Betrayed by Blood
Avery stood at the sink, quietly washing the mountain of plates that had been left there after lunch. Usually, there would be two other servants to help with the dishes since there were always a lot, but today the girls didn't show up, leaving all the work to Avery.
Avery sighed internally as she scrubbed the plates, cursing her luck for having chosen this task. She had always hated doing the dishes and now found herself doing them for the whole week. It felt like torture to her. Avery turned to place the clean plates into the rack when she heard a muffled voice breaking through the quiet of the kitchen. She looked around but realized she was the only one there.
"Please… stop…" the voice croaked out.
Avery froze and heard it again, much clearer this time. "Please don't," the person pleaded.
