A/N: Well, here it is. The final chapter. Originally this was supposed to be two separate chapters, but, to be honest, I was ready to finish it. When I first outlined this story I thought of writing a sequel that focused on Sarah's and Darek's relationship. It's something I may get to some day, but not any time soon. Many, many thanks to those of you who have read and reviewed this story and especially those of you who prodded me through the years to return to it. I never intended to still be writing it all these years later.

Sarah was still trembling by the time they arrived at the lodge. Knowing that the man who had spent most of her life abusing and manipulating her was only a few feet away was more than she could handle. Darek too seemed to be contemplating the best escape route. The fear in the room was so palpable that Roger wondered what the kids had gone through before they came to Horizon.

The minutes dragged on in silence as they waited for word from Peter. Roger had tried a few times to get the kids to talk but they were either unwilling or unable to speak. They sat, side by side, holding hands and waiting.

"Sarah, Darek?" Peter's voice had startled them both. "Can you join me in my office?"

Sarah went white and shook her head. "No way, Peter."

Peter walked over and gently took her hand. "It's okay Sarah. I'm on your side. Sheriff Swan is here to help." He studied her face. "I'm here to help too if you'll let me."

Darek, still holding her other hand, nodded and turned to Sarah. "We can do this. We can't keep running from him."

Silent tears were falling on Sarah's cheeks, but she followed Peter anyway. Darek and Roger followed closely behind as they made their way the short distance to Peter's office.

Both kids were silent during the walk. Sarah froze just outside the door, but Darek placed his hand on her back and guided her into the room behind Peter. A chill went down his spine when he met his father's eyes.

Mr. Corbridge jumped up when he saw Sarah. "Finally, now we can leave. I don't think this school is the right place for my daughter." His voice was low, but the underlying threat and hate seeped through.

Sheriff Swan held out his arm to stop Mr. Corbridge from crossing the room to Sarah and Darek. "Just a minute now. Let's hear what Peter has to say."

Mr. Corbridge's face turned crimson. "You will NOT keep me from my daughter or so help me when my lawyers are done with you…"

Peter sat on the edge of his desk, placing himself in the middle of the crowd. "Mr. Corbridge, let's just take a minute to talk. It doesn't seem to me that either Sarah or Darek are interested in going anywhere right now."

Mr. Corbridge pointed at Darek. "I have no interest in THAT child! I want my daughter!"

Darek finally spoke up. "You were pretty interested in me last week, weren't you Dad?"

"What happened last week, Darek?" Peter pried.

"Nothing," shouted Mr. Corbridge. "I haven't seen this good-for-nothing kid in years."

"LIAR!" screamed Darek. "You were there. You saw her. You saw her, and you did nothing!"

Now it was Curtis's turn to ask questions. "Saw who?

Darek was sobbing now, unable to speak. Peter stood to put a comforting arm around him, but Sarah had beaten him to it.

"My mom," Darek managed to get out between sobs. "He was there after my mom died. I called him. I had nowhere else to go. I didn't know what else to do." They waited for Darek to continue. "He laughed. Said she deserved what she got and told me that he would kill me if I ever contacted him again."

Curtis took a step closer to Mr. Corbridge. "Did you threaten that boy?"

"Of course not." He scoffed. "He's a liar. I was in Paris all last week. You can call my secretary and ask her."

Sarah's voice was small, but still, she spoke. "Ask her about the schools I've been to too. I'm pretty sure she'll say anything you want to hear."

Peter thought he noticed Mr. Corbridge shift uncomfortably. "What do you mean Sarah?"

"He's forged my school records. My therapist records too." She had been staring at her shoes for most of the conversation, but lifted her head now to look at Peter. "You know it's true Peter."

Peter nodded at Curtis. "I suspected."

"Why would I do such a thing?" Mr. Corbridge spat. "I have more important things to spend my time on then creating dysfunctional fairy tales for teenagers."

"Because I knew!" Sarah had found her courage and was staring daggers at her father. Roger's strong hand on her shoulder and Darek's presence next to her encouraged her to go on. "I know all about you and your affairs and your dirty politics, Dad. I'm a road bump in your career. An inconvenience. So you made me expendable." She paused to take a breath, calming her voice. "At every school, any time I try to tell a counselor about my parents HE would show up and pull me out. Then he fakes my records and the whole game starts over again."

The story was all starting to make sense to Peter – all of the things that Sarah had said or done, all of the little pieces were falling into place.

"Oh please," Mr. Corbridge laughed. "You're a profoundly dysfunctional teenager. You need help. I did the best I could." He paused to emphasize his final statement. "There's no faking your problems."

Sarah shook with tears. "No, you're right Dad. You can't fake my problems. That's why you made sure I was suffering." She looked at Peter to deliver her final blow. "I looked at my file. I know he said I had an eating disorder. It's easy to look at me and think that, but have you ever once had to tell me to eat? Have you ever once found me barfing up my meals?" Peter shook his head. "It's not true, that's why. After he pulled me out of my last school he locked me in my room for a week without food. Told me I deserved it." Sarah broke down at the memory and Roger enveloped her in a hug. "It's what he does."

Darek knew there was so much more to Sarah's story, so much more abuse and neglect. There was for him too. It wasn't easy to sum up years of torment in just a few minutes. He looked around the room and his eyes settled on his dad. "You're a monster, you know that?"

The charade had finally ended and Mr. Corbridge lunged at Darek, knocking him to the ground. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!"

Roger and Peter rushed to pull the two apart, but not before Mr. Corbridge had managed to land a few punches. Curtis reached for his handcuffs and roughly cuffed Mr. Corbridge's hands behind his back. "You're under arrest for assault on a minor, sir."

Sarah let out a muffled scream as Peter helped Darek up from the floor. "Roger, Sarah, can you help Darek to the infirmary to get those cuts cleaned up? I'll be right over. I'm just going to help Curtis escort Mr. Corbridge outside."

Roger nodded. Sarah and Darek were too stunned to speak. He led them wordlessly out of the office and, for the first time in their lives, Sarah and Darek walked away from their father into safety.

When Peter finally joined the trio in the infirmary, Darek was holding an ice pack to his face while he and Sarah chatted. Roger was sitting nearby in a chair, watching over both of them.

"Thanks for your help Roger. Do you mind catching up with the rest of the Cliffhangers? They're due on kitchens in a few minutes and Sophie could use a hand."

"No problem, Peter."

Peter didn't speak again until Roger had left the room. He looked each of them in the eyes. "You're both safe now. He can't hurt you again."

Sarah collapsed into a fresh set of tears, but Darek remained stoic. "Thanks."

Peter nodded. "I'm proud of both of you. Speaking up in there, confronting your dad like that. It took guts." He waited while Sarah tried to compose herself and then continued. "It's just the start of this you know? Curtis and I will notify Child Protective Services, and you'll both have to testify about the abuse."

Sarah had expected as much. She wasn't sure that she was going to be able to do it on her own, but with Darek's help, maybe she could find the strength to tell them everything. "What about my mom?"

"We'll be in touch with her, let her know what happened here."

Sarah shook her head. "No." She looked up at Peter, pleading. "Please don't."

"I'm bound by school rules to notify her Sarah. Don't you think she will want to know?" He studied Sarah's face and saw the pain in her eyes. "Unless there's something you want to tell me about your mom?"

Sarah nodded. She couldn't find the words to say it though.

Darek squeezed her hand. "You can tell him Sarah, it's okay."

"She – she did it too. Abused me." Sarah spit the words out quickly, not wanting to dwell on them any longer than she had too.

Peter embraced her in a hug and Sarah found herself crying again. "Okay," he said softly. "I'll take care of it."

After Sarah had calmed down a bit, Peter turned his attention to Darek. "How are you doing, kiddo?" He reached over to examine the boy's face.

"I'm okay. I've had worse."

Peter nodded, knowing that this incident was probably one of the milder physical confrontations Darek had had with his father. "I know it's hard to believe right now, but things are going to get better. You're safe now."

Sarah and Darek weren't sure they were ready to think that far ahead, but for right now they could relish in the fact that their dad was locked up, at least for now, and they were together. The rest, they hoped, would fall into place…