chapter forty eight
it happened that night
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FIVE MONTHS LATER

"Em, you and I are the only ones who did anything worth talking about this summer," Hanna said as Aria joined the girls again. The girls were in Spencer's living room, hanging out before the school year started again. "I mean, Aria took some boring picture class, Josie took a writing class and Spencer went to college." Hanna continued. "I took a full load at Hollis, Aria beat out a thousand applications for a space in that photography class and Josie is already planning to write a book." Spencer responded, proud of her and her friends.

"How many houses did you build, Em?" Josie asked. "Uh, I think we finished about six." Emily answered Josie's question, her words were slurred, already pretty drunk. Emily was still mourning Maya, not that the girls judged, they understood. "And in poor countries, one house is like a home for fifty." Hanna explained, making Josie laugh. "Okay, miss productive, how much of your list did you actually do?" Spencer asked.

Hanna pulled out a notebook and a pencil. "Let's see... cooking class with Caleb, done. Volunteer at the animal shelter for pocket dogs–" Hanna started. "Wait, what exists?" Spencer asked. "Did not do." Hanna continued. "Expand my vocabulary, Effectuating." she said, with a smile on her face. "Interned for Vera Wang–" she said. "You got an internship for Vera Wang?" Emily asked her. "Yeah, I changed my mind, turns out they want you to work for free." Hanna said.

"Was that a car?" Aria asked, freaked out as she heard a noise outside. "No, it's just the wind." Hanna comforted her as Emily poured more alcohol into her drink. "Oh, careful, Em, they're already pretty strong." Aria warned her. "Maybe for you, you're a pixie, I've gotten really good at hsi." Emily slurred her words before she took a sip of her drink. Hanna and Josie shared an awkward look before their phone's went off. "Show me your boobs, A." Spencer read out.

"Does Mona have a ten-year-old brother?" Aria asked sarcastically "'A' for annoying." Emily mumbled. "Are these ever gonna stop?" Josie asked tiredly. "Eventually we'll be old news." Spencer assured her. "Yeah, then Garrett will go on trial and we'll be news again or Mona will start talking and we'll be news again." Aria added. "Or I'll show someone my boobs and we'll be news again." Emily joked. "Okay!" Spencer said with a laugh as she reached over and took Emily's flask.

"Hey, I thought this was a party." Emily remarked drunkenly, holding her hands out for her flask. "You know what? You're right, Em, welcome back." Hanna cheered with a smile on her face. "And you're never allowed to leave for an entire summer again." Aria added. "To making it to senior year." Spencer raised her cup as they all knocked their cups together. "Hear!" Hanna, Josie and Aria said.

"Not all of us made it." Emily said sadly. "I'm sorry, Em. I didn't mean it like that," Spencer apologized. "To Maya," Emily remarked before she took a sip of her cup. "Em, you know that we're here for you." Hanna spoke as she patted Emily's leg in comfort. "To Maya," the girls lifted their cups and spoke at the same time.

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Josie woke up when she felt cold, making her groan as she lifted her head from where she layed on Spencer's couch. "Josie," A voice hissed, making her turn to see Aria awake. "What's going on?" Josie asked groggily, still half asleep. "I don't know. Hanna." she shook Hanna awake, who woke up instantly. She sat up and noticed one of Spencer's back doors was wide open. "Where's Emily and Spencer?" Hanna asked the two other girls. "I don't know Han." Josie responded.

"I need an aspirin and a trough of water." Hanna grumbled as she held her head as Aria stood up. "Emily?" she called out but Spencer came down the stairs. "She's gone." she said. "What do you mean 'she's gone'?" Hanna asked, confused as the girls shared a look before looking at Spencer. "I"ve looked everywhere," Spencer responded as Hanna grabbed her phone and began calling Emily. "I'm getting an odd sense of deja vu." Josie mumbled.  

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Josie stared down at where Alison's body used to lay as Emily moved over towards a headstone and fell. The girls had eventually found Emily at the graveyard, with a shovel. Hanna bent down beside Emily before looking towards Aria, Spencer and Josie. "How could she not remember anything?" Aria asked. "She's totally out of it, she's still drunk." Spencer responded. "You don't think that she had anything to do with this, do you?" Josie asked quietly, looking towards Alison's empty coffin.

"No! She– she can hardly stand," Spencer answered quickly. "How did she get here?" Aria asked, causing Spencer to sigh. "Han, hand me Em's phone." she requested and held out her hand for it. "Em, you got a blocked call at eleven, who–who was it? Do you remember who you talked to?" Spencer asked as she looked from Emily's phone to Emily.

"Um... I think I remember leaving your house, and the next thing I know you guys are calling me and I'm here." Emily responded and she sounded so out of it. "What? That can't be right." Spencer said, shocked and confused. "What is it?" Josie aside. "It says that at midnight she got a call from my phone," Spencer answered as she pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and looked through her call log.

"You were asleep, right?" Aria asked. "Oh, my god. Somebody called Emily from my phone, somebody was in my house." she remarked as she realized. "You guys, this is a step-up," she added as a twig snaps nearby alerting them. "What was that?" Hanna asked, freaked out. "We need to get out of here. Now." Spencer commanded before Spencer picked up the shovel. "Come on." Spencer said. Hanna and Josie helped Emily up and they all left the graveyard.

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"If I never see another shovel again, it'll be too soon." Hanna remarked as she, Aria and Josie buried the shovel. Hanna was about to drop the shovel into the hole they had dug but Aria stopped her. "Wait, do we wipe it off or something? Do we wipe off the prints?" she asked and Josie nodded. "Yeah, we should." she responded before Hanna took off her jacket and wiped the shovel down with it. "Who would do this to Emily? Who would do it to Ali?" Aria asked sadly as Hanna dumped the shovel into the hole.

"Some twisted psycho." she answered. "The only twisted psycho we know is locked up at radley." Aria remarked as the three of them used their shoes and hands to cover the hole with dirt. "Let's get out of here." Josie spoke up when they saw that they were finished covering the hole. The girls left in a rush, just wanting to get out of there.

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On their way back to Spencer's when Hanna noticed Lucas across the street. "Duck," Hanna demanded. "Really?" Aria asked, confused. "Get down!" Hanna demanded again and the three of them shrunk into the seats of Hanna's car, hoping to not be seen. "It's Lucas, what is he doing out so late?" Josie questioned. "Shh," Hanna said, shushing her. "Hanna, he can't hear us." Aria remarked as a car chirps. They see him get into a car before he drives away and they share a look before driving away, needing to head back.

When the girls finally got back to Spencer's place to see Emily wearing new clothes and Spencer writing a note. "What's going on?" Aria asked. "We're leaving, we're going to the lake house and when my mom reads this note she'll think that we've been up there since this afternoon." Spencer responded before turning to Emily. "Em?" she questioned and soon enough the five of them were out of the Hasting's house and on their way to the lake house.

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The next morning the girls sat around the living room at Spencer's lake house, none of them had slept, too worried and too awake. The phone rang, making the girls share a look before Spencer got up to answer it. "Hello?" Spencer answered. "Were there.. Any witnesses?" She spoke after a few moments and they assumed that Veronica Hastings had told her about Alison's body. "No, Mom, I–I understand, okay bye." Spencer answered after a few minutes before she hung up and turned to the girls.

"The caretaker called it in this morning, the place is crawling with reporters but... the police don't have any leads." Spencer told them and Aria openly exhaled in relief. "So we're okay. Nobody saw us." she said with relief. "Yeah." Spencer answered with a heavy exhale as she crossed her arms. "I'm so sorry, guys, this is all my fault." Emily apologized. "None of us blaming you Em," Josie said as he reached over and squeezed her hand in comfort.

"Yeah, Em, somebody took you there to make it look like you dug up Ali's body." Spencer comforted her as she sat back down in her seat. "And i made it so easy, if i wasn't so wasted–" Emily started but was cut off by Hanna."Em. Last night never happened." Hanna spoke softly. "Are we sure about that?" Aria asked. "We can still go to the cops, we can tell them the truth." Aria added. "We don't even know what the truth is." Hanna replied before she sighed and leaned back into her seat.

"Okay, we got up here yesterday afternoon, we roasted some marshmallows, we talked about how much fun senior year is gonna be, and we went to bed early." Spencer spoke after a moment of silence. "Em?" Josie said, noticing she was very quiet, not that she blamed her. "I understand." Emily spoke softly. "Last night never happened." she added.

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When Josie got home from the lake house, her mother and Richie were in the living room, watching the news about Alison's body being taken. "Josie," Jennifer Carmen spoke as she spotted her daughter in the entrance to the living room before she stood up and hugged her tightly. "I tried calling you this morning but you didn't answer." she spoke after they pulled apart and Josie had noticed Richie standing up from the corner of her eye. "My phone died, I'm so sorry mom." she said softly and Jennifer shook her head.

"No need to apologize." she said as she squeezed her daughter's arms before letting go. "I'm gonna go make you a hot chocolate, i'll be right back." she said before leaving to the kitchen, leaving Richie and Josie in the living room. Josie looked at him and she let out a shaky breath, causing Richie to move over and pull her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry." he apologized, even if he had done nothing wrong. He kissed the crown of her head.

"Who would do this to Ali?" Josie asked shakily as they pulled apart and moved to the couch. "I don't know Jo, I really have no idea," he responded as she put her head in the crook of his neck as her mother came with a hot chocolate. "Here sweetie." she said, making Josie look up to her mother and take the mug from her hands. Jennifer petted her head before giving her a kiss on the top of her head before leaving the two alone again, but this time it was silent, Josie was basking in the comfort that being Richie brought.

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On the first day back at school, Aria, Spencer and Josie were standing together in the Cafeteria. "Even if I say his name, we get sucked into this vortex of awkwardness and my dad pretends like he can't hear but his neck gets all red and then his face pinches up like he's constipated." Aria explained, making Josie snicker. "So basically,  Ezra is like Lord Voldemort?" Spencer asked with a laugh as Hanna joined them. "Hey." Hanna greeted. "Hi." Spencer replied.

"Hi Lucas." Spencer called out as she spotted him walking past them. He turned and looked at them before walking away without saying anything. "He knows something," Aria whispered. "I thought you said he didn't see you guys." Spencer commented. "He didn't." Josie answered in a hushed voice as they stared at Lucas. "It's no coincidence that he turned dark after the masquerade ball." Aria said. "Jenna has that effect on people." Spencer remarked. 

"Yeah, but she's been gone all summer and he's still Boo Radley." Aria responded. "Have you ever noticed how many skinny brunettes go to this school?" Hanna asked. "She fits the costume." Josie muttered to her friends. "Has anybody heard from Emily?" Spencer asked. Hanna shook her head. "No. I left her a bunch of messages." She responded. "Yeah, me too""Same." Aria and Josie responded at the same time. "Hope she's okay." Aria added.

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Josie and Richie were at his locker during the time between classes. "How are you feeling?" he asked and she sighed before she nodded. "I'm better, I'm still shocked and confused as to why somebody felt the need to steal Alison's body parts." she responded. He leaned towards her and kissed her cheek, causing Josie to smile and  blush as her phone went off. "Sorry," she said to Richie, pulling away and pulling her phone out, checking who it was

Aria Montgomery
S.O.S

"Shit, I'll be back, Aria needs me," she told him as she put her phone away, "That's fine, i'll see you in class." he responded with a smile before he kissed her goodbye and she rushed towards the girls bathroom, spotting her others friends, minus emily doing the same thing,

"Aria?" Spencer said as she, Hanna and Josie entered the bathroom. "Aria are you okay?" Hanna and Josie asked as she rushed towards Aria, who was sitting on the floor, looking freaked out. "I had a panic attack." Aria spoke through heavy breaths as she hyperventilated. "You guys, I think I saw 'A'." She added. "No, you didn't, okay. Mona is in a straitjacket at Radley." Spencer told her, trying to calm her down.

"Yeah-Yeah, I heard that she's practically in a coma over there." Hanna added. "You're safe Aria." Josie said as she squeezed Aria's hand in comfort before they helped Aria into a standing position. "That girl interrupted thing could just be an act to keep her out of jail, you know what she's capable of, we all do." Aria shakily replied.

"But she can't hurt us anymore," Josie spoke softly. "Bitch Crazy." Spencer added. "Don't worry, Aria. Someday we will all have jubilation." Hanna said, causing all of them to laugh before Aria pulled Hanna into a hug. "That was really good use of that word, Han." Spencer told her before Josie and Spencer joined the hug.

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Later that night, Josie, Richie and Josie's mom, Jennifer were eating dinner together when the doorbell rang, making Josie sigh, about to get up to get it but Jennifer stopped her. "I'll get it, you two stay here." she told them before getting up and answering the door. "Wonder who that is this late." Josie mused before she ate more of her dinner. "Maybe one of the girls?" Richie suggested.

"They're all busy tonight." Josie responded before Jennifer came back into the kitchen. "Who was it?" Josie asked, not looking at her, so she didn't notice her mothers worried face. "The police." she answered, making both teens look towards her. "The police want to talk to you down at the station." Jennifer told Josie, making her heartbeat faster out of nervousness.

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They all went down to the station, Richie had gone with them, to keep Jennifer company while Josie's gets questioned. "We went to Spencer's lake house, we talked, we made a fire and Emily showed us photos from her trip. Basically, we spent the evening catching up, pretty low-key." Josie said, smiling, trying to hide her nervousness.

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"I'll call you when we get home. Okay." Jennifer heard Veronica say as she walked out the police station and joined them. "Are they charging them?" Jennifer asked. "No, it's just routine," Veronica answered. "The girls were at your lake house last night, I don't understand why they're being questioned." Ashley said, trying to wrap her head around this. "They said it was part of the ongoing investigation." Veronica answered. "And you believe that?" Richie asked her from where he stood next to Jennifer.

"Uh, excuse me." Ella said before walking away, heading towards where spotted Mr. Fitz. Soon enough the girls were done with questioning and they were let go. "Mom." Josie said, getting her attention, making Jennifer sigh in relief. "Oh Jo." she said, hugging her daughter before both of them, plus Richie left, Josie giving Aria a comforting smile when she saw her mom and Mr. Fitz there as well.

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The next day, the girls were at Spencers to use the pool but Emily hadn't shown up yet, making them worried. "I'll try her one more time." Hanna said as they all walked back into Spencer's house. "Why wasn't she at the police station? Do you think she told them the truth?" Aria asked. "If she told them the truth we wouldn't be standing here." Josie responded as she helped Spencer and Aria get stuff.

Suddenly a knock came from one of Spencer's doors leading into her backyard and a phone ringtone was hard. It was Emily. The three girls put everything they were holding down and moved towards the doors as Hanna opened one and let Emily in. "Em, that was me calling you, where have you been?" Hanna asked.

"It's okay. If you told them the truth, we'll figure something out." Aria assured her but Emily shook her head. "No, I would never do that to you guys." she responded. "Well, they called all three of us into the station, where were you?" Spencer asked her. "We were so worried, Em." Josie spoke softly.

"I didn't have my phone with me yesterday and when I got home last night, the cops were waiting for me but I told them everything we agreed on. Everything." Emily spoke, her voice shaky. "Then why are you so upset?" Hanna asked her, "Because if it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be at the wrong place at the wrong time and it could haunt us forever." Emily answered as she moved to sit on the couch, the girls following her.

"Em, it's fine, okay? We've dealt with it." Hanna assured her. "I saw you guys at school yesterday, and all i could think about was, because of me—"Emily started it but Spencer cut her off. "No, because of you nothing, Okay? nobody saw us, and if we just stick to our story, we are in the clear." She said,

"I Remembered something... about that night." Emily told them and then she explained how she remembers a car, but nothing else. "That's it? That's all you remember?" Hanna asked. "I found out online that people forget things because they don't want to remember and if this is selective then anything can trigger it." Emily explained. "Sights, smells, sounds." she listed.

"So the car you saw, it just looks like the car from that night, or it was the car?" Spencer asked her. "I don't know, I started to walk towards it because I wanted to look inside but... I got a text." Emily confessed. "And the person that sent it to me knows I don't remember what happened." Emily added as she pulled her phone out and passed it to Spencer.

"I bet you remember me." Spencer read out, "Guys, is it starting again?" Aria asked as Josie stood up and paced, worried. "No, you guys, that's not 'A', Mona is 'A' and she is drooling in her bed at a nut hospital." Hanna remarked. "We don't know that for sure Han." Josie told her. "Yeah we do," Hanna said, getting their attention. "I've been visiting her." she added.

"What?" they all asked in sync. "Look, I didn't tell you guys because I knew you'd think I'm crazy." Hanna said. "Yeah!" Spencer remarked. "She tried to kill you Hanna." Aria reminded her. "She's locked up in her room with bars over her windows, trust me she doesn't know anything that happened that night." Hanna told them. "Yeah, well, someone does." Emily told her. "There's something I need to show you guys." Spencer said.

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The girls were currently in room two at The Lost Woods Resort as Spencer showed them a 3D version of the room in the lost woods. "Ali's shrine was right over there." she said as she pointed towards the window. "And then over here she had a row of black hoodies, all just perfectly hanging, reading for 'A' to grab one and run." Spencer said and Hanna cut her off slightly towards the end. "Mona. Ready for Mona." Hanna corrected her.

"Yeah." Spencer responded. "And there was a zombie costume hanging on the back of that door." she added as pointed towards a door to the bathroom in the room. "Just like the one that attacked Ali on halloween." she added. "O-okay, so you've been coming here all summer trying to remember what was in this room. Why?" Emily asked and the girls shared a look. "We have to tell Emily the truth." Spencer said, causing Emily to look at Hanna, Aria and Josie, confused.

"The morning after they found Maya's body we came back here," Hanna started "Yeah, to get rid of everything. I know. You told me." Emily said. "We lied to you." Aria told her. "We didn't want it to be another thing you had to worry about." Hanna told her. "When we came back here, it was empty." Josie spoke up, making Emily look at her. "The file cabinets, the maps, pictures, Ali's diaries– everything was gone." Spencer continued. "Maybe the police took it." EMily suggested.

"If the police found out what Mona knows about us, my mom would be in jail." Hanna remarked. "Yeah, Ezra too." Aria added. "Let's not forget we would be as well, The Jenna Thing." Josie added. "So who took it?" Emily asked. "Well, there are things that don't really add up." Spencer started. "Like Mona was with you when 'A' gave Emily that massage," she pointed at Hanna. "And there's no way that she could have gotten Ian's body out of the bell tower by herself." she added.

"Are you saying that she had help?" Josie asked and Spencer showed them the designs for the swan lake dress in response. "If the black swan wasn't guilty of something why would she run from you guys?" Spencer asked when suddenly they heard Spencer's car alarm going off, making them all share a look before Spencer grabbed her keys and they all walked outside and saw that all the doors to Spencer's car were open, including the trunk of the car.

Spencer used her keys to stop the alarm going off. "What the hell?" Josie mumbled as she and the girls walked towards the car. They saw the car was filled with photos of them, from the night Ali's body was dug up once the girls made it to the trunk of the car, they were frozen, staring at the photos of themselves when their phones went off, making them pull them out.

"Mona played with dolls I play with body parts," Josie started. "Game on bitches." Spencer continued. "'A'." They all said. It was starting again, but this time felt different, felt more dangerous. Josie shuddered as she stared at the 'A' message

UNKNOWN ID
Mona played with dolls I play with body parts,
Game on bitches.
⎯ A

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter. first chapter of season three everyone !!