Hello, all! Well, you guessed it: I'm back AGAIN, with ANOTHER story that I sincerely hope you all enjoy! This story will take place at about where the Halloween episode left off, only you need to know two things before you begin: Hanna and Caleb broke up officially when he left for Ravenswood, and Aria and Jake are still together in the beginning (I know we all hate him, but seriously bare with me!) But I'm warning you right here and right now: this story is very dark. It's quite possibly the darkest story I've ever written (seriously, though, guys, ShadowsOnTheMoon is probably giddy with excitement right now). But I had so much fun writing it and put a lot of work into it, so I really hope you all have as much fun reading it (and shed as many TEARS while reading it... nothing personal) as I had writing it.

That's about all I have to say for now, so here's your first chapter! It's a little slow at first, but starting next chapter things will pick up! And remember: I do not own PLL or any of the characters in it. If I did, things would be different. Very different. Once again, enjoy!

Oh, you can't hear me cry
See my dreams all die
From where you're standing
On your own.
It's so quiet here
And I feel so cold
This house no longer
Feels like home.

Alison raced down the moonlit path, leaves crunching under her feet and branches snapping in her face. At every shadow she jumped, only to realize it was just the moon beams stretching over the trees, so she kept on trudging.

Time was running out. She knew she shouldn't have told the girls. She knew she was taking a risk. But it was too late to have regrets.

It was too late to long to take back everything she had done wrong in her life. Not while he was on her tail.

Feeling her heartbeat quicken, Alison only ran faster, her red coat billowing behind her. As she continued to run, she realized she didn't even have a destination in mind. She didn't know what she was doing, where she was going...

All she knew was that she had to run. Far, far away.

Could this be the end? she thought to herself as she dodged a twig from above her. Have I really done it now? Is everything finally going to catch up to me?

After 2 years, could this really be it?

Alison finally stopped running, reaching out to steady herself on the nearest tree stump as her breathing became heavier, her heartbeat became less levied. She had to pace herself. She couldn't keep blindly running through the dark when she hardly knew if the person she was running from was even running after her.

Speak of the devil...

She heard a snap, and her senses sparked to life.

He was here.

Ignoring the feeling that her lungs were going to burst out of her chest, Alison's adrenaline kicked in and she darted through the woods, blood staining her jacket as branches and thorns scratched at her skin.

It wasn't like it mattered anyway. They were all the same color.

She ran and ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore. She was out of sight, out of mind.

She kept telling herself that she was no longer in danger, that she was so far away that she knew she was safe. No one could get to her.

Not even the person who was still chasing after her, still searching for her. Not even the person whose baby blue eyes were currently bulging from his sockets in a mangled fury at the realization that she had escaped. Not even the person whose chiseled jawline was tense in anger at not reaching her, whose fists were clenched in defeat, whose legs were shaking with longing to kick something, anything.

Not even Ezra.

Hanna sighed as she plopped back onto her bed, back first. Her eyes were closed and her room was quiet, but her mind was loud. Very loud.

Alison was alive.

Alison, her best friend in the world, yet her worst enemy in the world, had been alive for the past two years and neither of her friends had known.

She was alive, and she was here.

Yet she was gone. She had left as soon as she had come.

Just like Caleb had left as soon as he had come.

Don't think about that, Hanna thought hastily, wiping her not-so-dry eyes with the back of her pajama sleeve. If there was one thing she was glad for, it was getting out of that horrid costume. You have to distract yourself until he gets back!

Hanna sniffled as she sat up again, looking around her room for something, anything, that might keep her brain at bay. On her desk was a pile of already-read fashion magazines, and near her closet door was her backpack that held her history homework - as if she could ever focus on homework right now. Nothing looked appealing to her.

Until she saw it.

Poking out of the outermost pocket of her bag, catching her eye with it's shimmering texture, was something she had picked up earlier in the evening.

A's diary.

Feeling uncomfortable, yet oddly determined, Hanna arose from her bedspread. Part of her knew this was a bad idea - Spencer could hardly handle this whole mystery on 7 cups of coffee, and Hanna figured she could delve into it without even being on 1? - but another part of her was bursting at the seams, begging to know more. Alison had come back for a reason: chances were that there was something that she wanted the girls to know about. Something that was right in front of them, but just barely out of their reach.

Something that Hanna knew about, even if she didn't know that she knew.

Something Alison had told Hanna.

"What happened to you when you left the barn?" Hanna muttered sleepily, Alison's blurred outline still in the center of her weak vision. "We all want to know."

Alison just stood there, straight as a pencil in her pinstriped hospital apron, flashing her notorious smirk over the edge of Hanna's cot. "You already do," she whispered cryptically, hands locked behind her back and she shifted her weight to the front of her feet. "The four of you combined... you know more about that night than you think you do."

Hanna blinked, startled. Where had that come from? She hadn't thought about that... exchange... in forever. She last remembered it being a hallucination - she was under 9 different types of medication from breaking her leg - but she guessed that it wasn't really as much of a dream as she thought it was.

The exchange was real.

"Please," Hanna begged tiredly, eyes struggling to stay open as they filled with tears. Tears filled with exhaustion, but also filled with desperation and sadness. "Please just tell me the truth."

Suddenly, Alison did something that Hanna had rarely ever seen her do before.

She stopped smiling.

"It won't make any difference, darling," she said seriously, and if Hanna listened closely she could hear a slight quiver to her tone. Hanna cocked her head to the side, confused, but this only made Alison more upset.

"You think the truth is some big, shiny disco ball of purity?" Alison challenged, her features hardening, her voice increasing in volume. "Then go ahead and try it. Be honest. See where it gets you."

Hanna felt herself sinking further into her pillow as words left her. Alison had completely rendered her speechless. But she just kept going.

"Telling the truth to the wrong person at the wrong time is how I ended up where I am," she continued, recounting from experience as an inscrutable expression clouded her countenance. "Take it from me... you're always better off with a really good lie."

Looking back, Hanna remembered seeing something off about Ali. Her makeup was the same, as was her hair, snark, and condescending demeanor. At the time, Hanna was unable to pinpoint what was wrong with Ali, but now she could tell.

She remembered seeing something in her eyes. Remorse. Longing. Darkness.

As Hanna closed her eyes, thinking even harder, they suddenly popped open as she remembered the last thing she saw in Alison's eyes before she had snuck out of the doorway, never to be seen for another year.

Fear.

The same fear that they had all seen in her eyes earlier this evening.

Alison was scared, and had been scared this entire time, which was why she couldn't come back. Hanna didn't know why she was scared, or who she was scared of, but she at least had that.

And she was ready to find out more.

Rushing over to her bag, Hanna fished out the diary, flipping it open to the first page.

Might as well start at the beginning.

Let me know what you think in the reviews! Also, if you're new to reviewing one of my stories, just beware that I will pester you a LOT to review/follow/favorite/WHATEVER because I'm a greedy little wench, but also know that it's all out of love and that I thoroughly appreciate you reviewing my story XD but on that note, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!