chapter twenty two
for whom the bell tolls
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The girls sat in Emily's bedroom, spread out on her bed as they were watching the videos. "Is that Jenna?" Hanna asked as they watched a new video. "You're late." Jenna said to whoever wasn't on camera yet. "Who's she talking to?" Aria asked just as Toby appeared in frame on the camera. "Toby." Spencer whispered in shock "It's not right." He said to Jenna as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"There's nothing wrong about us, Toby. We're not really related." Jenna said as she chuckled, "It'll be so easy for me to convince your daddy and my mommy that you've been forcing yourself on me." she said before she started taking off his shirt. My god Josie thought. She felt like she shouldn't be watching this "You have no idea who you're dealing with." Jenna said. "Turn it off." Spencer said quickly, to which Emily quickly shut the laptop.

"Do you realize what these videos are?" Aria asked. "They're of us...Ali, Jenna. We're young girls in our bedrooms changing clothes. We're naked!" Aria exclaimed. "Exposed." Spencer added as Josie stood up and started pacing, she felt disgusted. "Do you think someone was watching us and getting off on it?" Hanna asked. "Well, we all know who had a thing for younger girls." Spencer said which resulted in Josie cringing, she hated this, she felt like her privacy was invaded. "I feel sick." Emily spoke. So do i Em, Josie thought. "In some of these, we were just kids." Hanna said. "Ian's been watching us for years." Aria said.

"And he killed Alison to make sure that nobody found out." Spencer added. "I wish Ali would've told us about these videos." Emily shook her head. "You guys, it is not too late to help her. We can use this to prove that Ian killed Alison." Spencer said as stood up next to Josie who had stopped pacing was just standing in front of her friends. "How are we gonna do that?" Emily asked Spencer. "We start by finding out what Jenna knows." Spencer stated. "Are you on something?" Aria asked.

"Jenna's at the top of our A list." Josie said. "Look, I get it, okay, but she knows that these videos existed. She was looking for them. That's why she hired Caleb to find that key!" Spencer exclaimed. "Spence, how are we ever supposed to believe anything that bitch says?" Hanna asked. Han was right Josie thought. "If that bitch is A, this could be a trap." Emily added.

"You guys, Ian was watching all of us. For all we know, he still is." Aria said, causing the girls to share a look as Spencer looked out the window. "Spencer's right. We have to try." Aria said, defending Spencer's idea. "We've been afraid of her since The Jenna Thing, and now we finally have something that she wants. Alison gave it to us." Spencer said as she turned to the girls.

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The girls were at school, doing their own things at their lockers when they all saw Jenna walk down the hall. They locked eyes before they followed her into the music room. "Who's there?" she asked. "Spencer." Spencer said and Jenna slowly turned around. "Who else?" she asked. "Aria, Emily, Josie...and Hanna." Spencer told her. "Should I call security?" Jenna asked, making Hanna roll her eyes. "We have what you hired Caleb to find." Spencer started.

"You didn't think it was wrong, but Toby did." Emily added. "So, you've seen it?" She asked. "Every frame." Josie chimed in. Jenna took a moment to collect herself, before turning to where they were. "What do you want from me?" Jenna asked. "The truth. Can you handle that?" Hanna asked, making Jenna sigh. "Look, when I said that Alison visited me in the hospital, I was telling you the truth. She didn't come to talk about you, Spencer. That was a lie." Jenna said.  "And how do we know that you're not lying to us now?" Spencer asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You knew Alison, okay? You knew what she was capable of." Jenna said with a sigh. "We're listening." she said. "It was the day before she went missing, and she was on her way home from Georgia." Jenna started, making Spencer look back at her friends. "She had just found the video. She couldn't wait to play it for me." she paused as she remembered when Allison spoke to her. "She was on her way home from Georgia?" Spencer asked in shock. "Th-that's what she said. And then she made some joke about her...tan. Too bad I couldn't see it." Jenna chuckled. "Did she tell you anything else?" Spencer then asked.

"It was a short visit. Look, I have given you what you've asked for. What are you gonna give me?" Jenna asked. "We'll make sure the video stays in a safe place." Spencer told her, making Jenna scoff quietly before she went to walk out of the music room and the girls watched her go, before she paused. "We've all made mistakes. Remember, I'm still paying for yours." Jenna said before she walked out.

When she was gone, the girls turned to each other. "For all we know, she wrote that story." Aria said. "And we still don't know how Ali got the video." Emily said. "Yes, we do. That video was Alison's insurance policy, and she cashed it on the day that she got it." Spencer said. "Which means she was with Ian when she found it."

"And she couldn't wait to play that video for Jenna. God, do you remember how happy Ali was when she came back from that trip? I think it's because, for her, The Jenna Thing was over." Spencer said. "Nice of her to share the safety net with us." Josie added bitterly. "Wait for it, girls. Wait for it." Emily said, making them confused.

"Wait for what?" Spencer asked. "That's what Ali said when we met her at the taxi. Maybe that's what we were waiting for." Emily explained. "Do you remember at Alison's funeral, when we were all wondering why Jenna was there? If she's telling the truth, Jenna came back because she could." Aria said. "And Ali's the one who got buried." Hanna said in realisation.

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The girls were sitting in the cafeteria, eating and talking about how Emily might be moving. "Well, if you want, my mom can talk to your mum and you can have our guest room." Josie suggested to Emily. "This is so not fair. I mean, we lost each other for a year. I can't imagine you not being here," Hanna said.

"I got it." Spencer said as she walked up to them and sat down. "Okay, you're sure Ian can't trace this number back to us?" Aria asked Spencer. "It's a prepaid phone, I used cash, and the number isn't registered, so... service is anonymous." Spencer said. "How do you know this stuff?" Hanna asked. "Don't you ever watch CNN?" She asked. "Not any chance of that. Homeland security is  trying to ban these things." Spencer said but Hanna just stared at her. "No need to answer that," Spencer said as she pulled it out. "Homeland security is trying to ban these things." she continued as Aria saw Ian across the room with a few students.

"He acts like he doesn't have a care in the world." Aria said. "He thinks he got away with it." Hanna said. "Well, he hasn't." Emily chimed in. "Okay, so we convince Ian that this isn't about anything but money. Hopefully that'll throw him off of us. If he wants his home movies, it's just gonna cost him. And then when he shows up for the swap, we..." Spencer trailed off as Hanna picked up the phone. "Make our own movie." Hanna finished. "Right, and we take that, the flash drive, and the prepaid phone into the police." Spencer said. "The second he responds with a text, we know that he's guilty." Aria spoke as Spencer took a deep breath and started typing.

She typed 'I have Ali's video.' but she hesitated making Hanna look at her. "Send it already." She urged her, making Spencer hit send as the girls watched for a reaction as the smile on his face disappeared and quickly walked away. "There must've been a part of me that didn't believe it, because I just...I-I feel..." Aria stammered.

"Numb?" Emily filled in. "Somehow I-I thought I'd feel better when we found out for sure." Spencer said quietly. "Well, I know what they do to guys like him in prison and that makes me feel a lot better." Hanna said, looking at her friends as Josie sighed and ran her head through her hair as Hanna's phone beeped, making them all look over to her and she let out a sigh of relief. "It's just my mom making sure I stayed out of bed." She told them while texting her back as the prepaid phone went off.

"He wants to know what we want." Spencer said, making the girls share a  look before Josie took the phone and started typing.

Bring $10,000 to Willow Park. 9pm.

Come alone.

And as Josie hit send Mona, who they hadn't noticed, started talking. "Is this the let's love on Hanna lunch committee?" Mona asked as she sat down and put her hand on Hanna's arm. "Feeling better, sweetie?" Mona asked. "I'm sorry, I have this thing that I have to do." Spencer said and walked away.

"And then there were five." Mona said.

"Yeah, me too."

"I'll help."

"Me too."

Emily, Aria and Josie got up and walked in the direction Spencer went leaving Hanna with Mona.

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"Sure you don't want me to come with you guys?" Richie as Josie put her hoodie on, shaking her head, she turned to him. "No, it could be dangerous, I can't have you hurt, we'll be fine," Josie said as she walked to Richie, who was standing in her bedroom doorway. "Exactly!" he exclaimed. Luckily her mother was at work she thought. "If it makes you feel better, i'll bring my mini hair spray, that'll hurt if it gets in his eye plus Garrett's gonna be there," she assures him with a smile making Richie sigh before pulling her into a hug. "Just be careful, okay that goes for the girls as well." he said as Josie nodded before pulling away and walking out of her house, Richie was gonna wait there for her after.

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We were in the forest, waiting for Spencer and Garrett, who we decided to ask to come, for protection when Aria's phones went off. "What?" Josie asked when she noticed Aria's uneasy expression. "It's not Spencer. It's from A. It's for all of us." Aria said.

BLOCKED ID

Buckle up, Bitches.

Nothing is as

it seems.

⎯ A

After Aria read the message out loud the girls shared a look. "Does A know we're here?" Emily asked. "A knows everything." Josie whispered. A few minutes later, the girls saw a car coming. "He's here." Emily said as they stood up while Aria had received a call from Spencer. "Spencer, where are you? No, stay with Melissa. We're safe. Okay. Bye." Aria said, hanging up the phone as Garrett got out of his car. "Thanks for coming." Emily said. "Trust me, I'm glad you called." He replied before he started walking around the wooded area with a flashlight. "Okay. So, no one else knows you're here but me, right?" He asked as he returned to the girls after he had finished searching. "Well, I left a note for my mom. In case anything happens." Hanna said as Josie sighed. "Richie does, also in case something happens." she said as Garrett nodded. "All right, well, this looks like the only way in, so if Ian shows, I'll see him coming." Garrett told them.

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"He's got a gun," Hanna said, as the four of them walked around a bit. "He does?" Aria asked in shock. "Guys, he's a cop," Emily said, trying to assure them that it was okay. "Did you really leave a note for your mom?" Aria asked Hanna, already knowing Josie was gonna tell Richie incase. "Yeah. "Dear mommy, I went to the woods to trap a killer." Hanna said sarcastically before they all turned to Garrett who was watching for a car when a few moments later a car came towards the meeting place. "Someone's coming." Hanna whispered as Garrett ran over to us.

"I want the four of you to stay out of sight." He instructed them, causing the girls to hide behind a bunch of trees as they watched Garrett catch the guy. "Stop right there." Garrett says as he points his gun at who they believe is Ian. "Put your hands where I can see them and turn around." Garrett instructs the man as he drops the bag and turns around. "It's not Ian." Aria whispers as they catch a glimpse of the guy, who wasn't Ian, then where was he.

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The girls were in Emily's car as she drove them home when Josie's phone rang. It was Spencer. "Spence?" she asked as Hanna and Aria leaned forward from the backseat so they could hear the call as well. "I gave you the videos, what more do you want?" Spencer shouted, terrified and the girls tensed, not knowing what was happening. "Spencer?" Aria asked again, but no response, not to them anyway. "My mom knows I'm here, she knows I'm in the church" Spencer said.

"And you picked a perfect place for your suicide," a voice said, one the girls recognized. "It's Ian," Hanna said in shock. "Cal 911" Josie ordered and Hanna quickly picked up her phone and dialled as the sound of struggle continued. "You didn't mean to hurt Alison, huh, It was an accident" Ian continued, "You pushed her and she fell."

"Is that what happened?" Spencer asked. "She just hit her head and she never woke up," Ian said. "Alison died of suffocation." Spencer said. "The letter I wrote on your computer won't answer all the questions but it will answer enough. Your guilt was just too much for you," Ian said and the sound of Spencer screaming and something crashing caused all of them to flinch. "If you love my sister, don't do this." Spencer pleaded. "I'm doing it because I love her," Ian said and Spencer let out a horrified scream. "Let go of me!" Spencer screams. "Please don't! Don't! No please!"

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The girls jumped out of the car as soon as they stopped in front of the church and took off running into the church "Spencer!" "Spence!" The girls yelled, but no reply came as Josie realized Spencer wasn't in the main area so she took off in search of Spencer when they heard the bell. "Guys," Emily trailed off as they took off running to the bell tower. "Spencer?" "Spencer?" The girls shouted as they ran up the stairs, fearing the worst but when she saw her sitting on the ground, hugging a post, "Are you okay?" Josie asks softly, careful not to scare her anymore than she already was. Spencer nodded but Josie gaze lowered to see Ian hanging below them, ropes wrapped around his body. Dead. "Oh my god," she mumbled in shock.

"Hey, you did what you had to do, okay?" Aria tried to calm down Spencer. "No I didn't," Spencer choked out. "Someone else did." she finished, making the girls confused as they shared a look. "No, Spence, there was nobody else here," Hanna told her. "Maybe he fell," Emily suggested. "All I saw was a black hoodie," Spencer sniffled. "A?" Josie asked, confused. "Ian killed Alison and then he tried to kill me-" Spencer cried out, but was cut off by Josie who sat next to the girl and hugged her tightly. "No, Spence, He's dead, he's gone, it's over. It's over okay," she assured her before pulling her into a hug and the other girls joined.

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A while later the girls headed out of the church, arms linked when an officer stopped them. "Stop right there. Is this some kind of a joke?" The Officer asked, making the girls share a look, confused. "What do you mean?" Spencer asked tearfully.

"There's nobody in there." He said as he pointed over to the church. What the actual hell. "Come with me." the cops said, causing the girls to follow him into the church. They went up to where they saw Ian hanging on the ropes but only to see that he wasn't there anymore.

After that the girls walked outside again, standing on the curb as they heard everyone whispering to each other about them, about whether they were lying or not as their phones rang.

"Oh my god."

"Does this mean..."

BLOCKED ID
It's not over until I say it is.
Sleep tight, while you still can,
Bitches.
⎯ A

They really thought it over, but it wasn't.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
SEASON ONE IS OVER !!