(I just wanted to thank everyone for their awesome reviews! I really appreciate it, and I'm glad you all like the story so much! So here's another chapter for you.)

Chapter 8:

A strong woman. An independent, tenacious, clever, impertinent, defiant, strong willed woman. Someone who didn't back down from a fight and liked to instigate a few. A person that was fiercely loyal to the people she loved. The kind of person who had your back in a bad situation but never knew when to run. Got into trouble a lot, but somehow managed to get herself through. Loved generously and lived to learn. Growing as a person was hard, but she was working on it. With her man by her side, she could get through anything.

That was how Sam could honestly describe herself. She wasn't the kind of person who liked to make a pro and con list about themselves, but at that moment she couldn't help it. At that moment all she could think about was how different she was, and how fast she had changed.

She was weak and terrified, cowering helpless, bound and gagged, in the corner of the room where Manny had left her. Her shivering frame threatened to shut itself off, the force of her shock as brutal as any blow to the head. All she could think about was escaping, getting as far away from this hell as possible. She couldn't picture it, no matter how hard she tried. Her mind was trembling as badly as her body, and only with extreme effort could she keep the images of what he could, would do to her at bay.

All she wanted to do was be left alone. She had no idea where Kristina was at that moment, maybe back at the room, nor did she know where she was. It was some sort of technical room, with more equipment and gadgets than she realized Manny had access too. The more she learned about him the more he scared her. She couldn't keep up the pretense of being a strong, independent woman much longer.

She felt battered and broken, though no tears stained her cheeks and the only injury she had was the gash on her head. It wasn't a physical sort of experience. Everything Manny was doing to her was emotional, tearing her muscle from bone in an ethereal sense. She could feel his fingers lingering on her skin, the curl of his knuckles as he explored her body. Her own whimper echoed in her ears, desperate and terrorized. It was a thousand times more unbearable than torture, leaving all her defenses destroyed. Vulnerable and unsteady, she found herself completely at his mercy.

He moved to her, grinning down at her as he listened to her fiancé on the phone. She could hear him, his angry voice a comfort in the most confounding way. The rage Jason was feeling was a vicarious thrill for Sam. She understood without thinking that Jason would kill Manny before all this was over. For a brief moment her confidence restored itself, and she looked up at Manny with fire in her eyes, as if daring him to touch her like that again.

Manny asked for Alexis and Sam could only assume Jason complied. He kneeled next to her, brushing her hair back from her face pseudo tenderly, as he spoke to Alexis. "So, have you made your choice?"

He took the phone from his ear and put it against Sam's, holding a finger to his mouth in warning. She held her breath, not making a sound. Her mother's voice was small and crushed, "Yes. Kristina…"

There was no describing how painful it was to hear her say it. It wasn't unexpected. It was what Sam wanted her to do. But it was as if she hadn't had any trouble coming to this decision. Sam didn't know what she had wanted Alexis to say, how she wanted her mother to react, but this wasn't it. Her heart screamed at her, each beat like a stab in her chest. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks as she cried silently against the gag over her mouth. She shut her eyes tightly, pulling away from Manny the best she could, curling against the wall and ducking her head against her knees.

Manny laughed, a dirty, mean sound that only added to Sam's misery. He put the phone back to his ear, took a breath to calm himself and spoke once again. Sam didn't hear him, forcing everything around her to disappear. She sank into the darkness, letting go of the heartbreak and fear. When she woke, if she woke, she vowed to be stronger. Promised herself she wouldn't let Manny win like this. That this was the last time he would laugh at her so cruelly. Her head was pounding, her chest on fire, her wrists stinging from the tight ropes. She shut it all out.

When Manny hung up he looked over at Sam. She was trembling in a ball in the corner, her eyes shut tightly against the world. He went to her slowly, kneeling down once more. He ran his hand down her cheek soothingly, speaking in a voice Sam had heard herself use with Kristina when she was frightened.

"Hey, it's okay Sweetness," he cooed, curling his arm around her body and careful forcing her to sit up, positioning her with her back against the wall. He took her chin in both his hands, his fingers tracing the curve of her cheeks as he wiped away her tears. She opened her eyes and found herself staring straight into his. It was like seeing the open mouth of hell. There was nothing there but bestial lust and ruthlessness. She whimpered timidly. All she wanted to do was escape.

"Hey," He put his forehead against hers, his nose brushing the side of her face. When he spoke she could feel his breath against the tape he used to cover her mouth, his lips tickling hers through the adhesive. She couldn't pull away, couldn't turn her head. He had her trapped a thousand times over, and all she could do was cry.

"Come on Sam, better get you back to your room. Looks like you and I have some fun times ahead." He spoke casually, taking her into his arms like she was a doll. Carrying her effortlessly down the hall, he continued to speak to her, "Mommy Dearest and Morgan are in for a surprise. Boy are they. This is going to be fun. And it's all thanks to you, chika. And if you keep on behaving, I might even let you die with your boyfriend. Huh, how does that sound?"

Something changed. There was a snap, a click, some other onomatopoeia that epitomized the sudden surge of hatred and disgust in Sam. She stopped crying, stopped being scared, stopped worrying about herself. She jerked in his arms, smashing her elbow into his gut. He dropped her reactively and she hit the ground hard. Undeterred, she swung her bound legs around and caught his ankles, sweeping them from under him. He crashed to the floor gracelessly beside her, landing with an ugly sound on his shoulder. From this position she had one shot left, and she took it without hesitation, bringing her bare feet up against her chest and adjusting her angle with one glance to aim. She slammed both feet into his face and heard as satisfying crunch beneath her heel.

He let out a howl of pain, rolling away from her and grabbing his face. The noise brought guards running, guns in hand. They saw the two combatants on the ground and reacted on impulse borne of training. Two went to Sam and took her roughly by the arms, hoisting her from the ground and making her stand between them. The remaining two went to their boss, hovering around him but not touching him. He struggled to his feet and barked them away from him, his eyes wild as he pulled his hands away and looked at Sam.

His face was dripping with blood, his nose broken and bleeding copiously. She had also managed to split his lip and cut his cheek open by the sheer force of her attack. The close range of it all had helped, and she was much stronger than her small frame portrayed.

He grabbed her by the neck and yanked her from the two guards, pulling the tape from her mouth in one motion, leaving her gasping in pain and surprise, scrambling to get a hold on his arm with her bound hands. He pulled her close enough that she could almost taste the blood on his face as he spoke, the metallic smell nauseatingly thick.

"I told you to behave," he growled, his voice venomously low, his grip tightening with each syllable. She couldn't respond with anything more than a gasp, her feet barely touching the ground as he held her at eye level. The murder in his eyes was plainly written, but so was the resolution in hers. She was staying true to her silent promise. Manny didn't know anything about that, but something in her expression inspired a perverted respect in him. He grinned gruesomely, blood dripping from his chin, and shoved her back into the two guards.

"Take her back to her room."

"What about-" One began in surprise, pointing to his face. Manny took his gun and aimed it at the protestor, removing the safety and pressing his finger to the trigger in an almost poetically graceful move. The guard straightened, lowering his own gun submissively and nodding his head in recognition of the order. Manny moved off down the hall, laughing to himself and wiping his face gingerly with a cloth he pulled from his pocket.

The guards delivered Sam to her room none too gently, cutting the ropes that held her and then locking the door behind them as they left. Kristina ran to her, embracing her with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, I'm fine. I'm sorry I had to leave you, were you scared?"

Kristina looked up at her, her young eyes glistening sincerely, "No! I didn't want them to hurt you…" She took a step back, taking Sam's hand in her small palms. Together they looked at the burns the tight rope had left on Sam's arm, already purpling and weeping now that blood flow had been restored. Sam kissed Kristina on the forehead and sighed, flexing her hands to show she wasn't in pain.

"I'm fine. And I'm glad you are." She led the little girl to the bed, scooping her into her arms and sitting down. Kristina clung to her, quivering. Sam smoothed her sister's hair dotingly, holding her close to both give and receive comfort. "I won't let him hurt us. Then Jason will come, and Mommy, and we'll get out of here together."