In the morning I'd awake and couldn't remember, what is love and what is hate?

→ a lot about alison's early life is still a bit of a mystery. going off of what her mother told her, she was born and raised in riverville. her father was non-existent. at first, her mother dodged the issue, but eventually alison learned that her father had made a name for himself with the irish mob in boston and landed himself in prison. alison never met the man until she was in her teens.
→ she was a keep to herself kind of child, often teased for her big eyes and the way she never spoke much. at first, therapists thought she had a speech problem, but it was mostly because she didn't have much to say. by the time she turned ten, you couldn't get her to stop talking, or singing for that matter.
→ her mother never made a lot of money and she certainly didn't receive any from alison's father. he was a man that alison came to resent after meeting him, never fully understanding the decisions he made and why he would have chose a life of crime over raising a child. he was a man of dishonorable intention, but it couldn't be denied that he did have love for her. he just had a funny way of showing it.
→ after graduating from high school, alison was quick to enlist in the military. it was a disciplined life where she felt she could properly use her talents. it was only then that she realized she was more like her father than she thought. she just used a different outlet for the drive and determination. there wasn't much else she was good at, aside from dancing (which she'd been studying since she was a child). logically, the army was the best choice.
→ life in the army suited her. she was physically in better shape than most men in her unit and often used that to her advantage. hand-to-hand combat came naturally. so naturally, that she found she could make extra cash by participating in military rings. though small in stature, she could really hold her own and had no problem showing people that.
→ after surviving two tours in both iraq and afghanistan, alison was discharged and returned home to massachusetts. she came back to find her father had been leaving her money in hidden bank accounts. she wouldn't touch the funds in those accounts until recently when she made her first home purchase.
→ seeing the kind of things she saw overseas left her with a handful of mental and emotional scars. she often suffers from night terrors and can get set off by the smallest things. for a while, she saw a therapist, but that eventually imploded when she wouldn't open up and just stopped going.
→ for the past few years, she's been working at a semi-popular spot as a dancer. it's not the most reparable profession, but it allows her to fly under the radar. people have very little expectations of strippers these days and that's exactly how alison wants it to be. she doesn't want them to know that she's smart and fully capable of taking care of herself. she's no damsel in distress.
→ even though she's been satisfied with her life, there was always this itch that she couldn't seem to scratch. she missed the thrill that she got when fighting. another soldier who fought along side her in iraq contacted her about underground rings in the area. it promised cash winnings for the best of the best and alison was just that. she's been doing it about once a month for about three years now. it takes a toll on her physically, but she's almost addicted to the rush that comes from it.
→ she has a couple quirks. the first being that she prefers her motorcycle to her car, but just blames that on being the adrenaline junkie that she is. these days she doesn't keep to herself as much and is much more outgoing than she once was. performing on stage has helped with that. she also finds ways to supplement her income and free time by teaching dance classes throughout the week. her specialties include: beginners ballroom and pole dancing fitness.