chapter forty six
if these dolls could talk
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The next day, at school, Josie, Hanna, Emily and Richie were sitting outside in the courtyard during break when Spencer rushed over to them. "Guys, I figured it out." she said, as she put the pile of newspapers on the table and sat down "Alison took out a classified ad asking 'A' to meet her in brookhaven, and 'A' responded, this was going on for like a month." she said before she looked down at the newspaper, reading from it. "Look, "Dear A, what's it gonna take to end this? You need to stop A.D"" she said before handing it over to Aria. ""Hey desperately seeking silence, who says I wanna end this? A." Spencer spoke, reading another message in a newspaper.

"Let me see that." Josie said, and Spencer handed it over, and she and Richie read over the message in the paper. "What's this one?" Emily said, taking a newspaper from the pile of old newspapers. "It's the last paper before Labor day weekend." Spencer answered. "Alison was set to meet 'A' at 235 Spruce Street." she added. "Why do I know that street?" Aria asked. "Because we walked on it." Hanna answered. "The creepy doll hospital?" Josie asked and Hanna nodded as Aria took a look at the newspaper she had.

"Guys." Emily said, looking at something behind Aria, making them all turn to see Jenna, arm-in-arm with Toby. "She took off the bandage." Spencer whispered. Aria turned to her friends. "She's not using the stick." she said. "Why is she still wearing the shades?" Hanna asked. "Hanna, stop staring." Emily whispered to her from across the table before Aria and Josie handed the newspapers back to Spencer as they noticed Jenna was coming toward them, Emily hid the newspapers between her and Richie.

"Are they all here?" they heard Jenna ask Toby. "Yes," he answered. "Thanks, Toby. I'll meet you inside." Jenna said once she had reached the table and Toby gave Spencer one last look before leaving. Jenna carefully sat next to Aria, who moved so she could sit. "Sorry to interrupt." Jenna spoke. "Can you see or not?" Hanna asked bluntly, making Josie look at her. "Hanna," she hissed, making Hanna turn to her and shrug. Jenna shook her head.

"Wait, the surgery didn't..." Richie trailed off, "No, it didn't." Jenna said, cutting off his sentence, making him frown. "I went in knowing the odds, so I can't be shocked." she added. "The funny thing is, I woke up this morning and, uh..." she paused. "I could see clearly, just not with my eyes." she finished. "You could have left me in that smoky room, Hanna, but you... you didn't." she added. "Instead, you, you saved my life." she said shakily, almost crying. "And it made me realize that people can grow." Jenna continued. "So now it's my turn and that's why I'm here, I'm here to, to apologize and to let go of the, the anger that's been holding me back, so can we just please ... .move on?" she asked before she wiped a tear that had fallen.

"What exactly are you apologizing for Jenna?" Emily asked. "For holding a grudge and, uh... for hating you." she answered and everyone was silent, they didn't know what to say. "We've all done things that we're not proud of, I know what you think of me, but you're wrong" Jenna spoke up. "I've never been the person you really needed to fear." She continued, making the girls share a look as Richie held Josie's hand as Jenna got up from her seat, before pulling out the walking stick and unfolded it before walking away.

"Please don't tell me you brought that." Emily asked rhetorically. "I kinda did." Aria admitted. "Guys, if that surgery didn't work, there's no way she hates us less, I still believe she had something to do with that fire at Jason's." Emily continued. "So you think she set the fire and just walked into it?" Hanna asked. "Yeah, i've-i've heard of cutting off your nose to spite your face, but that's–" Aria said but Spencer cut her off. "Cutting off your whole face." she said.

"Well, if Jenna isn't 'A' then who is she talking about?" Emily asked. "Garrett?" Josie suggested. "Melissa." Hanna said, making Spencer turn to her. "Hanna, Melissa openly admitted to sending Ali angry text messages, if she was 'A', why would she do that?" Aria asked. "I don't know, I don't have the answer." Hanna responded, frustrated. "I think Vivian did." Spencer spoke up, making everyone turn to her. "I think she found out, that's why she's not sitting with us." she added. "So what? What do we do now?" Josie asked her. "We retrace Ali's steps, go back to Brookhaven," Spencer answered. "We're too close now to back off." she added.

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"He couldn't run Ezra out of town, so now he's shipping me off." Aria vented as the girls walked down Brookhaven. Aria had found an application to an all-girls boarding school on her mothers desk, from her father. "What did Ezra say?" Spencer asked. "Well, he's not really surprised, my dad's turning this into a war." Aria answered. "So, what are you gonna do?" Emily asked but Aria didn't get a chance to answer her question, Hanna spoke first. "Look, can we just hurry up and figure it out? Because Vermont is like Iceland, the sequel." Hanna commented.

"Wait, guys, there's no 235." Josie said as she looked at the buildings. "You guys look." Hanna pointed out something, making them look over to see an old lady opening the creepy doll hospital. "Um, hi." Spencer said, trying to gain the woman's attention. "Hi. Um, sorry. Excuse me." Spencer said, walking towards her, making the lady look towards her. "We're not open." she said. "Oh, well, we've tried to call you, your shop a couple of times, we just wanted to ask a few questions." Spencer remarked politely.

"You can ask, but it don't mean I'll have the answers." the lady responded, making Spencer chuckle awkwardly. "Um, we just wanted to know if you keep a record of all of the customers who purchased your dolls." she asked. "We don't sell much. It's mostly repairs." She answered Spencer's question. "Oh, um, well.." she paused, trying to think of what to say. "You do sell some dolls, because a friend of ours might have received that one as a gift." Spencer spoke as pointed to a doll in the window, the one that looked like a voo-doo doll.

"We never sold those. That was left here and never picked up." the lady commented, confusing the girls. "Could you tell us who might have left it?" Josie asked, moving to stand next to Spencer. "I couldn't tell you what I had for lunch." the lady responded with a laugh. "Y'all better come inside." the lady spoke with a laugh before she opened the door for the girls. "Seth, baby, turn on the lights would ya? We got guests" she called out.

Josie shuddered as she and the girls walked through the shop, there were dolls hanging from the roof. "My late sister did the books, I've been trying to sell the shop." the lady told them as they walked down a flight of stairs. "No takers, kids these days only like things they can google." she added with a chuckle. "Which doll was it again?" she asked as she looked at the girls. "So many faces, they start to blur." she added.

"Uh, it was a small one, kind of folksy and burlap-y." Spencer described. "Terrifying." Hanna commented. "They mean the voo-doo doll," a young boy said. "There was another girl, came in asking about the same one," he added. "When was that?" Aria asked. "Summer before last." he answered. "I can't make heads or tails out of this, let me check that stack over there." the lady said, cutting the boy off before he could say anything else. "This girl, who came in, what was she asking?" Hanna asked the boy.

"She wanted to know who bought it." he answered. "Was this her?" Emily asked, showing him a picture of Alison on her phone. "That's her face but she had dark hair. Lots of it, like that." he responded, pointing to a doll with dark hair. "Did you ever figure it out? The person she was looking for?" Josie asked, folding her arms across her chest. The boy shook his head. "No, but I told her to stop looking," he answered. "Why?" Aria asked.

"There are people who wanted to hurt her, a man and a woman." he answered. "Seth, hold your tongue." the lady called out. "Wha-What is he talking about? When did these people come into the shop?" Spencer asked her. "They didn't, that's something he saw in his mind, he sees things, things that haven't happened yet, he's gifted." she answered with a shake of her head, causing the girls to look at the young boy–seth.

"This couple who was after her...what did they look like?" Spencer asked hesitantly. "Dark hair, like yours," he answered. "Um, was she wearing sunglasses? Did she have a cane?" Emily asked. "Is she blind?" Hanna asked. "Oh, no, she can see," he answered. "Seth, baby, why don't you take the groceries up to the kitchen, dear?" she asked and the boy bent down and grabbed the groceries and when he went to leave, he turned back.

"Sorry about what happened to her. Must have been awful, breathing dirt into your lungs, I don't even like sand in my mouth." he said. Josie's eyes widened, the fact she was buried alive was never public knowledge. "Seth, baby, go. You said enough." the lady said and the boy eventually walked upstairs.

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The girls had gone back to Josie's house afterwards. "You think this will be enough to split?" Aria asked as she pulled a frozen pizza from Josie's freezer as the girls sat around in the kitchen. None of them answered, too freaked out about what had happened. "Guys, seriously, he's nine years old, he's never seen the sun and he probably lives in a cupboard with like six hundred dolls." Aria said, placing the frozen pizza down on the kitchen island. "Okay, so you don't need to get all freaked out over a newsflash from, casper, the friendly host." she added.

"Aria, he remembers Alison okay? He warned her that something bad was gonna happen." Emily countered. "Well, if, if it wasn't Jenna and Garrett, who was the couple that he saw in his head?" Aria asked. "Melissa and Ian." Hanna answered. "Okay, can you let it go?" Emily asked her, "No, he said the girl wasn't blind." she snapped. "That doesn't mean that we have to go back there Han." Josie said as she got up and poured herself a glass of water.

"Yeah, we do." Spencer blurted out, making them turn to her. "My parents thought that Melissa could've killed Alison," she revealed, shocking the girls. "Say that again." Aria demanded as she sat down at a seat. "They hired a detective after Ali disappeared." Spencer confessed. "What did the detective find?" Emily asked. "I don't know, but Melissa tried to convince me that my father wanted to see Ali dead." she continued. "Wait, Mellisa accused your father of wanting Ali dead? Why? Why would he want that?" Josie asked.

"Because Alison knew that my dad..." she paused and let out a breath. "My dad is Jason's father too." she admitted. "She would drop hints and make weird jokes about how close our families were and... and then Jason figured it out and he told me... recently." she continued. "So your father and..." Hanna trailed off in shock of the information. "Did Ali rub this in Melissa's face too?" Aria asked. "All I know is that Melissa hated Alison's guts." Spencer answered. "She worked in the next town over and she probably drove past that creepy doll shop every day." she added.

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At school the next day, Spencer was filling everybody in on what happened with Melissa last night. "Look, she's bluffing." Hanna remarked as she and the girls minus Aria, carried their trays outside to sit down and eat. "That's a pretty big hand to play with no cards." Emily said. "That's what happens when you have nothing, you play big and you psyche everybody out." Hanna commented as she, Spence, Josie and Emily joined Aria.

"Okay, but what if Melissa is telling the truth? What if there was a camera on us the night of the Jenna thing?" Spencer asked. "You know what? Enough is enough, if we have to trick Melissa into sending a text message to prove she's 'A' then that;s what we'll do." Hanna remarked just before the bell rang.

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Spencer, Hanna and Josie were sitting in Hanna's bedroom while Emily staked out Melissa. They were waiting for Hanna's phone to go off with an 'A' message. "Are you sure that Melissa went–" Hanna started but Spencer cut her off. "Positive. Emily followed her there." Spencer answered. "I don't know how you got Caleb to agree to this." Josie remarked. "He loves me more than he hates Mona, that's how." Hanna responded. "Believe me, I'm not digging this either." Hanna added.

It was silent for a few minutes before Hanna's phone went off, causing her to reach for it instantly. "Who's it from?" Spencer asked. "Hanna let us see." Spencer said as she leaned in to see it and Josie moved further up to see it was well.

UNKNOWN ID
Hey Han, you into sharing
Everything with your BFF? Even your BF?
⎯ A

"Do we need any more proof? It's been Melissa all along." Hanna remarked as Spencer sat there, shocked. "Spence, your sister's 'A'." Josie spoke up as she played with the rings on her fingers.

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"I can't find my thumb drive, so we're just gonna have to give them my laptop." Hanna said as she entered her kitchen where Spencer and Josie were. "Wait, who?" Spencer asked. "The police." Hanna answered. "Are you driving, or me or Josie?" Hanna asked. "Hanna, this is my sister." Spencer cried out, "What am I gonna tell my parents? They tried to protect her." she continued. "Yeah, so did you for way too long." Hanna responded as Josie stayed quiet. "We should have turned her in the second that we knew she texted Ali." Hanna added as Hanna's front door opened.

"Mom?" Hanna called out before she turned to see Emily entering the kitchen. "Where have you been?" Josie asked. "I drove Caleb home, he told Mona he wanted to walk." she answered. "He doesn't get why we aren't trapping Jenna and Garrett, to him, that's the enemy." she added. "Well, he's wrong, we have proof now." Hanna stated. "No, we might need more." Spencer butted in, causing Hanna to turn to her. "More? I just forced my boyfriend to make out with my best friend from junior high, what's next? Hiding in Melissa's Closet? Rubbing her belly until the baby confesses?" Hanna asked sarcastically.

"Hanna, Jenna and Garrett—" Emily started but Hanna cut her off. "No, Emily, stop confusing us, we know who 'A' is now." she snapped. "Hanna, we are still guessing." Josie said softly. "What if we show that kid the video of Alison's room?" Emily asked. "You know, let Seth tell us which couple–" Emily started. "Have you lost your mind?" Hanna said, cutting her off. "We are now going to ask a nine-year-old sideshow to tell us who's been torturing us?" Hanna asked.

"Hanna, he remembered Alison." Emily snapped. "So what? He reads the paper, it doesn't mean that he can bend a spoon just by staring at it." Hanna exclaimed. "He knew how she died, that was never in the paper." Spencer spoke up just before Hanna's front door opened again. "Hey, there." they heard Mona call out before they turned to see her entering the kitchen.

"So did it work? Did you guys get a text?" Mona asked. The three girls shared a look, not knowing if they were gonna tell her. "No. No, not yet, what's in the bag?" Hanna asked. "Shower gel, I need to scrub off ten layers of shame." Mona said, making Josie snort. "Well, um, I'm   gonna go shower, see you before lights out." Mona said before leaving and walking away.

"You can't tell her everything." Emily said as she turned to Hanna. "Okay, this is Spencer's family." she added. "Fine." Hanna agreed. "We'll show Seth, baby the video,." she said, teasing the name the old lady kept saying. "That's the only stop we're making before the police station." Hanna remarked as she turned to Spencer before walking off and the girls followed her.

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Hanna, Spencer, Emily and Josie walked down Brookhaven towards the doll hospital. "Do you think it's too late?" Emily asked. "Yes." Spencer answered bluntly as they arrived at the doll hospital. Hanna bent down and looked into one of the windows but didn't see anyone. She sighed as she stood back up right and faced her friends. "They could be downstairs." she said as Spencer looked at something before she went to try and knock on the door but it was already open. Spencer pushed it open and turned to her friends before the four of them entered the shop.

"Hello?" Spencer called out, but nobody answered. "Hello?" Josie called out as they walked further into the shop. They walked down the stairs that they had done yesterday into the underpart of the shop. "Martha?" Spencer called out. "Are you down here?" she called out again. "I don't think she is Spence." Josie said to her. "Why's the light on?" Emily asked. "Looks like somebody just left." she commented as they looked around.

"You guys, let's just go." Hanna spoke up, scared but they ignored her. "Wait, look." Emily whispered, pointing something out. Emily bent down and picked up a box and placed it on the table, it was filled with the same creepy doll they had been asking about and the one Alison had gotten. "She said she didn't sell these." she remarked as Hanna, Spencer and Josie stood around Emily and looked into the box. "She did." Josie commented as Spencer picked one up along with Emily.

Suddenly the light went out, leaving them in darkness. "Martha?" Spencer called out. "Um, I'm sorry. We're down here." she added. "Okay, let's just come back when they're open." Emily suggested. "That would be 1979." Spencer remarked. "Just find a light switch." she asked. "Let's not, let's just leave, please, this feels like a horror movie, maybe we shouldn't be here." Josie whispered, getting scared.

"End up like me." an automated voice said, scaring the crap out of them. "Follow me, end up like me," it said again, more girlish this time. "Follow me, end up like me," it kept repeating, and the girls followed the sound towards the back of the room, where they heard it coming from. They reached a door, and Spencer opened it and they saw a doll half buried, blonde hair and yellow sweater, blood in its hair with a shovel in its hand, making the girls gasp. "Follow me, end up like me," it said, like a broken record, over and over and Josie wanted nothing more than to smash it.

When something fell from behind them, making them gasp and jump around, to see what it was just some doll but suddenly a monkey doll went off, clapping and making noise then a heap of dolls from a shelf fell over, and the girls made a quick exit, running from the basement and the doll hospital, while trying avoid dolls that were fling from shelves above them, when Hanna accidentally drops her laptop that she had been holding, making her stop and turn around. "Hanna." Josie exclaimed once she saw Hanna stop. "No, wait, my laptop," Hanna remarked. Hanna bent down to get and Josie helped her out of the basement, joining Spencer and Emily who were ahead of them, just before a big shelf came crashing down where Hanna just was.

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The four girls went back to Spencers after leaving the doll hospital. They were putting everything of Ali's back into the bag that Jason had given them. "What all should we take?" Emily asked. "Wait, put that into the duffel bag we have to give them everything." Hanna commented, referring to the iPad in Spencer's hands. "What are you looking for?" Emily asked Hanna. "I have no idea." she responded as the others put everything in the bag. "This feels really weird giving them all of Ali's stuff." Josie said. "Well, maybe there's something in here that the police can use." Spencer commented.

"Alison said there was." Spencer said without thinking, making them look at her. "What? When?" Hanna asked, confused. "Yesterday." Spencer answered. "In a dream." Emily added. "Why did you tell us?" Josie asked, referring to her and Hanna but before Spencer could answer they heard a door shut from downstairs, making them all turn to Spencer's open bedroom.

The girls sneaked downstairs, Josie and Hanna accidentally stepping on creaky floorboard but they made it down in time to see the police captain enter Spencer's house. "We're here on official business." he said to Melissa before turning to Garrett. "Officer Reynolds, will you please surrender your weapon? He asked as the girls watched from the steps. "What? Wh–what the hell is this?" Garrett asked before handing over his gun.

"Why are you doing this? What has he done?" Melissa asked frantically. "Garrett Reynolds, you're under arrest." he answered, "For what?" Garrett asked, confused as an officer handcuffs him. "The murder of Alison DiLaurentis." he answered, making Josie put a hand over her mouth in shock.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter. homestretch, almost done with this season ! countdown till season three: one chapter !!!!