THE ATTACK

That morning Rachel awoke to Seth kissing her. She turned her head slightly and he kissed her down her neck.

"Hey," she said still half asleep.

He sat beside her on his bed – her new place since the attack. They now shared his room, leaving Ryan and Marissa the privacy they needed. "Hey."

"I wanna wake up to that every morning."

Seth gasped dramatically. "Oh, no! I cannot be making such a commitment so soon, what shall I do?" He asked in a Shakespearian accent.

"No fair."

"Though my heart allows me to do it this once, and thus making my one love happy to the fullest."

Rachel raised her eyebrows and gave him a strange look. Seth had his hand over his heart and was waving the other one around in big sweeps. He stopped his movement and looked down at her amused face.

"Oh, screw it," he said leaning in to kiss her again.

When he pulled away Rachel rubbed her eyes sleepily. Seth thought she looked more beautiful than ever in the morning, with Ryan's oversized shirt and her own sweat pants working as make-shift pyjamas.

"Where's Ry'?" Rachel asked.

"In the kitchen talking to my dad about yesterday," Seth answered lying beside her, his head resting on his hand.

"Guess, its gonna be a big deal huh?"

Seth shrugged slightly. "Nuh, you'll be fine, they won't do anything unless you want them to."

Seth was silent for a moment, which caused Rachel to look at him

"Can I ask you something?" He said.

"Didn't really give me an option there," she replied with a grin.

"Very funny."

"I thought so." She waited for him to answer. "Well..."

"Why'd you do it? Why didn't you let me stay and help you yesterday?"

"Seth..."

"No, Rach, I wanna know."

"Cos I didn't want you to get hurt," she said honestly.

Seth gave her an annoyed look. "Oh, but it's okay if Ryan gets the crap kicked out of him."

"I know Ry' can hold his own...look Seth, this whole thing, it wasn't an accident, okay. I knew what was coming and I knew it wasn't going to be good. Can we just drop it?"

"Yeah, maybe..."

Rachel felt her wrist for her watch but realised that she had left it in the lounge the day before. "What's the time?"

"Um..." Seth checked his own watch. "9:30."

Rachel stretched slightly and Seth smiled. "So what do I owe this wake-up call, other than a fight."

"Ooh," Seth said excited and a little too playful. "You owe me now, do you?"

"You know what I mean. Why with the early morning-ness?"

Seth slumped back down. "Thought you'd like some toast that wasn't cold."

Rachel laughed at that. "And the chance to kiss me."

Seth moved a little closer. "That's always the plan."

.........

A few minutes later Seth walked into the kitchen with his arm around Rachel and Ryan's smile was full of mischief.

"If I didn't know that was my own shirt I would say you two had been up to no good," he teased.

Rachel walked up to him glaring. "And if I didn't know you were my own brother I would have killed you long ago."

She leaned against him like a personal wall as he stood against the counter in the kitchen.

"Ah, Rachel, it's good to see you up and about," Sandy said, walking into the room.

"Hey Sandy, Seth woke me up," Rachel replied.

"In more ways than –" Ryan began but was cut off when Rachel smacked him in the stomach. "Ow."

"Serves you right."

He flicked her lightly upside the head.

"Dammit!" Rachel cringed as pain shot through her skull.

"Rach...I'm sorry," Ryan said placing his hands on either side of her face.

Rachel shook her head to relieve the pain but only succeeded in making it worse. She held onto Ryan for support.

"Note to self: don't do that again," she murmured.

"Do you want something?" Seth asked.

"I'm fine, Marsal just left one of his famous calling cards. I can deal."

Ryan frowned at the comment but decided it was best not to say anything just yet.

.........
Later that night Rachel walked into the pool house only to spot a large package sitting on the bed. She walked over and opened the lid. Inside was a beautiful black halter neck dress. The back was completely exposed apart from an extra piece of material, which joined at the top and fanned out to connect to the bottom loosely. A split ran up the left side to the mid-thigh and the front came down into a loose v.

"It's your size," Ryan said from behind her. "Marissa helped me choose it."

"Ry' it's beautiful. How did you afford it?"

"That doesn't matter."

Ryan reached out and pulled the dress from its resting place, taking Rachel by the hand and leading her over to the full length mirror at the back of the pool house. He held the dress up against her.

"You'll look amazing," he said looking over her shoulder at the mirror.

"For what?"

"The benefit Julie Cooper's holding tomorrow night."

"I wasn't going," Rachel said letting the dress fall over itself as she held it. "And for a damn good reason. I'm sure Julie Cooper wouldn't want me there to ruin her party."

"But now you are going."

"Ry'..."

"Seth wants you there, I want you there, and I'm sure Kirsten and Sandy want you there."

"I don't know..."

"Come on Rach, it'll be the first real chance you ever get to dress up and be all girlie."

"Are you saying I'm not girlie?" She accused.

"You know what I mean."

Ryan looked at her for a moment. Getting out of the house and having some fun would be good for her, she deserved that much. He nodded his head and walked away, sitting on his bed and opening a comic book.

Rachel hated it when he did that. He would leave a conversation half way through and use his reverse psychology to get what he wanted.

Rachel sighed, knowing she was not going to win the fight. "What time does it start?"

Ryan smiled. His plan had worked.

.........

The next night Ryan and Marissa were floating amongst the guests on the boat while Seth and Rachel sat alone outside, enjoying the view. Rachel leaned on the raising and watched the waves.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked.

Seth couldn't pull his eyes from her. It was the first time he had seen Rachel dressed up, her chocolate brown hair now scattered with golden streaks as it sat in waves around her face. The dress she wore clung to her body like they were one and her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. She wore only slightly more make-up than usual for she had a natural beauty.

Seth soon found the words he was thinking spilling from his mouth

"It definitely is."

Rachel looked at him well aware that he was not talking about the water at all.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Cohen?" She asked seriously stepping in front of him and putting her hands on her hips.

From his sitting position, Seth rapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

"Don't call me by my dads name, Miss. Atwood."

She moved closer.

"Rich boy."

Closer.

"Chino."

Closer.

Rachel raised an eyebrow and smiled, her face mere inches from him, their bodies touching. She brushed her lips lightly against his and whispered.

"I'll be back."

And with that she walked away leaving Seth to bask in his near score.

.........

In the bathroom, Rachel looked up at herself in the mirror, thinking about Seth's comment on how she looked. She smiled, shaking her head when the door slammed with a wild bang.

Rachel looked up to see Marsal standing there. Her body went numb, her head pounding where he had previously injured her.

"You didn't think I'd be back?"

Rachel's eyes darter around the room, there was only one exit and he was blocking the way.

"Funny thing happened out there before," he said reaching into his pocket and pulling out the same knife he had threatened her with a few days before. "I saw you with a young man, frolicking about."

He moved close now so that he was in her face, knife pointed at her throat. Rachel went to speak but was cut off by his hand connecting with her face.

"Slut!" He spat. "You, filthy, rotten, slut. You'll pay for being unfaithful to me."

He grabbed onto her hair and threw her into a cubicle, locking the door behind them as two girls walked into the bathroom. Rachel went to scream to them but Marsal covered her mouth with his hand and pressed the knife deep against her throat whispering.

"Make a sound, and I kill you, those girls and that young man you were having so much fun with before."

Rachel fell silent watching as Marsal waited for the girls to leave before speaking again.

"You know I love you right?" Rachel make so reply. "Right?"

He forced the knife deeper scraping it along her flesh, hard enough for her to bleed. Rachel murmured beneath his hand. He finally let her speak.

"What do you want from me?" She asked in a shaky tone.

"I want to show you how much I love you," he said kissing her.

Rachel struggled against his hold but his combined weapon and strength made it a losing battle.

"Let me show you," he hummed in her ear before pressing the knife deeper and raping her.

.........

Ryan and Marissa greeted Seth as they walked outside.

"Rach lost interest already?" Ryan asked.

"Funny Ryan, very funny. She said she'd be back," Seth answered.

"So did my last ex."

Marissa hit him and turned to Seth. "When was that?"

Ryan thought hard for a moment. "About a year ago."

"I meant when Rachel left," she insisted.

Ryan fell silent.

Seth looked at his watch and thought for a minute. "Almost half and hour."

"Maybe she jumped overboard," Ryan laughed.

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding Seth, she probably just got caught talking to someone and lost track of time."

Seth looked back inside to where all the people were, laughing and talking, sharing drinks and food.

"Yeah maybe."

Marissa was looking worried. "I've got a funny feeling about this guys."

Ryan looked at her concerned. "Marsal?"

Marissa made no reply.

"We have to find her," Ryan said. "Seth, you make a lap of the deck. Marissa, bathrooms and top floor. I'll look around the bottom."

They split.

.........

After almost an hour of searching Ryan and Marissa met up again.

"I've checked everywhere. Nothing," Ryan said with a definite worry in his voice.

"Same," Marissa added. She pointed to the bathroom door beside them. "Accept in there."

Ryan nodded and she entered, him waiting outside still letting his eyes search the room for any signs of his sister. It was only when he heard Marissa's frantic call did he enter the bathroom.

The moment he saw her, he knew what had happened.

Rachel sat on the floor, both legs bent beside her, dress pulled up over her knees.

Ryan ran to her and rapped his own jacker around her bare shoulders. When he touched her she looked up.

"I didn't think I did anything wrong," she whispered.

Ryan took her in his arms looking over at Marissa whose eyes were beginning to water.

"You didn't Rach," he replied.

When she didn't return the gesture Ryan pulled away. "I'm taking you home," he stated before turning to Marissa. "Can you tell Sandy and Kirsten that she wasn't feeling well, and tell Seth..."

He looked down at Rachel again, her eyes cast to the floor. Part of Ryan wanted to cry along with Marissa and part of him wanted to find the scum that did this and kill him.

"Tell Seth not to follow us."

Ryan knew Seth cared for his sister a great deal and that she in return cared a great deal about him, but this was something that he wanted to deal with. At the end of the day Ryan was Rachel's guardian.

He helped Rachel stand and then lead her through the crowd and off the boat, while Marissa turned the other way in search of Sandy, Kirsten and Seth.

TO BE CONTINUED.........

(Hey guys. I know that chapter was a little heavy but I needed it there to lead into the next one which is purely a Ryan/Rachel chapter letting you in a little bit more on what she's been through. Please Review.)