I'm going to be honest because I've written these chapters so far in advance, sometimes I forget what I've written in previous chapters. Lmao, but I'm making the effort to post every other day so I can push myself to finish the story before I lose heart. That is something I tend to struggle with when I write a story. Reviews help with that.


Chapter 12: 30 Minutes

"Don't trust her?" Alison questioned. "Who is her?"

Emily shook her head, "I don't know. I'm not even sure of who sent this."

She looked all over the paper and envelope for clues as to who wrote it. Nothing sticks out to her. Alison took it to study the note.

"This is going to sound crazy but, the handwriting looks a lot like Spencer's."

"What?"

"When Spencer and I separated after we killed Ian, this is how we would communicate. We would write messages to each other then give them to a trusted third party to deliver for us," Alison explained.

Emily peered over her shoulder to look at it. "When would Spencer have written this? If there is someone we shouldn't be trusting, why wouldn't she mention this when she was alive? More importantly, why didn't she name the person?"

"Well, it says to pass the message on to Toby, so maybe Toby will know who she was talking about. They might have had a conversation about the she in whom this message is referring to."

Emily checked her phone and groaned, "I've left Toby ten messages already and he hasn't responded to any of them. He went dark again."

"We must find some way to get this message to him. If we got it today that means whoever delivered the message already knows that Toby is working with the person he shouldn't be trusting," said Alison.

"I might have an idea," Emily said. "If Toby isn't responding to us right now, we might be able to contact him through the one person he is contacting."


Aria felt like there was a balloon inside of her chest. A balloon that kept filling with anxiety as time ticked by. Caleb sat down at his computer going mad crazy. It had been two hours since Toby gave him the task of hacking the Academy's network. It was only a matter of time before Toby would contact them again with an update. Caleb was given three hours to get this job done. Hour three is quickly approaching and Caleb is having no luck. Their system is tight. Aria worried at the possibility of losing another friend. She could not fault Toby for wanting revenge against Caleb for what happened to Spencer, but did he have to go after Hanna?

A text message popped up on Aria's phone. The buzzing in her pocket nearly made her jump. When she checked, she was surprised by who sent the text.

"I'm getting kind of hungry," Aria lied. She could not imagine eating at a time like this. "Do you have any food in your house?"

Caleb's eyes never left the computer screen as he said, "no, I don't know."

"Okay," Aria pretended to look in the kitchen. "You've got nothing. I'm going to run out really quick. Do you want me to bring you back something?"

"I don't have time for food."

Aria put on her jacket then quickly slipped out of the apartment. She checked around for hunters that might be out at this time. It was still early for them to be out, but the sky was getting darker. Aria pulled her hood up anyway and jogged down the street to where her car was parked. She took a five-minute drive until she ended up in a secluded part of the town. A dirt road that goes through a wooded area. Aria waited in her car for ten minutes before two people dressed in dark clothing arrived. They both climbed into the back seat.

Emily and Alison lowered their hoods once they were safely in the back seat of Aria's car. The three of them made eye contact before Aria switched her gear shift and began to drive.

"I've got thirty minutes before I need to get back," Aria said. "Talk fast."

Emily reached into her pocket to show Aria the message, "someone sent this to us. We need you to pass this along to Toby."

Aria read the note while carefully keeping her eyes on the road.

"Don't Trust her," Aria read aloud. "Don't trust who?"

"We don't know," Alison said. "But Toby might."

"I haven't spoken to Toby in over a year," said Aria. "What makes you think that I can get this to him?"

"Because you're working with Caleb," Emily said. She avoided eye contact. "I saw you with him at the Brew earlier today."

Aria began to raise her voice, "So, you know what Toby did? You know he kidnapped Hanna."

"We know," said Alison. "And if Toby is still the person, we think he is then he won't hurt her."

"He kidnapped her!"

"We know how bad this looks, but Toby has his reasons," Alison said.

Aria slanted her eyes at them, "do you two know something I don't?"

"First we need to know whose side you are on," said Emily. "You have a habit of taking the side that will save your ass. Right now, we can't afford anymore betrayals. If you help us get a message back to Toby, this could help save Hanna."

Aria drove in silence for a moment. Aria did have a habit of switching sides though they were selfish reasons, it was all to assure she'd survive another day. She did not want to risk losing Hanna, but she also really wanted to put an end to this witch hunt madness. If Toby can find a way to do that and if they all work together, they just might be able to pull it off.

"Okay," Aria took a breath. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well first of all, you have to be as discreet as possible about it," Emily said. "Caleb can't know about this. Can you tell us anything more about what Toby expects from him?"

"He wants Caleb to hack their network. When they were in the training academy together, Toby recalls overhearing Tanner talking about an experiment they did way back in the day that proved the witches are innocent. Tanner had that information buried," Aria shook her head. "Toby wants Caleb to find that file and leak it for the whole world to see."

Alison's mouth opened as her eyes filled with anger, "they've had proof this entire time and they're still hunting us! What the fuck!"

"If Toby knew about that file a long time ago, why didn't he say something!" Emily wondered.

"He probably was too afraid," Alison said, calmly. "If he wanted to keep up his act as a double agent, there wasn't much he could say. They would have killed him to keep him silent."

"If Tanner knows the truth, why is she still pushing to kill people?" Emily thought.

"Do you guys think the message you got is about Tanner?" Aria asked.

"Toby already knows not to trust Tanner," Alison said. "We think it could be someone Toby's been working with on the side. Perhaps someone Toby got help from before, but now this person has flipped the script."

"I suppose that makes sense," Aria said. "But who sent this message to you?"

Emily and Alison eyed each other. Alison said, "it's written in Spencer's handwriting."

All three of them were jerked forward as Aria slammed on the breaks. Emily put her hand over her chest as she felt her heart skip a beat. Aria looked back at them.

"I thought she was dead." She studied their faces. "Is she alive?"

"We don't know," Alison admitted. "It's possible Spencer wrote that before she died and we're just now getting it."

"A letter from over a year ago finally gets delivered." Aria was skeptical. "Mail is slow, but it's not that slow."

"When Spencer and I would separate, we used to write handwritten notes to each other," Alison said. "But we could never send them through mail because we worried someone would track us. So, our second Cousin Shauna would pass the notes along for us."

Aria's phone buzzed. She shifted her car into park to check her phone.

"It's Caleb," she told them. "Toby's going to call with a check in fifteen minutes. I've got to get back."

"Don't tell him what we told you," Emily said. "Just find a way to get this message to Toby so he'll understand but do it without Caleb suspecting anything."

"How hard could that be?" Aria rolled her eyes. "Where can I drop you guys off?"

"Right where you picked us up," Emily said. "My cars a half a mile away from there."

Aria drove a mile up the road where she had picked them up earlier. She stopped the car long enough to allow them time to get out. Once out of the car.

"Guys," Aria's voice fell, and her eyes pleaded. "Keep me in the loop, okay? I know I've given you reasons not to trust me before, but I'm different now. I am on your side here."

Emily nodded and said, "we will. Let us know how the exchanged goes."

Aria nodded in agreement. Alison and Emily left the car then disappeared into the darkness.


Emily and Alison lose contact with Toby, so they go to Aria for help. Do you think Toby will get the message in time?