-"Maxhugged a shaking Samantha against her chest, and smoothed her blond hair back. Ignoring the tingling in her still gimpy left arm, she held the trembling 12 year old close. Raped, Max thought, she's just a kid. No . . . I'll kill whoever hurt her like this. She's a kid damn it.

"Hey, Sweetie. It'll be okay," Max said gently. "There isn't anyone here but us. No one is going to hurt you. You can tell me what happened."

"I don't want anyone to know," Samantha whispered. "Please. The kids at school, they all believe him. They won't leave me alone now. I just want it all to stop."

"What are they doing?"

"They say . . . they say dirty things. Like how they want to take me out, do things to me. Stuff I've never done! He wanted me to, but I got scared and tried to leave! Then he said . . . that we did it. He tried to make me . . ."

"Who? Samantha," Max said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "We'll make them stop."

"He said he'd hurt me if I told! No one will believe me!"

"I will," Max promised. "It's the only way to make him stop."

Samantha choked on her sob, as she clung on tighter. "I can't. I can't. I want someone to help me! And you're in the hospital, and no one is there."

Max smoothed back the trembling girl's hair. "Yes there is."

She shook her head wildly. "Kenny? Why? He . . . I don't know him. I'm afraid."

"He won't ever let anything bad happen to you," Max promised softly, knowing that. "Neither will I. If this boy tried to hurt you, we'll stop him. He'll never come near you again."

"Will you talk to him? I don't think I can."

Max nodded, as Samantha buried her head in her chest and began to sob softly.

"Hey, Max," Kenny called, pausing in the doorway. "Whoa."

She glanced up at him, and shook her head. Samantha whirled around to see him, Nate, Emily and Lindsay gathered in the doorway. Leaping from the bed, she wiped her tears with the back of her hands quickly.

"Sammy? Why are you crying?" Nate asked. "Are you hurt too?"

"No, I'm just," Samantha trailed off. "I need to go to the bathroom."

"Mommy!" Em squealed, clamoring up onto the bed. "Mommy! Hug!"

"You got her?" Kenny asked, knowing that her arm was still a little weak, as he nodded toward the shut bathroom door. "Is she okay?"

"No," Max said carefully. "Um, give her a few minutes. Please? Later?"

"Okay. How about you? You look like you're moving around pretty well."

"I'm trying. Umph. She's getting so big," Max said, shifting on the bed, so Em wasn't crushing her. "What are you feeding her? Rocks?"

"Hey. My cooking isn't so bad."

"I like it when we go to McDonalds," Nate piped up. "It has the best breakfasts. Is Samantha okay?"

"I'm fine Nate," Samantha said quietly, emerging from the bathroom. "I . . . it was girl stuff."

"Sammy sad," Em declared, reaching out for her cousin. "Sad."

She shrugged. "Yeah . . . Do you want to show your Mom the picture we drew earlier?"

"Pretty," Em declared, holding it out. "For Mommy."

"Yeah, it is," Max agreed, looking at the scribbles in front of her, before looking back at a pale Samantha.

"Can I go for a walk?" Samantha blurted out. "To the vending machine? I need a snack. The food we've been eating . . . it hasn't been that good."

"Me too," Nate chimed in. "Please? We'll take Em too."

"Okay, okay," Kenny agreed, shooting his wife a look. "Go. You remember where it is?"

"Yeah, we're not babies," Samantha retorted, taking Em's hand in hers. "We'll be back soon."

"You want to tell me what that was about?," Kenny asked, watching them leave. "Here, I think she's hungry."

Max nodded, as she began to breast-feed. "Has she been acting funny lately?"

"Max."

She sighed. "She told me that someone tried to rape her."

222222222222222222

"What is this?" Skeeter asked in a hushed whisper, looking at the corpse in front of him. "I've never seen anything like this."

"Jesus Christ," Pete croaked. "How . . . how did this happen? How could it?"

Skeeter shook his head. "I don't know . . . we've gotta call this in. Get Carter and his team out here. This is . . . unreal."

Pete nodded. "I'll go make the call."

222222222222222222

"What? Max, Honey. You're serious?" Kenny stammered, joining her on the bed. "What did she say?"

Max sighed as she repeated what Samantha told her earlier. "She didn't say who, but she's really upset Kenny. Can you blame her?"

Kenny stroked her hair absently, as he watched her feed their daughter. "No. When? How? Why didn't she say anything before? Does she know how important time is to this?"

"I don't know. She didn't say before you guys showed up."

"Well I'm going to find out. No way is that bastard getting away with it. She's 14. A kid, Max."

"Kenny," she called softly, shifting Lindsay slightly. "Wait, please? I know how much you hate this particular crime, but she's your niece."

"So want me to nothing? Like we did with Josh?"

***One Month Ago***

"How is she coping?" Skeeter asked, three days after her stroke. "And you? I know this has to be a shock."

"She's been better," Kenny replied. "I'm worried about her. Hell she's 34, and just had a baby. She can't even enjoy it because she's worried about spending the rest of her life handicapped."

"Max is a fighter, and that's something she has proved over and over again," Skeeter replied. "I have a feeling that she'll blow through rehab, and everything will be back to normal for you two."

"I'm glad you're here," Jimmy said, interrupting. "How's everyone doing? Do you have a minute?"

"Lindsay gained a few ounces. Max is . . . holding her own," Kenny settled on. "What's going on?"

"The DNA results are back," Jimmy began, not sure how he should say this. "And I'm sorry. It was Josh you buried. I wish it was better news, especially with all that happened recently."

Kenny felt like someone kicked him in the gut as he processed what Jimmy just told him. "You're sure? The picture? The letters? How?"

"We're still working out the details," Jimmy said carefully. "But according to Danny's letters he felt guilty for killing him. He sent Rowland one of the pictures that he and Jen took to . . . well they were going to send them to you two periodically. I don't know why he sent it. I know the timing on this is awful, but I thought you would want to know."

We lost him twice, Kenny thought, shit. Even that little bit of hope . . . how do I tell Max?

"You okay?" Skeeter asked. "I'm sorry, I wish it was better news."

"Yeah," Kenny agreed reluctantly. "I need to go and get some air."

***Present***

"That's not fair," Max retorted. "What happened with Josh . . . we couldn't of done anything. You know that. You're not the only one that misses him, Kenny."

"Yeah? Maybe we couldn't of done anything with Josh. I'm not about to let anything else happen like that to our family. Not a chance in hell."

Max swallowed. "I know you want to protect us Kenny. Losing Josh, not once but twice . . . I'm still not sure how we are supposed to get past that. And I'm not asking you to do nothing. She's your niece though, so don't go in there in full out cop mode. We're her family."

Kenny sighed, joining her on the bed again. "You believe her."

"Of course I do," Max replied quietly. "You didn't hear her . . . she's terrified Kenny."

"I want to rip his limbs from his body," he trailed off, as the three of them came back. "It looks like you guys bought out the machine."

222222222222222222

"I've never seen anything like this before!" Carter exclaimed, as they loaded the body into the van. "Can you believe it?"

"Contain your enthusiasm," Jimmy responded dryly, "What do you think?"

"Female, probably between the ages of 16 and 24. Without prying all of the bandages off, I can't tell for sure," Carter replied. "Mummification? This is a new one Jimmy. This is big Jimmy. Very big."

"Skeeter, Pete," Jimmy called. "Go through missing persons, look for females fitting that age group. Hopefully we'll have some more details to go on soon."

222222222222222222

Kenny paused outside Samantha's room, and wasn't exactly sure how to approach her. Swallowing, he thought back to when Max had been raped and his sister. And she's a kid. At least he didn't actually do it. Max is so much better at this stuff then me. Be patient, he told himself, and just listen to what she has to say.

"Samantha," he called knocking. "Can I come in?"

"Hi," she said, looking at the ground. "Okay. Um, did Aunt Maxie talk to you? About me?"

"Yeah. I don't know what happened, but I'd like you to walk me through it. Whoever this boy is, he won't be getting away with it," Kenny promised. "But you have to tell me what happened first."

"I don't want everyone to know. School is bad enough, but they don't really know what happened. He keeps saying that we . . . that we had sex. He wanted to, but I . . . I got scared. I didn't want to. He tried to make me, but I ran away," Samantha stumbled over her words. "He grabbed me, but I kicked him. And ran up the stairs. He said that . . . he would hurt me if I told anyone. Will he?"

"No. We won't let him," Kenny promised gently. "When did this happen?"

"A month ago. When Aunt Maxie had Lindsay," Samantha whispered. "And then a stroke. Everything was so messed up then, and I didn't want to make it worse."

"No matter how bad things are, ever, you can talk to either of us. That's what we're here for," Kenny replied. "I know it was rough after Max had the stroke, and it still is. For all of us."

"Did she have the stroke because of us?"

"What? No, of course not. Why would you even ask that?"

"I mean me and Nate. I know that you guys didn't want to take us in, and I haven't been the nicest person. I don't know."

"We wanted you and Nate to come and live with us," Kenny answered quickly. "It wasn't something we planned on, but we're so glad that you're both here. What happened with Max, we're still not sure what caused it. She had a rough labor with Lindsay, lost a lot of blood, that's it."

"But she went into labor early. Could we have caused that?"

"These things just happen sometimes," Kenny replied carefully. "And they're no ones fault. All we can do is learn from them and move on."

Samantha nodded slowly. "What am I supposed to learn from Jordan almost doing that to me?"

222222222222222222

"It's just amazing," Carter muttered, before turning to the occupants of the room. "This body is maybe three days old, but the skin! I didn't expect that when I removed the bandages. It's just gone, peeled off. Sort of like you do with a cucumber."

"Carter," Jimmy stated. "What else?"

"A lot. She wasn't dead when the skin was removed, so you can imagine . . . and the killer used a variety of tools to do it. Over here, on this arm it looks like a serrated knife. And down on that leg, it could be some sort of razor. And look at the torso, down by the belly button? That one circle of skin left? Something is carved in there, what do you think that the symbol means? Some sort of cult maybe, or a calling card," Carter replied breathlessly. "Also, the heart is missing."

"The heart?" Skeeter asked. "Just the heart? It was taken for an organ transplant, why just the heart? Wouldn't all of the organs been harvested?"

"Probably," Jimmy conceded. "The carvings and the missing skin has me more concerned, it reeks of a cult."

"We've found several women that fit this description," Pete chimed in. "Dark hair, average height, and that have been missing for a few days. I'll add in something about cults, and see what I get."

"Good. Carter I want a blood type and a DNA analysis as soon as possible," Jimmy added. tearing his gaze away from the skinned body on the table. "I want this guy stopped."

222222222222222222

"Welcome home," Kenny said softly in Max's ear, watching her carefully and knowing how much she hated the cane. "I've missed you, we've all missed you."

She balanced tediously, as she smiled back at him. "It's good to back. The hospital . . . yeach. Even going back for rehab doesn't sound that appealing, even though I get to come home afterward. It'll be nice not having everything I do noted down on a chart, and I can't wait to get rid of this cane."

"You're gonna still take it slowly," Kenny countered. "I mean it. I know you."

"Okay, okay," she replied pausing giving him a look. "How's Samantha?"

"You sure you're up for it? You just got out of the hospital."

"I'm sure, although could we sit down first? This whole walking thing . . . well I won't be taking that for granted again."

"She's doing okay," Kenny answered, as they made their way over to the couch. "Getting it all off of her chest made a lot of difference. I talked to Oslo yesterday about this Jordan kid, and what he's been saying. He can't do anything about the rumors, no one can stop kids from talking. This Jordan kid though, he sounds like a piece of work. Apparently this isn't the first complaint about him."

"What kind of complaints? Has he done this before?"

Kenny nodded. "Yeah. It sounds like he forces himself on younger girls, he's 16, and tries to . . . well you know. There's never any proof. There isn't now. Just he said, she said."

"That's not good enough. We're just supposed to wait until he does it again? The next girl might not be so lucky," Max shot back. "How can Oslo just let someone like that stay in school?"

"He's not. Would you let me finish, Honey?"

"Go ahead."

"He's suspended until the matter is cleared up," Kenny continued, taking her hand in his. "And the school is looking at the other girls that have brought this up before. The inappropriate touching, looks and comments."

"It takes something like this for them to actually do something like this? Why?"

"You know why," Kenny countered, "They don't want a big criminal investigation, and it's us. They know we'll get one if we push for it. Oslo is keeping the names out of it, while the school board looks into it."

"If this Jordan is trying to rape girls, he deserves to be prosecuted," Max replied quietly. "They're kids Kenny. It makes me sick when I think about what he tried to do to Samantha."

"You're not the only one. But Max," he said pausing giving her a long look. "Do you want to put her through the investigation and the trial? You know what it's like, and she's already been through so much. Let's get her into counseling, and it should do her a world of good. You know how hard it is to get a rape charge to stick, much less an attempted one."

"You just want him to get away with it?"

"Don't pick a fight now," he retorted, seeing that look in her eye. "You know I don't want him to get away with it. We've gotta let the school do it's thing, and I think the best thing for Samantha might be for her to move on, and get some counseling."

Max nodded slowly. "This Jordan . . . I don't want him getting near her ever again. Or any of those kids."

"That's why Oslo suspended him."

"I hope his parents can keep him reigned in at least. Who are they anyway? Is he going to be put in some sort of therapy?"

"You're supposed to be taking it easy," Kenny countered, trailing his fingers through her hair. "I don't want you stressing yourself out over this, or anything else. Just concentrate on getting better."

"You don't want me stressing myself out over my niece almost being raped? Do you really think I can do that?"

"Max. C'mon. You know what I mean. This is the best way to handle it, and you know it."

"I know, I know," she trailed off. "It's just . . . rape. It stirs up some memories that I would rather forget."

"Me too," he agreed, trying not to picture that night. "But we have to, Honey."

222222222222222222

"Samantha! Hey! I've been looking for you," Zach called, jogging down the hallway. "Wait up!"

"Hi," she said flatly, ignoring the stares of the other kids. "What do you want?"

"I heard that your Aunt is coming home from the hospital today," Zach said carefully. "I think that is great."

"Yeah . . . I've missed her."

"How are you doing? I know you've been ignoring everyone, but I know what jerks they all can be."

"Yeah they can. Um, I told my Aunt and Uncle what happened."

"You did? Wow, I'm glad," Zach said surprised. "I don't know what really happened, only you two do, but I think it'll make a difference."

"Yeah. You don't see Jordan here today, do you? I guess it gives everyone something new to gossip about."

"You mean he just isn't absent?"

"No . . . he's suspended. The school board is looking into what he did to me, and what he did to other people," Samantha said quietly. "I just want everyone to forget about it, and for him to go away. I'm still scared of his friends and stuff."

"Don't be," Zach promised. "I know they're jerks and stuff, but I won't ever let them hurt you."

"What can you do?"

"Uh, well my Dad is the sheriff. That might scare them off."

"No! Then everyone will find out. I want to wait until the school talks to the other girls that he did this to, or something like it before we file a report."

"How do your Aunt and Uncle feel about that?"

She shrugged. "I think Uncle Kenny wants to kill Jordan, and . . . I overheard my parents talking one day about Aunt Maxie. About her being raped. Is that true, I was sorta afraid to ask."

Zach paused. "Yeah . . . it was awhile ago."

Samantha nodded, and processed the new information. "Okay. Do you think she'll tell me about it? I know Jordan didn't actually do that to me, but he tried. I'm kinda scared to go to a therapist, but if she's been through it . . . do you think I should ask?"

"I think you should," he answered, as the bell rang, "Talk to you later?"

222222222222222222

"Look at this," Skeeter called, dropping a sheet of paper on Jimmy's desk. "Does it look familiar?"

"Where did you get this?" Jimmy asked, studying the drawing in front of him. "And what is it?"

"It's a satanic symbol, and it looks like an exact match for the one we found on our victim. I did some research, and it is used for worshiping a snake demon. Who is said to give great power to his followers."

"And does he require human sacrifices, particularly hearts?"

"Bingo."

"Find out anything else you can on this cult. What do they call themselves?"

"Moneviles," Carter exclaimed. "They're a recent cult, in the last 10 years or so, that sacrifice humans so that they can raise hell on earth. And I was wrong about the girls age, she is much younger then I first thought. I'd put her age at no more then 15 years old."

"Only 15? Okay, I want to run a missing persons report again for missing teenagers," Jimmy declared. "And I want more information on this cult, whoever they are."

"They've got quite a following, and they're usually quite vocal," Carter chimed in. "At least they have been in the past. They've been blasted by the media and other churches for their ritual sacrifices, and several of their high priests have been put in prison over it. I wouldn't be surprised if this is an underground version of it."

"Moneviles," Jimmy repeated, not liking the taste of the word. "Let's get moving on this thing, and I want an id on the girl soon. Anything else Carter?"

"Yes. I found semen," he declared, as the other occupants of the room groaned. "And some bruising that suggests that she was raped before she was killed."

222222222222222222

"How are you doing?" Max asked softly, as Samantha joined her on the couch later that day. "Is everything all right at school?"

"It's better," Samantha trailed off. "Without Jordan there, but . . . the other kids are so mean. Except for Zach. He said he's going to watch out for me."

"He's a good kid," she agreed. "I talked to Mr. Oslo this morning, and I know he is talking to some of the other girls who have said Jordan said or did something to them."

"What if nothing comes of it? Aunt Maxie," Samantha said quietly. "I heard . . . did someone rape you too? I heard my parents, and I asked Zach . . . Did they?"

Max paused before replying. "Yeah, someone did. A few years ago."

"Is he in jail now? What did you do?"

"He was in prison and a mental hospital for awhile. He's dead now," Max replied carefully. "I know how much it hurts."

"But he didn't even do it," Samantha said softly. "He tried . . . why am I still so scared?"

"He tried to force himself on you, and tried to get you to do something that you didn't want to."

She nodded slowly. "If we put him in jail, everyone will know what happened to me. I don't want everyone to think of me as the girl who cried rape. But I don't want Jordan to hurt anyone else."

"You're very mature for being only 14," Max replied, studying her niece thoughtfully. "What do you want to do then?"

"I don't know," she trailed off, as Nate bounded into the room.

"We're back," he exclaimed. "With pizza! The gooey kind!"

Max winced a bit at his screech. "Nate, I just got Lindsay to fall asleep."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Max said, seeing the boy's stricken expression. "I mean that."

"I'm hungry," Samantha declared. "Let's go wash our hands Nate."

Max watched them go, before carefully rising to her feet. Stupid leg, she thought, balancing with the cane. I can't wait until I can toss it.

Kenny watched her before saying anything right away. "You want some help?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm good. Really. Shit!"

Crossing the room the quickly, Kenny knelt down beside her. "You okay? Nothing broken?"

"I'm fine," she promised, looking away. "I just . . ."

"I know. Here, grab my hand."

222222222222222222

"Ssh, little girl. Don't say word," the voice whispered. "It'll just make it hurt more."

"What are you doing to me?" she cried. "Please just let me go!"

"You're a part of something bigger now. You want that don't you? It's a honor to be here, to serve him."

"Please!"

"Ssh. Close your eyes. This won't hurt a bit."