I spent the day with Jack, distracting myself with video games and enough junk food to feed an army. Jack was uncharacteristically quiet, avoiding any mention of the night before or where Liam had gone. We bickered over game controllers, a fragile semblance of normalcy, until he fell asleep on the sofa, snoring softly.
I knew why he was here. He was my babysitter. My guard. Liam didn't trust me not to run, or maybe he didn't trust what I was becoming.
Because Liam knew. He had known all along that I was the monster in his story.
I retreated to the bedroom, exhaustion dragging at my bones. I fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of Jack’s snoring and the faint buzz of my phone vibrating on the nightstand—a call I was too tired to answer.
The dream started instantly.
I wasn't in the apartme
