After finishing her second day of school, Babylon headed home by foot, earphones plugged in. Before summer break, it had been a routine. She'd run home, kicking up the endorphines and giving her something physical to do for once— Lonnie was more of an artist than a fitness guru. She sped home, looking forward to retrieving her sketchbook and her crayons. In her summer memories, she'd never drawn anything. It was a little detail that said a lot, despite it's insignificance. 

When she got home, she was drenched in sweat. Her mother opened the door to her, greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and jokingly said she stunk. Lonnie didn't mind as she was running up to the bathroom anyways. She pulled her t-shirt above her head as she closed the bathroom door, and she halted when she saw the giant scar in her back in the mirror. It was a long scar, barely closed, all red and bloody. It looked like it was deep when it was open. She gasped. Touching it from the tip of her fingers, she felt tiny little bits of thread. Someone had sowed her back up after opening her up, and it look like the cut hadn't healed properly. 

She sat on the edge of the bath, her breath getting irregular. What had happened that summer? What the heck had happened to her? Who had done that to her? Who was the predator that was still loose out there? What had happened? Why was she hurt? Why had she gone missing? 

WHY? 

She started crying, which didn't help with the hyperventilating. Endorphines had left her system. Now, she was a shipwreck. She could feel the salt from her tears on her tongue, she could now feel the stretch of her scar in her back, and she wondered when it had arrived there. Why hadn't she felt it yesterday? Was she hypnotized into forgetting about it or something? Had she been manipulated? Had she forgotten about it and triggered the hurt when seeing it? Did the run mess up the stitches? 

Her throat hurt her. She couldn't breathe. What was her body hiding from her? Her body knew to be afraid, but she didn't know why. She collapsed into the bath with a loud thud. Her head hit the wall and pain radiated through her skull. The world did a 180. She felt sick. She started sobbing even more... And someone lifted her out of the bath and into her bedroom, where she was laid on the mattress whilst she heard someone calling someone. 

Lights blinded Babylon when she woke up a few hours later. It was technically Wednesday as it was past midnight. She sat up, regretting it instantly as the world decided to do a rotation trick on her. Something itched her arm. It was a drip thingie, an IV. Her back was also itchy, and a little touching from her hand let her know someone had applied a bandage. Her mother was sitting next to her bed, worried. 

" Lonnie..."

" What am I doing here?"

" You fell in the tub, sweetie. Got yourself a nice concussion. The docs checked out your scar there..."

She pointed to Lonnie's back. 

" They had to disinfect it because it would have killed you soon. It was pretty infected..."

" Oh."

" With poison." 

Babylon's eyes widened. 

" What?"

" I know, honey. The doctors said it was a poison meant to kill you in 76 hours. Whoever took you from us wanted you to die under our supervision."

" Our?"

" Your dad's in the waiting room, Baby. When I called and he knew you almost died yesterday, he knew he had to come back home."

" I didn't almost die."

" You would've died today. It's the same thing."

Babylon blinked. It was a simple reaction, but it meant a lot coming from her. First, she'd discovered that her father basically deserted. Now, her mother told her that he was back. 

" There's also a guy in the waiting room. A certain Chadwick? He said he'd be waiting for you, sitting in an oak tree."

" He's a dork."

" He seems cute, sweetie."

" He's a dorky idiot."

Morgana smiled. 

" I'll tell your dorky idiot that you don't wanna see him then?"

" Please do."