Hello! I know, I know, why am I starting a new story when I have so many in progress? Well, this was a prompt from TrustInFaith, and I hate to disappoint, so here I am with a brand-new Hannily story. I'm almost ready to come off my hiatus, so I'll be updating my other stories soon (including Iridescence, C'est la guerre, Fearless, and Shiny) - keep an eye out. For now, though, please enjoy the prologue to my new story, and do let me know what you think! :)

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It had been a long day. All Emily wanted to do was go home and collapse on her bed, but she'd promised that she'd swing by Spencer's after swim practice. As she was packing up her gear, tucking her cap away in her locker and pulling out her dry clothes, she debated calling her to cancel their study date. But she was close to failing French, and Spencer was, as usual, top of the class. If she didn't kick it into high gear and start seriously studying, she would be even further behind than she already was. And who better to help her than Spencer Hastings, Queen of Studying?

With a sigh she let her locker swing closed and started drying her hair with her towel, feeling lighter by the second. She'd just study with Spencer for an hour or two, and then she could go home. She could have a nice, long shower, get into her most comfortable pyjamas, and spend the rest of the evening listening to music and flicking through magazines. That sounded good.

But as soon as she was dry and dressed, exhaustion started to creep in again. She loved Spencer, but that girl was intense; she wasn't sure she could handle her without some kind of pick-me-up. She'd drop by the Brew on her way to Spencer's, and pick up some coffee. Draping her towel over her arm – she was taking it home to give it a thorough clean, since it was starting to smell nauseatingly like chlorine – she used her free hand to text Spencer.

I'm stopping by the Brew on my way. Want anything?

She received the reply before she'd even reached the door.

Uh, duh.

Stifling a laugh, she hoisted her bag further up her shoulder and fished around in her pockets for loose change. She'd found about three dollars fifty before she remembered that she had a five dollar bill stuffed in her spare shoes in her locker. That would be enough to get them both a cup of coffee and maybe a sugar-filled muffin or something to get them through studying – not that Spencer would need it. Studying was enough to give her a natural high; she could run on nothing but caffeine and textbooks for days.

Wishing she was anywhere near as enthusiastic, Emily turned around and made her way back to her locker. As she searched around in her locker for the money, she heard a noise from behind her. Her heartbeat kicked it into double pace as she spun around, peering into the gloom. She was reasonably sure she was the only one here; she'd had such a long shower that everyone else had left by the time she got out. That meant it was not only quiet and totally empty, but also dark – all but one of the lights had been turned off. She couldn't see anything, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone else here.

"Hello?" she called softly, half-hoping for an answer but knowing that if she received one it would probably give her a heart attack. "Is there anybody here?"

Nothing but silence greeted her, and her apprehension was dulled a little by relief. For the past few months she and her friends had been getting threatening messages from someone called 'A', and it had put them all on edge. They'd had a few hunches and theories about who it could be, but they hadn't been able to prove anything so far. It made her incredibly uneasy, knowing there was somebody out there intent on torturing her and her friends. And it made her feel helpless, knowing she couldn't do anything to stop them or protect her friends.

The silence stretched on, and she worked hard to convince herself that she was alone. So far A hadn't actually hurt any of them – it was all just taunting messages and occasionally elaborate setups, but nothing that would actually hurt them. It wasn't like A was going to jump out of the shadows and attack her. There was only one person who had done that to her, but she didn't like to think about that. She slammed her locker closed and checked her phone, but there were no messages. If A was going to do something, they would at least taunt her about it first.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she headed for the door again, repeating, "There's no one here" under her breath. This time when she heard a noise, there was no time to try to convince herself that it was just her imagination.

There was a flash of even darker darkness, visible against the shadows. There was the sound of shoes scuffing on the floor. There was a sharp, blinding pain. She hit the floor before she even had time to scream.

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