Gingerbread Man

little girl smiled. And Holly wrapped her up tight in her arms. She wanted to say a million things, ask a thousand questions. But she could only manage to hold her baby sister close and say her name over and over again.
    Then there were footsteps in the woods, and she remembered. They were running. Her happy reunion turned sad as she realized Ivy hadn't survived the attack of the monster—it hadn't happened yet. They'd gone back in time. It was happening now. Oh, things were different. The woods, instead of the street. Holly, being all grown up. But she knew—ohgodsheknew—ohgod—what was going to happen.
    The footfalls crashed. The monster must have changed, too. Grown into a giant. Crush, crush, crush. He was coming closer. Holly picked up her sister and ran. That was something she hadn't been able to do before. Pick her up and run!
    The monster kept coming. The woods rose up thick and impenetrable ahead, and behind the monster closed in. They were trapped! "Over here, Red," someone called.
    She looked. Vince! He stood off to the left, poking his head out of the wall of jungle, which opened around him like a curtain.
    She started toward him.
    The monster came closer.
    She ran, but her feet were stuck. She tried to pull them free and they wouldn't move. "Vince!" She reached out a hand, and he did, too, but she couldn't make it. Then the monster was breathing hotly right down the back of her neck. She peeled Ivy off her, pushed her toward Vince. "Save her, O'Mally!"
    Then the monster grabbed her from behind. She spun to face it, opened her eyes, and stared straight up at it. But it didn't have a face. No head. Just eyes. Icy blue eyes. And then she screamed.
    Hands held her shoulders, hard and firm, shaking her a little. "C'mon, Red, wake up, dammit. Come on, open your eyes. Look at me."
    She did.
    Vince gazed down at her. His hair was all feathery and sticking up at odd angles, and he was dressed very strangely. And yet, he had her. He had hold of her, and that was really above and beyond any concerns about the odd turn her dream seemed to have taken. Her heart was pounding so hard her entire body shuddered with it. She snapped her arms around his waist and pulled him to her, hanging on for dear life.
    He grunted, went stiff as his upper body slammed down on top of her chest. But then he softened. "All right, it's all right now. Easy." He slid his arms around and beneath her, rolling over, taking her with him. When he settled, he was lying on his back in the bed—
Bed? What were they doing in a bed?
—and she was curled close to him, her head on his shoulder, face near his neck. He stroked her hair, and she liked it. "It was only a dream," he murmured.
    "It was Ivy," she whispered. "She was alive, and there was a monster chasing us...."
    "It's all right now."
    "You were there. But I couldn't reach you. And then he grabbed me and—"
    "Holly, it was a dream. You understand? Hmm?" He lifted her chin so he could look her in the eyes.
    She blinked away tears. "It was so real."
    "I know. They get that way. Is this one you've had before?"
    She nodded, the motion jerky. "Yeah. I mean, not exactly. We're not usually in the woods. But the rest—the monster chasing us, me trying to save her—" She stopped there, stabbing her eyes into his. "But, he didn't get her this time. Vince, he didn't get her this time. He got me, but—but not her."
    Vince curled his hand around her nape, eased her back down onto his chest. "It's survivor's guilt, Holly. I've seen it before."
    "I know it's survivor's guilt. I spent years in therapy trying to deal with it. This wasn't that. This was something else."
    "Yeah? What, then?"
    She could hear his heart. It beat steadily against her ear. He was warm, and solid, and she relaxed against him. "It was you," she said. "It was because you were there. You saved Ivy."
    He sighed softly. "It was a dream. That's all."
    "I think it was more."
    He tensed a little bit underneath her. "If it was more, it was the knock on the head you took earlier. Period."
    She thought he wouldn't like what she was thinking. Fine. She wouldn't explore it then. Not aloud, anyway. But she knew there was something going on here. Between them. Something important.
    "Vince, where are we?" She rolled over onto her back and looked around. The room was large, high ceilings with a bowl-shaped frosted glass light fixture hanging from the center. There were two tall windows, thickly draped, and it was still storming beyond