ᵉᵐᵖᵗʸ ᵍᵒˡᵈ ▸ 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐒 ✓

nine.

EMPTY GOLD.
009. | ❛ why are you
whispering? ❜

Circling upon the town square, Elena realized all the things she actually missed about her home town. The way things used to be so simple, and how their lives were before everything.

Elena saw a gleam of hair that resembled that of a person she loved once long ago.

"Jason," she whispered to herself as she crossed the road and followed the man. Her curiosity was getting the better of her and couldn't help to wonder why he was back.

As she was now at a slight jog as so as she turned the corner, it was obvious that it wasn't him but a teenager meeting up with his friends.

Elena sighed in relief, probably because of the ways that they broke up when she left. She was happy now with Toby, and Jason wasn't the guy she thought he was.

Walking back, Elena received a text from the unknown techie,

Be careful, he won't come 🏃🏽back to you

Elena's breath got heavier as she looked all around her trying to see if the person was in her midst.

Elena called Hanna, who was also suffering from her own relationship and the police.

"I got another text too."

"What'd yours say?" Hanna spoke with her hushed voice.

"Why are you whispering?"

"Because Jordan's here."

"Well, did you tell him about it? Because I really wanna tell Toby."

"Because he's Toby or because you guys are..."

"Because like you, I don't like lying to him."

"I told Jordan I erased the tape but I'm afraid to tell him about that text. I mean, this person threatened to blow us up. My-my brain is telling me to be honest, but... my PTSD is telling me to shut the hell up."

"Let me get Spencer and Caleb on this. Maybe he can shut this down and then you can tell Jordan everything, and Toby as well."

"Okay. Do it, Elena."
_______________________

Back at The Radley, while Spencer was campaigning, the others including Caleb were at the hotel's bar.

"All my friends turn out for national elections But most of us don't even know when our local elections are held."

"Or really who our local representatives are. Until my mom got involved in the campaign, I didn't."

"Is young voter turnout low because we don't care to ask?" The other girl, who's name was Yvonne was asking

"Or is it because we're confused and we're skeptical?"

"A lot of politicians came to power on the backs of rich donors."

Elena was suddenly so out of it, everything at the doctor's office threw her off the whole day. It wasn't before long that Elena finally snapped back into reality.

"Whoever it is, they were expecting us." Caleb said

"They meaning Sara?" Elena asked

"You saw her that night at Radley. Sara wasn't just wearing that red coat, she was rocking it. The more I think about it, the more I think that everything she told that judge was a lie. Sara wasn't forced to play the game. She wanted to." Aria made a good point about who could possibly be sending them texts.

"Maybe you're right, but there's someone else who's seeking justice for Charlotte. Are you absolutely sure that Alison's out of town?" Caleb asked Aria

"I'm not absolutely sure about anything anymore."

"Aria, guys don't always have full sets of golf clubs. Maybe your dad never had a 9 iron."

"And that just happens to be the club this Not A has?" Emily brought the negative influence

"I was trying to be a calming influence, Emily."

"I'm sorry." Emily said to him while Hanna came back from her mother's office.

"Hey. Neither your dad or Ezra are staying here."

"Wait, what about Sara?" Caleb asked.

"She put a Do Not Disturb sign on her door two days ago and she instructed the staff to not go in her room when she's gone."

"What is she doing in there?" Elena pondered

"I'll take building a lair for 300 Alex." Hanna joked while Elena titled her head.

Aria took out the picture that was sent to all of them, looking for something to indicate anything about this person. It wasn't until Spencer came over that they figured out what they missed in the picture.

"How did I do? Guys?" Spencer said to them trying to get them to response. Aria handed her phone to Spencer to see what they were seeing

"We were so busy looking at the murder weapon' that we didn't notice... "

"The carpet" Spencer said before Hanna could finish

"You know, my mom spent weeks trying to match the uniforms to those colors."

"So the person who sent this is staying at The Radley." Spencer handed Aria back her phone

"Just like Sara Harvey." Elena said.

"It's my dad." Aria looked down at her phone.

"Answer it." Caleb and Hanna said in unison.

"Dad?" Aria said which left all of them with anxiety about what her dad wanted.