The Sixth Liar // Pretty Little Liars

Prologue

A year ago, an incident involving had Alison left us broken...

Streaks of lightning flashed, creating a giant crack in the sky. Great claps of thunder followed before summoning a downpour to Rosewood.

As the stormy weather compelled us to remain indoors, Spencer had invited us over to the barn for a sleepover that day. We were playing Cheat when the incident happened.

"3 Tens," declared Emily as she placed her cards on the table.

"Hm," I said, shooting a dubious look to Emily as I contemplated whether to call Cheat.

A heavy gust of wind whipped through the barn, resulting in a blackout.

The girls shrieked in response, bringing our game to a halt.

Not me.

I merely flinched. Heh, I certainly did deserve the title of being the fearless one of the group.

Fortunately for the girls, the darkness was only temporary as Spencer handed out flashlights.

"What happened?" asked Emily.

"A ghost happened," I gave a sarcastic answer, trying to lighten up the mood.

Spencer shook her head, looking unamused by my answer. "It must be the storm," she said.

"You know I'm kidding, right?" I replied.

You know what could be worse than a sudden power outage? I'll tell you what's worse. What's worse was when a squeak blared from the barn entrance. I've got to admit, even that was creepy.

Aria, struggling to get her voice out, stammered in fear, "Some- something's out there."

While the squeak was worse than the power outage, it wasn't the worst.

The worst happened when the doors of the barn swung opened with no one in sight.

"Fuck this," I cursed under my breath as I stood up and marched cautiously towards the door.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Ali as she jumped into sight, causing the girls to scream.

Not me.

I merely gave a disgusted expression to Alison's lame prank. Like I said, give me an award.

"That's so not funny, Alison!" exclaimed Spencer.

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, grow up Ali."

Ali did not look apologetic. Instead, she burst out in laughter.

"I thought it was hilarious," she said.

Alison teased my hair, "You guys should have seen Ash's reaction, she looked like she'd seen a ghost."

She sashayed towards the cupboard, took a bottle of Baileys and told us to get comfortable.

"Ali, did you download the new Beyonce?" Hanna asked, wanting to move on from the fiasco.

Alison shook her head in response.

"I love her new video," Emily chimed in.

"A little too much, Em," remarked Alison.

She then poured a glass of Baileys and handed it to Aria.

"Your turn," she said as she gestured for Aria to drink, "Go on."

"Careful, Aria," I said, watching her gulp the malt drink down.

"Yeah, drink too much, and you'll tell us your secrets," Spencer teased.

"Friends share secrets, that's what keeps us close," commented Alison. She seemed to imply something.

Realizing the conversation had gone deeper than expected, Alison raised a glass, "Drink up guys!"

The scariest thing about alcohol is that one could be so intoxicated that she has no memory of what had happened. A prime example would be me - I had no idea I had drifted off to sleep.

"Ash," Aria called out, waking me up.

"Yeah?" I said groggily, rubbing my eyes. At that moment, I realized Alison and Spencer were missing from the Barn.

"Where's Ali and Spencer?" I asked.

"We don't know," replied Hanna.

Worried that something bad had happened, Aria stood up and walked towards the door. As she was about to head outdoors to check, Spencer returned, with her face as pale as a piece of white paper.

"Where's Ali?" Aria asked.

"She's gone," Spencer said.

Aria furrowed her brows, "What do you mean she's gone?"

"Spencer, people don't just disappear," I said.

"I've looked everywhere for her. I heard her scream," Spencer said in horror.

Since that day, nobody had seen Alison.