Spencer's POV
H- Spencer?!
S- Hanna!
H- omg, we found you!
S- where is Emily and Aria?
A- I'm here!
H- and Emily is upstairs with Toby.
A- yah.
S- listen, guys, there is something I have to tell you.
H- we know.
S- it's about—you know?
A- yah.
H- Spence, we know you like Toby.
S- but I thought—
A- at first we didn't understand why you like him so much. We were confused, angry, and horrible friends for not understanding.
H- I mean, Aria is see Mr. Fitz for crying out loud!
I laughed when she said this. But Aria socked her in the arm.
A- Hanna!
H- sorry.
S- thanks you guys.
They just nodded and hugged me. It felt so good to not be fighting anymore. The last time I saw them I was pretty upset they didn't understand me. But now everything seemed ok. It also felt nice to be with people. I was so lonely here in the basement.
A- so where are we exactly?
H- yah, where are we?
S- the basement.
A- you have a basement?
S- yah. But there isn't much in here. Just a bunch of old crap.
H- and let me guess, there isn't a way out.
S- nope. The door is locked and the windows are barred shut.
A- great. It feels like we are back in the closet again.
H- totally.
S- what are you talking about?
A- it's a long story.
S- well, we have a lot of time.
H- she has a point.
S- wait, what is that other there?
A- where?
S- over there!
H- oh, that?
A- it is Ian's dead body.
I screamed in sheer terror. Then I held my hand over my mouth. What if A heard me? I looked at Hanna and Aria. They looked worried as well. Now we were in for it.
Upstairs with Emily and Toby…
Toby's POV
I let Emily read the text. I couldn't believe it! There are 2 As, but one of them was on our side? This was shocking. I looked at Emily. She couldn't believe it either.
E- what the—
T- who could have a secret big enough that would be a threat to someone if exposed?
E- I have no idea.
T- this is crazy.
E- I'll say. A's helper is on our side?
T- apparently.
E- but does that mean that they write the messages to us?
T- I think either one of them could do it. But like the message said, the helper was the one who c Spencer.
E- do you think any of this has to do with Spencer's dad?
T- it could.
E- maybe I was wrong about the whole scandal being only Mr. Hastings.
I nodded my head. Would the Hastings risk all of this unwanted attention? Peter was already in trouble, would he really want to have the rest of his family involved? Or maybe he was forced by A to steal the jewelry. Maybe he is A's helper! But what secret does he have that is a threat to someone? Unfortunately I don't know him very well. We never got along very well. He thought of me like everyone else did. It was all the same. People thought I was this crazy, creepy kid who killed Alison. But I didn't. I just need to prove I didn't kill her. But how? No one will help me except Spencer and maybe her friends. But that's a pretty big maybe. This ongoing nightmare with A felt like it was never going to end. But I made a promise to Emily saying we would find Spencer. And I intend to keep that promise. I was about to tell her we should look somewhere else when I heard a loud scream.
E- what was that?
T- it sounded like someone screaming!
E- what if it is Hanna and Aria? Or Spencer?
T- then we have to find out. Come on!
I ran down the stairs with Emily following close behind. I couldn't bear to think that it was Spencer. Or the others for that matter. This was getting serious. I skipped the last two steps and waited for Emily. We ran towards the kitchen, hoping they were in there. They weren't.
T- where else would Hanna and Emily have gone?
E- I don't know. The Hastings have a living room down here. Maybe they went to look in there.
T- maybe.
We went to look for them in the living room. Well, it wasn't a walk in a park because the living room was huge! There were some many chairs and couches someone could be hiding behind. I sighed and started to check behind them all. Emily did too. We must have checked about 10 pieces of furniture and we couldn't find them.
E- now what?
T- maybe they are in the hallway.
E- but wouldn't we have seen them when we walked into the living room?
T- good point. But let's just check in case.
E- ok.
I walked out of the hallway only to stop. I pushed Emily back into the living room.
E- what did you do that for?
T- A is out there!
E- are you sure?!
T- yes! They were wearing the hoodie and mask!
E- omg.
T- lets see where A is going.
We slowly walked out of the living room. A was making his or her way to some door in the hallway. I got a little closer to see clearer. I could feel Emily breathing on my neck. She was obviously scared. So was I, but we had to see what A was up to. I gave her hand a little squeeze as if it say everything was going to be alright. She understood and we walked even closer to A. We were right behind the corner of the wall and A was around it. I peered around the corner and saw A disappearing into the room. I motioned for Emily to follow. The door was wide open. I could faintly see A walking down the stairs. I thought about following them. Before I could decide, A turned around. Emily was about to scream, but I put my hand over her mouth. I held my breathe. Then thankfully, A turned back towards the stairs and continued to descend into the darkness. I let go of Emily's mouth and let out a sigh of relief. We turned around and ran out of there, not looking back.
