I stared at Maria's ex husband until my eyes stung, then blinked and looked away. I didn't notice until Finny rested his hand on my shoulder that I was taking short, shallow breaths. I breathed in deeply, but couldn't slow my racing heart.

"Did you really think we would let the man that was trying to kill you get away once we were finally able to catch him?" Maria asked, not once looking at her ex. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she was leaning against the door to prevent his escape.

"But Finny said it's been five days! Shouldn't you have done something with him by now?"

"We have," Maria answered, straightening herself. "We took him with us to search for your mother. It made me less suspicious to the other scientists who didn't know about our separation."

"But why are you hanging onto him? He could beat you back here and finish me off. I thought he would be gone when I woke up..." I lowered my voice for the last part, fear creeping in on me. I then added quietly, "If I woke up."

Maria and her ex didn't seem to have heard me, but Dad and Finny both frowned.

"We wanted to hear your side of the story before we did anything, if you can remember," my father said.

How could I forget? I'd told a man to kill me, then almost committed suicide in front of my mother. Should I tell them everything?

"And," Dad added, "the only reason Finny is still alive is because of what he told us. If your story doesn't match, he's doomed."

I smiled a little, my heartbeat finally returning to normal. Sure, Dad was protective, but I knew he'd never hurt anyone I cared about. I'd learned that when he's spared Maria that night I was attacked by other scientists at her house and had locked myself in the bathroom. I also knew that even with this crazy scientist in the room, I was perfectly safe with my father beside me.

I sighed, then looked at my father with tearful eyes. "I told him to kill me," I said, then averted my gaze, and instead stared at my hands. "I told him I wasn't going to stop him."

"Why would you do that?" Maria asked from her spot by the door, her sadness unmistakable in the voice.

"Because," I said, looking up at her, "I'm tired of everything. I'm tired of running and hiding, of hurting, of not being able to help or defend myself." My voice broke. "Of being in everyone's way..."

Finny's grip on my shoulder tightened, and Dad grabbed my hand. Maria took a step closer, but kept one hand near the door.

Dad opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted. I didn't want to hear him tell me I wasn't being a burden. I didn't want to hear him lie to my face, so I changed the subject.

"I saw Mom while I was out."

"And?" Dad asked.

"Nothing about her body, sorry. I was just sent there." I lowered my head again. "And then I tried to die there, too..."

"Selena..." the pain in his voice was obvious.

"She was able to stop me somehow. With a wave of her hand, I was back in this world, dreaming, remembering the past."

"I'm glad she did," Maria said.

I opened my mouth to reply, but cried out in pain instead. I looked down at my stomach to see a large red spot on my dress.

Everyone around me sprang into action. My father and Finny gently forced me to lie down again, then Dad grabbed Finny by the arm and both of them left the room. Maria shoved her ex out to join them before rushing over to me, somehow already holding bandages.

Maria removed my dress and rewrapped my wound. She then showed me several new dresses that I assumed she and my father had bought for me, and I picked one and she helped my put it on. She then handed me my stuffed bear, and I lay back down on the bed.

Once Maria had opened the door and allowed the boys back inside the room, Finny took his place on the bed beside me, Dad stood next to me, and Maria's ex sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room. Maria herself closed the door and stood in front of it once again, being sure the man she had once loved could not escape.

"Do you see what you did to her?!" Maria screamed in rage at her ex, walking up to him. "You have nearly killed her three times now! When will you finally learn to give up?"

As much as I hated the man seated before her, I couldn't keep myself from defending him. "He hesitated," I muttered.

"Don't you feel shame? You can't just go around killing people, even if they aren't human!!"

"He stopped," I said a little louder, causing Finny to glance at me.

"And furthermore-"

"Maria!"

Everyone looked to me. I had sat up, although my entire body was protesting against the action. I was trembling from the pain, but something inside me pushed to be heard. I placed a hand over my wound; it had hurt even more to yell.

"Selena, you should really be-"

"No. Hear me out. Please."

Dad looked at me with concern. I did my best to ignore it.

I looked down at my knees, not wanting to see their faces as I defended my attacker. "He hesitated. He was going to kill me like I had wanted him to. But at the last moment, he hesitated, and delivered a non-fatal wound to my side."

Everyone looked to the man in the chair. Everyone except for me. I kept my head down, unable to meet his gaze, as I watched the people I cared about from the corners of my eyes.

"Why didn't you kill me?" I asked. "I'd given you the perfect chance, and you didn't take it. Why?"

I heard him give a single chuckle as he stood. My father instantly put himself in front of me, and Finny put his arms around me protectively.

"I decided that I would let you suffer a little while longer," he said through his smirk. "I realized killing you would only be kind, what with the state you're in." He laughed. "No, I'll just sit by and watch your misery from afar. That will be more than enough to keep me happy. You deserve all the pain and suffering that comes your way, you little monster."

Before I could even process the words he had said, Dad was moving. When I glanced up to see what had happened with unshed tears burning my eyes, I noticed he was behind the man who had been speaking. He had grabbed his arms and shoved them behind his back.

Still, the smirk never left the man's face. He simply lowered his head and began digging around in his lab coat with his nose and tongue.

"Da-"

I froze when the man produced a small tube between his teeth. I assumed it had been hidden in a secret pocket in his coat.

He threw the small tube in my direction with his mouth, and time seemed to nearly stop as I watched helplessly as the tube and my father raced toward me. The tube, I noticed, was no ordinary vial after all. Right before it hit me, I noticed a small needle. It wasn't just a tube, it was some type of syringe. It made contact with my left shoulder, just above where my heart was beating a million times a minute.

I was frozen immediately, unable to move my arms to remove the syringe from my shoulder. I felt the pain as the liquid inside of it was forced through the needle and into my body. Dad got there and removed it before it could empty, but I was still already feeling its effects. My body was becoming weaker, my eyelids were heavy, and the pain that was already in my wings and side grew. I leaned back into Finny's protective embrace, unable to remain sitting up.

"That poison is tough. She may not have gotten a full dose, but I'll bet it hurts. Now try to remove it without the proper equipment." I heard his laugh, but couldn't see him in the room. In all the commotion, he'd managed to escape.

I felt my body trembling in Finny's arms as Maria ran over, trying to asses the damage.

"Sebastian, please, get my bag. I might-"

I didn't hear what she said next, because I finally succumbed to the pain, and passed out in Finny's arms.