Seeing Alison
Part II- Emily
As I open my eyes streams of sunlight caress my face. I blink a few times, trying to remember what happened. That's when I see her.
"It's okay, you're with me now." She smiles down at me and I feel my heart skip a beat.
"Alison…" Her eyes brighten as her name rolls off of my lips.
"It's so good to see you Emily. I think I missed you the most."
I stare up at her, our eyes meeting, milk chocolate and ocean water blue. We stay like that for a moment, taking each other in. I'm completely in shock because I can't figure out what is going on. Slowly I try to sit up but she puts her hand behind my head, cradling it.
"Rest. It's what you need. Rest."
Ali gently sets my head back into her lap, never taking her sparkling eyes off of me. She smiles again and the look on her face is so loving that I feel myself choking on my words unable to say anything. But I don't have to speak because when I meet her eyes, she smiles down at me and speaks.
"I never told you this but you were always my favorite. Nobody loved me as much as you did."
I let her words run through me, and they send a warm into my very soul. However there is something else nagging at the back of my mind so I decide to ask her about it before I say anything more.
"Is this what dying is?"
She just chuckles but then her face falls into an unreadable expression.
"That bitch thinks this is what you really want, to be completely free of 'A'."
"Do you know who 'A' is?"
I'm desperate now, I have to know who 'A' is, it's the only way to make things better.
"Of course I do." Ali says without a smile.
"You have to tell me."
She just shakes her head at me.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why?"
I'm desperate now, I have to get her to tell me. Thoughts of 'A' consume me until I hear her speak again.
"Because two can only keep a secret is one of them is dead."
I freeze, my mind is racing, trying to make sense of her words, all traces of 'A' forgotten. Slowly my mind starts to put together the meaning behind her words.
The secret to keep is the identity of 'A' and if two can only keep the secret if one of them is dead, that means that neither of us is dead… Wait then that means… Ali must really be here, must be alive. Before I can ask her she interrupts my thoughts.
"You have to decide what you want Emily. You can stay here or you can come with me."
She smiles again and I try to find the truth in her words, my mind is so foggy, so confused. But when she reaches down to caress my face, I lose myself. I let my eyelids flutter closed, relishing in her gentle touch.
"Sweet Emily…"
Her voice sounds like the soft hum of butterfly wings and even though I'm not sure if this is a dream or if this is reality, all I can do is take hold of her words and cherish them.
My eyes stay closed, trying to savor the feel of my head against her lap, her hand on my cheek, but then it's gone. I almost open my eyes but before I do I feel her lips touch mine.
Everything else in the world ceases to exist as she slowly moves her soft lips. Somehow I know this has to be a dream because Ali would never kiss me like this, but then again how is it that her lips feel so real?
Instead of trying to find an answer I start to kiss her back, caressing her lips with mine. I readjust myself and use my hand to cup her cheek. She smiles into the kiss before running her tongue along the length of my bottom lip.
I let out a little gasp but allow her entrance. This must spark something inside of her because her kisses become of frantic and full of passionate. Her tongue swirls around and her lips melt into mine. She moves her hands to grip the back of my neck, pulling me impossibly closer.
Deciding that it's no time to be shy with Ali kissing me, I maneuver our bodies until I can pull her down on top of me.
She lets a little moan escape her mouth and fire spreads through me. Our lips and tongues continue to move together until we need to break apart for air.
Ali's panting, her eyes shining, sparkling in the sunlight. The heat in my body calms as I stare up into her face and see the thing I've been longing to see since I met her…love.
Gently she pushes a strand of hair away from my face and leans in to kiss me again. This time it's a series of short little kisses which she peppers all over my face, I feel my eyelids getting heavy so I let them close again.
The world around me starts to drift away, and all I can feel is the lightest pressure on my lips, followed by a soft whisper.
"I love you Emily."
After that, the world goes dark.
"Emily, Em…"
"Emily are you okay?!"
"What happened!?"
When I finally feel myself regaining consciousness I hear voices calling my name. Slowly I open my eyes again and I see Aria, Hanna and Spencer looking down at me with worried expressions on their beautiful faces.
For a moment I'm reminded of another beautiful face… Ali. Was she really here? Did we really kiss? Haze clouds my mind and I can't make sense of it.
Spencer reaches out and caresses my face which jolts me to speak.
"She's still alive."
I sit up and instantly bring my fingers to my lips. They tingle, and I can still taste Ali's strawberries and cream lip gloss.
Now I'm positive that she was here, that Ali is alive.
"I saw Alison, she was here, she's alive."
The others all look at me with wide eyes, but its Hanna's expression that catches my attention.
"Em, I think I've seen her too."