______________________________________________

Amy winced as she straightened up from her position on the locker room floor.

Every single part of her body hurt, although Matt had been careful, as usual, not to leave any visible marks on her. He knew better, and partly from experience. The very last time he'd bruised up her face, his brother, Jeff, had noticed - and questioned her. After that, Matt had wisened up, leaving the bruises only on areas generally covered up. Luckily for him, she no longer competed in stupid gimmick matches like those of the bra and panties ilk.

The redhead groaned as she reached a hand to her lower back. The dark-haired man had apparently chosen that body part as his favorite with which to inflict his physical abuse. It hurt like hell and she thought she could be considered lucky if he hadn't actually done damage to a disk or two in her spine.

Tears came to Amy's eyes as she made her wobbly way to her feet a moment later. Matt was gone. He'd deserted her immediately after his rage had been spent.

She bit her lip as the tears fell down her cheeks. Damn it, she hated him... She hated him for being so cruel and callous, cutting her to the quick with his mean comments... For deciding to leave SmackDown and come to RAW - at least when he'd still been on the other show, she'd had some peace - he tended not to abuse her physically when they only got to see one another once a week - and she hated him for beating her, using her as his own personal punching bag.

The redhead couldn't help but wonder what Matt's true intentions had been when he'd switched rosters... Had it been simply to see her more often? Had it been because Stephanie McMahon, whom she'd always known deep down he'd had a crush on, was no longer General Manager of SmackDown? Or was it simply due to the fact that he wanted to torment her as much as as often as possible?

In her heart of hearts, she knew the answer was the latter...

She wiped quickly at the tears that had spilled forth on her cheeks, forcing back more. She had to get out of here, out of this damn locker room before he came back to inflict more punishment...

She'd had enough, and she vowed right then and there that she wasn't going to take it anymore...

Amy made her way to her bag, gingerly placing her belongings she'd left out into it. Afterward, she zipped the bag and headed to the door. She was going to leave - now... But when she opened the door, she received the fright of her life and gasped.

Matt was standing in the doorway - his back to her as he was having friendly conversation with Andrew Martin and his girlfriend, Stacy Keibler. His entire body was blocking the doorway, preventing her escape, and she couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't heard his voice right outside. The only thing she could figure was that the door and walls must be pretty solid. Yes, that had to be it, because then, wouldn't someone have heard her cries during the struggle? Wouldn't they have helped her, or at least get her help?

"And so, yeah, we're-" Matt cut his words off abruptly as he suddenly turned around to stare at her.

Amy's blood ran cold as she took in the stern look he shot her, but Drew and Stacy apparently didn't notice.

"Hey, hon," he said, putting on his falsely nice-guy face. He smiled, and her stomach clenched as she forced a grin back. Without a single word, she backed up into the room, praying that somehow, Drew or Stacy - or both of them - would sense her fear.

She was trapped, and there was nowhere she could go... She knew that if she tried to leave the room now, Matt would make her pay for it later. She stood there uncertainly for a few minutes, trying her best not to shake in her fright. It was no easy feat.

The redhead cringed when, a moment or so later, the dark-haired man told their two friends he'd see them later. She heard them leave, and she nearly fainted as Matt stepped back into the room.

He shut the door calmly, quietly as he turned around to face her - and that was when Amy's tears returned - because by the expression on his face, she knew he wasn't finished with her for the night...

"You stupid little bitch! What the hell were you thinking?!"

She shook her head frantically.

"I'm not... I wasn't-"

"Did I give you permission to speak?!" he shouted, his dark eyes wide with rage. In a flash, he lunged at her again, this time actually knocking her to the floor.

Amy was certain he was only going to hit her, like he always did - but that was not the case... Not this time.

"Matt - no!"

She thought she was in the middle of some horrifying nightmare as her boyfriend was suddenly ripping at her clothing. She tried to fight him, but it was no use. Finally, he'd managed to undo his pants just enough to free himself, and after yanking down her panties, he forced his way inside of her.

The redhead cried at the extent of the pain she felt - and then, as she had earlier, she suddenly blacked out.