(A/n: I'm so sorry, the holidays have been so hectic and I haven't had that much time to write. This is what I've pieced together, so I hope you enjoy it.)
Isabel stared at the phone in her hands.
"It's from 'A,'" she gulped, eyes wide. No, no, this can't be happening. 'A' died with Shana!
"What does it say?" Caleb asked. Aria read it aloud.
'Did you miss me, bitches?'
"It can't be," Emily panicked as she held her phone with a death grip. "Shana's dead."
Everyone was quiet for a second. Then Hanna turned to Spencer, asking, "Where's Toby?"
"I don't know," Spencer muttered as they watched the house burn.
Suddenly, Toby's house exploded again, making them scream and duck to the ground.
-
"Will you please call me later?" Spencer said. They all were in Emily's room, and she was talking to Toby over the phone, and her eyebrows were knitted together with worry. "Okay. Bye." She sighed, hanging up and turning to Aria.
"Well, what did Toby say?" Aria asked nervously.
"Nobody was inside the house," Spencer replied.
Emily let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God."
"Yeah, but his dad did break his leg trying to avoid a tree coming down," Spencer explained, walking over to the others.
"Well, it could've been worse," Hanna shrugged.
"Yeah. Caleb's with them at the hospital," Isabel added, putting her own phone down, which she was using to text Caleb.
"Guys, what does this mean?" Ali gulped, holding up her phone. The 'A' text was still there, like a warning almost. "That we were wrong about Shana?"
"That 'A's alive and knows that I killed her," Aria snapped. She looked terrifed, and Isabel didn't blame her. 'A' would surely hold New York over her head for the rest of her life.
"That's impossible," Emily scoffed. "We all heard what Shana said in that theater."
"No, she never said that she was 'A,'" Isabel pointed out. "She never used those words."
"She had everything but the letter painted on her," Emily argued.
"Em, come on," Hanna huffed. "We got a text seconds after the house blew up. Either Shana can cause explosions from the grave or 'A' is back."
"Or never left," Spencer muttered. They all stared at her.
"Wait, what are you saying?" Emily frowned.
"I think 'A' took a nap and woke up tonight," Spencer huffed.
"'A's been here the whole time just watching us, waiting for the right moment to resurface," Aria agreed quietly.
"But why now?" Ali frowned.
"That's what we have to figure out," Isabel said, looking up at her.
-
Isabel set down her lunch tray, taking in the news Spencer had just told her about her dad and Melissa.
"Wait, they drove to the lake to talk?" Aria asked as they sat down.
"Yeah, that's what he said," Spencer nodded. "But he wouldn't say what they talked about or why he lied."
"Have you talked to Melissa?" Isabel frowned.
Spencer sighed. "Yeah, I've left her like five messages."
Aria watched her unfold her napkin with intensity. "Your mom did the right thing by leaving."
"Yeah," Isabel agreed. Spencer just nodded, and Aria's phone rang, startling her.
"It's Ezra," Aria declared. Both Isabel and Spencer stared at her. Why would Ezra be messaging Aria? "Hey." She answered it. "I'm with Spencer and Isabel." She paused, looking down. "Okay. Yeah. Well, thanks for checking in. I'll see you later." She sighed, looking up at Isabel and Spencer. "He's trying to find a link between Bethany and Mrs. D."
"Has he found one yet?" Spencer asked, her tone cold and detached.
"No," Aria replied. "He's left messages for all his contacts at Radley, but so far nothing."
"And you're going over to Ezra's place later?" Isabel frowned, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Aria nodded, poking at her food. "I'm gonna help him sort through his files."
"Is that the only reason?" Spencer said skeptically.
Aria looked up, avoiding eye contact with either of them. "Is there something going on between you two?" Isabel asked slowly.
"No," Aria scoffed, but she wasn't looking at either of them when she said it.
"Then why did you bring him to Emily's last night?" Spencer huffed.
Everyone was silent for a moment. "Okay, we had a slip," Aria admitted.
Spencer dropped her fork. Isabel's eyes widened, but she wasn't all that surprised. She knew how it was to be so drawn to someone that it was hard not to forgive them.
"A slip?" Spencer repeated incredulously.
"Well, technically, it was two slips," Aria muttered. Isabel whistled low, leaning back.
"Oh, my God! Aria!" Spencer whisper-yelled. "I thought you said that you were never gonna go there again."
"She meant it when she said it," Isabel said, and Spencer stared at her. "Come on, Spence, some of us don't have the superpower called resistance that you seemed to have mastered."
Spencer blinked rapidly, surprised by this reply. Then she turned to Aria helplessly. "Are you forgetting about what he did to you? What he did to us?"
"No, of course not," Aria mumbled, distracted by something crashing to the floor a few tables away.
"You couldn't eat or sleep for weeks after you found out about that book," Spencer exclaimed.
"Okay, well he took a bullet for us, Spence," Aria snapped.
"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that he deceived you for years," Spencer argued.
Suddenly, the others walked over to them, and Spencer turned tame again.
"Hey," she sighed.
"You okay?" Aria asked Emily.
"Somebody dropped their lunch tray and she practically jumped out of her skin," Ali sighed, setting her lunch down.
"So much for the new normal," Hanna scoffed.
"Yeah, I knew it was too good to be true," Isabel agreed, poking at her salad with distaste.
"'Too good to be true?'" Spencer repeated. "These last two weeks have been nothing but crap."
"Is Toby still at the hospital?" Hanna asked, changing the subject.
"Uh, yeah," Spencer replied. Ali's phone beeped and she checked it. "He's there with Jenna and her mom."
"What's up with Caleb?" Emily asked. She was looking at Hanna, but the question was directed toward Isabel, as the slight side eye told her. "How long is he in town for?"
"Who knows?" Isabel shrugged bitterly, stabbing her salad. The slight dispute between Caleb and Jason was still fresh in her mind, and she wouldn't likely forget this new Caleb.
"Oh, my God," Ali gulped as she looked at her phone.
"What is it?" Emily asked. Ali held the phone out, next to Spencer's Red Bull. On her phone was a video of someone burying Mrs. D.
"Oh, my God. Ali," Isabel gasped softly as she saw it. Ali's face was a pure mask of terror as a message flashed across the screen.
'I buried your mom the same way I watched her bury you. -A'
Then it was gone, a message informing them that the content was deleted occupying the screen.
-
"'A' killed my mother," Ali stated. They were in Hanna's kitchen, after school, discussing what they had watched.
"Who could it be? Mona?" Emily asked. "Someone working with Shana?"
"Yeah, or someone we haven't even thought of yet," Aria huffed, leaning on the counter.
Spencer was silent, staring at the floor, looking like she was about to vomit.
"Spence, are you okay?" Isabel asked softly.
"My dad didn't do it," Spencer replied quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "I accused him of murder, but he didn't do it." She looked up at Ali with tears in her eyes.
"Well, you accused your brother of murder multiple times, yet you're never fazed by it," Isabel muttered very quietly. Emily glared at her, and she looked at the ground. "Sorry... but it's true."
"Well, it made sense why you thought he did," Hanna said to defuse the argument. "Not Jason, your father, Spence."
"Unless your dad's 'A,'" Aria shrugged. Both Isabel and Spencer turned to stare at her. "I'm sorry, I'm just putting it out there."
"No, he can't be, he thought that I killed Alison, now Bethany," Spencer replied through tears.
"That still doesn't rule out your sister," Hanna remarked.
"Some things never change and now we're back to square one," Ali sighed, crossing her arms.
"No, Ezra thinks that Bethany can ultimately lead us to 'A,'" Aria implored
"Okay, then we have to try to help Ezra find out as much as we can about her," Spencer nodded determinedly.
"Aren't we stretching a little here?" Isabel asked cautiously.
"Do you have a better plan?" Spencer snapped.
"I can't wait around for answers," Ali decided, uncrossing her arms. "I need to leave town now."
"But you just got back here," Emily scoffed.
"The only reason I came back is because I thought that 'A' was dead," Ali huffed angrily.
"If 'A' wanted to kill you, why not just do it?" Isabel asked, raising her eyebrows, unamused. "Why play games and blow up a house?"
"I have no idea," Ali shrugged. "But I'm not sticking around to find out."
"Okay, but if you leave Rosewood, then we can't protect you," Emily pointed out.
"Yeah, and besides, it's not like before, Ali," Aria added. "The cops are watching your every move."
"The whole world knows you're alive," Hanna agreed.
Isabel looked up at Ali. "Even if you could run... where would you hide?"
-
About a week later, Isabel was sitting on her bed at her apartment. She was reading, as always, a new book had piqued her interest today. Suddenly, her phone rang, making her jump. Usually, when someone called her this late at night, it wasn't exactly good news.
"Hello?" she asked, picking up.
"Isabel, thank god you picked up!"
Isabel frowned, concerned. Emily's voice was shaky, and she knew something bad had happened, just as she had thought before. "What happened?" She asked.
"'A' tried to kill Ali!"