When she was close enough to peer over its shoulder, purple tongues darting between the masticating teeth, the tips severing and falling at her feet, still twitching like bruised maggots, she saw what had drawn its horrid attention.

It hovered over a boy and a girl, twins from what she could tell, because it hadn’t eaten their faces…yet.

Kate screamed and screamed, unable to break away from the grisly feast.

The creature stopped, turned to her and—

Kate took a deep, rattling breath, wiping her face with a corner of the pillowcase.

She couldn’t remember what came next, nor did she want to.

The TV was on but muted. The blinds were drawn but the lights were on. Andrew wasn’t in bed with her.

She picked up her tablet and checked the time. It was a little after nine. Maybe Andrew had gotten the fire pit going.

Even Buttons was MIA.

The remote had somehow made its way under her pillow. She needed the sound of human voices to calm down. On the screen, Joel McCrea passed himself off as Captain McGlue in a madcap effort to reunite with his wife. A comedy was just what she needed.

Andrew was really what she needed, but he was with Ryker and Nikki, getting what he needed – a break from her.

Several minutes later, the pain in her chest faded just like the nightmare. She was thirsty. Getting up took some doing (now I know how Grandma used to feel when the arthritis got real bad toward the end), but she managed to zombie-walk to the kitchen and get a cold can of soda. The entire cottage still smelled like Italian food.

That was when she remembered Andrew trying to wake her up to eat. She’d been too tired. She hadn’t even been hungry. She still wasn’t, despite the pleasant aroma.

Leaning against the counter, taking a sip, her hand trembling from the insignificant heft of the can, she heard voices. They were coming from inside the house.

She put the can down and slowly made her way to the bedroom, her hips and shoulders vying for gold medals in the chronic pain Olympics. Someone tried to muffle a laugh. Nikki.

Ryker, Nikki, and Andrew were sitting on the floor of the bedroom. There was an empty bottle of wine between them, but only Nikki had a glass. She must have said something witty, because Andrew was laughing too.

They hadn’t noticed that she was peeking in on them.

Ryker leaned against the wall, sitting cross-legged. Andrew lay on his side, head propped up by his hand, all of his attention on Nikki, who was quite tipsy and still beautiful despite her messy hair and dress-down clothes.

Andrew looked so happy.

When was the last time he’d laughed with Kate like that, just the two of them?