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“I didn’t…I can’t…” My words stutter out. I have no words. This proves all the bruises on my body were by my own hands. Or at least, this is what my mother will think.

Beth directs her focus at me. “Layla, you are not to leave this house or this town.”

“You can’t do this. You told me you wouldn’t do this. You can’t keep me locked up. I’m not a fucking criminal.” Her head angles as she lifts her chin, avoiding my gaze.

“I am trying to protect you,” she says calmly. “You have no idea the lengths I’ve gone to protect you.”

How is she protecting me? She’s never protected me; I see that now. She caused this…

Beth crosses her arms and blocks the door to the study. “There is no way in hell I am leaving you to your own devices. It’s this or a psychiatric hospital.”

I lurch to my feet. “You are a fucking liar. You’re worse than the madman hunting me.”

My mom pinches her nose and shakes her head. The worry creases in her forehead deepens by the day. “There is no one hunting you.” She takes a deep, calm breath and composes herself. “Everything that is happening to you right now is happening in your head. You’re sick, honey.”

I clench my jaw. “I can prove it to you.” I get up and grab my phone from my purse across the room. As I scroll through my phone, my mouth drops open, gradually going numb as I dive back into my chat history. Every message from Nick has vanished.

Shaking my bowed head, my face heats as my family watches me. “I don’t understand.”

“What is it?” Regina asks.

“He…he was messaging me. I swear he was.” I let the phone drop, sit on the couch, and run my hands through my hair. “He’s making them disappear somehow.”

Beth and Regina share a glance, then Beth bites her bottom lip.

“Who do you believe is messaging you?” Regina asks, as if I’m just making up another story in my head.

“The Archer is real,” I spit out. “He’s been messaging me ever since Toby died. He’s doing this somehow. He was in my apartment, he was in our backyard. He…he’s in my dreams. He is real, and I remember who he is now.”

“Layla…” Regina warns. She’s heard this before, and she didn’t believe me then. I press my face into my hands.

My mom’s face turns crimson. “You are to stay here, in this house, until Regina fixes whatever is happening to you. Do you understand me, Layla? You’re delusional!”

Regina rises and gently places a hand on Beth’s arm. “Beth, you have every right to do whatever you feel is best. You have that power, and I will support whatever decision you make, if it prioritizes my patient’s and your daughter’s well-being. However, Layla isn’t delusional. It would be damaging to suggest that she is. She genuinely believes what she experienced and what’s happening to her now are real. At least they are real to her. Since neither of us were there with her, we don’t have concrete evidence to dispute that.”

Beth waves her hands. “That crazy man kept her in a box for months. He took my baby from me. That was real.”

Regina shakes her head, crossing her arms. “That doesn’t mean her memories weren’t real. For all we know, someone was down there with her. Or maybe someone is after her, we can’t ignore that possibility.”

A heavy silence falls over the room.

“Just give me a moment alone with her,” Regina says.

Beth makes a clicking sound with her tongue and spins on her heels. I’ve never hated my mother as much as I do right now. I am in clear and present danger. I am hurting, and she still doesn’t believe me. I was abducted under her watch.

I wait until Beth leaves and I’m certain we’re alone. Regina raises an eyebrow.

“It’s Beth,” I hiss. “She’s behind everything.”

The look in Regina’s eyes chills me to the bone. “Keep your voice down,” she says.

My lip curls upward as my eyes widen. Regina knows a lot more than she’s letting on. “Sarah Crawley was right about her. She’s right about everything.”

Regina rises and walks toward the door, turning to face me, and dark shadows hint at her eyes. “Don’t get this twisted in your head. You did what you had to do to protect the fragility of your humanity. Stories do that…they keep people alive. They help us make sense of the senseless. No one should ever live in the dark like that. Especially for how long you were down there.” Is that what she thinks I’m doing? Keeping him alive?

My eyes flick up to her. “What do you know?” She knows a fuck ton more than she’s letting on. I sit back and glance up at Regina. I recognize the emotion hidden under her hard and poised exterior. I see it every time I’m with her.

She hesitates for a moment. “You hallucinated him, Layla. The Archer isn’t real.”