Hello, loyal readers. It's great to know you're still with me. I apologize for the slow update; I wanted to take some time to make sure this last chapter was up to scratch, and then when I finally went to update I discovered that my Internet was down. So, sorry for making you guys wait!

Forever Courage - I actually thought I might've lost you when you found out Spencer was A/evil, so it's actually a relief to see you're still reading. Thanks for the review, and I hope you like the chapter.

insertnameherex - thank you for the reviews. You didn't seem rude or impatient, I know I kind of hyped you guys up and then left you hanging, and I apologize. :p Toby is kind of evil, yes, but he is and will always be sexy. Get ready to see a lot more of him in the sequel. ;) And YES. I should do a crossover/swap with my two stories... that would be amazing. Actually my head hurts just thinking about it, so maybe not. XD And if I could, I would've ended this story with a Sparia kiss (what could be better, right?) but that would have possibly ruined the flow a little bit, so you'll have to settle for what I have.

Sgdp1261 - keep an eye out for Andy in my other stories (seriously, I'm going to add a character called that just for you :p). In my mind Spencer does actually genuinely care about the girls, a little... she just cares about herself a lot more. And I laughed at that 'A-hole' remark, very clever. ;) See, in this chapter I was torn between loving tragedy and knowing what needs to happen in the sequel, so I hope you like how it turned out. And I'm pretty sure my friends aren't working with Spencer... although I walked into one of their rooms the other day and someone had carved the letter A into their door, which was a little freaky. XD And it's totally okay, I didn't think you were being impatient, just enthusiastic. Reviews never hurt. ;)

Runawaybaby555 - don't worry, Spencer will be in the sequel. Sorry for all the suspense, and I hope you like the conclusion to the story (well, the conclusion for now). This chapter actually kind of broke my Sparia heart, possibly more than the others, because I included that line I told you I was using, only in this context... poor Aria. Anyway, let me know what you think.

SwanQueen4055 - thank you!

hollyanne - thanks you so much. I would love a job on the show, although I think the stress may kill me. Plus they wouldn't be able to tell me anything, because I found it hard enough not just telling all you guys who A was right from the start in my own story. XD

Okay. Here it is. Please let me know what you think. And thank you, once again, for sticking by me and this story, for your amazing reviews, and for being so enthusiastic that I was inspired to write a sequel. This is for you, guys.

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Aria let out an involuntary whimper as she felt the cold metal digging into her skin. Neither Hanna nor Emily had moved, but Spencer was still pressing the knife in deeper. She only eased up once it drew blood, and even then that was only because something interrupted her. The door swung open, and Toby stepped quickly out of the way. Emily and Hanna whirled around to see the newcomer.

"Mona," Spencer greeted her, sounding genuinely pleased. "Come to join the party?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Mona replied, taking in the scene with an unreadable expression.

Hanna looked like she was going to try to strangle Mona, but Spencer met her eyes and shook her head warningly. The blonde-haired girl bit her lip, but didn't move.

"Spencer," Toby said, "we should really get on with this."

"Yes, I do have other plans." Mona seemed totally unconcerned; Aria felt that Mona should be nonchalantly filing her nails to add to the effect.

"Well, I had other plans too," Spencer said. "But somebody had to go and ruin them."

"Gee, I'm sorry for ruining your evil master plan," Aria said sarcastically.

"Careful, Aria." Spencer dug the knife in deeper.

Her mouth snapped shut. Spencer was crazy enough as it is; provoking her couldn't lead to anything good.

"Spencer, why are you doing this?" Emily's voice was plaintive, and she was trying to hold back tears. She was so fiercely loyal; this must be killing her.

"Why shouldn't I do it?" Spencer replied, as if that was answer enough.

"This doesn't make any sense," Hanna protested. "Why would -"

"Oh, be quiet," Spencer said impatiently. "I'm getting sick of the questions. Let's just -"

She stopped mid-sentence, confusion creeping across her face. Aria heard it a second later: sirens. Maybe everything wasn't lost after all. She met Emily's eyes, and then Hanna's, and they gave her all the strength she needed. Without giving herself time to think she slammed her foot as hard as she could into Spencer's. The other girl let out a yelp of pain, her grip on the knife slackening. Aria followed up by ramming her elbow in Spencer's ribs, which was enough to make her step back, and then she tumbled forward, into Emily's arms.

"You're little," Spencer said, her voice raspy, "but you're a big pain in my ass."

She straightened up, wincing at the pain in her ribs, and eyed them all with disdain laced with some unidentifiable, but darker, emotion.

The police were on their way; that meant they only had to keep Spencer at bay until then. And now they were all out of reach of the knife, so maybe they stood a chance. There was no denying now that Spencer was the enemy, and the others were united in their fear and in their purpose. But Spencer wasn't alone, Aria remembered with a jolt. She craned her neck and peered behind her, only to find the door closed and the way behind them empty. Toby and Mona were nowhere to be seen.

"Emily," Aria whispered, "where are Toby and Mona?"

Hanna and Emily turned around, their faces falling as they realized the others were gone. Keep your enemies close… don't let them disappear and lock you in a room with a crazy person.

"Spencer," Emily said, turning back to her, "we can help you. It's not too late -"

"Too late for what, Emily?" Spencer challenged, flinging her arms out as an invitation for the other girl to act. "To renounce my grudge and repent my sins? To see the error of my ways and go back to being a meek little schoolgirl? It's way too late for that."

"It's not," Hanna said. Despite everything Spencer had put them through, they didn't want to give up on her. "We can help."

"I've got all the help I need," Spencer said, with a grin that Aria didn't understand until she turned around.

Toby was coming back through the door; he had a fresh bruise on one cheek, but his eyes were dancing. He was excited about something, which didn't bode well for the girls.

"Does she have him?" Spencer asked, and Toby nodded.

"Have who?" Aria asked.

Hanna caught on a second quicker. "Caleb!" she gasped. "What did you do to him?"

"He's safe… for now." Spencer smiled, but somehow it seemed more like a threat than an expression.

"What do you want?" Emily asked exasperatedly.

"It's not about that anymore," Spencer said. "It's about what I don't want."

"Fine." Aria rolled her eyes. "What don't you want?"

"I don't want to get arrested," she stated simply. "I'd hoped that Aria would take the fall for this one, what with the confession note and you two figuring out she was –A… but that's not going to happen. And I doubt I could convince any of you to take my place."

She paused to laugh. Nobody else joined in, although Toby did look amused.

"So here's the deal," she went on, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "You let me walk out of here, and you get Caleb back. If I get arrested, he dies. Sound simple enough?"

There was a moment of deafening silence. Their minds were all racing, trying to outsmart her, come up with a loophole, an alternative plan, anything. But they'd never been able to match Spencer in a battle of wits, and tonight was no exception. Aria felt Hanna stiffen beside her, and Emily was as still as a statue. Nobody dared to even breathe.

Then Hanna purposefully stepped aside, leaving the path to the door unobstructed. Aria and Emily followed her lead; there was no arguing with Spencer, and if they wanted to see Caleb again they had to do what she wanted.

"Good choice, girls." Spencer strode across the room, exuding confidence, daring anyone to challenge or stop her. No one did. She reached the girls and stopped, giving them all a snakelike smile. "Catch you later, bitches," she said.

She took a few more steps toward the door, then paused again, leaning in to whisper into Aria's ear. "I'll be seeing you."

Before Aria could react Spencer was gone, sweeping almost majestically from the room, Toby less than a step behind her. The door swung closed and there was a minute of silence, during which none of the girls could think of anything to say. Then the door opened again, and Caleb came rushing in. He quickly surveyed the girls, visibly relaxing when he realized they weren't hurt, and then Hanna threw herself at him. He caught her and held on like he was scared she'd be wrenched away from him.

"It's okay," he soothed. "It's going to be okay."

And although Aria didn't say it, she was thinking what everyone else was: how was anything ever going to be okay again?

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The next day, Aria slept until three in the afternoon. Every couple of hours she would stir, opening her eyes a little, and then she would remember what had happened last night and why she didn't want to face the world. She only managed to drag herself out of bed when the phone started ringing. She waited for a while, hoping someone else would get it, but then a dim memory of hearing her dad and Mike leave an hour or so ago came to her. She hauled herself out of bed and padded over to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Aria!" Emily chirped. She seemed way too cheery, considering everything that had happened. "How are you?"

Aria sat down on the nearest chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Emily correctly interpreted the silence.

"Me too," she said. After a pause she added, "Hanna's coming over to my place soon. Do you want to come too?"

She looked around the empty house, her mind swirling with thoughts and memories. "Yeah. I'll see you soon."

Twenty minutes later she was sitting on the end of Emily's bed, while Emily went to fetch them some coffee and Hanna paced nervously around the room. Emily distributed the drinks – which were much stronger than usual – and then sat down beside Aria. Hanna kept pacing.

"So it anyone going to talk about it?" Aria asked at last, staring into her cup. She couldn't bear to look at her friends; the hurt and confusion she was feeling would be reflected in their eyes, and she wasn't sure she could handle that.

"No," Hanna said, pausing briefly to take a sip of her coffee. Then she set the cup down on the dresser and kept pacing.

"We can't ignore it forever," Emily pointed out softly.

"There's nothing to talk about." Hanna stopped and looked at both of her friends; Aria carefully looked at a spot just above Hanna's shoulder. "Spencer was –A. She killed Ali. Now she's gone."

"Do you think she'll be back?" Emily asked tentatively. The others glanced at her, surprised she would even bring up the topic; she ducked her head and took a gulp of coffee, making a face at how strong it was. "I just mean… did we ever find out why she was doing it?"

Aria nodded. Emily and Hanna turned to her, and she finally met their eyes. "When she… She explained it to me. Back when Ali was alive, Spencer was sleeping with a college professor. Ali thought it was so Spencer could get into a college class, and now I think about it, I wouldn't put it past her. But Ali couldn't use that knowledge because Spencer knew something about her."

"What did she know?" Hanna prompted when Aria fell silent.

Aria took a deep breath and kept going. "One summer they went on vacation to the same place. There was an accident, and Ali's cousin… I'm not entirely sure, I think she died. But it was kind of Ali's fault, and she made Spencer promise not to tell anyone."

"So they were in a stalemate," Emily mused.

"Yeah." Aria nodded, then looked back down at her cup. It was empty already, which partly explained why her hands had started shaking. "I think somewhere along the way, Ali realized Spencer was dangerous. That's why she set me up with a fake ID – Arlene. That was the name of the cousin. She was trying to warn me about Spencer, to make sure that if anything happened I'd be able to figure it out. She kept dropping all these cryptic clues about not being able to trust people. I guess she was right."

"So Spencer did kill Ali?" Hanna asked. "Why?

"Ali was in her way," Aria explained glumly. "Spencer started the –A thing to try to scare her, to make sure Ali never told anyone what she knew. You guys saw how much they were fighting that summer. I guess it just got really heated one time, and Spencer… After that she sort of became the leader, remember? And she liked it. It was like… like she got addicted to the power. She got carried away."

"Under different circumstances I'd almost feel sorry for her," Emily said sadly.

"Yeah, well, I don't feel any sympathy at all," Aria grumbled, rubbing the place where Spencer had dug the knife into her neck. The girls and Caleb had made an executive decision not to go to the police about Spencer, even though Caleb had been the one to call the police the night before when he was unable to locate the girls. They'd had reasons not to tell the police about –A before, and now that they knew who it was it seemed even more dangerous to contemplate turning her in. Spencer knew all of their secrets, and if they got the police involved she wouldn't be the only one getting in trouble.

"Maybe she's gone for good," Hanna said hopefully.

It felt weird to Aria, hoping that one of their best friends was out of their lives. But now they knew who Spencer really was and what she was capable of, it really would be better for them if she was gone. Toby and Mona too. But something told her it wasn't over. She let her gaze wander around the room, drifting to the window. It was clear and sunny outside, and the sounds of neighborhood kids floated up to them. Beneath the bright façade, something darker was lurking. They could put a name and a face to it now, but that didn't make it any less dangerous.

She turned back to her friends, took a deep breath, and asked the question they'd all been thinking.

"So what do we do now?"

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"Last night was a disaster," I say again, tapping my nails against my leg in irritation. I glance over at Toby, who's driving, and he just shrugs, his eyes still on the road.

"If I might be so bold," Mona says, and I gesture for her to speak. "All isn't lost. They won the battle, but they haven't won the war. We've still got a few tricks up our sleeves."

"She's right," Toby says, reaching over and squeezing my hand. Instantly I relax under his touch; he always has that effect on me. "We'll get them next time."

We pass the sign leading out of town. Thank you for visiting Rosewood! it announces cheerfully. I rotate in my seat so I can look out the back window, watching as the town disappears from sight. I feel a little like this is an ignominious retreat, but I've mostly managed to convince myself – and the others – that this is a strategic move. We need to relocate so we can regroup and work out our next move. There's nothing cowardly about laying low.

I turn my attention back to the road ahead of us, my mind already racing with possibilities, and I can't help but let an evil grin creep onto my face.

Buckle up, bitches. It's not over yet.

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So? Thoughts? If I can hit 100 reviews I will be so incredibly happy (but even if I don't, I love you guys and think you're awesome).

I'm hard at work on the sequel, which should be up by the end of the month. I know, I know, that's a long time, but I have exams coming up so I really need to focus on those. But in the meantime I have some other stories I'll be publishing sporadically, like the final chapter of Flaws of Attraction, as well as Darkness (a dark one-sided Wren x Spencer story, even if you don't like the pairing give it a shot) and Iridescence (the follow-up, which will be a Spoby AU), so keep an eye on my page.

Before I go, I'll give you a few teasers about the sequel. It will be from the points of view of both Aria and Spencer, so you'll get to see what happens with the Liars and with the A-Team. It will have some Ezria, Haleb, Paily, and, my favorite, A-Team Spoby. If you thought A is for Arlene was intense, wait until you see S is for Salvation. It's going to be insAne. And, if you have anything you want me to include, just leave it in a review or a PM and I'll see what I can do.

Now, a little excerpt from the sequel:

She'd thought she was prepared for it, but when the person pulled back their hood, Aria felt her whole world crumbling around her. She stayed just long enough to be sure of it, and then she hurried away from the diner and back to her car. With trembling fingers she typed a quick message to Hanna and Emily: Spencer's back.

See you there, everyone. ;)