Disclaimer: I do not own any of the BTVS characters in this story, they are the property of Joss Whedon and The WB.

The moon began its descent into day, and Angel walked Sarah home, even though she begged him to stay with her. They kissed under the light of the moon, their lips passionately declaring devotion. They promised to meet the next night, and Sarah slipped inside her house.

As she headed for the stairs, she found her path blocked by the clad form of her father. His mouth pulled down into a scowl, and his arms crossed angrily in front of him.

"Where were you?" He asked angrily.

Sarah swallowed hard and replied, "Out."

"And why?"

"You know why," She answered, "Your temper."

"Don't you smart off at me," He said angrily and slapped her across the face.

Sarah slowly got up off of the floor and faced her father again.

"Where were you?!"

Sarah stormed past him but he grabbed her by the arm and slammed her into the wall and then hit her hard across the face again.

"Answer me!"

As her father yelled, Sarah tried to fight the blackness that was beginning to surround her.

"I said answer me!"

When she didn't respond, he grabbed a long strap of leather and whipped her across the back. She fell to the floor after a few wacks and as she began to lose consciousness, she heard a bottle being smashed and her sister's cries.

Sarah woke up slowly to find herself in her own bed and heard the soothing voice of her mother.

"Where is he?!" Sarah asked in alarm.

"It's okay," her mother said, "I knocked him out by smashing a whiskey bottle over his head. He'll be out could throughout the day. Are you all right?"

"No," Sarah said quietly. She winced in pain as she tried to get up but her mother stopped her. "Stay in bed. You need your rest."

"Is she going to be okay?" little Elena asked worriedly from the doorway.

"Yes, she'll be all right. She just needs to rest."

Sarah took her mother's advice and stayed in bed. Every once and a while her mother would come in to treat her wounds.

It was dark out and her father woke up and he was once again drunk and crazed, he had taken out another bottle of whiskey from the cabinet. He stormed out of the room and into the kitchen with every intention of making sure that whoever hit him in the head was going to pay and he knew exactly who to blame for.

As Sarah's mother saw her angry husband she yelled at her younger daughter, "Elena, get out of here!"

Elena obeyed her mother's orders, but not really, the little girl took her place down in the cellar.

After he knocked his wife into unconsciousness, he headed towards Sarah who had just exited her room after hearing the commotion. As her father approached her, Sarah took her chance by bolting to the nearby door. She ran out of the house, with her father on her heels. As she ran through the yard, she spotted the woods and ran into it, hoping to some how lose him.

It was dark and that made it even more difficult to see where she was going. As she ran, branches twisted themselves through her dress, causing rips through the material.

Far back behind her, she could hear her drunken father yell her name and threatened to kill her when he caught up to her. She had finally been able to lose him and now she just had to find that cliff...

Angelus sat on a large rock, looking at the sparkling sea. He stayed up most of the night thinking of Sarah. She was just the kind of girl he wanted. She was smart, beautiful, and fun to be around. Was he in love with her? It was a question that he had asked himself through out the day. Maybe he was.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Sarah. He noticed that her dress was torn and that she had cuts and bruises on her skin, he also noticed the limp in her walk. He walked up to her and embraced her, she immediately collapsed into his arms as she tried to catch her breath.

Angel broke away from her. "What happened? You're hurt...."

"We need to get out of here. He's after me and he's trying to kill me," She cried.

Angel believed her, she looked terrified. "All right, but you're not walking," he said as he scooped her up in his arms. She looked too weak to even walk or run. He didn't know whom it was she was running from but later on they were going to get what was coming to them, Angel promised.

They were half way to his home and he gently set her down on the grass. "I think we've lost him. We need to discuss this later," he said.

Sarah simply nodded in agreement. He had a right to know what was going on with her.

"Are you hurt?" He asked her.

"No, I'm okay," she said, "for now."

He lifted her chin and forced her to look at him. "Nobody's going to hurt you, I won't let them."

She looked into his dark eyes and told him softly, "I love you."

"I love you, too," he said, "And no one's going to touch you."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, boy," said a deep voice from behind that made Sarah jump.

Sarah got up quickly and backed up away from the man in fear. Angel immediately got the hint that Sarah was afraid of this man.

"Sarah, run!" Angel ordered.

"I won't. I can't leave you here," Sarah said.

"You don't have a choice, now get out of here!" Angel's eyes pleaded her to leave and she obeyed, running off in a different direction.

"This shouldn't take too long," the man said, "After I kill you, she's next."

"I wouldn't count on it if I were you."

The older man threw a punch towards Angel's head, but he blocked it and kneed him in the gut.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that one," he said angrily and lunged at him.