Pretty Little Liars- 20 Years Later (A Next Generation Story)

Twelve | UnmAsked

The gloved hand reached into the hood of their black hoodie and behind their face mask, slowly peeling it off to reveal themselves to her. Tori gasped, finally seeing the face behind -A after all this time.

The morning sun shone through the window to the Hastings' kitchen. Birds sang and the puffy white clouds moved lazily overhead. The grass swayed slightly in the early December breeze. It was Christmas in ten days, but there was no sign of snow. Nevertheless, the outdoor scene was a quiet one. Peaceful.

The same couldn't be said for the inside of the household. Four teenagers- a blonde boy, a brunette girl, a black haired girl and a brunette boy- all sat around a table, discussing something which was clearly important in raised voices and shouts.

"Your sister is -A, Tori!" Leo slammed his hands down on the table. "I don't know why we're not at the police station right now!"
"Because!" Tori snapped. "She's my sister, Leo! What would you do if it was Jacob?"
"Besides." Julia interrupted. "We don't have concrete proof just yet."
"Are you kidding?" Leo almost laughed. "Lillian saw Adam selling drugs and we got an -A text about it less than thirty seconds later."
"Yes, but -A could have been watching us from elsewhere. I think we should know by now that there's more than one solution to a a problem." Julia added.
"We just need a piece of concrete proof." Adam said sternly, trying to calm everyone down. "If we can meet -A somewhere, anywhere, then we can try to unmask them."
"But how do we meet them?" Leo counterfeited.
"Simple." Tori declared. "We just need something -A wants."
"And what does -A want?" Adam asked. Tori looked at her group of friends before speaking.
"Alice's killer." She replied.
"Wait- you know who it is?" Julia was stunned.
"No." Tori laughed and shook her head. "But -A doesn't know that. We'll use the information as a lure."

It was almost funny how quick the text came in. Only Tori's phone beeped, and she checked her phone discreetly under the table. The text was from -A.

You've always been my favourite. Meet me in the woods outside the Lost Woods Resort at midnight. Bring the information. -A

It was simple. She would pretend to know who the killer is, and in turn she would finally unmask -A. Once and for all. Tori smiled at slid her phone back in her pocket, returning her focus to the group.

"Who was that?" Adam asked.
"Oh, just my mom." Tori lied. "She'll be back in a couple of days." She said as a pile of envelopes slid through the letterbox. Tori stood up and briskly walked to the door, where she picked up the envelopes from the floor. There were four of them, each addressed to one of the Liars. The envelopes were gold in colour and reflective like a mirror, with each name scrawled in black fountain pen ink. Tori returned to the table and slid an envelope to each of her friends, and the group proceeded to open their deliveries.

Inside each envelope was an invitation. The small piece of card was gold in colour with a black border, each printed with the title ROSEWOOD COMMUNITY BALL. Underneath the title was a brief description of the event, detailing that it would be held at Rosewood High School. The other side of the card was white and blank, except for a hand-written note from none other than -A.

Catch me if you can, bitches. -A

"Catch me if you can bitches?" Julia repeated.
"You know what that means." Adam said.
"-A's gonna be partying with us tonight." Leo smiled.

That settled it. If they wanted to reveal Lillian as -A, they'd have to find her at the party tonight. Game on.

The Ball held at Rosewood High the next evening was exactly as high-end as advertised. The hall in which it was set looked exactly like some sort of winter wonderland. Here and there lay fake trees, painted white and glittery so it looked like they had been snowed on. The floor looked as if it had been made from ice, and the walls were painted a light shade of blue to fit in with the theme. Fake snow fell from fans in the ceiling, cascading down onto the guests below. Benches lay around the hall for people to sit on, and an ice maze lay at the far side of the room for people to lose themselves in. Food and drinks were sold at stalls around the hall, and fake snowmen covered the walls. White steps led into the Hall, with blue tinsel wrapped around the railings.