The rest of the day went by surprisingly quickly. Nicola and Ceres stayed focused and got a good chunk of their research done, only stopping when Crystal called them down for lunch and dinner. Around 7:00, though, Ceres' phone vibrated. She cringed when she saw who the text was from.

Where are you? Her father had typed bluntly.

I'm at a friend's, working on a project for school. She replied honestly.

"What's up?" Nicola inquired, looking up from a diagram. Ceres opened her mouth but her phone vibrated again.

The school called and said you weren't in your classes today. Come home RIGHT NOW.

"It's... my dad. I have to go home." She sighed, stuffing her notebook into her backpack.

"Oh." Nicola sounded disappointed. "Do you want my mom to drive you back?"

"No!" She said quickly. "I mean, it's fine. I like taking the bus."

"Well, okay… at least we got a lot done."

"Yeah. For sure. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She swung her backpack over her shoulder and quickly headed downstairs, Nicola following her.

"Ceres! Leaving so soon?" Lazlo looked over at her from one of the overstuffed couches.

"Um, yeah. Have to catch the bus home."

"Well, alright. See ya."

"Yeah, see you at school tomorrow." Nicola said, joining her father on the couch. Ceres watched as he gave her a quick side hug. She stood there for a moment, feeling baffled. Such an interaction was considered normal in normal families. Her father had hugged her a few days prior, but it was quick and cold.

"Bye." She said softly.

"Bye!" Nicola smiled and gave her a wave.

"Byyyeee!" Darwin leaned over the back of the couch with a goofy smile and Ceres couldn't help but smile back before stepping into the drizzle outside. She walked to the bus stop slowly, watching as she missed the 7:15 bus.

Oops. She thought with a smirk, pulling out her phone.

I'm going to be late. The buses are behind. She texted her father. There was no response, but she could see that he'd read the message. He couldn't punish her for the buses running behind. Skipping school, definitely, but the bus schedule was out of her control. The next bus arrived at 7:45, right on time. But she wasn't going home.

She arrived at her special place twenty minutes later and immediately scoped the sand dunes. The mystery sim was nowhere in sight, and she smacked her forehead.

It's cloudy tonight. There aren't any stars to look at! She sighed and turned around dejectedly.

"Ceres!"

She jerked her head around to see the mystery sim sitting on the sand dune. She hadn't seen him at first, due to the heavy mist that had developed. She rushed over and stood next to him, not quite feeling comfortable enough to sit. They stared at the sky for a moment before he spoke.

"I'm so glad you came back. I got a little worried."

"About me? Why?"

The other sim didn't reply at first, taking a sip from a nearby thermos instead.

"Because I know what he does." He said softly, "He either paralyzes you or puts you to sleep."

"How… how do you know that?"

"Because he did the same to me. I… I have something to show you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He fished a photograph out of it and handed it to her. It appeared to be a family portrait. Her father, her mother, the blond boy from her flashback, and her were standing in front of the living room fireplace.

"I had a brother." Ceres realized, "I remember now!"

"Do you remember his name?" The other sim's voice remained soothing and soft.

"No…" She said, "Actually, I don't even remember taking this photo. Then again, I was pretty young."

"Do you… do you remember anything from your childhood?" Her companion inquired, his eyes glued to the sky.

"Well… I have one memory. My parents were fighting in the kitchen, it was stormy outside, and…" Ceres studied him for a moment. "I think you were there."

"I was." The sim said after a moment, "I remember."

"But… my mom said she was going to take all of us. Why did she leave me behind?"

"Ceres… What I'm about to tell you is going to sound absolutely crazy, but it's all true. Look closely at-" He pointed to the picture.

"CERES!"

Both of them jumped.

"Dad? But how-" The tracking chip. Shit! The mystery sim was on his feet in seconds.

"You never saw me, got it?" His once-calm voice was now frantic.

"CERES! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT HERE!"

She couldn't see her father through the fog, but she knew he was dangerously close.

"Wait!" She grabbed the mystery sim's arm before he could run. "What about the picture?"

"You need to look closely. Your answer is there." With that, he darted away. Ceres shoved the picture into her back pocket and waited for her father to emerge from the fog. He looked like a monster when he did so, red in the face and highly imposing. A shiver of fear ran up her spine as he snatched her arm- she was surprised he didn't dislocate her shoulder. He said nothing as he yanked her back to their house, where he threw her onto the living room rug and kicked her in the ribs, hard. She hadn't seen him this angry in a long time.

"Go ahead. P-paralyze m-m-me." She stammered. He let out one of his infamous boisterous laughs, but there wasn't a trace of humor in it.

"Paralyze you? Oh no, darling, I want you to feel everything. " He kicked her again and tears filled her eyes as her mouth opened and closed like a gasping fish. He laughed again as she writhed in pain.

"I really should just snap your neck after that little stunt you pulled, but that would be an act of mercy."

Ceres managed to catch her breath and pushed herself up with her hands, staring into her father's remorseless eyes.

"I-I- I'm s-s-sorry."

"Get on your feet."

She tried desperately to do what he demanded, but the pain in her ribs had her hunched over indefinitely.

"I said, GET UP."

"I can't! Please, I can't!" She sobbed. "I'm sorry! I'll never lie to you again!"

"You're fucking pathetic. Stand. UP!"

Ceres grabbed the arm of the nearby couch and managed to hoist herself up, sobbing the whole time. There was nothing but blinding pain every time she tried to breathe in, resulting in her taking shallow breaths. She couldn't remember the last time her father had beaten her like this. He wrapped his hands around her throat in one swift motion and pinned her against the wall, slamming the back of her head into it in the process.

"Dad… please…" She rasped, "I won't do it again."

"You're such a fucking liar !" He slammed her head into the wall again and his grip on her throat tightened. She was starting to see black spots.

"If I ever catch you lying to me again, I swear to God I will slit your throat. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes!" Ceres' sobbing was barely audible due to her father's hands. He threw her to the floor again and she dry-heaved, which triggered an even more agonizing pain in her rib cage.

"You're pathetic, being all dramatic again. Get up and go to bed."

Ceres crawled over to the couch but couldn't stand up no matter how much weight she put onto the arm of the couch.

"I-I can't! It… it… hurts…too..." She panted.

"I guess you're staying there, then." Loki smirked and turned on his heels.

"Dad… wait…"

Her father paused but kept his back to her.

"Can...I… at...least… have… some..thing… for… the… pain?" She'd even take the paralyzing agent at this point. She just didn't want to be in pain anymore. Loki sighed and reached into the pocket of his lab coat.

"Oh dear, it seems that I don't have any of the pain injections left. Pity." He said a moment later, feigning sadness.

"Don't… leave… me… here… please…"

"Ah, but there's nothing I can do for you, my dear." His expression was sad, but his voice was nonchalant.

"Um… hello?"

Both Ceres and Loki turned their heads to the door arch.

Lazlo.

He was holding something, a bemused expression on his face. Loki walked over to the door, his feigned sadness turning into surprise and delight.

"Lazlo? Lazlo Curious ?"

"Loki. It's been quite awhile." His eyes shifted to Ceres.

"Is… is everything okay?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

Loki and Ceres said at the same time.

"I came to drop off your Simlish Textbook, Ceres. Nicola said that you had an assignment due tomorrow, and we didn't want you to miss doing it because you didn't have your book." Lazlo said slowly.

"Oh. Thank… you…" Ceres panted.

"That's darn decent of you, my friend." Loki took the textbook and smiled. "Tell me, how's the family?"

"Oh… they're good." Lazlo's eyes remained fixated on Ceres.

"Ceres, are… are you okay?"

"I...I… fell...down… the… stairs…" She lied.

"Really?"

"She sure did. Got the wind knocked out of her but she should be right as rain by tomorrow morning." Loki smiled at his old coworker. Ceres coughed violently and was terrified to see blood on the gray tiles. Lazlo rushed over to the girl before Loki could stop him, kneeling beside her and putting a hand on her back.

"Loki, we need to get her to a hospital!"

"I… I'm… fine…" Ceres rasped before coughing up more blood.

"You are not fine. Loki, call 911!"

"Oh. But of course." Loki said calmly, pulling out his phone. Lazlo helped the girl stand while Loki made the call, his voice urgent.

"It… it hurts… to… breathe…" She choked.

"Shh… if it hurts to talk, don't." Lazlo guided her to the couch and rubbed her back. The paramedics arrived in minutes and carefully loaded Ceres onto a stretcher while her father and Lazlo watched. Ceres stared at both of them as she was loaded into the ambulance- Loki looked completely nonchalant while Lazlo looked terrified. Loki squeezed his shoulder.

"I'm sorry you paid us a visit in less than ideal circumstances. I'll see you later, my friend." He said. Ceres didn't catch the rest of the conversation but heard her father getting into the passenger's seat of the ambulance.

"I'm going to start an IV so we can help with the pain, okay?" One of the paramedics told Ceres, "You're going to feel a little prick."

She almost laughed- the prick of the IV needle would be nothing compared to the pricks she dealt with daily- but she didn't want them to think she was some kind of psychopath. As the pain medication set in, her eyelids grew heavy and there was a tingle in her hands and feet. As she drifted off, she heard bits and pieces of the conversation between the two paramedics.

"So… we're not going to Oasis General?" The first one inquired.

"Too small. With the local Llama Flu Outbreak they're at capacity right now."

"Where are we going, then?"

"Didn't you hear Steve? We're going to Windenberg General."

Windenberg.

The name was familiar, but Ceres had never been there. She closed her eyes, the pain in her ribs starting to subside into a dull ache. Still, she remained aware of everything happening around her. She felt the cool breeze on her face as she was unloaded from the ambulance, heard the urgent voices of busy doctors and nurses in the emergency department, and winced when she was wheeled into a brightly-lit room. She heard her father explaining his false account of events, like how he'd been in the kitchen when he heard her tumble down the stairs.

"I see…" A voice replied. She knew that the source of the voice was looking at her. Her eyes remained closed and she tuned into the loudspeaker announcements:

"Dr. Cho, please report to trauma room 4."

"Ambulance arriving in five minutes."

"Code blue, emergency department."

She wondered if she was the code blue, whatever it meant.

"Ms. Beaker?" A gentle, motherly voice spoke her name. She opened her eyes to see an older nurse smiling down at her.

"We're going to take you for a CAT scan, okay?"

"Okay…" She sighed, catching a glimpse of her father across the room. He looked nonchalant as ever, occasionally glancing around. He wasn't afraid of being caught because he knew she'd keep quiet. And he was right.

The CAT scan took about ten minutes and it was harder than Ceres thought- it involved holding her breath and raising her arms above her head. By the time she was wheeled back into her room, her father was gone. In his place was a chipper-looking young woman with black hair.

"Who… who… are you?"

"Hi, Ceres. My name is Brianna. I'm a social worker here."

Fuck. It wasn't her first encounter with a social worker and she'd gotten pretty good at lying to them, but one of these days someone would see through her facade. Brianna scooted her chair over to Ceres' bedside and smiled.

"Besides the fall, how are you doing tonight?"

Okay, easy lie.

"I'm… alright…" It was still incredibly hard for her to speak. The woman's smile remained and she nodded, but Ceres knew better. She wasn't convinced at all.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"And you live with your father. Is there anyone else in the house?"

"No. Just… us…"

"And you get along okay?"

"Yeah." She forced a smile to really sell it, but Brianna still wasn't convinced. Ceres could read these people like a book.

"So you feel safe at home? Have you ever felt threatened?"

Tears were threatening to come, but Ceres pushed them back by widening her smile. If she could just trick her brain into thinking she was happy, she could get away with her lies.

"No. I... feel... safe."

"How are conflicts typically handled?"

She removed her arm and stared at the fluorescent light on the ceiling as though she could dry the tears behind her eyes to keep them from coming out.

"We… we sit… down… and… talk…"

Brianna scribbled on her notepad.

Please don't let this go on for much longer.

"Are you afraid of making your father angry?"

"No." Her voice was breaking and she cleared her throat to cover it up. "I'm… sorry… I'm.. in… a lot.. of… pain."

"It's okay to cry, Ceres. This is a safe place."

Fuck. She was totally blowing this.

"Ph-physical… p-pain." She said quickly, "R-really, I-I'm… fine o-ot-otherwise."

"I can see some emotional pain, too. This is a safe place, Ceres."

Fuck. What the hell do I do now?

"I-I'm..being...b-bullied.. At… s-s-school." Great save, perfectly believable.

"I'm sorry. Other kids make fun of you?"

"Y-yeah. They c-call me fat. And they're al-always tripping me in the h-hallway."

"I'm sorry to hear that. That must be so tough."

"B-but… I do.. have… one… f-friend."

"Can you tell me about them?"

"Her name's… N-Nicola. Actually, I…" She trailed off and Brianna looked up from her notepad in anticipation. A genuine smile crossed Ceres' face.

"I… love hanging... out... with her… she's… great."

"She sounds really special."

"Yeah… she is."

Ceres could see Nicola's face clearly in her mind- a beautiful smile and stunning brown eyes. Brianna asked a few more questions afterwards but Ceres was hardly paying attention. The initial dose of pain medication was wearing off and she couldn't get Nicola out of her head now.

"Thanks for talking to me, Ceres. I hope you feel better soon." The social worker said finally, standing up. Thank God.

"Dr. Cho should be in shortly to discuss your CAT scan."

With that the woman was off, and Ceres breathed a shallow sigh of relief. Boy, I can sure bullshit things when my life depends on it. She heard Brianna talking to someone outside the door- it was a male voice she didn't recognize. The man she assumed was Dr. Cho entered the room a few seconds later, holding a manila folder.

"Ms…" He looked at her name on the whiteboard and paused. "Ms… Beaker? Ceres Beaker?"

"Yeah."

Dr. Cho blinked.

"Is there a problem, doctor?" Loki walked back into the room, holding a to-go cup of coffee. Dr. Cho cleared his throat and pushed some of his medium-length, shaggy blond hair behind his ear.

"No. Not at all. It's just… nevermind." He put the CAT prints up on an illuminated white square hanging on the wall. "So these are your lungs and ribcage. As you can clearly see, a few of them have hairline fractures."

"Yeah… I… I kind of… figured."

"This little white spot here is a pulmonary contusion, also known as a bruised lung. It's caused by blunt force trauma, which you did indeed have tonight. You fell down the stairs, yes?"

"Yeah...I… landed… on… my chest… really… hard…"

"Fortunately it's not a big injury, but you'll need to stay with us for a few days for pain management and oxygen therapy."

"Is that really necessary, doctor? I'm sure I could take care of her at home." Loki said nonchalantly.

"With all due respect, Mr. Beaker, most sims don't have supplemental oxygen machines lying around at home. I'm sure you're no exception."

Loki scoffed and muttered something under his breath.

"So here's what the plan is, Ms. Beaker. We're going to get you admitted and then start some oxygen therapy and more painkillers. Sound good?" Dr. Cho said.

"Okay."

"Mr. Beaker, you're welcome to spend the night or head home."

"Oh, I'll be heading home. Got experiments to run, research to do… you get the gist." Loki smirked.

"Uh huh… alright, go team. We've got a game plan." Dr. Cho smiled and left the room. The moment he did, Loki rushed to Ceres' bedside.

"I know they had some shrink in here asking you questions. If they're taking you away from me, there'll be hell to pay."

"N-No." She whispered. "I...didn't... say... anything. Honest."

"Good. I'll see you in a few days, but do not think, young lady, that you're off the hook for any of this. Got it?"

"Yeah. I... got it... dad." With that he was out of the room and Ceres leaned back into her pillow, just wanting to sleep. If only I could stay here forever.

She woke up to hushed voices. It was a man and a woman. The man's voice belonged to Dr. Cho; the woman's voice was familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. Drugged up and exhausted, she opened her eyes but closed them just as quickly. The voices stopped and she heard someone approaching her bedside.

There was a cool hand on Ceres' cheek and she slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't make out any features, but she could see brown eyes partially hidden behind sleek black glasses. She closed her eyes as the sim removed her hand from her face and let out a shuddering breath. Then she heard more footsteps approaching. Dr. Cho whispered something she couldn't hear, but then she clearly heard the woman's voice, which was just a little louder in volume.

"It's not her. That's not my Ceres."