Empty Gold

Chapter 1: Black Sun

Chapter 1

5 Years Ago

"Please, please don't do this," a young blonde girl with teary blue eyes begs as her older brother forcefully holds her still. One of his hands grasps her wrists behind her back, twisting painfully, and the other hand is around her neck commanding her to stand still. Everything from before is a blur – one minute she's walking into her sad excuse of a home, the next she's being dragged away by her very own flesh and blood, her own siblings.

"I said shut up, Alison," the gruff boy growls in her ear. The two watch as their sister, Alison's twin Courtney, holds her broken arm in a sling with a cold look. She stands stiffly in debate with an older man, his face unpleasant and scarred. The man is clearly a haughty and powerful lowlife. Alison can tell by the way he carries himself, and by the way he dresses.

"Twenty thousand, not a penny more," the man states firmly and his steely eyes dare Courtney to challenge him. He knows they're in a tough position and that he can strong-arm them anyway he likes.

"You agreed to twenty five," Courtney spits back bitterly, everything about her body is tense—the very air in this place gives her the creeps.

"What are you gonna do about it, kitten, call the cops?" he growls threateningly as he leers down towards her. "You'll be lucky if you can find anyone who'll give you twenty in cash."

"You said twenty five," Courtney stresses, refusing to be threatened by this scum. She glances at her twin out of the corner of her eye and cringes internally at the way Alison is staring at her desperately, pleading with those baby blues. "She's hardworking and-"

"I don't care, sweet cheeks, I buy 'em and I sell 'em. I don't ask questions and I sure as hell don't give answers. People I deal with—no ones really interested in labour, you hear me?" He gets up into Courtney's face, his breath like acid. His eyes roam over her freely and Courtney tries to suppress her shiver. She knows exactly what this means for her sister."She's got a pretty face, and a tight little body. That's all that matters."

"Invest in some breath mints," Courtney snaps, her hand slides her jacket back to reveal her concealed blade. "I'm not here for a fight but we didn't come to get swindled either."

"Jason please, there has to be another way," Alison tries to reason again in a tiny voice but there is no response from her big brother. She realizes how dangerous and dire the situation is, and how helpless she has become. Alison had cried and begged the whole way to this hellhole, and neither Courtney or Jason had shown any empathy, just cold steely indifference. As hard as she tries, Alison simply can't understand what she did to deserve this.

"Fine, twenty one," Courtney caves and Alison can feel her composure completely shattering. This can't be happening.

"Done," the older man grunts as he hands Courtney some papers to sign. As soon as she does, he snatches them back and throws a small bag of cash at her. "Now hand her over."

Jason nods and begins to walk her over roughly, Alison's eyes widen as she begins to panic.

"Please! Please don't, Courtney! Jason! Stop! Stop! Stop-"

Alison is cut off as another stranger steps forward and roughly seizes her by the back of the neck. She's dragged over to a table near the furnace and shoved against it, her face slammed down on the wood as her body is bent over it.

"We'll get you back one day," Courtney murmurs apathetically, her sea-green eyes blank and empty.

"Don't leave me here," Ali begins to cry, her voice cracking, hands tighten around her neck as her siblings look on in silence.