Kissing Constellations

Chapter 10- Bonds Shall Tie

Kissing Constellations

 Chapter Ten

Bonds Shall Tie

The closer the clock ticked to 8:00 the more jittery Arrisa became. She began to shake as she rinsed the dishes and put them away, nearly shattering a plate at one point. Toby only rolled his eyes at her behavior.

How petty. He thought when Arissa shook. To think she's going through such lengths just to scare me.

They finally finished cleaning the last of the dishes by 7:00, and had met up with Grace and Lily. Though William seemed to still be finishing up, which made sense, there were quite a lot of windows on the first floor alone.

"Wh-" Toby coughed mid-sentence: he felt awkward talking to them. "When do we need to be finished by?"

"Seven-thirty." Grace replied. Her gaze floured around the room and her cheery voice soon filled with worry. "He should be done by now. Right Arissa?"

Arissa shrugged with a frown.

It wasn't long until a sharp yelp answered their question. It sounded like it came from the left hall down the living room. Toby jumped forward immediately, rushing towards the source.

"Wait! Toby don't-" Grace started.

But, the boy had already run off, leaving to other three to catch him before he entered the room. As his feet thumped off the wooden floorboards, the cries and sobs grew in volume.

"What the-" Toby stopped himself abruptly to see William curled over himself on the floor clawing at the collar 'round his neck like a panicked animal. His vivid gray-blonde locks fell and shook over his face. His cries dwindled into helpless huffs of jagged air. A Windex bottle and paper towels were strewn across the floor. And above all, stood Madame Blin, pressing her heel into Sam's arm, while a strange switch lied in her left hand.

Then, the rest caught up to him.

Grace ripped Toby back around the corner just as William looked up at them solemnly.

"I'm sorry you had to see that on your first day." Grace whispered fearfully. "I swear it's not always like this."

"You're not pets or submissives, are you?" Toby huffed angrily. "You don't like being beaten, do you? That's not your job."

Lily began to tear up, "We were just supposed to be housemates. Madame Blin promised me I would live happily  here."

Grace nodded, "But then, she started to show her true colors. She became less patient. But we still must be grateful."

"That's not right." Toby gawked. "That's like beating your butler or something! I would understand if it was some kinky shit that you're all into but... Shock collars? Really?!" Toby turned towards Arissa. "You didn't tell me she beat her workers!"

"I didn't think it mattered to you, considering everything else I told you, and you weren't even fazed."

"Because, I knew what I was doing when I signed up for this, moron."

Arissa snarled in disagreement, but Toby had already begun to lecture her. "What did you think was gonna happen when you sold yourself off to a stranger? A fairy tail ending? Kisses goodnight? How stupid could you-"

Arissa interrupted him, "-I wasn't sold."

"What?"

"I wasn't sold." She repeated, more sternly this time. "I was on the streets, okay?! I hung out with the wrong people and got into trouble. She offered to take me in and I accepted. I'm sorry for taking the only offer of help I had!"

Grace shushed them, afraid Madame Blin would overhear. As they went silent, they could still pick up on Will sniffling sadly.

Toby grew quiet, "We're you all... homeless?"

"No." Grace responded. "I worked at a strip club, believe it or not."

Toby reeled in surprise, "You you were a stripper?" But she looks like she could be an elementary teacher!

Grace snorted, "Oh God, no. I was a waitress there and cleaned up after hours. Madame Blin saw me one night and offered more than that strip club could ever pay me."

"And... Lily and Sam?" Toby asked, unsure if he wanted the answer.

"Ah, I fought with my parents a lot." Lily spoke, jumping forward. "I got tired of all the arguments and just... Left! I knew Madame Blin from a friend of a friend... And she took me in as long as I help around the house." She leaned in closer, looking around herself as she did. Her dark eyes grew wide. "And just between you and me, I think William was a prostitute. Kinda gross if ya ask me..."

Toby froze.

"So how'd you get here, Toby?"

He frowned, quickly changing the subject, "That doesn't matter right now. Why do you guys stay here?"

Lily spoke first, "We we have no where to go anymore."

And then, Grace, "And even if we did, the gate around this house is connected to our collars. If we leave the property then... Zap! Fried flesh."

Toby became panicked, "What?!" He quickly dug his fingers underneath the collar around his neck. "Arissa?!"

"What?" She snapped. "I warned you!"

"In the vaguest way possible!"

"A warning is a warning!"

Grace came between the two heated teens, "Guys knock it off. I'm sure Madame Blin's gone now, so we need to check on Will. You can hash it out later."

"She's right..." Toby stepped slowly forward and toward the dying sobs.

He was going to get them all out of here.

Tonight.