Mr. Allers let out a dry laugh. “You think so, boy? Do you think we can only give you pleasant memories?”

Standing up, I began backing away in fear and frustration. “You're insane.”

He stood and met my gaze steadily. “Do you want to have memories of a childhood where you were molested? Or perhaps the guilt of drowning a baby sister that never existed?” He gave me a contemptuous last look as he walked past me towards the door. “One week. Then we come for you.”

Part Two

There’s a worm living in my head,

I was on a flight back to the U.S. that afternoon, but it took two days before I was able to track down Hannah. She had moved out of Terry’s house after the funeral, the property apparently being absorbed into the family’s wealth much as his bank account had. Her new apartment back in her northwestern hometown was a big step down from the beachside mansion she had spent the last three years in.

In fact, it reminded me a lot of my own place.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I fucked up. I fucked myself and now I’ve fucked you too I guess.”

The girl sitting in front of me was a ghost of the Hannah I knew. She was cooperative enough—I’d half expected her to hang up on me when I finally got her on the phone, but she’d told me where she was living and agreed to meet. I was up there the next morning, and I had to work to hide my shock when I saw her. She looked like she had lost weight and hadn’t bathed in days, her hair hanging in greasy strings around her pale face. But worse, she looked like something inside her was missing. Like some spark, maybe the will to live, was either guttering or already gone.

Sitting in Hannah’s bare and dingy living room filled with boxes she hadn’t bothered unpacking, I felt sympathy for her, but it was being overridden by my fear and anger. “Just tell me what happened. Who these people are and how I can stop this.”

She let out a dull laugh, her eyes flicking to meet mine before falling away again. “You can’t stop this. Neither of us can.”

Trying to keep my voice even, I tried again. “Just tell me.”

****

When I first met Terry, it was like a dream come true, you know? He was like a prince in some kind of fairy tale, coming to take me away from my boring life and make small-town Hannah his princess. I know that might sound like I was in it for the money, but that isn’t true. I didn’t care if he was rich or poor, though I admit that in the beginning I liked the perks of being the girlfriend of someone that could go anywhere and do anything.