After me ~ Pretty Little Liars Fanfic

eighteen

"You have to get home now" I hear Melissa's voice down my phone.

"Why should I do anything you say?" I respond like a stubborn 7 year old.

"It's not for me. It's for Hanna."

"What about Hanna?"

"Just come home"

"Tell me now." I say sternly.

"Alison's been offered a deal."

"What sort of a deal?" I interject, not letting her finish.

"If you would just shut up for a second then maybe you'd find out" Melissa sighs. "She's been offered a deal that if she tells the cops who her alias is in the Mona disappearance then her sentence will be reduced."

"And she's saying it's Hanna?" I exclaim.

"They're telling her to admit that it's Hanna"

"But she won't right?" I assure myself. "Ali didn't even do it."

"She's struggling in there Mackenzie. They're eating her alive."

"I'm coming home" I state. "But I have to make a stop off before hand."

---

I sit across from the all too familiar seat. I sit back in my seat but then decide against it because I seem too relaxed to be here. I cross my hands on the table but then decide against it because it reminds me of being in here. I run a hand through my hair and straighten out my shirt just as the door buzzes open. Alison sits before me, battered, bruised and beaten. I can physically see her hair is falling out and her hands are so weak that she can't even close them in a fist. She's given up on fighting back.

"What are you doing here?" She whispers. The girl before me is the complete opposite of the Ali I know. She's the shell of the previous Alison. The Alison DiLaurentis that one lived has now been erased from all existence. She can't lift her arms above her head, she can't scratch her own nose, she can't even pick at her not so freshly manicured nails. She can barely speak let alone spew a perfectly crafted comeback that will make you question your entire existence.

"I heard about Hanna." I state. I owe it to her to skip the pleasantries. I've been in her position- you don't care about the latest Kim Kardashian news or how bad the rain was last night- you cut straight to the point.

"I have to do it Mac" She says, looking to the ground.

"No you don't"

"I can't live in here for 25 years. If I snitch then it goes to 18. I can just about make that."

"25 years is nothing. Especially as we are going to get you out of here."

"I've given up hope of you ever finding out who took Mona"

"I may not know who took Mona but I can do one better"

"And what's that?" Alison says, a fleck of hope flashes in her eyes before they return to the dull blue eyes that once stole the attention of everyone in the room as soon as she walked in.

"I'm going to find Mona"

---

"Hanna stop freaking out" I say as she paces around Spencer's room. I sit on the bed along with Aria and Emily. Celeb sits at the desk on his laptop and Spencer rummages around in her closet.

"Stop freaking out? Are you crazy? I'm going to jail"

"And I've been to jail" I mutter. Didn't see me like this when it happened to me. I get off of Spencer's bed and move over to the window. I look out into Alison's abandoned bedroom. I'm so used to looking into this room, I've done it everyday since I can first remember. Believe it or not, even before Spencer became friends with Ali back in 7th grade, I always admired her. I'd heard the stories, she could turn an absolute no body into a somebody; and boy was I a no body. I was know as 'that other Hastings girl'- I'm convinced that only my family and Mike knew my name. When Spencer became part of Ali's clique, little did I know that would rise my social status too. I went from being 'that other Hastings girl' to 'Spencer's little sister'- not a major improvement I know but I guess it was nice to be known as something other than a nobody.

"Yeah but you actually looked guilty. I on the other hand, have some total psycho bitch telling on me for something I blatantly didn't do! Mona was my best friend. I could never hurt her."

"She obviously didn't feel the same when she hit you with her car and left you for dead." Spencer says loudly. "And hey, Mackenzie was proven not guilty."

"I never said she was guilty, just that she looked it." Hanna rolls her eyes. "Now can we focus on me?"

"I think I've found something" Caleb speaks up. I'd actually forgotten that he was here. We all crowd around him, desperately scanning the screen for something to lead us to Mona.

"Knock, knock" I hear Melissa's voice in the doorway. I spin on my heels. She looks around the room. "Where's your stuff?"

"At Mike's." I say bluntly. She gives me a confused look, throwing her head to one side. I'll admit it, we never see this look from Melissa very often. "What? You didn't think I was staying here did you?"

"I assumed so. This is your home after all."

"But how long is it my home for? How long until you throw me out to make room for your spawn of Satan?" I spit, earning a laugh from Caleb. Melissa shoots him a glare and he immediately turns back to his computer.

"Whatever." Melissa says spinning on her heels. "Oh and by the way, you should hear what your little friends were saying about you earlier" She calls over her shoulder before disappearing out of view.

"At least I have friends moron" I shout after her. As soon as I realise she's no longer there, I let my shoulders drop out of frustration. I feel an arm wrap around my shoulders, causing me to look up. Spence smiles down on me.

"Ignore her. We both know how she gets."

"I don't even blame you for pushing her down the stairs that time." I laugh. "She makes me want to rip my hair out"

"Or even better, rip hers out" Spencer laughs, making me smirk.

"You guys are so violent" Aria laughs, still looking at the screen. "Caleb I don't see anything."

"Exactly. Kenz, come look at this and tell me what you see" Caleb orders. I walk apprehensively over to the computer. I bend down to Caleb's eye line and stare at the screen.

"No way" I gasp.

"What?" Hanna says copying my actions. "I see nothing"

"Look right there" I lean forward, getting a little closer to Caleb than I intended. Hanna's glares practically burn a hole into my head. I place my finger on the screen of Caleb's laptop. The screen currently shows a video of Mona's room dated the day she supposedly disappeared.

"I don't see anything"

"That's the whole point" I smile. "Mike's always telling me about this really cool map that Mona keeps on her wall of the old Rosewood."

"There's no map there" Hanna states.

"The map had a massive red X in the middle of a forest when Mike saw it last." I say completely ignoring Hanna's statement. Surely if Mona was Hanna's 'best friend' then she would have noticed that there before?

"Is that the treasure map he's been talking about non stop?" Aria asks. "It's as if he's trying to tell me something by dropping it into conversation all the freaking time" The realisation hits us all at the exact same time. Mike knows exactly what happened to Mona.

"I think we need to talk to Mike" Spencer says, cutting into all of our thoughts.

"We can't all talk to him at once" Emily reasons.

"Aria?" Spencer asks. She is his sister after all, if anyone's going to accuse him of 'withholding evidence' it should probably be her.

"I can't" She says, her eyes widening at the thought of confrontation with Mike. "Kenz, you know how he gets. He'll lash out." Her eyes are pleading with me.

"Fine. I'll talk to him. But you guys cannot be there."

"Record it then" Hanna blurts. "We need evidence that I did not help Alison"

"I'm not recording a conversation with my best friend. I'm not throwing him under the bus."

"You aren't! You're throwing Mona under the bus" Caleb responds. I look at everyone in the room as they stare me down. I eventually give in, giving a nod before turning around and walking out of the room.

A might actually not be involved this time.

Unless Mona is still A.