The sound of breaking twigs. Birds singing. Leaves rustling.

Peyton's eyes twitched, but didn't open. It was day. The sun was shining brightly. She could feel the burning sunlight through her eyelids. The sound of another breaking twig reached her ear. Heavy breathing. The sound coming closer.

Peyton's stomach squirmed, and her eyes popped open. The sun shone brightly through the trees, and she was blinded for a moment, before her eyes managed to focus. It was day. She had fallen asleep.

Peyton blinked. More sounds of breaking twigs… closing in on her. Her heart started racing, and she lifted her head quietly to look. Then she saw them. Two feet. Jeans on long legs. A white wife-beater. Blonde hair.

He walked past a tree right in front of her, not seeing her for the moment. She whimpered, and then covered her mouth in shock. He heard.

His foot stepped forward from behind the tree, and he smiled his evil smile, satisfaction filling his face. "There you are, babe."

Terror filled her chest.

No. NO!

Peyton wasn't gonna waste a second. She pulled herself up in one movement, and threw herself behind the tree she'd been leaning against. She started running, although knowing deep within that it was hopeless. He reached her in only a few seconds, and grabbed her hair. "NOOO!" she screamed, and it echoed hollowly through the forest. He pulled her backwards, and she fell into his chest. "Did you have any idea I've been looking for you all fucking night?" he mumbled furiously into her ear and started shaking her.

"Aarghh!" Peyton groaned madly and tried to get free of him. They fought a wordless fight, where she tried to do anything to harm him, bite him and kick him, while he used all his strength on getting her in control.

At last she managed to give him a solid kick in the groin, and he loosened his grip. Peyton stumbled out of his arms, but her pleasure was short lasting, as her foot got caught under a twig, and she fell to the ground, hitting her head on a big rock.

Stars blinded her vision. A pressing pain to her head made her loose her breath. Her consciousness threatened to betray her, but she fought to keep her eyes open.

Then his hands took hold of the back of her neck, pulling her to her feet, only to throw her into the closest tree again. Peyton tried to scream, but was still short of breath. Then she felt his fists pounding into her face. She could barely hear his screams of rage, as her pounding headache was deafening. His feet kicked into her body, and his fists continued to pound into her face. She could feel blood streaming from her nose, mouth, and forehead. She wasn't able to breathe. She wanted to scream, cry for help, but wasn't able to make a sound. Darkness surrounded her, and she closed her eyes, losing her fight with consciousness for a moment.

When she opened her eyes again, it had probably only been a few minutes. He was carrying her hurriedly through the woods, whispering angry threats into her ear. "Never do that again… don't you dare leave me… hope you've learned your lesson… never do that again…"

Her vision struggled to focus, and she stared blankly up through the trees. Her whole body felt numb, she felt numb…

She was a failure. She had failed at her last chance of an escape. There was no way out.

Peyton closed her eyes, not wanting to think, not wanting to breathe, not wanting to be near him. And she let the unconsciousness take her again.

X

She awoke later the same day, now back in her prison of a house. She was lying on the couch, her hands tied roughly together. Everything hurt. Her bruised and battered body kept her still, as every movement she made hurt.

She could feel his eyes staring at her. He was sitting on a chair in front of her, just staring at her. She wondered how long he'd been sitting there.

"Oh, you're up, Peyton. I was so worried about you."

Peyton closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him. The crushing defeat burned in her throat. She'd been so close to freedom… too close. And now it was gone… Possibly her last chance of an escape ever.

"I'm sorry I hurt you. But I really needed to teach you a lesson… I promise I'll never do it again."

Don't make promises you can't keep… Peyton thought despairingly.

"And I hope you've learned to never try and run from me again."

Like he'd ever let her try again… Like she'd ever dare again…

"You're really dirty Peyton. We need to wash away all that blood and dirt. I just wanted to make sure you'd wake up first.." Derek seemed so caring, and it sickened Peyton, considering he was the reason she was so bloody in the first place.

He stroked his horrible hand over her face, and she shrunk in discomfort.

"It'll get better soon," he whispered, trying to sound comforting. Peyton had no strength to argue, or do anything, really…

"Well, time to wash," he said and smiled at her. Derek got to his feet and lifted Peyton into his arms, so he could carry her. She let out a moan in pain, as her whole body ached.

When they got to the bathroom, he sat her down on the toilet seat, removed the rope from her tied hands, and undressed her gently. Peyton didn't utter a single word. She looked down at the floor, feeling too broken to even cry.

When she was all undressed, he sat her down in the shower, and Peyton pushed her knees to her chest, trying to cover up her body, even though he'd seen it many times before.

To her surprise, Derek removed his shirt too, and then his jeans and underwear, making him completely naked. Peyton kept her eyes off him, staring distantly downwards. He grabbed the showerhead, turned it on, and sat himself in with her. Derek pulled her into his grip, so her back was leaning in on his chest, and he let the water fall on her.

Peyton closed her eyes and let the warm water hit her, taking some of the numbness she was feeling away. His hands touched her everywhere, washing away stains of blood and dirt, and the water turned red and dark as it ran down to the drain.

"I love you, Peyton," he whispered. She felt nothing. She wanted to die right there.

She would never see Brooke again, never see Lucas again. Never. She'd never get to see Nathan and Haley's baby. She'd never get to be a teenager again, and she'd never get to do things of her own will… Maybe she had been kinda negative in her mind before, but she'd had dreams… dreams of the future. Her own future and what possibilities she might have. But now she'd never get to have a future of her choice. The fact that she had been so sure to get away from this, and her hopes had been so high, it only felt ten thousand times worse now.

Derek turned off the shower.

"Mmmm, now you're all clean and beautiful, sweetheart."

As he dried and dressed her and himself, Peyton never moved, never made a sound. She felt empty, broken, too hurt to even care. He kept talking to her, telling her words of love and affection, but she never answered. She didn't even pay attention to him. It was like she blocked him away, never wanting to look at him or hear his voice again.

"You seem tired… I think I should put you to bed for a while, so you can get some rest. It's been a long day," he said, kissing her forehead.

Whatever… Not like it would make any difference…

Derek carried Peyton to the bedroom, and put her gently on the bed… then went on to the usual drill, chaining her foot to the bed…

Jesus, twisted fuck. If only he could realize what he was doing… he was treating her like some property, like she was something he owned and could do whatever he wanted to…

He placed one last kiss on her lips, and then he finally left her alone.

Peyton's eyes slowly started filling with tears of misery, and she silently started to sob into her pillow. Her chest was filled with dread and sorrow, and she couldn't hold it in any longer. She wept and she wept, until there were no more tears left, and then her mind slowly wandered into dreams of hopelessness and torture.

Was this really going to be her life forever?

Author's note: Hehehe sorry guys, but Peyton isn't going back to Tree Hill just yet! It was always my plan to have her try to escape, but not make it! You'll just have to wait a little longer, sadly ;)

I hope you won't give up on this story though!