The Missing Link (A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction) (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 23- Backstory

Ali's POV:

"Mona! Open up!" I said knocking on her door. If I was correct, this shabby house would be exactly where she would hide something.

The door opened and Mona appeared before me... with a knife in her hand. Great.

"Back away, DiLaurentis! You're not welcome here!" she said pointing the knife at me.

"Look, Vanderwaal, I just want to talk. It's about everything." I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for what I've done to you." Her face softened for a second, and grip loosened, but it quickly went back to its original form.

"Alison, I'm sick and tired of your games! Haven't you done enough to me?"

"Haven't you tortured my friends?" I almost yelled. "Haven't you betrayed their trust? My trust? Hanna's trust?"

"Don't you ever bring her in this!"

"Mona, whether you like it or not, I know you. I know about you, I know about your sister, and I know that you were the one who caused all this!"

"Long ago, Mona, you 'helped' me escape. My theory is that you did that to get to Hanna-"

"I told you not to bring her into this! She doesn't deserve this!" Suddenly, a girl about Iris's age came running towards us. "Would you two shut up? I don't know what you're arguing about, but-" she then stopped as she looked at me. Her jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh... you're Alison, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. Who are you?" I asked the girl.

"Oh, I guess Iris never told you about me and her," she frowned.

"How do you know my sister?" I asked.

"Well, first off, my name is Janet Vanderwaal. Secondly, I met Iris a very long time ago."

Flashback

Janet's POV:

I couldn't believe we were leaving this awful place. Iris told me that we could be real sisters! Nothing would've made me happier!

We left super early in the morning so no one would catch us. I had never been this quiet in my life!

With our bags on our backs, we ran until we came across an unfamiliar park. We decided to sleep there for tonight and then start running again in the morning.

-S-

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I was laying next to Iris on the hard ground. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," she said to me sleepily.

"Morning, you weird flower," I yawned. That was our thing; in each other's eyes, I was a princess and she was a flower. Iris always told me that she was my perfect accessory and that's one of the many reasons why we were best friends.

"Ready to pack up?" she asked me.

I closed my eyes. "Can't we have five more minutes? I'm tired."

"No, Janet, we have to go. Otherwise, we might get caught, and I don't want to see what those evil people would do to us if they found out that we ran away."

Finally, I sighed and caved in. We packed up our stuff and decided to grab breakfast somewhere. We would make it look like we were getting food for our parents, so it had to be quick.

We finally decided on this little café that was far away from the park. "I'll go get the food, and you can wait out here so nobody thinks of taking our stuff. You're fierce, Janet!"

"Okay," I told her. We hugged and she walked inside.

After a few minutes, she still hasn't come out. I was getting a little worried that someone would get suspicious of me. I was right.

I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. It gripped my shoulder tightly and spun me around to see a tall man with a police officer's uniform on. Oh no!

"Excuse me, little one, but where are your parents?" he asked me.

"T-They're inside," I pointed to the door.

He shook his head and smiled. "Why do you have all of these bags?" he asked picking one up. My eyes widened. "You can't look at that! That's mine!" I jumped for the bag, but the only thing that was caught was me. "Now, tell me where your home is, and I'll take you there myself."

"M-My home-" I was interrupted by Iris running, screaming, "JANET!"

"Is she your friend?" the police officer asked. I didn't know what to do, so I just said one thing, "Run, Iris!" She froze for a second, fear and confusion in her eyes. I looked at her and mouthed 'I'm sorry.' Finally, she got the point, grabbed her bag, and ran off. I never got to say goodbye.

Flashback Over

Ali's POV:

I was in tears. I never knew what exactly Iris had gone through; I just knew she was an orphan. I hadn't thought to ask if she was okay that day we met. Now, I regret that.

"So, that's how I know Iris. She was the only person who I like from my past. She's my best friend," Janet stated.

I wiped away my tears. "T-Thank you for telling me, Janet," I said. I turned to look at Mona. She was shocked too. "Don't you see, Mona? We both have little sisters whom we care about very dearly. I'm willing to put our differences aside if you are." I held out my hand one last time. This time, she actually took my hand and had a very rare smile on her face. "Truce," she said.

"Truce," I grinned. Only a few seconds after that did something awful happen.

(Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while since I last updated, but hey, I'm a busy person, what am I going to do? Haha, anyway, so you finally have Janet's story! Isn't that great? I wonder what awful thing happened... oh well! Guess you'll have to wait!) :)

Kisses, -S-

P.S. There's only a few more chapters left in this book, but never fear because there will be a sequel! Yes! :)