Empty Gold

Chapter 4: Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

Chapter 4

"You can come sit here, Alison," a kind voice sounds out and the shy blonde spots Aria standing at the table with a bag of food she went to go pick up. The first day in Emily's mansion has passed by slowly, but Ali is glad it's coming to a close.

The blonde nods attentively as she finishes brushing Pepe's abundance of hair in the hallway. Aria has already set the table with dishes, and Alison is starting to feel a little bit at ease. Emily went to do dry land training with her coach, and Hanna and Spencer were out doing a last minute meeting with the designer of the swimwear for tomorrow's photo shoot. The house has been fairly calm and quiet, and Alison is starting to recognize Aria and Cece as the more level-headed ones in Emily's group.

"There you are," Cece's snarky voice sounds out loudly as she enters the kitchen and sinks down into a chair. "Did you get me a salmon salad with lemon caesar dressing? And a chicken caesar salad for Alison?"

"Just like you asked me to, three times," Aria confirms with a patient voice though she looks at Cece warningly.

"Thanks, short stuff," Cece grins. She feels like a babysitter, and today is one of those days where she has been working out of Emily's estate for the sake of helping Emily out. "Alison, babe, wash your hands before eating alright?"

"Okay," Alison replies simply. She hasn't really spoken much all day, much to Cece's disappointment and slight frustration. But she reminds herself that the blonde slave probably has more problems than she can count.

When they finish eating in a peaceful manner, Aria helps Ali stack the dishes as Cece sits on her phone. The blonde finds this odd as Aria is most definitely not a slave, but she thinks she will offend the brunette if she says anything.

"If you can just wash and dry those, I'll clean the table," Aria states and Alison does as she's told. The quiet blonde picks up the three plates, carries them over to the sink, and is about to put them down when Pepe playfully bounds over and nudges her, hard—all three plates crash to the floor and shatter into pieces. Cece and Aria both let out sounds of surprise. Alison's eyes widen at the sharp, loud noise of the dishes breaking and her heart begins to race violently, anxiety stealing her breath. Pepe barks once and whines, nosing at the broken pieces.

"Oh fuck, are you okay?" Cece gasps as she places a hand over her heart but she follows Aria's wide-eyed gaze to see Alison frozen in fear, her breaths quick and frightened.

The young blonde instantly drops to her knees, cowering as a wave of dread washes over her.

"You good for nothing worthless piece of shit!" he screams as he throws a glass at her and misses. The glass shatters against the cabinet and Alison whimpers and quivers as he swiftly steps into her, smacking her across the face.

"Alison?" Cece calls, but the blonde is lost to her panic attack.

"I-I-I'm...s-s-s-or-ry," Alison spills out slowly as she hears the cruel screaming in her head. The screaming gets louder and more savage, and the sound of breaking glass echoes in her tortured mind.

"Does that look fucking clean to you?" he snarls as he grabs a large glass serving dish and slams it down on the ground, Alison yelping in fear as the shards miss her by inches.

"Shit," Cece jumps up from her chair and rushes over to the violently shaking girl. Cece kicks all the broken pieces away, examining Alison as she crouches down in front of her.

"Sor-ry," Alison stutters again as she hides her face from the older blonde, terrified to see her reaction. When it's silent for a few moments, she feebly lifts her head up in anticipation of being hit. Instead, her frightened blue eyes see Cece staring at her with a look of patience and sensitivity.