**Warning: The following chapter contains scenes of abuse and attempted rape of a minor. If this is offensive to you, I suggest you don't read any further.**

Part 7

I lie on my back in my bed, waiting for sleep to overtake me. I always have trouble getting to sleep. Well, unless I'm drunk. I'll knock right out if I'm drunk. But I'm not tonight, so it'll take a while. The sound of the front door slamming jolts me. Roger's not usually home this early from his bar.

I can hear him stumbling drunkenly in the hall, his heavy, uneven footsteps drawing closer and closer to my room. My eyes are fixed on the door and I'm disheartened- but not surprised- when it creaks open. He's holding an empty bottle and I can smell the liquor on him all the way over here.

With agonizing slowness he moves towards me. Maybe if I pretend I'm asleep… "Jade! Wake up!" OK, maybe not.

"What do you want?"

"Is that any way to talk to me? After I've taken you in…fed you…clothed you…put a roof over your head?" he says in his slurred speech.

"You're drunk. Get out of my room."

"Why, you little bitch."

I prepare myself for the blow. Surprisingly, it's across my cheek. Either we have a while until the next Social Services visit or he's drunker than I thought. My flesh burns where his hand made contact with my face. But he doesn't stop there. His drunken state prolongs his anger where he would usually just leave me alone.

He grabs my wrists tightly in one hand and I cry out in pain. It hurts so bad. I fight him as he tries to push my arms over my head. I hear the sound of the bottle smashing into the floor and now he's using both hands to restrain me. Then he's climbing on top of me. I'm screaming and begging him to get off me but it's like he doesn't even hear me.

Roger smashes his lips into mine though I try to turn away. I can taste the bitter liquor on his mouth and his bristly, unshaven face scratches against my skin. One of his hands holds my wrists above my head while the other clutches a breast roughly and then works itself between my legs.

"Please! Please no!" I scream. "Stop!"

I can feel my heart drumming in my chest and the tears streaming down my face blur my vision. Somehow, through my fear, I manage to bring up one knee and connect harshly with his groin. He lets out a bellow and rolls off me enough so that I can crawl away and leap from the bed.

I land on the broken bottle and a few shards of glass slice into the tender skin of my bare feet. But I won't let it stop me. I'm running. Running fast and hard and I don't even know where I'm going. I'm in my pajamas- an old T-shirt and pair of shorts- and it's horribly chilly outside. My feet are bare and bleeding and as I run down the street, the cuts open wider and pebbles and rocks form new scratches.

I have no idea how long I've been running. Mailboxes, houses, and streetlights are nothing but blurs on either side of me. But suddenly a pair of strong arms halts me and for a moment, I think their Roger's and a scream and try to get away but they hold me tight.

"Jade! Jade!" His voice runs me to earth and I stop struggling and turn to look at the vampire.

"Spike?"

"Yeah, love, it's me." he says gently. He looks me up and down- from my tear soaked face to my makeshift pajamas to by bare and bleeding feet. "What happened? What's wrong? Why are you out here?" To my horror I find that I can't talk. I open my mouth but all that comes out are sobs. He nods in understanding and sheds his duster, draping it over my shoulders.

I pull it tight around me, inhaling the scent of leather, smoke, and cologne. Spike's hand is on the small of my back and he's guiding me…where? I don't know or even care. I just follow where he leads me and I find myself in a…crypt? OK…vampire…makes sense.

He motions for me to sit and I do. Surprisingly, there's a chair in here and even more surprisingly, it's really comfortable. Spike disappears for a moment and then he's back and handing me something. I stare at it blankly. "Take it. Put it on that bruise." Bruise? What bruise? Impatiently, he takes my hand, shoving the object into it and holds my hand to my cheek.

I cringe. It's cold. It's an icepack. Then I feel something at my feet. Looking down, I see Spike knelt on one knee, holding my foot in his hands. I'm vaguely reminded of 'Cinderella'. I liked that movie. The cat kinda scared me though… When's the last time I saw it? I can't remember. Hmm.

Wait, what's he doing to my feet? Ow! That hurt. I jerk my foot away and he glares up at me. "Hold still, girl. This'll only take a second." After a while he stands and I look down at my feet. There're several bandages on the soles and I can feel the squishy cold of some kind of antibiotic ointment under them.

"Those were some nasty cuts you got there. You're lucky, I don't think you need stitches. They're not too deep." I nod. "Now…would you like to tell me what happened?" I shake my head. "Were you attacked?" Nod. "Vampires?" Shake. "Human?" Nod. "Listen pet, as much as I love twenty questions…well…you know, I actually can't stand the game. So why don't you just tell me what happened, eh?"

I've stopped crying and slowly things in my mind are beginning to make some sense. I stare at him for a long time before opening my mouth and saying softly, "I don't wanna talk about it."

He sighs anguishedly but doesn't comment. "Well, you can't stay here. Let's get you home-"

"NO!"

I can see the pieces of the puzzle coming together for him now. His jaw clenches, making his cheekbones even more pronounced if that's possible. "Did what's his name…Roger do this to you?" He gets his answer when I can't look him in the eyes. For a long minute he's silent and when he finally speaks, his voice is low and dangerous. "Is this the first time?"

"No…I-I mean…yes…sort of. He hit me before but…never… He was drunk…and he tried to-…but he didn't! I stopped him." There's a distinctly deadly look in Spike's eyes. Did they flash yellow there for a second? "I-It's OK. I just…I can't go back there tonight. Please…can I stay here? I'll go back in the morning but-"

"Like hell you are!" he roars. "You're never going back there, you hear me?" I don't respond. "You hear me?" he repeats more forcefully. Finally I nod. He steps away from me and begins pacing, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck thoughtfully. "You can stay here tonight…and then in the morning we'll go see Red…find out what our options are…" I yawn, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Oh. Right. Sleeping. Uh…there's a bed downstairs. You can sleep there tonight."

"Downstairs? Your crypt has a downstairs?"

He nods and leads me to a manhole cover. Lifting it with no effort, he motions me down a ladder inside. I'm too tired to object, despite how dark and creepy it looks down there. When I reach the bottom, I glance around warily, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. Spike appears behind me and he quickly moves to turn on a lamp.

The room lights dimly revealing a large bed settled against a cavernous wall. It was all very dark and gothic but at the same time oddly warm and inviting. "Where will you sleep?"

"There's a stone sarcophagus upstairs. I've slept on it before."

"Doesn't sound very comfortable."

"It'll do for tonight." He glances around, checking that everything's in order and then says, "Well, sleep tight." He makes for the ladder but I stop him.

"Wait." He turns and looks at me questioningly. "Tomorrow's a school day…"

"Not for you, it isn't."

"Oh…OK…well…goodnight."

"Night, pet."

And then he disappears up the ladder and I'm left alone. I'm very tired, my eyelids feel heavy and I'm weak on my feet. Funny…the cuts on them don't even hurt. My mind is numb and I collapse onto the bed and crawl under the covers. His duster is still around me and I pull it closer- not because I'm particularly cold, but it's just comforting. The bed is comforting. It smells like him. And that's the last thing I register as I drift off to sleep.

**Well…that was SO not fun to write. But it had to be done as it's basically what you might call the climax of the story. I think I'll be wrapping this story up in a few chapters but with enough encouragement I might do a sequel. I dunno…I'm not sure there's enough material for a sequel. Maybe a long epilogue. But we'll see. Please keep reviewing! All feedback is welcome and helpful! Tell me what you like about the story, what makes you laugh (Sometimes I think I'm funnier than I really am. My friends will attest to that.), what makes you cry or just be really really sad, what don't you like about the story, how do you think it should go? Please review! And thanks to those of you who have!**