**Chapter 59**
***Aria's POV***
Waiting for the other girls was anxiety inducing. Nothing compared to the sleepless night I had spent, alternating between an overwhelming fear any time I closed my eyes and bone weary tiredness driving me back to my bed again and again. Still, after a long sleepless night I wasn't actually looking forward to the catch up that we were having this morning. Charles had broken into Ali's house yesterday. Just another reminder that none of us were safe. There wasn't actually a safe place at the moment. Having cops stationed outside all our homes meant nothing. Other than apparently to soothe my parent's fears.
Enough that they left me alone in the house, while my dad went to work and Mike went to school. Which meant that my house was the chosen meeting place this morning, since Ali had been cagey about the home videos that had been left at her house. No A message, just a reminder that they were siblings apparently. I wanted to ask her about it in person, easier to tell if she was lying than over the phone. But it had felt so similar to her asking me about Jason, hearing the hesitancy and protectiveness in her tone. I wasn't able to dismiss the feeling that she was hiding something.
I had set the coffee brewing before my shower, but now with the exhaustion a nearly palpable wall that I had to push past I was digging into Mike's stash of energy drinks. It tasted like acid and too much sugar, but hopefully it would help. My schoolbooks were scattered across the kitchen island, as though I would be working on them. They had found a home there when I couldn't handle sleeping in my room and so slipped downstairs to play some music and work through the night. Now it felt like a facade that I could just focus on school work instead of trying to figure out what was going on with the monster that attacked us. I took another swig of the overly sweet liquid, feeling my heart race in my chest.
The sound of the doorbell ringing nearly made me jump out of my skin, as I slammed my left wrist into the counter in an attempt to reach out and catch something to steady myself. Instead pain twinged through my funny bone, overlaying the dull throb of the irritated bruise wrapped around my wrist. With a quiet curse, I headed for the door. Whoever it was they were a bit early, the girls weren't set to arrive for another 20 minutes. I opened the door to an exhausted looking Spencer, her concealer did nothing to hide the deep circles under her eyes.
"Hey, you're here early." I pulled the door open, stepping back to let her inside.
"Yeah, I was already awake." she explained, moving towards the couch and dropping her purse on the little end table. "You got another one of those?"
I blinked before realising that she was looking at the energy drink in my right hand, I had almost forgotten that it was there. "Sorry, I actually grabbed Mike's last one. Don't tell him."
"Shame, he won't hear it from me though." she moved into the kitchen, clearly heading for the coffee that was in the carafe. "Not sleeping well?"
I followed after her, leaning against the door jamb while she went through the familiar routine of making herself a cup. "Not particularly, you?"
Her head shook as she dumped a fair bit of sugar into the cup, something I rarely saw her do. Only when she was really tired and the coffee too weak to meet her needs. I grimaced when I realized how badly off we both were, though she had seemed to sleep pretty well the night that I stayed over at her place.
"Heard anything from Toby?" I tried to gently prod the no doubt sensitive subject.
"Not since he told me he got suspended." her mouth twisted into a grimace, the pain and guilt clear.
"He'll come around, Spence. He always does. It just might take a bit." I tried to comfort, knowing that nothing I could say would actually make her feel better.
"Not like he doesn't have a reason to be upset. I did hide my issues from him again, only for him to eat half a stash that I didn't even know I had."
"How did that happen? The not knowing about it part." I asked, heading back into the living room and curling up on one of the chairs, tucking my feet up underneath me.
Spencer practically collapsed into the couch, all the rigidity of her posture dissipating as she dropped down. Her coffee made it to the coffee table, even landing on one of the coasters before she buried her hands in her hair. The slump of her posture heavy with defeat.
"Hanna said that Sabrina put it in my bag and told her to let me know. I guess she forgot, and then Toby grabbed it before I realized they were even there."
"It's so frustrating all the little things that add up to Charles getting away every time." I sighed, knowing it wasn't fair to get mad at Spencer. I hadn't exactly been helping either, given the fact that I could have shared my location with the girls or the cops if I had been thinking straight.
"Yeah, it's a proper comedy of errors, just with fewer twins." Spencer joked, drawing a short laugh from me. '
"I think we've got enough messed up sibling drama." I shot back, given how incredibly convoluted Spencer and Ali's family trees were.
"Speaking of siblings," Spencer started after a long moment of silence. "Have you heard anything from Jason? He hasn't been home in a few days."
The other anxiety that I had been trying to ignore threatened to bubble up again. The fear that grabbed me in the night and made it so I couldn't shut my eyes. That Charles might have taken Jason, not like he didn't have access to their house. I breathed slowly out, trying to calm the panic that was reemerging.
"Not in a few days, just that he was going to be out of contact for a bit." I tried for the same steady tone I had used when Ali had asked me about Jason yesterday, but know I failed. I didn't mention the invisible timeline that I had set him, today for the movie marathon that he had suggested we go to so long ago.
"But he's okay?" Spencer pressed, as though I had the answers.
"As far as I know." It felt like a lie, but I could worry and panic enough for the both of us.
Spencer looked like she was about to say something, but was interrupted by a quick knock at the door. I gulped my energy drink as I stood up, almost down to the last dregs. Spencer's presence at least soothed me enough that I wasn't jumping every time that someone came to the house.
Hanna breezed in, purse slung over her arm and cloud of perfume trailing her with a vengeance. Though that might have more to do with the tense set to her face and shoulders.
"Ali here yet?" she asked, instead of a greeting.
"Not yet, just us so far." Spencer answered from the couch, drinking from her mug.
"So are we agreed that she's hiding something?" Hanna dropped into a chair as she dropped that on us.
"You picked up on that too?" Spencer asked, eyes glancing between Hanna and me.
Sometimes Hanna seemed like a total airhead, given her propensity to misuse words, and more dedication to fashion magazines and celebrity gossip than her school work. But she was quick on the uptake, especially when it came to figuring out what people's intentions were. Maybe because she had always had to parse through everything Ali said to find the insults that were constantly lobbed her way.
"It might not be anything critical. Ali could just be dealing with finding out that Charles is in fact her brother in her own way." I tried to justify, it couldn't be easy for Ali even if we had tried to tell her about it weeks ago when we first got back.
I watched Spencer and Hanna both give me their disbelieving looks, the twin quirk of eyebrows, like seriously Aria are you actually defending this? I gave a sigh before admitting. "Okay, I also think she's hiding something about the home videos. Like maybe she didn't want to actually tell us about them."
The air settled around us as we realized we were in fact in agreement about this. That Ali was hiding things from us, and Hanna was obviously in a mood to get answers.
"Is there any coffee?" Hanna asked, glancing between my energy drink and Spencer's mug.
"Always." I assured, watching as she dropped her bag on the floor next to her claimed chair and headed into the kitchen.
"I take it you're both dodging school today?" I made sure my voice was loud enough to carry to the kitchen.
"My parents think it's better if I do the rest of my school work from home. At least until they catch Charles." the slightly bitter undertone in Spencer's voice made me wonder if she had been given any choice in the matter.
"My mom pulled the same thing. Thinks I'll be safer with Caleb during the day." Hanna reemerged with a large mug of coffee cradled between her hands. "So we're in the same boat as you."
I could feel a frown forming on my face, eyebrows digging down as I took another drink. Hanna was so eager to get back to school, looking for normalcy that the rest of us hadn't been ready for. Even though she had always been the first to skip before, she had practically ordered us all to be at school right after we came back. And I knew Spencer and Emily had both met that direction, at least part of the time.
"Are you okay with that?" I couldn't help asking Hanna.
"Working on it." Hanna answered with a shrug. "And at least it gives us more time to try and find Charles."
"Speaking of, do you mind if I turn on the news? I'm hoping there's something there about the investigation. There's gotta be something after the arcade, right?" Spencer was already moving for the remote.
"Go for it. I'm gonna get some coffee." I finished off my energy drink, tilting the can back and forth to ensure it was in fact empty.
I tossed my empty can into the recycling bin before grabbing a fresh mug from the cupboard. The carafe only had enough coffee for my mug, and with Emily and Alison still to arrive, set a new pot to brew. The front door opened and closed while I was in the kitchen, so I wasn't surprised to walk out and find Emily sitting on the couch. I saw her gaze go directly to my mug when I walked back out.
"There's more brewing now. So just give it a few minutes." I answered the unspoken question.
There was a news broadcast on, but it seemed like they were talking about the war overseas. Spencer had the tv muted as a result, but her eyes kept darting back to the screen. Keeping an eye through the closed captioning that she had turned on.
"How's Sarah doing?" I asked Emily, hoping that was a safer topic to start out with.
"Seems to be doing pretty well. Things are going well working for Caleb, and staying with Claire." she seemed upset by the last part.
"Maybe it'll be safer for her to be away from us, that way Charles can focus his attention on us and might leave Sara alone." I tried to sound optimistic, even though Emily had already told us how worried she was without the police surveillance that we were all currently subject to.
"I think the assumption is that anyone would be safer away from us. Given the no going to school thing." Emily responded, mouth tilting in that self-depracating smirk of hers.
"Your mom also told you not to go?" Spencer questioned.
"My mom apparently got an email from Hackett saying its better if we don't attend." she offered slowly, looking between Spencer and Hanna. "Didn't you guys get the same email?"
"My parents framed it as their idea, to help keep me from relapsing." Spencer admitted after a moment. "But it coming from Hackett makes sense."
Silence settled heavily in the air, uncomfortable in a way that rarely happened with the girls. I doubted my parents had gotten an email, and if they had they wouldn't have shared it with me anyway. It's not like I was itching to go back to school. I was still jumpy in crowds, and preferred doing my work on my own. Away from all the stares and judgment. But this was basically banishment, and was definitely more aimed at keeping the other students safe than any of us, since it might have been better for us to be under more direct supervision than the slipshod job the patrol officers assigned to us were currently doing.
"I think the coffee's ready, Emily do you want me to make you a cup?" I offered, anything to break this uncomfortable feeling in the room.
"I can make one, thanks." she headed into the kitchen, leaving the rest of us in the quiet.
"I need a refill." Spencer followed after, leaving Hanna and I alone.
I glanced at the tv, something about the economy now, before looking back to Hanna. She bounced her foot, like she was impatient. Waiting for something to happen. Her mouth had also tightened, clearly annoyed that her mom had hidden the school's direction to not allow her in classes.
"Have you heard anything from Mona?" I tried to distract her. "I know she and Mike got back together. And was wondering if she had reached out to you."
"Not really, she and I haven't gotten back to mani-pedi buddies." she answered with a shrug. "Did Ali say anything about running late?"
There was a knock at the door, stopping me from checking my phone for a message. Instead I swung the door open to find Ali standing on my front porch. I let her in, watching as she settled in the other arm chair, opposite Hanna. "Coffee's fresh."
"Thanks." she responded, before heading in to grab a drink.
"Hey turn the volume on." Spencer directed, walking back into the living room.
Grabbing the remote, I stood up to let them back in. I hit the unmute button, looking up to the screen to see a male reporter appear on the screen, with the arcade behind him. Finally they were running the story we were actually interested in.
"Authorities have named Charles DiLaurentis as the lead suspect in the kidnapping of five Rosewood area teens, as well as a sixth victim from Courtland. Both state and local police remain tightlipped about the status of the investigation, as well as regarding the potential location of the suspect".
"Hey Ali said she turned in the home videos to the cops, right?" Spencer clarified, and I realized that I didn't remember if Ali had actually told us what had happened with the videos.
"Yeah, I think so." Emily answered. "Why?
"Maybe they could do one of those age progression sketches. We could finally put a face to the name."
"Yeah, and maybe someone could put a fist to the face." Hanna snarked, arms crossed tightly across her chest while she turned her attention back to the tv.
Ali made her way back into the living room, settling in her seat quickly. "What did I miss?"
Spencer's phone chirped, halting any response I could have made to her question.
"Toby says the highway patrol are setting up checkpoints at all the state borders." she read aloud for us.
"He say anything else after he accidentally ate half your stash?" Emily asked, turning from the tv to look at Spencer.
"He's texting me. That's a win." Spencer informed.
"Guys." I reached for the remote, seeing a picture of Jessica DiLaurentis appear on the screen, her name listed below.
"Though police have yet to comment officially, inside sources speculate that the former Radley patient could be responsible for the unsolved murder of his mother, Jessica DiLaurentis." the reporter continued on, though I heard Ali's sharp intake of breath at that statement. "One of the first responding officers on the scene, suffered minor injuries in pursuit of the suspect.
"Did you know about this?" I asked her, seeing her frozen as she continued staring at the screen.
"No." her answer was soft, and I wasn't sure that I believed her.
"You should probably ask your dad." Spencer suggested.
"Yeah, like he'd give a straight answer." Hanna cut in, remark sharp and quick.
Emily sighed. "Well if it is true. It's awful. Ali's mom was practically the only person who visited him. Who even knew that Charles existed."
"He used her to fertilize Spencer's mom's petunias." Hanna snarked back.
"My mom grows azaleas." Spencer corrected, earning an elbow in her side from me now was not the time to be pedantic.
"Whatever, Charles is vicious. We all know that. And now, everyone else knows it too."
Hanna settled back into her seat. I had no idea what to say to that. Hanna was obviously pissed, and she had every right to be upset. Especially with the concern that Ali was lying to us. But a little more tact would have made this whole situation less awkward. And more likely for us to get something out of Ali, she was less open when she was on the defensive.
"We had birthday cake." Ali spoke into the room, statement jarring enough to derail my train of thought. "Had a day at the arcade, when Jason and I met him. Charles gave me his frosting. How does that turn into vicious?"
The tension increased in the air. Seeming like Ali was dismissing everything that we all went through, not just in the dollhouse, but in the years of torture and terror that we had been living through. I saw Hanna roll her eyes.
"We're probably done watching this, right?" I shut the tv off, not waiting for an answer. If Spencer wanted to watch for what the police knew, she could watch the clip online later on her own.
"Do you remember anything else?" I asked Ali after a moment of quiet, like no one else was willing to break the silence.
"He cried when it was time to it was the best birthday he'd ever had." If that was true, it was sad. I almost wanted to feel sorry for him. But I couldn't. He'd ruined so much of my life, taken so many things away from all of us. I did feel for Ali and Jason though, unable to imagine finding out my parents had hid a sibling from Mike and me. "The person they're describing on the news, I don't even know who that is."
"You played skeeball. Once." Hanna bit out, ignoring any sympathy and moving straight into accusation. "I wouldn't call that family bonding."
"Hanna." Emily interrupted, cutting off her attack.
"I think what Hanna's trying to say is that it's hard for us to imagine that A is really your brother." Spencer tried to smooth over the situation, as though that hadn't been exactly what we had been saying since we got out of the dollhouse, why we had gone to track down his medical records from Radley. Or why they had gone out to Ali's aunt's place trying to find evidence of Charles.
"No," Hanna spoke over her. "What's hard to imagine is that you feel even the slightest bit of pity for Charles."
"Little harsh, Han." I shot her a look, trying to get her to back down so maybe we could get more out of Ali.
"He has been out for blood, for all of us. And he's come way too close, more than once." she didn't take the hint.
"We hear you, but it's unfair to Ali right now." Spencer tried to soothe.
"Why are you trying to shut me up, Spencer? I'm just saying what you guys are thinking." she wasn't wrong there, but it wasn't helpful right now. "If you guys are too scared to be honest, then fine. I will do it for you."
Hanna turned her attention from us on the couch over to Ali, fixing her stare directly on her eyes. "I'm sorry, Alison. I know this must really suck for you. But I'm not gonna sit here and help you give A the benefit of the doubt. I hope the police catch him. Cause there's nothing they can do to him that's worse than what he did to us."
She was up and moving so fast, I didn't have a chance to say anything. Instead she grabbed her handbag and headed for the door. Slamming it behind her. The house shook a little, air settling again as we all settled uncomfortably in our seats. I took a long drink of my coffee, hoping that letting the quiet be for a moment would help Ali to open up to us.
"Sorry, Ali. You know she's just stressed and scared." Spencer rationalized after a minute.
"I get it. I know he put you all through hell." Ali admitted, her shoulders slackening slightly from their raised position.
"You turned the videos over to the cops,right? Was there anything else there that might be a clue to finding them?" I followed up, testing the waters gently to see if she would tell us anything else.
"Why'd you turn them in without showing us anyway?" Emily broke in before Ali could answer. "I thought we agreed to not share anything with the cops just yet."
"I didn't have much of a choice, Em. My dad came home and found me watching them. He called Tanner right away." Ali explained, and I realized what it had been that she had been hiding on the phone last night.
She hadn't planned to turn the movies in, not to the cops. I doubted she had even intended to share them with us. It was probably lucky that her dad had come home when he did, otherwise we'd all be in the dark about this. I bit my lip, quickly covering with a drink of coffee. It was hard to hide my irritation that Ali was keeping things from us. Like she always had. I don't know why I kept hoping that she would change and suddenly be open with us.
"But Charles didn't leave a message or anything? That seems so strange. Especially since we already know who he is."
Ali rolled her eyes, the defensive wall clearly going back up. The moment of vulnerability that had been there before where she had been talking about the few memories that she had of her brother was gone. She tilted her head to the side, and before she even opened her mouth I knew it would be sarcastic. "I already told you, Spencer. There wasn't anything else."
I knew she was lying, not that she had a tell. So much of what Ali said was lies in one way or another. But what I knew of Charles, meant he didn't just leave gifts. He always sent a message. Maybe it didn't always have a signature on the end, but there was aways a reason for what he sent, something clearly spelled out so there was no room for misinterpretation.
There was a knock at the door, and I immediately got up. It was probably Hanna, maybe reconsidering the storm out. She had wanted answers from Ali after all, and had left before she had a chance to get them. I pulled the door open, and instead was faced with a wall of cotton, in the form of a chest. My gaze traveled up, and I threw myself forward, wrapping my arms around Jason.
**End Chapter**
Hey all, sorry about the delay in getting this one done. I really struggled to get this out, but bright side is that I do at least know what happens next chapter instead of a weird bridge chapter.
Also a note about the Comedy of Errors joke, it just seemed too perfect not to throw in the bit about twins.
Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think.