I was jolted awake by the sound of Alex yelling, which was far too common these days. Only this time I felt like everything was wrong, and I wasn't sure why. It took a moment for me to even wake up properly, never mind remember anything.

"Holy mother of..." I scooted backward as my vision finally became clear, and I could see a figure standing at the end of the bed looking at me. He was familiar, but strange too. I knew him, but also, I didn't. "Jake?"

What the hell was Jake doing in my house, and why did he look so weird? There was a translucent quality to him, one that made me think maybe I was still sleeping. My brain racked, the weird events of the previous night flooded back to me, which only served to leave me even more confused.

I went to meet Jake, he didn't turn up. I got the strange messages, then...then I basically came back home. There was a phone call in the middle, but that was blurry now.

Jake didn't say anything, he just remained in the same position; one hand in his curly hair, the other on his hip. He had his head cocked to the side as if he was regarding me curiously. I slid slowly closer to him, trying to work out what my next move should be, and I reached my hand out to him, to touch him in the way that I'd always wanted to...but I couldn't feel him.

My hand went right through him.

"Are you even there?" I asked quietly.

When Jake didn't answer me, I put it down to lack of sleep. I shook my head, rubbed my eyes hard, and padded down the stairs where everything was much more normal. The kids were glued to the television screen, and Alex was ranting about something or nothing. I didn't want to interrupt him, not when he was in full flow, so I moved towards the kitchen to make myself a coffee.

I couldn't exactly start my brand-new life without caffeine now, could I?

"...I just don't know where your mother is, kids..." That was until I heard Alex's words.

"I'm right here," I chuckled, bemusedly. "Alex, I'm right here. You were asleep when I got in last night, but I'm here."

"I don't know what I'm going to do, I'll have to contact the police."

It was as if he couldn't hear me, or maybe he was trying to punish me. Either way, I moved across the room closer to him, and I reached out to give him a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.

Only my hand went through him, just the way it did Jake.

"Oh my God," I gasped out, leaping backward.

What the hell was happening? It was as if I was being severely punished for wanting too much, for trying to have my cake and eat it too. This had to be a dream, the only explanation was that my brain was creating this nightmare for me. What I needed to do was lie down on the sheets until everything made sense again. With a pounding heart and a sickness swirling in my stomach, I raced back up the stairs, ignoring the Jake-like figure at the end of my bed, and I climbed under the sheets. There I curled up into a ball and I waited for the blackness to come for me...

* * *

Nothing was any different.

When I woke up everything was exactly the same. I was still trapped in the limbo, stuck in a world where I could see Jake, but not touch him, where I could spend time with my family, but they couldn't with me, where I was everywhere, but nowhere.

It was horrendous.

Screaming didn't work, shaking made no difference, I couldn't do anything and it physically pained me to be so useless. I racked my brain, combing my mind to try and find some sort of explanation, but I couldn't stop myself from coming back to just one thing.

My phone.

Much as I'd sworn to stay away from technology forever more, it seemed that I would have to go back to it just one more time. This had all started with my phone, so I had to presume that was key. Only, I dropped it when I ran home, so I'd have to face the outside world to get it and I didn't know how 'out there' was going to react to the new me.

With a deep sigh, I grabbed my coat and I forced myself to take action. Being weak and feeble had led me to this mess, if I was ever going to escape it, I needed to act in a way that was totally out of character. I needed to be brave.

As the fresh cool air hit my face, I tried to allow that to fill me with positivity, but to be perfectly honest this whole bizarre situation was so messed up I couldn't get past the anxiety it had coursing through my veins.

No one looked at me as I walked, but that could've just as easily been because I had my head down. I wasn't asking for attention, so I wasn't getting it. I could've experimented and done something crazy to check, but I wasn't in the mood. I was pushing my own boundaries enough as it was.

I guess I half-expected not to see my phone there when I arrived, but it was still on the ground. Unblemished too, like I'd invented the cracking sound as it fell, and it was open on the page of messages I'd exchanged with Jake.

Clearly, this was a game, and I was doing whatever the puppet master wanted of me.

Rose_Petal: What's going on? Where am I?

Jake86: You're near me, but away from me too.

Rose_Petal: I got that much, I was hoping for something more practical.

There was no spark as I wrote these messages, it was almost as if my feelings for Jake had been totally taken from me. Or maybe that was my guilt.

Jake86: I don't know where any of us are. 

Rose_Petal: What happened?

I felt like I had to ask, just in case. He seemed to know a lot more than me.

Jake86: You lied to me, didn't you?

I wasn't expecting that, but it seemed pointless to keep up the façade now. Much as I hated to write the things I always feared, I needed to know if there was any hope of things ever returning to normal.

Rose_Petal: Yes. I'm sorry, I tried to tell you but I was scared.

Jake86: I lied too. Not about my picture, but other things. 

Rose_Petal: Like what?

I didn't have any right to feel that way, but I was upset and a little annoyed to learn that he hadn't been honest with me. It stung my eyes, made me want to cry, I'd lost everything and now I didn't even know what for.

Jake86: I never wanted to be with you, not really.

Rose_Petal: What?! Why would you say you did?

Jake86: Are you looking for a better reason than sex? Rose_Petal: Sex?

I collapsed onto the floor, my butt hitting the concrete hard, shock rendering me speechless. I almost gave up my family for a man who just wanted to use me for one night of fun. How the hell was I supposed to process that?

Jake86: I just want to be honest.

Rose_Petal: Go on then.

Jake86: I do this all the time, I experiment to see how long it'll take to get a shag.

Rose_Petal: Why? Why not just go to a bar like a normal person?

Jake86: I'm better online. People respond to me better.

Rose_Petal: I'm married. I have children. 

Jake86: Yeah, I figured as much.

I huffed, blowing out a loud puff of air as the power of my mistake hit me. I was an idiot, the worst of the worst.

Rose_Petal: So how do we get out of here?

Jake86: I don't think we do.

Rose_Petal: Are you serious? We can't just stay in this weird hell.

Jake86: I don't think we have any choice. You're lucky.

Rose_Petal: Why the hell am I lucky?

Jake86: You didn't have to see him...you aren't as horrible as me.

Rose_Petal: Him?

Jake86: The man who put us here.

It made my head hurt too much, so I closed my eyes for a second, and when I did I got a barrage of horrible images. Alex, moving Stacey into our home, our children growing up with her as a mother, me and Jake stood at opposite ends of the spectrum staring at one another, knowing what we both are now, knowing what we told one another and what we never could've become.

Me, a married harlot, and him a horrible player.

I watched it go over and over through my mind, like a movie I couldn't hit pause on.

And the worst part of it was, I had the horrible feeling that I'd just witnessed my future...