"What was he doing to you?" Kale squinted. "I'm not sure you want to know."

"What?" She winced. "What happened?"

"Um, he was going at it pretty hard," Kale said. Ellie looked at him as if she didn't understand.

"The fucking. I thought it was, kind of sick, myself. I kind of like them alive, if you know what I mean." Kale gave her an impish smile.

"What do you mean? I'm not alive?" She felt her heart thumping through her veins. Ellie thought her veins might even pop out of her skin as she looked down at the blue veins in her wrist and on top of her hands.

Ellie got up as close to the mirror as she could just to look and see if she could see herself breathing.

"It does you no good to stare," Kale pulled her away. "Just keep telling yourself you're on the other side. That's all there is to it." He gave her a pat on the back as she started to choke on her breath, wondering if she was actually breathing. She still felt dizzy. She thought she might crash through the mirror.

He grabbed her shoulders.