In one defiant gesture, Spencer reached across, yanked the string, and pulled every single slat up, revealing the outside world. Ali let out a yelp and hid her eyes, preparing for the worst. She peeked through her fingers. The view was only of the thick woods behind the barn.
Ali turned to Spencer. Spencer stared out the window blankly, but perhaps there was a tiny hint of disappointment on her face. Spencer pointed to the door. “Leave.”
“Fine,” Ali said. And it was fine. She needed to tell her parents what was happening. Spencer had given her the perfect excuse.
Throwing back her shoulders, she strode for the exit, twisted the lock, and stepped into the evening twilight. The ground was wet with dew. The sky was navy blue. The cars swished on the distant highway.
“Wait a second!” Spencer called behind her. “Alison!”
But Ali kept going, swiveling her head from side to side to check for signs of her sister. Lights blazed in the Hastingses’ house as well as the DiLaurentises’. The guest room window was lit up again. She didn’t see her sister anywhere.
But Ali doubted she was inside. Courtney was out here somewhere. She just had to find her and drag her back to her parents. That bitch was going back to the Preserve once and for all.
32
THE LOST PUZZLE PIECES
Ali ran down the slippery slate path, looking right and left for a familiar shape in the darkness. Her sister had to be close, but where?
A horrible vision appeared in her mind: a stark, antiseptic hospital bed. Being shoved into a tiny room, the door slamming. We’re never letting you out again, a voice taunted. She pictured herself pressing her hands against a window at the Preserve, watching her parents—and Courtney—drive away.
It couldn’t happen.
A whiff of something stopped her, and she cocked her head. It smelled like a cigarette. But before she could figure out where it was coming from, the smell was gone.
“Ali!” a voice cut through the night. “Ali, come back!”
Ali paused on the slate path and looked over her shoulder. The pagoda-shaped lanterns on the footpath didn’t provide much in the way of light, but she could just make out Spencer coming toward her. A new fire sparked in her stomach. Spencer wasn’t supposed to be outside. She might see something—or, more accurately, someone.
She squared her shoulders, waiting as Spencer caught up with her. Spencer’s cheeks were flushed, and there was a guilty expression on her face. “Where are you going?” she asked in a wounded voice.
Ali blinked. All of a sudden, it seemed like Spencer maybe didn’t know. She looked so worried right then, like she was afraid Ali was going to ditch her forever. But Spencer couldn’t be out here right now, not with her twin hanging around. Ali said the first thing she could think of that would make Spencer turn around and go back into the barn. “I’m going somewhere way cooler than hanging out with you guys.”
Spencer’s features hardened. “Fine. Go.” And yet she didn’t move.
Ali gritted her teeth, scrambling to think of something else. Something rustled in the woods, and her eyes flicked toward the trees. Ian? Her sister? Spencer needed to get out of here. Now.
“You try to steal everything away from me, Spence,” she teased, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. “But you can’t have this.”
Spencer squinted. “Can’t have what?”
Ali laughed nastily. “You know.”
Spencer waved a hand. “You’re delusional.”
“No, I’m not.” There was another flutter in the woods; Ali stepped closer to Spencer, boxing her in so she couldn’t see. “You are.”
Anger flashed in Spencer’s eyes, and she pushed Ali hard on the shoulder. Ali staggered back, surprised by the forcefulness of it. Her feet slipped on the path, and she twisted to the right, grabbing a tree branch for balance.
She straightened up and gawked at Spencer. “Friends don’t shove friends.”
Spencer stood tall. “Well, maybe we aren’t friends.”
“Guess not,” Ali said. She wanted to add, So go back to the barn.
But still Spencer lingered. It had gotten past the point of annoyance. Now Ali wanted to hurt Spencer. She suddenly realized how. She licked her lips, the twist to the secret like rich juice on her tongue. “You think kissing Ian is so special,” she teased. “But you know what he told me? That you didn’t even know how.”
Spencer stepped back as if Ali had slapped her. “Ian told you that? When?”
“When we were on our date,” she lied.
Spencer’s lips parted. No words came out of her mouth.
Ali edged closer. “You’re so lame, acting like you don’t know we’re together. But of course you do, Spence. That’s why you liked him, isn’t it? Because I’m with him? Because your sister’s with him?” She shrugged. “The only reason he kissed you the other night was because I asked him to. He didn’t want to, but I begged.”
Spencer’s eyes boggled. “Why?”
“I wanted to see if he would do anything for me.” She stuck out her lip. “Oh, Spence. Did you really believe he liked you?”
Spencer looked dizzy. A lightning bug landed on her arm, but she didn’t flick it away. Ali waited for her to whirl around in fury, but instead, she reached out and pushed Ali so hard that her feet went out from under her and her body flew back. A series of images flashed past her: the hazy lights, the huge moon in the sky, and then whiteness. A loud crack sounded in her ears. Her head throbbed with pain. She landed sharply on her elbow and rolled to her side. Moisture seeped into her clothes, but for a moment, she was too stunned to move.
An owl screeched in the trees. Ali opened her eyes, then felt the dirt caked onto the side of her cheek. She wiggled her fingers, then her toes, then rolled over and attempted to sit up. Spencer was still standing there, but she looked transfixed, almost like she had been hypnotized. Ali stood and brushed herself off. When she ran down the path, Spencer didn’t follow.
Good.
She padded toward her yard. But as she reached the hedges at the back of the property, a door banged in the barn, and a new thought struck her. What if her sister had seized the opportunity and gone inside the barn with Aria, Emily, and Hanna? She might be pretending she was Ali—or telling them everything.
She wheeled back around, her head throbbing. That had to be it! She couldn’t believe she’d fallen for it.
She doubled back toward the barn, feet slipping in the dewy grass. A door slammed, and she could just make out through the windows Spencer walking back inside. A crack sounded behind her, and she turned. Something was moving near the Hastingses’ patio. A person.
Ali’s hand flew to her mouth. “Courtney?” she whispered, too quietly for anyone to hear.
Only, it was two people, not one. They stuck close together, moving toward the side of the house and stopping by the Hastingses’ garden hose caddy. The taller of the two pushed the smaller figure up against the side of the house. Their bodies pressed together, and their lips met in a kiss.
Ali squinted hard. At first, she thought it was Ian and Melissa—they were around here somewhere. Then a car passed on the street, its headlights shining against the figures for a brief second. Her mother’s long blond hair and sharp profile shimmered into view. Ali gasped and looked at the taller figure, who was now caressing Mrs. DiLaurentis’s neck. The headlights touched on his face for a brief moment, illuminating his strong jaw, long and slender nose, full head of hair. He leaned Mrs. DiLaurentis against the side of the house with authority, as though he owned the place.
And then it hit Ali: He did own the place. The man her mother was kissing was Spencer’s father.
She wheeled backward, feeling literally struck down by the news. There was no way this could be true. Her mother hated Mr. Hastings, didn’t she? But then she heard her mother’s words on the phone: We just need a little more cash, honey. Just to pay the rest of her hospital bills…. she’s your daughter, too.
Her insides curdled. Mr. Hastings certainly had money to pay hospital bills—especially for a deranged daughter no one knew about. Perhaps this explained why Mr. DiLaurentis always seemed so outrageously jealous of the Hastings—perhaps he sensed that something was going on. But what had gone on? He’d gotten Ali’s mom pregnant while they were having an affair . . . and then what? She’d passed the twins off as Mr. DiLaurentis’s, clearly. Maybe she’d tried to drop it for a while . . . until things got bad between Ali and Courtney, when she needed Mr. Hastings’s financial help. Perhaps he’d helped them move to Rosewood. Got them a house next door so he could keep an eye on his daughter—and his mistress. How convenient, Ali thought acidly. Her father, next door, and she’d never even known.
Ali felt like she was going to throw up. Instead, she turned around and ran. That it was someone she knew, her best friend’s father, made it even worse. How could her mother never tell her this? How could they move next door to the Hastingses, her real father within arm’s reach but off-limits? And this made her and Spencer . . . sisters.
Mist swirled around her head, and she suddenly lost her bearings. She came to a stop in her yard—at least she thought it was her yard. Everything looked unfamiliar. The house glowed far away, up a long, gradual slope of grass. A tarp flapped next to her, and the moonlight caught a glint of a discarded tool on the ground. She hadn’t realized she was so close to the half-dug hole. One false move, and she could have fallen right in.
“It’s pretty shocking, huh?”
Ali jerked her head up. A figure stood opposite her, shrouded in shadow. Her face was tilted toward the kissing couple in the Hastingses’ yard.
“Looks like our family tree has a lot of rotten apples,” the person said, in a voice that indicated she’d figured everything out, too.
Then she stepped into the light, and Ali swallowed hard. It was her sister.
33
ONE LITTLE PUSH
For a moment, Ali couldn’t move. She stared at her sister opposite her. The girl’s eyes glinted. Her teeth glowed. Half her body was hidden in the mist, like she was a ghost.
Ali whipped around and headed toward the house. “You’re not supposed to be outside.”
Her twin caught her arm and dug her nails into her skin. “You’re not going anywhere, Ali.”
“Let go of me,” Ali said, trying to yank her arm away. But Courtney’s grip was firm. “I’ll scream,” she warned, fear rising in her voice.
Courtney chuckled. “No, you won’t. You won’t say anything.”
“Yes, I will,” Ali said. “Mom and Dad will come running.”
Courtney guffawed. “Um, didn’t you just see what I saw? Mom’s a little busy right now.”
“Then I’ll call Dad.”
Courtney’s smile stretched wider. “Dad’s passed out on the couch. Someone might have slipped something in his wine at dinner.”
Ali backed away, suddenly trembling. She really is crazy, she thought.
But “Courtney” just pulled her back. “And don’t think Jason’s going to come rescue you,” she whispered in Ali’s ear. “He doesn’t give a shit about either of us. And as far as your friends go, they all left. Some end-of-seventh-grade sleepover, huh?”
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