Hey...I need to talk to you…Can I meet you at the loft in an hour? - Emily
Hanna smiled as she replied back to Emily. This was the moment she was waiting for…
Or at least she thought it was until she went to answer the door and discovered that Emily hadn't come alone.
"Uh…hey guys…what's going on?" Hanna asked, clearly confused as to why Paige and Caleb were also showing up so late at night.
"Emily has something she needs to tell you." Caleb chimed in.
Hanna looked at Emily and saw tears begin to form in Emily's eyes. A million fears began running through Hanna's mind, but none of them seemed to make sense. The most logical would have been that she had told Paige all about their kiss and their night in the hospital, and that she was now here to break her heard. But even that still wouldn't explain Caleb's prescence.
"Em? What's wrong?" Hanna finally asked.
"That night…at the hotel when I drank too much. You guys put me to bed early, but I woke up a few hours later after you had fallen asleep. I followed Aria and Ezra. I saw them in the square…and then I saw Charlotte go into the church." Emily began as Hanna waited for the story to continue, unsure of what Emily as trying to tell her.
"I went in after here. She was sitting there, alone. Praying." Emily paused taking a deep breath before continuing. "I picked up a candlestick and I stabbed her in the back of the neck with the end of it." Emily confessed as Hanna's face fell in horror. Tears began forming in her eyes, matching those in Emily's that were on the brink of spilling over.
"And then I took her to the bell tower and threw her off... I-I-I just couldn't take it. The idea of her walking around, free, after everything she did to us…." Emily continued. "Then I went back to the hotel and snuck back in bed before anyone noticed I was gone."
"It was me. I murdered Charlotte." Emily finished, allowing the tears to finally stream down her cheeks.
Hanna felt the world falling apart around her. How could this be true? How could Emily have done this? How can I protect her from this?
As a million thoughts began racing through Hanna's mind, Emily wiped her tears and changed her expression turned from shame and fear to calm with a hint of smugness.
"See, she believed it. And if she believed it, even for a minute…" Emily said as she turned towards Paige and Caleb who had been skeptical of Emily's plan.
"What the hell just happened?!" Hanna shouted, louder than she meant to.
"Emily knows how we can end this." Caleb chimed in from the spot he had claimed on the kitchen barstool.
"And if anyone asks, you didn't erase that tape because Aria was on it. You erased it because I was on it. OK?" Emily stated more than actually asked.
Now that Emily had proven that she was a good enough actress to pull this off, she stopped and the three of them explained the plan to Hanna.
Emily hadn't wanted to involve Paige, given how dangerous the game they were playing was, but Paige had come back early from her run and overheard Emily and Caleb talking in the lobby. Paige hated the idea from the beginning, but since she was the only one who wasn't around the last time they were all terrorized, she didn't feel like she had much of a leg to stand on argument-wise.
Paige did have concerns about the believability of the story though. While she didn't like to admit it, she knew that Hanna cold read Emily better than anyone, so it had been her idea to test out the story.
Emily hadn't wanted to, because she knew it would hurt Hanna, but she knew they would eventually need her to be part of the alibi since she had erased the surveillance footage, so she begrudgingly went along with it.
"This whole thing sounds crazy!" Hanna exclaimed. She didn't like the idea of Emily putting herself in danger.
"We are essentially building a rat trap." Emily explained.
"And you're the cheese?!" Hanna asked incredulously. She shook her head, not accepting that this was their only option.
"We have to do something unexpected to throw them off balance." Caleb tried to explain.
"Ok, so what if she confesses and they order her to march into the police station and tell Tanner?" Paige asked, finding herself pleased that Hanna was as skeptical of the plan as she was.
"You think this person has gone through all this trouble just to turn her over to the cops? This is about revenge, not justice." Caleb answered.
"It still sounds crazy." Paige and Hanna both said separately.
"Yes, we have established that, but Caleb and I have this all figured out." Emily responded as she stood up to go out on the balcony to get some air, growing frustrated with the lack of support from both Paige and Hanna.
Hanna was still reeling from Emily's fake confession and found herself desperately needing a glass of wine. She made her way to the kitchen, hoping to also have some time to collect her thoughts, but Paige followed her.
"What do you think about this?" Paige asked Hanna quietly as Hanna poured herself a very large glass of wine.
Hanna just shrugged, unsure of what to say and not really feeling like saying anything to Paige. She needed some time to think, to catch her breath. Hanna thought of Emily's confession the night before meant that she was going to end things with Paige, but considering they were both at her apartment, she doubted that was the case.
How could I be so stupid? Hanna thought to herself before being interrupted by Paige, yet again.
"Can this even work?" Paige asked.
"Possibly. But that's not even the point. Emily has the plan and Caleb has the know-how. If we don't back them up they are just going to do it themselves." Hanna said as she finished the wine she had just poured and reached for the bottle to pour another glass.
"Do you think Emily is aware of the risk she is taking?" Paige asked, not catching on to Hanna's obvious annoyance with her.
It took all of Hanna's strength to not roll her eyes at Paige as she responded. It was clear that Paige knew very little about Emily and how strong willed she can be when she's backed against a wall. It was something that Hanna knew all too well.
"Yeah…she knows." Hanna said as she took another sip of wine.
"And you're just going to let them run with this?" Paige pushed further. She had been hoping that Hanna would be able to talk some sense into Emily.
"What do you expect me to do? You're her girlfriend, not me." Hanna said, more harshly than she had meant to, but she didn't really care. Hanna was over the conversation.
The night had gone much differently than she had envisioned and she basically had nothing. Eventually, Hanna grabbed the half empty wine bottle and headed out to the balcony for some air, once Emily had come back inside.
While Hanna was outside, Emily had texted the others so she could fill them in on the plan. By the time Hanna returned, Spencer, Aria, and Ezra were all sitting in the living room with looks of concern written all over their faces. Hanna left her now empty bottle of wine in the kitchen and moved towards the couch to join the others.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Spencer asked. She didn't particular like the plan, but it had potential. Her concern though was not the feasibility, but that Emily would be putting herself in a lot of danger by being the bait.
"I wouldn't have thought of it if I didn't." Emily responded.
"Look guys this isn't a democracy. We aren't taking votes. This is Emily's plan and all you need to decide is if you're going to help us." Caleb added, trying not to show his frustration with all of the criticism.
Caleb's words hung in the air for several seconds. No one on the couch dared to move or speak, until Hanna finally broke the silence.
"Nobody here is going to let you do this by yourself."
Emily's face lit up with a smile that was larger than she intended. She was nervous about the plan but was happy that Hanna at least had her back. She knew that Hanna could get everyone else on board. She had always been good at bending people to her will.
"Alright. So let's get started." Emily announced as she reached for her phone to send the text that would put the plan in motion. There was no going back now.
Leave my friends alone. I killed Charlotte. - Emily