I could have been dreaming about anything - anything - but the moment my eyes opened, I lost it all. That mind tingling feeling where you knew something had been happening but you couldn’t remember a thing. Like your brain had its own secrets that it refused to share with you.

My instinct had me grabbing for my phone to see the time.

I squinted at the brightness of the screen as my eyes stung. I did a double take when I saw that it was just an hour after I went to bed. I pushed my normal eleven o’clock bedtime to midnight as I couldn’t fall asleep. Tossing and turning, the last thing I remembered seeing was midnight.

Then my eyes shut.

Now they were open.

And for good reason.

I heard the pounding outside my bedroom and I jumped up. Twenty years ago, I’d pull the covers to my chin and tell myself this was it. The monster was here. It was coming to get me. I was in big trouble.

I taught myself at a young age that imaginary monsters were stupid because the real ones were scarier.

I reached for the light and turned it on.

The pounding continued. Then the doorbell chimed. I was on the second floor of the old house, in my bedroom, but the house wasn’t all that big. And my bedroom was right over the front of the house, looking out to the porch and the front yard.

So I heard the pounding as though someone were just outside my room.

You’d think that at one in the morning, someone attacking the front door would be cause for concern, but it wasn’t.

I kicked the covers off my body and got out of bed. I reached for the navy blue robe on the back of the door. I wore nothing but panties and a white shirt, no bra, messy hair, looking like a sleepy dream. I was a freaking mess, and not just by how I looked either. And for whatever damn reason, my nipples were hard, clearly showing through the thin, white shirt.

I pulled the robe tight and tied it. No need to give whoever was dropping Anna off a show.

She couldn’t remember much when she got blackout drunk or crazy high. What she did remember was that her name was Anna, I was her older sister, and that she knew how to get to Aunt Beth’s house. Even though Aunt Beth was gone and the house was mine, Anna knew how to get there. The house was like a security blanket to her. As was I. She could dig herself into the deepest hole of booze, substance, self abuse, but when she reached her limit, she wanted to come to the house, have me hold her, and tell her stories of when we were kids and I’d build a fort with the dining room table chairs and blankets. We’d sneak the good crackers and nibble on them, giggling, Anna making me promise her that everything would be okay.

“It’ll be okay,” I whispered as I walked down the stairs toward the front door.

The wood steps went down five steps, cut to the right for another fifteen, then cut to the right again for a wide two step landing. The front door was there on the left.

It was usually the same people dropping Anna off. Tony. Bella. One of the other losers she insisted were friends but all they did was use her for her money and her body, then dump her off on me to rebuild her.

I ripped open the door and took a step back, gasping.

“Tommy,” I whispered.

Tommy gave a nod as he relaxed his hands off his waist. He stood tall, wide, much different from the dorky kid in school we used to pick on for being obsessed with cowboys and indians. In high school he learned how to lift weights, wrestle, joined the military, and now was a cop.

If Anna wasn’t dropped off by one of her dumb ass friends, it was usually Tommy. Sometimes he’d find her sleeping on a park bench. Or walking the curb on the main street, like we used to do as kids. Except now the main street was a lot busier. And Anna had no concept of how messed up she was.

I didn’t see Anna anywhere though.

“Adena,” Tommy said. “Sorry to bother you this late.”

“I’m used to it,” I said. I held the robe at the top tight with one hand. “Where is she?”

I tried to look past him to his police cruiser.

Tommy put a hand out. “She’s, uh, not here.”

“Oh,” I said.

There was always a third option with Anna. Sometimes the night would get so far away from her, she’d end up in jail. Usually for fighting or peeing herself or whatever she felt like doing.

“Adena…”

“Look,” I said, “spare me any kind of pep talk. I just need to know how much I need to get her out of there.”

I started to think about how much I had in my checking account. How much I had in my savings account - less than my checking account. I thought about the stuff in the kitchen I could sell, if need be. Or put my car up for collateral. Maybe even call the lawyer, the bank, see if the house was worth two nickels rubbed together to make a dime.

Anna had drained me… and everyone she ever encountered in life.

I could see it on Tommy’s face.

I lost count of how many times he had to interact with her.

And to think that Anna was the one who flashed Tommy at a party once because she felt bad he was a geek and hadn’t gotten laid yet. Hell, maybe she even slept with him. There was very few places in town that Anna hadn’t been.

“It’s not that simple,” Tommy said. “Not this time, Adena.”

“What do you mean? What did she do? Did she hurt someone for real?”

“Adena, I need you to come for a ride with me.”

“A ride?” I asked. “What the hell did…”

I looked to the front of the house. Tommy’s cruiser was parked where Anna normally parked her car.

“Tell me she didn’t drive,” I said. “Tell me she didn’t fucking drive… tell me she didn’t get another DUI.”

Tommy shook his head.

“She hurt someone?”

Tommy reached for my arm. He had a firm grip. “I think you should get changed, Adena.”

“Why? What’s going on, Tommy? Stop messing around. You know what I’m up against with her. What I’ve had to go through.”

Tommy cleared his throat. “Okay, fine, I’ll be straight with you.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“You need to get changed and come for a ride with me.”

“Why, Tommy?” I asked.

But in some way I already knew. I felt my heart pounding. My throat closing. My eyes blinking fast as I felt dizzy.

“I’m sorry, Adena… but your sister is dead.”