Remember: this book is the sequel of my other story 'Stuck in Love'. You'll see some references from what happen in the 1st book, in this chapter and the next one.

Trip to stabby town

*** Alison's narrative (voice-over) ***

Expect anything from anyone. After all, what could seem to us as a nightmare might actually be the cruel reality we refuse to believe…

"Hands on the air, where I can see them! Now!"

It was a quiet night in Rosewood. Halloween has never been so calm. Kids on the streets asking for trick -or-treat. Toby was happily patrolling when he got the call to attend a call from 911. The policeman didn't know what he was going to find till he got into the home and saw the scene from far. Of course, his first reaction was to point his gun directly to the man who's standing beside a dead body and without thinking it twice, Toby's finger is on the trigger, ready to shoot if necessary.

"I'll not repeat myself. Turn around and put your hands where I can see them!"

"I didn't do it…"

Replies the man who's standing beside the dead body. Everybody says the same when they are caught in the act, Toby is not going to fall for that. That's why he doesn't stop to point his gun at this person whom he can just see his back.

"Hands up! NOW!"

"I swear Toby, I didn't do it!"

Officer Cavanaugh was shocked to hear his name and he got more shocked to realize he might know the person who's covert in blood, blood that it's not from himself.

"How do you know my name?"

Slowly, with shaking steps, the possible suspect of murder turns around and Toby gulps hard when he gets to finally see the pale face of…

"Jason? Jason DiLaurentis?"

"It wasn't me… I swear I didn't kill my father…"

The blond man looks down at the dead body and Toby gets closer to see with his own eyes the lifeless body of Kenneth DiLaurentis, stabbed, multiple times on the back. Toby gulps hard, there haven't been a murder in years in Rosewood, and the last time that something this big happened in town, was also linked with the DiLaurentis. The case of Cece aka -A and Alison was the last time he saw a dead body and he gets the chills to just remember that horrible night.

How is it that this family always gets itself in this kind of trouble? Toby wonders. In any case, it was Jason who called 911, it was him who reported the incident. And, you might wonder why he's suspect of murder. Well, with the blooding knife on his hand, blood dripping from his hands, Jason's innocence is far from being palpable when all evidence points out at him as the killer.

Just like that, Rosewood gets hit once again with another crime case around the DiLaurentis family. Leave it to them, to always find a way to create something to talk about in this tiny town. Some things never change and the one day of the year when it's acceptable to play dress-up as monsters becomes something else when real monsters show their true nature.

There's no disguise for murder but, there's no doubt that we are far to really know who killed Kenneth and why. After all, in this stabby town, everyone is a suspect… everyone…

*** Alison's narrative (voice-over) ***

How evil you're? We are born as innocents, trusting that love is stronger than hate. But, sooner or later, the world reminds us how wrong we're when old devils are brought back alive. Haunting those who dared to cross a line they shouldn't have…

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to come? I mean, you're supposed to be dead…"

Spencer asks her passenger who hasn't said a word since they left NY. The brunette deeply sighs when they pass beside the sign which says: 'welcome to Rosewood'. She can feel her paranoia emerging again, overwhelming her mind, just like old times. This town has that effect on her.

"You don't trust me, right? That's the reason why you're coming to Rosewood with me, isn't it? To make sure, I don't reveal your secret to anyone?"

Yeah, Spencer's paranoïa is running very high right now till the blonde passenger replies.

"He's my brother too, you know…"

And, just like that Spencer remembers their reason to be back. Whatever was a good or bad idea, to bring AD to town, it's too late to back out now.

"I'm sorry for the Death of your Dad, Ali, I…"

"AD… I'm AD… Alison is dead, just like her father…"

The detective gulps hard and decides to not bring the subject anymore, at least not for the time being. Now, they need to focus on Jason and a way to get him out of this bloody mess.

It was Toby who called Spencer to inform her about the situation and Spencer didn't hesitate in coming back to Rosewood for her half-brother. Before leaving NY, Spencer gave the news to AD, she thought it was the last thing she could do, it never occurred to her that AD would decide to come too. And, that's how both are back to the stabby Town they swore to never see again.

It's around 5 am when they park and Spencer makes her 1st appearance in a place she never thought she would see again: The Police Station of Rosewood.

"Here, I go. You'll stay here in the car…"

"I'm not a dog, you know?"

"Of course not, but, stay here and wait nicely without chewing the seats"

Alison rolls her eyes with Spencer's dog joke and the detective gets out of the car with a big smirk on her face. Spencer walks towards the station, trying to look confident, she steps in and goes directly to the main leader of the case.

"Miss Hastings…"

"Detective Hastings"

With an awful grimace, Tanner stares at Spencer's police plate and realizes that Spencer is her equal now. Something she doesn't like at all.

"You've no jurisdiction here, detective"

"I'm here to offer my services since it's obvious you keep been unsuccessful to catch the real criminals in this town"

"I don't need someone like YOU to tell me how to do my JOB!"

"Then stop making my brother look like the bad guy here when the real killer is out there!"

"You're too close to this case, detective Hastings. You can't be objective. Jason is the killer. End of the story"

Tanner might be right; Spencer might not be able to be strictly objective in this case. But the hell she will do till the impossible to find out who's really the killer. And, just like her, her companion will also do till the impossible to find out the truth. Even if that means to come back from the dead.

"I'm really losing my mind if I can see you right now, in front of me, Alison…"

"Hi Jason…"

Jason sadly chuckles, at this point, he believes he has really lost his mind if he's seeing Alison, his dead sister. But his mind is not playing tricks, the illusion of seeing his little sister is real and it disguises the emptiness within. The emptiness of what was lost and the regret of what could have been done.

"I'm sorry, Ali. I should have been a better brother, I…"

"I'm not here to talk about the past, Jason. I'm here to know what happened the other night. Did you really kill Dad?"

Looks say more than a thousand words. And, one gaze from the broken man who's shaking inside a cell, it's all what Alison needed to get the answer to her question.

"You didn't do it…"

"It doesn't matter. Everything points out at me as the murderer"

Alison angrily closes her fists, the bitter feeling of being wrongly accused for something, it's a feeling she knows too well.

"It seems like this town hasn't changed. Always putting the blame on those who are easy to blame"

Jason nods, he's behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. He wonders if Alison felt like this at the end of her days. Hopeless, alone… so alone.

"Ali, I… ALI?"

Like a ghostly apparition, Alison vanishes in front of his eyes. Just in time before the guard appears to check on the suspect.

Talking with Jason, at the conditions he's right now, it seems like a lost cause for AD. The blond man still believes that her presence is an illusion of his mind which is wavering between sanity and madness right now. If she wants to get answers of what really happened, she will not get them here.

Like an act of magic, AD gets in and out of the police station without being seen and waits for Spencer in the car. When Spencer gets back, she looks pissed, just like Alison. Seems like both girls didn't get what they needed from here.

"Sorry if I made you wait; I had a not really nice talk with Tanner"

"It's okay, while you were there, playing to be a cop. I played a visit to Jason. He didn't do it, Spencer"

"I know, he… wait?! You did what?! You went in & out the Precinct?!"

AD nods and Spencer's jaw drops as she cannot believe what she's hearing.

"Damn it, Ali! I told you to stay in the car! You're supposed to be dead, Alison! How the hell do you dare to get out in plain sight, here!"

"AD! AD! How many times I've to tell you, I'm AD!"

Spencer rolls her eyes, really, this is not the moment to focus in names.

"You might have forgotten it, Spencer! But I'm more than capable to move around this town without leaving a trace"

She was telling the truth. For how many years, everybody thought Alison was dead when indeed, the teenager was alive, moving behind scenes. If she was capable of doing that when she was 15 then, Spencer has no doubt that now, the blonde is more than capable to move between the shadows without being noticed at all.

"Did Jason tell you something useful? Something that could lead us to the real culprit?"

"No. He's a fucking mess. Maybe still in shock for what happened, he even thought I was an apparition"

"Oh, for Lord sake, you're not Saint to be an apparition!"

"Hey! I'm pretty! You cannot blame him for believing I was some kind of an angel"

"I guess you're right… after all, the devil was once an angel, right?"

Alison smirks because Spencer is right, the devil is a fallen angel. And, from all the fallen angels which have walked on Earth, this blonde is definitely the most beautiful of them all.

"You didn't get anything from Jason, and I didn't get anything from Tanner, that leaves us on square one. I'm not sure if we will be able to find out something before they close the case and condemn Jason for murder"

"We've figured out more difficult cases together. We will figure out this one too…"

"We? Are you really sure you're up to team up with me again? I thought you said last time was the last time you would ever collaborate with me…"

Alison rolls her eyes, she hates how sarcastic Spencer can be sometimes while her other half thinks otherwise.

"I like her, she's funny…"

Venom says as an internal voice inside Alison's mind and the blonde mumbles how sick she will get if her inner demon keeps complimenting the dear detective.

"You said something, AD?"

"Nothing. Just drive…"

The car stays in silence as Spencer drives them to what will be their next destination. A place haunted by ghosts and bad memories: the DiLaurentis house.

As their car approached the street where they grew-up, Alison's vision disfigured, her blood pounded in her ears as tension grew in her face and limbs when her mind put reply to all her memories in this place.

Buried alive, betrayed by her beloved, accused of murder. Take your pick from a wide range of horrible moments in Alison's life if you need material for a horror movie. In any case, her erratic breathing and the heavy thuds of her heart in her chest just prove she's not ready to deal with this. Her primal surge to flee is the 1st thing that comes to her mind when her inner demon says…

"Let me take it from, here…"

Alison tries to debate, she doesn't like to give full control of her body to Venom, she never remembers what happens when he's in charge. And, this is not the place nor the moment to lose control, but, all the feelings that Alison has tried to bury deep down in her soul, are surfacing and she cannot deal with them, she refuses to deal with her emotions so Alison handed the complete control of her body to Venom.

"Do not make me regret this, Venom…"

Alison mumbles to herself and her beautiful blue eyes get darker when a devious smirk shows who's in charge now.

"AD, did you say something? Are you okay?"

Something feels different in Alison. Spencer notices it even if she cannot put it in words.

"Alison…?"

"Alison is gone for now, detective. I'm in charge now.…"

Spencer gulps, AD's voice is deeper and wicked. She wonders if this change of attitude is some kind of defense mechanism to deal with the turmoil of emotions that Alison should be feeling right now. If that's the case, the brunette has no intention to stress Alison and put her in a difficult situation, so she proposes AD to let her deal with this alone.

"Alison, if you cannot handle this, you should go back to NY"

"You're right detective, Alison cannot deal with this place. Too many feelings, memories. I've tried to free her from all those emotions and, yet, a visit to this stabby town and, she's losing it completely. Augh, humans are so fragile..."

"Why are you talking about you in 3rd person?"

AD doesn't reply, Venom is not the chatty kind. He's a predator, ready to catch his next prey.

"The only thing you need to know, detective, it's that in Alison's absence, I've no problem taking the lead from here…"

Of course Venom has no problem to do what he knows to do best: catch monsters, demons like him. The thrill of the predator is high and Kenneth's killer has no clue of who cannot wait to eat him alive. Wondering how Spencer will deal with AD now that the symbiote is in charge. Will she figure out there's a stranger beside her?

Next CH - Stranger beside You