A/N: This is my first attempt writing Pretty Little Liars so it's still quite rough. It's also after midnight where I am so parts of this may not make sense...

The idea for this was inspired by an episode of Criminal Minds called An Uncanny Valley.

I ask that you just go with any liberties that I may have taken to make the story work...

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: (to put this in a way that wont spoil anything for those who haven't seen the Halloween episode, and the one before it) I refuse to accept the current identity of "A" and am therefore ignoring it. I ask that you just go with it.

It was still early, not quite 7pm, and Spencer Hastings was home alone, sitting in her living room writing, or at least trying to write, her Russian Lit paper. The house was silent, the only sound that of the grandfather clock ticking, marking the pass of time. The silence made the house feel bigger than it was, and emptier. Made her feel alone, like she was the only person for miles around. There was nothing to distract her from her thoughts. Toby was angry at her, he'd accused her of picking her friends over him, but that wasn't true, or least it wasn't that simple. Spencer groaned, shutting her computer. There was no way she was going to get any work done. With everything they'd been through together she trusted her friends explicitly, and they trusted her. This was especially true when it came to anything related to their mysterious tormentor known to them as 'A'.

For the last few years 'A' has discovered their secrets and set them up to look guilty if they ever came out, forcing them to lie to everyone around them on a daily basis, but eventually those secrets always found the light. So did the bodies. Their best friend Allison was one such body, discovered a year after she went missing in their hometown, Rosewood. Since then many more bodies have accumulated, including Spencer's sister's fiancé and two police officers. The only people they could turn to at those times was each other. If they were ever going to be free of A (and not lose their lives in the process) was to first discover their identity. In order to do that they had to work together, which in turn meant full disclosure.

Damn it! She thought, it wasn't that she was more loyal to her friends than to Toby, she had just reached a point where she could no longer stand to be ripped in two different directions! She couldn't withhold information about 'A' from her friends, even if it was what Toby wanted. 'A' had Toby in his or her pocket, and she was worried. 'A' had information Toby wanted, and he or she knew it and wasn't hesitating to use it to their advantage, manipulating him, making him do things in return for bits and pieces of information. Spencer couldn't help but worry about him, worry that one day his search for the truth would get him killed. She had tried to tell him, to get him to be more careful, but he just didn't want to listen to her!

She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of the doorbell. Heading to the door she looked out the peephole but saw nothing. Undoing the bolt she opened the door, there was no one there. Thinking she imagined it she went back inside. Before she left the door however, she couldn't resist looking out the window. She saw nothing, but still she stood there, waiting, she wasn't sure what for. Suddenly she noticed the bushes were shacking, as though someone was hiding behind them, watching her. Was it 'A'? She continued to peer outside but saw nothing. No, she decided. Whoever had been there was gone now, she was just scaring herself. Forcing herself away from that line of thought she went back to the kitchen, determined to this time make some progress on her paper.

She had been working less than five minutes when she was once again interrupted, this time by a knock on the window. Getting up she moved to the window and looked out. Like before, there was no one there. Creeped out, Spencer pulled the curtains shut.

The home phone ringing pulled her from the window. "Hello," she answered.

No response. She could hear someone breathing on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" she repeated. There was a beep as the person hung up, followed by the dial tone.

She put the phone on the counter and almost immediately it started ringing again.

"Hello?"

Once again there was no response, just breathing.

"I know you're there. I can hear you breathing."

They hung up again.

Another knock sounded at the window. Looking out, there was no one there. This time there was a handprint, left in the condensation on the window as though someone had leaned against it, looking in, and their breath fogging up the glass.

Now knowing for certain that it wasn't her imagination, Spencer started to freak out. Deja vu had her moving to the doorway, switching off the lights and grabbing a knife. Spencer remembers she hadn't locked the front door last time, so she slowly moves into the front hallway, knife out in front of her. Locking the deadbolt, she goes back to the kitchen, heading for the back door next. Halfway there the phone rings again.

Placing the knife next to the phone she answers, "Hello?" she demands.

"Have you checked your bedroom window?" an eerie, crackling voice asks.

Spencer's blood goes cold as the dial tone sounds in her ear. Dropping the phone she runs upstairs to her room. When she gets there she cautiously opened her door. What she saw made her heart beat faster and the hair on her neck stand on end.

Though the only light came from the moon outside, it was more than enough illumination. Her window was wide open, curtains swaying in the breeze. She saw out the corner of her eye her look of horror as a distorted reflection in a broken mirror. Everywhere she looked her possessions were scattered, papers and books coated the floor rustling. That wasn't all that coated the floor everywhere she looked she saw white. Directing her attention to her bed she saw that someone had slashed her pillows with something sharp, sending down feathers all through the room.

Someone had been in her room. She left the window open and they slipped in. They were inside the house.

Stepping back into the corridor, careful to keep her back against the wall she headed for the stairs. When she reached the top she crouched peering through the banister. She couldn't see anyone from her vantage point. She does however, see the knife lying benignly next the phone's cradle. What she couldn't see, or rather, what wasn't there, was the phone she had dropped in her haste. It was gone.

She sets her sights on the backdoor, which she can see is unlocked. Peeling herself she slowly starts down the stairs, still crouching. At the bottom she looks around checking it was still clear. Moving fast through the kitchen she grabs the knife and bolts for the backdoor. Just when she gets there, when her hand is on the knob, about to turn it, she sees a figure outside. She pulls her hand back as though burned, then freezes when the figure appears to look right at her, freezes like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar. When the door handle starts to turns she backs up. The door opens and the person enters, closing the door behind them. They are dressed all in black, hood up. They are wearing a mask of Ali's face.

She turns when she sees movement out of the corner of her eye. Redcoat is coming in the side door, a video camera in one hand. She too is wearing a mask of Ali's face. The two intruders walk forward, driving her backward.

Spencer is so focused on the two in front of her she doesn't notice as a third person, also wearing black hoodie comes out of the pantry behind her until it's too late.

Arms wrap around her from behind, a hand coming up to cover her mouth and nose. With a gasp she inhales, and smells chemicals when she does. She holds her breath but it's too late she's already inhaled. She strikes out with the knife and feels it bite into something soft. Darkness begins to cloud her vision and she feels her legs give out. The last thing she sees is red coat standing above her, head cocked to one side.

A/N: As I said at the start this is quite rough, as such I am looking for a beta reader so if, having read the first chapter, you think you'd be interested send me a PM!

Reviews are much appreciated!