TITLE: Change Of Plans
RATING: K+
PAIRING: Alison and Emily
SUMMARY: Emily's not sure what she saw that day in the forest but if Ali is alive then Emily will bring her home. An idea I had based on Season 2 Episode 12.
DISCLAIMER: The characters, story etc. aren't mine.
If they were I wouldn't be tearing my hair out trying to figure out who 'A' is.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first Pretty Little Liars fic and the first fic I've written in a while. I began to get very fascinated by these two characters and so I decided to write something for them. This is a one shot.
Reviews are appreciated. I would like the feedback.
A is the ultimate player. Giving us what we want but making us feel bad when we get it. Spencer's right, it is genius.
"Make an immediate right turn" My GPS keeps telling me. This day just gets weirder and weirder because I can see the church up ahead to my left. But my car wants me to go right.
"That's weird," I mutter before turning around suspiciously. I notice the doll on the back seat straight away and my eyes go wide with surprise because that had definitely not been there before. And now goose bumps are spreading all over my arms when I pick up the doll because only A could have put it there. Although I have no idea how. And now it makes sense, my car doesn't want me to turn right. A does. I pull the string at the back of the doll that's supposed to resemble me.
"I'm taking you to her. Go alone." The creepy doll says.
I suddenly feel idiotic for believing that A had forgotten about me. When we discovered the box containing the dolls in Spencer's living room, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, I was completely shaken. When we discovered there wasn't a doll for me, I was relieved. Maybe A was tired of me. Now, I feel foolish.
They're never going to leave any of us alone. Not unless we can find out who they are. But for now I'm trapped. I have no choice but to follow the doll so I turn right and follow my GPS' directions.
I end up thinking about Alison, not that I ever really stopped. About how A likes to play games just as much as she did, how A knows all our secrets, just like she did. I'm starting to suspect that we're just too oblivious to notice who A is. They're obviously watching us and yet we can't see them. We have no clue who they are. There has to be a reason we haven't figured it out yet. Maybe they're too far away for us to see… or maybe they're too close.
It's about half an hour before I notice that A is leading me away from town. Away from people. And suddenly I'm scared. Really scared, because I'm alone and no one knows where I am and A could be plotting to do anything to me. Just because the doll says it's taking me to Dr. Sullivan doesn't mean it is. This is A pulling the strings after all. What am I going to do if this is a trap?
I'm driving up a dirt road in the woods now. I've always found it amazing how the air is so clean just a few miles from town. Breathing in the fresh air helps clear my head of the panicked state it's in. I have to stay focused and alert if I'm going to get out of here safely. Go to wherever A wants, grab Dr. Sullivan and run. This vague plan helps calm me down and I repeat it again and again, trying to gain some control over this situation. Even though I know this is just another one of A's games and I'm just a piece they're pushing around. I'm as much of a plaything as the doll that brought me here.
The road is getting wider and I can just make out something red in between the trees.
As I round the bend I can see a red and white barn.
"You have arrived at your destination," The GPS informs me.
I sit in the car for a few seconds before deciding to look around for Dr. Sullivan. What else can I do? A will know if I leave and they led me here for a reason. If I don't find out what it is, they won't be happy. The last thing I want to do is make A mad. I get out of the car carefully; these shoes were not designed for hiking. I look around but I can't see anything special at first glance. Just a barn. But I know that A sent me here for a reason and even if Dr. Sullivan isn't here, something is. I just hope it's not A.
I approach the barn cautiously.
"Dr. Sullivan?" I call.
There's no answer; but what did I expect? For her to come out of the barn and say, "You found me. Let's get a coffee?" Yeah right. It's obvious that I have to find out if she's in the barn or not. If she is I can't just leave her and if she's not, I have to know.
I slowly make my way towards it and tentatively open the door. It's dark and I can't see Dr. Sullivan, just a dark car. I open the door wider and look around to make sure there's no one behind me before walking towards it hesitantly. Something doesn't feel right about this situation. It's too easy. Go to barn. Find Dr. Sullivan . Get out alive. It doesn't seem right. My suspicions are confirmed when I greet the car. It's empty. Just another part of A's puzzle.
I look closer to make sure she's not in there and start to feel disappointed which is quickly replaced by fear when I hear the barn door closing. I rush over to it, scared out of my mind, suddenly berating myself. This is A! Of course it was a trap! None of that will help me now though. By this stage I'm banging on the doors like a mad women.
"Hello!" Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Let me out!" Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Somebody let me out!" Bang! Bang! Bang!
I turn around and desperately look for another exit or anything that can pry open the doors. I can't see anything that will help, the barn's empty except for the car so I run back over to the door and start banging on it again.
"Somebody help me!" Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Somebody let me out!" Bang! Bang! Bang!
It quickly becomes apparent that no one's coming. I turn around, scared out of my mind. And then I see it. And I can't believe I didn't notice it before. This whole situation screamed "Trap!" and I didn't hear it. And now I'm more than scared, I'm panicking; because I know I'm in real trouble.
The car is running.
Exhaust fumes are filling the small room, with no air holes, at an alarming rate and it's not too long before I start to feel dizzy. The fumes are taking over the air rapidly and my head is woozy. I start to stumble around frantically looking for an exit or a way to turn off the car. But I end up falling to the floor and everything is white and shiny and kind of stretchy, like a TV with bad reception that can only show a few lines of the image running across the screen. I'm going to pass out any second now and no one knows where I am. No one is going to save me. I hope that Hanna, Spencer and Aria will be okay; I hope they won't miss me too much…
I wish Alison were here.
I'm on the ground, semi-conscious when I register that the earth is moving beneath me. Except the earth isn't moving. I am. With the help of someone else. And normally I would feel frightened. Except that I know those hands, know that soft touch too well to feel anything other than comfort.
I know Alison well, and have always trusted that things will be okay if she is.
And she is, because she's here and she's holding me and she's gently brushing her fingers through my hair. Just like she used to.
Except that she's supposed to be dead. Supposed to be gone, taken away from me forever. But I know that face, those eyes too well and that touch. To think of this as a dream, as a figment of my imagination, is futile. I know it's not. There's no point pretending to myself otherwise… Just to everyone else. Because if they knew, bad things would happen. Alison would be in even more danger. I may not know any of the details but she's alive and she's obviously hiding and I have to help her keep that secret.
At least that's what I'm gathering from the way she's talking to me. The way that she won't tell me who 'A' is. Because it's too dangerous. For me. For our friends. For everyone. And she's trying to protect us from this mess. But it's Alison's mess and she has to sort it out, with our oblivious help. We can't know what we're getting ourselves into or what we're doing. We just have to trust that Alison does. That she's guiding us. With clues that were carefully placed when she was 'alive'. And although we don't know what we are fighting or who, we must still help her, and we are, even if we think we're only helping ourselves.
It's complicated. But right now I don't care. Alison's back and she's holding me and it feels just like it used to and I'm so happy to see her that I don't question it. Don't care about the how's and why's. But I can't go with her when she asks. She knows I can't but she asks anyway. Hoping that maybe we can finally be together. It's been so long and so much has happened and we still feel the same about each other. But nothing is the same. So I can't go with her, I must stay.
I know things that the others don't. I know she's alive, even if Alison doesn't know I think this. She's probably counting on me thinking this is a dream. But I know her too well. So I have to stay. I have to go and help the others as well as myself figure this mess out. To get the answers that I don't have and help them silently with the information I do.
But I really don't want to leave her.
She's brushing her fingers through my hair and I close my eyes, feeling safe for the first time since she 'died'.
"Sweet Emily" I hear her whisper before she kisses me.
I'm sure I smile a little bit before
I close my eyes for what feels like a second. Trying to piece together all the thoughts jumbling around in my head. Hoping that all the pieces will finally fit together. When I open them Alison's gone and I'm looking at Spencer, Aria and Hanna. Crouching over me with worried expressions, asking if I'm okay. And then a part of me is not sure. Maybe I did dream it. Maybe I just missed her so badly that when I blacked out I saw what I wanted to see.
I made the mistake of voicing these opinions out loud. And I know it's a mistake because now I can now feel the pressure on my lips where she kissed me. What I couldn't feel before due to shock and confusion… or can I? Everything's kind of fuzzy. But it doesn't matter. As much as my friends want to believe what I've said, they can't. I did just black out after all. I'm even starting to question what I saw. Did I really see Alison? I don't know anymore. They don't blame me for my "temporary insanity", even though they should. This was a close call and if I want to help us all, I can't let them know about Alison. I can't give them false hope and I can't believe something I'm not sure of just because I want so badly for it to be real. I can't let them know that I think she's alive and that we're helping her, even if we don't know how yet.
I see a shovel lying nearing the door. I tell the girls that it wasn't there before. Spencer goes over and picks it up. It has co-ordinates on the back. Now we're all worried that A has buried Dr. Sullivan alive. I wouldn't put it past A to do that. We're all well aware of what A's capable of. Spencer leads us through the woods and I'm just so tired. It's probably lack of oxygen; Carbon Monoxide poisoning is not something to just scoff at.
"I can't do it," I tell the girls. I know I need to get to a hospital. I'm starting to feel really faint.
Spencer tells us that we've reached the co-ordinates on the shovel and we all start to look around. No one can see anything out of the ordinary though and Aria says there's nothing here. Maybe A's just decided to play with her puppets for a while, make us run around in circles for their amusement. Even super villains must get bored sometimes.
Then Hanna spots a straw in the ground and we're all terrified. Is Dr. Sullivan under there? We start to dig up the area around the straw in a blind panic. Hanna's getting hysterical and I'm not doing much better. Lack of oxygen and fear don't mix well.
All of a sudden bright lights surround us. We stand up unsure and afraid.
"They're over here!" An unfamiliar voice says
"This is the police, stay where you are!"
"A set us up!" Spencer says
"Yea but for what?" Aria answers
I'm terrified and woozy and I just want to go home. It doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon though. The police surround us and I can tell it's going to be a long night.
They take us back to the police station and call our parents. Spencer tells the cops what happened to me and I'm taken to a small room where a paramedic gives me some oxygen. I feel slightly better the longer I breath it in and being away from everyone gives me some time to think but I don't need time right now. I need to be home, with my parents. I need to do what Alison told me to do and rest. I'm sleep and oxygen deprived and nothing makes sense. The world's gone crazy in the last few weeks and I can't keep up. Or maybe its just Rosewood that's gone crazy. Everything seems to centralise here, happening just to the four of us. At least I think it's just the four of us being tormented by A. What if there are others? What if the whole town is being controlled by A or is helping them? What if it doesn't matter what we do? What if neither fight or flight are options? What do we do then? Give up? Is that our only choice?
I'm starting to panic and the paramedic tells me to breath. I just want to go home. I don't want to be here in a poorly lit police station trying to answer questions I don't know the answer to. I tell the paramedic that I feel fine even though I don't. I tell him I want to see my friends. He agrees and goes to get a police officer to take me to them. I walk through the door and tell them that I haven't said anything to anyone.
"They're watching us," Spencer informs me.
I should have guessed that. Of course they're watching us. Hoping for us to slip up and confess to something we didn't do. Trying to pry the answers out of us. Answers we don't have and suddenly I'm so sick of not knowing what's going on around here. We're always the last to know and the first in the firing line. It makes me mad! Everything is falling apart and I have no clue how to fix it.
Spencer's mum comes into the room and tells us what's going on. Wilden's back with significant information about Alison's case and somehow A has connected that evidence to us.
"Has someone called my parents?" I ask Mrs. Hastings. I really need them right now. I don't know how to process this. I can't process this. I need my parents to come and take me home.
"They're on their way" She tries to comfort me but I can barely feel her hand on my arm. I feel numb.
Wilden comes through the door with the shovel in his hands and a determined look in his eye.
"When Alison DiLaurentis was murdered she was hit so hard that it left an indentation in her skull."
I feel sick. Poor Ali. No one deserves that.
"I've given you guys so may chances to just be honest with me. Evidence doesn't lie. We've known all along what the murder weapon was, tonight we caught you with it."
He slammed the shovel on the table and we look at each other shocked.
Now it makes sense. Now I know what A wanted out of all of this.
They think we killed Ali.
That must have been A's goal all along. To frame us for Ali's death. I feel sick, sicker than I felt before. No. Sick isn't the right word, more like appalled. Appalled at the very though that someone could do this to Ali and shocked that the police think we could be capable of such evil. Don't they know that we loved her? That some of us would have given our lives to protect her. That I would have…
After a few minutes of shocked silence and Mrs. Hastings fury, the detective decides that we're done for the night. We hastily make our way out of the police station with our parents and thankfully my mum can see I'm in no mood to talk and takes me home. I say goodnight and climb up the stairs to bed. To sleep away the drama of today and hope tomorrow will be better or that at least it will have more clarity than today.
Everything is the same as it was, except that nothing is. And I know that it's not my surroundings that have changed. I have. And I decide that from now on I'm going to be braver. For me. For my friends. But most of all for Alison who was brave right up until the end. I don't believe that her death was an accident and I know that Alison was smart enough to know that she was being targeted. Takes a predator to know a predator and Ali was very fierce. I have no idea what is going on in this town any more but I'm starting to believe that nothing is a coincidence. This is still Ali's game.
I'm still not sure what I saw today. I don't know if Ali is alive or not but if she is, I'm going to make Rosewood safe again. I'm going to let her know that she can rely on me to make things safe for her to come home. If this is all a plan, Ali must trust us a lot more than I thought she did. To leave her future in our hands she must trust that we know her well enough to figure this mess out and bring her back home.
And that's exactly what I'm going to do.