I got out the car and ran through the woods until I reached the lake.
That's where I saw the black shadowy figure sitting at the end of the dock.
I heard her. I could hear my baby girl crying and slowly made my way across the dock.
"Give me my baby." I said, my voice shaking.
The person at the edge of the dock stood up with my daughter in their arms.
"Who are you?" I asked the hooded figure.
"Don't pretend you don't know who I am, Aria." A familiar male voice responded.
"Who are you?" I repeated.
"We kissed once. You pulled away because you were in love with someone else. Someone rather close to me." The person responded.
I could only think of one person. Could it be him? Could it really be Ezra's younger brother?
"Wes?" I asked quietly.
He laughed a terrifying laugh.
"The dumb slut figured it out." Another familiar voice came from behind me.
I turned to see who it was. It was Cece.
"Charlotte, what took you so long?" Wes asked her.
"Charlotte?" I asked, confused.
"Sorry, babe, I was taking care of that police officer like you asked me." She replied.
"Babe?" I asked, still confused as to what was happening.
"Well, you see, Aria, after you rejected me, I was pretty upset, so I decided to talk to Cece because she was the only other person I knew in Rosewood at that point, other than Ezra, of course." Wes started explaining. "While she and I talked she told me about the time she spent in Radley when she was younger. She told me about how she used to be called Charles. She was a woman trapped in a boys body. Then she became Charlotte. Then she became Cece as a cover up."
"We started dating and later I told him about what I was doing to you guys. About me being A. Poor Wesley was so hurt that he begged me to let him help. So I did." Charlotte continued.
"We found out that my brother got you pregnant and that's when we came up with this plan." Wes spoke.
"You need to pay for what you did to him. Leading him on like the little whore you are." Charlotte added.
"I wasn't leading him on. The only reason I kissed him is because I was caught up in the moment. I pulled away as soon as I realised what I was doing." I spoke, looking back at Daisy to make sure she was still okay since she had stopped crying.
"You need to pay." Wes agreed with Charlotte.
"Do whatever you want to me, just please don't hurt my baby girl." I pleaded. "Please."
"You really think we were going to hurt her? She's a baby. I would never hurt a baby." Wes said to me.
"Then why did you kidnap her?" I asked.
"To get you out here alone so we could kill you." Charlotte answered.
I kept my eyes locked on Daisy to make sure she was okay.
"Let me call Ezra to say goodbye first. Let me tell him that he's going to get our baby back?" I begged.
Wes looked at Charlotte as if to ask for her permission.
"Fine, but only because he's Wesley's brother." Charlotte agreed.
I took my phone out of my pocket and called Ezra. He picked up instantly.
"Aria, where are you?" He asked me.
"I'm with our daughter. She's okay. You're going to get her back. A and I came to an agreement." I replied.
"An agreement? What kind of agreement?"
"Goodbye, Ezra. I love you. Please never forget that." I said, beginning to cry once again.
"What? Aria, no. Tell me where you are? I'll find you." That's when Charlotte took my phone and hung up.
Daisy stared crying again. I looked over at her one more time and smiled slightly.
"Can I hold her one last time?" I begged.
"No." Charlotte said firmly.
"You're going to shoot her and dump her body in the lake, she should at least get to say goodbye to her daughter." Wesley said to Charlotte.
"She's got five minutes and then she's dead." Charlotte replied.
"Sounds fair." Wes responded as he walked over to me.
He handed Daisy to me and she stopped crying instantly.
"Hi, baby girl. I wish I could be there to hear your first words and to see your first steps. I wish I could watch you start school and go to college. I wish I could see you get married and maybe have kids of your own someday, but I'm not going to be there for any of that." I spoke with a gentle voice, trying to keep her calm.
I kissed Daisy's forehead and gently stroked her cheek with my thumb.
"You're not going to remember me when you grow up, but I'm sure your daddy will tell you all about me. He'll tell you about how happy I was the day you came into this world and he'll tell you that I didn't want to leave you. He'll tell you that I wanted to stay with you and watch you grow up. And he'll tell you that I love you so so much, Daisy." I said slowly, my voice breaking.
"Right, give her back." Wes said to me.
"No." Charlotte said to him.
"What do you mean 'no'? She can't be holding the kid when you shoot her." Wes responded.
"I'm not going to shoot her." Charlotte said. "I can't."
"How can't you? You aim the gun at her head and pull the trigger. It's not that hard."
"She's a mother." Charlotte said, stepping closer to me.
"She's a slut." Wesley yelled.
"I would've done anything to have my mom there when I was growing up. I am not going to take that innocent baby's mother away from her." Charlotte argued.
"Fine." Wesley said, sounding angry. "I'll do it."
He snatched the gun from Charlotte's hand and aimed it at me.
"Please don't do this, Wesley." I pleaded. "If you kill me, I won't feel anything. It's Ezra and Daisy you'll be hurting. Your brother and your niece. They don't deserve to get hurt because of something I did."
"I suppose you're right, it wouldn't hurt you, and I want to hurt you in a way no one else can." Wesley stated.
I looked back down at Daisy who had fallen asleep again. I smiled a little at her.
"I know what would hurt you." Wesley spoke. "I'll take away the one thing that you love most in this world."
"No, Wesley, please." I begged, I knew what he wanted to do.
"Wesley, you wouldn't." Charlotte said to him.
"Watch me. I will kill that baby." He replied.
"She's a baby, for gods sake, she's completely innocent. I will not let you kill that baby girl." Charlotte argued back.
I quickly shielded Daisy with my body as I saw Wesley aim the towards her.
I sat covering her for a few seconds before Charlotte said something.
"Aria, run. He's stronger than me but I'll hold him back as long as I can." She told me.
I didn't hesitate, I stood up with my daughter in my arms and started running.
I wasn't running long before I heard a gunshot and felt a sharp, piercing pain just below my left shoulder.
The pain was excruciating and I could feel myself getting weaker, but I kept running.
I ran back to my car and got Daisy in her car seat before I got in and drove home.
Ezra saw the car as soon as I parked and started running over.
I got Daisy out the car and handed her to Ezra.
"She's okay." I spoke weakly.
"You're bleeding, what happened?" Ezra asked me.
"Nothing, I'm okay." I said convincingly. "Must've just caught on a branch or something while I was running."
I watched Ezra as cradled and kissed our daughter with tears falling from his eyes.
I smiled weakly before before my body collapsed.
"Aria." I heard Ezra's voice in a panicky tone.
I looked up at him and watched as he got on his knees beside me.
"I was shot." I said with a shaky voice.
"Aria, stay with me, keep your eyes open." Ezra pleaded. "Please don't leave us."
"I'm sorry."
"We need to get her to the hospital now." I heard Ezra yell to everyone who was still at the house.
"I love you." I said weakly.
"I love you, Aria."
Those were the last words I heard before my eyes slowly closed and everything turned to darkness.