Beads of sweat rolled down Anna’s forehead as she thrashed against the sheets. In the dark blur of her mind, her mother’s face appeared—pale, tearful, and desperate.
“Help me, Anna,” her mother whispered, reaching out. “Free me.”
Anna lunged forward, her fingers inches from her mother’s palm, but a cold, unseen grip clamped around her wrist. Before she could turn to see who held her, her mother’s hand slipped away into the shadows.
“Mother!”
Anna jolted upright, her breath coming in jagged gasps. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. Trembling, she pressed a damp palm to her chest. “It’s just a dream,” she whispered into the silence, her voice cracking. “Nothing more than a dream.”
She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand. With shaking thumbs, she dialed her moth
