A Pretty Little Halloween Story
It was a chilly and tempestuous October night when the mysteries first began. October 31st to be exact and there wasn't a cloud lingering in the sky. Some would say it was the perfect night to be out and about scaring and stealing candy from people in costume. For five eager freshmen, it was the perfect night to hold an unforgettable party.
Alison, Aria, Emily, Hannah, and Spencer had just finished setting up Ali's Victorian style house with carved pumpkins and stuffed witches in every visible corner. Bowls of candy were scattered around the entire down stairs, just waiting to be devoured, and Lady Gaga's newest hit single was blaring from the intricate music system. All five girls were dressed to impress in what appeared to be matching hooker costumes, but in truth were some contortion of a cat costume.
As soon as the clock stroke seven and the sun was down, guests began pouring in. There was no guest list, and clearly, all of Rosewood had been informed. All of Rosewood High and even some students from Hollis were attending. Ali wanted older guests at her party and Jason was quick to reciprocate with his masses of friends.
With all adults out of the house and a decent amount of the guests drunk, it wasn't hard to get everyone up and dancing on the dance floor. Half an hour into the party, the night was still young. A little too young some may say. Aria was dancing with an older guy named Ezra who seemed a bit too mature to be at a freshman party, Hannah was stuffing her face with chocolate, making a thwarting attempt at flirting with Sean, Emily was chatting it up with some girls on the swim team, and Spencer, gawkily standing in the corner, was silently and clandestinely checking her grades online.
Ali for one was having nothing to do with her quirky friends behavior and instead, was creating a storm on the dance floor. Her friends hadn't noticed when Garret had come up to her to ask her for a dance, nor had they noticed when the duo gradually started drifting out of the room.
"Where are we going?" Ali finally asked when they had made it to the frigid backyard. Garret had refused to let go of her waist and as soon as Ali realized there was no one there to acknowledge the fact that she was with an older man, she began to think it was a little eerie.
"I wanted to show you something," He breathed out calmly.
"Where are we going?" Ali repeated in a demanding voice. She wasn't going to let up. That's just who she was.
"It's a surprise. Do you trust me?" He asked quickly, full of confidence. Alison was trying to squirm away from his tight grasp, but he was not reciprocating.
"No. I don't" Ali huffed, "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go rejoin my party while you can take your creepy self home."
"That's not how this is going to work. Now remember, I'm training to be a cop and if you scream, you're dead. Get it?"
Ali only nodded. Her knuckles were turning an off shade of white because of her unsuccessful attempts at breaking free from Garrets grip, and her teeth were clenching her rosy lips in an attempt to not scream out for help. The two were slowly maneuvering farther from the house and closer towards Ali's rickety but intact tree house.
"Hop up m'lady," Garret said in a mawkish tone once they had arrived at the ladder. Preparing for the worst, Ali climbed in and went strait to the left corner where a chest was laid concealing the DiLaurentes' sporting equipment. While Garret was climbing in, she quickly grabbed out a hockey stick and held it out in front of her for self-defense.
"What do you want?" Ali asked, finally making Garret turn around and face her weapon-clad ensemble.
"This isn't about what I want," He snickered.
"Then what's going on?"
"Patience, darling. Patience is the answer." He replied simply.
"Look, I have better things to be-" He cut her off.
"Look, I am training to be a cop." He imitated.
Ali huffed and sank to the floor, letting her knees rise to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs for security. Her phone vibrated against her thigh but she wasn't able to check the text before Garret snatched it out of her hands.
"That's my phone" Ali exclaimed in an angry tone.
"And I need to make a call so can it,"
"Or what?"
"You don't want to know" Came a robotic voice from where Garret was standing. It clearly wasn't his voice but was coming from his own body. Ali, out of unadulterated fear, screamed for her dear life while backing farther into the corner of the tree house. "What did I tell you about screaming?"
At this, Garret voice was not the only thing that took on an anomalous tone. His abnormally small ears grew long and pointy before leisurely turning a deep shade of green. The transformations soon spread to his face, which quickly became impeccably round, green, and grew antennas. It was immediately obvious to Ali as soon as she opened her eyes after having them squeezed shut, that she was in the presence of an alien, and this was certainly not a Halloween costume.
"What have you done with Garret?" She managed to choke out through her fits for hiccups.
"You naïve little girl. I am Garret," chuckled the robotic voice. He brought Ali's new iPhone 4s to his ear and spoke to it, "Siri, call Jason." From the end of the line, she could faintly hear the system respond, "Calling your brother."
As the phone rang in the alien's hand, Ali thought up all the possible ways to egress the tree house with Garret blocking the entrance. She didn't trust herself to sneak past Garret the green creature, but there was no other way out. Without her friends or phone, she was nothing. Before she knew it, she was straining her ears to hear what her brother was saying on the phone.
"I have her." Garret began, "And she knows."
"This wasn't part of the plan" She heard her brother shout.
"Well, it is now. Come to the tree house and bring Ian too." What did Ian have to do with this? Or her brother? There was no way they were alien's too, right? Come to think of it, there was no corroboration that Jason was really her brother. They didn't look alike, he never really fit into the family, and she never had seen a video of Jason's homecoming like her own: Little Alison joins the world.
But that was crazy, why should she need proof that her brother wasn't an alien? It should just be a common fact: Jason's a human being. And so is Ian. But do they know about Garret?
Garret's robotic voice brought her out of her haze, "And now it's a waiting game."
"When's it not?" She mumbled almost inaudibly, but clearly, Garret's large ears had heard.
"There's a time and place for everything. Very soon, you will understand."
"And what do you need me to understand? That you're an alien? Cause I got that."
"No. Here's a valuable lesson for you. Two's company, three's a crowd, and four are success."
"What the hell Garret? Let me out. I want out"
"No. You will wait here until we're ready." The power of his voice took Ali by surprise and she quickly fell silent. Within a matter of minutes, Ali could hear two bodies climbing up the rickety ladder into the tree house and two more green bodies emerged from the dark. It wasn't hard to tell which was Jason and which was Ian but nevertheless, it freaked Ali out.
"You, you're a…" She mumbled pointing towards her brother.
"An alien. Yes, specifically an NAT" He finished her thought.
With no possible response to fit the situation, she once again, fell silent. The three boys on the other hand- if you can even call the that- did not.
"Alison," Her brother started," Listen to me. You don't need, nor do you want an explanation for any of this." As he was talking, Ali started believing what he said. It was almost as if he was hypnotizing her. Was this how he always managed to get her to do what he wanted eventually? "The three of us, we need the help of you and your friends. Now listen, if you don't do as we say, something bad is coming to your friends, and something even worse to you."
"Why are you doing this to me?" She stuttered out.
"Well," Ian spoke up for the first time, "We have gotten ourselves into a sort of business. Let's just say, we've been keeping tabs on a few specific rosewood residents, and this geek's girlfriend," He said mentioning to Garret who was sporting a goofy grin," Suggested you when we said we needed a female freshman's help. Seems like she's got something against you, but that is irrelevant. Long story short, you need to help us out or else. And your friends, we could use them too."
Ali took a minute to think through all that was being said. They were keeping tabs on the people of rosewood? Like stalking them? And why would they need Ali's help? And what would happen if she didn't help?
"Let me see that hockey stick," Ian demanded and Ali unwillingly handed it over, "Keep this in mind if you ever refuse us. Now you know what's coming to you."
Suddenly, Ali remembered something a little odd about the whole situation, "So, whose your girlfriend Garret?"
"Jenna Marshall," He proudly stated," I assume you know her. She's in your grade at-"
"I know who she is," She cut him off. Why would Garret be going out with Jenna? Jenna the girl who for no reason at all, seemed to hate Ali and her friends unlike every other girl in school. Jenna, quite possibly the only high schooler in Rosewood that was not at Ali's party. But more importantly, Jenna who was making these alien's force Ali into doing- well, whatever the hell they were going to make her do. Jenna doesn't know what the hell is coming her way.
"What do you need me to do?"
"It's simple really, when we tell you to, you need to get your friends and any other pretty girls in Rosewood naked. I don't care how. But we need to be able to tape them, so you've got to let us know."
"You pervert!" I practically screamed. Why the hell would they want to videotape naked girls. This was beyond sick.
"But remember what's coming to you if you don't do it." Came Jason's voice.
"I'll do it," Ali replied confidently, "Just don't you drag my friends into this. Deal?"
"Deal." Came all three robotic voices at once and then an overpowering amount of laughter. Taking this as her cue to leave, Ali quickly navigated her way around the three foreign creatures and out of the tree house. With the unsullied air gyrating around her, Ali was able to think clearer. She wasn't intending to follow through with this, but she needed to appear to be. She also needed to find a way to warn her friends. Somehow, she had to have them figure out what was going on without just telling them. The impact of hearing something doesn't even compare to seeing something and somehow, she just wasn't sure hearing 'My brothers an alien and I need to get people naked so he can videotape them of he will hurt me' would fly too well with anyone.
Suddenly, she realized what she had to do. She had to leave clues for the girls. With a little help from her, they could figure this out on their own. A few clues here and there and it shouldn't be too hard for them to realize what was going on.
It wouldn't be long that she'd have to do this job for them anyways. If it was Jenna prompting them to use her, then all she had to do was eliminate Jenna and she would be free. Simple as that.
A sudden breeze came over Ali and she realized that she had been standing outside alone for a good amount of time now. She quickly made her way inside the house and gathered up all the girls.
"Where have you been?" Spencer was quick to ask.
"Why'd you take me away from Ezra?" Aria pouted in an offended tone.
"It's not like you're going to remember this tomorrow anyways," I chuckled trying to lighten the mood, "Anyways, do you guys want to clean out our closets tomorrow together?" Ali asked with a plan in mind. She was going to get that bitch Jenna to shut up once and for all while completing the NAT's mission for the first and last time.
Once receiving 'Yes's' from all the girls, Ali sent a message to her brother saying she'd start tomorrow night.
Suddenly, Ali didn't feel much like dancing anymore and instead, quietly made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. She opened the door to find Garret in his human form making out with Jenna on her bed and ran out without either of them noticing she was ever even there. It wasn't long before she realized this was going to be a long night. A very long night indeed.