The Truth Hurts

"The Truth Hurts" is the 9th episode of Sweet Escape.

Plot
Alison Morris is lying on the floor after been thrown there by Benjamin Wheeler, he is stood aiming her handgun at her, “Start talking you lying bitch!” he yells, shaking the gun in her face. A scared Joe asks what’s going on, so Ben explains to everyone that Alison has been keeping something from them all. “What’re you talking about? What thing…?” Rena asks, confused and scared at the deadly situation he is witnessing. “I don’t know…but I can tell you the reason that the reason she brought us here wasn’t to help us start a new life!” Ben yells accusingly. Josh just stands and observes the confrontation. Ali looks around nervously, fearing for her life. “I don’t understand, what makes you think that?” Rena asks. “Because I know who she is…and she knows who I am… and I know the last thing on earth she’d want to do is help me. I’ll take an educated guess and assume the same about you guys too” he explains, everything thinks for a moment, “But I don’t know her…” Joe states, “Me neither” Rena adds. “Yeah! I don’t know this bitch too! And trust me I’m like a dicktionary when it comes to peeps and faces, yunno what I mean” Joanna says, nudging Liz with her shoulder, clearly not recognising the ginger woman. Liz ignores the black woman and remains silent throughout all of this. Ben turns his attention back to Alison and demands she explain herself, she remains frightened and confused. “Well what about Josh…?” Rena begins, “Surely if Alison had ulterior motive…then Josh would be in on it. Do you know him?” he finishes. Ben thinks for his moment and then turns his attention to Josh, who is just stood calmly watching the confrontation. The second Ben looks away, Ali sweeps her leg across the floor, tripping Ben over, causing him to send a gunshot into the air. Everyone jumps with fear. The blonde manages to tackle the gun off of him and then stands, firmly aiming it at him. The look of fear on her face has now been replaced by a sinister smile, “Very clever Benjamin…” she intimidates him, “You have it ALL figured out, don’t you? Tell me, how long ago was it that you realized” she wonders. Ben explains from the moment she rescued him. “And you managed to go this long without revealing yourself?” she commends him, Ben explains that he had to make sure that he was correct…but it soon became clear that something wasn’t right. Everyone else is completely baffled. “I guess it’s time I owe you all an explanation...” Ali begins, “Where to start?” she asks. “From the beginning” Ben snarls. Ali smiles, “Very well. That’ll be you”.

"''Family means everything to me… it’s the thing I hold dearest to my heart…and I’ll do anything to protect it."

We see Ali and her family sat in the living room of their small house, watching a film together and laughing, enjoying themselves.

"''We were never the richest, but my parents made by with what little they had… and they made it work."

We see Ali and her family eating cheap microwave meals, but the quality of the food doesn’t matter. They’re happy nonetheless, grateful that they have each other.

"''My parents were good people…better than I’ll ever be. They helped those in need… Every week they’d drive down to the coast to feed the homeless. They did it even if it meant they themselves wouldn’t get food, they were those kind of people, you know?."

We see Ali’s parents down at the beach, handing out food to the local homeless people. They are extremely thankful for the warm food that they’re receiving.

"''That’s why it’s just…so horrific to know that a man would be capable of harming someone like that… You, Ben… Julian Morris, my father, worked for your company… he was a good man and you…you ruined his life! On purpose! You took away his time with the family and the homeless! You took away his money! You took away everything he held dear because you are a pathetic, selfish, cowardly man!"

We are shown flashes of all the horrible things Benjamin did to his employee, Julian, which eventually drove him into bankruptcy.

"''We lost all of our money, our home… everything. You ruined our lives and sent us into poverty."

In the present, Ali is stood aiming the gun at Ben, breathing heavily with anger, “HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?! MY FATHER WAS A GOOD PERSON” she roars at him. Ben yawns, “You know, you haven’t told me anything I didn’t know already… You kinda just confirmed that I’m not an idiot” he says, smug. Ali is completely shocked at Ben’s response. “Is this true…?” Rena asks, disgusted towards Benjamin’s past and current behaviour. Ben sighs, frustrated, “Yes, it’s true” he tells the group, “I’m a BAD man” he says, almost proud. Everyone glares at him. “Look, before you judge me” he tells the group, “Let me Morris finish the story” he explains, looking at the blonde, “Continue…” he tells her. Ali thinks for a moment and then announces, “Well, I know she’s currently MIA, but now we’ll move onto Mary” she snarls.

"''After my family, well, became poor, times were hard for me. I wasn’t doing so well in high school; I lost my job because I had nowhere to live… So I ended up selling my body."

Liz is both shocked and saddened upon hearing this information, “You sold your body…?” she asks faintly, “YES ELIZABETH! THAT’S WHAT I JUST SAID” an angry Ali yells at her, “Now will you let me get on with the story, please?” she hisses. Liz remains silent.

"''So yeah, I sold my body… and to be perfectly honest, I was good at it. I wasn’t proud… but at least I earned decent money. Anyway, there was one particular night were I just found out some big news… I didn’t know if I should continue prostitution anymore, but I decided to give it one last go. Worst mistake of my life! I’m about to get in this guy’s car and a crazy prostitute attacks me!"

We see Mary attacking Alison, she scratches and claws at the girl and then finishes by kicking her in the stomach with her heel.

"''By the way, if you’re wondering what the news I just discovered was… I was pregnant. I lost the baby. Because of that fucking bitch."

Everyone is even more shock. Liz is stunned with all the information she is getting, “Y-You were pregnant?” she asks. Ali nods, “Yup. About a month in” Ali says nonchalantly. Elizabeth waits a moment, hoping she’d continue, “Well who was the father? I never knew you had a partner” Liz asks curiously. A massive grin appears on Ali’s face and she lets out a little chuckle, “Oh sweetie, you really don’t know do you?” she asks mockingly. “Know what?” Liz asks, slightly nervous. “Well this moves us on nicely to the next part of the story” Ali smiles.

"''I was fucking Tom!"

We see Alison and Liz’s husband, Thomas, having sex in bed together. “Oh my god, you’re so fucking good” Tom groans as he thrusts his penis into Alison’s vagina. They’re in Liz and Tom’s bed. Ali smiles dirtily, “Liz doesn’t know anything about this, does she?” she asks. Tom assures Ali that Liz is totally oblivious, she laughs. After Tom ejaculates, not wearing a condom, they lay in the bed together.

"''I came to both of you when I needed help the most and you turned me away! I was homeless, had no money… and you both threw me away like a dog."

We see Ali at the home of Tom and Liz, she’s asking for help. Liz regretfully says that Ali can’t stay at their home as there simply isn’t enough room. Tom doesn’t do anything to help his secret lover and simply watches as she’s left on the street.

Back in the present, Liz is absolutely disgusted by her friend’s uncaring attitude to the serious situation. She begins to cry, “You were sleeping with Tom?” she asks sadly. “Yeah. Had his baby too. That’s what you get for stealing him from me you bitch” Liz is utterly shocked, “But you said you didn’t care!” Liz cries out, “In case you haven’t been listening for the past few minutes you might have realized that I’m a bit of a liar!!!” Ali roars with fury. Liz is speechless, “Alison… the reason I turned you away wasn’t because I didn’t want to help you. Of course I did! But…T-Thomas was abusing me. I didn’t want to and couldn’t let you be around that!” she cries, “You have to understand” she begs. Ali lets out a little chuckle, “Oh yeah, about that…I kinda asked him to hurt you”. Liz’s eyes and mouth open wide with shock.

In a flashback, after having sex with Ali, she and Tom lay in bed together. She rolls over to her secret lover and whispers into his ear, “You wanna prove yourself to me?” she asks. Tom looks at her and smiles, “How?” he wonders. Ali smiles wickedly.

Back in the present, Elizabeth is completely mortified and she breaks down into tears. Joe comforts the ginger and hugs her as she cries into his shoulder. “You’re a monster!” Rena yells at Alison. Alison bursts out into laughter, “I’M the monster?” she scoffs. “What are you insinuating?” Rena asks angrily. “You’re the one who murdered people!” she yells at the Portuguese. Rena is stunned, “W-What?” he asks nervously. “Yeah… Did you honestly think you’d get away with that?” she sinisterly asks him.

"''Remember what I said about my parents being good people? How they went down to the coast every week to feed the homeless? Well they still did that even after that had lost everything! They still wanted to help those in need… But you are the most selfish person I know, Renato Lacerda. Your insolence killed my parents!"

We see Ali’s parents, Julian and Flora, driving down the coast of California after just feeding some of the homeless people. As they drive down the road peacefully under the starry night, their whole world comes to an end when a speeding car, headed for the pier, slams right into them. The driver, a drunken Rena, is flipped in his car down the road, whereas Ali’s parents die upon impact.

In the present, Rena gets an immense feeling of guilt and Ali almost breaks down into tears. “You were one of the daughters?” Rena asks, almost crying as the memories of that event come back to him. “Yes. You took two of the most special people in me and my sister’s life away… Your idiocy killed them!” she yells, crying. “I-I-I’m sorry” he struggles to say through his tears. Ali is angered by this. “You’re sorry? You’re sorry?! You weren’t sorry at the time, were you?! You never once apologized to me and my sister. Not once!” she yells at him. “My little sister was traumatised by their death… she was only eight… you ruined her life” she tells Rena, making him feel guilty. Suddenly, Joe begins to realize what is happening right now and he begins to sweat and breathe heavily, becoming extremely nervous, “W-Who was your sister?” he asks Alison. Ali turns to him with a furious glare, “You. You fucking little cunt. You are the most pathetic excuse for a human being I have ever seen!” she hisses at him. Joe gulps, “Hey, back off” Rena yells at her. “Aww, do you need the big strong man to protect you?” Ali asks the child intimidatingly. “The story continues with Joe and my sister” she states.

"''As I said, my sister, Catherine, took our parents’ deaths pretty hard… She was vulnerable for a long time. You see, people like Joe, who are insecure about themselves think that it’s a good idea to pick on those weaker than them…they think it makes them feel stronger. But to me, it only makes them weaker."

We see a montage of all the horrible things Joe did to Catherine.

"''She couldn’t handle the pain of our parents’ deaths, the poverty and the bullying…so she began cutting herself."

We see Catherine in the bathroom of a cheap motel cutting her wrists. Alison walks in on her sister during the act and is absolutely mortified. She snatches the razor off of her sister and attends to the wounds.

Back in the present, Ali has walked right up to Joe’s face and she begins to tower over him. “You think you’re tough?” she growls at him, pushing him down to the ground. As he attempts to stand up, she keeps on pushing him down, repeatedly asking if he thinks he’s tough. He is silent and begins to cry slightly, “No, you’re not!” she roars. Joanna runs up to Alison and pushes her away from the child, “Hey! BACK OFF BITCH! TOUCH HIM AGAIN AND I WILL PERSONALLY SHOVE THAT GUN UP YOUR ANUS AND SHOOT IT OUT OF YOUR HEAD” she roars, enraged at the black woman. Intimidated, Alison attempts to hit Joanna over the head with the gun to knock her out, but Joanna catches her arm in the act. She begins to squeeze down on Ali’s arm, causing her to keel to the ground in pain. Joanna moves her face in close to the blonde, “Bitch you gonna tell my part of the story now. Joanna’s time to shine” she demands, pushing Alison to the ground. Ali stands back up, holding the gun and dusts herself off. “Honey, you’re not really that special in all of this…” she begins to explain.

"''A few months after I met Josh he proposed to me in the streets… it was a beautiful location on a beautiful day…everything was perfect. THAT WAS UNTIL YOU ARRIVED AND CUT MY FUCKING CHEST OPEN AND KNOCKED THE ENGAGEMENT RING INTO THE DRAIN!!!"

We see Josh proposing to Alison and then Joanna running past, cutting Ali and then accidentally losing grip of the knife. She keeps on running. The engagement ring falls into the drain.

"''I fucking loved that ring."

Everyone is utterly speechless at all the information they’ve just taken in. Ali paces in front of the five people in front of her, aiming her gun at all of them. Josh remains stood silently in the back, watching everything that is happening. Rena carefully steps forward, causing Ali to aim her gun at him. “So how does he play into all of this?” Rena wonders, pointing towards Josh. “He’s the reason you’re all here today” she smiles. “When I met Josh it was love at first sight… I knew he was the one. We shared everything with each other… all his problems, all my problems... and he was so sweet in the ways he helped me” she explains. “How did he help you?” Rena asks nervously. “He told me that he worked for this organisation... and they could help me get revenge for those who have been wronged. The group become highly nervous, “What do you mean ‘revenge’?” Joe asks. “Jesus Christ, Joe, are you really that oblivious? Haven’t you worked it out yet?!” she yells. “I’m the fucking reason you all ended up in prison… well, apart from you” she tells Ben, “You did that all on your own”.

We see a flash of Josh giving Alison a golden necklace with the letter “M” on it, explaining to her that she’s now a full member of his organisation and they’ll do everything they can to help her get the revenge she so desires.

We see a flash of Alison reading a news story about Rena Lacerda, the drunk driver, who killed a couple being released from prison early, she is furious. We then flash to her entering his home on the morning that he was to be released. She finds Rena’s parents in bed and slits Eliana’s throat. Before Tiago can react, he is stabbed repeatedly in the back. The house is then set on fire by her and she hides in the yard, waiting for Rena to arrive at the house, knowing this would be where he first visits. Once he’s inside the burning house and falls unconscious, Ali plants the murder weapon in his hand. Framing him for the murder of his mother and father.

We see a flash of Alison with her little sister, Catherine, in a small room alone. Catherine is crying as he sister rips her clothes off and orders her to stand in front of a camera, posing seductively. Alison begins photographing her naked sister with a desperate and determined look on her face. We then flash to see Josh entering the house and using special equipment to insert the pictures onto the computer in the resident’s bedroom. He also plants printed pictures of the girl in drawers around the room. A while later, the owner of the house, Mary Castillo, comes home from work. We see Alison call the police the next morning, giving an anonymous tip that she suspects Mary Castillo to be a paedophile, informing them of her past as a prostitute. The poor woman is framed for possession of child pornography.

We see a flash of Alison entering Liz’s house when nobody is at home. Knowing Tom’s favourite meal, she locates the ingredients for it in the kitchen and begins to inject a special poison that was provided to her by the organisation, a poison that kills instantly. We flash to Tom preparing the food and then eating it. Once he ingests the poison, he dies. Liz is framed for the murder of her husband.

We see a flash of Catherine being beat up, scratched and kicked by her older sister. Alison sheds a tear as she harms her little sister, but she is too determined on getting revenge to let it stop her. Once she’s done abusing her little sister, who is almost blacking out, she instructs her to claim that Joseph Carpenter was the one who harmed her, and knowing his history of abuse with her, she knows the police would believe her allegations. As Catherine lies in a hospital bed, she tells the police that Joe is the one who harmed her. He is framed for the attack on young Catherine.

And finally, we see a flash of Alison spreading word around Joanna’s hood that a bounty has been set on Sebastian LeBron by a rival gang. She then enters Joanna’s household and shoots Sebastian in the head as he releases his bowels on the toilet; the second he dies, his bowels completely empty due to the muscles relaxing. “Gross” she snarls, walking away carelessly. However, as she leaves, she is unaware that he golden necklace with the letter “M” on it snaps and falls to the floor.

Back in the present, everyone is shocked and in tears that Alison would do such a thing to harm them. “Well why didn’t you stop there? Why break us out of prison?! Why bring us here?!” Rena cries to her. “It wasn’t enough” she says bluntly, “I needed you to suffer… I made you suffer mentally for long enough…it was time to finish the job and make that suffering as physical and painful as I possibly could” she hisses. Liz remains silent. “Mary…she’s dead. Isn’t she?” Rena asks sadly. Ali shrugs her shoulders, “Probably” she says nonchalantly. Everyone is hurt, “You’re fucking crazy!” Ben roars at her. Ali laughs, “Maybe I am… But you’re dead” she smiles. She aims the gun at Rena, Ben, Joe, Liz and Joanna, who are all stood before her and then she cocks it, ready to aim. However, before she can pull the trigger she is suddenly interrupted by a strange metallic sound coming from the pyramid. Everyone’s attention is turned to it. They all stare in awe as the pyramid begins to open up, like a shell. The walls of the pyramid touch the ground, leaving the elevator inside open to the elements. In the elevator stands Valentina, Justine and a tied up and gagged Mary. Rena, Ben, Liz, Joe and Joanna all stare at Mary with shock, glad to see she’s alive. The beaten girl simply gives them a look of sorrow in return and then a look of confusion when she sees Alison stood aiming a gun at them. “Is it time?” Justine asks her superior. Valentina nods and with a face void of any emotion, she turns to both Alison and Josh, simply stating, “It’s time to begin”. Ali smiles at the captives she holds before her and then begins to squeeze down on the trigger. The sound of a gunshot rings throughout the desert area an then we hear the sound of a dead body thud as it falls to the floor.