Chapter 2

I jolted awake, gasping.

My own bed. My own room. Sunlight streamed through the window.

No smoke. No pain.

My skin was smooth, unmarred.

I scrambled out of bed, my heart hammering.

Downstairs, I heard voices.

Mom. Dad.

"It's the right thing to do, Mark," Mom was saying, her voice gentle but firm.

"She's family. She has no one."

I peeked into the living room.

Mom and Dad sat on the sofa. Aunt Carol, Mom's other sister, was on the armchair, dabbing her eyes. Uncle Joe, her husband, looked uncomfortable.

They were talking about Jessica.

The trailer fire had happened. Days ago.

This was the family discussion. Who would take Jessica?

The memories, so vivid, so horrifying, slammed into me.

Jessica' s whisper, the failing monitor, the suffocation.

It wasn't a dream. It was real.

I had died. And now, I was back.

A second chance.

Jessica arrived later that day, brought by a county social worker.

She looked small, lost, her eyes red-rimmed from crying.

The perfect picture of a grieving orphan.

"Aunt Linda, Uncle Mark," she sobbed, rushing to my mother.

Mom embraced her, stroking her hair.

"Oh, you poor child. Don't worry, you're safe with us now."

Jessica's eyes found mine over Mom's shoulder.

A flicker of something cold, calculating, before the tears welled up again.

She knew I was her ticket.

"Sarah," she said, her voice choked. "I'm so glad you're here. We can be like sisters."

The words were a sickening echo of my past life' s naivety.