"Close the door and come here", Trevor said through clenched teeth.

I closed the front door of the house and went to stand in front of him with my head bowed and my hands clasped before me, fearfully waiting to hear his next command.

Something hard and heavy stuck me in the left side of my face, sending me sprawling to the ground. Did Trevor hit me? He never struck me before. Always when he wanted to hurt me he used either the collar or his manhood.

"Get up", he said.

The collar could give me far more pain than any beating, so I stood up shakily. The world spun before my eyes. This time I saw the punch and instinctively tried to dodge it. Normally I would have been able to move out of the way, but I was still dizzy from the previous blow and was sent sprawling to the floor once again.

"Get up", Trevor said.

I stood up again, swaying like a leaf in the wind. I couldn't help raising my hands to shield my face, but this time he punched me in the belly.

"Get up", he said.

I was wheezing after having the air knocked out of me and was still shaky from the blows to my head, but I reminded myself that anything was better than being punished through the collar and pulled myself up with the help of an armchair. I curled up, trying to shield both my face and my belly.

"Stand straight", Trevor ordered. With an effort of will I straightened my back and lowered my hands. Another punch landed, this time on my left eye.

The beating continued. When I could no longer stand he switched to kicking until he repeatedly struck every part of my body. I was covered in cuts and bruises and my eyes were nearly swollen shut.

"Get on all fours", Trevor said. I groaned as I laboriously turned on to my belly and with an effort I gathered my knees beneath me and pushed up. My head was pounding and my whole body was aching and it was hard to remember why I was still listening to what he said, but it was too late to think about resistance. Even without the collar, I was too beaten to be able to put up a fight.

Trevor pulled my skirt up and my undergarments down and leaned over me from behind. I was glad that the beating was finally over, but after a short while he pulled out and rolled me over to my back to stand over me. A few moments later something warm and sticky was sprayed on my face.

"That will teach you to turn my family against me", he said and then finally left.

I thought the pain was bad, but having my body broken and being so completely humiliated and degraded was worse. I didn't know I even had any dignity left to lose. I curled up into a ball of hurt and felt my mind drift away.

I don't know how long I laid on the floor in a stupor before a loud shriek shook me out of it.

"My gods! Vivian!" Liliana screamed. I moaned. My head was pounding and the loud noises made it worse.

"What happened to her?" Renata asked. Liliana took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Help me carry her up to her room. We need to clean her and see to her wounds", she said.

With their support I was just barely able to get up on my feet and stumble my way up the stairs. I could hardly see where I was going through the swelling around my eyes.

When we arrived in my room the two of them stripped off my clothing and washed the blood and Trevor's stench off of me, then laid me on my bed. They drew the heat out of the washbasin with a crude spell, took washcloths out of the towel closet in the hallway, and wet them in the freezing cold water. They then applied the cold cloths to the bruises all over my body, but especially on my face.

They kept reapplying the cold cloths until the swelling decreased, then turned me on my belly to take care of the other side, until there was nothing left to be done. Finally when I had recovered enough that I was able to sit they dressed me again with fresh clothes from my closet and drawers.

I sat hunched over on the edge of the bed. Liliana sat before me on the chair, while Renata held the baby.

"What happened?" Liliana asked delicately.

"The old master and mother tried to convince him", I said. My swollen lips caused me to slur the words, but Liliana understood. "He hates us. He thinks hurting me helps his mother in the afterlife. He's never going to let me go". My voice broke on those last words. My eyes welled up with tears.

"Maybe it's better if I die. Then I won't suffer anymore, and no one will have to worry about me". Saying those words opened the floodgates and I began crying out my despair.

Liliana placed her hand on my head in effort to comfort me. I clutched the front of her dress, seeking support. She drew my in closer and enveloped me in her arms while I soaked the front of her dress with tears.

I was so horribly helpless already due to the collar, but now I felt physically frail as well. I was being broken down bit by bit and I was terrified of what Trevor might come up with next.

Liliana helped me lie down again in bed and covered me with a blanket as if I were a baby.

"You are my friend and Henry's aunt. I will find a way to help you. I promise. So please don't think anymore about...about hurting yourself", she said. I nodded.

Renata, who had taken Henry out of the room while I was crying to avoid frightening him, came back now that the room was quiet again.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"I'll think of something, but for now she needs to rest. That means no more housework for her for at least a few days", she said.

"But Trevor..." I rasped.

"If Trevor wants to eat then he will let you rest. I'll take over doing the work in the meantime, and I'll keep him away from you for as long as I can", she reassured me.

"It's too bad we can't just kill him", Renata said. I choked out a weak, aching, raspy little laugh. The thought of a human wanting to kill another human in order to save a beast-kin was so strange that it seemed funny.

"I hope we can find a better solution than that", was all Liliana said in response.