With the feeling of safety, came the knowledge that the fight was over. It made way for exhaustion to break free, in whole and totally out of control.

Sofia ached all over. Mentally and physically feeling drained out she rested her tired head in her palms.

Sofia was not unfamiliar with hurt, it was the exact opposite actually. And Mevil here had triggered something, bringing forth unknowingly from the deepest crevice of her mind where fear, misery, and melancholy lay side by side—hidden and unspoken.

She might have zoned out a little or had been probably falling asleep right there sitting on the bed. Because a hand on her shoulder made her start, she looked up and through her half-lidded eyes saw Max watching her with concern.

It was neither the place nor the time to relive the horror, and so, Sofia pushed back forcefully what all was so determined to pour out.

"You okay? Are you hurting?" Max grunted right after asking it as if he was irritated by his own words. "Of course, you are hurting. That bastard was—did he—are you—"

Seeing him having trouble forming a coherent sentence, Sofia shook her head negatively. "I'm alright now."

She glanced at Mevil's attempts to sit up, his elbows pushing on the floor in failure. Max had done quite a number on him, there was no question about it.

She looked away, not wanting to stay in this place, anywhere near that pervert any longer. She couldn't believe she had almost been raped.

A frightening shiver ran down her spine.

"Let's get out of here," she said weakly and began to stand up.

Max's hands were immediately on her arms, steadying her, helping her up.

"Careful." Max's voice was frantic when she moaned in the pain that shot through her battered midriff.

"What is it? We need to get you to a hospital," He mumbled, still walking, and having already fished out his phone. "And I need to call the police as well."

Upon reaching the door, Max held it open so that the both of them could get the hell out of there. But their feet froze hearing a splattering, frantic cough behind.

"This is not over, lover boy." Mevil's raspy voice, threatening and vicious, had Sofia's skin crawl in disgust.

She hated the man like no other.

The hand Max had around her elbow to help her walk stiffened hearing Mevil.

"And I'll make sure you rot in jail for a long time, bastard," Max's strike back was powerful.

Mevil had his back against the wall now, against which Max had throttled him a while back. The way he was holding himself up indicated that he was in a great deal of pain.

"If I am going to drown, lover boy," Mevil managed a toothy grin, his lips chapped and bloody from the beating. He coughed a little before continuing, "Then I would rather drown with everything around me. I won't forget this and know that both of you will suffer. It will come sooner than you can imagine."

Seeing Max was about to lunge back into the royal beating of the scumbag again, Sofia's hand shot up to hold his wrist, bringing back his attention to her. And it worked. He looked at her, trembling in the effort of controlling himself.

Her eyes pleaded. "He's not worth it."

"But—"

Sofia shook her head.

Max was still indignant but sighed at last.

Hastily, they got out of the hotel then, leaving a grunting Mevil behind.

--

"I don't need a hospital, Max, I just need to get home and rest it out," she protested, trying to brave a smile but it faltered a little. "The painkillers and balm I've at home would do just fine."

They were just in front of the hotel entrance and Max was on the verge of hauling Sofia inside his car and storming toward a hospital.

"Like hell, it would!" Max looked pissed, the concern in his eyes nearly made her drop onto her knees. "What if something is broken?"

"And you're trembling," he pointed out further. "You're cold."

After that, in no time, and before Sofia could protest, he was wrapping his coat around her shoulders. He even went so far as to tug her messy hair out of the coat's lapels. It made him stand so close to her, that she could literally feel his body heat soaking into hers.

Some clicking noises could be heard then, it seemed weird in the background. But both of them were past registering the surrounding.

Max's eyebrows were furrowed, as if the answers to his every query were hidden in the tangles of her mane, like her messy hair from the earlier incident had his thorough attention.

Oh, Max!

Sofia wanted to cry at the warmth he was emanating from her with all his worry and concern. She was just an inch away from melting into a puddle. But she had had enough today. She was already feeling quite vulnerable and there was only so much she could take emotionally—positive or negative. This roller coaster ride needed to pause for a bit now, so that she could lay back a little, gather herself, and just rest or she feared she would pass out from exhaustion.

"Nothing is broken, Max," she answered his earlier question. "I'm fine—I'll be fine. Trust me." And she wasn't lying. Her ankle wasn't even twisted. It was probably just swollen a bit, well hidden under her ankle-length tights. She had already wrapped the scarf to cover her throat, any mark forming there would also stay hidden now.

Her midriff, well, she could move. That meant something good, right? So, nothing was broken or damaged there as well. All the pain she was feeling was beside the point.

Moreover, a hospital would just mean losing a huge load of cash where she was already drowned in a massive freak of debt. The unnecessary tests would do nothing but just announce what she had already figured out about her own body.

Max looked hesitant though.

Sofia rolled her eyes. "I'll survive, don't worry about me," she pressed, beaming a somewhat smile. "And I'll be as good as new as soon as I get home."

Still, Max seemed not convinced enough. He stared at her for a long moment, as if contemplating something. For a moment, Sofia thought, he would thwart all her assurances away and drag her to a hospital. His face was that determined, but then, his phone beeped with a message.

Moving his eyes from her, he concentrated on reading the text. His face contorted to a frown before turning blank.

"Just let me inform the cops then," Max said absentmindedly, looking up at her, his hand hovering over the car door. "You will have to give a statement in the station about what just happened back there."

Sofia nodded, taken aback at the change in his behavior. Must be some emergency—she thought.

Lingering there for a second more, she turned to walk around his car and away from him.

"I can give you a lift."

Sofia paused. "I've my car parked just there," she informed, nodding towards the right.

She didn't know what she wanted from him, but she waited.

"Alright, then," his voice was quiet. "And, this is just advice—"

Sofia looked over her shoulder.

He said in a grave tone, "Stop meeting men like Mevil, especially in hotel rooms out of all places."

"I only went there to get my money," she shot back in defense.

"Of course, you did. You would go anywhere for money."

Why did she feel like he was not talking about Mevil anymore?

Sofia heard the slamming of the car door, the roar of ignition, and the slight screech of expensive tires. She sighed.

Getting inside her own car, she pulled out onto the street, acknowledging only then that she hadn't told Max yet the reason for her agreeing to what he regarded as madness—the marriage.

And she had a pending 'thank you' to tell him as well, for saving her today.

--

As soon as Sofia got inside the doors of her home, she looked around with her breath held.

The coast was clear.

She heaved a sigh of relief. She would hate to have anyone see Max was holding her by the elbow to help her walk. There was just no point in troubling the entire household.

It seemed like she had forgotten how it actually felt like to lay back and have someone fuss over her when she returned home after her battles, covered in scars. Literally and metaphorically both.

Learning to take care of herself for so long, getting expertise in the art of braving up and beaming smiles even when she was hurting had made her awfully similar to a perfect coconut. Hard on the outside but soft within. No wonder she loved that fruit.

"Sofi, why are you walking like that?"

Sam's innocent but curious voice from one of the dark corners had Sofia cringe in shock.

The boy just knew all the right places to hide, from where he could keep his otherwise innocent but sharp eyes upon everyone. This was the making of a future Sherlock.

Sofia moved her head to the side in the direction of where she heard Sam. "Sam, you satan!" she reprimanded but with affection after locating him. "What are you doing in there?"

Huffing and puffing, Sam came out of the coat closet on the wall next to the front door.

"Nothing," he said simply.

Seemed like the bottom of the closet was that little boy's secret cave now, where he hid his treasures which included pennies, skillfully stolen cookies, chocolates, marbles, damaged old torch-light, half burnt pens that had seen better days of running scientific experiments upon them, and even dried frog skin. The last one he had gotten as a souvenir from the neighborhood high school-going girl—Sam's idol. Sofia suspected that he had a crush on that girl. It didn't matter that she was older than him.

The girl had been always doing dangerous scientific experiments in her basement. Just last month she set part of the house on fire, it was a ruckus. Sam was highly impressed though.

"Go back to your room. What is your mom doing, by the way?" Sofia asked.

"Having a nap," Sam answered.

"You should too."

"She bought some dresses today, and said that she was going to wear them during your wedding and reception party." Sam quickly informed, ignoring Sofia's command. "Sofi, are you really going to get married to the tall monster?"

Sofia sighed, nodding absentmindedly. "It seems so." Her mind was busy wondering where had her aunt found the money to buy the dresses. She felt anxious.

Ignoring Sofia's now changed mood, Sam blabbered further, making sure there was no more hurting of information inside his stomach. "Mom also said that you're going to become very rich now, that you're the luckiest of all."

Sofia's head snapped up at that. "I'm not," she protested firmly. Then in a lower tone, she whispered to herself, "I would climb further down the ladder, lose everything that I have."

Her aunt was making herself quite obvious here. There was one good thing though, she was now more interested in something other than drugs. But the fact didn't make Sofia feel any less disgraced.

Sam looked confused for a second before his eyes trailed down her neck. He scratched his head. "Why are you wearing a man's coat?"

Sofia looked down at her body and bit her tongue. "Hell, I forgot to give it back to him!" she murmured to herself.

And then she looked back up at Sam. "Because it's cold, and... it's fashion," she announced firmly. "And go back to your room now, Sam. Take a nap instead of trying to blast off the closet."

Dismissing Sam then, Sofia started to walk again. She'd just stepped onto the first step of the flight of stairs that went upstairs when her ankle creaked painfully. She flinched and then bit her tongue to stifle a groan when that flinch shot up to her midriff.

Red dots appeared beneath her eyelids. She closed her eyes briefly, praying to not faint.

"Are you in pain?" Sam asked.

Sofia looked down at the wide-eyed boy, before she could say something, he was yelling, "Grampa! Sky! Sofia's had an accident."

"Oh, God!" Sofia grunted, waving her hand frantically, signaling him to shut up.

After a couple of long minutes, Sofia could finally convince Sam to have his mouth shut about her supposed accident.

Closing the door of her room behind her, Sofia finally sighed in relief. She let the mask of calm from her face and Max's coat from her shoulders slip off to the floor.

She just wanted to collapse on the bed and fall asleep, away from the horrid reality that was her day.

But the need to scrub off Mevil's memories from her body was far stronger. So gathering a change of clothes and her towel, she limped towards the common bathroom just outside her room, to the right.

Standing under the shower head, she scrubbed and scrubbed with the coconut-scented soap, her eyes were closed as the lukewarm water drizzled all over her.

Memories replayed in her mind when she stood in front of the mirror—hung on the wall next to the sink. She let the towel slip off her fingers and stared at the bruises forming on her neck, her shoulders, her midriff...

Sighing, she opened the little closet on the other side of the sink and pulled out the bottle of painkillers.

When she finally collapsed in her bed after swallowing down two pills and applying a hefty amount of balm over the bruises, the exhaustion finally took over. The balm slowly spread a cooling sensation over her injuries and started to numb the pain in those places. Alongside, the pills began their magic as well and her mind was soon pumped up with deceptive fog, it shadowed her aching muscles, making them loosen up and relax.

Sofia sighed aloud.

But the valley of sleep she slipped into was not as pleasant and reviving as she had thought it to be earlier. Instead of taking her away from reality, it dragged her back into the dreaded hotel room. Back to Mevil.

He once again leaned in, his hands trapping her in the chair. The feel of his gold chains on her chin seemed more than real. She turned her face away screaming as his vile lips landed on her earlobe. Disgust, fear, vulnerability—diverse emotions crowded her mind all at once. And then, he threw her on the floor, his body over her. She gasped as his hands now closed around her neck, choking her. She thrashed against the steel hold fighting for breath. She craved for breath, just one more.

Mevil's haunting words cooed at her ear,

"Give in already..."

With perspiration dotting all over the skin, she might have woken up for a moment, groaning and crying. She lay in soul-numbing dread, clutching her pillow, gasping for assurance but there was none. Sleep hauled her back again, exhaustion won.

And this time her mind traveled way... way back then the horror of tonight. It was a ghastly tale of many years ago.

He once again leaned in, this time looming over her, and surrounding her with the stench of liquor, sweat, and malice. It was her screams that echoed without a destination, his knuckles that bruised her face and down her shoulder, on her ribs, and down her stomach, bleeding, burning.

She was scared into quiet.

No more another cry.

And she knew what her mother might have felt, what really made the hurt lose voice.

It was a shame, always shame, for being the weakest.

And then the worst thing happened, suddenly, like two parallel shades blending up her father's and Mevil's face combined into one. They became one.

In her ear then it resounded yet again, the existence of more than one voice made it double the sinister,

"Give in already..."

~

I've begun to throw in some major dark material, I hope you're detecting them.

Tell me if you've enjoyed reading this chapter.

Most importantly, what are your thoughts about Sofia's nightmare, or the blending of nightmares?

And I really enjoy writing about the bitter-sweet Max. He's like a puzzle Sofia thrives to solve, and she will be the puzzle he will thrive to solve. ;)

I really like the cover I made for this chapter, it kinda goes with the "opening nightmare" theme. What do you think?

Pls Vote, Comment, Fan/Follow, and Share! I'm on Twitter and Facebook - links on my Wattpad bio, go connect with me over there as well. :)

Thanks to all the lovely people who've been voting, commenting, and supporting this story!

, , , , , , , ... love you guys!

So, see you all real soon.

Take care till then,

Lara.

P.S. I'll really appreciate it if you help me correct any mistakes you find. :)