Chapter 20: Moment of Truth
Alison sprung to her feet and ran to Spencer's side after overhearing what happened over the phone. Spencer's heart raced.
"Hanna?" Spencer trembled. "Hanna, can you hear me?"
No response. Spencer and Alison looked at each other.
"Oh my god." Spencer cupped her hands over her mouth.
"Try Aria," Alison suggested.
Spencer hung up on Hanna's dead end then tried calling Aria. Her phone rang, but no answer. She tried again. No answer.
"Fuck!" Spencer cried.
"Did the house blow up?" Alison wondered.
"Of course, the house blew up!" Spencer exclaimed. "Mona rigged it to go off at," Spencer checked the time, "at 3:15 this afternoon."
"What was so important about 3:15?" Alison asked.
Spencer sighed and said, "that was 'my time of death."
Alison felt cold inside. They stood there in silence. A commotion coming from the laptop on the counter grabbed their attention. They could hear Mona laughing and Toby shouting.
"What did you do!?" Toby yelled.
"Let's just say you better hope your friends weren't in my house just now," said Mona, laughing.
Toby looked back towards the trees where Emily was supposed to be. Mona gave no indication if she knew Emily had been there the whole time. Toby knew they needed to get over there to make sure everyone was okay, but they would risk losing Mona. If Spencer were watching this, he knew she would be blaming herself for whatever happened to Hanna, Aria, and Caleb. She would want to see if the others were all right. If Spencer were to go over to Mona's house to check on her friends, she would fall right into Mona's trap to set her up for everything. If he goes by himself Mona will disappear into the wind. He had to make a quick decision. Toby grabbed Mona by the arm.
"Come on."
With Toby holding onto Mona, they walked around the corner to where Emily should have been standing, but she was gone. Toby searched around for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Did she find a different hiding spot? Did she run back to the cabin already? Toby tried not to assume the worst as they kept walking down the trail.
Toby knew it was a risk to take Mona all the way to the cabin. Especially with Spencer inside, but they didn't have much of a choice He's supposes this was also in Mona's plan book. A plan to get in one last one on one with Spencer. They barely got through the front door before Spencer lounged at Mona with her hands around her neck.
"What did you do!?" Spencer spat in her face. She shook her, "What the hell happened to them?"
Mona just smirked and laughed, "I've missed you too, Spencer."
Spencer stared daggers at Mona as her fingers tightened around Mona's neck. Toby saw something sharp and shiny poking out of Mona's hand.
"Spencer!" Toby separated Spencer from Mona before Mona had the chance to stab Spencer with the injection.
Alison came up to grab Mona from behind. She held her tightly, doing her best to hold her hands down until Toby was able to confiscate the needle from her.
"Go ahead! Take it!" Mona sneered, but she was smiling. "Do you see the look in her eyes? She doesn't even need it! That's what I've been trying to explain to everyone all along! My injections may have off putting side effects, but in the end all the destructive actions are all you just embracing that side of you! The side of you that wants to hurt others!"
Spencer took a moment. She calmed herself, took a deep breath, and then walked up to Mona.
"This is the result of you playing with people like they are dolls," said Spencer.
"But you are dolls," Mona said. "Don't you see that?"
"I'm going to ask you one more time. What happened to the others?" Spencer asked.
"Like I said before, you better hope that at 3:15 this afternoon, your friends weren't inside that house, because everything that was in there is now gone," said Mona. "Now, no one will ever know the truth. Oops. You lose. So sad."
"Yeah, not so fast." Emily walked into the cabin, but she wasn't alone. Aria, Hanna, and Caleb all walked in behind her. Their hair and clothes were dirty, and they each had their fair share of scratches that would need cleaned up, but they'll live. Spencer, Toby, and Alison shared a sigh of relief. Spencer smiled in surprise.
Mona looked up in disbelief, "what?"
"Oh my god!" Spencer wrapped Aria and Hanna in a hug. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"The house did explode," Hanna confirmed. "But we were all outside when it happened. The blast knocked all of us off our feet. We'll be needing medical attention at some point, but our phones stopped working and we figured it was important we let you guys know we're safe."
Alison sighed and asked, "what about all the evidence? Did Tanner get a chance to see it?"
"Some of it," Aria said. "She was just starting to gather up boxes of stuff when… When the boom went off."
"Was anyone inside when it went off?" Toby asked.
Caleb nodded, "Tanner was and a couple of her colleagues."
Toby's eyes widen in surprise, "so, Tanner's dead?"
Caleb nodded but said nothing more.
Mona smirked and said, "well Toby, seems like you got what you wanted after all."
"Mona, you do know you have the right to remain silent. I suggest you do that now," said Alison.
"Now what?" Spencer asked. "Was all this for nothing? The evidence is gone. Tanner is dead. What do we do now?"
"Not everything is gone," said Hanna. "We saved a few of the files Mona kept on the experiments."
"And some of the chemicals she was using to create the drugs she was using on people," Aria said.
Mona's face turned stone cold.
"Oh," Emily spoke up. "Not to mention, we also got your full confession on video."
"I think it's time to get Mona to the authorities," said Caleb.
"Wait." Spencer stepped in front of Mona. "What did you give him? To Toby. Did you give him a drug to make him angry?"
"The opposite, actually," said Mona. "I saw an opportunity to try a new experiment. I gave him the love drug. What happens when the person you love isn't around? What would he do? How far would he go? It was quite interesting to watch how much love can destroy someone."
They took the next few hours to take a breath after everything that has happened so far today. Mona was taken into custody along with any evidence they were able to save. According to Caleb, more authorities had been sent out to Mona's property to search for anything that could help close this case. Things were looking up, but no one could relax just yet. Hanna, Aria, and Caleb went to the hospital. Aria had a broken wrist from landing hard on it after the explosion. Hanna needed to get stitches on her forehead and arm after being hit by glass. Caleb had a concussion that he will need to stay in the hospital to treat. Other than that, the doctor was certain that they would all make full recoveries.
Alison, Emily, Spencer, and Toby moved to Emily's cabin just in case authorities would come looking for Spencer. Just because Mona was now being investigated doesn't mean Spencer and Alison are cleared to go out yet. Toby is concerned for Spencer's wellbeing. She has been on the run for so long after being held captive by Mona. She needs medical attention. Spencer came back thin, pale, and has several past injuries that had never been treated properly.
Nighttime came and everyone was exhausted. Emily made dinner and they all tried their best to take the night to relax. Toby sat down on the couch next to Spencer and handed her a bottle of water.
"Thank you," she mumbled. She took a small drink then rested her head on Toby's shoulder.
"Hanna finally called," Emily said. She took a seat on the armchair across from them. Alison was sitting on the far end of the couch.
"How are they?" Toby asked.
"Hanna and Aria were both released from the hospital. Aria went home for the night, but Hanna's going to stay at the hospital with Caleb," said Emily. "Caleb will be discharged tomorrow."
"Good," Spencer whispered, still having her head on Toby's shoulder.
Toby pressed the back of his hand to Spencer's forehead. She was getting warm.
"Spencer, you need to go to a hospital," Toby said.
"I'm fine," she insisted.
"You've been through a lot this past year," he said. "You're exhausted, you have wounds that are weeks old. You could have an infection because of that burn on your side. Who knows how malnourished you are."
"I can't go out, remember?" said Spencer. "They know I'm alive now. They're still looking for me."
Toby opened his mouth to speak but got cut off by Emily's phone ringing. Her eyes widened as a bright smile appeared on her face.
"It's my dad!" She told everyone. She answered, "Dad! You got my message? Yes, we're okay. Spencer is alive. Yes. Uh-huh. No. No. Yes. What? Are you sure? Okay. I'll see you soon. Okay. Love you too. Bye, dad." Once off the phone, Emily said to the group, "He said to be sure to catch the 11 o'clock news."
"It's 10:58 right now," said Alison.
Emily turned on the tv just as channel News 8's theme was playing. A middle-aged woman took the screen.
"Good evening, everyone I'm Sara Shepard," said the news anchor. "Tonight, we have an important announcement to share regarding the witch hunts that we have all become familiar with in the last twenty years. For so long, many have asked the questions; who are they? What are they? Where did they come from? Who is responsible? And are they dangerous? Tonight, I have a special guest joining us tonight who can finally answer all the burning questions we have."
"I don't know if I want to watch this," Spencer said. She buried her face into Toby's shirt.
Sara, from the television, continued, "Our guest tonight is a specialist in this subject. He has worked alongside the academy as well as the organization that works to fight to protect 'witches." He's here with me now. Welcome, Wayne Fields."
Spencer's head bolted right up at the T.V. Everyone looked at Emily who was smiling with glee.
"Emily, is that?" Alison started to say.
Emily nodded, "mhmm. That's my dad."
"Thank you for allowing me to come on at such short notice, but this new information could not wait to be shared," said Mr. Fields. "We have a major breakthrough in this matter."
"Before we get started," Ms. Shepard said. "What defines a person as a marked witch?"
"It was believed that marked witches were people born from other's that had an injection," said Mr. Fields. "An injection that appeared to cause some people terrible side effects."
"What kind of side effects?" Ms. Shepard asked.
"Extreme anger, sudden depression, a drop in energy, a rise of energy. Some people have been reported to throw things. Some people believed that those people were murderess and just other ridiculous theories."
"And how did all of this start?" Ms. Shepard asked. "What is the injection?"
"It was true a mad scientist conducted an experiment using people," Mr Fields explained. "However, the subjects who were brought in for the experiment were deceived themselves. See, they were told that they were participating in a trial for a new drug that would cure cancer. These injections they were given were used to propel their emotions. For example, this scientist had a drug that when given would intensify a person's feelings of love, only when on that particular drug the subject would react in irrational ways. Once the effect of the drug wears off, the subjects resorted back to their natural state. Calm, clear minded, and sane."
"Are you saying that those subjects were victims themselves in all this madness?" Ms. Shepard said.
"There was never a question in my mind about that," said Mr. Fields. "Those people were in fact victims. When they needed saving, authorities turned their backs on them and instead of helping, they worried the subjects were dangerous, evil, and corrupt. Not one of those subjects got the chance to plead their case. Instead, a hunting academy was developed to take those people out. They and their innocent children. Those innocent children are still being hunted today."
"That is just devastating," said Ms. Shepard. "Do we know who was responsible for all of this and why there is still so much confusion to this day?"
"It all started with the scientist David Vanderwaal," said Wayne fields. "He started these experiments. He is locked away for life, but the innocent bystanders in all this still need our help. They aren't many survivors from those experiments left and the ones that are left are too afraid to speak or show their face."
"Well, I hope after word gets out tonight things will change," said Ms. Shepard.
"I hope so too," Wayne looked directly into the camera. "In order for the remaining innocents to feel safe coming out, the rest of the public needs to work together to make them feel safe. Let them show their faces to the world. Let them be part of our world again. Offer them condolences. A chance at life. Don't arrest them. Don't kill them. Stop hunting them. Offer them legal services It is time for them to get the justice they were deprived of before."
"Thank you for sharing this news with us this evening," said Ms. Shepard. "I for one am in full support of letting these poor people return to us again. Once again, this is Sara Shepard with channel 8 news, and we will be right back with your weekly weather report."
Emily switched off the television. The room fell silent as they all stared blankly at the black screen. Emily's father went on air to expose the truth. The public knows the truth. There's no telling just how long this story will take to reach the rest of the world, but with how fast news travels, they're hoping by tomorrow things will be different. They won't have to hide anymore. For the first time in years, Spencer felt something in her chest. Something she used to hate. Something she never thought she'd ever experience the feeling of. Hope.
"Emily," Alison broke the silence. "How did your dad do that?"
Emily shrugged, "I sent the video of Mona's confession to him. Plus, I've known for a while that my dad has been working to help free us. This is good, guys. Authorities trust my dad. The world knows that we're innocent and that we always have been."
"This could also create more questions and enough curiosity to investigate the hunting academy," said Toby.
Toby wrapped his arm around Spencer when he felt her arms circle around his abdomen.
"Is it finally over?" Spencer asked.
"It should be," Toby said, rubbing her arm.
"I never thought this day would come," said Alison, close to tears. "I wish none of this happened at all, but I'm glad it's over. I will finally be able to go outside."
Emily held her hand and said, "you'll get to feel the sun on your face. Wind in your hair."
"You did promise me if we ever put a stop to this, you'd take me on a long adventure," said Alison.
Emily smiled, "we can do that."
Spencer smiled at them. "I know what I really want to do. Something I've always wanted to do, but never had the opportunity to do before."
"What's that?" Toby asked.
She looked at him and said, "go to college."
Toby smiled at her, his eyes sparkling, "Okay. Can we take you to a hospital first?"
Spencer fell into his shoulder again and said, "okay."
Can they finally live a normal life? Please leave a review.