"He wasn't moving, okay, and he was not breathing." Aria said.
"Because he was dead." Emily said.
"Is dead. Not was, is." Spencer said.
"So, unless we're saying Ian's a zombie, somebody moved the body." Emily said.
"it's probably stuffed in the trunk of A's car." Hanna said.
"It's probably on its way to a meat grinder." Emily said.
"Oh, Em, come on, you gotta quit watching those horror films." Aria said, making a face.
"Guys, A's probably watching us right now." Spencer said.
"Yeah, or waiting for Kat at the hospital." Hanna said.
"Is she safe?" Aria asked.
"Of course she is, my mom's still there." Spencer said.
"They wanna see you girls down at the station. I'm here to drive you." Garrett said, doing his best to hide his concern for the girl who was just put in an ambulance.
"I saw my parents earlier. They're gonna want to know where we're going." Aria said.
"They'll meet us there. Come on. Let's go." Garrett said.
...
"Ow. It hurts." Katherine cried, as the nurse in the ambulance tried to clean her cut.
"I know, it was pretty deep. But you'll be okay in no time." The nurse said.
"My friends. I need my friends." Katherine said.
"They'll come by the hospital later. Right now, I need you to focus on keeping your eyes open and speaking to me. We'll be there in just a minute."
...
"Hey, I thought we were going to the police station." Hanna said, as Garrett pulled into an alleyway.
"Why are we stopping?" Spencer asked.
"Garrett?" Emily said.
"Let's go." Garrett said, unbuckling his seat belt.
"No, I'm not going anywhere." Hanna said.
"Get out of the car." Garrett said. The four girls all looked at each other and hesitantly got out of the vehicle. "It's not safe to talk in the car."
"Well, it doesn't really feel safe here either." Hanna said.
"Look, I'm sorry if I scared you but there's some things you guys need to know before you start answering questions." Garrett said.
"We're listening." Spencer said.
"Alright, the police cannot know that you were blackmailing Ian and that I was helping you. It's a serious crime." Garrett said.
"Well, what about the messenger?" Aria asked.
"He doesn't want any trouble." Garrett said.
"And the money?" Hanna asked.
"For now, I'm hiding it." Garrett said.
"What about the videos?" Spencer asked.
"You still have them?" Garrett asked.
"Yeah, we made a copy, but we don't have some of Kat's. She took those." Spencer said.
"Okay, look, I've never asked you guys how you got them and I don't wanna know. But you better be prepared to tell the police how you did because that's, that's the first question they're gonna ask you." Garrett said.
"Officer Reynolds, what's your ETA?" A voice from his radio asked.
"Yeah, we're enroute."
"Roger that."
"I hate asking you to lie like this. But are we all clear?" Garrett said.
"We'll keep the videos a secret." Spencer said.
"For now." Hanna said.
"Okay, good. Let's get back." Garrett said.
"I'm sorry we got you into this." Emily said.
"No, we'll be okay. We just need to stick to our story, yeah?" Garrett said, as they all got back into the car.
...
"My brain is numb from all those cop questions." Hanna said.
"My arm is numb from all the medicine and bandaging." Katherine said.
"I don't think Kat and I would be here if it wasn't for A." Spencer said.
"A killed Ian to keep you guys here." Aria said.
"I'm sorry, but that is not a comforting thought." Hanna said.
"Agreed." Katherine said, scooting closer to Spencer, on the ground.
"A gives, so she can take. We know that." Emily said.
"So what's the bitch gonna ask for?" Hanna asked.
"Whatever it is, I don't think we can afford it." Spencer said.
"Spence, Kat, you didn't see anything?" Aria asked.
"I thought I saw Alison, but I was loosing a lot of blood so I don't know anymore." Katherine said.
"I saw a black hoodie, black boots, and gloves." Spencer said.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that A's not Jenna." Aria said.
"Are we sure?" Hanna asked.
"A sees everything, Hanna." Spencer said.
"And last time I checked, we blinded Jenna." Katherine said.
"I'm starting to think we should tell someone about her." Emily said.
"About Jenna?" Katherine asked, as the others looked at Emily like she was crazy.
"Him, it. Not Jenna. A." Emily said. "What's the worst thing that can happen?"
"A knows all of our secrets." Spencer said.
"My life would be over, multiple peoples lives would be over." Katherine said.
"Yeah, if people find out we'll always be those girls who blinded Jenna Marshall." Hanna said.
"And now we're those girls who are afraid of A." Emily said.
"Yeah, for a good reason." Katherine said.
"Em, I mean, you're right, but we have so much to lose." Aria said.
"I feel like I have a hangover and I never even went to the party." Katherine said, rubbing her head.
"We need caffeine." Spencer said.
"Oh, no offense, but can I make it?" Aria said, stopping Spencer from standing up.
"Seriously?" Spencer asked.
"I'm with Aria." Emily said.
"Yeah, sorry, Spence, but your coffee gives me the shakes." Hanna said.
"Not everyone can handle how strong that shit is." Katherine said, making sure to avoid her arm brushing against anyone as she stood up.
"Amateurs." Spencer said.
When they got downstairs they saw all of their parents standing in the living room, well not all. Katherine's mom couldn't be bothered with what her daughter was possibly up to. However, Katherine was shocked to see her dad standing in the small crowd.
"What's going on?" Aria asked, as Katherine backed up a small amount to be next to Spencer.
"Mom?" Hanna asked, as the parents stayed silent.
"Veronica, since this is your idea?" Ashley said.
"Hold on, did you invite him here?" Katherine asked, looking at Veronica in shock. Katherine had spent countless nights crying to Veronica because her dad had left her for years. It was a real slap in the face to hear those words come out of Ashley's mouth.
"Yes, but only because-" Veronica started.
"No. If he's a part of it, I'm out." Katherine said, moving to leave the house.
"Katherine, please. Just hear us out." Veronica said, leading Katherine back to one of the couches.
Katherine crossed her arms and glared but listened.
"The accusations you made about Ian have cast a bright spotlight on all of you." Veronica said.
"Accusations? I have a fucking hole in my arm because of him." Katherine said.
"Spencer is still a person of interest in Alison's murder investigation and now the police seem to think that you four are also involved." Veronica continued.
"Veronica, I wouldn't lie about Ian. He was my best friend and he fucking stabbed me." Katherine said, her eyes tearing up from the topic. But she would never let them fall. She would never let her father see her cry.
"Ian killed Alison, okay? And last night, he tried to kill me and he tried to kill Kat." Spencer said, walking the rest of the way down the stairs.
"Yeah, we were all there. We told you exactly what we saw." Aria said.
"And we heard you." Ella said.
"We don't need to rehash what we talked about last night. It's, this is about moving forward." Byron said.
"And while the police sort through this we want you girls to see a grief counselor." Veronica said.
"A fucking shrink?" Katherine asked, standing up.
"Katherine, sit down. We are not tolerating this today. You need to listen." Peter said.
"She's a therapist who can help you deal with Alison's death." Ella said.
"And what appears to the police to be an obsession with trying to pin her death on Ian." Veronica said.
"This is bullshit." Katherine said.
"Katherine Lilliana Maybell, sit down and shut the fuck up." Ryan Maybell said, having enough of his daughters disrespect towards the other adults.
"No." Katherine said.
"You think we're lying?" Emily asked, ignoring Katherine's and Ryan's fighting.
"Emily, I believe you. But it's the way it looks that concerns us." Pam said.
"This is a preemptive strike and the goal is to garner both police and public sympathy." Veronica said.
"Well, I'm not going to a shrink. That's what friends are for." Hanna said.
"Me neither." Katherine said.
"Yes you are." Ryan said.
"You have zero say in what I do. You fucking left." Katherine said.
"Maybe you'll get more out of it than you think." Ella said.
"Kat's right. This is bull-" Hanna started.
"Hanna!" Ashley said.
"Do you believe us?" Spencer asked.
"What I know is that one of my daughters is in the hospital and the other two are in trouble and it's my job to protect you." Veronica said.
Ryan looked uncomfortable at how Veronica said Katherine was her daughter but chose not to speak on it.
"You didn't answer the question." Spencer said, who was just met with silence.
"You haven't heard from Ian for a reason. He's dead." Aria said.
"Dead men don't get up and walk away." Peter said.
"We told you, someone moved the body." Emily said.
"Who would do that? And why?" Veronica asked.
There was a knock on the door that distracted all of them.
"Is Spencer home?" Toby asked, right when Peter opened the door.
"You shouldn't be here, Toby." Peter said.
"No, you know who shouldn't be here? Him." Katherine said, glaring at the man who shared her eyes.
"Is she okay?" Toby asked.
"No, she isn't. Spencer's in a lot of trouble and you're not helping her. Look, whether you've earned it or not, you have a reputation. My daughter can't afford to be seen with you." Peter said.
"I would never do anything to hurt Spencer." Toby said.
"Good, if you mean that, you'll stay away from her." Peter said, shutting the door. "I'm sorry, Spencer." He said, but she just walked up the stairs. Her friends following.
"Wait, Katherine. Can I have a word?" Ryan said.
"Sure, how about three? Go fuck yourself." Katherine said, before going upstairs too.
...
"Honey, I'm home." Katherine said, stepping into the small house.
"You should come more often. I like having you here." Darren said, walking up to the young girl and giving her a quick kiss.
"Maybe I'll stay the night." Katherine said.
"That would be perfect." Darren said, putting his jacket on. "Wanna get coffee?"
"Bold choice. You want me to crouch down while you run in to get it?" Katherine said, her usual smirk on her lips.
"Come on, I'll get you your favorite." Darren said, laughing at her.
They walked to Wilden's cop car and got in.
It only took about five minutes to get to The Brew. Katherine was on her phone when a familiar blonde boy passed the car. They locked eyes for a moment before Darren got back to the car and pecked her lips as she handed her her coffee, making Jason's eyes go wide and his legs go faster as he walked away.
...
As soon as the five girls walked into their English class, the whole room went silent, except for a few girls giggling. They looked at the board and saw a game of hangman.
"Bunch of bitches." Katherine said, as she walked up to the board and filled in the last two letters and the others sat down. However, Katherine noticed Samantha laughing harder than everyone else and decided to approach her. "You think you're fucking funny?" She asked, as she got to Samantha's desk.
"A little bit." Samantha said.
"Yeah, well, I think I'm funny too." Katherine said, slamming Samantha's face against the desk the moment the last word slipped off her tongue.
"What the fuck?" Samantha shouted, holding her bloody nose.
"Oops." Katherine said, before slapping Samantha and pushing her towards a wall which she then slammed Samantha's head into.
"Katherine." Ezra said harshly, stepping into the classroom.
"Yikes." Katherine said, a venomous laugh following as she took in Samantha's appearance.
"Take your seat, detention for a month. Samantha, go to the nurse and get your head and nose checked out." Ezra said, before turning to the board and realizing why Katherine was so ticked off. He quickly started erasing it before starting his lesson.
"Need some help with that, Mr. Fitz?" Noel asked, walking into the classroom.
"You can take your seat, Mr. Kahn." Ezra said.
Noel smiled and took his seat next to Katherine.
"Was Samantha's appearance because of you?" Noel asked.
"Of course it was." Katherine said, mirroring Noel's expression.
...
"I still don't trust him." Spencer said, as her and Aria watched Noel and Katherine talk to some of the jocks and cheerleaders.
"How does Noel Kahn get suspended and then come back more popular than he was when he left?" Aria asked.
"Maybe it has something to do with that winning smile." Spencer said.
"Aria, see you for a minute?" Ezra asked, stepping into the hall. "I'd like to speak to you about your essay."
"You don't have to go." Spencer whispered.
"I'll see you in a minute." Aria said, stepping into Ezra's classroom.
"Are you okay?" Ezra asked the moment he shut the door behind them.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Aria said.
"Do you wanna talk about it? Tell me what happened? What's going on with Katherine? Even with a stabbed arm she still seriously hurt Samantha." Ezra said.
"Kat's spiraling I think. With what happened she was the most effected. I mean, Ian was her best friend. It really hurt her to realize that he wasn't who she thought. I know she's in serious trouble but please be easy on her. She's suffering, Ezra." Aria said.
...
Katherine walked into the office, she was absolutely pissed.
"Let me guess, Sammy snitched." She said, walking into the room.
"You've got some serious explaining to do, Ms. Maybell. You have started multiple fights in the past few months." Principal Hackett said.
"The fights need to stop, Katherine. I'm here to help you." Ryan said, from his seat next to the principals desk.
"That's such bullshit. You left when I was two years old. Two! You made a new family right after you left. God, what makes you think you have any rights here?" Katherine said, ready to storm out of the office.
"But I'm here now!" Ryan said, slamming his hand down on the desk. "I'm here now, Katherine."
"I don't care. You missed fourteen years. I hope you rot in hell." Katherine said, before storming out of the office.
...
Hanna and Katherine walked into the therapist's room a little late. They were both laughing and had about five or six bags each in their hands.
"Sorry, we're late. But have you been downtown?" Hanna said.
"They have some amazing sales. We got so many things." Katherine said, a bright smile on her face as she hoped that they had already started.
"You must be Hanna." The woman said to the blonde. "And you must be Katherine." She said to the brunette. "I'm Anne."
"So, what'd we miss?" Hanna asked, hoping the same thing as Katherine.
"Not a thing." Aria said, smiling up at the two girls. She knew all too well what they were trying to do.
"We waited for you." Spencer said.
"Damn." Katherine muttered, sharing a look with Hanna as they sighed and sat down on the couch, their shopping bags in front of them.
"It sounds like you credit Alison for the friendship." Anne said, after the girls explained some of their background with Ali.
"We became friends because of her. Only Spencer and Katherine knew each other before." Emily said.
"But she's gone and the five of you still seem very close." Anne said.
"We weren't always. Like I said before, Spencer and Katherine knew each other before so it was different for them but the rest of us, not so much." Emily said, looking down as she spoke.
"We lost touch went Ali went missing." Aria said.
"What brought you back together?" Anne asked. "You don't all have to agree. There are no right or wrong answers here." She said, as the room stayed silent.
"Her death." Spencer said, playing with Katherine's hair to help keep the shorter girl calm.
"She means when they, when they found her." Aria said.
"When they found her body." Emily said.
"Do you think you were looking for closure?" Anne asked.
"Look, Anne, I had my closure. I accepted a long time ago that she was dead, never coming back. I was perfectly fine with my life. I was happy. I don't need a therapist." Katherine said, knowing damn well that everything she had just said was a lie.
"We were looking for answers, including Kat." Spencer said, making Katherine roll her eyes.
"The answer to who murdered Alison?" Anne asked, as Spencer nodded. "The five of you don't have to go through this alone. This is a safe place to talk. Nothing you say here goes beyond these walls."
"Do we? Do we wanna talk about that thing?" Aria asked after a moment of silence, looking around at the other girls.
They all just stayed silent for a moment, thinking it over before all of their phones started ringing.
"Well, what is it?" Anne asked.
"I think our time is up." Spencer said, standing up as Katherine hurried to get off the couch and pick up her bags.
"it's not A, just my mom." Aria said, as they walked out of the building.
"Yeah, same here, she wants me to come home." Hanna said.
"What really happened?" Emily said, sounding mad as she walked up to the newspaper stand.
"I'm not even in the picture." Katherine pouted as they all went up close to see the article.
"Be lucky you aren't in the picture." Aria said.
"They found Ian's car by the train station and ten thousand dollars he took from his bank account. They think he skipped town and we made up a story because we knew he left?" Spencer read, getting angrier the further she read.
"So, what? I just stabbed myself? They can't be serious." Katherine said.
All their phones started ringing, making Katherine groan as she pulled hers out.
"I spy a liar. A." They all read out loud.
...
Katherine was about to walk in her house when someone grabbed her arm from the side. She instantly yanked her arm back and turned to see who it was.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, as she glared at the man in front of her.
"We need to talk, Kat. We need to catch up." Ryan said, giving his daughter a hopeful smile.
"One, don't call me Kat. Two, I don't like you. Three, we don't have to do anything." Katherine said, before hurrying inside and slamming the door shut.
"You okay, hun?" Her mom asked from the couch, a cigarette dangling from her lips as she spoke.
"Yeah, mom. Just go to sleep or something." Katherine said, heading towards the stairs and up to her room.
...
"A had to have followed me to Ezra's. And he, she, shim must've seen me get that key from under the doormat." Aria said, reading the text over and over again.
"Let me see that." Hanna said, as Aria handed her the phone.
"Okay, I see books, photographs, magazines." Hanna said, before smiling and glancing at Aria.
"What?" Aria asked.
"Is that a Playboy?" Hanna asked.
"What?" Spencer said, moving to see the tiny screen.
"No way." Katherine said, following Spencer's movements.
"Right there. Under that black thing on the cabinet." Hanna said, showing them all the picture.
"That black thing is called a typewriter." Spencer said.
"Han, that's not a Playboy. That's a Playbill." Aria said.
"God, he really is lame." Katherine said. "What was missing anyways?" She asked, chewing a piece of gum as she picked at her chipped nails.
"I don't think what's missing matters. A wants us to know that she can come and go through Ezra's apartment. When's it gonna stop? Remember where we were a few months ago?" Emily said.
"Visiting me in the hospital." Hanna said.
"A hit Hanna and kept on going." Emily said.
"He didn't even hesitate before pushing Ian. It's almost like it was no big deal." Spencer said.
"A's ruthless." Katherine said.
"I don't wanna be sitting next to you guys at another funeral." Emily said.
"You think we should tell the therapist?" Spencer said.
"Em, that's insane. We just met her." Katherine said.
"We were really close to telling her yesterday. It felt so good." Aria said.
"Telling Anne wouldn't be like telling our parents." Emily said.
"Until she runs to our parents about it. If she tells my dad, I'm screwed. Bye bye, Rosewood." Katherine said.
"But your dad can't control you." Hanna said.
"Yeah, until he files for custody. The entire town knows about my mom, he'd win in a heartbeat." Katherine said.
"She has to keep it a secret, right?" Emily asked.
"Look, okay, I know we promised Garrett that we wouldn't show the video to the cops. But if we want Anne to believe us." Aria said.
"A picture's worth a thousand words." Spencer said.
"You know, she was wearing a gorgeous pair of Chloes." Hanna said.
"Who?" Aria asked.
"The shrink, Anne, our therapist." Katherine said.
"And this is relevant to this conversation because?" Spencer asked.
"You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes." Hanna said.
"I really heard her when she said that we don't have to go through this alone." Emily said.
"Do we all agree?" Spencer asked.
...
"Thank you for seeing us today." Aria said, as the five of them sat down.
Katherine bit her tongue, she didn't want to come but after some convincing she finally agreed.
"It sounded like there was something you really wanted to tell me." Anne said, taking her own seat.
"There's also something we wanted to show you." Emily said, pulling out the laptop.
"I just want to get one thing straight here. You're not allowed to tell anyone anything that we say in here, right?" Hanna said.
"Unless you tell me something that leads me to believe that you're a danger to yourself or to someone else." Anne said.
"Okay. Hanna?" Aria said.
"I didn't know Tory made those boots in brown." Hanna said, staring at Anne's shoes.
"Are you satisfied?" Spencer asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Go ahead, Emily." Hanna said.
"I think we should tell her first." Emily said.
"Yeah, sure." Spencer said.
"Aria?" Hanna said.
"We did drift apart after Alison went missing. And it's true that her death brought us back together. But I don't know if we'd be as close as we are now-" Aria said before Katherine noticed exactly what A had taken from Ezra's apartment and quickly tapped on Spencer's leg to show her.
"This talk is premature." Spencer said, interrupting Aria.
The other three girls looked at Spencer weird, who with Katherine, signaled towards the diploma. Trying to get them to notice it.
"I'm sorry we wasted your time." Emily said, packing up the laptop once she finally noticed it.
"What just happened here?" Anne asked as they all stood up.
"We need to figure out what we wanna say, so that we can communicate more effectively." Spencer said.
"We just weren't as ready as we thought we were." Katherine said.
"And that's what we'll do." Emily said, as Hanna put the framed diploma in her bag from behind Dr. Sullivan.
"So, we're gonna reschedule." Spencer said.
"Sorry for the inconvenience." Katherine said, giving the therapist a small smile.
"You girls called me, remember?" Anne said.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry about this." Aria said, as Hanna finished fitting the frame in her bag and they all hurried out. "Well, if she didn't think we were crazy before, she does now. What was that?" She said, as they walked outside. Hanna pulled out Ezra's diploma before handing it to Aria. "Where did you get this?"
"On the bookshelf behind the shrink." Hanna said.
"This is what A took from Ezra's." Aria said.
"A knows we're coming here." Spencer said.
"A knew we were gonna tell." Katherine said.
"How is A always one step ahead of us?" Aria asked.
"You know, I'm starting to think that bitch has superpowers." Hanna said.
"We've gotta tell Ezra to change his locks." Spencer said.
...
Katherine and Spencer sat at Spencer's island, just staring at the window ahead. They couldn't believe that they couldn't be around their friends anymore. It was starting to feel like when Alison first disappeared again and it was just the two of them and they fucking hated it.
Katherine's phone beeped, pulling her out of her trance as Spencer looked towards the brunette with worry.
"It's just my mom." Katherine said, giving Spencer a small, fake smile before reading the message.
I heard a new DiLaurentis is in town, or should I say old? Watch your back, Kat. You're not as invincible without your friends. -A
She quickly looked up when there was a rustle outside and Spencer ran to the door, locking it as quick as she could. Katherine understood what was going on and rushed to lock the other door. Spencer was about to run to the third door in the room when she saw a shadow. Katherine turned off the lights and the two girls crouched down behind the island. Trying to calm their breathing as their hearts sped up.
Spencer grabbed a knife from near them as Katherine stayed huddled down, Spencer joining her again once she had the big knife in her hand.
They heard the door open and held their breaths.
Toby walked in and looked down to see Spencer peeking out from behind the island with a knife in her hand.
The moment the two girls saw Toby they stood up and finally felt their breathing relax. Spencer ran into Toby's arms as she sobbed.
"I had to see you." Toby said, as Katherine went upstairs to go to bed.
...
"Anyone could've sent that, Spence." Aria said, as they all met up.
"Aria's right. Can I go back to bed now?" Katherine said, yawning as she ended her sentence.
"It could just be some kook trying to mess with Melissa." Hanna said.
"Maybe, but it doesn't seem random." Spencer said. "It's not safe, I can't tell you?"
"Can't tell you what?" Emily asked.
"Where he is." Spencer said.
"Guys, Ian is dead." Aria said.
"We saw his dead body, Spence." Katherine said.
"There's only one way to know for sure. Send a reply." Hanna said.
"How do I know this is you?" Spencer said, as she typed it.
Ask me anything.
Katherine swallowed as she read the message, the nerves of the situation getting to her.
"What's something that only Ian would be able to answer?" Hanna asked.
"Hold on, I know." Spencer said. "What are we naming our baby?" Spencer said, as she typed.
"What is the name?" Aria asked.
"Taylor." Spencer said.
And a second later that was what the message said.
"It's him. It's Ian." Katherine said, tears forming in her eyes at the idea of him truly being alive.
"Ian's alive." Spencer said.
They heard a bang and all looked towards the sound, terrified of what or who could be out there.