The picturesque town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania cowered under the heavy black clouds hovering in the late August air. The weather forecast had predicted a storm of this measure earlier that day, but the citizens of Rosewood still found themselves unprepared for the intensity of the lightning that illuminated the dark sky and the volume of the thunder that shook their windows. There was an air of mystery in the wind that rustled the leaves on the trees, but that wasn't going to stop five pretty girls from celebrating the end of one of the best summers ever.
Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Hanna Marin, and Spencer Hastings had set up camp in Spencer's family barn, a two-story building set off the Hastings property. It had been built as a stable to keep horses, but it had since been redesigned into a separate townhouse. This was the perfect place for annual sleepovers, secret meetings between the girls, and just a generally comfy spot to kick up your feet and relax with a good book (at least, that's the way Spencer saw it). Music blasted through the speakers of the boombox set along one side of the wall, almost loud enough to hear over the explosions of thunder overhead. The girls were laughing and joking about Aria's pink hair that she had dyed impulsively, Emily's inability to go any further than innocent kissing with her boyfriend, Hanna's obsession with Sean Ackard, and Spencer's ridiculous amount of extracurricular activities for a sophomore high school student to have. Hanna had stolen a bottle of something from her mom's liquor cabinet, and they passed around a red cup full of the strong smelling liquid as they talked and waited for the final member of their party to arrive.
A crash of thunder shook the barn as Spencer took a small sip out of the glass, and the lights extinguished themselves, taking the music with them.
"Whoa, what happened?" Emily said, a slight tremor in her voice.
"It must be the storm," Spencer replied.
A disembodied creak echoed throughout the barn. An eerie silence fell over the group of girls. They looked towards the front door of the barn, their hearts pounding against their chests and their breathing becoming steadily more rapid. Wasn't this how every gory horror film started? "Guys, something's out there," Aria whispered, holding up a flashlight she had found behind one of the couches.
The front door began to open by itself, the creaking noise filling the barn with a strong sense of foreboding. This was it, this was how the lives of four high school girls came to an end. Hanna's fists balled up, and she bit her lip. "Guys," she whispered.
They all stood up and huddled together, Aria taking the lead with the flashlight. They sneaked forward slowly, waiting anxiously for whatever axe murderer was hiding behind the door to jump out at them. Something slammed against the door, and they heard the sound of glass breaking, making them all gasp loudly. Now they were almost certain they were going to be murdered in some gruesome way. The wind howled as they peered around the barn door. There was a sudden stillness until—
"Gotcha!"
The girls screamed as Alison DiLaurentis walked in, long blonde hair falling in loose waves over her yellow tank top. Alison was the most beautiful girl any of Rosewood's citizens had ever laid eyes on. Guys wanted to be with her, and girls wanted to be her. The select few Alison chose to be friends with were regarded as the same royalty that she held in her hand at Rosewood High. Her friends adored her, and she knew they would do anything for her. She giggled as she watched her friends clutch their chests and attempt to slow their breathing. Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief.
"That's so not funny, Alison!" Spencer yelled, half-joking.
"I thought it was hilarious, girls," Alison replied through her laughter. She checked her phone and shut it off, throwing it onto the couch before settling herself down on the cushions.
The rest of the girls followed suit, selecting seats as close to Alison as possible. "Ali, did you download the new Beyoncé?" Hanna asked, leaning forward expectantly.
Alison groaned and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Ugh no. Not yet."
"I'm loving her new video!" Emily cried.
"Maybe a little too much, Em?" Ali said with a knowing look.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the girls, one that they had noticed far too often in the past few weeks. As the best friend and leader of the group, Alison was the only one trusted with anything secretive or anything one of the girls wanted to keep private. However, that didn't mean she would keep it completely secret. One of Ali's favourite games to play was dangling each girl's secret in front of them, usually in the presence of the other girls or those who the secret involved. This was the only flaw that the girls would admit their goddess of a best friend had, and they all wished they had truly kept their secrets in the dark.
Alison's laughter broke the silence as she handed the red glass to Aria. Her knowing smile lingered on her lips as she said, "Your turn."
Aria tipped the liquid into her mouth, a little more than she had meant to. The rest of the girls broke into giggles. They had all drank before, but somehow this night felt different. This wasn't a normal sleepover, yet they couldn't place their finger on what made this night feel so special.
"Careful, Aria. Drink too much and you'll tell us all your secrets!" Spencer said as Aria rolled her eyes and chuckled.
A smile lit up Ali's face once again. "Friends share secrets," she said, looking at each of her friends with an admiration they had never seen before. "That's what keeps us close." She turned her attention onto Aria. "Drink up!"
The girls laughed loudly as Aria lifted the cup to her lips once again. The power never came back on, so the girls set up candles all over the barn. The barn became filled with the sounds of laughter and gossip until the girls found themselves getting drowsy, curling up on the couches or finding a comfortable place on the floor under the comfiest blankets they could find.
A chill wind swept over Aria as she lay on the floor of the barn. It had finally stopped raining, but the air was still frigid with the remnants of the storm. She sat up slowly, noticing through drowsy eyes that the barn door was wide open, letting in the cold air and probably a million mosquitoes. She glanced around the barn and counted only two other girls besides herself. Alison and Spencer were both missing. A sense of dread settled in her stomach as she reached out and shook Emily's leg. "Em," she whispered, waking her up.
Emily opened her eyes and looked down at Aria over her knees, curled up on the couch next to Hanna, who was waking up. "Where's Ali and Spencer?" Hanna mumbled.
Aria shook her head as she replied, "We don't know." The sound of footsteps approaching through the grass caught her attention, and Aria made her way to the open doorway to catch a glimpse of who might be coming. Alison and Spencer had probably gone back to the house to get more blankets; the barn was freezing, after all. Still, it was strange that they hadn't woken everyone else up as well. Aria thought she recognised the confident stride of the figure walking toward the barn. "Ali?" she called.
"She's gone," Spencer replied, stepping into the barn. Her eyebrows were knitted together, and her lips formed a straight line that Spencer only did when she was seriously stressed out.
Aria didn't know what to say. Somehow, Spencer's statement made no sense. Maybe she had misunderstood. Ali must've just gone home, that's all Spencer meant. But something told Aria that that was just wishful thinking. "What do you mean she's gone?" Aria asked.
"I've looked everywhere for her," Spencer said, biting her lip. She looked like she was about to cry. "I think I heard her scream."
Aria's eyes widened as Hanna and Emily exchanged worried glances. Nothing like this had ever happened in the perfect town of Rosewood. Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer feared the worst and went home, shaken. That morning, Alison's mother frantically called each of the girls one by one, asking if they had seen Alison since the sleepover. Each girl covered for Alison, maybe she had gone to hang out with one of the older girls on the field hockey team and turned her phone off. That kind of behaviour wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for Ali. But Mrs. DiLaurentis wouldn't hear it. She had called everyone she could think of.
Soon, missing posters went up and a county-wide search for Alison began. The most beautiful girl in Rosewood was now a missing person, and the four girls who had treasured her more than anything in their whole lives were now left floating in the aftermath. Only one thing kept them from feeling completely distraught. As horrible as it may sound, and they would never admit this to anyone, but they were glad that their secrets were officially completely secret. No one knew what would get under their skin or make them feel scared. No one had anything to hold over their heads. Just like that, the lives of these four pretty girls were changed forever, and their secrets were buried, never seeing the light of day ever again. Or so they thought.