CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

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The next morning, the girls were sitting at their usual spot in the courtyard eating their food. Spencer was informing the girls of the conversation she had with Melissa last night, the latter claiming to have seen the incriminating videos of the girls.

"She's bluffing," Hanna shakes her head playing with her apple.

"That's a pretty big hand to play with no cards," Emily glances at the blonde unsurely.

"That's what happens when you have nothing," Hanna points out leaning on the table, "you play big and you psyche everybody out."

"And if she's telling the truth? Then what?" Caitlin questions, raising an eyebrow.

"What if there was a camera on us the night of the Jenna thing?" Spencer agrees with Caitlin.

"You know what?" Hanna speaks up shaking her head, "enough is enough. If we have to trick Melissa into sending a text message to prove that she's A then that's what we'll do."

"Okay, any ideas?" Aria asks glancing between her best friends.

Caitlin's eyes light up when she caught sight of Caleb leaning against the wall on his phone, most likely waiting for Hanna to finish up her lunch. Emily notices the brunette's expression and raises an eyebrow, "what?"

"I think I have an idea, but Caleb's not going to like it," Caitlin glances over at Hanna who casts her a confused look.

"What is it?"

"What if A catches Caleb kissing someone who is not Hanna?" Caitlin raises an eyebrow as Hanna's eyes widen in realisation.

"Who would he be kissing?" Spencer asks.

"Mona," Hanna answers, a happy grin on her face, "Caitlin! You're a genius!"

"Thank you," Caitlin grins as she stands up abandoning her lunch with Hanna, "now we need to inform Dodger of the plan."

"Will he even be on board with this?" Aria questions sceptically, "doesn't he like hate Mona?"

"Well, let's find out," Hanna grabs Caitlin's arm dragging her along to where Caleb was.

"Hey there, Dodger," Caitlin smiles making him glance up, narrowing his eyes on her suspiciously.

"What did you do?" Caleb shoves his phone into his pocket as a scoff falls past her lips.

"I didn't do anything!" Hanna rolls her eyes quickly stepping in before they could start bickering.

"We need your help with something," Hanna smiles at her boyfriend sweetly.

"What's up?" Caleb questions glancing between the two best friends curiously.

"You need to kiss Mona," Hanna blurts out causing Caitlin to close her eyes, pursing her lips together knowing Hanna could have eased into that way better.

"You could have eased into it," Caitlin mutters glancing at her.

"It's better to just rip the bandaid off," Hanna shrugs causing Caitlin to stare at her incredulously.

"Not in situations like this," Caitlin shakes her head.

"You're kidding, right?" Caleb interjects the girls' conversation hoping that they were joking, "is this some kind of test?"

"Please?" Hanna begs.

"Cracking the code to a cell phone is one thing, but now we are crossing over to like Fear Factor territory," Caleb glances between the two, "you know how I feel about Mona. Why Mona of all people?"

"Because it sure as hell wasn't going to be me," Caitlin shrugs in which Caleb rolls his eyes at her.

"I know, but I also know there's someone out there trying to split us up," Hanna brought their attention back to the situation at hand.

"Did something happen sinceβ€”"

"It's not about what this person's already done," now it was Caitlin's turn to interject, "it's about what we can get them to do. Now."

"Tonight," Hanna corrects crossing her arms as her blue eyes plead making him sigh reluctantly.

"Fine," Caleb sighs defeatedly knowing they were going to keep pestering him until he says yes.

β€’ β€’ β€’ β€’

Caitlin leans against Emily's car window in the passenger seat as they wait in the car a couple of spaces away from where Melissa was supposed to go, waiting to give the signal to Mona and Caleb who were sitting in Mona's car in plain sight for Melissa to catch them to test the theory that she's A.

Caitlin quickly sits up breaking the comfortable silence, "Em, I think that's her."

Emily sits up as well leaning on the wheel watching as Melissa gets out of the car walking into the shop, "quick, message Mona."

Caitlin pulls out her phone sending Mona a quick message that it was showtime. She places her phone back in the cupholder as they anxiously wait.

"Do you think it's her?" Emily glances over at her friend curiously, wanting her opinion on the whole thing.

"I don't know," Caitlin shrugs glancing at Emily, "I'm just more hesitant because every time we feel like we're one step closer to figuring out who A is, the rug always gets pulled out from underneath us and we end up on our asses. Every single time," Emily stays silent listening to her words carefully, "but for Spencer's sake, I really hope she isn't."

"Yeah, me too," Emily nods her head in agreement, leaning her arm against the door so she could rest her head against her hand, "and if Hanna is right, we will never hear the end of it."

Caitlin chuckles sharing a smile with Emily, "yeah, that too."

Emily suddenly shoots up slapping Caitlin's arm her eyes never leaving Melissa's form who was exiting the shop. Caitlin sits up straighter watching as Melissa glances inside the car subtly to see Caleb and Mona kissing. Melissa quickly walks over to her car getting in before driving off causing the two best friends to share a look.

"Did it work?" Caitlin asks looking over at Emily.

"I don't know," Emily frowns making eye contact with Mona who sent her a raised eyebrow wondering the same thing the two girls did.

Caitlin's phone went off causing her to quickly pick it up glancing down at the message had sent her.

From Hanna:
Melissa's A

Caitlin shows the message to Emily whose eyes widen in shock, "oh my God."

"What do we do now?" Caitlin glances at Emily worriedly, "it's not like we can just turn her in, it's Spencer's sister."

"Iβ€”I don't know," Emily shakes her head as Caitlin glances out the window sighing.

"Let's just head back to Hanna's," Caitlin suggests, "we can work it out together."

Emily nods in agreement starting the car back up driving onto the street as Caitlin narrows her eyes on the sidewalk noticing Caleb walking, "hang on, is that Caleb?"

Emily glances over to where Caitlin was looking and furrows her eyebrows together in confusion, "what's he doing? Where's Mona gone?"

Caitlin shrugs rolling the window down as Emily pulls up to the curb following him, "Dodger, what are you doing?"

"I'm not staying in that car longer than I have to," Caleb rolls his eyes in annoyance, "I'm walking."

Emily shakes her head, "no, you're not. We can drop you off."

"No, it'sβ€”"

"Caleb, get your ass in the car," Caitlin snaps making him quickly oblige.

β€’ β€’ β€’ β€’

"β€”we should've turned her in the second that we knew she texted Ali!"

Caitlin pushes open the door to her second home, entering with Emily in tow, they shut the door as Hanna calls out nervously assuming it was her mother.

"Mum?"

"It's just us," Caitlin announces as she and Emily walk into the kitchen where Hanna and Spencer were arguing.

"Where have you been?" Spencer questions the two girls.

"We had to drive Caleb home," Emily explains standing in front of Spencer and Hanna with Caitlin, "he didn't want to ride back with Mona so he almost walked home."

"He doesn't get why we aren't trapping Jenna and Garrett," Caitlin says, "to him, that's the enemy."

"Well, he's wrong," Hanna shakes her head holding her phone, "we have proof now."

"No, we might need more," Spencer disagrees causing Hanna to snap her head back over to Spencer.

"More?" Hanna scoffs, "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, Jenna and Garrettβ€”"

"No, Emily!" Hanna snaps, "stop confusing us! We know who A is now!"

"No, Hanna! We're still just guessing!" Spencer shouts not wanting to believe her sister was the one that has been tormenting them, "what if we show that kid the video from Alison's room? Let Seth tell us which coupleβ€”"

"Have you lost your mind?" Hanna stares at Spencer like she had grown another head, "we are now going to ask a nine year old sideshow to tell us who's been torturing us?"

"Hanna, he remembered Alison," Caitlin says gently knowing anything in this moment could set her off.

"So what?" Hanna throws her hands up, "he reads the paper. It doesn't mean that he can bend a spoon just by staring at it."

"He knew she was buried alive," Caitlin protests making Hanna go silent, "that was never in the paper."

The door opens once again causing the four best friends to go silent as Mona enters the room with a smile, "hey there. So did it work?" Mona questions, "did you guys get a text?"

"No," Hanna shakes her head after she receives a nudge from Caitlin, "no, not yet."

"What's in the bag?" Caitlin gestures to the bag she was holding.

"Shower gel," Mona answers, chuckling, "I need to scrub off ten layers of shame. Well, um, I'm gonna go shower. See you before lights out."

The girls smile at Mona before she heads upstairs. Emily turns to Hanna, "you can't tell her everything."

Caitlin sighs when she saw the expression on Hanna's face, "trust me, I don't like lying to her either but this is Spencer's family we're talking about."

"Fine," Hanna sighs reluctantly, "we'll show Seth baby the video. That's the only stop we're making before the police station."

β€’ β€’ β€’ β€’

The four best friends, minus Aria, walk the quiet streets of Brookhaven to the doll hospital shop which seemed to be closed for the night. Emily looks around the empty streets, the eery dark air that was surrounding them made her feel uncomfortable, "do you think it's too late?"

"Yes," Spencer answers easily as she walks up to the shop trying to look inside to see if anyone was there.

"They could be downstairs," Hanna suggests, her grip on her laptop tightening.

Caitlin walks up to the door about to knock when she noticed it wasn't locked. She pushes on the door making a creak escape its hinges, "okay, that's creepy." Caitlin steps inside, the heels of her combat boots echoing in the quiet room, "hello?" Caitlin walks down the steps followed by the girls, "Martha? Are you down here?" Caitlin furrows her eyebrows when she noticed the light, lighting up the room, "why's the light on?"

"Looks like somebody just left," Emily says looking around the room.

"You guys, let's just go," Hanna glances around the room uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I don't like the feeling of this," Caitlin agrees, crossing her arms as a chill ran through the room.

"Wait," Emily walks behind the desk bending down to pick up a brown cardboard box with voodoo dolls inside, "look. She said she didn't sell these."

"Clearly she was lying," Caitlin comments peering inside the box Emily was holding.

The lights suddenly flicker off leaving them in darkness. Spencer tries to look around the dark room, "Martha? Um, I'm sorry. We're down here!"

"Okay, let's just come back when they're open," Emily suggests feeling creeped out.

"That would be 1979," sarcasm drips from Spencer's voice, "just find a light switch."

"Let's not and just leave," Hanna shakes her head heading for the stairs with Caitlin in tow.

"End up like me," a distorted voice echoes through the room.

"Okay, nope, I'm done. Let's go," Caitlin shakes her head, her eyes wide with fear at the distorted voice, "this is like every horror movie ever coming to life. I'm not dying in a creepy doll shop!"

"Caity! I'd rather not have those thoughts in my head right now!" Hanna snaps at her friend's rambling.

"Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like meβ€”"

"Spence, where are you going?" Emily calls out as Spencer starts walking towards the voice.

"Are you insane? Have you not seen horror movies? You don't walk towards the creepy voice!" Caitlin whispers harshly, Hanna grip on Caitlin's arm tightening in fear as they stupidly follow after the tall brunette who was making her way to the back of the room.

"Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like meβ€”"

Spencer reaches the back cupboard with the girls behind her. Her hand slowly reaches out inching towards the cupboard door before gripping the handle and pulling it open, all four girls letting out collective gasps when their eyes land on what was making the noise. Inside was a bloody doll with blonde hair, replicating Alison, which was inside some soil, the doll was holding a spade as it robotically moves its arms around.

"Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like meβ€”"

They all jump when something falls to the floor behind them. They quickly turn around noticing a doll smashed on the floor. A robotic monkey suddenly goes off causing the girls to snap their heads in its direction. Suddenly everything starts following off the shelves causing the girls to quickly grip each other trying to make their way out without getting injured.

"Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like me. Follow me, end up like meβ€”"

The girls rush around trying to avoid all the dolls that were falling around them. Hanna suddenly drops her laptop causing Caitlin to turn around when she feels Hanna let go of her arm, "Hanna! Come on!"

"No, wait, my laptop!" Hanna quickly bends down to pick it up as Caitlin grips her once again pulling her up the stairs with Spencer and Emily who were in front of them. The shelves suddenly begin to fall causing the four girls to run up the stairs, trying to get out of there as fast as possible.

"Follow me, end up like me. End up like me. End up like me. End up like me."

β€’ β€’ β€’ β€’

After their encounter at the doll hospital, the four girls rushed back to the Hastings' house heading straight up to Spencer's room where they quickly packed all of Alison's things into the duffle bag Jason had given them hoping the police could find some evidence linking to her case.

"What should we take?" Emily questions, looking up at her friends who hurried around the room collecting anything of Alison's, and anything to do with Alison.

Hanna notices Spencer walking to put her iPad on her desk when Hanna stops her, "wait, put that in the duffel bag."

"We have to give them everything," Caitlin adds in taking note of Hanna walking around the room aimlessly, "what are you looking for?"

"I have no idea," Hanna turns around facing the girls.

"This feels really weird, giving them all of Ali's stuff," Emily glances between the girls unsurely.

"Well, maybe there's something in here that the police can use," Spencer says trying to making Emily feel better noticing the look of discomfort on her face, "Alison even said there was."

"What?" Hanna glances at Spencer confused.

"When?" Emily adds in just as confused as the blonde.

"Yesterday," Spencer answers.

"In a dream," Caitlin adds in sending Spencer a look.

"Okay, why are we only just hearing about this now?" Hanna gestures between her and Emily but before Spencer and Caitlin could respond, the sound of a door closing dowstairs cut them off. The four girls froze when they hear footsteps, following by hushed voices downstairs. The four girls quietly make their way to the stairs, making sure they are hidden but are still able to hear.

"β€”is someone else here?" Garrett's voice rang through the empty living room causing the girls to all share look when they hear him coming closer to the stairs.

"I don't think so," Melissa shakes her head opening the fridge to grab out a soda for him.

"Are you sure your sister didn'tβ€”"

"Stop worrying," Melissa chuckles closing the fridge, grabbing a glass from the cupboard, "I've been scaring her since she was born. There's no way she or her friends are turning in that video," Hanna sends Spencer a look about to open her mouth but Caitlin nudges her preventing her from saying anything, "trust me."

Spencer moves closer causing the step to creak slightly causing her to freeze along with the rest of the girls scared that they just blew their cover. Garrett places his hands on his gun that was in the holster as he makes his way towards the stairs, but before he could investigate further a knock sounded on the back door.

Melissa notices two policemen outside the door causing her to furrow her brows together in confusion. She places the soda on the counter walking towards the back door opening it for them, "officer, hi. Um, is something wrong?"

"Neil," Garett greets the fellow officer, "what, uh, what's going on?"

"We're here on official business," Neil gestures to the officer behind him, "Officer Reynolds, will you please surrender your weapon?"

"What?" Garrett glances over at Melissa who was just as confused as he was, "what the hell is this?"

Neil doesn't answer as Garrett hands over his weapon. The girls slowly make their way down the stairs watching the scene in front of them with wide eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Melissa questions, "what has he done?"

"Garrett Reynolds, you're under arrest," Neil announces as the officer handcuffs, Garrett.

"For what?" Garrett questions confused.

"The murder of Alison DiLaurentis."


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