If he noticed, he ignored her, and her insistent slumping away from him went unanswered. He held her down.

"Pass out" he muttered, not raising his head, so she tasted his words rather than heard them. His teeth and tongue against and through hers, driving her against the thin, thin barrier between the shreds of sanity left in the situation and a rising, high scream in her throat. She tried to close her eyes, and discovered they were already screwed shut.

Her heartbeat was drowning out everything, the sound of the breeze outside the bare walls, the light, and the deafening buzzing she thought she heard everywhere. Every second that passed dipped him lower to her, and she could feel his skin through the cotton of his shirt, the familiar beating below his shoulder. She tried to fight him back, but he held her down.

His hands on her body under the covers and on her breast came out of nowhere, since she had never felt his hands move, but she now felt all his weight on top of her. Crawling up on his knees, he straddled her slim hips on either side, and, never turning his suddenly undivided attention from her mouth, proceeded to run her over with his amazingly warm hands.

When he finally raised his mussed head to suck air jealously, his lips swollen and full, she bent in half. She tried to scream, but he quickly covered her mouth again. Resistance was futile. He looked down at her, and what came back to her was that soon this would all be over.

She tried to drown out everything in her mind, but all she could see or think about was Michael and what he was doing to her. She screamed silently, tears of frustration and betrayal gathering in her eyes. How did she come to this? What had she done wrong?

For just a moment, his weight leaned off of her as he stripped off his pants and boxers. She immediately sat up and shoved Michael away from her. He was caught off balance and cursed as he fell off the bed. Alisa scrambled off the other side, her blood pounding in her ears as she raced for the door, her nakedness completely forgotten.

Like a nightmare, time slowed down; the door was miles away... And then Michael was back.

He grabbed her once again, hauling her off of her feet and throwing her to the floor.

Alisa was stunned by the impact, but her instinct for survival kicked in immediately.

She scrambled and as she felt him touch her again, and kicked out at him, connecting hard with his left thigh. He grunted and cursed, grabbing her heels and spreading her legs apart with a jerk. Alisa tried to scream again as he fell to his knees between her legs, his mouth pressing hard against hers. A wave of nausea came over her. Good, she thought fiercely, throw up on him. Then he'll stop.

His hands were on her breasts, his mouth on hers before she could think another thought. She couldn’t believe this was Michael and that he was doing this to her. The knowledge speared her into immobility. She lay there under his assault, her mind slowly coming to terms with the realization. Alisa whispered for Max to come and help her as a sudden stabbing pain traveled up her body.

Bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, she chanted in her mind, trying to ignore the pain as he leaned into her over and over. She closed her eyes against the sight of him. Playing mind games, watching a reel-to-reel of memories, and shutting off the turmoil in her body.

Finally, she felt him collapse over her. He was weak now, and she felt revulsion as she pushed and kicked at him until he rolled off of her. He sat up and looked over his shoulder at her fighting the sobs racking her body.

"Was it good for you," he smiled. Michael got off Alisa slowly and put his boxers and pants back on. He eyes still roamed her naked body, as she lay shriveled on the floor. He picked her up, and at his touch she jumped, but he had to get her back into bed before Max got back.

A few minutes later Max ran into the house and into Alisa’s bedroom. Michael was holding her softly in his arms as she cried and tried to pull away. When she felt Max’s presence she pulled with all her might out of Michael’s arms and dashed out of the bed and into Max’s arms. He looked at her and noticed that she was fully clothed, he could have sworn she was still naked when he left. Max looked at Michael with a deep concern in his eyes.

"What happened?" Max asked. But Alisa was still too emotional to even talk. She tried to bring her emotions down to term, but tears just flowed down her cheeks.

"She had a nightmare I think. Once you left she started tossing and turning. I think it was about Ray…" Michael replied. He made sure not to make eye contact with Max because he could still feel the hunger in himself and he knew his eyes would tell Max everything.

"Oh… well, I’m going to take her back to my house for a while. Do you need a ride?" Max could feel that something else was wrong, but he would ask Alisa.

"No, but thanks. I’ll walk out with you though." Michael got up from the bed and walked over towards Max. Alisa jumped as she felt his presence close to her. Max quickly looked down at her and decided there was defiantly something wrong. He picked her up slowly and walked outside with Michael. He thanked Michael and looked at Alisa who was still crying.

"Michael, are you sure nothing else is wrong?" Max asked one last time.

"Of course. I have to get going. Bye Alisa." Michael replied. Alisa jumped at the sound of his voice and all she wanted was the get away form him. She pulled herself out of Max’s arms, never looking back at Michael or saying anything.

Max noticed the way she reacted towards Michael, but shrugged to himself. They had never been especially close.

As they both watched her slide into the seat, Max turned to Michael, and smiled at him gratefully.

"Michael" Max said, hesitantly. "Thanks for... you know, taking care of Alisa for me while I was gone."

"No problem" Michael cracked his knuckles and smiled. "Really!"

Max looked tense. Something had happened and he didn’t like not knowing, especially when it came to Alisa.

The drive to Max’s house was quiet except for the occasional sobs from Alisa. Once he had pulled into his driveway he could see just how troubled she looked. She was afraid of something.

"Alisa…what happened while I was gone." Max inquired.

"No….nothing…" Alisa couldn’t tell him that his best friend had just raped her. She knew he would not only be mad at Michael, but also at her. She cringed at the thought of Michael, but all felt pain at the thought of Max feeling revulsion for her. What would she do now that she was pregnant if Max left her? She could never tell him.

"I don’t believe you. Something happened. Did you have a nightmare? Was it about Ray?" Max noticed how her frown grew deeper at the mention of Ray, but he had to know.

"I don’t…. I don’t really remember…let’s just go inside." Alisa replied as she opened her door. She couldn’t stand to lie to Max like this. She got out of the car slowly and winced in pain. Michael had really hurt her, but now she could feel it in other places.

Max watched her carefully as she got out of the car and immediately noticed her pain as she got out. Oh god I hurt her! Max couldn’t believe that he had hurt her when they had had sex, but now he could clearly see that he had.

"Alisa…hold on… we need to talk." Max’s voice was strained. He looked into her eyes and saw fear.

"What?" Alisa asked weakly. The day was finally taking a toll on her.

"I’m sorry I hurt you… I didn’t mean to. I wish you would have told me, then I could have made the pain go away." Max smiled as she looked into his eyes and smiled too. He looked around to make sure no one was around and placed his hand between her legs. As he healed her flashes shot through his body and he fell back against the garage door. He looked at Alisa and saw how scared she looked.

Alisa had forgotten that Mac could connect with her, and so when he had offered to heal her she had completely forgot that he would see everything.

"Max…I’m sorry…." She whispered.

"Oh my god….why? Are you ok?" Max rushed to her and scooped her up into his arms. Anger rushed through his body, but was replaced with love and concern when he felt Alisa go limp in his arms. She sobbed against his chest.

"I understand….if you don’t… love me Max…." Alisa sobbed. Max looked at her in bewilderment.

"I’m going to kill him…" Max mumbled under his breath. "I’ll always love you Alisa, and that wasn’t your fault, it was mine. I’m sorry I left you alone… please forgive me… I’ll never leave you alone again." Max whispered his voice pained. Alisa sobbed silently against him. She could barely speak, let alone move.

Max picked up her delicate body and walked into his house. Isabel and his mother were having a conversation down stairs and turned when they heard Max walk in.

"Max, we’re in the kitchen. Why don’t you come and join us?" His mother asked as she watched him move towards the stairs. She noticed that he was carrying a girl in his arms and that she was sobbing. She quickly rushed out of the kitchen and over to him, Isabel right behind her. When Isabel saw it was Alisa she gasped at how bad she looked.

"What happened to her Max?" Isabel asked.

"Nothing." Max’s voice was filled with anger as he held her close. He walked up the stairs and into his room. His mother and sister followed him silently. Isabel knew that something terrible had just happened, Max was never angry and he would never bring Alisa over to their house unless something was really wrong.

"Max, honey, what happened to her? We need to know." Diane asked. She looked at the girl lying on her son’s bed and how Max kept his eyes closely on her and his hand locked over hers. The young girl was crying and she hastily looked at the girl’s appearance. She was petite and very pretty, but she also looked like she had been through a lot.

"Nothing mom…" Max could barely control his anger. "Isabel, call Seymour and tell him to come over right now." Max looked at Isabel for a slight second, but returned his gaze back to Alisa. One of his hands was lovingly stroking her cheek while his other hand still held hers.

Isabel complied and walked over to his desk. She called Seymour and told him to come over. When he asked why she simply said that Max needed to talk to him, but she knew that he could tell there was something else.

"He’s on his way." Isabel said quietly after she had hung up the phone. Max nodded, but he never took his eyes off Alisa. She had finally stopped crying and was now sleeping soundly.

"Mom… can you get me another blanket?" Max tried to keep his voice calm for his mother, but it took all his strength. His mind was racing as the images of Michael raping Alisa rushed though his head. Anger overflowed through his veins. Once Seymour was there to watch over Alisa he would be able to go ‘talk’ with Michael. Max’s mother nodded and left the room for only a moment and then returning with a blanket. He placed it over Alisa’s body and watched her curl up against his pillows and into the blanket, her frown disappearing from her face and a smile taking its place. Max smiled momentarily, but a frown soon took over as he again thought about Michael and how he was going to kill him.

Seymour arrived at the Evans’ house in less than five minutes, he had sensed that something was wrong with Alisa. When he knocked on the door Isabel answered and ushered him inside and up to Max’s room. When he saw Alisa he keeled over in pain as the images rushed over him. Ever since she had saved him they had a special connection and they could always feel and see what was happening. Once he had regrouped himself from the pain he rushed over to Alisa’s side and picked her up into his arms. She shrieked in fright, but was soon calm in his arms. She always felt safe in Seymour’s arms, maybe not as safe as in Max’s, but still safe. She sobbed humbly on his shoulder. Seymour looked at Max and nodded the he knew. Max shifted his eyes and Seymour knew where he was going. He again nodded in agreement that he would watch over her. Max let go of Alisa’s hand reluctantly, but he knew she was safe now. She had Seymour, Isabel and his mother.

"Mom, I need to go do something. I’ll be back soon." Max didn’t give his mother any time to disagree with him. Isabel walked out of his room and the house with him.

"Max, what happened."

"Nothing Isabel. Just watch over Alisa."

"You know I will, but you need to tell me what happened." Max glanced at her and then placed his hands on both sides of her face. The images of Michael raping Alisa rushed through Isabel and when they ended she could barely breath. She pulled away and looked at him.

"Go… I’ll make sure she is ok." Isabel mumbled. "Max… just remember he is your brother and one of your only links to your past." Max nodded and then hoped into his jeep. Isabel ran back into the house and back into Max’s room. Seymour was still holding Alisa and her mother was watching the two.

"Mom, why don’t we go talk in my room." Isabel offered. Her mother agreed and they went into Isabel’s room.

"Isabel, what’s going on?"

"Oh, well, I’m not quite sure, but don’t worry." Isabel watched her mother’s expression, and she knew she had to tell her something more then to not worry about what was happening. "The girl in Max’s room is Alisa, she’s his girlfriend. She moved here a couple weeks ago. The guy in Max’s room is like her brother, his name is Seymour."

"Max has another girlfriend?" Mrs. Evans was slightly relieved that Max was taking care of this poor girl, but she had always thought that Liz Parker was his soul mate.

"Yeah. When she moved here she got stuck with Max to show her around and they really took a liking to each other." Isabel smiled, she wasn’t really lying to her mother, she was just not giving all the details. "I was just as surprised as you are. I thought he would always be pining over Liz." She frowned a little as she said this, but at least she still wasn’t completely lying to her mother. Her mother nodded and they reached a silent understanding. They walked back over to Max’s room and watched as Seymour rocked Alisa back and forth trying to comfort her. She had stopped crying and was just staring at the wall in a complete daze.

"Maybe I should get her some tea." Mrs. Evans’ offered and Isabel nodded in agreement. Once her mother was half way downstairs she again looked at Seymour.

"I’m sorry. You must really hate us now." Isabel couldn’t help but try to make up for what Michael had done.

"It isn’t your fault, and it wasn’t Max’s. He was taking care of her. He didn’t know that Michael would do what he did. I trust you and Max, but I can’t ever forgive Michael." Seymour quietly said.

"I don’t expect you to. Is she ok?" Isabel watch Alisa closely and then Seymour.

"I think she is somewhat better. She was really afraid that Max would be repulsed by what had happened."

"He would never turn away form her."

"I know. Why do you think he did it?" Seymour asked. He didn’t understand why Michael had done what he had done. Didn’t he know that she was with Max now that Ray was gone?

"I don’t know. I remember the first day she came to school he was looking at her in this indescribable way. Ever since then he had always been looking at her or glancing at her. I never thought anything about it, especially since she had changed so much, and because I know that he loves Maria."

"I saw him looking at her too, but since Ray was around I knew nothing would ever happen."

"Max would never of let this happen either…." Isabel retorted.

"I didn’t mean it that way, but Ray never fully trusted Michael. He saw the way he looked at Alisa." Seymour looked down at Alisa’s sleeping form in his arms. "Had Max seen it, I know he would have never left her alone."

Michael and Maria looked up as Michael’s door crashed open. Before either of them could say anything Max had Michael pinned against the wall and a look of death in his eyes.

"Max…let me go…" Michael choked out.

"Maria, you should leave if you don’t want to be hurt… emotionally that is." Max answered coldly. His eyes never even blinked as he continued his death stare at Michael. Maria looked at the two and fled out the door not even willing to talk about what had happened. She closed the door behind her, but decided to stay near by and listen in on what was going on.

"How could you?" Max asked, his voice stern and hostile.

"I swear I didn’t do anything." Michael calmly answered. He knew he couldn’t trick Max, but he had to get him to calm down. Before he could say anything else Max threw him across the room and into the wall.

"If you ever touch her, look at her, or talk to her again I will kill you without a second thought." Max said shrewdly, the anger in him still growing.

"The only reason I am even letting you live right now is because you are one of the only living links I have to my past, and I may need you. But I never want to see you unless I have to." Max growled. Michael solemnly nodded. When Max released him and left he collapsed on the ground. He knew he had majorly messed up, but something was driving him to do what he had done. Maria ran in a minute later and looked at Michael who was sitting against the wall on the floor.

"Michael…. What happened?" Maria asked. She had never heard Max talk like he had, and she knew for a fact that he had never acted like that before.

"Nothing, I just did something stupid. Don’t worry about it." Michael looked at Maria and shuddered. How could have cheated on her, she was the best thing in his life, but Alisa’s body was just so perfect and her long blonde hair made him want her even more. He racked his brain at why he had done what he had done.

"Maybe I should leave…" Maria offered. Michael only nodded before he went back to thinking about why he had hurt Alisa and Max so much.

Max ran upstairs and into his room as soon as he got home. When he walked in the picture before him made him smile. His mother and Alisa were drinking tea and talking together, both smiling and laughing. Seymour and Isabel appeared behind him and they too watched the scene before them.

"Hey." Max said shyly. Alisa looked up and smiled as tears came back into her eyes. He walked over slowly, knelt down beside her and took her into his arms. His mother watched the two interact together and she couldn’t help but feel a wave of happiness overcome her. She was happy that he had found someone else, but she still didn’t know this girl very well, at least not as well as she knew Liz.

"Max, honey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Mrs. Evans’ asked. She could feel the electricity in the air between the two and something in her sensed that maybe this girl was his soul mate, but she could have sworn that Liz was it. Max looked down at Alisa and she nodded letting him know that it was ok for him to leave.

"Yeah…" Max said softly as he let go of Alisa. He and his mother walked downstairs and into the kitchen.

"So, who is this girl?" Mrs. Evans didn’t want Max to know that Isabel had already told her about Alisa.

"Oh, um… her name's Alisa." Max replied coolly. He knew how much his mother liked Liz, and he wished he could tell her that this was Liz, but it would be way too complicated.

"She seems very nice… what happened though? And why are you helping her?" Max grimaced at the question. Should he tell her that she was his girlfriend or that his best friend had just raped her?

"Um, she’s my girlfriend… and I’m not sure what’s wrong" Max lied.

"I know you don’t want to hurt me Max, but something is wrong. I can tell."

"I would tell you if I knew, but I don’t know anymore then you do. I was going over to her house after I came home and when I found her she was crying." Max couldn’t believe what he was saying. Sure he wasn’t completely lying, but he also couldn’t say anything more.

"Max… you have to tell someone…" Mrs. Evans gave him a knowing frown. She had seen the fear in Alisa’s eyes, she knew that someone had hurt her somehow, and she had a pretty good idea of how.

"It’s not my decision." Max answered.

"She doesn’t have the strength to do anything Max… I don’t know if you love her, but if you do then you will do the right thing." Diane got up and went back upstairs to make sure Alisa was ok. Max just sat at the table thinking about what his mother had just said. He couldn’t tell anyone otherwise both Alisa and Michael could get seriously hurt. The FBI would probably seek after both of them and he didn’t want to put either of them through that. No matter how much he hated Michael right now, he would never let the FBI get a hold of him. After he had thought about what to do he went back upstairs.

Isabel was brushing Alisa’s hair and trying to calm her down while Seymour was holding her hand. Max’s mother watched the way Isabel was treating Alisa with such care. She had never seen her daughter act this way before.

"Alisa, would you like to take a shower and maybe freshen up a bit?" Mrs. Evans asked. She wanted to try and help this girl who obviously had somehow caught her son's eye.

"Sure…" Alisa still didn’t have much strength in her, but she did want to get the feeling of Michael off her. When she moved to get up Max rushed over and helped her. She smiled softly in a silent reply. Isabel also got up and ushered Alisa over to the bathroom.

"Mom, can you go into my room and pick out something for her to wear?" Isabel asked.

"Of course." Diane answered.

Isabel was just about to close the door when Max appeared.

"Max, I don’t think Mom will let you in here with her, so I’ll help her out." Isabel stated. She knew Max wanted to take care of Alisa, but with their mom here he couldn’t.

"Ok…" Max replied hesitantly.

A half an hour later Isabel emerged from the bathroom. Alisa followed her out and back into Max’s room. She was wearing sweatshirt and sweat pants, both of which were baggy against her small, but tall frame. Isabel was amazed at how small Alisa’s body really was, and how much she had really changed. While before the changes Liz would have not filled out the clothing, but they wouldn’t be baggy. Now they were baggy, but she did fill out some areas. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders and back. Isabel was actually jealous of how pretty it was. It was perfectly straight and the layers in it added a small bounce to it.

Max walked in his room only to find Alisa had just taken off her top and was going to put on her bra. He stopped dead in his tracks as he looked over her small body. She looked like a goddess to him. He noticed there were small rug burns on her back and cringed again as he thought of how mad he was at Michael. He reached out and gently touched the burns on her back. Alisa shrieked at his touch and covered herself with her arms quickly.

"I’m sorry… I just saw the rug burns on your back…" Max whispered into her ear as he pulled her into his arms. He felt her body relax and for the first time since the incident had happened he felt a reassurance that she would be ok. One of his hands rested gently on her stomach while his other held her around her shoulder.

"No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m sorry you got dragged into this and that now you have more responsibility then you need."

"Don’t ever say that. You didn’t do anything wrong. And you and our baby will never be a nuisance or a responsibility that I don’t want to handle. So stop thinking that way." Max rubbed her stomach softly to reassure her. He then kissed her cheek softly. "I told my mom."

"WHAT?" Alisa yelled. She couldn’t believe he had told his mother what happened.

"No, I didn’t mean that… I told her that you were my girlfriend… I hope that’s ok." Alisa glanced at Max for a moment as if to tell him she’d be mad if hadn’t.

"Of course it ok. But how is she taking it? I mean… I wish I could tell her it’s me, but I guess it would only complicate matters."

"I know, I wish we could tell her too. She seems to be all right with it. She is really concerned about you though. I think she knows."

"How?"

"I don’t know, but when I went to go talk to her she simply said that she could tell that something bad had happened. She wanted to tell the police I think, but I told her it was your decision."

"NO! We can’t tell the police…" Alisa knew that had she still been a human instead of a vampire then she still wouldn’t have told the police, but then again, Michael would have never done this to her if she still looked like her plain old self.

"Don’t think that way. What Michael did was wrong, not matter what the circumstances are. Just because you have changed doesn’t mean he had a right to do this."

"I know Max, but it’s hard to think otherwise. He never looked at me in the way he does now." Alisa rolled her eyes and shivered at the thought. She didn’t like thinking about Michael anymore.

"And he will never look at you again." Max said possessively.

"Thanks…"

"Ok, so what else is wrong?" He knew he had sensed more then what had just happened.

"I need to go back to California… Seymour, Kalika, Yaksha and I need to get back to California. I can’t have the baby here…"

"I’m not leaving you. And why can’t you have the baby here?" He couldn’t bare to tell her it would only be Seymour, and the two of them.

"There are some variations in how I look being pregnant and how humans look… I never grow. If I go back to California now and come back in ten months then no one can ask questions. If I stay here and have a baby then people would ask questions."

"Alisa… sit down, we need to talk." Max looked at her with regret in his eyes. She sat down on his bed, she still only had on a bra. Max glanced at her bare skin and then stared at her sweatshirt. If his mother came in she would throw a fit. Alisa noticed his glance and quickly put on Isabel’s sweatshirt.

"I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it. Kalika and Yaksha didn’t make it. They were killed just outside the cave." He watched as she stiffened and then her cry of pain filled the house. He collected her into his arms and tried to soothe her. Seymour and Isabel rushed into Max’s room and took in the scene before them. Next Max’s mother came running up the stairs.

"Isabel, what’s wrong?" Diane asked. Seymour looked from Mrs. Evans’ to Isabel and then over to Max and Alisa.

"Her brother and little sister were killed a few days ago and Max just told her." Seymour said blankly.

"Oh the poor thing…" Mrs. Evans’ watched Max console Alisa and sighed. "Do her parents know?"

"She lost her parents a long time ago… she lived with her brother and sister. I stayed with them sometimes too." Seymour wasn’t sure if what to say, so he just blurted out the first thing. He trusted this woman, after all she had let Alisa stay here and had helped here through everything too.

"So she is alone now? Oh dear…" Diane felt terrible for Alisa.

"No, I’ll take care of her until she is out of high school at least." Seymour replied. He knew they would be going back to California soon anyway, so it didn’t matter what he said. Isabel watched Seymour. He was so calm and collected, like this was just part of a daily routine. Sure he had been hysteric when he found out what Michael had done, but when he mentioned the death of Yaksha and Kalika he just seemed to not care. Seymour noticed Isabel looking at him and nodded towards her room. Isabel agreed and the two went to go talk.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Isabel asked once they were alone.

"It’s happened before. Except last time Yaksha died first, then two or so years later Kalika died so Alisa could live. Ray died when Kalika died. I took care of Alisa until she went back in time, and now I will do it again. Thank you for your help, and we will keep in contact."

"You’re leaving?"

"We have to."

"Why?"

"Because of the baby." Seymour watched the surprised expression on Isabel’s face and suddenly wished he could go back in time and take back what he had just said. She didn’t know.

"What baby?"

"Alisa is pregnant." Seymour said quietly.

"So why does she have to leave?"

"She doesn’t have a normal pregnancy like humans do. She never grows like humans do, and if we stayed then there would be a lot of questions."

"So where are you going?"

"Back to California. Ray has a house in Las Angeles we can live in. Alisa has a house up north near Lake Tahoe and I have a house near San Francisco."

"So you’re just leaving?"

"Yes." Seymour replied and left her room. When he returned to Max’s room he found that Alisa had calmed down a little and was now laying down on Max’s bed. He was sitting next to her stroking her back and wiping away her tears.

"We should get going." He didn’t want to tear Alisa away from Max, but if she didn’t leave now then they would have to wait until tomorrow to catch the next plane.

"We’re leaving now?" Max asked.

"No, Alisa and I are leaving now. You have to stay here and protect your friends."

"I’m not leaving her Ray made me promise to protect her. And there is no way you are going to take her away from me."