season 1, episode 22
! warning of death !
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"Wait what do you mean?" Spencer asked, "you've seen these before?"
"Yeah" Sophie sighed.
"Why would you-" Spencer's question was cut off when a familiar voice brought everyone's attention back to the laptop.
"Is that Jenna?" Hanna asked once the girl could be clearly seen.
"You're late" Jenna said, turning around.
"Who is she talking to?" Aria asked, however her question was answered when the camera angle changed and Toby came into view.
"Toby" Spencer whispered as she leaned closer.
The video showed Jenna move to wrap her arms around Toby's neck as he shook his head, "this isn't right"
Jenna laughed, "there's nothing wrong about us, Toby. We're not really related. It would be so easy for me to convince you're daddy and my mommy that you've been forcing yourself onto me" Jenna said as she unbuttoned Toby's shirt, "you have not idea who you're dealing with"
"Stop it" Spencer said turning away.
Emily clicked on the next video, one that made Sophie's heart drop. The footage was blurry at first, but it soon came into focus and a video of a messy bedroom came into view. Sophie watched in shock as the video played, the girls had no idea what the video was, but she did.
2009
Sophie was led on Jason bed, her eyes focused on the Tv in front of her - not that she was paying any attention to the movie.
She was fighting the urge to close her eyes as Jason kissed her neck, moving down towards her collar bone. He reached her sweet spot as her back arched slightly off the bed and she whimpered, her hands clutching his hair.
"Jase" she whimpered yet again.
"I love it when you make them noises love" he said, attaching his lips back to her skin, continuing his merciless attack on her neck, slowly making his way down to her exposed cleavage.
"Your entire family is in" she whispered, panting as he ran his tongue along her breasts.
"You better be quiet then darling" he chuckled, "although I know how hard that's going to be for you with how much you scream my name"
The girl bit her lip as Jason rolled her on top of him, so that she was straddling him. He gripped her waist as he continued sucking on her breasts, her hands moving to undo the belt of his jeans.
Current day
Sophie slammed the laptop shut as her hear pounded in the chest. She felt the girls staring at her as she got up from her seat to pace around the room.
"That's why you have the videos?" Spencer asked as Sophie nodded in response.
"Does Ian know you have the videos?" Emily asked Sophie.
She shook her head, "No. Or at least I don't think he does"
"God, I feel sick" Hanna said, "in some of these we were just kids"
"Ian has been watching us for years" Aria said.
"He killed Alison to make sure no body found out" Spencer whispered.
"I wish Ali would have told us about these videos" Emily said, "and you Soph"
"Guys it's not too late to help her" Spencer said, picking up the flash drive, "we can use this to prove that Ian killed Alison"
"How are we gonna do that?"
"We start by finding out what Jenna knows" Spencer said.
"Are you on something?" Aria asked.
"Jenna is as the top of our A list" Hanna greed.
"Yeah, but she hired Caleb to find the key because she knows the videos exist" Sophie shook her head.
"How are we supposed to believe anything that bitch says?" Hanna asked.
"If that bitch is A then this could be a trap" Emily added.
"Guys Ian has been watching us for years" Sophie sighed, "and he still is. We have to try"
"We have been afraid of her ever since the Jenna Thing. And now we finally have something she wants" Spencer said, "and Ali gave it to us"
✦✧✦✧
The girls stood by their lockers in the school hallway when Jenna passed them. They shared a look before following the girl into the music room.
"Who's there?" Jenna asked as Sophie closed the door behind them.
"Spencer"
"Who else?"
"Aria, Emily, Sophie" Spencer stated, "and Hanna"
"Should I call security?" Jenna sneered.
"Honey they won't help you" Sophie hissed, "and I don't think you'd want others around when we tell you we know why you hired Caleb"
"You didn't think it was wrong" Emily said, "but Toby did"
"You've seen it?" Jenna asked in shock. Her strong demeanour soon slipped away and Sophie could tell she was growing much more nervous.
"Oh we've seen it" Sophie scoffed, "every frame"
"What do you want from me?"
"The truth. Can you handle that?" Hanna asked.
"Look when I said Alison came to visit me in the hospital I was telling the truth" Jenna told them, "she didn't come to talk about you Spencer. I lied"
"How do we know you're not lying now?" Sophie questioned.
"You knew Alison. You knew what she was capable of"
"Were listening" Spencer said.
"It was the day before she went missing, she was on her way home from Georgia" Jenna started as the girls shared a look, "she had just found the video and she couldn't wait to play it for me" she said as she started to recount what happened that day.
"She said she was on her way home from Georgia?" Spencer asked in confusion.
Jenna nodded, "that's what she said. And then she made a joke about her tan. To bad I couldn't see it"
"Did she tell you anything else?" Sophie asked her.
"It was a short visit" Jenna explained, "look, I-I have given you what you asked for. What are you gonna give me?"
"We'll make sure the video stays in a safe place" Emily replied.
"Okay" Jenna nodded as she tapped her cane and went to leave the room. However, as she reached for the door knob she turned to face the girls again, "we've all made mistakes. Remember, I'm still paying for yours"
As Jenna walked out the room, the girls could hear the fading sound of her cane, and once she was out of earshot the girls turned to each other.
"Sick" Aria shook her head, "for all we know, she made up that story"
"And we still don't know how Ali got those videos" Emily sighed.
"Yes we do" Spencer scoffed, "that video was Alison's insurance policy, and she cashed it in the day she got it"
"Which means she was with Ian when she found it" Sophie realised.
"And she couldn't wait to play it for Jenna" Spencer said, "God, do you remember how happy Ali was when she came back from that trip? I think it was because for her, the Jenna Thing was over"
"Nice of her to share the safety net with us" Hanna scoffed.
"Wait for it girls, wait for it" Sophie murmured under her breath when she remembered what Ali had said that night, "that's what Alison said when we met her by the taxi. Maybe that's what we we're waiting for"
"Do you remember at Alison's funeral when we were all wondering why Jenna was there?" Aria asked them, "If she's telling the truth. Jenna came back because she could"
"And Alison was the one who got buried"
✦✧✦✧
"Well, if you want my dad can call your mom and officially offer you the guest room" Aria offered. Emily was telling the girls at lunch that her parents we're planning on moving.
"This is so not fair" Hanna sighed, "I mean we lost each other for a year. I can't imagine you not being here-"
"Got it" Spencer said, walking over to the girls.
"Okay, you're sure Ian can't trace the number back to us?" Aria asked.
"It's a pre-paid phone, I used cash, and the number isn't registered, so the service is anonymous" Spencer explained pulling out a paper bag.
"How do you know all this stuff?" Sophie raised her eyebrows.
"Don't you ever watch CNN?" Spencer asked, "No need to answer that. Homeland security is trying to ban these things"
"He acts as if he doesn't have a care in the world" Aria said as she watched Ian laugh with some of his students at the other side of the cafeteria.
"He thinks he got away with it" Hanna said.
"Well he hasn't" Emily said firmly.
"Okay, so we convince Ian that this isn't about anything other than money" Spencer told them, "Hopefully that will throw him off of us. If he wants his home movies, it's just going to cost him. And then when he shows up for the swap-"
"We make our own movie" Hanna said pulling out her phone.
"Alright. And then we take that, the flashdrive and the pre-paid phone to the police" Spencer said, "and we always have Sophie's copy as the backup in case anything happens to that flashdrive"
"The second he responds to that text we know that he's guilty" Aria said.
Spencer sighed and began to wrote a message on the pre-paid phone, telling Ian that they had Ali's videos. Sophie watched as Spencer hesitated to send the message, "Send it already" she said. When Spencer pressed send, they all turned to observe Ian's reaction.
They watched as Ian picked up his phone and read over the message as a frown appeared on his face. He excused himself from the group and left the cafeteria in a hurry.
"There must have been a part of me that didn't believe it because I just feel-" Aria started.
"Numb" Emily nodded.
"Somehow I thought I'd feel better when we found out for sure"
"Well, I know what they do to guys like him in prison and that makes me feel a lot better" Hanna said.
"Really Han?" Sophie raised her eyebrows.
A second later, the burner phone beeped and Spencer hastily picked it up to read over the message, "he wants to know what we want"
Spence froze with the phone in her hand as the girls shared a look. Sophie realised Spencer was in too much shock to respond, so she swiped the phone out of her hands and typed a reply to Ian, telling him a time, place and an amount.
"Is this the 'let's love on Hanna' lunch committee?" Mona asked from behind them, "Feeling better, sweetie?" she asked as she sat down next to the blonde.
"I'm sorry I have this thing I have to do" Spencer said, excusing herself.
"And then there were five"
"I'll help" Aria nodded as she soon followed after Spencer.
"Yeah, me too" Emily agreed.
"And then there were three" Mona said looking around in confusion.
"I don't have an excuse" Sophie shrugged, "I just don't want to be around you"
✦✧✦✧
Sophie was walking home after school when a cop car pulled up besides her and the window rolled down, revealing Garret.
"Get in" he said, not taking his eyes off the road, "we need to talk"
Sophie looked around, making sure no one was watching as she walked around to the passenger side and climbed in. Garret drove off to a more secluded street, before turning the engine off and turning to the girl once more.
"What have you told the girls?"
Sophie scoffed, "nothing"
"You sure?" he asked again.
"The girls know nothing of what happened that night" Sophie hissed, "believe me"
"Good" he nodded, "because I'm not the only one who'll be going to jail if anyone finds out what happened that night"
Sophie paused for a minute, deciding whether or not to tell him about the videos. However, Garret seemed to catch on to her hesitation and raised his eyebrows.
"What?"
Sophie shook her head and sighed, "Did you know that Alison had the videos?"
"Yeah" he sighed, "Why are you asking?"
"Because the girls know too"
"What?"
"They found the copy of Ali's videos" Sophie told him, "They've watched all of them"
"Do they know you have them?" he said.
She shook her head, "No they don't" she lied.
"Good" he nodded, "let's make sure it stays that way"
✦✧✦✧
The girls, minus Spencer, were gathered in Willow Park t there agreed meeting time as they waited on the last member of their group to show up.
"I know we've all done some stupid things" Sophie started, "but meeting a murderer in the dark, in the forest might take the top spot"
"God where is she?" Aria said irritably as she looked around anxiously, "try her cell again"
"Maybe she's just driving and doesn't have signal" Emily suggested as Hanna's call went straight to voicemail. Again.
"If she's not here in ten minutes, were calling the cops" Aria said.
✦✧✦✧
Half an hour later, they still hadn't heard anything from Spencer. Sophie paced back and forth as Emily made a call to the cops. All of them were growing increasingly worried about their friend.
But then, Aria's phone beeped and once she didn't say anything, sophie knew who the text was from.
"What?" Hanna asked impatiently.
"It's from A" Aria mumbled, "it's for all of us"
Aria showed them the text and the girls gasped as they read it.
UNKOWN ID
'Buckle up bitches. Nothing is as it seems –A'
"Does A know that we're here?" Emily asked nervously.
"The bitch knows everything" Sophie sighed.
✦✧✦✧
Sophie sighed in relief when Spencer's contact flashed across Aria's phone and the girl instantly picked it up.
At the same time, a car pulled into the carpark opposite of where they were sat, "He's here" Emily announced.
"Spencer where are you?" Aria said through the phone, "No! Stay with Melissa. We're safe. Okay, bye" she said and hung up as she joined the girls again.
"Thanks for coming" Emily said as the person stepped out of the car.
"Trust me, I'm glad you called" Garrett smiled, "Okay, so no one else but me knows you're here, right?"
"Well, I left my mom a note in case anything happened to us" Hanna told him.
Garrett nodded, "Okay well, this looks like the only way in so, if Ian shows, I'll see him coming"
"Thanks for doing this" Sophie shouted to him as he got back into his car.
"No problem" he nodded. When he got back into the car, his jacket lifted up revealing a small gun attached to his waist.
"Guys he's got a gun" Hanna whispered.
"Han, he's a cop" Sophie said, "of course he is"
"Did you really leave a note for your mom?" Aria asked the blonde.
"Yeah" Hanna scoffed, "Dear Mommy, I went to the woods to trap a killer"
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A while later, the sound of a car pulling up got the girls attention, "Someone's coming" Hanna whispered.
"I want the four of you to stay out of sight" Garrett told them, gesturing them to move behind a bush. They watched as the car pulled to a stop and a man climbed out, his face hidden. Garrett slowly approached the man with his gun raised, "Stop right there. Put your hands where I can see them and turn around"
The man slowly turned around and the girls gasped as they saw him, "That's not Ian"
"Look, someone paid me to drop this back off and pick up a package" The stranger said, "He found me online. My name is Logan Reed. I'm telling you the truth!"
As Garrett interrogated the unknown man, the girls huddled together sharing disappointed looks. Hanna pulled out her phone to leave Spencer another voicemail, "Spencer, Ian didn't show. He sent a messenger, we're on our way to the hospital, okay?"
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Sophie sat in the back of Emily's car as the girl drove them home, when Emily's phone rang.
"Spence?" Emily said as she answered the call.
"I can't give you the videos more than once!" Spencer yelled from the other side of the phone. She sounded terrified and the girls all visibly tensed from the sound of their friend.
"Spencer?" Sophie asked again.
"My mom knows I'm here. She knows I'm at the church"
"And you picked the perfect place for your suicide" another voice said through the phone. Sophie's chest tightened at the sound of Ian's voice.
"It's Ian" Hanna said in shock.
"Call 911" Emily ordered as both Sophie and Hanna pulled out their own phones and dialed the number. Through the phone, the sound of a struggle intensified.
"You didn't mean to hurt Alison" Ian said, "it was an accident. You pushed her and she fell"
"Is that what happened?" Spencer said.
"She hit her head and she never woke up" Ian continued.
"Ali died of suffocation!" Spencer argued back.
"The letter I wrote on your computer wont answer all the questions but it will answer enough. Your guilt was just too much for you" Ian said and the sound of Spencer screaming and something breaking caused Sophie to flinch.
"Please, if you love my sister you wont do this" Spencer begged.
"I'm doing it because I love her" Ian shouted.
The two continued to struggle and Spencer's screams intensified. They heard Spencer begging for Ian to stop as they listened in fear.
"Drive faster!" Sophie hissed.
"I am" Emily shot back.
Sophie held her breath as she heard Spencer scream. She had already lost one of her best friends because of this man, she was not about to lose another.
Ian said something inaudible before he screamed, and the phone call went silent.
The girls finally pulled up to the church and as soon as Emily stopped the car, they ran out and into the church.
"This way!" Sophie shouted as she lead the girls towards the bell tower, "Spencer?"
"Spencer are you there?" Emily called out.
The girls rushed up the stairs to the top of the bell tower, Sophie gasped as she saw Spencer clutching one of the posts.
"Spence?" she said, rushing over to her, "Are you okay?"
With shaky hands, Spencer pointed towards the bell down below and Sophie felt sick. In the middle of the numerous ropes was Ian, his limp body entangled. His face had turned a deathly shade of blue as one of the ropes wrapped around his neck, choking him to death.
"Oh my god" Sophie gasped.
"Hey, look, you did what you had to do, okay?" Aria said, bending down to hug Spencer.
"I didn't" Spencer shook her head, "somebody else did"
Emily frowned, "No, Spence, there was nobody else here"
"Maybe he fell" Sophie said.
"All I saw was a black hoodie"
"A?" Sophie said in shock.
"Ian killed Alison and then he tried to kill me" Spencer cried.
"No, hey Spence" Aria said, "he's dead. Okay?"
"It's over"
✦✧✦✧
Sophie wrapped her arm around a visibly shaking Spencer as they walked out of the church. By now, a small crowd had gathered outside and numerous police cars were parked up.
"Stop right there" one of the officers, named Barry, called out, "is this some kind of joke?"
"What do you mean?" Spencer frowned.
"There's nobody in there"
"You've got to be joking" Sophie scoffed.
"Come with me" he ordered.
The girls followed the officer back into the church as he led them back to the bell tower. Only this time, no body was hanging in the ropes.
"This has to be some kind of sick joke"
✦✧✦✧
The girls once again made there way out of the church. By now, the small gathering had turned into a large one and it seemed as if the whole of Rosewood was standing there. Sophie helped the girls lead Spencer outside as they all felt the judgemental gazes from the crowd.
As they started to walk away, the crowd started whispering and none of what anyone was saying was portraying the girls in a good light. Sophie heard them whisper about if the girls were lying or not and some of them caught onto the fact that they were Ali's best friends.
The sound of their phones buzzing made them freeze in their spots. They pulled out their phones, hesitiantly looking at the message.
"Oh my god" Aria said.
UNKNOWN ID
'it's not over until I say it is. Sleep tight, while you still can, bitches – A'
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word count: 3405