Aeris got off the train and walked into the slums mindlessly. Tears were still streaming down and she barely stifled an urge to cry out loudly.

'Why did he do this to me? Was it all a lie?' All sorts of thoughts burned through her mind. But. . . the kiss had been so real. What he said was so real. His touch, his everything was so sincere.

But. . .

She recalled the seductive smile of the blond woman, facing Rufus. She closed her eyes.

So that's it. He just fooled around with her. He's the heir of the largest company in the world. She works for him. He has countless beautiful women following his feet. He was probably amused at how this naïve girl fell for it so easily.

Aeris felt a new wave of sorrow, almost to overwhelm her. She remembered the solemn kiss in the tent. How she had convinced that it was all true she had no clue. She thought of Rufus and how he picked her up in the elevator and kissed her.

"Rufus. . ." She said out loud. She was no longer looking where she was going.

She fell down on the ground when she bumped into something. She looked up and to her horror there were three men, staring at her with growing interest.

The men were all a little drunk. They had come down to this part of the slums, searching for a prey. They were hoping for some guy with his paycheck, but what they ran into was even better. They had never seen anyone remotely as beautiful as her. She had an angelic face, and her figure was breathtaking. They all noticed how small her waist was, how slender her legs were, and just how perfect she was in every respect.

They quickly surrounded her and the one who seemed like the leader grabbed Aeris' hand and pulled her up. He stared at her up and down with a growing smile on his face.

He put his hand up to her face and stroked it. "Hey, how would you like to come with us for a while?" It was not a question.

Aeris' mind spun, and she turned around to see the remaining members surrounding her. The road was narrow and she realized that she was in a very small alley.

The man turned her roughly around grabbed her shoulders. Aeris started whimpering.

"Please let me go. . . I'll do anything!" She cried tearfully.

"You don't have to do anything, we promise we'll be gentle with ya," one of the men said with growing lust in his voice.

The guy who had pinned her slowly started removing straps of her dress. Aeris was completely sickened. She kicked where she hoped was his crotch.

She was right, she realized, as he fell back with a loud cry. When he looked up he had a menacing look in his eyes. She was almost blinded with fear when the two men grabbed her arms, securing her so she couldn't move.

The first man now grabbed her dress and pulled it down roughly. He pulled so hard that it was torn, revealing her brassiere. Aeris felt like the world was coming to an end. An unspeakable fear enveloped her as three men cornered her into a wall.

Another man grabbed her waist from behind her and pulled her against him. She struggled to break free, and saw that another man had reached for her dress, pulling it down. Luckily the dress fit her tightly so it took some effort to do so. The frustrated man yanked it violently and the dress ripped halfway off.

Aeris, her upper body now bare except her brassiere, was desperate. She again kicked the guy who was holding her and elbowed the other's head who had been bent down to struggle with the dress.

The leader of the pack was now furious. He had a huge stick in his hand and he approached Aeris dangerously. Aeris gave up and slumped to the ground. They were going to rape her. They - those unspeakable men - would take her virginity. They were going to taint her soul forever. Tears rolled down. She had put up a fight against this kind of hopelessness for so long - now she was losing everything.

A gunshot rang.

Aeris opened her eyes to see the three men all visibly shocked. Another shot was fired and she saw that the man let go of the stick, his hand now bleeding.

The other man slowly let go of her, bewildered and confused. Then fear finally struck them as a figure in the darkness appeared.

They kicked Aeris from behind and Aeris fell, unconscious. She had been strained so much both emotionally and physically that she couldn't bare it anymore.

The three men knew fear once another gunshot was fired and struck one of their shoulders. They began to run.

A figure appeared in the darkness. He was holding a shotgun. He watched the three worthless beings run away. He bent down and saw that the girl was unconscious. He noticed that her upper body was bare. His face flushed slightly and he took off the jacket he was wearing to cover her.

Noticing how frail the girl was, he didn't fling her over his shoulder. Instead he picked her up gently. He brushed her hair from her face to search for any injuries. After glancing at the scene, the man disappeared.



Author's note: There! I'm done! I'm gonna be gone for a whole week for the vacation. I'm so relieved that this semester is over. Well I hope the new four chapters are going to keep you entertained for the week. (excuse the author for flattering herself ^_^) Please read on! I hope this chapter wasn't too crappy. I'm not used to writing any kind of scenes I guess. ^^ ;