(That awkward moment when you revise and edit a fight scene and it ends up being over 2000 words when the original was only a little over 1000... Hope you still enjoy it, though!)

Finny gave me a look of confusion. "What would he be doing here? And why would he be after you?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but the man in the doorway interrupted. "I'll fill him in once you're dead, alright? I'll make sure your boyfriend over here gets a full explanation."

"He's not my-"

"Does that really need to be explained right now?" Finny asked, shocked that I would take the time to clear up misunderstandings with someone who was trying to kill me. "Let him think what he wants, and then get rid of him."

"You can't just get rid of him, Finny. He has more weapons under his coat. He's ready for anything." Then a thought occurred to me. "How did you get here so fast, anyway?"

"I have my connections."

"Okay.... Is that the same reason you knew where I would be?"

He nodded.

Great. He had a little friend somewhere who was keeping tabs on me and informing him of where I was, and also transporting him across the ocean. That was good to know, at least.

I had to think of a way to get him to leave. I couldn't defend myself in my condition, and I'd never seen Finny fight before, but I doubted he stood much of a chance. He didn't really even seem like to type to fight anyone.

The only thing I could do was try to scare him away.

"So what would you do if Maria walked through the door right now?"

"Probably kill her and then the both of you."

"What about my father?"

"I guess I would have to kill him first."

"I doubt you'd be capable of that," I laughed.

Finny interrupted. "Is this what happened last time he tried to kill you?"

I thought for a moment, then shook my head.

"Then why is it happening now?"

I shrugged.

Maria's ex pulled out his sword. It shined in the light, and was still tinted red with my blood from the last time we'd met.

I stood up on the bed, and Finny stared at me. Showing fear got me almost killed last time. Maybe hiding it would help.

"Playing tough isn't going to save you."

Even though I knew that was the case, I felt my heart drop a little. "I'm aware."

"Then why not just give up now?"

"Because there wouldn't be any fun in that." I was doing a pretty good job masking my fear, but I knew Finny could see that I was terrified. My hands and knees were shaking, and I knew I would be no match for the man before me; not in my condition. I was weak from fear and pain. I wasn't going to last long.

Then, as my luck would have it, my wings began to change again. I tried my best to not cry out, and Finny noticed and stood. He forced me to sit back down on the bed, then stood in front of me, looking ready to fight.

The man laughed, then twirled his sword around his fingers. He saw I was in pain, and I was sure her wanted to use that to his advantage.

Once the pain subsided, I turned to the other side of the bed. I stood on wobbling legs and made my way to the window.

We appeared to be three stories up, and the window opened up enough that I could fly away from here. The only problem was my wings hurt like crazy. There was no way I could get both of us to safety, and I wasn't going to leave Finny here to face the man alone.

As I opened the window, the man became angry quickly.

"You aren't going anywhere!" he roared.

I turned to face him. "Who said I was?"

Finny looked back at me, urgency on his face. I simply shook my head. "Finny, I'm not leaving you alone with him.

He looked slightly relieved, but mostly heartbroken. I could only imagine what was going through his mind.

The man smirked. "Well, it appears you had your chance to escape and refused it, so..." he came lunging at me, and I dodged at the last second, causing him to crash into the wall. I grabbed Finny's hand and pulled him out of the room and into mine, where we would hopefully be safe for a few moments.

"Why didn't you leave?"

I glanced to Finny. He was obviously worried I wouldn't survive this, or worried I would die because of something he failed to do. He would've felt better it I had left; I would've been one less thing to worry about.

I turned to face him fully. "I told you," I said with a soft smile, "I'm not leaving you here to die. We'll either escape together or kill this loser."

Finny just kept staring at me like I was insane.

I sighed. "Plus, did you really think I would survive a three story drop when I can't so much as hover three inches off the ground? It was either fall to my death and leave you fighting meaninglessly, or try to get us out of here together. What choice do you think I should have gone with?"

Finny opened his mouth to say something, but then immediately closed it. I listened, and heard the man walking up and down the halls, calling my name.

"Let me try something," I whispered. "If it works, we're saved. If it doesn't, we'll have to be ready to fight."

Finny nodded. I could tell he was wracking his brain for ways to save us as well.

At his answer, I walked over and opened the window.

"Dad!" I screamed. "Maria! Help!"

***

3rd Person POV:

"Thank you very much for sharing your discoveries. I'll be sure to take them back to my husband," Maria said to a female scientist. The woman nodded, and closed to door, leaving Maria outside.

"Sebastian?" she called as she took a few steps away from the house.

The demon butler stepped out from behind a thick trunked tree, frowning. "They had nothing in their lab that could have in any way been associated with Angelica."

"I see. Well then, on to the next one?"

Sebastian was about to comply when he heard it; the faintest cry for help.

"Dad! Maria! Help!"

Sebastian's silence was all Maria needed to know something wasn't right. "What is it?" she asked, slowly approaching him, fearing the worst.

The demon turned to her, fear and urgency clear as day on his face.

"Selena is in danger."

***

Selena's POV:

I grabbed the small stuffed bear from my bed and sat on the floor, hugging it. All we could do now was wait. Either Dad and Maria would find us, or the mad scientist would.

I heard the doorknob jiggle and I got to my feet behind Finny. Once the door opened, the scientist stepped through, smirking.

"You know, you really shouldn't have yelled like that," he said. "It gave you away."

I set the bear down gently on the bed, then grabbed a knife from what Maria had probably brought over to have for breakfast that morning. Attempting to be strong and fight for myself, I lunged at the man by the door. But before I could do anything to fight him, I dropped at his feet, falling to the floor in pain.

Finny knew what was wrong immediately, but the scientist before us had no clue why I was writhing in pain when he hadn't laid a finger on me.

"Ha... ha... hahahahaha!! You can't even stand to fight me? Come on, your pathetic!"

I took deep breaths, trying to ease the pain in my wings, even though I didn't really know how. It was all I could do in my situation, anyway. I was lying on the floor and at the mercy of a thirty something year old man who was looming over me. I knew Finny was behind me, trying to figure out something he could do.

I gathered my courage and tilted my head back so I could face my attacker, only yo nearly cut the back of my head on the sword he held over me.

His sadistic smile sent shivers down my spine. "Let's see those pretty wings of yours once more before I slice them clean off!" He laughed loudly, then took his sword and positioned it under the collar of my dress. He smirked, and I lowered my gaze to the floor and closed my eyes. I realized just how helpless I was when his sword started to cut down the back of my dress.

"Please, stop..." I whimpered softly, but no one heard it. All I could do from my place on the floor was hope for either a miracle or my father.

I felt my ruined dress fall to either side of me. I waited a moment, expecting a laugh or an immediate killing blow. But when neither came, I glanced up at him.

His eyes were squinted slightly in confusion as he studied my wings, and I could tell from his expression that something inside him had changed. He was no longer a mindless killer, but rather a concerned scientist.

"What happened?" he asked, backing away.

I saw my opening to finally get back on my feet and attempted to do so. "Like I should tell you," I spat.

He backed himself up against the wall, and Finny rushed over and helped me up and onto a bed. I muffled another scream from the pain in my wings and clung to the front of my dress to keep it up. Finny kept his hands on my shoulders as we both faced the enemy.

He was still staring at me, his eyes having gone wide as his brain finally processed the situation. He looked like he wanted to speak, but I beat him to it.

"Don't stand there pitying me," I nearly growled as tears made their way down my face. I'd suddenly made up my mind. "If you want to kill me, do it now while I can't fight back. Ah!" I screamed, hunching over in pain. "I'm already dying anyway!"

The room was silent other than my panting. The pain in my wings was bad enough, but I also had to focus on keeping myself covered. After a long moment, I dared to glance up at the scientist before us. Unsurprisingly, he had lowered his sword.

"Selena, don't give someone permission to kill you..." Finny spoke softly, the sadness in his voice breaking my heart.

I glanced to him, trying to give him a small smile. "It's okay, Finny. He won't do it."

"And what makes you say that?" the man asked, sounding insulted.

I faced him. "The first time you attacked me, you hesitated to kill me. Even now, you've lowered your sword. You know what you're doing is wrong. You don't want to kill me. You pity me." I sat up a little taller and glared at him. "But I don't want or need your pity. If you are going to continue hunting me down every time you think you have built up the strength to kill a living being, then either stop coming or kill me now." I took a deep breath, calming myself. "It's your choice, and I won't stop you from doing either."

He glared at me, clearly insulted by my words. "I'm no coward, girl. You'd better watch your mouth."

I sat there, watching him as he raised his sword again. I took a deep breath. "Prove it."

His eyes lit up with new anger and hatred.

Finny wrapped himself around me protectively. I pulled away and told him to not interfere.

I watched for a moment as the man before us slowly stepped closer. I'm okay with this. I thought to myself, closing my eyes for a brief moment. It's better to get this over with now than to suffer longer and cause others pain.

When I opened my eyes again, the man was lunging at me, sword pointed at the center of my chest. Something in my heart shattered at the sight of the glimmering sword, and I felt a fear of death that I had never felt before rise up in me.

But before I could do anything about it, I saw the hesitation flicker across the scientist's face, and his sword swerved down at the last second, plunging it into my side instead of my heart.

I couldn't even scream. I gasped at the sudden burst of pain in my right side from the sword and my wings from the impact. Finny screamed in my place, but his sounded like pure terror.

The scientist smirked, pulling the sword out slowly to cause even more pain as it sliced at my skin once again. Once the sword was finally removed from my body, I fell back onto the bed, my head landing in Finny's lap, and my wings sending another wave of pain through my body as they hit the mattress.

Glancing up at the one who held me, I noticed he had tears streaming down his face. I gave him a small smile, reaching up and wiping some away with the little strength I had left. I then turned my head to the man holding his bloody sword. His smile was triumphant, but I could still see the uncertainty in his eyes.

"You... hesi... tated..." I whispered to him, feeling myself drifting toward unconsciousness.

The last thing I heard was the door open, Maria's scream, and my father running over to me, calling my name.