Sara Shepard - Unbelievable

So after big bad Mona departed this dear world and Ian was sent away to a cold prison cell, our Pretty Little Liars were finally able to live in peace. Emily found true love at Smith College; Hanna ruled as queen bee of Rosewood Day and married a billionaire; Spencer graduated first in her class at Columbia School of Journalism and went on to be managing editor of the New York Times ; Aria got her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and moved to Europe with Ezra. Were talking sunsets, fat babies, and blissful happiness. Nice, huh? Oh, and none of them ever told a lie again.

Are you effing kidding me? Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. Theres no happily ever after in Rosewood.

I mean, have you learned nothing ? Once a pretty little liar, always a pretty little liar. Emily, Hanna, Spencer, and Aria just cant help but be bad. Thats what I love best about them. So who am I? Well, lets just say theres a new A in town, and this time our girlies arent getting off so easily.

See ya soon. And until then, try not to be too good. Lifes always more fun with a few pretty little secrets.

Mwah!
A

Aria Montgomery woke up mid-snore. It was Sunday morning, and she was curled up on a blue vinyl chair in the Rosewood Memorial Hospital waiting room. EveryoneHanna Marins parents, Officer Wilden, Hannas best friend Mona Vanderwaal, and Lucas Beattie, a boy in her class at Rosewood Day who looked like hed just arrivedwas staring at her.

Did I miss something? Aria croaked. Her head felt like it was stuffed with marshmallow Peeps. When she checked the Zoloft clock hanging over the waiting room entrance, she saw it was only eight thirty. Shed been out for just fifteen minutes.

Lucas sat down next to her and picked up a copy of Medical Supplies Today magazine. According to the cover, the issue featured all the latest colostomy bag models. Who puts a medical supplies magazine in a hospital waiting room ? I just got here, he answered. I heard about the accident on the morning news. Have you seen Hanna yet?

Aria shook her head. They still wont let us.

The two of them fell gravely silent. Aria surveyed the others. Ms. Marin wore a rumpled gray cashmere sweater and a pair of great-fitting distressed jeans. She was barking into her little Motorola earpiece, even though the nurses had said they couldnt use cell phones in here. Officer Wilden sat next to her, his Rosewood PD jacket unbuttoned to his mid-chest and showing a frayed white T-shirt beneath it. Hannas father was slumped in the chair closest to the intensive care units two giant double doors, jiggling his left foot. In a pale pink Juicy sweat suit and flip-flops, Mona Vanderwaal looked uncharacteristically disheveled, her face puffy from crying. When Mona looked up and saw Lucas, she gave him an annoyed stare, as if to say, This is for close friends and family only. What are you doing here? Aria couldnt blame everyone for feeling testy. She had been here since 3 A.M ., after the ambulance came to the Rosewood Day Elementary School parking lot and swept Hanna off to the hospital. Mona and the others had arrived at various points in the morning, when the news had begun to circulate. The last update the doctors had given them was that Hanna had been moved to intensive care. But that was three hours ago.

Aria reviewed the previous nights horrific details. Hanna had called to tell her that she knew the identity of A, the diabolical messenger who had been taunting Hanna, Aria, Emily, and Spencer for the past month. Hanna hadnt wanted to reveal any details over the phone, so shed asked Aria and Emily to meet her at the Rosewood Day swings, their old special spot. Emily and Aria had arrived just in time to see a black SUV mow Hanna down and speed away. As the paramedics rushed to the scene, put a cervical collar around Hannas neck, and carefully lifted her onto a stretcher and into the ambulance, Aria had felt numb. When she pinched herself hard, it didnt hurt.

Hanna was still alivebut barely. She had internal injuries, a broken arm, and bruises everywhere. The accident had caused head trauma, and now she was in a coma.

Aria shut her eyes, ready to burst into tears again. The most inconceivable thing about all of this was the text Aria and Emily had received after Hannas accident. She knew too much. It was from A. Which meantA knew what Hanna knew. Just like A knew everything elseall their secrets, the fact that it had been Ali, Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna whod blinded Jenna Cavanaugh, not Jennas stepbrother, Toby. A probably even knew the truth about who killed Ali.