"Skylar, give me your phone now," Mom says, her voice taking on more of an agitated tone.

Come on you stupid phone, I think, trying to delete the messages. I've memorized the phone's controls well enough that I should be able to erase everything quickly, but then again...I haven't done something like this before.

"Skylar," she says, ripping the phone from my grasp. I swear under my breath when I notice the messages are still there; I had been milliseconds away from deleting them.

She's quiet for a few moments as she scrolls through the conversations between Xavier and me. The whole time, I can't even look at her. I know what she's going to say, and she's right. I should be more cautious, but I just can't believe Xavier could ever be my stalker. He's too nice for that.

When Mom finally looks up at me, her face more red than I've ever seen it. "What the hell are you doing, Skylar? For all you know, this boy could be your stalker!"

I bite my lip, trying to figure out whether I should tell her what I've been thinking the past few days. What if I'm wrong? I'll only make her angrier if I tell her and I'm dead wrong. But, the opportunity has presented itself, I think I need to take it.

Making a split-second decision, I finally say, "He isn't Mom, because...I think you know who is."

"What?" Her anger suddenly fades and is replaced with confusion. "Skylar, what are you talking about?"

"June 20th, 2000," I say, my gaze level with hers.

She goes pale, her eyes darting around nervously like she thinks we're being watched. We probably are. "Melanie, where did you hear that?"

"I think you know," I say, ignoring the fact she used my real name.

"Melanie," Mom says, her gaze darkening. "Have you been talking to him?"

I don't reply with the answer she wants from me. Instead, I pivot the question right back to her: "I don't know, have I?"

I'm not sure what caused me to snap like this, but I cannot take it back now. I have to get an answer from her...I can't keep thinking she knows something that she isn't telling me.

"Stop being so cryptic, I don't know who your fucking stalker is," Mom swears, causing me to flinch. She rarely swears, so I'm stunned when she does. It reinforces my theory that she knows something, because when she does swear, it's a clue that she's lying.

"Who is he, Mom?"

She pushes past me, my phone gripped tightly in her hand. "Drop it, Skylar. Forget you ever heard about that day and stop communicating with the person who killed your best friend!"

At these words, I feel a knot winding in the pit of my stomach. My nightmare from the night before comes back to me in full force, causing me to force my eyes shut.

Stop, you need to get an answer from her!

Taking a shaky breath, I compose myself. I need to know what all she knows, and whom the notes are from. I can't back down now.

"Don't bring her up ever again," I call to her, my voice brittle with grief. Knowing that I can't have her walk away, I try to keep her engaged in the conversation. It's the only thing I can do.

Mom doesn't reply.

When she disappears from sight, my shoulders slump, knowing my chance to get an answer out of her has been terminated. Turning back to her room, I push open the bedroom door, trying to keep quiet. I have to see if I can find the paper she brought in while coming back from her walk. For some reason, I feel that it may be from my stalker, or someone who knows who my stalker is, and what he wants from me. I think the note would be more of an answer than my mother would ever give me.

Right now, I don't know who my stalker could be. There are so many suspects that I can't count them on my fingers; I feel I cannot trust anyone anymore, even my own mother. It's like everyone is in on this thick plot except for me.

Taking a deep breath, I close the door quietly and begin to rip apart her room. Where would she hide a note that would be important to her? Where would she stash something in hopes that I'll never locate it?

First, I go through her garbage, just in case she had decided to throw it out. Only, I don't find anything except for some granola bar wrappers, which seems to be her main source of food to consume right now, besides the somewhat-elaborate dinners she prepares for the two of us. She's never been much of a healthy eater, especially in stressful circumstances.

I quickly move onto her dresser, rummaging through her drawers, which are almost full of clothes. I'm not sure how she had fit all of them in the smaller suitcase she'd taken here.

"Where is it?" I mutter to myself. "Where did you stash it Mom?"

As I finish tearing apart the drawers of clothing, a thought comes to me. What if she wanted to keep it or them, depending on how many letters she has, near her to look at during the night? As I've observed in the past few weeks, she's always awake in the middle of the night for reasons that I can't figure out.

As I hear Mom's footsteps echo in the hallway, I dive for the bed, running my hand under her blanket and pillow. Then, I stuff my hand under the mattress frantically, searching for the small stash she has to have.

Just as I feel an envelope in between my fingers, Mom enters the room, and I quickly pull my hand away. Luckily, she hadn't been looking at me when she'd come in.

"Skylar," she says when she finally sees me. I swallow, trying to stay calm. "What are you doing in here?"

I note the half-eaten granola bar in her hand and nod slowly. "Sorry, I was just...wandering around."

I walk out of the room before Mom can say anything more. As I close the door behind me, I pull the thick stack of papers from behind my back, looking them over. The envelopes had been torn open angrily, the notes stuffed inside without a care. I bite my lip, tapping my fingers on the top one. Do I want to read this? What is going to happen if I do?

Hesitantly, I pull one out of its envelope. It seems to be the same handwriting that I had read in the note I had received. Goose bumps crawl on my skin as I skim the note.

Dearest Helena,

Remember me? Of course you do, I'm the one whom you betrayed and left to rot in a jail cell. I wouldn't worry about calling the police over this. You know I have the evidence needed to hurt you. Plus, I don't think you'd want your secret to slip out to your naïve daughter, now would you? Don't try to pull anything either. I'm always watching.

Sincerely,

Your lover. (T)

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NO THIS IS NOT PRETTY LITTLE LIARS XD

Sorry for the incredibly sucky chapter, I will fix it in editing.

New update comes Wednesday!

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