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streetlight. But it wasn’t just an empty street that greeted her gaze.
    There was a dark sedan parked in front of her house.
    Caelyn nearly cried out.
    Who was out there? And why were they texting her those things?
    Another text buzzed into her phone. Come outside, I want to talk to you .
    Caelyn swallowed. It had to be a joke. It had to be some awful prank.
    But what if it’s not? She asked herself. What if it’s really him?
    He’s in jail. He’s in prison. There’s no way for it to be him, Caelyn. Whoever that is, it’s not Elijah, as badly as you might want to believe it could be.
    Still, her heart was pounding and she wanted it too much to resist. Seconds later, Caelyn was walking out of her room and down the stairs. She tripped, nearly falling and breaking her neck. But she caught herself on the railing, even though she did make a lot of noise in the process.
    Crap. I hope I didn’t just wake everyone up.
    But nobody stirred.
    Soon, Caelyn was at the front door, opening it as quietly as possible, and then the cold night air was hitting her in the face and she was running across the lawn toward the car.
    Who was inside?
    She couldn’t see anything.
    Caelyn was terrified, but at the same time, she didn’t have anything to lose.
    When she got to the car door, she heard the power locks click loudly, as if the person inside was unlocking them. She bent down and peered into the window, but it was impossible to see inside. It was far too dark, even with the glow from the nearby streetlight.
    She threw the door open.
    “Hey, kid,” Elijah said. He leaned over and looked up at her with his dark eyes and half-smile. “So are you getting in or what?”
    Caelyn cried out and stumbled, literally crawling into the car, feeling like she must still be dreaming.
    Elijah helped to pull her inside.
    Caelyn broke down sobbing as she touched his arms, felt his skin, his clothing, and then he was kissing her lips softly.
    “Are you really here?” she said, shaking.
    “What do you mean, am I really here?” he laughed. “Last I checked, I’m not a hallucination. Unless I’m hallucinating myself—which, lately, seems more and more a distinct possibility.”
    Caelyn laughed too, through her tears. She touched his face, felt his beard stubble on his jaw. His dark eyes looked into hers.
    “Elijah, how did you get out? They let you go? Dropped the charges?”
    He took her hands in his own as he continued to stare at her with intensity and love and hunger. “Something like that.” He broke off and looked down for a moment.
    When he looked at Caelyn again, the seriousness was back. “Can you come with me?”
    She nodded instantly. “Anywhere.”
    “It has to be right now,” Elijah said. He breathed deeply. “I totally understand if you can’t—“
    “I would jump off a cliff right this second if you asked me.” She wasn’t joking and Elijah noticed.
    He smirked. “Nothing that crazy,” he said. “At least, not yet. Maybe the cliff will come later. Thelma and Louise style.”
    “I never saw that movie.”
    “I just remember the ending,” Elijah laughed. “Them going off that damn cliff in the car. I think it was supposed to be happy—I don’t know.”
    “I should probably go back inside and get a few things to bring with me,” Caelyn told him.
    “I’ll come with you.”
    “You’re joking, right?” she asked.
    Elijah shook his head. “You’ve lost your sense of humor kid.” He stroked her cheek lightly, just as he had in the dream.
    “It’s hard to keep my sense of humor with everything that’s happened lately.”
    “Well you have to try. It’s the only thing that keeps me going.”
    “Elijah. What are you doing here?” Caelyn asked again. “This doesn’t make sense.” She looked around, half-expecting hidden cameras to emerge from behind the trees and bushes.
    But the street was totally silent and dark.
    “I’ll explain more. But we really need to hit the road, like, ten minutes