Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Mona was caught by surprise.
This didn't happen often and she stared at the older detective in shock; especially since there was only one reason why he was here.
As he stood there with a pair of uniformed officers at his side, she wondered why he was even here in the first place. While the evidence she and Spencer had planted was pretty good in her opinion, it was still at best circumstantial. Even though warrants could be served with less, this was still Rosewood and Alison had her family's power backing her up; thus it would be insane for Wilden to even contemplate arresting the blonde right now. Mona wondered if the older man had somehow managed to find more evidence that both she and her friend did not know about; which was possible since he was a detective. Granted that the older man was more of a political animal than anything else and only got to his position because he was lucky to have solved a few easy cases; which Mona solved just by glancing at them through the files. The last time she checked, all he had was what they had given him; nothing else.
After he surveyed the room, Wilden and his fellow officers made their way to Principal Hackett; who had yet to notice the new police presence. Both Spencer and Mona made sure to watch the man though the rest of their peers were too busy with themselves to notice. After he pulled Hackett aside, Wilden began quietly talking to him as they moved to a quieter location in the room; a dark corner on the opposite side of where Alison was. Even though Mona could read lips quite well, the Detective had a part of his head away from her so it was near impossible to see what was being said. It also wasn't helpful that there were numerous couples moving around on the dance floor which also prevented the teen from getting an accurate reading of the situation. Whatever was being said though was causing their Principal to be alarmed and every now and then, the man would look throughout the room as if he were looking for someone. After they talked for a few more minutes, Wilden motioned for the two officers to head back the main entrance where they stood guard. The Detective himself then made his way through the crowd as if he were looking for someone; which they concluded was Alison.
As for the blonde, it was quite apparent that she knew what was going on; having had a good vantage point for the entrance. When Wilden appeared on the scene, Spencer noticed how her former friend had watched him like a hawk; as if she already knew something. While they also have been watching the blonde like a hawk, they also knew that she was smart enough to keep her secrets close to her chest. While finding out about the various bad deeds had been a boon for the two teens, they had yet to find about any real hard evidence that she had killed Bethany; having to resort to falsified evidence instead. Other than finding her body and knowing how she died, a blunt strike to the back of the skull, they still didn't know when and the exact circumstances that led to the murder. Spencer had suggested that a messy divorce would still benefit Alison so her murdering Bethany didn't make sense. The only reason they could come with was that it had something to do with Charlotte and that the sisters had been protecting one another that night.
But they didn't know for sure.
"What do we do? Should we call it off and just let Wilden arrest her?" Spencer asked as she leaned in close and pulled Mona away so that they could talk in private. So far, Wilden had yet to spot Alison who slinked further into the dark corner she was hiding in.
"No; we can't risk Alison having her day in court and her lawyer tear apart our evidence. Worse, if it is discovered that everything against her was made up, it would invalidate the real bad acts she has done," Mona pressed with a slight tone of panic in her voice. Everything centered on the blonde dying tonight and not being able to spin a defense that would more than likely be effective.
"So we need to get her to leave and then follow her; preferably without Wilden interfering," the other teen stated as the man just passed them. It was a plus that the posse had scattered and forced the police detective to try and look for their blonde nemesis.
Speaking of Alison, she obviously knew of the danger and was moving though the dark corners of the room; going from shadow to shadow. The music had gone from an uplifting beat to full on rock which had caused the scene to become even livelier; which made Wilden's job a lot harder given that he was forced to slow his pace through the crowds. Both Mona and Spencer made their way to the blonde while paying attention to what was going on around them in order to not miss anything. So far, their peers had all but ignored the police presence, Alison's movements, and even them heading through the crowds. Melissa was focused on Wren so dodging her was easy given that they had enough to worry about. It was only then when Wilden crossed her orbit that the older sister noticed the man; stopping to speak with him. Both Mona and Spencer stopped to watch as Melissa conversed with the police detective; which was oddly serious. They knew that she had gone to school with the man and that they had once been allies against Alison; wondering if that was still the case. Truthfully, they had never really paid much attention to the older sister even though she had an active play in all this as well.
"Looks like Alison is going to try and make a break for it," observed Spencer as she watched the blonde approach one of the emergency exits. It was covered by one of the curtains near the stage but she could see brief outlines of the green sign.
"She goes out that door, she'll trigger the alarm and draw them to her," Mona stated with a glare as she followed her friend's gaze. Wilden and Melissa was still talking and the teen could have sworn Alison's name had been mentioned.
"What should we do? We have to let Alison escape and follow her," pointed out the taller teen to her friend. Both of them were approaching panic mode and feeling quite anxious given that their entire plan was now at risk.
"Wait for it," was all the other teen said as she looked at her phone to see what time it was. They still had another card to play and it was about to go off.
That was when it happened; the power went out and suddenly shrouded everything in darkness.
"Just what we needed," muttered Mona as her peers were apparently confused by what was going on. Through the confusion, there were shouts from the teachers and staff to remain calm while someone went to check what had happened.
What killed the power was the device that Mona had built earlier in the day; after jury-rigging parts from her household. Before she first started the A-Game last school year, the teen had looked online for a variety of tools to use against Alison; researching through the Dark Net and other illegal sites. It was rudimentary in design and acted as a sort of kill switch to knock out the power in a particular place; created and uploaded by bank robbers for night break-ins. The trick into using it was to hook it up to the main power line for a building or area; especially those that only fed into one source for all their power. Since Rosewood was a small town, most of its buildings relied only one real outlet for their power so all Mona had to do was install her device as close to the one that fed into the school. Since the teen knew about every inch of the school, it was easy to do as well as ensure that it wouldn't be found; thus she could pick it up at any time when the fuss was over. All the device did was short out the circuit breakers for the school so any technician would simply look to fix that.
"Alison is probably gone; we need to follow her," Spencer told her friend quietly into her ear and there was a nod of agreement from the other teen. The two then moved through the group of students to the side exit that was already cracked open.
Making sure that no one was looking, the two teens slipped out of the auditorium while everyone was distracted; quietly shutting the door behind them. They then proceeded down a long dark hall; though having to go slow since it was almost pure darkness. They were tempted to whip out there phones for better lighting but that would probably alert Alison that someone was following so they had to struggle in the darkness. While making sure they were holding hands, both teens had a hand on the walls while making sure to use a leg to feel for any objects in their way. It seemed though that the hallway was clear; which made sense since regulations ordered that pathways be cleared in case of emergencies. They traveled for another few minutes before coming to another door; which was also left open. The exit had led them to the school field that happened to be facing on of the roads that ran alongside the highschool. As expected, it led outside and the starry sky illuminated things partially for them as well as the streetlamps that weren't affected by Mona's device.
"Do you see her?" Mona asked as they looked all around for the blonde; trying to ascertain where she went. Even at their slower pace through the hallway, Alison didn't have that much of a lead over them.
"No; she might have already left the premises," speculated the other teen while hoping that wasn't the case. There was nothing in view and kind of quiet even though there was quite a scene going on behind them.
"Maybe; although I don't see her getting away so quickly and especially in those heels. We need to get to the parking lot to see if her car is still there," the shorter girl stated and her friend agreed with them bolting towards the parking lot. The pathway was clear of activity though they could hear people shouting in the background.
"Aria's car is gone," Mona said once they entered the parking lot and saw that there was an empty space where there should have been one. They assumed that it was Aria's given that it was she that who drove them all here in the first place.
"How did she get passed all the cops? They definitely would not have let her just go," commented Spencer as she watched a number of police cruisers with their flashing lights block a few cars off from leaving. Thankfully, their own vehicle was clear of any obstacles and even had an exit so that they could leave if they wanted to.
"Alison might have skipped before they arrived; I have a feeling that Wilden thought this was an easy grab and that he just brought a few officers for backup," answered the shorter teen as she looked around to see if there was a chance to leave quietly. She had a feeling that she knew where the blonde had disappeared to and wanted to be there to stop her.
"Well I guess his failure is our gain; we need to get to Alison's house since that is probably where she is," stated the other teen as they made their way to Mona's car. Even though there were a number of police cruisers nearby, there was a chance that they could escape without detection given that the police were occupied with something else.
"Agreed; though we should make sure she runs and simply just follow her so that we don't have to carry her body out of town," advised Mona as they quietly entered her car and started the engine. Spencer had rolled down the window and looked to see if the cops had noticed; which they didn't seem to.
Without turning on her headlights, the shorter teen slowly pulled out of her parking space; more like creeping than anything else. Mona was starting to sweat a little as well as being drowned by pure nervousness as she went as slow as possible without attracting attention; hoping that the brake lights weren't that bright compared to the flashing police lights.. After what seemed like forever, she went through one of the enter only and then picked up speed once she had turned onto the street. She kept up with the slow speed until the parking lot was well behind them and then turned on her headlights; then going the speed limit towards Alison's house. As much as she wanted to go faster, the last thing Mona wanted to do was get stopped by a simple patrolling officer and get a ticket. They also wanted to avoid having to answer why they were not at the dance given that both teens were still in their dresses; though they still had a change of clothing in the trunk. As it was, they still had to come up with a plausible story on why they left the dance in the first place; especially since the police had been there.
Strangely enough, there was a general lack of police presence on the road as they drove; which surprised both teens greatly. Logically, one would have assumed that Wilden would have the full force on the streets to grab Alison in case she escaped. The only conclusion that they had was that the older Detective really thought this would have been an easy arrest; never expecting the blonde to actually run. It was kind of laughable when one thought about it since he should have realized he was dealing with Alison DiLaurentis after all. This was a person who made every effort to escape all the bad acts that she has ever done; no matter what the cost. If Mona had been on the police force, she would have made sure every exit had been covered the second she entered that auditorium; which Wilden had failed to do. However, it was as Spencer said; Wilden's failure was their gain. Now they were hoping that the blonde would escape Rosewood so that they could finish was they started tonight.
"I have a hard time believing that Alison would be stupid enough to head home before she escapes Rosewood. There has to be cops swarming her house looking for evidence," Spencer stated as she made sure to look around to spot any police presence. Again, it was strangely quiet on the streets of Rosewood despite what was taking place tonight.
"Not necessarily; if the cops tried to issue a search warrant for the DiLaurentis residence then someone at the department would probably tip off the family and there would be attorneys there to stop it. It could be that Wilden only received permission to simply bring Alison in for questioning and nothing else; hoping that she would slip up and incriminate herself," Mona countered as she turned to go the back way to the blonde's house. Given the close proximity to the Hastings place and the fact that her vehicle would be recognizable, it was smart to take it slow when heading to their destination.
"But we have to at least think there will be a cop or two watching the house; Wilden has to have at least done that," argued the other teen as she thought about it. At this point, Spencer wasn't sure whether their plan could still be accomplished or not given the chaos of everything.
"For sure; I believe that as well or my respect for Wilden will go down significantly. However, we also know that Alison definitely has ways in and out of her house that the authorities don't know about. I could see her easily slipping past the police stakeout to grab her things and get out without them knowing about it," reasoned the teen driver as she finally entered the area of where their prey lived. She then pulled to the side of the car and turned off the engine; waiting to see if she was right about the possible escape route of the blonde.
The girl's beliefs were satisfied when they spotted a police vehicle not too far away from where they were located. At first it appeared to be a simple parked on the side of the street; though it was quite alone. At closer look however, it was obvious that it belonged to the Rosewood Police Department given that its make matched all the other vehicles used; no one in town having a car of similar design. Pulling out a pair of binoculars that she had in the glove compartment, Mona used them to get a better glance at the two people sitting in the car itself; a man and a woman who stupidly wore their uniforms, not even trying to look inconspicuous. In fact, it looked like they were enjoying themselves and not taking the task they had seriously. Disgusted, Mona handed her friend the binoculars and Spencer had a look herself; sharing the other teen's feelings after looking herself. She was about to comment on what they should do when both teens spotted someone lurking in the bushes; slipping by the police car without being detected.
It was Alison and she had a duffle bag on her shoulder.
Please Read and Review; also a special thanks to Paraddicted for the pre-read!