I'm back with another chapter!


Chapter 5: Sweet Dreams

"Toby's out of the hospital now?" asked Alison.

Emily and Alison sat together at the kitchen table sharing a meal. Emily picked up a pizza on her way home, as well as some vegetables to make a salad. Alison pushed herself today to get dressed in something other than sweats. Today, she wore a yellow flowery blouse and jeans.

Emily nodded, "I picked him up and gave him a lift back to his loft."

"How is he?"

Emily shrugged. "Hard to say. He seemed…okay, but I'm not sure how much of what he said was real or if he just bullshitted his whole way through his hospital stay to get out."

"Well," Alison rolled her eyes. "I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to be stuck in a place like that forced to talk to some stranger that doesn't know me or my situation."

"He said he'd join us for dinner sometime this week. If it's safe."

"Good," Alison nodded.

Emily reached for the plates and started to stand. "I should get these washed."

"Em," Alison stood up first. "Let me do it. You've been taking care of everything these days. I think it's time I lend a hand."

"Okay," Emily handed the dishes to her. "Thanks."

They shared a smile. Alison collected the rest of the dishes and put them on the counter next to the sink. She started the water and added some dish soap to the sink. She rinsed off each plate before letting them sink into the soapy water. Alison looked out the tinted window out towards the navy-blue sky. She watched the trees swaying in the wind wishing more than anything she could go outside to feel the breeze. She hadn't been able to leave this house in several months in fear of being seen, captured, and ending up like Spencer and the rest of her family. Alison sunk her hands into the soapy water and began washing dishes. She hummed quietly to herself. It was a song her mother used to sing to her at bedtime. Alison looked up out the window again, but this time she froze like a deer caught in headlights. Her eyes went wide seeing a face staring back at her. Whoever was looking in didn't realize those windows were tinted so only the people inside could look out. It was built to be a house for hunters, but instead, Emily's father arranged for Emily to stay there with Alison. As Alison got a closer look at the pending intruder, something seemed familiar about the face. Half of the face was being shielded by a dark hood, but the other half of their face looked a lot like…

"Spencer?" Alison gasped, dropping a fork back into the sink. Alison took a couple steps back away from the sink. The face remained for another second before disappearing into the darkness. Alison ran from the kitchen window over to the one next to the door hoping to see the figure again. Alison could see something moving in the light of the moon then disappearing into darkness into the woods.

"Emily!" Alison shouted. "Emily!"

Emily looked up from her phone. She jumped off the couch and ran to Alison next to the window. Alison was shaking. Emily laid her hand on Alison's trembling body, feeling her own nerves starting to rise.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Alison pointed at the kitchen window, "Spencer! I saw Spencer! She was outside!"

Emily looked at her confused. She lowered her hand down to Alison's forearm.

Gently, she said, "Ali, Spencer's dead."

"No, she was right there!" Alison made another gesture towards the window. "I don't think she knew someone was in here."

"That's impossible. You were probably just daydreaming about her and thought you saw her in the window," Emily said. "Sometimes I see my mom when I think about her."

Alison took some deep breaths before calming down. After thinking about it, she realized Emily was right. Spencer was dead. Toby confirmed it as he was the one who held her in his arms when she died. Alison was singing a song from their childhood earlier, so she must've imagined Spencer's face. She wasn't there. Spencer is dead. Alison reminded herself.

"Okay," Alison nodded. "Okay, you're right. I think I'm just tired."

Emily rubbed her shoulder, "why don't you go lay down and I'll finish cleaning up."

Alison released a shaky breath then nodded. She left the kitchen then walked down the hallway towards her bedroom. Alison took off her blouse and jeans leaving her in just her bra and underwear before climbing into her bed. She wrapped herself up inside her comforter and cried herself to sleep.


After taking a shower, Toby turned off the light in his bathroom. He walked into his bedroom then tossed his towel on the floor next to his bed. Without a shirt, Toby crawled under the covers to get into his bed. He felt cold, but he did not shiver. Helpless to fall asleep, Toby rolled over on his side to reach into his nightstand draw. He doesn't even have a picture of her. Toby rolled over on to his back. Instead, Toby decided to play with Spencer's hair tie. It no longer smelled like her. All that's left is the memory that comes with it. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to think back hard.

"Because the way I feel about you, is the way I'm not supposed to feel about you," Spencer's voice echoed in his mind.

Spencer stood up dressed in a dark sweatshirt and dark pants. Toby was sitting on the motel bed looking up at her. She looked so pretty with her hair up showing her angelic face. Her eyes were smeared with mascara from the rain. But she still looked so beautiful to him. Toby's chest felt heavy with several emotions. Anxious because he knows how he feels about her and wants to keep her safe and protected from the world. That's a challenging thing to do when they're a ton of people out there searching to capture her and kill her. Anxious because he's worried that she may not feel the same way about him as he feels about her. Anxious because if they did feel the same way about each other, being together would be difficult. He's supposed to be a hunter, although he's really a double agent trying to protect innocent witches, he was brought into the academy for a job and his job was to kill Spencer. He knew that no matter what happened between them, that because of Spencer's past, she would always have a small layer of distrust towards him. It hurt, but he understands why. Spencer played with her hands; her eyes filled with tears as she said to him.

"The way I feel about you, is the way I'm not supposed to feel about you."

Toby looked at her. He swallowed hard over his emotions.

"What if…" He began. "What if the way you're not supposed to feel about me…is the way I feel about you."

Spencer met his eyes. In that moment, they both understood what each of them was trying to say. Her tears spilled over her eyelids. One tear made its way down her cheek.

"We can't," her voice quivered as she spoke. "Even if that's true…we can't feel this way about each other."

Despite her words, Spencer stepped closer to him. She stepped closer and closer, then kneeled in front of him. Toby looked to the floor, scared that she would reject him after these next words…

"What if I can't help the way I feel about you? And I really don't care what the rest of the world thinks?"

He felt her soft, warm hands cup his face. She brough him eye level with her. She stared into his eyes. There's a theory that if a witch looks into your eyes, they steal your soul and freeze your mind so you're under their control. The theory was true. Not literally, but Toby felt himself get lost in her eyes.

"I guess we're in trouble then," she sighed, smiling a little.

"I guess we are," Toby whispered.

He couldn't resist any longer. Toby gripped her sweatshirt tightly and pulled her into him. Her warm breath was intoxicating on his lips, and her smell. She smelled like vanilla and coffee beans. Toby closed the gap between them, sinking his lips into hers. Her lips molded to his instantly. His head was spinning. His heart was pounding. He breathed in deeply, tilting his head as their kiss intensified. Her saliva mixed with his inside his mouth.

"Well," Toby thought, "If the rumors are true, and witches spread their germs through kissing, it's totally worth it."

Spencer might not be an evil witch, but she sure found her way into Toby's heart, mind, soul, and veins and he will never be able to get her out.

Toby opened his eyes. When he did, it was light out. He heard birds chirping. He let out a breathy snoring sound as he wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. He fell asleep. He fell asleep at night and woke up in the morning. That had to be the first time he's really slept in…months.

He got out of bed and tossed on the shirt he wore yesterday. He grabbed a pair of jeans from his dresser and pulled them on over his boxers. He doesn't have much of anything in the kitchen since he hasn't been at home in weeks. The Brew would be open at this time, so he got a coffee and a couple of muffins from there for breakfast. When he came back upstairs, he turned on his laptop searching his security cameras for any footage they could have of the hooded figure he saw last night. He played around with the video but couldn't see much of anything. He checked the time stamps from last night and watched closely with fresh eyes for anything that might appear. Toby wasn't sure what he saw or who he saw last night outside his loft, but his best guess was it was someone from the academy. Even though he is not a witch, Tanner is aware of his history with Spencer. They probably suspect it was him who killed Noel, even though he left behind no evidence. That was another reason the police had him sent to Radley instead of prison. He killed Noel Kahn and his brother, Emily knows it, and he knows it, but the public don't. The police have no evidence, so they can't convict him. They can't trust the confession of an insane man.

Toby sipped his coffee and stared at his computer for another hour. Just when he was finally about to give up, he saw something. Time stamp: Last Night 6: 02 p.m. just outside his loft on the stairs. A hooded figure walked into the alley just outside his loft. The figure stood and waited for a moment. Whoever it was, they kept their backs to the camera. Then, the camera skipped over 6:03 p.m. and showed footage again at 6:07 p.m. that same night. Wait, the image skipped four minutes? How long was that person outside his loft? The footage from Toby's camera skips right to a bewildered Toby heading back towards his loft. Who hacked into his cameras? He checked other cameras from different angles, but all working cameras at that time were not pointed at that section. That means, whoever is stalking him knows how to get into his security system and his cameras. Is he now being hunted?

"Shit," He said aloud.


Toby and Alison separately think deeply about Spencer. Can Toby solve this mystery?