***Chapter 30***

**Aria's POV**

I half-wondered when this became normal for me. When breaking into different places became less crazy and more of a common occurrence. I practically had a section of my closet dedicated to breaking and entering. But really, I didn't have to think about it too hard to realize that it all started junior year. And honestly, the years sneaking around playing all of Ali's games had been the perfect lead-up. I gave a sigh as we sat in the car, making sure that we were in the right part of Leslie's campus so that we could sneak into the lab without being stopped by security.

"Alright, so if we cut between these buildings, we should be able to use this entrance to get into the lab with minimal time outside." Spencer directed, pointing at the map of the campus she had been analyzing for the past few minutes.

Thankfully, there were other students still milling about the campus, lingering around the lighted doorways, even though it was almost ten. I guess that was the benefit of a college, that there were always people around so it was easy to blend in even if you weren't supposed to be there. Still, I had worn dark skinny jeans and a dark jacket so that it would be easier for me to slip through the shadows of the dark campus.

"Let's just go." Hanna said, pushing her door open.

I gave another sigh before following the others. There actually weren't many security officers patrolling the campus, since we ran into none on our way to the lab. Spencer walked casually up to the entrance to the lab, as though she was supposed to be there, which would help if we happened to be seen by someone. It was a strange feeling, breaking into a building like this, not only terrifying and nerve-wracking, but also dangerously exciting. The key card didn't work on the elevator unfortunately, which meant that we had to take the stairs up the six flights to reach the lab, I was really grateful that I had opted to wear flats for this outing rather than the heels that I used to favor. At least my pumping adrenaline got used for something.

"Leslie experiments on animals?" Hanna questioned as we walked into the lab that had been indicated on the key card and saw the cages of various lab animals.

"Of course she does, what do you think that we were to her?" I retorted.

Honestly, being lab experiments was less disturbing to me than being treated like a doll. There was safety in the clinical frame. I wasn't sure why, but it let me forget a little of what had happened. I shook the thoughts away, not wanting to deal with the aftermath of my panicky thoughts.

"Let's see if we can find Leslie's desk. Hopefully there is some evidence there." Spencer directed, beginning to check the desks that were throughout the room.

We spread out, to try and find which one was Leslie's. Thankfully, they all had placards that showed who worked there. I finally found hers, it was the messiest desk in the room, at least that I had seen so far. Covered in papers, stacks of binders, pens, and a couple of cups, the placard had been partially covered by the mess that was threatening to spill off the desk onto the floor.

"Hey, I got it over here." I whisper-shouted to the others, getting their attention without drawing the attention of any guards who might be patrolling the building. "What are we looking for?"

"Well, Leslie furnished an entire bunker, so there should be a stack of receipts." Spencer said. "Aria, you check here and we'll check the next room."

I nodded my head before beginning to look through the desk. I was carefully picking through the array of mess, trying to keep it mostly in its current state just in case Leslie would remember the previous iteration. It seemed an exercise in futility as there was no way she was that familiar with the overlapping array. Spencer was checking through the bookshelves when there was a high-pitched whine.

"What the hell was that?" Hanna asked, as she moved passed a sensor of some kind and it went off again.

Spencer walked over and grabbed Hanna's head, moving it back and forth in front of the sensor, causing it to whine every time that she passed in front of it. She tried to protest, but Spencer just shushed her, before grabbing one of the sensors and using it like a wand over the back of Hanna's head. It made the same beeping sound, so Spencer mimicked the movement on her own head to the same result.

"Spence, say something. Why are we like radioactive?" Hanna was nearly freaking out on Spencer wanting to know what was going on. I took a step closer unsure if I wanted to come too close to that sensor myself.

"Bitch chipped us." Spencer spat out in shock and outrage.

"She chipped us? She freaking chipped us?" I couldn't help it as my hand flew to the back of my head where the sensor had gone off, my hand brushed against the sensitive area that had been bothering me for the past few days.

"That's why we were drugged. So she could put a tracking chip into us." Spencer declared.

I felt incredibly nauseous and was about ready to throw up into the trash can nearby, but knew that if I did it would be leaving behind proof that we were here. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm my stomach and my nerves. I couldn't believe that A had violated us in that way. The thought caused me to flinch, hating the thought that this was yet another way that Charles had been inside of me. Rooting around beneath my skin. I grabbed the desk next to me, needing the stability to keep from keeling over. Closing my eyes to try and keep out the overwhelming fear that was rushing through me. It also helped to hide the spots that had cropped up in my vision, knowing that I had probably stopped breathing again. I didn't think I could take this. It had been there for so long, if he had put it in when we had woken up on those slabs then it had been under my skin for nearly a month. Just push it aside, I thought. Aiming to just get through the next little bit. Desperate to hold it together for just a little longer.

"Alright, we need to keep looking. We need some solid evidence to take to the police. Aria, you keep checking desks. Hanna, check over there. And I'll check the shelves." Spencer had shoved it down and was obviously resolved in getting this over with.

"Why not just give the cops our heads?" Hanna muttered sarcastically before heading in the direction that Spencer had pointed her.

Spencer looked back over at me, seeing that I looked about ready to fall down. I shook off her worry, knowing that we needed to get out of here soon. I wasn't sure how much longer we could be lucky enough for security not to check in, or that I could keep it together. I dug back into the messy desk with gusto, flipping through paper after paper. I could hear the others moving in the other room, along with some other movement but I wasn't paying much attention, I just wanted to get out of here. Finally, I came across an invoice that looked like it might have something to do with her A work, specifically the order was for tranquilizers.

"Guys, check out this invoice." I said coming into the room to see the others.

"Aria," Spencer warned, but I was caught on my train of thought.

"She just ordered like a dozen…" I cut off when I heard the hiss of a raccoon that was standing in the middle of the lab and had its eyes fixed on me.

What the hell was the raccoon doing out in the middle of the lab? Shouldn't it be in its cage? There were so many cages in the room, literally lining the walls, I couldn't understand how they could have left the raccoon out and about. It had frozen in place, mouth open and eyes wide. Which was slightly better than the jerky movement it had been doing the moment before.

"Don't scream, you're going to make it worse." Spencer told me calmly, I shot her a panicked look. I knew it wouldn't help but I really wasn't too into the idea of dealing with the freaky raccoon in front of me.

"Is there another light we can turn on?" Hanna tried, looking around the room.

"No, they're nocturnal. I don't want to traumatize it anymore than it already has been. We just need to get them back in their cages." Spencer shot her idea down.

Seriously, Spencer? After the trauma that they've been through? I didn't want to deal with any more trauma from dealing with a lab experiment raccoon that looked like it wanted to eat me and was all drugged up. I was practically sputtering in response, that Spencer was prioritizing the lab raccoon over me before what she had said clicked.

"Wait, them?" I asked, my mind stopping on the fact that she had said plural, so there were more creepy critters crawling around and I didn't know where they were.

"Yeah, there're rats too. And they jump." Hanna explained, which didn't make anything better.

"Do you guys have any food?" Spencer asked, moving over to the desk to try and find something useful.

"Do they eat cheese sticks?" Hanna returned, pulling a baggie of cheese sticks from her bag and passing it to Spencer.

She dropped a cheese stick in front of the raccoon, which quickly grabbed the snack and brought it up to its mouth. It seemed less agitated now that it had something to munch on. She dropped a few more, trying to lead the raccoon back towards its cage.

"Not all of them, Spencer. That's my dinner."

I shot a look at Hanna at the fact that she was only having cheese sticks for dinner. Didn't the doctors say that she was just as malnourished as I was? She should be eating something other than just junk food. Spencer ignored her, tossing a few more on the ground which brought a rat over to join. I backed up, not wanting to be anywhere near the rodents. Suddenly, I felt a weight on my shoulder. I turned my head, seeing a rat standing there. I didn't scream at least when I knocked it away from my shoulder and ran over to where Hanna was hiding by the window.

"What are you doing?" Spencer asked harshly, wondering why I was freaking out.

Suddenly, the lights all went out, making the room turn completely black without any light. My heart instantly started speeding up. I could hear the sound of breathing from what I knew in my mind to be Hanna, but it seemed so far away. There was hot breath on my face and I froze where I was, tears burning in my eyes. I could feel my limbs start to shake as the darkness consumed me. As quickly as they had gone out, the lights were back on. My eyes popped open and I quickly brushed away the tears that had slipped down my face in the darkness. Desperately hoping that Hanna hadn't seen the reaction. I just needed to hold it together for a little longer.

"Have you guys lost your minds?" Mona said as she stood beside the lamp which had just turned back on.

"Mona, you followed us here again?"

"Why did you turn the lights out?" I demanded, fear turning into anger quickly.

"So the security guard wouldn't see us." She said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, then began walking closer to us.

"Us? Oh, save it, Mona. You are not one of us, you're working for A." I accused.

"You and Leslie Stone are going down." Spencer told her.

"We have what we need and we're taking it straight to the police."

Mona rolled her eyes before ushering the raccoon back into its cage and closing it. Then she turned back to us, her face the picture of boredom. "This college will prosecute. I'm just trying to save you from yourselves."

"Cut the crap, Mona. The only thing you're trying to protect is Leslie's vendetta against us."

"Yeah, which is crazy because we had nothing to do with what happened to Bethany." Hanna interjected.

"Yeah, we'd never even heard of Leslie's friend until she was found in Alison's grave."

"Her friend?" Mona laughed derisively. "Where did it say in Leslie's file that she was friends with Bethany Young. She hated that bitch."

"Oh really?" Spencer started. "And I suppose she hated Charles too. So much so that she started pretending to be him."

"Leslie's not pretending to be Charles." Mona's voice was practically a sneer, before she took a breath admitting, "She's just pretending to be stable. That's why she didn't want anyone to see that file."

"She was in Radley the same time as Charles. You're telling me that Leslie never even…"

"I asked her myself." Mona cut Hanna off before she could finish her statement. "She'd only heard Charles' name once. The night that Bethany snuck out of Radley and never came back. Charles snuck out that night too."

"Wait, that was the night that Alison disappeared. Charles was already dead by then." I was so confused, Spencer had found a work order which showed that Charles was dead. I hadn't believed it and still knew that there was someone else working with them but it couldn't be Charles.

"Not according to Leslie. They were looking for two patients. The entire place went on lockdown because everyone was looking for Bethany and Charles."

"He had to be dead, Mona. He donated his organs. Show her, Spencer." Hanna prompted.

Spencer reached into her bag and pulled out the file that she had shown to me earlier tonight, it was the work order from Radley for the courier to take the donated organs to a hospital for transplants. Mona took the paper and looked over it quickly before giving another derisive laugh.

"Spencer, why did you just give her those?" I whispered to her, not trusting Mona as far as I could throw her.

"Don't worry, I made copies." She reassured.

"This donation form is a sham. Look at the medications that Charles was taking. No one would want his liver. He's not an eligible donor."

Spencer took the papers back and looked at them again, I could see her mind working as she examined them another time. Maybe she had slipped up, I didn't think she had been getting much sleep since we had gotten back, not if the circles under her eyes were any indication. Spencer had made mistakes in the past when she'd been exhausted like this.

"So what are you saying?" Hanna asked.

"What that Charles is alive?"

"Of course, and probably planning something big and wanted to keep us distracted. Leslie's just easy pickings."

"We have a picture, and the person in the hoodie is not a guy."

"Spencer, if you caught A in a photo, it's because A wanted to be caught."

There were the sounds of footsteps coming from outside in the hall, along with the shine of a flashlight beam against the blinds of the glass window. We all scrambled to find hiding places as the security guard opened the door and checked to see if there was anything going on. He must have heard us, but after a moment he turned away, closing the door behind him.

We waited for a few minutes, to make sure that we were definitely clear of the guards before emerging from our hiding places. Mona led the way out of the lab, taking the back stairs and then leading out onto the well lit part of campus, where we would be less conspicuous.

"I'll try and get Leslie to agree to meet with us tomorrow. Maybe she can give us some more answers." Mona said before she headed over to where she was parked.

I got a ride back with Spencer and Hanna. Hanna dropped Spencer and I both off at Spencer's house, she was going to head over and talk to Emily about what we had found out tonight.

"I need to go do something, I'll be back in a few hours. Then we can head over to your house and crash there for the night." Spencer said after Hanna had taken off.

"Yeah, that works for me. Meet back here in two hours?" I asked, which she nodded to.

She stopped by the cop car and headed to her car before driving off. I wasn't sure if I actually needed to talk to the cop, but figured that it couldn't hurt. I walked down the driveway to where the squad car was parked.

"I'm gonna head over to the DiLaurentis house for a little while."

**End Chapter**

Hey folks, hope you enjoyed our nice little breaking and entering adventure. Let me know what ya think.