Pain Before Peace.

Pain Before Peace Chapter 1.

Sarah sighed as she walked away from the local burger joint, once again she'd been turned down for a job. "This is the twenty-sixth place that has turned me down! I don't know what it is about me that makes employers turn their head." It was truly odd, there really was no reason why so many places had turned her down. She kept the tattoos on her arms covered, so it couldn't be that, and she was always respectful to employers during interviews. The only thing she could think of was that they were judging her for being a lesbian, the town she lived in wasn't exactly welcoming to people like her after all. "Twenty-seventh time's the charm..." She muttered to herself. "Maybe I should just move...not like I have the money to do that." At the moment she was crashing at her sister's place, a little one bedroom apartment that barely had enough room for the two of them. The couch wasn't that bad, it wasn't comfortable by any means but it was better than the streets or worse, her parent's place.

You're not good for anything but to be my slave, my little...pet. Sarah shuddered as her ex-boyfriend's words played through her head. Five years away from that bastard and he was still trying to control her. She'd only come out as gay about a year ago, having dated an asshole named Chad before then, go figure. He'd started out great, until he found out she was gay. He'd caught her watching her favorite porn video and...well...pleasuring herself. He'd blown up at her, grabbing her laptop and chucking it at the wall, obliterating the expensive computer. That was the start of the year of hell as she called it. She would have left him that night...if he hadn't beaten her to a bloody pulp and thrown her into a pet cage they had just in case they found someone they bonded with. For an entire year, he beat her and treated her like a pet, to try and "cure her". It was sheer dumb luck that he had gotten drunk one night and left the cage unlocked.

It wasn't like she had anything against pets, honestly she thought they were cute...not that she'd ever admit it. Hell, her mom had a pet, JayJay, and he was adorable. Apparently, before the bond, JayJay was 5'10 and looked like a body builder. Now, the pet was maybe 5'3 and could easily pass as a flat chested woman in her late teens. Then again, pets rarely looked older than twenty-three, no matter their actual age.

But Sarah Kinsley wasn't a pet...at least she really hoped she wasn't. To be honest...she couldn't look at anything related to pets without flinching, she didn't know what she would do if she bonded with someone. Even the commercials for keepers made her severely uncomfortable, some even gave her nightmares.

"Fucking jackass." She muttered to herself, running her hand through her hair. Sarah knew she looked like the stereotypical butch lesbian, with her shaved black hair and arm tattoos, she just liked the style. Her sleeve tattoos...well those were covering scars from her ex. Currently, she was wearing a pair of black jeans and a long sleeved black and white striped shirt, along with her black tennis shoes.

She paused for a minute in front of the liquor store before shaking her head and continuing on to her sister's apartment.

_______

"How'd it go?" Claire, her sister asked as soon as she closed the door to the apartment.

"Same as usual, fully staffed." Sarah sighed, kicking off her shoes and plopping down on the couch.

"What? But Joe works there, and he told me they're understaffed..."

"When exactly did he tell you this?"

"Four days ago, the day you applied, I even called him today and he said they were still understaffed."

Sarah sighed and leaned back against the couch, covering her eyes with her hand. "Which means the manager that interviewed me is a homophobic ass." She grumbled.

Claire wrinkled her nose in distaste, she never liked it when Sarah cursed and had scolded her more than a few times. It was actually pretty funny considering Claire was the younger of the two. "So, what's next?"

"I have an interview at the hardware store tomorrow at three, and one at the library at noon. And if those don't pan out...well I'm fucked, those are the last two places in town to apply for."

"The hardware store? Isn't that a little close to the pet store?"

Sarah shuddered and nodded, feeling ice cold fingers grip her heart for a second before the sensation vanished. "Desperate times."

"Sarah...you've applied everywhere but the pet store...I could help you move, so you'll have better opportunities!"

"We've been over this Claire, I'm not using your savings. You almost have enough to get into that college you wanted, don't throw that away for me."

"But!"

"Claire, I said no." Sarah snapped, glaring at her little sister. "I am not going to let you do that. It took you for fucking ever to get that money saved up and the only thing you will damn well spend it on is your fucking education."

"I'm just worried about you! No-one is hiring you! I know you Sarah, I know not being able to help with the bills is killing you." Claire sobbed, tears streaking down her face.

Sarah sprang to her feet and wrapped her sister in her arms. "Shit, I'm sorry Claire, I didn't mean to upset you." Claire was so sensitive most days, she always had been, breaking down at so much as a raised voice.

"I'm just so scared for you Sarah! How are you supposed to have a life if no-one will give you a chance?" Claire sobbed into Sarah's shirt, her words coming out muffled.

"It'll be okay sis...I'll figure it out." She murmured softly as she held her sister as she cried herself to exhaustion. With a small grunt of effort, Sarah carried her sister to the bedroom and tucked her into bed, giving her a small kiss on the forehead.

_______

"Twenty-seventh times the charm." Sarah thought as she turned the corner to the hardware store. Right next to it however...was that store. The local pet store. The moment she saw it her blood turned to ice, and she felt a hand grip her heart tightly. "It's just a store, it can't hurt you." She repeated over and over, closing her eyes as she walked past the windows.

With a loud BANG the glass door of the pet store swung open and slammed into her, pain surged throughout her face as a blistering headache came into being from the impact.

"Fuck, shit, son of a fucking bitch!" She groaned, covering her nose with her hand as she let out a string of curses that would have made a sailor blush.

It was a good thing too, she never heard the person who swung the door open call her a filthy dyke.

"Are you okay?!" A woman asked, concern clear from her voice.

"No I'm not fucking okay! Are you blind?!" Sarah snapped, opening her eyes to curse out the woman more. It was the worst thing she could have done. As her green eyes met the blue of the strange woman, Sarah's throat tightened, her heart racing as a heat started to build in her body. Her legs felt numb, she could barely feel them at all as a connection, unlike any other, snapped into place between the two women. With that one look they knew. With that one look their lives were changed. The green eyes of a pet met the blue eyes of her keeper...and there was nothing either of them could do about it.