Jack steered his car to the curb, she got in.

"That wasn't my dad you saw." Her voice quavered. "He's at work."

He exhaled a deep sigh. "You're the only person I can tell," he began. "You're the only one who would understand." He drove away from Darcy's house, down the dark street punctuated by pools of streetlights.

"Me, too," Lyla replied. "I can't even tell Darcy." She looked out the window and sighed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm losing it. Maybe I already did."

"I know. Same." He hung his head in defeat. "A couple nights ago, I was bringing Carissa home from the movies. We were stopped at a red light. And when the light changed..."

His breathing grew heavier as his anxiety level rose. "There he was, standing right in front of my car."

She looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

"I slammed on the brakes. Scared the hell out of Carissa. She didn't see him." Jack shook his head. "This had nothing to do with a concussion or me hardly getting any sleep. He was really there. Swear to God."

She clasped his trembling hand in hers, her heart racing.

"The next morning, when I got in my car, the floor was covered..."

"With leaves?" Lyla finished his sentence.

He nodded. "After I cleaned them out, while I was driving, I felt a sharp pain in my leg, right below my calf. My leg blew up like a balloon. We went to the ER and the doctor said it looked like a snakebite."

She could feel him shaking.

"He's not going to stop, is he?"

"He broke through." She clamped her eyes.

"Broke through?"

"He invaded our dreams. He made us see and hear horrible, super scary things. But now, with your snake bite, and the bird that attacked me, he's actually making physical contact."

"It's gonna get worse," Jack sighed. "And there's nothing we can do."

She took a deep breath and replied, "I think maybe there is."