A/N: Hi everyone! My friend and fellow writer kayweston and I have teamed up to bring you an epic Emison story that we want to be constantly posting during this spring hiatus to hold people over until the series return. If you're like us, you were probably extremely disappointed with the lack of Emison towards the end of Season 5 and the reveal.
And I promise that this story actually has been developed, and there are chapters written and ready to go so we can be posting frequently. It's the first story on here other than my one-shots that I've actually mapped out and not just let it run with my imagination.
Also, I want to say that nobody hates the fact that my stories are unfinished more than I do. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time to definitely finish some of them. I post them to share my little bits and pieces of imagination with you all, but I feel really bad when I don't finish and that's the reason I posted a couple long one-shot's recently. The stories I do plan on continuing for sure are Christmas and Strippers, After Christmas, and Orange is the New Alison. And now this, of course. I do plan on occasionally writing bits and pieces of stories like Feel Good Drag and Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most, but unfortunately I won't be finishing Watching You (which, part of me never intended to, since I did start that half asleep).
THANK YOU guys for all your support, all your reviews and favorites and follows mean everything to me. I've been fighting my depression for the last few weeks, and it's always wonderful to read your thoughts and talk to people on here. And thanks to kayweston for helping me write this and for being a kickass friend.
ENJOY!
x-x-x
Chapter 1: We Gotta Get Out of This Place
"I'm headed out," an older girl says lazily to Alison who is busy cleaning the front countertop. The blonde has wisps of her hair in her face as she leans over, scrubbing all the grime away vigorously. Her head barely rises up to acknowledge the other girl in the empty cafe. "Can you close up? I did all my side work, just take the trash out and lock up the back door."
"Yeah, sure," Alison barely acknowledges as she continues cleaning. She pauses, catching her breath and leans on her hands on the counter, sighing deeply. It's been a long, long day. Just as she picks the rag up off the counter and throws it in a bucket of hot water and bleach, her phone rings. She looks down in relief to see her best friend's name on the screen.
"Yeah?" Alison greets a little too harshly as she answers the phone, flipping the hair out of her face.
"What crawled up your ass?" Hanna replies dryly and Alison snorts, rolling her eyes. Typical Hanna Marin, being a goddamn smartass.
"Ian Thomas," Alison tells her angrily as she goes over to the trashcan to empty it.
"What'd he do now?"
"He came by The Brew and asked me to go out tomorrow night. I asked him if he was done with that red-headed skank I saw him making out with at Jason's party last weekend. He said, and I quote, 'Why's it matter, we're not dating, remember?'"
"God, that fucking sleazebag," Hanna spits out angrily on the other line.
"I know," Ali seethes, tying up the garbage bag as she uses her shoulder to hold her phone to her ear. "I'm starting to think he only wants to date me to get in my pants."
"Uh earth to Ali that's definitely the only reason he wants to date you."
"Yeah, but it didn't seem like that sometimes," Ali sighs as she picks up the trash and heads to the backdoor. She heads outside while Hanna blabs on about how she should forget about Ian and focus on someone else, someone better.
"That's easy for you to say, Han. You have Caleb," Ali grumbles as she throws the heavy trash in the dumpster and goes back inside. She turns the music off and begins to tidy up the remaining little messes around the café.
"Well summer is coming up, just a little over a month," Hanna proclaims gladly. "And soon we'll be at the beach at our houses. And we'll find you some beach hottie."
Alison couldn't care less about finding some random beach dude to hook up with. She is growing tired of random hookups, pointless encounters, people who give her random bursts of hope only to shatter her self esteem. Nobody would know that popular queen bee Alison suffered from random bouts of deep, self-loathing. Only Hanna barely knew the extent of which her best friend really was displeased with herself.
She might've been popular, relatively wealthy, and very attractive, but sometimes, Alison felt empty. When people had asked her why she'd started working part time at The Brew, she told everyone it was because her parents were forcing her. But really, and not even Hanna knew this, Alison had read somewhere that having a job gives a person a certain sense of pride and accomplishment. She craved that, and so she told herself she could be better if she took on this job.
And she was a little bit better, though there were days she still snapped at people- particularly rude customers- in full Alison DiLaurentis bitch style. But for the most part she had grown out of her bratty, rude, selfish ways over the last few years. For the most part.
The sound of sirens catches her attention and she realizes they sound like they're coming closer and closer.
"Han?" Alison blurts out, completely cutting off the other blonde on the phone. She had been completely spaced out but she wasn't anymore. In fact, her senses had just heightened. "I gotta go I'll call you back."
With that she hangs up and is suddenly aware of the loud helicopter noises above the building.
"ATTENTION. There is a dangerous murderer on the loose, please lock your doors and stay inside until further notice."
That message blared out through overhead speakers on repeat. The announcement and helicopters were creating a noisy chaos combined with the sound of police sirens. Alison looked out the front window to see red and blue lights patrolling the streets in front of the brew.
A little shaken, Alison drops what she's doing and goes to the back door to shut it. But as she approaches it, she notices it's slightly open and her heartbeat increases rapidly. She had for sure shut it, there's no doubt in her mind. The blonde brings her slightly trembling hands up to shut and lock the door securely. Once that's done, she turns to go to the front of the store to make sure it's locked.
Alison takes two strides before she hears a scuffle behind her. Her heart freezes in her chest, and her muscles tense up. The air in the room suddenly feels tighter, and she stops dead in her tracks.
"Hello?" Alison calls out, too frightened to turn around. "Is someone still here?"
There's no response, only the sound of the chaos from outside. The words dangerous murderer keep echoing in her mind. What if she's trapped in here with some psycho murderer? Could they have slipped in the back door? She's done a lot of bad things in her life, but she doesn't think she deserves something like that to happen. What if there is a murderer, and this is payback for the time she stole Hanna's first boyfriend Sean, or the time she bitched Mona Vanderwaal out in front of everyone, or when she-
Alison doesn't have a chance to finish her random train of thought because she hears a clattering noise from the kitchen. Her petite body jumps slightly at the noise, and she feels frozen with fear.
"Hello?" she squeaks, not even knowing why she is bothering to ask if a wanted criminal wants to come out and say hi. Then it strikes her- she should just make a bolt for the front door. Yes, that's it- if she makes it outside she can seek help from the police.
With urgency, she turns for the front of the café and prepares to run. But she doesn't take more than three steps to the door before a hand comes clamping down over her mouth from behind, pulling her tightly backward. Alison tries to scream but it's muffled and a sharp knife is suddenly raised to her throat with the attacker's other hand, reducing Alison to a quivering wreck.
"Be. Quiet", the intruder hisses right into the blonde's ear, but to Alison's morbid surprise this voice belongs to a female. She begins to feel her eyes well up, her body shaking violently against the warm body pressed against her. Her muffled cries continue, and she hears her captor sigh heavily.
"Be quiet, please. I promise I'm not going to hurt you," the woman says in a dark, low voice and Alison's muscles relax a tad bit, just enough for her to take one, slow and shaky breath when the tight grip on her body is loosened slightly.
"Promise you won't scream?" the quiet, hushed voice asks and Alison nods shakily but she feels the knife at her throat press harder and she whimpers, her eyes slamming shut in fear. "I mean it! Swear that you won't scream or try to run."
"I swear," Alison quickly blurts out as the hand is removed from her mouth. There's only silence and she feels the knife being lowered from her throat. The blonde lets out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. But she keeps her head down and doesn't turn around – she can feel the woman is moving out from behind her and soon, with her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, she sees blue converse and a fragment of washed-out jeans. She's too afraid to look up. No, actually she's terrified and not even the sight of casual blue converse can stop her heart from nearly exploding inside her chest.
"I'm not going to hurt you," the stranger repeats, stepping closer and drawing a gasp from Alison.
This time, she has to look up. Her brilliant baby blue eyes widen as she sees not a woman, but a gorgeous, young, athletic girl who couldn't be older than she herself was. The attacker's eyes are brown, and they examine Ali like a hawk. The girl looks conflicted, as if debating her every move. Her long, brown hair cascades over her shoulders and Alison is suddenly confused at how someone so beautiful could be so dark, could be wanted for murder. The tank top she's wearing shows off her toned, defined arms and Ali can tell she's a strong person just from the way she stands.
"I need your help."
x-x-x
Alison, barely breathing, taps some incoherent rhythm on the table with her fingertips. She doesn't know what to do with her hands, much less what to do whatsoever. She was commanded to sit tight by this mysterious girl who now stands tensely by the window with the curtains drawn, the knife still in her hand and Ali's cell phone in the other.
She resembles an animal that's being poached, Alison thinks, her eyes filled with this ferocious, raw fear that's unusually mixed with so, so much aggression. Life instinct or killer instinct, Alison doesn't know. She's not sure she wants to.
Sirens and police lights are still crawling up and down the street, the horrible criminal announcement being played over and over on repeat outside. Part of the blonde hopes that the police come barging into the café, another part hopes that this mysterious girl gets away- and she's unsure why.
"Is there any other way out of here?" the brunette asks in a tense voice, causing Alison to jump in her seat. "And stop tapping, it's driving me insane."
"N-no," she replies reluctantly, clutching her own hands together to stop the nervousness. "I don't think so."
"Damnit," the girl swears, shaking her head as she angrily slams the phone down on the table. Alison jumps at the violent action, her eyes blinking rapidly. The attacker shakes her head quickly. "Sorry."
Her voice is a mere mumble and she runs her hand through her hair quickly, her face frowning and worry etching into her features.
"What's your name?"
The brunette's eyes fly to meet Alison's, and the blonde is surprised to realize it was her own voice that spoke, that she had been the one to ask the random question. But if she's going to be held hostage by some random murderer on the loose, she wants to at least know her name.
"What?" the brunette looks at her carefully as if she heard her wrong.
"Your name," Alison breathes out softly, watching as the brunette's chest rises and falls softly and her body position shifts slightly.
"Emily," the brunette forces herself to speak, hesitantly.
"Emily?" Ali repeats, and she thinks that the name fits. She doesn't understand what's going on, but she does know that Emily is such a stunning girl. Her tan skin looks soft, though her features are hard and seem cruel as if she's trying to put on a front. And the girl is tall, lean, and has curves in all the right places. Though she's not wearing any makeup, Alison can tell this criminal is naturally stunning. She's sure her mugshot would look gorgeous.
"What's it matter anyway," Emily says under her breath as she pushes her hair back once more. Her eyes roam over the blonde and for some reason it intimidates Ali, it makes her squirm nervously. She watches as the brunette's lips curl up in a small innocent smirk. "You can relax I already said I'm not going to hurt you."
"Well sorry I'm having a bit of trouble trusting a wanted murderer," Ali blurts out in frustration and then her face shifts to a look of horror.
"I'm not a murderer," Emily seethes in a low, threatening voice. Her eyes are swirling with intense agony, a certain longing inside them. When she speaks again, her voice cracks painfully. "I swear. I didn't do it."
"Then why are they after you?" Alison asks, her eyes narrowing as her arms fold across her chest.
"Just trust me," Emily hisses, her voice raw and honest. "I could never have killed her."
"How am I supposed to believe-"
There's a pounding on the door that cuts them off.
"This is the police, if there is somebody in there open the door now."
Emily and Alison lock eyes once more, the blonde seeing a look of panic come across the brunette's face. But the pounding continues.
"Open the door, now!"
"I hate to do this," Emily says almost remorsefully, but she holds a stoic look on her face as she strides over to Alison in two swift steps, yanks her up by her arm, and binds her wrists together behind her back in an iron grip. She brings the knife up to Ali's throat and Ali gasps at the feeling of the cold metal digging into her skin a little too sharply. "Where can we hide?"
x-x-x
"Search the premises, check upstairs, now," an officer barks. The sound of walkies and footsteps and sirens overpowers the entire café.
Meanwhile, Alison shivers, her body shaking and she finds herself pressing into Emily's body behind her for warmth. It doesn't escape her that Emily's body tenses up and then relaxes every time Alison shivers against her.
"Search the entire kitchen!"
The two hear voices getting closer, and Emily's hand around Alison's mouth clamps even harder. The blonde had brought them into the walk-in freezer, in a small hidden compartment in the back behind some crates of vegetables. It's pitch black, and Alison can feel Emily's warm breath on her skin.
Alison quivers with the frigid air and she can't imagine how cold Emily must be, the brunette is wearing a mere tank top while the blonde at least has long sleeves on.
Her fingers come out to touch Emily's hand, and she tries to gently pry it off of her mouth.
"What are you doing?" Emily hisses in a hushed whisper, refusing to budge. But Ali is persistent, and she tries to calmly remove the fingers with gentle motions, an attempt to show Emily she won't do anything to compromise her. "You're not going to scream are you?"
Ali shakes her head and the brunette still hesitates to take her hands away. But when Ali uses a bit more force to rip Emily's hand away, the brunette allows it and Ali feels her heartbeat increase tenfold.
"You're shivering," Ali simply whispers and she's not sure why she wants to help Emily but she does. She turns her body so Emily is flat against the wall, and she presses her front against Emily, trying to maximize their body heat. Her hands go to rub Emily's bare arms and the brunette inhales sharply. There are goosebumps all over Emily's skin and Alison rubs quickly to try and create friction and heat.
They hear the fridge door open, and Alison can feel Emily's heartbeat pounding out of her chest. She tries to quiet her, and she puts her face in the crook of her neck between her head and her shoulder and whispers shhhh. But she feels Emily shiver and maybe that wasn't the best idea, in retrospect.
Time seems to drag on as they are trapped together in that infinitely tiny space while police make a ruckus outside in the main compartment of the walk in freezer. And Alison doesn't mind for some reason. The thrill of it all is setting her nerves on fire, it makes her feel alive. And it wouldn't be the first time she's undergone a life threatening situation just to feel alive, to feel like she has a sense of purpose.
And oddly enough, above all else, Emily's arms wrapped tightly around her make her feel safe. For all she knows, Emily could be a deranged murderer lying about what she's done. But there was a genuine honesty to her declaration of innocence. So Alison wants to know the real story, she wants to know what really happened to Emily and why she's being accused of murder. But she can't find that out in a freezer under search, and she's positive that Emily is going to hang around after to drink tea and swap life stories.
"Freezer is clear!" they hear a voice yell and Emily's body collapses slightly. Alison has to hold her up, and she can feel exhaustion running through the brunette's heavy body as she struggles to stand. She realizes that Emily must have been running on adrenaline.
They stay in that spot until they hear the place clear out, and even then they wait a few minutes.
"Come on," Ali whispers as she tugs on Emily and she pushes the door open. She grabs the brunette's hand that isn't holding a knife and pulls her out into the main compartment, and leads her to the open kitchen.
"Put the knife down," Ali says gently as she leads Emily to the counter and busies herself with a kettle in the back. She turns to see Emily shaking, and she sees that the brunette is still recovering from the shock and the cold. "I'll make some tea, the water is still warm."
"I have to go," Emily protests weakly.
"The cops are still out there, you should wait a bit before running," Alison suggests and the brunette leans against the counter, hanging her head in frustration. The blonde doesn't know whether or not to push her limits, but she decides to. "Where are you going after this?"
Emily merely shrugs, her eyes flickering over Alison's body.
"Somewhere warm," Emily offers and Alison smiles faintly at that.
"My grandparents live in Georgia, it's always warm down south," Ali replies softly and she glances at Emily- she finally sees marks she didn't see before. There are bruises on Emily's forearm, as if someone had grabbed her hard. But there is still a hard look on the brunette's face, one of determination and grit.
"Why are you being so nice?" Emily demands roughly but quietly, and there's a hint of confusion hidden below her aggressive surface. This time Ali shrugs.
"I guess you owe me," Alison jokes lightly. But those brown eyes look at her with an intense focus that she can't shake. Those eyes, they're so damn hypnotizing and Ali finds herself inexplicably and helplessly drawn to this stranger.
"You know that hiding a wanted murderer is a federal offense right?"
Alison forces herself to stare at Emily directly in the eye as she speaks.
"I don't think you'd rat me out, would you?"
Emily looks at her long and hard. She can't deny that this strange blonde isn't exactly her type of girl. The minute her eyes had set sight on her, she'd felt guilt churning in her stomach at the thought of harming her. But she'd gone too far to not defend herself like she had.
"Be careful who you trust," Emily grinds out in a bitter voice. "You seem like a nice girl, whoever you are-"
"Alison," the blonde says in an equally low voice.
"Alison," Emily says and she hates that she knows she can't sit around and get to know the blonde. She has to run, far. But she'll never forget the kind gesture and the pretty girl. "Thank you."
The brunette gets up and heads for the door. It's like ripping off a bandaid, she thinks. If she can just get up and make a clean escape for the door, she won't feel bad about just leaving the kind girl who helped her escape.
"Be careful."
Emily hears the girl's voice speak, and she decides she's met an angel. Alison is her own personal angel. A certain sadness resounds inside her, because she barely knows this girl and she's being forced to say goodbye.
"You too."
And with that, Emily disappears, and Alison is left all alone in the empty coffee shop. The sirens have disappeared, the helicopters have left, and the mysterious Emily has fleeted, surely never to appear again.
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A/N: What do you guys think? :) Let us know please, we love hearing from you!