Anna tied the cord of her dressing gown tighter and frowned as the banging at her front door refused to cease. She opened it and then crossed her arms over her chest, "Good morning Mary."

"I hope that robe means you spent the night having sex with your husband."

"Actually no, it means I just got up and I needed to come to the front door." Anna waved her hand back into the house, "Me being naked would've said I was having wild sex with my husband."

"I didn't mention parasailing."

"Then why are you here?"

"This," Mary held up her phone and Anna leaned forward to read it, "Thought you ought to know your skeezy uncle decided to make a come back."

Anna took the phone from Mary's hand to read more of the article. "What's he possibly got to write a book about?"

"Apparently he's convinced he was framed. Says it was the delusions of two sick and spiteful girls exercising their ingratitude."

"He can't be serious."

"Seems to be." Mary snorted, "Rotten bastard."

Anna pushed the phone back to Mary, "John can't know about this."

"Why not?"

"Because he already threatened to kill him when he tried to contact me after he got out of prison. I'd rather not have to return to a courtroom to defend my husband against a charge of murder." Anna folded her arms over her chest, "I can't bear another court room in my life."

Mary tucked the phone away, "It's your choice in the end but he's going to hear about it. It'll be the talk of the town and…" Mary stopped, "Where is your husband by the way?"

"Taking a shower."

Mary reached out a hand, grabbing a damp strand of Anna's hair, "I'm sure that didn't start out alone."

"It was like two ships passing in the night actually." Anna shrugged, walking toward the sofa and picking up the clothes there. "I was in first and then he joined me and then he's in there now."

"Please don't continue to the point where I'll need to burn out my own retinas to stop the replay of the images there.' Mary moved into Anna's kitchen, pulling open the fridge. "Matthew's trying to fight it you know."

"Fight what?" Anna dug her knickers out from under the sofa and laid them on top of the pile she settled on the island.

Mary flicked a glance toward the pile, pursing her lips before removing the container of juice and digging in Anna's cupboards for a glass. "The book. It's against the law for the perpetrator of a crime to benefit from an expose on the action. If your disgusting uncle even manages to write it he'll never see any of the benefits."

"The man's living in a shack off the back of my property." Anna settled on her stool, "I know he's got nothing left."

"That's what you get when you're a pedo."

"Who's a pedo?"

Mary barely put the glass to her lips when she spit the contents back into it. Anna turned over her shoulder and snorted a laugh at the sight of John struggling to cover himself. She dug out his boxers and flung them to him as Mary retched into the sink and held a finger behind her.

"I refuse to turn around and get another view of the full Monty waiting behind me."

"You're lucky Mary." Anna laughed, walking the clothes to John as his face continued to run through shades of red. "You're the first person to see John naked who's not married to him."

"There's a reason for that." Mary kept her back to them. "Why don't you both get dressed and-"

"You're the one who knocked on the door at an early hour." Anna pushed John back toward the stairs. "Come dear, let's get dressed so we don't scar our guest further."

They went back upstairs, John digging old clothes from the bureau as Anna sorted the clothes into the hampers, and she turned to the closet to extract clothes of her own. When she pulled them out she tossed the hangers on the bed and stopped when she noticed John staring at her. "What?"

"Who's the pedo Mary was talking about?"

Anna let out a breath, "She showed up this morning with news that my uncle's writing a book."

"He's doing what now?"

"You know he was an author before it all happened." Anna removed her dressing gown, working a pair of knickers and a bar on before continuing to speak. "He's in pretty desperate straits."

"Shouldn't he be? For what he did to you?"

"It's…" Anna sighed, sitting on the bed and mangling the trousers in her hand with the edges of her shirt grazing over her thighs. "It's over John. I let it rule my life for far too long and it's over. I has to be or else I'm still giving him power over me."

"That man should've rotted in jail."

"But he didn't." Anna dropped the trousers and turned to John. "He served his time and they let him out."

"You mean like they'll let Barrow out."

"John," Anna sighed, shaking her head. "I thought he resolved this last night."

"No, we resolved that we're moving forward together." John came to her side and tried to hold her hand but Anna pulled away. "They're thinking about just giving him parole."

"I know, I heard you last night." Anna drove a hand through her hair. It caught and she bent to dig in her bag for a hairbrush. "But, as I told Mary the other day, I've had enough of it. Two years of my life in courtrooms, sitting through appeals, waiting hours for ten minutes of a judge's time when they don't care. When no one, at this point, cares."

"We care."

"Then let's do something about it." Anna flung her arms out, barely keeping her hold on the brush. "Let's donate to a charity in her name or start a scholarship."

"You're trivializing this."

"No," Anna pointed with the hairbrush, "I'm trying to move on. From what happened to Emmy, from what happened with my uncle, from what happened to Gwen, from-"

"Gwen?"

Anna paled, pivoting quickly to look in the mirror as she combed at her hair. "Who?"

"You just said you're trying to move on from what happened to Gwen." John came closer, Anna noting his progress through the mirror. "Who's Gwen?"

"No one."

"She's her sister." Anna turned, noting Mary in the doorway. "I thought you'd both like to know that breakfast is ready."

"Anna's not got a sister?"

"Not anymore."

"Shut up Mary." Anna let the brush clatter on the vanity. "This isn't your place."

"Why not?" Mary shrugged, "You've been married to this man for six years and you never told him about your sister?"

John could not focus on Mary or Anna. "You have a sister? Had a sister?"

"It's not important." Anna waved John away, "Stay out of things that have nothing to do with you Mary."

"Then learn to be honest." Mary faced John. "Gwen was Anna's younger sister. She died in a car accident when Anna was sixteen."

"That's enough Mary."

She put up her hands, "Fine. I've done what I can but I guess there's only so much you can do when the parties in question don't actually want to help themselves."

She left and Anna dropped onto the stool by her vanity. A hand settled on her shoulder and she twitched away from it. John knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his, and looking up at her.

"Why didn't you tell me about Gwen?"

"Because I killed her, John."

"What?" He shook his head, "Anna, you're not making sense."

"I killed my sister, John."


Anna heard the scream and ripped the headphones off her head. She put her hands out on the walls, sliding over the cracked and buckling wallpaper, and leapt the last few stairs to see Gwen cowering in the kitchen. Uncle Alex, looming over her like he was ten feet tall, tossed away the broken dish and wiped at a cut on his face.

"You want to throw dishes at me? You want to fight me? You think you're strong enough for that?"

His hand came down and Gwen twitched and cried out. Anna grabbed at a shard of the plate from the island and skidded into the kitchen as his leg went back as if to kick at Gwen. She brandished the piece and moved between them.

"Get away from her."

"Oh look, brave Anna here to save helpless Gwen again." Uncle Alex cackled, "How noble of you."

"Get away from her, it's your final warning." Anna's hand shook and she forced herself to keep her voice steady.

"You're giving me warnings?" He stalked closer, "Like the ones I gave you?"

Anna froze, eyes flicking to Gwen as she crawled back toward the corner cabinets, and then met Uncle Alex's face again. "I didn't say anything."

"You might not've but your sister there," Uncle Alex pointed over her shoulder. "She wasn't so smart. She told your teacher and then, wouldn't you know, there were police at my work. Do you realize how embarrassing that is?"

"Nothing happened. I know what to say if they ask." Anna's arm dropped slightly and she looked back at Gwen. "You'll tell them the same thing. That you had a nightmare or something and you imagined it. That you're sorry and it was all a lie."

"But it's not Anna." Gwen pulled at the counter, getting herself onto her feet, pointing at Uncle Alex as he stalked closer to Anna. "I know what he's done to you."

Anna frowned and then faced Uncle Alex. "Did you touch her too?"

"Not yet." He leered at her, grabbing Anna's hand faster than she could move. He wrenched her wrist and Anna cried out, dropping the shard of the plate so it broke into useless pieces on the floor. "But maybe when I've finished with your lesson."

His hand hit the side of her head and the impact on her ear rocked Anna. With her balance unsettled she grabbed for the counter but slipped on one of the shards of plate. She hit the floor hard and only heard Gwen crying out as she tried to sort her vision hazed by the impact of her head on the floor.

Anna got to her knees, nausea and dizziness threatening to land her on her face, but she forced herself to her feet. Tottering she grabbed at Uncle Alex's arm. The pull unsettled him and he flailed out with his other arm. It caught Gwen under the chin and she knocked into the wall before hitting the ground hard.

There was no time to check on her as Anna struggled to hold Uncle Alex. He turned on her and another slap landed her on her stomach. A moment later something heavy slammed her to the floor and Anna tried to swallow back her terror. The material of her jeans and her shirt shifted and moved until Anna could only kick out fruitlessly.

With her swiping hands she impacted a piece of ceramic. Dagger-shaped she wrapped her hands around it and rotated at the hips. Her shift surprised him almost as much as when she drove the piece deep into his neck. His hands let go of her and he stumbled back, holding to the spot as Anna crawled over the floor.

Pulling her trousers back into place with one hand, Anna grabbed Gwen's hand. She tugged and pleaded until Gwen blinked her eyes up at her. "Anna?"

"Come on," She yanked Gwen's arm, almost falling over onto her ass, but managed to keep her feet. Her fingers fumbled in the bowl near the door but she grabbed her keys and dragged the two of them out the door to the screams of Uncle Alex.

They ignored the neighbors peeking out of their houses, splashing through the puddles in the garden to Anna's car. She jiggled the key in the lock and forced it open to get them both inside while wiping her face to get the water off. A glance at her hands showed her blood leaked from a cut somewhere but she ignored it to shove the key into the ignition and turn the engine over. It coughed and complained, the old machine struggling to keep up with their urgency, but Anna pushed it into gear and sped away as fast as the spinning tires could manage.

The road was slick. People joked about rainy seasons in the land of perpetual gray but it had rained for a week straight. The Ouse threatened to burst its banks twice already and then finally broke a dam that morning.

They should not have been driving. She knew that. Gwen, in the seat next to her, knew that. They were wet, trembling, and terrified but they had to. They had to drive.

They had to get away.

With fingers like claws over the steering wheel, Anna guided the car through the deluge. The wipers worked at top speed but the old car only had speeds that were less-than-efficient for everything. The wipers, like the tires and the paint, were old and worn. Not the car one wanted to trust in a veritable monsoon.

Everything about the car was bald. When they took turns Anna locked her jaw and prayed they could manage the lack of friction and skid just enough to catch road. When the rain picked up she tried to crank the wipers up another setting but only heard the shudder-inducing squelch of the cracked rubber skating the window for a brief instant of clarity. Then all was downpour again.

Anna wiped at the trickle down the side of her head, blinking in an attempt to keep herself focused.

"Anna, you're bleeding."

"It's nothing." Anna shook it off. "It's nothing Gwen. I'm fine."

"You're not fine."

"I will be once we're far away from there." Anna put her foot down on the accelerator and navigated forward. "We're getting away."

"Anna-" Gwen's voice caught and Anna wrenched the wheel to avoid the car skidding toward them, only visible by the headlights.

They hydroplaned and Anna's breath caught in her chest. Everything moved as if in slow motion and she risked a look over at Gwen. Then their car hit the barrier.

They plunged over the side and the front of the car hit the water. Anna rocked against her belt and her chin hit the steering wheel hard enough to knock her teeth together and bite into her lip. The taste of blood filled her mouth as the car filled with water from the flooded river.

Anna pushed against the door, grabbing the roller to get the window down but it jammed halfway, like it always did, and just drenched her in the deluge now flooding through the window. She fought against the door and her seatbelt to get free of the later as Gwen lolled in the seat next to her.

"Gwen!" Anna shouted as a rush of water filled her mouth and she spit out before taking a deep breath as the car sunk.

She forced her eyes open, the grit scratching at her, but she worked her hands over to get Gwen free of her belt. Holding to the back of both seats, Anna kicked her feet forward, impacting the glass of her worn windshield. The little crack in the corner, that always spread a bit more when she bit a pothole, cracked further and Anna kicked again.

Black edged at her vision, stark against the brown-gray-green of the water swirling around them in the car, but Anna kicked as hard as she could with both feet. The windshield cracked in half and Anna grabbed Gwen's collar to pull her through the space.

But instead of swimming upward, the current bobbed them to the surface and tossed them under again. Anna held tightly to Gwen, trying to get breath when she could, and worked toward the side but the plunges under the surface made it impossible for her to tell direction. She clawed and struggled but her body, already weakened and running on the dregs of her adrenaline, slowed.

In the last moments of consciousness she closed her eyes to succumb and almost laughed to herself at the irony. A car killed her parents and now a car would kill them. Maybe there was a place in heaven for car related deaths and they would find each other there like waiting in line at the office to get you license.

Then Anna blinked. The tree where they used to picnic with their parents was in front of her. But it was not the right tree. This one was white, like everything else, and Anna wanted to automatically grab at herself to keep out a chill but there was none. The air, for what she could sense of it, felt as temperate as anything.

She walked toward the tree, casting her eyes around as if she could find someone or something to tell her how she went from drowning in the swollen Ouse to walking in the white grass near a white tree. But there was no one and nothing. Just Anna and the sound of her breathing.

Until she heard a laugh. Anna spun in place, trying to find the source of it. But it was like the sound was everywhere. All around her, inside her even, and teasing in its pleasure. And then she turned to see Gwen.

"Gwen!" Anna flung herself forward and they embraced. "I thought we were dead."

"We're not dead." Gwen pushed her back, running Anna's hair through her fingers. "Well, you'renot dead that is."

"What?" Anna tried to laugh but noticed Gwen's face remained somber. "Then how are we talking to each other right now?"

"There's a lot of ways to try and explain that."

"Pick the simplest one."

"Your mind's trying to understand the idea that you're alive and I'm not."

Anna shook her head, "No. I got you out of the car. I know I did."

"I drown in the water, Anna. When we hit I cracked my head on the side and it only aggravated what happened to me when Uncle Alex hit me. It caused a bleed in my brain." Gwen shook her head, "It wasn't your fault. I was dead anyway."

"No. I got you out." Anna enunciated each word clearly, "You can't be here if you're dead."

"But I'm not here, Anna." Gwen motioned around them. "This place isn't real. It's in your mind. It's how you're coping with what you know but can't deal with."

"Then what is this place?"

"I'd guess it's the place you made to feel safe when Uncle Alex…" Gwen hung her head, "I'm sorry."

Anna swallowed, "I couldn't let him hurt you."

"And you protected me." Gwen put her hand on Anna's shoulder. "Now you need to protect yourself. You'll need to be strong."

"But I'm not strong on my own. I can't be."

"You'll have to be."

"Gwen!" Anna called out, something yanking her away from Gwen. "Don't let me leave. I can't go yet."

"I'll be here when you need me Anna." Gwen waved. "I'm here forever because I've nowhere else to go. It's like Neverland… I'll never have to grow up."

Anna's eyes opened and she tried to sit up in bed but a nurse kept her down. "Where's Gwen? Where's Gwen?"

"Gwen?" The nurse turned to someone else in the room and Anna recognized Mary, hurrying to stand.

"Anna, honey, you've got to calm down."

"Where's Gwen?"

"She didn't make it, Anna. Her brain bled and when she went unconscious they couldn't wake her up." Mary grabbed Anna's hand as Anna stopped flailing in the bed. "They got your uncle. Found a way to survive, snake that he is, but he's in custody. He can't touch you anymore."

"But Gwen's…" Anna fought against Mary's hold, tears coming to her eyes. "Gwen's…"

"She's gone, Anna." Mary tried to soothe. "I'm sorry but she's gone."


Anna wiped tears from her eyes, noting how John now sat with his knees drawn up toward his chest on the floor. "I killed my sister."

"No," He shook his head. "You protected her and tried to save her. He killed your sister."

"If he killed her it'd be easy to deal with what happened." Anna ran her fingers under her eyes again, trying to rid herself of superfluous tears. "If I'd driven to a hospital or anywhere else but where I was going she might've lived."

"Where were you going?"

Anna shrugged, "I don't know. Here maybe."

"What was this place to you?"

"My Uncle moved us to his house after the first time he…" Anna stopped herself. "He didn't want the neighbors asking too many questions so he moved us to his house on the other side of town. A place where the neighbors knew horrible things happened in his house but didn't say anything."

"A place he'd be safe to do what he did."

Anna nodded. "That's why they kicked him out of my family party when I was young, the first and last time I saw him until he was made our guardian. My grandfather found him… well, his proclivities just extended everywhere they weren't supposed to and he marked me as his victim then."

"But they took him to prison?"

"For long enough that I tried to build a life where he didn't have to exist."

"And that time he tried to visit you-" John took a breath, "Now I wish I'd crushed his windpipe."

"I'm glad you didn't." Anna shuddered, "I wouldn't want you anything like that man."

"But what he did to you Anna…"

"I handled through therapy." Anna held up a hand, "I'm not a victim. I was his for awhile but I survived and I moved through it. When Mary's family took me in they paid for therapy and I worked past it."

John took her hands. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"That my life's one traumatic story after another?" Anna tried to laugh but it stuck in her throat between the emotion and the bitterness there. "I wanted a new beginning that left the past buried where it belonged."

"But is it there?" John rose back to his knees, "Is it there if you're still dreaming about Gwen?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"I've heard you talking in your sleep and… you've talked to Emmy before." John sniffed and Anna lifted his chin to see his eyes. "Do you see her in your dreams too?"

Anna nodded, her eyes tearing again, to reflect John's. "I see her with Gwen and they're happy together. Well… they're sort of happy. It's odd… they seem happy until they see me and then they get somber."

"Maybe it's you that gets somber." John put a hand to her cheek. "You don't belong in that world, Anna. You belong here."

"I want to belong here but…"

"No 'buts' Anna." John insisted, pulling her hands, dragging her with him to the bed. "You belong here."

She took his urging, climbing on top of him, and fell into his kiss. His fingers skated up her skin, pushing her shirt out of the way and leaving her hair to hang like curtains around his face. His lips guided her and Anna's hands soon came up to cup his jaw while he worked around to unbuckle her bra. It flew off in a direction away from them and John tipped away from the kiss to move his kisses there.

Anna held him tightly to her, clutching in his hair and digging in her nails when he nipped at a nipple or sucked it between his teeth. She rocked against him, riding his growing erection between her knickers and his sweatpants. Her hand wormed between them, slipping under two layers of elastic to grip him.

John bucked, hissing against her breast and kissing back to her mouth as Anna stroked and squeezed him. Between her hand and the riding motion her body adopted, John's hips rutted and shunted toward her until he finally snaked loose of his sweatpants and his boxers. They caught at his knees but Anna moved enough to strip them off and leave her knickers to land on the pile they made.

Climbing back toward him, Anna held him still and positioned herself over him to sink down. They paused, waiting for the moment to pass as they adjusted to being with one another again, and then John moved. His fingers played over her, indenting in her skin to leave patches of red and slight bruises later. Anna moved with him and followed each of his guided movements to catch him where she needed him most.

They moaned and whimpered together, their keens and cries echoing over the slants of the ceiling until Anna finally pulled John's lips to hers again. Driving one another to the edge, Anna gyrated her hips enough to let John fall over first, and then brought her hand between them to send herself to join him. He wrapped an arm around her, laying back and keeping her close to him.

For a moment neither of them spoke until something loud echoed in the kitchen. Anna lifted her head and then snorted a laugh, "I think Mary's still here."

"That woman's either got the patience of a saint or just can't stop herself meddling in everyone's affairs." John sighed, running his fingers through Anna's hair. "Think we should make her wait longer and grab another shower?"

"I just need a rinse." Anna sat up. "My face is probably puffy and I need some hot water to relax the muscles around my eyes or I'll look like Benedict Cumberbatch."

"I don't think I'd mind that." John dodged the swat Anna aimed at him. "I've put Bubbly Cubbersnitch to my list of five."

"He's on my list of five you prat." Anna grabbed a few pieces of clothing. "And you're welcome to join me if you don't distract me in there."

"Then I better not." John winked at her, "Because nothing gets me going like the sight of my wife naked in the shower."

"You're hilarious." Anna stopped, sorting the clothes in her arms. "We can't keep solving our problems with sex you know."

"We're not." John sat on the edge of the bed. "There's been a lot of crying involved."

"I'm serious." Anna groaned and John came up to her.

"So am I." He kissed her forehead. "We're working through it Anna."

She glanced down at her clothes and then up at him, "Grab your things and come with me."

They went to the shower and Anna started it up, pulling John in with her. She soaped up a flannel and took it all over him before offering it to him. With the water drenching them both, Anna basked in the feeling of her husband helping her remove the tension from her body with each swipe of the flannel. And then as he pressed behind her, lifting her leg to the side of the tub, and using his fingers to send her clinging to the sower curtain as his fingers massaged and relaxed her from the inside out.

A moment later he moved inside her and Anna tried to work herself back. The water slicked over them but increased the friction, forcing them to work harder as the bathroom fogged and the air humidified to leave them sweating again. Anna risked the water colder as John pressed against her. He twitched, driving as deeply inside her as he could, and brought them both over at the same time.

The cold water finally gave her shivers instead of soothing her and Anna turned the water off. John offered her a towel and then took one for himself. He rubbed down and then rubbed her down. As they stood on the bathmat, both holding their towels over themselves. Anna kissed him.

"We'll take care of each other, won't we?"

"I believe I promised you that the day I married you." John ran a finger over her jaw. "I'm sorry I forgot that promise for awhile."

"I did too." Anna hugged him, crushing the towels between them. "I should've told you about Gwen."

"I know now." John's hand rubbed her back. "It's going to be alright Anna."

"I hope so."

"It's a promise." He kissed her, "I'll keep it."