Chapter 1

Note: The inner thoughts are expressed in [] marks.

My family starts to unravel the day I can hear my mother's thoughts.

It begins as a silent scream in my head, a thought that isn't mine. [My youngest daughter's boyfriend is a fugitive! I have to keep them apart!]

The second I hear it, I order my sister to break up with him.

But that night, she elopes. They die in a fiery car crash on the highway, killed instantly.

As I am reeling from the loss, another one of her thoughts slices through my grief.

[Run, sweetheart! Your husband is trying to kill you! Don't drink that soup!]

My head snaps up. My husband is walking toward me, holding a steaming bowl of the "pregnancy-nourishing" soup he's made just for me.

Terrified, I flee to my best friend's house and immediately start divorce proceedings.

But as soon as I feel a flicker of safety, my mother's inner voice grows even more frantic.

[You foolish girl, you ran to the wrong place! Your 'best friend' is the one he's cheating with! It was her idea all along!]

My world is spinning. I bolt out of the house and sprint towards the police station, my only hope.

Just then, her voice screams in my head.

[The alley! On your right! Duck in there now! Your husband is right behind you with a knife! Run!]

Without a second thought, I veer into the dark, narrow alleyway. But the man I run into, lurking in the shadows, isn't my husband. It is the Rainy Night Ripper, the serial killer who's been terrorizing the city. I have stumbled right into his trap. He kills me slowly.

And when I open my eyes again, I am right back where it all starts: the very first day I can hear my mother's thoughts.

*****

"No! I have to marry him! Daisy, please! Don't lock me up..."

A frantic banging rattled the door, and through the wood, I could hear my sister, Lucy Baker, yelling with desperation.

I turned, my movements stiff, and my eyes landed on my mother, Bella Baker, in the living room. Paralyzed by a stroke, she sat in her wheelchair, staring at me with pure terror.

Just then, her thoughts suddenly rang in my mind.

[Lucy's boyfriend is a fugitive, a criminal on the run. I can't let them be together. I can't.]

[Oh God, how do I tell Daisy? How do I make her understand?]

Hearing that frantic voice was all the proof I needed. I was reborn.

This was the day it all began, the day I first heard my mother's thoughts.

In my last life, I had believed her without question. I was the only one who could hear her silent pleas, and I had followed her instructions to the letter.

Terrified by her warning that Lucy's boyfriend was a wanted murderer, I had locked my sister in her room, determined to keep them apart.

But that night, Lucy had climbed out her window, trying to elope.

The next time I heard her name, it was from a police officer on the other end of the line.

"Are you Lucy Baker's sister? There was a car accident at the corner of Oakhaven and Vine. She didn't survive. We need you to come to the hospital to identify the body."

By the time I saw her, she was barely human but in pieces.

The grief had been so immense that the stress had nearly caused me to miscarry my own child.

But now, hearing Lucy's voice, full of fire and fury, was the sweetest sound in the world.

Without a second thought, I turned the key and opened the door.

"Fine," I said. "If you want to be with him, fine. But you're going to listen to me. We're doing this right. No rushing. He needs to show he's serious. We're talking an engagement ring, a real commitment, and the whole nine yards. Got it?

"If you want to marry him, you have my blessing. I won't stand in the way of your happiness."

Lucy, who had been gearing up for a full-blown tantrum, just stared at me, her mouth hanging open.

"Wait... you're... you're serious?" she stammered.

From her wheelchair, Bella's face contorted. She tried to speak, but only garbled sounds came out as her body trembled violently.

Her thoughts were practically screaming in my head. [Lucy's boyfriend is a butcher! He dismembers people! He's going to kill her! Daisy, for God's sake, get your sister and run!]

I ignored the silent scream and calmly draped a blanket over her lap.

"You're shaking so much, Mom. Are you cold?"

Her eyes were wide, desperate. She managed a tiny, frantic shake of her head.

[No! No! Don't let her out! Lock her up!]

My husband, Robert Chambers, looked completely lost.

"Honey, a minute ago you were dead set against this. Why did you let her out? She's so young. Are you sure about this?" he asked.

Lucy crossed her arms, squinting at me with suspicion.

"You're not messing with me, are you, Daisy? You won't go back on your word?

"I really, really love him."

Terrified she'd try to run again, just like last time, I rushed to reassure her.

"Of course not! Have I ever not had your back? I was just testing you, seeing if this was the real deal. I would never try to break you two up."

In a fit of raw desperation, Bella threw all caution to the wind, her body trembling violently as she fought against her own paralysis.

[Daisy! You'll be the death of your sister! Her boyfriend is a serial killer! He seduces young women and takes them away to butcher them!]

[You will have killed her with your own two hands!]

[You will regret this!]