A/N: Ok, this chapter is painful…Just warning you now. I hope I did Noah's POV ok, I'm not sure it turned out as well as Rachel's does.

NPOV:

Why did this happen? That's the question I keep asking myself. I mean yeah I've never been the nicest guy in the world, maybe this is karmic payback for all those kids I threw in dumpsters and stuff. But Rachel? It might sound like a sissy thing to say, but she doesn't deserve this. Any of this. I don't think Rachel Berry has ever intentionally hurt anyone in her life. Why does she get stuck in this hell?

Looking at other people has started to be depressing. Every day we stay here, people get thinner and dirtier. And their eyes are harder to meet. I can barely look at Rachel. Her beautiful brown eyes which used to dance with life and happiness have lost their light. I would do anything to return happiness to her eyes, just for a little while. Gosh, I sound like the biggest sissy in the world. The old me would probably punch me out for thinking that. But things have changed; everything I've ever known is gone, replaced by a new strange and scary life where I'm fighting to survive.

Oh Great, time to go to their stupid service. It would be so much easier to bear if we at least had full stomachs. But by the time the service rolls around, hunger is already starting to kick in and knowing that you won't get more food till the next day makes it even harder to concentrate, not that I want to pay attention.

The only good thing about this stupid church service is that I finally get to see Rachel after a horrible day. Not that I get to sit by her or anything like that, but I can see her, know she's alive.

Wait, where is she? As we go to sit in our assigned places I search for her frantically, there's the women she usually is seated by, sitting there looking anxious. What's going on? Why isn't Rachel there? Suddenly a man starts talking, he isn't the usual little white haired dude who preaches at us, this guy's new, and scary looking.

"Now that you all have been living our wonderful way of life for a month." He begins only to be interrupted by a couple snorts, wonderful, yeah right. "We hoped that many of you have seen the light and decided to convert to our ways. As we interviewed the first group of potential converts this morning, we were delighted at how many of them had decided to follow the truth. However, some were not so inclined to the right path, and we must show them that this is not the proper way."

What? What does he mean? I wish that Rachel was here to interpret for me. Wait. All of a sudden I could see a group of the armed guards walking out. They held dangerous looking whips in their hands. The man who had been speaking gestured to someone behind him and a group of women were led forward, heads down. I searched quickly, praying that I wouldn't see her, but sure enough, there was Rachel a defiant look in her eyes as a couple of guards stripped her and tied her arms above her head to the altar rail, forcing her to her knees. A gasp rose throughout the room, how barbaric were these people. They were going to whip these girls, in their church?

I cringed, turning my head away as a cry of pain rang out as the guards began their whipping. They were systematic and businesslike about the whole thing, moving their weapons up and down the girls' bodies, leaving vicious red welts. When they were finished, the guards turned and walked away, leaving their victims prostrate before the altar. Then the regular worship service began, still lasting its full three hours, with the women still tied there in pain.

After the service finally ended, I moved quickly toward the front of the church. I needed to make sure Rachel was ok. Surprisingly no one stopped me and I reached the front with very little effort.

When I reached Rachel, I knelt beside her, cursing under my breath as I caught a look at her back. It looked awful!

"Rach?" She was conscious but just barely. I reached and untied the rope holding her hands quickly, reaching to catch her shoulders as they fell so that her head would not hit the ground. She whimpered softly. "It's me Rach. Just Noah. I've got you, you're gonna be okay." I gently picked her up, trying my hardest to avoid touching the painful slashes on her back.

As I carried her out of the church and to the cabin, I felt her relax a little bit, though she was obviously in pain. Every time I took a step that jarred her the slightest bit, she whimpered with pain. It was one of the most heartbreaking sounds I've ever heard. As I stepped inside the shack I noticed several girls missing, in the bed next to ours, Alex had laid Sarah down tenderly and was staring at her wounded back with an anguished expression on his face. I set Rachel down gently on her stomach, looking over at Alex questioningly.

"What can we do?" He just shook his head.

The horrible cold-eyed woman who seemed to be in charge of our group walked in the door. She tossed the blankets in as she did every night and set down a bucket of water, some smaller buckets and a few strips of cloth. Walking out I could hear the lock on the door click.

Alex and I walked over and each filled a smaller bucket with water and grabbed one of the cloths. Returning to Rachel, I cleaned the welts on her back as gently as possible, feeling a stab of pain at every small cry that she couldn't hold in. By the time I had finished, she was sobbing quietly.

I knew that the woman would probably be back soon to lock the bars on the beds up and sure enough I soon heard the key turn in the door. I gently picked Rachel up again, and slid underneath her, careful not to touch her back. I cradled her head on my chest and felt her sobs subside as the woman locked the bars quickly.

"It's okay Rach, it'll all be ok." I kept murmuring to her in what I hoped was a comforting voice, holding her as tight as I could without hurting her, until she fell asleep. I sighed, I knew it would be anything but ok, and my turn was coming up soon. I only hoped I would be able to be as strong as she was when that day came.

A/N: It's depressing I know! I was crying as I wrote this. POOR RACHEL! *tear*

And I'm sorry to say, Puck's next : (

So? Thoughts? Suggestions? Rotten Tomatoes? Let me know!