This is how I feel.

I'm cold and I am shamed,

Lying naked on the floor.

Illusion never changed,

Into something real.

I'm wide awake

And I can see the perfect sky is torn.

You're a little late,

I'm already

Torn.

Torn."

Liz felt a gentle lapping against her face, drawing her into consciousness.

Oh, she didn't want to wake up, but the water was so cold.

Stirring slowly, Liz felt pain everywhere and she opened her eyes. Her bathroom. Why was she on the floor... in her bathroom?

With a painful rush, the memory crowded into her brain, bringing instant panic. Lifting her head slightly, she glanced around and saw that he was gone.

Of course.

She let her head fall back into the water on the floor.

Her head was throbbing; her face burned; her arms were bruised... but none of that compared to the agony between her legs. Somehow, it was worse than before. There was blood on her thighs and the sight of it made her feel faint.

How could she bleed again?

She pushed away her questions and rolled over on her side slowly.

The pain her effort cost her made her feel weak and she stopped, idly watching the tub overflow with water. Over the rim the water cascaded, dropping into the deepening puddle on the floor. Small waves rippled across the surface of the shallow water, even reaching her.

Mom is going to love this...

She slowly forced herself to sit up, then to stand.

I'll clean it up and she'll never know.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped in shock.

Unless she sees my face, of course.

One cheek was swollen and purple, the other was cut and bruised as well. Liz reached up gingerly and touched the bruises.

He thought she was so helpless, that since she'd kept quiet about it last time, she would be easy prey this time.

Anger flooded through her.

This was not going to happen again.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, she walked to the tub and turned off the water.

Her options were few at this point. There was only one she could think of.

******

It was one of the hardest thing she had ever done, running to Sheriff Valenti.

She made it out of the window, down to the alley and out on the road without anyone seeing her. That was, after all, the only way she could be safe. Out here, he could be anybody.

Parking the car as quietly as possible, Liz looked around fearfully.

Get ahold of yourself!

She forced herself to climb out of the car and walk calmly to the door, glancing hastily around after knocking.

And then, Kyle opened the door.

Liz almost burst into tears.

She had completely forgotten he would be there and quickly backed off into the shadows.

"Liz, is that you," Kyle asked, stepping out onto the porch.

Her heart was beating fiercely as she pulled her upturned collar closer to her face and her dad's much-too-large ballcap down to shadow her eye.

She managed to nod.

"So, Liz why didn't you go for the big baseball cap," he asked sardonically. "No, really. I think if you're here to audition for the part of 'Kyle's love slave', you might want to re-think the jeans. Maybe a nice thong would work. What do you think?"

Liz didn't give him time to enjoy his smirk, because he found himself shoved up against his door and falling through it faster than he could think to catch himself.

She slammed the door behind them and stepped over him.

"Liz? Hey, Liz, if you wanted to talk, why didn't you just say so?"

My god, he's still trying to crack jokes!

Liz stalked to the living room, but somehow knowing before she reached it that the Sheriff wasn't home. Her mind finally processed the thought that his cruiser hadn't been parked in the driveway.

And that's where her plan ended. She couldn't go to the Sheriff station, not like this. Or Max's house. Or Maria's. Or Alex's.

Liz leaned back against the doorframe of the Valenti's living room and slid slowly to the floor.

"Liz," Kyle's voice finally reached her ears and she looked up at him, tears blurring his face in front of her.

Kyle sucked in a breath loudly as he squatted beside her.

"Oh. my. god."

He reached out a hand to touch her face, but pulled back at the last second.

"Look at you. Who the hell did this to you, Liz? Wait, did Max do this to you?"

Liz was on her knees, grabbing Kyle by his shirt in two seconds. She shook her hand vigorously, mouthing the word "No."

"Alright, alright... stay here. Don't move. I'm calling Dad," he said calmly, pulling her hands off his shirt.

Liz let him disentangle himself and stared blankly at the wall as he got up.

******

This was it.

Liz thought she might actually die sometime over the next ten minutes, which was approximately how long it would take Max and Isabel to arrive.

Reminding herself of all she had survived to make it to this point was of no help. It just made her feel more like giving up.

She had no idea of how Max would respond to this, or how they would deal with Nasedo. She just knew that Nasedo had proven to her how incapable she was of protecting herself against him. He could reach her anytime, anyplace and do anything to her that he wanted to. She had to have help.

Her eyes slid shut as fear gripped her once again.

But she reminded herself that the Sheriff was sitting across the room from her, and Kyle, poor, confused Kyle was next to her on the couch. Before the night was out, she wondered if he would know their secret, or if they would figure out a way to lie once again.

The Jeep's engine... she would know that sound anywhere.

Shame washed over her at just the thought of Max knowing and she jumped up stiffly, heading for the other end of the house.

"Liz," she heard Kyle say behind her.

He was following her and Liz shook her head, waving him away.

The front door opened without preamble and in less than five seconds, Liz was gripped fiercely by a shuddering Max Evans. He picked her up and buried his devastated face into her neck.

Ignoring the pain as he squeezed her, Liz quickly forgot herself in worry over him. She pulled back and looked into his eyes.

His breathing was ragged as he moaned, "I'm so sorry, Liz. I'm so sorry. I should have been there."

He knew. Isabel had told him about the motel... probably on the way here.

The knowledge weakened her, tears springing into her eyes as she looked over at Isabel.

Isabel's eyes widened.

My face, Liz suddenly remembered. They don't know about tonight.

Sheriff Valenti appeared and pulled a shocked Kyle and Isabel out of the room

Liz gripped Max's shirt tightly, burying her face painfully in his shoulder.

He moved over to the wall, falling against it, sobbing, dragging her down with him.

"Oh my god, Liz," he whispered.

She was drowning in sorrow, hers, his, theirs. And he didn't even know about tonight. She couldn't even tell him.

As she leaned her head back in pain, Max suddenly lifted his head and looked at her.

Liz quickly ducked her head again.

Then one hand slowly, gently pushed the ballcap back off her head and lifted her chin until she looked at him.

The gasp when he saw her made her wince.

He reached out to touch her face as if it might not be real, his eyes wide with horror.

Liz felt the gentle touch against her bruised flesh and she winced again.

With that, her emotions just started to shut down and she collapsed into his arms.

She couldn't look at him. It hurt too much.

She felt the wild beating of his heart, felt his arms tighten around her as he pulled her into his lap.

"Sheriff Valenti," his voice was hoarse as he called out.

After a few forced breaths against her cheek, his voice rose to a yell, the fierceness of it causing Liz to tremble.

******

She could feel Max's efforts to remain calm, but the tenseness in his body betrayed his fury.

"Why is she here," he snapped out in a voice Liz had never heard before.

Liz kept her face buried in his chest.

"Max, why don't you both come back into the living room and sit down-"

"NO! Why is she here?"

During the long pause that followed, Liz prayed fervantly that Kyle and Isabel had remained in the other room. The tremors running through Max...

Finally, Sheriff Valenti spoke quietly, his voice tight.

"Nasedo came back to visit Liz tonight. She isn't speaking because the son-of-a-bitch did something to her voice. And he raped her- again."

Liz was glad she couldn't feel a thing. It was nice, for once, to be numb.

Darkness and numbness were good things.

She clenched her eyes tight and waited for his reaction.