Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars.
Warnings: Child Abuse, Foul Language, Violence, Death, Mental Illness, Sex Scenes...
This was risky Alison decided kneeling in the dark in front of the tombstone, like stupidly risky.
Bethany Young
1992 -2009
A brighter light the world will never know
Alison traced the engraved words carefully.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you," she whispered.
"You will be sorry," an angry voice seethed behind her.
All the hairs on the back of Alison's neck stood up, she turned slowly to face the man as he stared down at her. Andrew Campbell was fuming with anger and rage and Alison could see he was close to losing it completely.
"You have to believe me, Andrew," Alison began backing up slightly as she rose from her knees. "I didn't hurt your sister."
"You're not exactly a saint though are you, Alison?" Andrew smirked evilly.
He was obviously deranged and Alison was reminded this man had killed in the name of revenge, with no remorse he'd extinguished lives.
"Bethany wouldn't want this," Alison pleaded.
"You have no idea what Bethany wants," Andrew grabbed for her but she ducked away.
"Andrew please where are the girls?" Alison begged, her panic rising as she edged away from him.
Andrew followed her, looming tall and angry, enjoying their little cat and mouse game. A game Alison felt they'd played for far too long.
"They're safe," Andrew smiled again all his teeth showing. "For now."
"Why are you doing this?" Alison cried out, tears gathering in her eyes. She stumbled around Bethany's tombstone and led him further into the shadows.
"Because you deserve to suffer, just like you made my family suffer," Andrew shouted at her.
"I didn't do anything to your family-"
"Didn't you!" Andrew screamed.
Alison stumbled over a lose tuft of grass and fell onto her back. Andrew loomed over her.
"Now!" Alison cried, rolling out of the way.
Andrew looked up just in time for Toby to jump from the tree above them crashing into the man below, they fell to the grass next to Alison and wrestled as Ezra and Caleb ran from the shadows. Eventually they had Andrew pinned down. He thrashed and lashed out against them but he was no match for all three.
Alison rolled to her knees and crouched beside Andrew.
"Where are they?" Alison spat, all her earlier timidness gone.
Andrew just laughed in her face.
Alison raised her hand and backhanded him. Hard. The three men holding Andrew down winced and Alison shook out her hand from the sting.
"I won't ask again," Alison warned her voice low and threatening, she would kill him right now if she had to.
Andrew looked up into her eyes clicking his jaw to get rid of some of the sting of her slap and she could see he knew, he knew she couldn't do anything to him. Not if she wanted the girls alive.
He laughed again.
"We can lay here all night if you want," he smiled at them all. "But your friends are running out of time."
"Tell us where they are!" Caleb demanded pushing his knee into Andrew's chest.
Andrew wheezed through another laugh.
"Stop Caleb he'll pass out," Toby pushed Caleb a little and the angry man let up.
"Listen, I have plans so if you wouldn't mind," Andrew lifted himself up a bit but was firmly pushed back into the grass.
"Tell us where they are, Andrew and we'll tell the DA you cooperated," Ezra tried to reason.
"Nice try, teach, but I'm not feeling much like cooperating today," Andrew smirked at Ezra.
"Alright, Andrew," Alison started. "How about we play a game then?"
Andrew titled his head studying her.
"I'm listening," he admitted.
"I'll come with you and when we get to the girls you let them go," Alison tried to keep the tremor out of her voice. "And I'll stay."
Andrew seemed to consider it.
"But it hurts you so much more when you don't know where they are," Andrew smiled as Alison winced. "Hurts being helpless doesn't it. I watched them take her away you know. Lock her in that terrible place because she was dangerous."
"I'm sorry about your sister Andrew but-"
"Sorry," Andrew spat in disbelief. "You're the reason they locked her up."
"What I didn't-"
"And you're the reason you're friends are going to die," Andrew cackled.
Toby just held Caleb back in time as Andrew laughed and laughed.
A text alert sounded and everyone froze, Andrew's laughter died down and he stared at the three men sitting on him. All at once they scrambled against each other, the three trying to hold Andrew down and find his phone and Andrew trying to fight them off. Ezra emerged victoriously from the pile, Andrew's phone in hand he read quickly his face morphing into disbelief.
"What does it say?" Alison asked desperately.
"Timetables stepped up," Ezra read from the phone. "Its from A."
"What? But he's A," Caleb yelled, pointing at Andrew.
Andrew laughed uncontrollably.
"What does that mean?" Alison demanded pulling Andrew's head up by his hair so she could look him in the eye. "What does it mean the 'timetables stepped up'?"
Andrew's laughter subsided and he glared at her fiercely.
"It means we're all going for a little ride," Andrew cackled.
"All of us?" Toby questioned.
"Unless you want your little girlfriends' blood on your hands, we have to move fast," Andrew tried to sit up again but they held him down.
"We can't trust him," Ezra pointed out.
"He's the only lead we have," Toby argued.
"I'm not letting anything happen to Hanna," Caleb spat.
"We'll go with you, Andrew but remember its four against one," Alison warned signalling for the boys to let him up.
"We'll see about that," Andrew muttered as he stood up dusting himself off.
Andrew turned back to the tombstone when they emerged from the shadows and he kneeled down in front of it. Alison could see his grief clearly and she almost felt sorry for him. To lose all his family in such horrific brutal ways.
"Well lets go," Caleb demanded when Andrew touched Bethany's tombstone reverently.
"All cellphones stay here," Andrew stood from his knees and pointed to Bethany's grave.
"Are you out of your mind?" Toby argued. "We're not walking into a trap without our phones."
"Then you're not invited to the party," Andrew crossed his arms challenging them all with a sick smirk.
Alison fished out her phone first and placed it on top of the stone glaring at Andrew as she did so. Reluctantly the others followed suit.
"Your bag too, Caleb," Andrew pointed to the tech savy man's backpack.
Caleb sighed but lay his backpack against the tombstone as well. Andrew smiled and lead them off into the night.
Andrew drove them further and further into the thick woods and Alison felt her stomach drop in fear of where they were being led. Andrew obviously had helpers and being forced into a car and driven into the woods, the same woods that the FBI had supposedly combed and found nothing, well Ali doubted this party was going to be a happy event.
This all seemed very endgame. Tying up all the loose ends in a nice little bow. It was too easy to get Andrew to take them here, he had obviously been waiting for that text and it seemed now more than ever that they hadn't trapped him at the cemetery, he'd trapped them.
"We're here," Andrew snarled as he stopped next to a dark clearing.
Alison peered out into the empty darkness through the car window.
"There's nothing here," Toby pointed out.
"How you became a cop I'll never know," Andrew muttered as he turned off the engine and stepped out of the car.
The men in the back scrambled to follow him, worried he'd make a run for it or something. Alison slowly slid out of the passenger seat.
Andrew walked off into the darkness whistling to himself and the others hurried to follow. The whistling was a haunting melody as they headed further and further away from the road, the dirty under foot was dusty and barren and this felt so much like walking to their end.
Andrew halted suddenly his whistling stopped too and the others all froze behind him. Alison could just make out his figure as her eyes adjusted to the night and he cocked his head listening.
"What are you-"
"Shh," Andrew hissed sharply when Caleb tried to question.
Caleb remained quiet and they all stood in the dark silently.
"Ok," Andrew whispered to the others. "Lets go."
He headed forward again and they kept walking.
It felt like hours before they stopped again. Andrew halting them all near some low-lying shrubs, when Andrew clicked on his torch Alison could see they were green and healthy looking bushes a quick look at everything else near by, dead and dying in muted browns made her suspicious.
Andrew leaned down and pulled a couple of shrubs sharply, they came loose and as Alison suspected that they were fakes, what lay beneath them was much more interesting. Two big double doors that led straight down into the Earth, much like a cellar entrance.
Andrew heaved open the double doors, to an impossibly blacker hole that seemed to be carved out of the night. His torch light didn't even reach the bottom.
"Ladies first," Andrew's smile made her skin crawl but she accepted his hand as he helped her step into the darkness.
When he let go Alison slowly felt her way down the steps holding the guard rail for dear life. She heard the others grumbling as they followed but Alison wanted to be off the steps incase Andrew tried anything. When her foot finally hit the cement floor she breathed a heavy sigh of relief, trying to peer into the darkness that surrounded her.
It smelt damp and stuffy down here like there was no air flow.
"The party is this way," Andrew directed as he descended the steps with his torch still shining brightly.
He took a sharp right and they all followed the bobbing flashlight not wanting to be caught in the dark alone. Andrew kept the beam trained on the ground and it didn't reflect enough light to see where they were but Alison deduced it was a long cement hallway that Andrew lead them down, before they turned again and again. Alison tried to map the route back in her mind, but they made several more sharp turns and then they emerged onto a grated landing, that overlooked a large warehouse space. The over head lights snapped on, blinding Alison momentarily until her vision began to clear and she could take in the whole space.
It was setup for Prom of all things, hanging drapes and fancy dressed mannequins littered the floor below them.
"Where are the girls?" Caleb demanded.
"We'll get there," Andrew promised but he wouldn't take his eyes off the masterpiece before him.
"Its very pretty," Alison complimented.
Toby and Caleb both shot her glares.
"I agree," Ezra murmured. "We're a little under dressed though."
Andrew looked between Ezra and Alison sharply with a critical eye and for a moment Alison was sure Ezra had done it. Stalled whatever this was enough so that they could regroup, hatch a plan, figure out the layout of where they were.
"Nice try," Andrew taunted. "But its nice to have people who are clearly not welcome at the party."
"What do you mean?" Alison asked hesitantly trying to keep the desperation out of her voice.
"Look you sick fuck-"
"You can come out now," Andrew called ignoring Caleb.
Alison looked to the floor in horror as black hoods emerged from behind various mannequins. They slid slowly through the crowd, each a product of her nightmares and unrecognizable though they all varied in height.
"I count five," Caleb murmured.
"Seven," Ezra breathed haltingly.
"Ten," someone whispered into Alison's ear.
The blonde jumped and whirled around to come face to face with blonde Mona in a black hoodie. Mona cackled at Alison and stepped around her before the natural blonde could figure out what to do.
"Mona," Alison seethed trying to grab for the laughing girl as she descended the steps and joined the A team.
Andrew caught Alison easily by the waist.
"Ah ah," he chortled.
Alison pulled away from him but didn't rush down the stairs like she wanted to.
"We're pretty outnumbered," Toby murmured and the others all shot him a glare.
"Very good, Officer Toby," Andrew taunted. "Now if you don't mind the guest of honour will be here shortly."
Andrew gave them all a mighty shove and Alison just caught herself on the steps railing in time, Caleb wasn't so lucky and rolled down the stairs crumpling in a heap on the cement floor.
"Caleb," Toby cried rushing down to his bro's side.
Caleb groaned sore but not dead. Alison didn't realize she'd been holding her breath till it came back and she let out a relieved sigh as Caleb sat up and shook his head.
Alison turned back to Andrew murderously.
"Oops," Andrew held up his hands with a smirk. "Guess I don't know my own strength."
"Where are the girls?" Alison screamed at him.
Soft music started to play and a figure in a tuxedo appeared from the level above Andrew, Andrew turned reverently to take in the entrance of this new person. Alison just stared at the intruder feeling her blood boil, Andrew wasn't A this person was, she looked back to the A team to see them shuffling nervously.
As tuxedo stepped into the light Alison could see his face was covered by a black, red and white mask. His hair was a dark wave that was styled into a short pony tail and he looked slight almost frail as he stepped down the steps.
Andrew held out a hand when tuxedo reached him and it was intimate. Were they lovers Alison wondered, as Andrew stroked the gloved hand in his own softly. They whispered something to each other and then tuxedo nodded but didn't speak.
Alison found herself stepping closer, trying to climb up the steps but two pairs of arms grabbed her and dragged her over to the Caleb, Ezra and Toby.
The A team shuffled around the four of them and stood at the base of the stairs like human shield blocking Andrew and his friend.
"We're so glad you could make it Alison," Andrew taunted. "Toby, Caleb, Ezra. It just wouldn't be the same without you."
The men all shifted uneasily and Alison could feel their mounting tension.
"This party isn't without some mystery though," Andrew smiled charmingly. "A Team reveal yourselves."
Several of the black hoods in front of them shifted on their feet but three pulled off their own hoods quickly.
Melissa, Wren and Mona were revealed.
"I can't believe you'd do this," Toby spat at Melissa.
Melissa crossed her arms but didn't respond.
Mona reached out to the two hoods on either side of her and threw them off. Alison felt her blood boil as Cindy and Mindy were revealed.
"Where's Jenna?" Alison seethed.
Jenna and Sydney both revealed themselves, Jenna stared Alison straight in the eye as she smirked. Sydney just looked uncomfortably at the ground.
"Are the rest of you just cowards?" Alison goaded, she needed to see who else had betrayed them.
Lucas threw off his hood glaring at her and Alison couldn't say she was surprised.
"Lucas," Caleb spat in disbelief.
Toby grabbed Caleb as he lunged for Lucas.
"If you hurt her-" Caleb began to scream.
"You'll what, macho man?" Lucas taunted.
"Enough!" Andrew yelled quelling the argument and settling the A team, they obviously listened to him.
There were two more who hadn't been revealed and Alison wanted to rip their hoods off herself, she didn't know who they were and couldn't help but think of all kinds of terrible scenarios.
"Show yourselves," Caleb barked at the two hooded people before them.
Jenna grabbed the one closest to her and they wrestled for a bit the person obviously not wanting to be revealed. Jenna stuck out a leg and knocked the hooded figure to the ground, they scrambled up on their knees but Jenna stepped up behind them, grabbed the back of the hood and flung it off.
On her knees staring up at them all with wide frightened eyes was Paige.
"I can explain," she begged.
Alison couldn't believe it, she shook her head trying to order her thoughts. Emily's on again off again girlfriend was on the A Team. Had she always been on the A Team. It didn't add up Paige loved Emily, no matter what Alison felt towards the brute (and her dreams or fantasy recreation of Paige made it pretty clear she wasn't a fan) she knew Paige loved Emily.
Paige wouldn't hurt Em, would she?
"You lied to me!" Caleb roared at Paige. "We made plans to catch A and what you were with them the whole time!"
"Caleb I swear I didn't-"
Paige was thrown to the floor before she could utter anything else and the last hooded figure stood over her. The A Team may have been united under Andrew but it was clear they had their own agendas and hatred towards each other.
The last hood fell away and everyone gasped.
Before them stood a ghost Alison was sure was gone.
"Maya?" Alison breathed in disbelief.