Gretchen McNeil - 3:59

Because it wasn’t her.

What if the explosion in the lab that day had the same effect as the flash from the passing train? What if Josie’s mom and Dr. Byrne created a portal—an earlier portal—and accidentally switched places?

And the mirror. It had been in her mom’s lab for years. What if it had been the portal then just as it was now? The explosion, the flash—the same event that happened to her at the railroad crossing. Maybe it happened that day because it had happened before, zapping Josie’s mom and Dr. Byrne into different worlds? That exact moment in space-time had been weakened, connected to the mirror itself. The catalyst. And when it came in close proximity to trace amounts of ultradense deuterium on the train—the right place at the right time— BOOM! And in the lab in Josie’s basement— BOOM!

The mirror was the catalyst. It wasn’t affected by those explosions; it had been the cause of them.

Josie’s pace quickened. She had to keep moving or she was going to burst.

The mirror was the portal, unstable at first, then strengthening after each explosion until it stayed open for one full minute every twelve hours at the exact moment space-time had been weakened. A hole through which first her mom and then Josie had traveled.

That would explain why her mom was so desperate to get the mirror back. And that would also explain the X-FEL her mom had been cobbling together in the basement. She was trying to re-create the events that led to her being switched in the first place. Her mom was . . .

Josie paused midstep. Not her mom. Jo’s mom. Dr. Byrne.

Because her mom was trapped in this world, locked away in a mental hospital.

Dr. Byrne had been trying to reopen a portal to bring her daughter—her real daughter—through to Josie’s world. And now they were plotting to stay there forever.

Josie took a deep breath. She had a purpose now. It wasn’t just about finding a way home anymore. She had to help her mom. She had to stop Jo and Dr. Byrne before they could destroy the portal and trap Josie in a world overrun with the Nox. She had to re-create Dr. Byrne’s experiment and open her own portal that would send her and her mom home.

She just had one problem. How?

Without thinking, she grabbed her cell phone and dialed Nick.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” Nick said, his voice thick with sleep. “Are you okay?”

“Nick, something happened. A dream.”

She heard rustling on the other end of the line and Nick sat up in bed. “You called me because you had a bad dream?”

“No. I was in Jo’s head. She doesn’t know.” Josie was practically laughing. “She doesn’t know I can still see her in my dreams.”

“What did you see?” Nick said, instantly awake.

“Dr. Byrne.”

“Jo’s mom’s in a hospital in Annapolis.”

“No, she’s not. Dr. Byrne is sitting in my kitchen. In my house. In my world. Nick, they switched places.”

“What?”

“The explosion. Six months ago. Don’t you see? That’s why Dr. Byrne didn’t recognize Jo or her husband. They switched places. It’s my mom locked up in a mental hospital.”

“Holy shit.”

“I know.”

“You’re going to go see her.” It wasn’t a question.

Josie made the decision in an instant. “Tomorrow. After school.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“But you have practice. Don’t you have a big meet this weekend?” If this Nick was anything like hers, he wouldn’t miss track practice a few days before a meet for anything short of the apocalypse.

“Regionals,” Nick said. He made a sound somewhere between a yawn and a groan, and Josie could almost picture him stretching his long limbs out in bed. “But I can skip. This is more important.”

A warm flutter spread from her stomach to her chest, and a smile broke the corners of Josie’s mouth. She couldn’t help herself. Nick barely knew her, and yet here he was anxious to help her, willing to sacrifice something that was important to him because he thought Josie needed help.

With a twinge of sadness, Josie realized that her ex-boyfriend would never have offered.

“That’s sweet,” Josie said softly. “But I think I need to see her alone.”

“I understand.” Nick was silent for a moment. “Call me, though, okay? When you’re done? I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Josie’s smile deepened and her heart raced. She knew this feeling only too well, the goofiness that threatened to swamp her rational mind every time she’d see Nick from afar in the hallway, or watch him running laps around the track after school. The impetuous way she wanted to launch herself into his arms when he’d look into her eyes and tell her that he loved her, that she was the only girl for him. The way her stomach would clench when she felt his touch against her skin. The way her body tingled when he pressed his lips to hers. The way she wanted to disappear into him whenever he held her close.

She knew the desperation of that love. She knew the horrific pain it brought.

And she wasn’t going to let that happen again.

With a shake of her shoulders, Josie banished the growing attraction she had for this Nick. He would only hurt her, as his doppelgänger had done. Because regardless of which dimension he was in, Nick wasn’t in love with her. She thought of the way he touched Madison in the warehouse, how intimate it had been. She wouldn’t let him break her heart again, intentionally or not.

“I’ll be fine,” she said in a very businesslike manner.

“Oh, okay.” Nick sighed. “But Josie?” he added quickly. His voice sounded anxious. “Be careful.”

Josie swallowed hard. He doesn’t love you. “I will.”

6:33 A.M.

MR. BYRNE WAS ALREADY AT BREAKFAST WHEN Josie bounded into the dining room. There was an extra bounce in her step, a levity and excitement Josie hadn’t felt since she first stepped through the mirror. She was going to see her mom today.

“Aren’t you looking bright and happy this morning, princess,” Mr. Byrne said, glancing up from his tablet. “Is it going to be a good day?”

“I hope so,” Josie said with as much perkiness as she could muster.

“I’m glad.” Mr. Byrne beamed as she took a seat and poured herself some coffee. Teresa was at her shoulder almost immediately with a bagel and cream cheese. She hovered near the buffet, straightening unused serving platters for a full five minutes before she silently slipped out of the room. Josie waited until she heard the swinging door to the kitchen whoosh into place before she opened a conversation with Mr. Byrne. It was a conversation she’d been rehearsing in her head all night.

“Daddy?” she said meekly.

Mr. Byrne never even looked up from his tablet. “Yes, princess?”

“I’ve been thinking. About what you said last night.”

Mr. Byrne carefully laid his tablet facedown on the table and folded his hands in front of him. “About going to see your mother?”

Josie nodded.

“Why this sudden change of heart, princess?”

She’d been mulling it over in her head since she’d woken up from Jo’s dream. Tell Mr. Byrne what’s going on or not?

On the one hand, he deserved to know. Just like Josie, his life had been ripped apart. His wife and now his daughter were far away, replaced by doppelgängers he didn’t know. Josie thought of her own dad, sitting in his apartment in Landover, wondering what had happened to his happy marriage. She wished she could contact him, let him know it was all a mistake and a misunderstanding. That her mom still loved him and was desperate to get home to him.