Dan wants to keep saying it's not real, that what's real is the violence in front of Elle, not in her mind. But he knows as well as anyone that just because something isn't current doesn't mean it isn't real; her brother's death is real. His family's death is real. It lives with them as if it weren't even in the past - he knows instantaneously that it's the same for her as it is for him.

So he changes what he's telling her, trying to keep her from fighting him by restraining her arms, using his most calming tone of voice as his head is swimming. "You're not there. You ain't there anymore."

What happened to her, to her brother, happened. It remains as real as the day it happened. It's just somewhere, sometime, somewhen else.

Dan wants to be gentler, but the nightrender is freeing itself of its pins, and so he has to choose between being kind and being effective. He hauls her to her feet, letting her hit him if she's still trying to, and starts to drag her towards the horse.