Thanks to RHatch89, Guest, nick2951, karma3825, Pinkpoodle8, and Fun With Typing for reviewing! Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, what could be a more appropriate time for this chapter? But I hope all of you have a better holiday than they do! Please let me know what you think - this is a big one.

Chapter 44

I stumble downstairs a little after eight on Thanksgiving Day, rubbing my eyes. I stayed up way too late last night, listening to tapes and going through the records that Mona managed to steal from Radley. I finally went to bed at around three in the morning, but I barely slept a wink.

And I still don't think I've ever felt better. Soon we'll have proof that Alison lured Bethany to Rosewood that night, that all of this has been her big plan. She's "A." I've never been so confident of anything in my life.

I pour myself a glass of orange juice and lean against the counter, feeling like a weight has been lifted off of my chest. It's finally Thanksgiving. And as much as I'm dreading December, I'm relieved that this month is finally over.

November seemed to go on forever.

I'm not sure how long I stand there, half asleep, before my mother rushes in, already dressed. "Viola, good, you're up," she says, grabbing a plate of cookies from the counter. "Can you help me load up the car? I want to get on the road within an hour or so."

"Sure," I say brightly, setting down my glass and picking up a tinfoil wrapped dish of sweet potatoes. We're going away to my grandparents' house for Thanksgiving, and it's going to be a long drive. I thought about taking some of Bethany's tapes along with me, but decided against it. I don't need to explain to my mother why I have old fashioned cassettes in my possession.

My mother frowns at the collection of dishes and packages on the counter. Shaking her head, she says, "This is going to take a million trips." She walks to the bottom of the stairs and yells up, "Mona! Come down here, please!"

My sister appears down the stairs, looking bright and cheerful even though I'm pretty sure she slept less than I did. "How much further did you get?" I whisper as she grabs a plate off of the counter, watching to make sure my mother isn't in earshot.

"Not very far," she replies, following me out to the car. "There's a lot to go through."

I grimace as I set the dish I'm holding down in the back of the car. I don't like the idea of putting this all on hold for nearly a week, but even so, getting out of Rosewood will be good. It'll be nice to not have to worry about "A" for at least a small amount of time.

"Okay, I think we'll all set," my mother announces after another few trips, shutting the trunk of the car. "Are you girls ready?"

"Totally," I chirp, trying to act normal. "I feel like I haven't seen the family in forever."

My mother smiles almost sneakily. "Oh, and did I tell you that Lesli's gonna be there?"

Mona's face lights up. "No way! I talked to her last night, she said she was stuck at school."

Lesli is one of her friends, that's all I know, from a summer or two ago. I don't know how they met or who, exactly, she is, but I can't hold back my excitement at finally getting to meet her. "Oh, cool. I can't wait to meet her."

My mom sighs, shaking her head, but she can't keep from smiling. "Oh, pretend I didn't just ruin the surprise," she says, walking over to join us. "Promise me you'll get on the road within the hour," she adds to Mona. "I don't want you to get stuck in traffic."

"Okay, I will," my sister says brightly. "I just have to finish this report and then I'm on my way."

This is a cover, obviously, so she can finish up listening to the tapes, but I'm irritated at being left out. "Are you sure you don't want me to hang around and drive down with you later?" I ask pointedly. "We can split the driving."

"No, no, it's fine," she says, waving me off. "I'll only be, like, an hour."

"Okay." I hug her, suddenly hit by a flutter of nerves that I can't explain. "See you later."

Waving, I hop into the car beside my mom, and we pull off, leaving my sister behind.

I close my eyes and lean back against the seat. I try to push down my nerves. There's nothing to be worried about. We're close to proving that Alison is "A" and keeping Spencer out of jail. And anyway, nothing bad ever happens on Thanksgiving.

…

I jolt awake half an hour later to the sound of my phone going off. "I was just about to wake you up," my mother says, glancing over at me from the driver's seat. "I'm thinking we'll take a break in about half an hour."

"Sure," I yawn, looking down at my phone. The text is from Hanna.

Cops just arrested Spencer. Where are you?

The phone nearly falls out of my hands. I turn away to look out the window, not wanting my mom to see the alarm on my face. I can't believe it. I can't believe they actually got a warrant for her arrest, on a holiday.

Nauseous, I write back shakily, On the road w/ my mom. Call Mona!

"Everything okay, honey?" my mother asks, pulling onto the highway. "You look a little pale."

"Um, yeah," I mutter, pressing a hand to my stomach. "Just a little carsick. I think I, um, ate too much before we got on the road."

She reaches over, patting my hand. "I'll open the window."

I swallow hard, forcing down the nausea, and concentrate on the road. There's nothing I can do about Spencer now. And besides, there's no way that anything will happen to her. She didn't kill Bethany. Her parents will get her out before she even sees the inside of a jail cell.

I force myself to focus on this instead of the alternative until my mother finally pulls off of the highway, heading for a rest stop. I'm broken out of my thoughts by the sound of a cell phone ringing.

I check mine, surprised to find that it's completely silent. It's my mother who finally pulls her phone out of her purse, checks the caller ID with a frown, and answers before I can ask any questions. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Vanderwaal?" I hear a deep voice respond, but before I can hear what he says next, my phone basically explodes.

Hanna. Aria. Emily. They're all calling and texting, new ones coming in before I can get to the others.

We're at your house. You need to get home.

There's blood everywhere.

We think something happened to Mona.

I stare down at the influx of messages, my vision blurring. A new call comes in, from Aria, and I answer it without thinking. "What's going on?"

"Viola," she says, and her voice is thin, like she's near tears. "Mona called me half an hour ago. She said she found proof…about Alison."

"Okay, and?" I demand. My mother is still on the phone, but I block out what she's saying, twisting in my seat and pressing my hand to my other ear.

Aria's voice wavers. "We…me and Hanna and Emily…we went to your house, and when we got there…"

She trails off, her voice cracking, and I close my eyes. I already know what she's going to say, but for some reason I want to know for sure. "Tell me."

"There's blood. Everywhere. The police just got here."

I squeeze my eyes shut tightly, mostly to keep the world from spinning around me. I hear my mother choke back a sob as she gets off the phone, so I tell Aria, "I have to go. We'll be there soon." I hang up and turn to my mother. We've pulled over to the side of the highway, and her hands lay limply in her lap. "Mom?"
"There's been an accident," she tells me, her face pale white and her hands shaking. "Something happened…to your sister."

"I know," I whisper, feeling my throat tighten with panic.

It takes us a little less than an hour to turn around and get back home. I convince my mother to let me drive, mostly because I need something to focus on. And judging by the way she sobs the entire way, I don't think she would've been able to drive anyway.

I manage to keep my head clear until we pull onto our street. I take one look at my house and the world tilts. Bright yellow police tape is everywhere, wrapped around the front porch and blocking the gathering crowd from getting closer. Police cars and ambulances are everywhere. I have to park across the street.

I leap out of the car, spotting Emily, Aria, and Hanna, along with Ezra and Caleb, standing a ways away. I'm just about to run and join them when an officer steps out from the house, a notepad in hand. I recognize him as Holbrook, the sketchy cop who introduced himself to me and the others after Wilden's funeral.

"The investigation is ongoing," he announces. I'm aware of my mother gripping my arm, but I feel nothing. My whole body has gone numb. "But we have ruled this a homicide. Although we did not find a body, the amount of blood in the house would indicate that the victim's wounds were fatal."

I lean back against the car, feeling like the breath has been knocked out of me. I know what's coming, but his next words still hit me like a train.

"Mona Vanderwaal was murdered."

My mother's screams bring me back to reality. She's sobbing, practically kneeling over and gripping the arm of the officer standing beside us.

This is wrong. This is all wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen, not until December, she told me herself. What changed? Did she find something that made her double think that Alison really is "A," that made her hurry along the process? Or did "A" decide that for her?

They didn't find a body. That means she can't really be dead, that this really was the plan all along. I'm not sure whether I should be angry or afraid, but my heart makes that decision for me, and fear floods through my body.

It seemed like such a bad idea to trust "A," to assume that the plan they came up with was real. I suddenly know that this wasn't Mona's idea, to push the plan forward. If she was going to fake her death today, way earlier than planned, she would have told me.

So "A" must have had a motive. I glance around, my eyes landing on Alison. She's standing slightly behind a police car, watching the action with very little emotion. But…if Alison really is "A," why would she want to get herself thrown in jail? It feels like another layer of confusion has just been added to this whole mess.

I tear my eyes away, because I'm afraid of what I'll do if I don't. Everywhere I look, all I see are police cars and flashing lights, people crying. Hanna's hugging Caleb, her face crumpling into tears. Aria's hand is clasped in Ezra's her face pale.

So I look up instead, focusing on the sky and the tops of the bare trees.

There is something very wrong here, but I force that thought out of my mind. I have to be strong. Mona's okay.

She has to be.

...

Again, please review and let me know what you think! I really like the next chapter and would love to be able to get it up quickly. Next, a week has passed, and Viola's hopes begin to sink when she discovers that she is not the only person who knows the truth behind Mona's death.