Chapter 1

The reflection staring back at her couldn't be her. She wasn't this person who's arms, legs, and backside were covered in bruises. She couldn't be this person who was forced to cover and hide herself. Angrily she dashed away the tears that began to fall. Silently she opened her dresser and pulled out a long sleeve shirt and pair of jeans. He was asleep now, but there was no telling when he would wake. She couldn't risk that he would come back into the room to finish what he started.

Sitting on the edge of her bed she pulled her shoes on and tied them tightly. Standing she stowed over to her door and cracked it open. Hearing nothing, but silence she was satisfied that he was fast asleep. Donning her jacket she slid her window open then ventured out onto the roof. Climbing down the tree her sneakers softly thudded to the ground as she dropped the last few remaining feet. Sparing a glance up towards her window she left on her short journey.

Briskly walking down the dark street she pulled her jacket closed and held it tightly to her chest. Reaching up she wiped the tears from her cheeks then continued her journey. Finally making it to her destination she quickly glanced around then stowed over to the gate and quietly opened it. Diligently she climbed up the tree then softly landed on the roof. Silently making her way to the third window she thanked her lucky stars it was unlocked. Sliding it up she ducked into the darkened room.

William woke with a start as a warm body slid into bed next to him. Immediately he reached for the bed side lamp and flipped it on. "Buffy what happened? What'd he do?," he asked. Groaning she pulled the blanket up and over her head. "Please Will not tonight," she said her voice laden with sorrow. Resigning he turned the light off and pulled her closer to him. Once the room was thrust back into darkness silent tears began to stream down the small blonde girl's face. William knew she was crying, however he also knew she did not want to talk about it. So instead of pressuring her for answers he lifted his hand and began to run his fingers through her hair. Her mother used to do it to her and it always helped her sleep.

The beeping of her wrist watch signaled it was 5 am. Swiftly she pressed the button to stop the offending noise and got out of the familiar bed. William feeling her leave the bed sat up and flipped the light on. "Show me then before you leave," he said as he stood. Standing at the window her back to him she slowly turned around. "I got to get going Will," she pleaded as she pulled her jacket impossibly closer around herself. Advancing towards her he gently pried her arms apart then grasped onto her jacket. Buffy looked away not able to meet his eyes as he pulled the jacket down and off of her. William glanced up at her noticing she would not meet his eyes. Grasping her arm he gently pushed her shirt up revealing her forearm then gasped at the bruises he saw. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Buffy pulled her arm away and put her jacket back on. "I'll see you at school I got to go before he wakes," she said as she climbed out of the window.

Making the familiar trek home she was soon scaling her own tree and climbing through her own window. Peeling her clothes off she sunk into her own bed and waited for her alarm to go off. She knew she would not be able to sleep for the hour until she was due to wake. She feared him coming into her room too much for her to be able to sleep at home any more. Glancing at the clock she saw that it read 5:28 am. Two minutes until his alarm would go off and he would wake up. Watching the digital numbers change to 5:29 she began to hold her breath. Squeezing her eyes shut as she heard the faint sound of his alarm. She then rolled over so that her back faced the door. Hearing his heavy footsteps make their way down the hall towards her door she felt a paralyzing fear. She heard the door open then silence for several moments then the door closed again. Thankful that he was just checking to make sure she was there she relaxed a little.

Anxiously waiting by Buffy's locker William was relieved when she walked up to her locker. "Hey Will," she said normally enough. William leaned against his locker and waited for her to pull her books out before speaking. "I think we should tell someone," Will finally said. Not missing the panic that flashed in her eyes he pushed his light brown curly locks out of his face. "Buffy he could really hurt you. Look we'll just tell Ms. Calendar. She'll know what to do," William reasoned. Frantically shaking her head no Buffy slammed her locker shut. "No!," she nearly yelled then quieted, "Promise me you won't tell anyone." Sighing he shook his head, "I promise. Come on lets get to class."

William and Buffy made their way into class sitting in the back as usual. Through out class William kept glancing over at Buffy. She looked so normal and care free, however he knew the truth. They'd been friends for years. Their families had also been real close up until the accident. William still felt the pain nearly every day. He imagined Buffy felt it even more. Their parents had been going on vacation with out the kids nearly six years ago. He remembered all five kids gathered at the private hangar kissing and hugging. Then the four parents had boarded the small private plane and were off. Six hours later they had received the news that the plane had went down in the middle of the pacific ocean.

William still remembered the pain in his brother's voice when he had broken the news to he and Faith. William at ten years old was devastated. He screamed that his brother was lying and ran up to his parents room and locked the door. He wasn't there when Buffy's brother had told her, but he figured she had an equally violent reaction. He and Buffy were still close, however the rest of their siblings were not.

School let out so William and Buffy walked as far as they could together in silence. He desperately wanted to beg her to come home with him, but he knew it was futile. Standing at the corner where one would go left and the other would continue straight William knew he had to give it a try. "Buffy why don't you come home with me. We'll tell Faith and she'll know what to do," he pleaded with her once again. Mournfully Buffy looked at William and shook her head no. William desperately wanted to force her to tell. However, looking at Buffy he knew he could not force her to do anything ever. "I'll see you later then," he said as she turned to leave.

Buffy was not looking forward to going home. Slowly she made her way towards home. As she neared closer to home she began to shuffle her feet not really wanting to get there just yet. Resigned to her fate she took a deep breath then twisted the door knob. Passing through the thresh hold she was surprised the house was silent. Dropping her bag by the door she tentatively crept through the downstairs. Satisfied that she was alone she made her way into the kitchen to make a snack. Groaning when she saw the list lying on the counter she picked it up and read the orders left for her.

Just as she put the last load of laundry in the dryer she heard the familiar rumble of the garage door opening. Quickly finishing her task she ran upstairs to her room. She wasn't looking forward to any confrontations today. Even though she had done everything on the list she knew he would find something she did wrong. Soon her fears were realized when she heard him. "Elizabeth Anne! Get down here now!," he bellowed.

Making her way down the stairs she feared what would happen. Standing there holding her book bag up at the bottom of the stairs he looked at her pointedly. "How many times have I told you not to leave your shit just laying around?," he gritted out. Eyes downcast she immediately began to apologize. Thrusting the bag at her he growled, "Save it. Go get cleaned up for dinner the Prices will be here at six." Breathing a sigh of relief Buffy grabbed the bag and ran up the stairs.

Understanding now why the chore list had been longer then usual she quickly dressed. At least she knew there would be no problems until after their dinner guests left. Venturing downstairs she found Riley in the kitchen cooking. "What are you wearing?," he asked disgusted with her choice of wardrobe. Buffy looked down at the large green sweat shirt she had pulled on over a simple t- shirt. Inspecting herself more she saw nothing wrong with the blue jeans and sneakers she wore. "Go put that dress on that Mrs. Price bought for you last month," he insisted.

Tearing through her closet she finally found the forgotten dress. At least it had long sleeves she thought as she slipped out of her other clothes. The blue dress hung tightly to her curves and also had a low neck line that showed the tiniest hint of cleavage. Twirling around in front of the mirror she marveled at how grown up she looked. Upon inspecting herself she frowned as an unsightly bruise made its self known on the back of her leg. Searching through her dresser she found a pair of black knee highs that covered it sufficiently. Finally slipping on a pair of flats she made her way back down stairs.

Buffy made her way into the kitchen then hesitantly stood in the door way. "Did you need any help?," she asked. Turning to look at her he shook his head no, "You look much nicer. Go start your homework." Buffy left with out a word to grab her books then sat in the living room doing as she was told. Hearing the door bell ring meant their dinner guests had arrived.