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feet.
    My feet were on fire and I knewmy only hope was to find somewhere safe to hide and hope the dogs didn’t find me. My fear of those dogs and what they were capable of gave me the extra push I needed to keep moving. I don’t know what terrified me more in that moment: the thought of those canine teeth tearing at my flesh or facing his wrath if he got to me first.
    I woke with a start and sat up in bed, my heart racing from my nightmare, and stared into the dark, trying to make out my surroundings. I panicked, my mind still in that dark place in my head until I recognized my dorm room and heard my roommate snoring in the bed across from me.
    I huffed and rolled over, annoyed by my silly behavior, and flipped my pillow so the cooler side was against my cheek. I looked over to my desk beside my bed, and even though it was too dark to make out, I knew the photograph sitting on top of it. I shifted the frame so it faced me and thought about how much I missed my family and wanted the security of my parents watching over me, even if it was only symbolic. Grazing my finger gently over the smooth glass, I smiled as I vividly recalled when this photo was taken. It was the first day of the family summer vacation. I smiled when I thought of Kevin being my ‘little brother.’ He was just over six feet tall, whereas I barely reach five foot seven standing on my tiptoes, but he was two months younger than I was, and I wouldn’t let him forget it.
    I took several deep cleansing breaths to calm my racing heart and slowly lay back down, pulling my blankets to my chin and closing my eyes as I willed myself to think about anything besides my dream. Those memories had long since been buried and forgotten. I hadn’t thought about my early life in years, and didn’t know why the memories were coming back now.
    It was doubtful I’d ever get over my fear of dark, small places though. I don’t know where the fear
    came from, only that it was a very real place buried somewhere in my subconscious with the rest of my bad memories, and that’s where I wanted them to stay. I was afraid if I ever allowed myself to look too closely, I would forever lose who I’d become.
    As I lay there calming my nerves, there was a flash of light in the window seconds before the rumbling of thunder echoed through the room. I shuddered and burrowed deeper under the blankets, hiding from the storm. I loved the clean smell in the air after a summer rain, like a new beginning, but I hated that it took a storm to get there, and a storm was definitely coming.
    Staring up at her building, a flash of lightning lit the sky and highlighted the window to her dorm.
    The crack of loud thunder immediately followed. A long line of thunderstorms had been hanging over the city for the past few days, swelling rivers that threatened to spill over their banks, and the weather station had issued a flash flood warning just this afternoon.
    I pictured Jayden lying in her bed, her hair spread across her pillows, and wondered if she was still afraid of thunderstorms or if she’d grown out of the childish fear.
    I adjusted my hat on my head and pulled up my collar as the first raindrops began falling, and took a sip of the cooled black coffee in my Styrofoam cup. Well, that’s what I thought it was when I purchased it at the gas station. I could probably fix a hole in a tire or patch a leaky roof with this sludge. Grimacing at the bitter taste that hit my tongue, I poured the contents onto the wet street.
    Two sets of heavy footsteps approached me as I leaned against the hood of the rental SUV. I waited for my companions to speak, my eyes never leaving the window.
    “It’ll be easy enough to get through the lock on her door. The problem is the roommate is there again and the RA is still up wandering around. We’ll need to find another way. Sorry, Sir, I know you were hoping to have her home tonight,” Antonio offered with a shrug. “Now can we get the hell out of here before it