HIDDEN SECRETS - jason dilaurentis

03| to kill a mocking girl

"I don't think it's that weird. We used to come out here every day in the eighth grade," Ivy noted.

Spencer nodded, sending Ivy a thankful smile, before she expressed her point, "I think this is the wrong place to do this, whatever you call it... shrine,"

"It's not a shrine. It's just a place to remember Alison," Emily corrected with a huff. "What's wrong with that?" She questioned.

"Doing it way out here makes it look like we have something to hide," Spencer pointed out.

"You're worried what other people think?"

Spencer spun back to Emily. "Well, aren't you? Do you really want to give that creepy detective more reasons to question us?" She fired back.

Ivy and Hanna met each other's gazes, both of them shifting uncomfortably after the Wilden was brought up.

They hadn't spilled to any of the girls what had been going on in their house. None of them knew about how close Wilden was to them. He had stayed in their house, and had slept with their mother to drop Hanna's charges.

Suddenly, Hanna set off through the woods, following the trail to the shed.

The girls each shared a look, before rushing to follow after her.

Climbing over some loose branches that had fallen, Ivy clambered after the girls, trying to act normal so nobody would suspect she was lying.

"Hanna, why are you so quiet?" Aria questioned.

"I'm trying to keep the bugs in my nose and out of my mouth," Hanna responded. She continued to move through the woods at a quick pace, trying to avoid the topic of Wilden.

"You're allowed to have an opinion on this," Emily told her.

"You want my opinion?" Hanna spun on her heel to face them, and blurted, "I say we hold off and not remember her till we know for sure she's not still here."

"What?" Each of the girls gaped at her, struggling to believe her words.

"You think she's still alive?" Emily's wide eyes never left Hanna for a second.

"Hanna, they found her body."

Aria stepped in, beginning to freak out, "Stop. I'm officially scared. Can we just not—" She started.

Hanna interrupted her, "—You know, you asked for my opinion. I don't believe she's really gone." She took off again, leaving the girls behind.

"We went to her funeral!" Spencer shouted, trying to catch up with her.

"Yeah, and when we left we all got a text from her."

"It wasn't her. Someone is messing with us."

"How do you know? And what about all those nasty messages? I mean, how does this 'A' person know stuff only Ali knew?" Hanna argued back, coming to a stop in the middle of the woods.

Ivy's eyes dropped to the floor where her foot was awkwardly fiddling with a loose tree branch. She muttered under her breath, "Actually, Ali didn't know what 'A' texted me," She admitted. The girls' gazes spun to her in shock, raising their brows expectantly. Ivy suddenly shook her head at the looks she was receiving. "I'm sorry but I'm can't tell you," She disclosed.

"That's okay," Aria reassured, placing a comforting hand on Ivy's arm. Trying to stop the conversation from getting any worse, Aria jumped in, "Anyway, this conversation is giving me a hive."

"That's a bite. Mosquito," Hanna teased.

Emily turned to the girl next to her and asked, "Spencer, have you got any more messages?"