Pretty Little Liar (Aruani Element Shifter AU) ✔️

Three

 We left for the holiday the next day. I hugged Annie at her doorstep, and we both grinned and waved until I could no longer see the house.

Everytime we'd leave to go on holiday, even if it was only for a weekend, I always felt bad leaving Annie. She always had dreams to go travelling. She went on and on about it, she even made me promise that I would come with her.

I can't wait for the day that we will be able to do that.

We were on our way to the airport when the car suddenly stopped. I was reading, and I hadn't been concentrating on the road, until I looked up from my book, raising an eyebrow when I saw what was there.

"They haven't built another one?!" I said, looking up at the custom barrier. These huge security barriers are normally found on the borders of countries, and more and more had been build recently.

My mother sighed. "Yeah. The crime must be getting worse," she said.

Nobody really knew much behind it, but over the past few years, the government have created more and more safety measures and precautions. One of the things they've been doing is adding extra security to the roads, to check who goes in and out of different areas. As we arrived at the entrance to the airport, we were caught up in slow-moving traffic.

We moved slowly through, until we reached the barrier. My father opened his window to talk to the police officer outside.

The police officer took a look inside, smiled at my mother, then smirked at me.

"We're going to have to run a scan through your son," the officer told my father. He raised an eyebrow, but instead of arguing, he turned to me.

"Go on Armin. They just want to check you aren't some criminal," he muttered. I nodded, getting out of the car, and walking over to the officer. He grabbed my arm, and pulled me over to a metal detector.

"Walk through," he said. I did so. Nothing went off. He smirked, then grabbed a strange-looking full body scanner and scanned my whole body.

"Alright, you're clear."

"Clear from what exactly?" I asked. It was then in the corner of my eye that I saw a woman staring at me. She was wearing a scientist uniform, and was part of the governments private science laboratory. She wore rectangle glasses, with her long, dark brown hair tied up. She squinted her eyes, watching me being scanned.

"That's none of your concern. You're clear," she said.

I walked away quickly, back to the car, and went in.

"Why did I have to do that?" I asked.

"You obviously looked dangerous," mother laughed. "This government is getting crazier. I don't understand. It's alright Armin. C'mon, lets go."

We continued moving forward towards the airport. Curiosity got the better of me, and as my phone picked up on the airport's open WiFi, I searched the meaning behind all of the new barriers and security.

Every single online article and report said the same, and none had any idea why they were being built. Estimations ranged from "dangerous violence amongst young adults" to "acts of crime against the law."

I signed, switching my phone off.

"Here we are," said my father. "Lets go."

The car stopped and we left with our suitcases towards the airport.

There waiting for us was the standard routine of going through customs, sending our suitcases away and checking our carry-ons through the x-ray machines.

"Armin, get your passport out," my father said as we walked towards passport control, that seemed a lot more high-tech than the last time we were here.

As I opened it, a folded piece of paper fell out.

It was a note in Annie's scribbled handwriting.

Don't worry, have fun! See you soon Arm. X

I smiled, laughing, before realising I was holding up the cue.

"Come on Armin!" My mother laughed. I showed my passport to the man at the desk and ran forward towards my parents.

* * *

The holiday was amazing. Sun, views, fun. Being an only child had it's advantages when on holiday. I was spoilt, to say the least, and I almost forgot about Annie in some ways, which is something that she would have wanted. She was always telling me not to feel sorry for her, and just go and have fun.

When I returned home, it was late. Too late to go and visit Annie. I texted her when we landed, again on the way home, and again as soon as I got in. She still hadn't replied later that night, which was definitely strange. Whenever I went away, she'd normally be the one to text me first.

I concluded that she probably lost her phone, or had forgotten about it at the bottom of her bag.

I was so excited to see her the next day, that I could barely sleep.