Pretty Little Liars: The Final Lie

Unmasking Secrets

Mouse, Faran, and Kelly sat in Faran's living room, their nerves frayed and their minds racing. The arrest of their friends had left them in a state of shock.

"This can't be happening," Mouse muttered, her hands trembling. "Why the hell is this happening?!"

Faran shook her head, pacing the room. "This is bad. This is really bad. Why would they have been arrested?"

"Mrs. Haworthe is probably busy trying to help them down at the station. She hasn't replied to my texts yet," Mouse added, panic-scrolling for any hint of news.

Kelly sat with her arms crossed, glancing nervously at the door. "I bet you Mrs. Langsbury has something to do with this. She's still on the run after... that night."

The tension in the room was palpable, each girl lost in her thoughts, trying to piece together the fragments of their shattered reality.

Suddenly, a knock at the door startled them. They exchanged wary glances, hearts pounding.

"Who the hell could that be?" Mouse asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Faran took a deep breath and walked first towards the kitchen, grabbing a knife before hiding it behind her back as she made her way towards the door. Her hand hesitated on the knob before finally opening it.

Standing there were three women, each radiating a sense of purpose and determination. One was blonde, one brunette, and the third had black hair.

"Hello," the blonde woman said softly. "My name is Alison. This is Spencer and Mona. Can we come in?"

Faran stepped aside, allowing them to enter. As the three women made their way into the living room, Mouse and Kelly exchanged puzzled looks.

"We're here to help," Spencer said, her eyes scanning the room, taking in the tense atmosphere. "We've been through something very similar to what you're experiencing."

Alison nodded, her expression serious. "We know about the 'A' game. Dr. Sullivan told us about you girls and your situation. That's why we're here. We have a feeling we know what's happening, and we want to help you finally end this torment."

Mona, who had been quietly observing, stepped forward. "It all started years ago in the nearby town of Rosewood," she began. "A high schooler named Alison DiLaurentis disappeared after being threatened with notes and stalking tactics from a scorned high schooler—umm... me. I was once the target of Alison, who had bullied me into a corner. After she disappeared, I took her place as queen bee of the school and manipulated her former friends." Mona gulped, giving a familiar apologetic look towards Alison. Very rarely was their story told so bluntly.

Mouse, Faran, and Kelly listened intently as Mona continued, "When Alison's former friends came together and a body was found, which they thought was Alison's, it brought them close again, leaving me alone. For ten months, I played the same games on them that I did with Alison before I was caught and sent into therapy."

Alison picked up the story, her voice tinged with sadness. "After Mona was caught, my cousin Charlotte took over the game. She had heard about it from Mona in therapy and crafted her own story. Charlotte caused true trauma to my friends, attempting murder and locking them in an underground bunker for weeks, Mona, for months. Years after she started playing the A game, she eventually outed herself and was put away in an institute for five years."

Mouse's eyes widened in shock. "What happened after that?"

"Charlotte was released, but the night she was, Mona got rid of her," Alison said quietly. "In a final act, Charlotte's cousin, who turned out to be Spencer's twin sister Alex, took over the game. Alex used all the assets and networks Charlotte had built over her lifetime to torment us."

Spencer's expression darkened as she spoke. "Like all who play the 'A' game, Alex was eventually caught. As punishment, Mona locked Alex and... our mother, inside a bunker, trying to end the game once and for all."

"They escaped," Mona finished.

Mouse, still trying to process everything, asked, "So, and I don't mean to be rude, how does this relate to what is happening right now?"

Faran picked up. "Three of our friends, who were tortured by our A, Wes, and one of them in self-defense took him out, were just arrested."

"I kidnapped Susan Langsbury," Mona whispered.

"Mona!" Alison and Spencer screamed, looking at her in familiar terror before taking a breath and deciding to listen on to what their friend had discovered.

"So, I umm... interviewed Susan," Mona began "After tracking her to the homeless camp nearby, I...".

A window shattered nearby and everyone jumped in fright, most of the group letting out individual screams and clamping their eyes shut.

In the moments between their eyes being closed, a loud gurgle was heard. Mouse opened her eyes, looking in the direction of the noise.

Mona, with a major wound on her right cheek and eyes filled with horror, dropped to the ground.

Blood splattered the wall behind her. She fell with a thump as the entire group screamed aloud, all ducking. Alison jumped towards Mona, awaiting the sound of what they now knew was a bullet, smashing through another window.

But after a minute, no sounds besides the tormented and struggled breathing of the girls were present in the room. Alison screamed for Mona.

And as the understanding of what had happened set in, their five phones dinged. All five girls in the room shared a look, a familiar look of fear and uncertainty. Spencer broke it by immediately opening the message and gulping as she read it in her mind what felt like a hundred times before she spoke aloud.

"Mona couldn't finish the story.
Let's see if you can! 😊
Or, you'll join her.
Welcome back BITCHES, -A."