As I came down the stairs, anxious to text Grace to tell her, I heard a knock on the back door. I didn’t even think; I just opened it, wide and fast and free like the world had never hurt me, like I’d never been a victim, like I’d never been tricked or taken advantage of. I was used to the safety of all these people under one roof; I was used to knowing that I had somewhere to turn.

Did I recognize the man at the door instantly? I’m honestly not sure. But what I do know for certain is that, the minute I saw him, the world went black.

I don’t know how long it was before I realized that I was on the floor, how long it was before I willed myself to scream. But I trusted him, didn’t I? Was I sick? Was I dead? I had a vague notion that a man’s hands were trying to lift me up.

But that could just be the dreams again. Some days I had to stay in that other world to get by. Some days I had to tell myself lies to get out of bed. When you live like that, sometimes it’s hard to know what’s just another figment of your imagination and what’s the truth.

“Alice,” a voice I would have known anywhere said. It was gravelly and deep with a touch of Southern drawl. It was a voice I heard often in my dreams. But right now, for some reason, I didn’t want to sink into it, didn’t want to stay with it.

“Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up,” I said three times out loud, as if I were Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. If that didn’t work, maybe I should try There’s no place like home next. I was looking up at the ceiling, trying to avoid the face that was so close to mine, the minty breath, the scent of salt and musk that I remembered somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind. Because this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.

“Alice, you’re awake. You have to believe me. You are awake already. I know it must be kind of a shock, but this is happening.”

I shook my head back and forth, my skull pressing into the hardwood. “It’s not happening because you are dead!” I screeched the word dead a little louder than I meant to. I searched my mind for explanations. One thing was clear: Jeremy wasn’t alive. So, either I was asleep, I was dead, or this was an impersonator who looked a lot like him.