Pretty Little Liars Halloween Story
TRICK OR TREAT, LIARS!

By Yolande B.

Disclaimer – I did not create any of the characters in this story. This is based on the book series by Sara Shepard and television show on ABC Family. Enjoy!

Chapter One - The Black Cats Watching You

It was Halloween night in Rosewood, Pennsylvania. The creamy moon cast a bright shadow on the roofs of the mansions most of the town was made up of, and leaves were being carried all around by the harsh wind. Seventh graders Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin and Spencer Hastings were all gathered on Alison DiLaurentis's doorstep, each clutching small jack-o-lantern buckets and dressed in handmade Halloween costumes. Alison had given them each help putting together their costumes- well, all except for Spencer, who argued that she would rather wear the Queen of Hearts costume she'd designed than the cat costume Ali had chosen for her, which consisted only of a headband with fuzzy cat ears sewn onto it and a dress that Spencer declared too short. Hanna was dressed as a schoolgirl, wearing a too-tight blouse that Alison assured her would look better than the oversized ratty one Hanna had pulled out of her mom's closet, and a checkered skirt Alison had presented her. Hanna recalled the exact words Alison had said to her. "It's way too big for me. I'm sure it will fit you, though!" Ali was always making jokes and going out of her way to make Hanna feel bad about her weight. Ever since Hanna's parents had gotten divorced, she'd been putting on weight by locking herself into her room and binging on Cheez-Its, Doritos, and any other junk food she could get her hands on.

Emily's costume had also been chosen by Alison. It was an old angel costume that Alison had worn two years ago for Halloween. The dress was too short and a little tight, and was definitely not flattering to her swimmer's body, and since Alison had lost the original angel wings that came with the costume, they'd spent an afternoon up cycling a ratty pair of pink wings Emily found at Goodwill.

"I thought this would be perfect for you," Alison had said to Emily as she picked out the angel costume for Emily. "You're such an angel. So sweet!" Emily was sure her cheeks were beet red after that.

Aria's costume was easy to pick out, according to Alison. She was going trick-or-treating as, unsurprisingly, a goth. Alison surprised Aria one day by bringing over to Aria's house a gorgeous long, black trench coat she claimed to have gotten at the local vintage thrift shop, which was Aria's favorite store. After digging around in her closet, Aria came up with some fishnet tights, tall black lace-up boots, and a black fingerless glove that she'd lost the match to. Alison let Aria borrow her special Tiffany Halloween charm bracelet, which Alison said with a smirk, would "keep the black cat away." By 'black cat,' Aria was pretty sure Ali was talking about Toby Cavanaugh, the creepy, stalkerish boy who lived in their neighborhood who had lately been following Aria around and watching her. The creepy part? Aria secretly liked Toby. She thought he was just misunderstood. But she was definitely not letting Ali know that. No secret was safe with her, Aria had determined after sharing a couple things with Ali. It's not like Aria meant to share the secrets, though. Ali had a way of forcing things out of people. But this new secret about Toby? Aria was going to make sure it never came out- even if it killed her. Well, maybe not that far.

The girls were waiting for Alison to come out of her family's old Victorian house. Alison was their best friend and the queen bee of the group. She'd chosen them to be her friends because she saw something in them - something special, something unique - that no one else seemed to notice. Sure, she could be bossy at times, and even a little rude, but she was Alison - the lovable, popular and gorgeous girl they were lucky to know. Or, at least they thought they were.

"Where is she?" Emily whimpered, while she and the others waited for Alison to come outside so they could start trick-or-treating. It was just like Emily to say this. She was always worrying about and protecting Alison- her nickname for Emily was killer, as in Ali's personal pit bull. At first the group had gotten a kick out of the nickname- even Emily shared a few giggles about it- but they were all starting to get sick of Ali's little jokes and rude remarks.

"You know Ali," Spencer pointed out, somewhat sourly. "She always has to look perfect." Lately Spencer and Alison hadn't been getting along very well, ever since Alison got the spot Spencer wanted on their school's field hockey team. Spencer felt that Alison always had to be better than her.

"She's probably almost done," Aria contributed quietly. "Besides, it's only 8:55," she added, looking down at her cellphone's clock. They were early- they'd planned on meeting at 9:00 P.M.

Hanna was telling Emily about the amazing new restaurant her dad took her to recently to celebrate for the good grades she'd been getting at school when Ali swung open the door, dressed in an amazing costume. She was dressed up as a witch, but definitely not an ugly or evil one. Her long blond hair was curled and nicely framed her heart-shaped face. Her lips were painted a soft pink and a shiny silver pointed witch hat sat upon her head. She wore a nice black shirt with long, wavy sleeves tucked into a matching black mini skirt, secured by a chunky silver belt that matched her hat. She was grinning ear to ear and all the girls were in awe, looking down at their own costumes and feeling a bit underdressed, even though they really weren't. Alison caught Emily staring at her and thought it would be appropriate to make a remark about it.

"Emily, sweetie, it's rude to stare!" Alison said, smirking. She threw her blonde locks behind her shoulder and watched as Emily blushed and the others looked around in confusion. Ever since Emily had kissed Alison in her tree house, Ali had never let Emily hear the end of it.

Hanna noticed Emily's embarrassment and, though confused, attempted to change the subject.

"So, um, Alison... where should we start trick-or-treating?"

Ali stared at Hanna for a moment, then looked down at the candy buckets her friends were holding. She burst out laughing.

"Girls, really?" Ali exclaimed, catching her breath. "Don't you think we're a little mature for trick-or-treating?"

The girls looked over at each other, then down at their pumpkin buckets. Emily blushed again. Spencer rolled her eyes.

"God, Ali, why didn't you tell us we weren't trick-or-treating before you invited us over?" she asked.

Ali blinked. "I assumed you guys were more mature than this. Trick-or-treating is for babies. No one our age does it anymore. Well, I'm sure Mona and her friends still do." Ali started laughing, and soon Hanna, Emily and Aria did too. Spencer was too annoyed to even look at Alison, let alone join in on making fun of yet another person. When they were finished laughing, Alison continued.

"Anyways, girls, I thought that we could do something different." She looked at the girls. "I was invited to this Halloween party."

Hanna gasped.

"You mean Noel's party? I bet Sean will be there!"

Ali glared at Hanna for interrupting her, then rolled her eyes. Hanna looked down.

"Yes, Hanna, it's Noel's party. And, you guys, I can bring guests. Four. That's how many I can bring. That means you all can come!" She smiled, then looked at Spencer. "Of course, Spence, you can stay behind and trick-or-treat with Mona and her gang. If you like."

Spencer rolled her eyes, but didn't respond.

"So, what do you guys say? Sound like fun?"

The girls nodded.

"It sounds great," Aria said, adjusting her tights. "Noel's parties are always-"

"Guys! Quick, duck down." Ali interrupted, grabbing Emily's and Hanna's hands and pulling them down so that they were sitting behind a large bush, unseen, and motioned for Aria and Spencer to join them. Aria quickly followed, and Spencer, though hesitant, did too.

After a minute of sitting and waiting, Hanna asked, "So... why are we down here?"

Ali put her finger to her lip and shushed her, then whispered, "Toby. He was out there. What a creep! I think he was watching us!"

Aria blushed. She was glad it was dark outside so no one would notice.

"How do you know he was watching us, Ali?" Hanna asked. She tugged on her blouse self-consciously.

"Oh, be quiet. I just know. You should have seen him, all smiley and creepy! And I doubt he was watching you, Hefty Hanna."

Ali smiled. Hanna had a hurt expression on her face, and her eyes filled with tears. She looked down and quickly wiped her eyes, then adjusted her already perfect braided hair.

Ali looked at Hanna. Her smile faded, and she had a sympathetic look on her face, but didn't say anything to comfort Hanna. She stood up and wiped small blades of grass and particles of dirt off of her costume.

She looked down at the girls with her hands on her hips. "Well? You are coming, right? I can just take some of my friends from field hockey instead, if you guys are too chicken."

Ali started to walk away, and the four girls followed. Alison was right, they all thought. Trick-or-treating was for immature people, like Mona. It was time for a change, a new tradition. And they all knew Noel's party was the perfect place to go for that.

Chapter 2 - Faces in the Photo Booth

When they arrived, Noel's backyard was crowded. Loud music blasted through several speakers scattered across the lawn. There was a person dressed as a worm and another dressed as Spiderman climbing out of a photo booth.

Emily pointed to the booth. "We should take some pictures," she exclaimed, laughing and imagining how the pictures might turn out.

Alison looked distracted, staring at someone. Before any of the girls could see who she was staring at, she turned around.

"Yeah, okay. Come on." Suddenly she seemed nervous, maybe even a little threatened. But, really, the girls thought, who would even dare threaten Ali? They'd be stupid to even try.

The four girls trailed behind Ali, heading towards the booth. When they reached it, Ali lifted the cloth covering the entrance and they all squeezed in. Ali, Spencer, Aria and Emily sat down on the seat in front of the camera. There was a little room left and Hanna started to sit when Ali stopped her. "Sorry, Hanna. I think you'll have to sit this one out." Ali smirked and pointed to the entrance. Hanna walked out, clearly hurt.

Aria stood up. She turned to Ali.

"I think I'll... I'm going to wait with Hanna."

Ali raised her eyebrow, as if to say, 'do I look like I care?' Aria shrugged and walked out, looking around for Hanna.

"Good," Ali said. "Three people will only fit in the picture anyway."

Spencer and Emily looked at each other but said nothing.

Ali pressed the button below the camera that read 'START'.

"Say 'I'M FABULOUS,' girls!" she cried.

"I'M FABULOUS," Spencer and Emily repeated. The three of them grinned at the camera. As it flashed, Alison's face went pale and she froze in terror. Emily yelped and Spencer covered her eyes. When the camera flashed, a face appeared in front of them resembling a doll. Not a cute baby doll, but an ugly, evil doll, sort of like Chuckie. Its face was pale white and its lips were in the shape of an 'O'. And the eyes were demon-like- small and red.

Spencer removed her hands from her eyes and nudged Emily's elbow.

"Em... did you see that too?"

Emily nodded, her whole body shaking in fear. They both looked over to where Ali had been sitting. She was gone.

"D-did you see Ali get up and leave?" Spencer asked.

Emily looked at her and quietly shook her head. Her lip quivered and her eyes were welled with tears, as if she would burst into tears any second.

"We have to get out of here," Spencer exclaimed, standing up. "We need to find Ali!"

Emily stood up, her legs shaking. She clutched Spencer's arm for support and followed her out of the booth, off to look for Ali.

Chapter 3 - Cupcakes and Missing Girls

"It doesn't take this long to take pictures," Hanna moaned, licking the frosting off of a cupcake she'd found inside. "Should we go check on them?"

Aria sighed. "I'm sure they're fine," she said. "Besides, they didn't need us in there in the first place. Why would they need us now?"

Hanna shrugged. "Hey, you want to go back into Noel's house? These cupcakes are good."

Aria nodded, rubbing her temples. The loud music had given her a bad headache. All she wanted to do was go home and watch scary movies on TV with her parents, and maybe even pass out Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters. She wasn't in the mood for any of Ali's little games.

Hanna and Aria were heading towards the front door when Hanna let out a squeal. She'd run straight into someone's back, and her cupcake was stuck to the person's leather jacket, the frosting acting as glue. The person turned around. Hanna gasped. It was Toby.

Hanna ran to the door as fast as she could, not bothering to wait for Aria.

"Um... sorry," Aria whispered, looking down at her feet.

Toby stared at her for a moment. "Is there a cupcake on my back?" he asked, smirking.

"Uh, yeah," she said, trying to smile too. Toby turned around and Aria reached forward to take the cupcake off his back.

"Thanks," he said, his face now straight. He stared at her again.

She nodded and looked towards the house, trying to find Hanna. She spotted her inside, sitting down on a stool and downing another cupcake.

"Um, I'm going to go inside now…"

When Aria looked back to where Toby was standing, he was no longer there. Just as if he hadn't even been there at all.

"Aria!"

Aria turned and saw Spencer and Emily. They were both panting, and Emily looked extremely spooked.

"Guys? Are you okay?" Aria asked. It seemed like the proper question to ask.

Emily shook her head quickly. "We were in the photo booth..." She burst into tears, unable to finish her sentence. Spencer quickly took over.

"We were in the photo booth, and when the flash went off, there was this ugly white doll that appeared for a second, but it faded away with the flash. It's not an illusion, I swear. We all saw it."

Spencer gasped for breath, trying to complete her explanation.

"After it went away... Ali was gone."

Aria considered for a moment what could have happened, trying not to think about the horror movie she'd seen where something similar to this had happened.

"I'm sure Ali was just playing a prank," Aria assured them. "Besides, it's Halloween, after all. And you know Ali..."

Spencer shook her head. "We didn't even see her leave. She just disappeared!"

Next to them, Emily gasped. Speechless, she pointed to Noel's house, where Hanna was sitting. The doll that they had seen in the photo booth was coming towards Hanna.

When they got inside, the three girls ran towards Hanna. She was no longer eating cupcakes, and had her head down on the table. Emily walked over and tapped Hanna's shoulder, and Spencer whispered something in her ear. After a couple minutes and several different techniques, Hanna wouldn't move. She was either in a deep sleep, or there was something in the cupcakes she had been eating. Aria lifted Hanna up, and all three girls jumped back.

Across Hanna's blouse, someone had written in frosting, "WHAT A PIG! WONDER HOW MANY CUPCAKES SHE ATE. THE NUMBER OF CUPCAKES IS THE ROOM NUMBER TO MY NEXT VICTIM. –A."

"Alison?" Spencer cried. Aria continued trying to wake up Hanna, and Emily burst into tears again, sitting down on the floor and rocking herself back and forth.

Spencer started going through the trash can that sat next to the stool Hanna was sitting in. Every few seconds she plucked a cupcake wrapper out of the bin and lay it down on the table.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked, wiping her runny nose with the sleeve of her costume. Spencer ignored her and continued.

"Five. It's five! Come on!" Spencer said, standing up and running towards the hallway, zigzagging between the many people who stood in her way.

Emily looked at Aria, confused.

"I don't know. Just… follow her."

They headed towards the direction that Spencer had disappeared in and looked for room number five. Although there was no number above it, they counted the doors until they reached the fifth one and went inside. Spencer was sitting on the floor behind the bed. Her face was buried into her hands, and a muffled sound coming from where she was told them that she was crying.

"Spence?" Emily asked, her voice shaking. "Everything's okay, right?"

Spencer pointed at something in front of her and continued crying. Emily and Aria slowly walked towards where Spencer was pointing. Emily collapsed into tears onto the floor and Aria kept whispering "Oh, God!" over and over again. Alison was on the ground, her face flushed, her eyes closed.

"She's not breathing…" Spencer said, catching her breath. "I came in, and-"

"BOO!"

The girls jumped back. Emily let out a piercing scream, and Aria ran towards the door and hid in a corner.

It was Alison. She stood up and threw her head back, laughing hard.

"Trick-or-treat, girls! Did I scare you?" she said, grinning.

Aria and Emily forced out laughs. Spencer smiled.

"Oh, please," Spencer said wearily. "We knew your plan all along."

Ali smiled and rolled her eyes, as if to say, 'of course you did.'

"Did you like my little note? I let Hanna in on the secret. She's okay, you guys. She's not dead or anything." She smiled again and kicked the bottom of the bed that was in the room. "Han, you can come out now."

Giggling, Hanna emerged from under the bed.

"Funny, huh, guys? You were so fooled!"

Emily laughed, though still a bit shaken up. "I have to say, my favorite part was when that ugly doll appeared in the photo booth! How did you do it?" she said.

Spencer and Aria nodded in agreement. Alison looked confused.

"Doll? What doll? Girls, what are you talking about?"

Trick or Treat, Liars!

-A