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life.
    But how can you ever be normal when you know that the terrors under the bed are real, that they want your blood on their “imaginary” hands?
    The thought has barely whispered through my mind when I see the flash of shining brown hair and sparkling blue eyes in the bare tree limbs above my head.
    Rachel. She’s back.

Dani
    “Run! We have to run!” My fingers claw into Jesse’s neck and my legs thrash. I know it’s pointless to run when my feet aren’t even on the ground, but I can’t seem to stop. I’m not in control, not thinking straight. I can’t think of anything but Rachel and her mean little eyes and the gaping red hole when she smiles.
    Blood oozes from her mouth, dripping down onto the speckled bark of the tree limb beneath her. The branch is thick and ancient, making Rachel seem even more petite by comparison, a doll lost in the woods.
    I’ve grown up, but Rachel hasn’t. She’s still a kid, no more than eight or nine, still wearing that brown dress with the white bow and the matching white leather shoes. Now—from my vantage point far below—I can see she even wears ruffled white panties beneath her dress, the kind my mother bought me when I was four. She’s all innocence and little girl frills.
    Except for that mouth. That horror of a mouth that spills death into the air.
    A drop of red falls from the tree, passing inches from my face, landing on the back of Jesse’s hand, making me scream. And scream and scream and scream. It’s really there. I can see the blood smearing through the brown hairs, already starting to dry a darker crimson.
    Rachel is here. She’s real. She’s back, and she’s going to prove that all my nightmares weren’t bad dreams, but prophecies. She’s going to kill me. Finally, finally, finally, just when I was stupid enough to think I was safe.
    “What’s wrong?” Jesse has to yell to be heard over the screams. The screams I can’t seem to stop, no matter how hard I try. “Dani? What’s—”
    The tree splinters, louder than Jesse’s words, louder than my screams. Thank God, Jesse hears it too. His head snaps up, spotting the massive limb just as it begins to fall. He dives forward, throwing me onto the riverbed. I land with a groan. Rocks dig into my hips and knees as I roll to a stop, but there isn’t any real damage done.
    Jesse isn’t so lucky.
    The tree lands on his leg, pinning him to the ground. He cries out, an animal sound that rattles me more than my tumble across the rocks. Rachel’s attack has hit a mark. Maybe not the mark she intended, but I have a feeling Rachel doesn’t care about collateral damage. The only good news is that she’s gone, vanished into thin air the way she often did in the past after an especially intense attempt on my life.
    Still, she could be back any second. We aren’t safe here; we have to get to a more populated area. Rachel never came for me when other people were around. It was always when I was alone, late at night when everyone who was supposed to be watching me was too tired to bother.
    But she came now. In the middle of the morning, with Jesse standing right there.
    I shove the thought aside. I can’t think about that now, I can’t let myself believe there is no safe place. “Jesse! Are you okay?” I stand on wobbly legs and hurry to his side.
    I would like to think I would have gone back to him even if Rachel were still dancing on the bloodied bark she left behind, but I can’t know for sure. The fear is still too fresh, swelling inside me, filling every empty place with blind, heart-pounding terror.
    Rachel. Rachel is back. She’s back, and not playing by the rules.
    “I’m fine. Just a little bruised.” Jesse’s deep voice is deeper than usual, a pain-filled rumble that makes me more afraid.
    Rachel has hurt a boy twice my size. The second my guard is down, she’s going to take me out without breaking a sweat. My chin jerks up, scanning the rest of the trees near the river, heart racing as I