Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick. Thanks for letting me bounce ideas off you.

Chapter 8

"Have you guys heard about the asshole that's been going around attacking women?" Ryan's voice broke through the silence.

It was the last semester of our freshman year and we were holding a study/cramming session at the boys' apartment. We were all sitting on the floor in the living room with various books and study material scattered around us.

I glanced up from my laptop. Ryan's expression was a worrying one.

"Yeah, I heard about that too. I want you girls to be careful when you're out alone." Taylor eyed me and Liz seriously.

"What guy?" Liz wanted to know and hell so did I.

"There's some pervert going around beating and raping women. In the last month, he attacked four women. The fourth one died in the hospital. So you girls be careful." Ryan responded.

Liz and I shared a worried glance until she burst out laughing. However, her laughter died away at the expression on his face. Liz tended not to take anything Ryan said seriously. He was a paranoid guy. But it wasn't his paranoia talking this time. There really was a maniac on the loose.

For the first time, I was glad that Liz made me go with her to those self defense classes months ago. I remember laughing it off when she first brought it up after seeing a self defense flyer on campus.

Then I remembered all the times in the past when I felt weak and helpless. I hated always having to depend on the protection of others. I brought up the classes the last time I spoke with Leah and she thought it was a great idea. So the next time Liz talked about the classes, I agreed to go with her. I decided it was time I learned to defend myself.

When the classes began, I had a lot of problems with sore muscles in my back and arms. Luckily, I had Taylor around to take pity on me and give me back rubs. Ryan's idea of helping Liz and me prepare for attacks included hiding in and jumping of closets, crawling out from under beds and springing out of trash cans. He was being pretty ridiculous. The only thing he succeeded in doing was scaring us half to death. He finally stopped after he surprised Liz one day and she kicked him in what he called, his 'babies'.

I felt a little sorry for Ryan. Liz was already pretty scary when he got her mad. Now she would actually be able to rough him up whenever he did something stupid which was, let's face it, all the time. Although they fought constantly, I was a little envious of their relationship. Whenever they weren't engaged in battle there were kisses, loving glances and based on what I heard coming out Liz's bedroom at night, a great sex life. They had it all. I wished for what they had, a love uncomplicated by magic and madness. I guess I felt a little lonely.

Another person joined our family in my freshman year. His name was Zachary Gray. He was a Native American guy I became friends with from my study group. I remember the first time he introduced himself to me; I could barely stop myself from staring at him. The first few weeks I was sure that he thought I had some sort of crush on him. His russet skin and warm smile reminded me so much of Jacob and the pack.

Zach never knew his father and his mother died when he was a child, so he was raised by his sister. He got along great with Ryan because of his mischievous personality. I wasn't sure why but it took a little longer for Taylor to warm up to Zach. I assumed Taylor had trouble trusting people. It didn't take too long for them to bond though and when they did, it seemed like they had known each other for years. When Liz first met him she kept trying to push us together. After much pleading from me she finally decided to let it go. Much to my relief.

Zach and I were in the library with our study group on a Friday night when I glanced at the clock and realized it was almost nine o'clock.

"Oh shoot." I mumbled softly.

Zach looked up from his book with a frown on his face. "What?"

"It's almost nine. I'm late for movie night with the guys. I better get a move on. Okay guys, I'll see you tomorrow." I said goodbye to the group and began to pack up my books. I grabbed my bag and got to my feet.

"Hey Izzy, wait up. I'll walk out with you." Zach grabbed his books and got to his feet also.

We walked out the library. "So are you coming with me tonight?" I opened my car door and tossed my books and bag onto the seat.

Zach grinned and wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Nah, I'll see you guys tomorrow. I have a date tonight, so I'm heading back to my dorm room to get ready."

I raised my eyebrows and smiled back. "Oh? Anybody I know?"

"Nah, I don't think so but wish me luck. I'm hoping to have a very good night. If you know what I mean." He gave me a lecherous grin and walked away.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Ugh! Zach was just as perverted as Ryan. It's no wonder they got along so well.

I hopped into my car and headed for home.

Half an hour later I pulled up to the guard booth and waved to Sam, the night guard.

"Hey Sam. How's it going?" I slowed down.

"Not too bad, kiddo. I'm just about to head over to the center to get myself a coffee. Have a nice night." He closed the door to the booth and walked in the direction of the center.

"You too, Sam." I decided to park in the building's basement parking lot to avoid the birds crapping on my car.

I grabbed my books and swung my bag over my shoulder. I took about three steps away from the car before my cell phone rang. I dug in my bag and answered it.

"Hey Isabella. Where are you?" I rolled my eyes as I heard Taylor's voice.

"I'm in the basement walking to the elevator now. What's up?" I asked, trying to juggle everything in my hands. I had too much stuff.

"Just wanted to let you know we're watching the movie over at our place tonight so you could come straight here. Ryan broke the DVD player in your apartment. Don't ask." He sounded mildly irritated.

"What did he do th-?"

I didn't get to finish my question before I felt an explosion of pain in the back of my head. I fell face first hitting the ground hard and everything in my hands went flying. The wind got knocked out of me and I struggled to breath. I felt hands grab at my blouse rolling me over on my back. The pain in my head was unbearable as I tried to make out the features of my attacker. All I could see was a shadowy figure of a man.

I shook my head trying to clear my blurry vision.

"Hey there, hot stuff. You and I are going to have a little fun. Let's go to a place a little more private." I screamed then. He leaned over me and I felt another burst of pain as his fist connected with my face.

My eyes rolled back in my head. I felt so tired as I struggled to fight the approaching darkness. Some of my consciousness snapped back to me as I realized I was being dragged across the parking lot floor by my feet. Terror made my throat close up as I realized that this was the mad man from the news. I couldn't breathe. I was going to die. There was no one to save me this time. No one would be coming to my rescue.

Realization dawned on me again; he was dragging me toward his car. I knew that if he got me into his car it would be over for me. I would die. After surviving vampires and werewolves I would be murdered by a human and all because he wanted to rape me. It was pathetic. I felt my rage growing and I grabbed on to it using it to fuel my energy. If he wanted to rape me he would have to kill me first. Then I heard Leah's voice.

Bella, you have to fight.

I began to kick, struggle and scream. I think I must have surprised him because his grip slipped and I rolled to my feet and shot up running. I didn't get very far before he caught up with me grabbing me by the hair. He swung me by my hair and threw me to the floor again. I landed on my back and felt my head smack the concrete.

"I was hoping to take this elsewhere but this will have to do." He sounded eerily calm. Almost as if this was an everyday occurrence for him.

He grabbed me by the hair again and dragged me a short distance behind another car. He straddled my waist and when I tried to scream again he slapped me hard across the mouth. I wanted to cry. I wanted to beg but I bit my tongue instead refusing to give the bastard the satisfaction. As I tasted my blood, I heard him tear my blouse open.

"Quiet, you slut. You know you want this. You can kick and scream all you want but this is going to happen."

I couldn't fight anymore as I felt the darkness threatening to take me again. I heard Leah's voice again and this time she was really pissed.

Damn it, Bella! Don't give up. Do you want to die? Fight!

My eyes snapped open with new determination. This was not going to happen to me. I wouldn't let it. I refused to let myself be forever scarred and traumatized by this bastard.

I lay there trying to look helpless, whimpering as he struggled with the waist of my jeans. I wanted to look as if I had given up. As he muttered a curse, I thanked God for Liz and her insistence that I wear tight skinny jeans to as she put it, show off my peaches. His fingers dug into my waist as he tried to pull my pants down.

I tried to think of a primary target place I could attack that would disable him. I wanted to kick him in the groin but from his position on top of me, I would only have access to his face.

I prayed a silent prayer in my mind, asking God to give me the strength to do what I had to do. I wasn't planning on punching him in the face. That would only annoy him and hurt me more than it would him. I would have a chance if I could get a shot at his nose.

I curled my fingers and tucked my thumb against my hand. He wasn't looking at me. He was too busy fighting a losing battle with my pants. I had to get his attention. I felt a chuckle trickle out of my mouth and in a voice I hardly recognized as my own I taunted him, "Hey asshole."

As he raised his head to look at me, he gave me the opening I needed. I quickly leaned forward and drove the heel of my palm into his nose as hard as I could. I screamed in triumph and disgust when I heard the sickening crunch as his nose broke. I felt his nose give under my hand followed by a warm wetness. His blood ran down my hand. My stomach lurched, threatening to relieve its contents. As I pulled my hand back I felt a pain in my wrist. He roared in agony, fell off of me and onto his butt, holding his face.

I knew I had to attack again before he had the chance to recover so I raised my foot and delivered a kick right between his legs, to his crotch. I was rewarded with another roar of pain. Now he was rolling around on the floor, grabbing at his face and crotch.

I crawled away from him slowly and in the direction of my bag some meters away. I had to get to my taser gun. As I got to my bag and began to dig through it, I could hear him cursing about how he was going to kill me.

I grabbed the taser gun and stumbled to my feet. The room spun around me and I shook my head trying to clear the black spots I saw in front of my eyes. I pointed the taser gun at him but I hesitated to shoot it. I'd never purposely hurt another living being in my life. I began to feel sorry for the man on the floor in front of me, until I remembered what he tried to do to me. I remembered what he did to those other women and I felt my rage return. Edward and Jacob weren't the monsters they thought they were. The man in front of me was a monster in its truest form.

He spat blood in my direction and hissed, "You whore. You're gonna pay for doing that. They won't even find your body when I'm through with you. I make you hurt, I'll make you pay."

I heard Leah's voice laughing viciously.

That was the wrong thing to say, asshole. Take him down, Bella.

It was him or me. I pulled the trigger and watched as two long wires shot out of the nozzle. They attached themselves to his shirt and delivered an electric stock to his body. His scream echoed off the walls in agony again as his body convulsed. His body shook like he was having a seizure. Afterward, he lay on the floor in a puddle of his urine twitching.

I dropped the gun and spun around on my heels to run. I had to get out of there. The darkness was coming back again and I didn't have enough strength to fight it anymore. Not this time. The pain in my head was unbearable and I could barely see. I think there was blood in my eyes and I was exhausted. But I forced myself to stumble on, not wanting to pass out next to my attacker and give him the chance to finish what he started. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.

I heard screaming and voices but they seemed so far away. I saw shadows of people in the distance but I couldn't distinguish their faces. Everything around me was blurry. The people got closer and I realized that the voices were calling my name. The voices knew me. Suddenly the room tilted and gentle yet strong hands caught me as I fell. I looked up and saw the furious but concerned green eyes of Taylor looking back at me.

Taylor's arms tightened around me. "Isabella…" His voice broke as he said my name. His lips continued to move but I couldn't hear anything he said. I couldn't hear anything at all.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything but nothing came out. I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me.

A/N: I decided to put this chapter up one day sooner. I've planned to update on Fridays but there are times when I'll post a chapter early.

Thanks to all my reviewers. Seriously you guys rock!

The next chapter will be in someone else's POV. Sorry jul5857 it isn't Jacob's but don't worry his POV is coming up soon enough.

If you guys want your chapter before next Friday you know what to do. Review.