscious; so I picked you up and
brought you here." explained Ian.
"T-thanks." I stammered.
"Did you by any chance see anyone at the bench?" I asked.
"That one? No, I haven't." said Ian while pointing to the bench.
-1 hour later-
"You saw Hanna, our Hanna?" asked Aria after I explained it to her and Emily.
"I am not joking, she looked nice and pretty." I told her.
"But she's dead and if she wasn't how did she come from Spain?" asked Emily.
"You guys, I don't know! I just saw her and she talked to me." I admitted.
"What did she say?" asked Aria.
"Nothing special, when I told her that I thought she died, I woke up." I replied.
"That was a dream though." said Emily.
"What if it wasn't? What if Ian found me at the slide?" I asked.
They both shrugged. I looked around Aria's bedroom, and thought maybe I
can study her journal. I suddenly twisted which made Aria jump and pulled out
the journal that I put in my purse.
"What are you doing?" asked Aria.
"What if Ali wrote anything useful?" I asked.
"May the 24th was 2 months before she disappeared, there could be more."
I opened up the dusty pink book and flipped the back, trying to find her last
journal entry.
"Here it is!" I cried.
Today is July 22nd, 2011. In 1 hour I am meeting up with the girls at the Rosewood Park barn.
I am super excited for the sleepover that Spencer tried so hard to plan. But I am really
nervous about that 'A' person. Sometimes, I try to just think about Ian and the worry goes
away. I guess he will be on my mind for the whole entire night. A.D
I gulped and I also realized that Emily and Aria gulped along with me too. Which
strongly meant that this last journal entry wasn't pretty. I looked at them,
with my eyes swelling up. They too looked like they were holding back tears.
I held my breath for a while and then exhaled when Aria's eyes widened which
probably meant that my face was turning purple. But I wish she wouldn't have
widened her eyes, so I could have died right on that spot.
"Anyone want some tea maybe coffee?" asked Aria; trying to forget this.
"I will have some blackcurrent tea please." said Emily.
"Spence?" Aria faced me.
"I will have decaf." I answered.
Aria nodded and looked at Emily and me then turned around and filled the teapot
up with water. Then she turned it on and came back to us. But before anyone
could have said anything, a text arrived to all three of us:
'Ali's journal gives a lot of information I hoped that you wouldn't know but, might
as well forget it; because your nightmare ride isn't over yet. –A.'