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

Chapter 12- Ali Tells

It was 5:59 pm. The girls would be here in one minute. Ali was extremely nervous. She was biting her nails, a habit she used to do before she started middle school.

Ding dong. That was the door. They're here. I opened the door and greeted them. They were confused because I opened the door.

"Iris, why was there an -A text sent on your phone?" Emily asked.

"It's Ali. She used my phone to get you guys over here. I'm not A, or my name isn't Iris DiLaurentis," I told them. They shrugged and entered the house. I led them downstairs.

They all gasped as they saw Ali. She turned around and gave them a warm smile. "Did you miss me?" she asked them.

All they could do was stare. Well... this was awkward.

"Please... sit," Ali asked them. They did.

"Where have you been all this time?" Hanna asked.

"Places," Ali answered. "I can't really tell you exactly where I've been. Only one person knows that." She looked at me as she said that.

"What happened that made you hide from us?" Spencer asked.

Ali put on the coldest face she could possibly muster as she said, "Do you really want to talk about that, Spencer?!"

Spencer looked angry as she said, "Yes! All of us want to!"

"Fine," Ali began, "but it won't be pretty."

"It all began that summer night... the night of the sleepover," Ali began.

Flashback-Ali's POV

"What did you do to my friends, Ali?!" Spencer raged.

"I only hypnotized them, Spencer! I needed to talk to you, so I put them into a trance," I told her.

"Well, get them out of it! I don't like this!"

"Grow up, Spencer. You don't need your attack dogs protecting you 24/7."

"They're not dogs, Alison. If you think that we're dogs, then I'm going to chase you out of my barn!" Spencer grabbed a nearby shovel and started to chase me away from the barn. Hanna, Emily, and Aria were still "asleep".

I tripped over a branch and heard a crack. Pain shot up my leg. I felt something whack my head, and I fell unconscious.

When I woke up, I could barely breathe. I felt something heavy over me. I was almost completely covered by whatever this was. Some of it slipped into my mouth, and I tasted dirt. Oh no. I'm being buried alive!

I tried to see who was burying me. M-mom?!

"Mom!" I tried to yell, but no sound came out. "Mom! I'm alive, can't you see?!" I was going to die.

Then, I felt a hand grab mine. It was hard, but whoever it was managed to pull me out of the grave. It was... Iris?

"Ali?!" she said crying. I was coughing dirt out of my lungs. She hugged me. I hugged her.

"Come on, I'll get you to where you can be safe." She led me to an abandoned shack and laid me on the floor. Everything I would need would be here.

"T-thank you-"

"Shh. Rest. You'll need to stay hidden."

"Ok."

Flashback Over- Iris's POV

Hanna was crying. So were Aria and Emily. Ali was crying as well. Spencer just sat there in shock. I stood there wondering how all of this fit together. I was the one who saved Ali? How did I not remember that? Was Spencer the one that hit Ali or was it another person? Why did Mom bury Ali alive? This is so confusing...

"I'm so sorry about lying to you for all of these years... all of this -A stuff is because of me," Ali barely managed to sob out.

"Hey, you're back now," Emily said, "and that's all that matters. We can help you now." Aria and Hanna nodded.

"Sis," I said to Ali, "now you have your friends back. We're going to take down -A together. You're not alone."

"You're right," she said to me. She wiped away her tears and smiled the famous Alison DiLaurentis smile.

"Let's get -A."