Free She's Got a Way by Maggie McGinnis

just enough behind them to catch a quick glimpse of her hair before they disappeared. But he never got closer. He reached out like he could almost touch her, but she was too far away.
    â€œLuke! Save me!” Trina pounded her tiny fists on Randall’s back, trying to break free of his iron grip as she screamed. “Help!”
    Luke called up every ounce of energy, pumping his arms to catch up, but the hallway got longer, her voice grew fainter, Randall’s footsteps faded to a rhythmic, dull staccato as the sound of his own harsh breathing drowned everything else out. He was sweating, cursing himself, shouting for her, the sound of his own voice bouncing off cement-block walls.
    â€œTrina! Trina! Triiiiina!”
    *   *   *
    â€œLuke. Luke. Wake up.” Piper’s voice startled Luke out of his nightmare the next afternoon, and he blinked rapidly, trying to center himself. Gone was the long hallway with endless corners, gone were the ugly metal lockers, gone were the buzzing lights.
    Gone was Katrina.
    â€œYou okay?” Her eyes were troubled as she handed him a water bottle. Luke nodded as he closed his eyes, trying to bring his breathing back to normal. “Same dream?”
    â€œYeah.” He sighed, trying to focus on the chickadees twittering above his head, rather than the screaming from inside it. He was used to the damn dream attacking him in the middle of the night, but Jesus, the middle-of-the-day approach was new. He hadn’t slept for shit last night, so he’d decided to grab fifteen minutes in the hammock out in back of the cabin before facing the girls. Apparently that’s all it had taken for the demons to take hold.
    â€œWhat was it this time?”
    â€œHallways. I couldn’t get to her.” Luke scrubbed both hands over his face. “I can never get to her.”
    Piper put a tentative hand on his shoulder, like she wasn’t quite sure if he was far enough out of the dream to handle being touched.
    â€œI’m worried about you, Luke.”
    â€œDon’t be. I’m fine. It’s just a dream.”
    â€œIt’s a dream that won’t leave you alone. You should see yourself, Luke. When it’s happening, you’re terrified.”
    â€œI’m not … terrified.”
    Oh, who was he bullshitting? He woke up in a cold sweat once a week. Sometimes he could remember the dream, and sometimes he could only remember the fear.
    â€œFine. You’re not terrified, because you’re a big, strong he-man who doesn’t do terrified. I get it. But your dreams are telling you something, and I’m not sure it’s healthy to ignore them like you’re trying to do.”
    Luke sighed, pushing himself out of the hammock. “I have way too many meddling therapists for friends. Have I ever mentioned that?”
    â€œAt least twice a week, yes.” Piper smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “We just care about you. And this thing is eating at you, little by little. I just think maybe it’d be good to talk to somebody about it, you know?”
    He shook his head and picked up the Red Sox hat that had fallen to the grass. “I don’t want to talk to anybody, Piper. These dreams are my penance, okay? I didn’t save her. I couldn’t. And I’ll live with that guilt for the rest of my life.”
    â€œLuke—”
    He put up a hand. “It’s all I have left of her, Piper, okay? I’ll take the damn dreams.”
    *   *   *
    The next night, after the girls were asleep, Gabi wandered down to the beach and sat in an Adirondack chair, desperate for some alone time. She’d spent two days trying to stay one step ahead of the girls, but it had taken almost inhuman effort to find things for them to do, while preventing them from killing each other. Luke had kept a wide berth, only joining them for quick lunches, and she hated that her eyes had kept