I’d fallen asleep on the sofa afterward and when I’d woken up Maya had teased me, saying it was something else I’d got from my father because he’d always dozed off before finishing the newspaper. Despite her good humor I could tell she was worried I’d overdone it, and she was unhappy about having gone back to work at the Cliff’s Head. She didn’t feel comfortable leaving me alone, despite my reassurances I was fine, and the next morning, when she’d dropped off what she called her “side gig”—key rings, bowls and other wooden trinkets she made—at the shop in town called Drift, she’d insisted I go with her, and I’d complied.

Today, though, after sleeping another nine hours straight, I was woken up by the phone. Somehow, I managed to recall Maya telling me she’d be at the restaurant, so I stumbled out of my room and got downstairs before the ringing stopped. It was Dr. Adler calling to reschedule our appointment because of an emergency, and once he’d confirmed the details and we’d hung up, I groaned and stretched, forced myself back upstairs and walked across the landing to the bathroom. Before I got there, sudden flashes of images hit me. In them, I was opening a door, not one of the oak ones in this house, but one that had been painted dark blue, with a brass handle rather than a silver knob. The picture faded and I took a step forward, but then the next image came, and it was so strong, so vivid, it almost brought me to my knees. Red-tinged water splashing onto a white tile floor. The shadow of a body lying in the tub behind the half-open shower curtain. My feet scrambled backward as my hands groped for the banister. I didn’t know what I’d seen, or what it meant, only that I had to get away. Now.

“Maya?” I called out, retreating from the bathroom door, holding on to the railing so hard, I thought it might snap between my fingers. “Maya? Are you home?”

The house remained quiet, not a single noise save for the tick-ticking of the clock on my bedroom wall, and the air only carried the faint smell of coffee. My panic lessened as I went downstairs and checked each room for my sister before putting on my sneakers and going outside. The door to the garage was open, and when I saw Maya moving around, I headed over. The temperatures had risen during the past few days, bringing with them the promise of a long summer, and the air was filled with the smell of sea salt and the sound of rustling leaves. All of it seemed so normal, and what had just happened in the house began to fade into the background.