Mystery POV

I set down my glass of orange juice, thinking. 'Maybe Vivian's late.'

We met every Friday to talk. Just to share our thoughts about everything. I knew Vivian wasn't her real name, but I never pressed her on it. After all, I had told her my name was Randy. We weren't friends, nor enemies. She spilled out her secrets to me, and I did the same. We had an agreement never to talk about our meetings to others. I glanced at the grille's clock with a sigh. "She's not coming," I muttered to myself, taking out a five-dollar bill to pay for the waffle I had bought.

I was genuinely worried about Vivian. She was never late, and she never skipped a meeting without calling. (On a cheap, throw-away phone, of course.)

Although we went to the same school, she refused to give me her number, address, or even be friends with me. We had an argument about the matter, but it was no use. Vivian always got her way. You'd think I knew her real name, since we went to school together. But she always had on a mask, I never saw her face. Curly, black hair surrounded the mask.

I suspected it was Alison from the voice, but why would Rosewood's It-girl be in contact with a 'lower being' such as me? Still, I was nervous. I finally decided to ask Alison's friends if they had seen her lately. Grabbing my jacket from the back of the chair, I exited the grille with a worried frown.

Spencer POV

It was dark out now, and they had seen no sign of Ali. "Boooo!" Hanna shouted, jumping in front of me, attempting a scary face. I was startled, but I quickly changed my expression to one of annoyance. I didn't want the girls to know how scared I actually was. Hanna saw my look of surprise and started laughing loudly. I shoved her and she stopped, shooting me a joking glare as she fell in step beside me.

Hanna and I were constantly in disagreement, but Aria and Emily somehow managed to keep us from having a full-out cat fight. I thought she was too much of a diva, always getting her way. At first, she was friendly and pretty easy-going, but after a few months of being one of Alison's group, she began to change, and not just in the weight-loss area. She started acting a lot like Alison.

Aria elbowed me, taking me out of my thoughts. "What?" I asked, noticing she and Emily had stopped walking. Hanna sneered. "Just like Spence to get all spacey."

I shot her a glare, before looking back at Aria. "It's... Ali," she managed to choke out, a look of terror and disgust plastered onto her face. I followed her gaze and gaped at the figure standing no less than 20 feet away. It was hard to see in the dark, but I could make out her curly hair, glinting from the light of the moon. Emily took out a flashlight and turned it on, pointing it at Alison.

She was hunched over, her hair matted and full of leaves. "Ali?" I said tentatively, taking a step forwards. Hanna grabbed my arm, pulling me back with a frightened whimper. She had raised her head. We all froze.

Ali's eyes were staring at us blankly, her face pale. What remained of her ears was covered in dried blood, and she had lost an arm. The other hung limply at her side, looking as if one tug would enough to take it out of its socket. I gasped in horror, not even caring that Hanna was still holding my arm in a death grip, her freshly-manicured nails digging into my skin.

Suddenly Alison lurched forward, grumbling meaninglessly. Aria pulled me back, and we ran. All except for Emily. None of us noticed that she was still rooted to the spot, staring at Ali in a mix of shock, sadness, and something else. We had gone pretty far until we paused, Aria shouting at us that we forgot Emily. My face felt numb, and we all turned, looking back. Hanna's hand fell from my arm to her side as we stared.

It was too late.

A chorus of two guttural voices reached our ears. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying, it was mostly growls and groans as they tried their best to approach us. I didn't think, I couldn't think. Emily and Alison- zombies? This couldn't be real.

I spun around and sprinted away from the scene, not sure if Hanna and Aria were behind me. I felt blind, running in the dark. A figure reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards them. In the light from the moon, I saw his face. His orange-juice stained face. "Toby," I breathed, falling into his arms. If Aria and Hanna had caught up, I couldn't tell. It was like I had lost my senses. I fainted in his arms, black spreading through my vision until it enveloped me.

Ali was gone. Emily was gone. And they... they were zombies. It was so unreal.