Epiphany of Dreams

Josh followed Jessica, not really having a choice. Staying together seemed the best thing to do at this point. He heard someone behind him and presumed that er...Ishmael had followed suit. Jessica stopped back where they started, or so it seemed, and looked out into the courtyard again.

"Well...A shotgun is definitely a valid reason for gunshots and that guy seems to have one." Josh said, pointing out the man out there.
 
Seraph ducked and ran around the fleeing shadows and stayed behind the man for protection.

"They killed him?!"

She referred to the business man from before. Her question went unanswered and she watched the cocktail fly through the air and break near the beasts. She approached the older man and hesitated before speaking.

"Who are you and what is this place?"

Her face expressed confusion and anxiety. Her brows pulled together and her mouth was slack as she inhaled for lack of breath.

"And...what are...they?"
 
“Girlie, you are in Provere City, where else do you think you’d be?” The balding man with the shot gun mentioned. “Yep, good old Provere City. A town that dates back to the colonial days. I still think our ancestors were morons for building a place like this and then abandoning all the industry.”

He then pulled out a large cigar from his pants pocket and lit it up, overwhelming Seraph with a thick odor of ancient tobacco.

“As for a name, I am Bogart O'Cleene.” He then blew a puff of smoke from the cigar.
“I’ve been living in Provere City for well over fifty years. Since I was ten and still to this day we don’t have a name for those fuckin’ shadows. They come out as hordes eatin’ morons like Mr. Officeworker because he has to shout. You’re lucky I got her in time, or you’d be currently meeting your maker.”  

Bogart then picked up a bucket that appeared out of nowhere, “Missie, you are best off coming with me. That gate is a means of keeping the Shadow locked in this factory.”
 
Seraph's brows loosened and an expression of utter confusion took over.

"This is Provere?"

Her voice was timid now and she looked around once again taking in her surroundings. The cold brick walls seemed even colder now. Lifeless and drained, this form of Provere was foreign to Seraph.

"This isn't my Provere..."

She shook off her confusion and turned back to Bogart.

"Can I have one?"

She nodded in the direction of the shotgun. She wanted some form of weapon in her hands.

"I'll take a frickin' potato shooter if you have it. Just give me something."

She stepped forward. Seraph wasn't a bad fighter. She was quick and spry. As well as harsh with her blows. Seraph took a slender index finger and drug it across her right cheek, pulling stray hairs out of her way.

"I can handle it."
 
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Ellie bit her lip, looking down. What she saw, it was difficult, her vision seemed so obscured by shadowy masses for a time. When she could see down, she spotted a sleek young woman accompanied by a man who seemed squat, balding, possibly fat. Was he... smoking?

Ellie watched them in semi-bemusement as something exploded and shadows scattered. Her eyes narrowed slightly and Eliie tilted her head to the side. There were.... other people? She didn't know what to make of it, though it seemed the shadows were more dangerous than ghosts. Swaying in the breeze, a billowing gown of white enveloping her slender form, she was at least relieved she wouldn't be taken as the enemy, a ghost of some sort.

She stroked her thick mane of hair with her fingertips, gazing down. She almost wanted to call to them, but what would she say? What if they were the evil ones here and the shadows, friends? Though the shadows had not seemed friendly. Still, these people, the man looked a very... masculine type. Just the kind to get the pair of women cornered if he were angry and take it out on them.....

These were dark thoughts, she chided. He was just a man, no more foreboding than most and even more approachable looking than some. Ellie stood at the window, still frowning slightly.
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Ishmael shook his head, “Do you two really think that going towards a gun is a good idea?”

“No one said you had to come.” Jessica retorted.

“I think we’d be better off smashing one of the windows on the other side of the factory open. That way we are away from shot guns, monsters, and anything else in this place.” Ishmael said.

Joshua then squinted his eyes, “Hey guys. Do you see that?”

Then each of the young people felt a wave of energy zap their very forms.

“COME HITHER!
COME HITHER!
COME HITHER!
COME HITHER!
COME HITHER!
COME HITHER!
COME HITHER!”


Each phrase became louder and sharper. They tried to cover their ears and yet it did nothing. Their eardrums were now starting to bleed. Ishmael opened his eyes only for a brief moment and saw a strange, almost ghostly figure before him. Jessica was now screaming in rage, as if her sanity was slowly disappearing into the oncoming abyss. For one brief moment, Jessica saw a woman Joshua was curling into a ball, the pain was too much, soon for him too everything was going black and just before him stood a woman in white. Poor Ellie had no time to interact with the others. For the brief moment she saw the man with the gun, she frowned. Now she was suffering the same fate has the other three.

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Down in the court, Seraph was spared the banshee’s howling. Bogart now had his massive hands over her ears. “Don’t say anything. Don’t move until I tell you too. You’re one person that bitch isn’t getting her hands on. First one that’s showing some guts in this fucking place.” Bogart said.

He picked her up, although in her 20s the muscular man carried her flung over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. For being an older man, Bogart seemed to move with ease, dodging obstacles in his way until they reached another side of the factory.  

Placing her down, Bogart then mentioned, “We need to send you away from here and I know just the way. Sorry it’s gonna hurt for a while. In case you ever find yourself in this place again, here’s a card.”

Placing a small piece of cardboard in her hand, the next thing Seraph saw was a massive hand slap the side of her forehead, sending her flying to the wall. Upon hitting her head, she felt strange. The world around her was fading away into a sea of bright white light.

Her rational brain feared what would come next…

END OF EPISODE ONE​

Summary: Just as the trio is about to meet up with Bogart and Seraph they are stopped by a ghostly figure that keeps shouting Come Hither, causing them to reel in pain as their ears bleed. Ellie suffers the same fate, and everything for them turns black. Bogart saves Seraph by placing his hands over her ears. He doesn’t seem phased. Carrying her away, Bogart gives Seraph a calling card. The man then slaps her, the impact causes Seraph to see a bright white light.
 
Episode Two: Dreadful Litany

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSxHKMC_lsA"]YouTube - Dave Thomas live - "Death Rattle" @ Edinburgh Fringe Festival[/ame]



The sun once again rises from the west and the annoying song birds start singing their ballads. This is the time that humans awaken from their slumbers to recharge. However, here in Provere City mornings have brought upon them a heavy burden.

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Last night, the police found a body lying in the Provere Industrial Park. Like the rest of the murder scenes this man’s death scene was bizarre. It appeared as if he had been crushed to death by something with great force and then was riddled with bullet holes all over the head and gut.

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The man’s name is Kevin Faulkner. According to police records, Faulkner was 45 years old. He has no living relatives and was apparently single. Much like the other cases, Faulkner had several cases of empty medicine bottles in his jacket pocket. However, in early discussions with his co-workers, none of them could see Faulkner being a drug abuser since he was a regular reader of the Holy Bible.

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However, while the city mourns the death of another citizen across town a young woman with black hair sits on her bed dwelling on the strange dream she had the night before. Placing a finger in her ear, she once again checks for blood.

There is nothing to find.

The events of her dream are quickly recorded in a black spiral notebook. Jessica is now, more than ever drawn to finding out just what is going on.
 
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Ellie woke again to a sun-splashed scene, which did not suit the dark mood she felt. The strange dream she had woken from, she scowled. That building again, that woman, but this time, others... Others who had ignored her. Lifting her delicately structured nose into the air, Ellie made a sound akin to a disgruntled 'hmph!'. She wouldn't care about what happened to them, were that the case. Besides, she reasoned with herself, slow embarrassment creeping up, they were in her dream, not real. You couldn't care about dream people.

What sort of psychological dysfunction, Ellie wondered, would cause someone to dream themselves being ignored? It was like a joke she heard once, "As I child, my only friends were imaginary. And they would only play with each other." She shook her head, the magnificent mane of hair pooling around her face. Slowly groping for the clock, she realized she had overslept.

Jumping to her feet, Ellie hastily tossed her pajamas away in exchange for a pair of jeans and a shirt. Hopping into the kitchen as she tugged on socks, Ellie was dismayed to remember that it had been two weeks since anyone had visited the store. Grumbling to herself, looking all around for her roommate, Ellie slipped on her tennis shoes and bolted out the door.

Taking the steps two at a time, Ellie hit the ground running in hopes that she would catch her ride to work in the parking lot before she left. Ellie spun neatly as she darted around an elderly woman, who gave her an owlish frown.
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Josh awoke, under the covers but still naked. He felt his ears to make sure that they were not bleeding. He felt no liquid and sighed in relief. That was the oddest dream he had had in a while. He had never met anyone before, just fallen into darkness.

He looked under the sheets and groaned. No way that creepy goth girl could have given him morning wood. He listened for a bit and deduced that no one was around that would hear him "enjoying" himself. Why waste it? It would put him in a better mood at least.

Once done, he headed to the bathroom just before his father started pounding on the door.

"Open the hell up! I need to drop a huge one!" His father boomed from beyond the door. Josh smiled and opened the window. He loved playing this trick on his father. He turned the shower on and climbed out the window onto the drain pipe. He slid down and casually walked in the front door. He sat down at the breakfast table and grabbed some cereal, his father still yelling upstairs. Soon enough, he came barging down the stairs yelling about Josh and abruptly stopping when he saw him sitting at the table. Josh flashed an innocent look and went back to eating before smirking.
 
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Come Hither. Joshua. Black Shadows. Lady. Ishmael? Gunshots... What a stupid prick.

In between jotting down the notes of her dream, Jessica was considering the people she had "met". The dream itself could have been through astral projection, or perhaps premonition. Warnings of the future? Or was it impressions of the present? Either way, she had decided that it was not a normal dream.

Jessica showered and dressed quickly, tossing her notebook in to a large bag and taking it with her to the kitchen. Her grandmother was sitting at the table, silently eating a bowl of oatmeal. Jessica grabbed a pear from the fridge, then paused in the middle of the living room when on her way out the door.

'-nother body was found, this time a Kevin Faulkner, with the same sort of dr-'

Like the last few bodies. But this time, Jessica had the strangest feeling of deja vu. Or was it recognition? ...What she needed was research.

Leaving the house, Jessica intended to head for the library. Looking in to the meanings of dreams and how they could connect to real life events sounded like a good start.
 
Seraph sat upright in her bed. She instinctively reached out and began patting the large canine at the foot of her bed. She recalled her odd dream and sighed. Her head was throbbing intensely. She sighed and forced herself out of the twin sized bed; making a mental note to get a new and larger one, and headed for the shower.

Once pressed and polished, Seraph donned her work uniform making sure her oxford button down shirt was neatly pressed on it's traveling hangar. She didn't wear her shirt to work until she arrived at the restaurant, other wise hideous wrinkles would result in a 30 minute lecture from one of her managers about cleanliness and how your appearance reflects upon the establisment.

Seraph pulled on her coat over her undershirt and carried her purse and shirt out the door with her. As she walked to work she read the newspaper headlines from the magazine stands. Another murder it seemed...how gruesome.
 
Jacob awoke with a pounding headache. This was the third time in one week that he had found himself rubbing the temples of his forehead.

"Jake, wake up. You'll be late for school."

The voice of his apathetic mother, just another reason to stay in bed. She wasn't a mean woman but rather a very distant one. However, to a young man that woman was a nagger and need a few shots of wine to shut her up.

"Yeah... I know." He finally replied while pulling a grey sweater over his head. He didn't really care about his over all looks to the public, but it was a plus that he had wore his jeans from the previous night to bed. Spraying some cheap Wal-Mart brand body spray over himself, he figured he smelt good enough not to shower.

After going down the stairs, he saw his mother sitting on the chair huffing on a ciggerette.

"I thought you left for work this early on a Tuesday."

"Not today. One of my coworkers was killed by those terrorists. Office is closed as a crime scene, would be kind of interesting if one of the terrorists is someone I know."

"Mom, I highly doubt that the murders are even connected and calling it terrorism is strecthing the truth rather thin..."

"Whatever. I made you some Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches for lunch."

"Oh geeh, thanks." Jacob mentioned as he looked over on the counter where two bagged meals sat.

"The other one is your breakfeast. McDonalds." His mother replied, "You never eat in the mornings anymore, which is probably why you keep getting those pounding headaches. I also put some asprin in your bookbag. Just make sure you take them in the bathroom, your school has some odd rules about taking pills these days, probably because of the murders..."
 
"Thou speak’st aright. I am that merry wanderer of the night. I jest to Oberon and make him smile.--" Josh began to recite, cleverly winking at the fairy whom he was directing his line to. The fairy giggled, blushing a little at the attention she was getting from the person playing the mischievous spirit, Puck.

Jacob rolled his eyes at the giggling onstage. This kind of thing always happened when Puck got onstage. He looked onto the stage and saw the actor. He looked familiar, but Jacob just couldn't place him right away.

"--And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh, And waxen in their mirth, and neeze, and swear a merrier hour was never wasted there. But, room, fairy! Here comes Oberon." Josh ran offstage, almost knocking over Jacob. "Oh man! I'm so sorry!" He whispered, grabbing hold of Jacob's shoulders. "You o...kay? Uh, hey. Do I know you from somewhere?"
 
Jacob reeled back, from Joshua's touch. If there was one thing in the world Jake disliked the most, it was anyone invading his personal bubble.

"Uh, why are you placing your hand on my shoulder?"

"What? I had to get your attention somehow." Joshua quickly stated, "I just swear to the Almighty Scrooge, that I know you from somewhere."

"Well no shit, Sherlock. We have been in this production together for the past six weeks."

"Uh huh. That's not what I meant, Mr. Det. I feel like I know you personally."

Jack then raised his eyebrow, "I'm flattered, honestly. But I don't swing that way."

Joshua then laughed.

"You find that funny?" Jake then mentioned as he crossed his arms.

"Relax Det, I only hit on chicks. Unless you grow a pair of watermelons in a matter of seconds, you're fine. I'm just saying that I think I should know you from somewhere, other than just here. Like we met in the past."

"It's a small world and an even smaller High School." Jake said.

"A hostile life form I see. You must only speak in sarcasm.... Kind of like that one chick I dated in middle school. She did have blonde hair, maybe you two are related. Her name was Kacy."
 
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Jessica's research at the library went well. She had three books based on dreams, and several on the history of magical creatures and monsters. After all, there were those strange blobs in the dream. Those needed to be identified as well. All of this took so long, that she ended up skipping all of her classes. It was of no consequence to herself. Jessica was so far ahead with her grades, that one day of missed classes was nothing.

Being in such a rush with her huge stack of books, it was near impossible to see where she was going. She ended up ramming right in to someone, having all of her books as well as her bag go crashing to the ground. Hissing a slow stream of air through her teeth, she glared up at the offender and prepared to launch in to a speech about watching where one was walking.

But she stopped. Jessica's scowl turned in to a surprised expression. She had seen this guy before. Not just here at school but... somewhere. His named started with a J... With a lone porcelain finger, her hand raised and pointed at him.

"You."
 
"You?" Josh asked, his arm around Jacob's shoulder as he struggled. Josh wracked his brain trying to figure out who this chick was. He'd seen her somewhere before...He suddenly felt a tingle in his pelvic region and it was clear. "YOU!" He put his hand in his pocket and thought of something disgusting to pause his unintentional arousal.

Jacob took this opportunity to get out of Josh's grip and stood to face Jessica. "Apparently I'm not the only one that finds you familiar," He said, rubbing his shoulder.

"You're that girl from my dream!" Josh blurted out.

"Well, I'm glad you got that out of your system," Jessica replied, sighing and rolling her eyes.

"No really, not like a...sexual dream. Come on. I'm not into creepy goth chicks..." He said, not really believing himself for a second.
 

“Good god Joshua. I don’t even know you that well and I can already tell you’re a goddamn womanizer. All I can say is smooth, very smooth.” Jacob said almost immediately.

“Of course, I’m smooth; everyone loves me!” Joshua exclaimed.

“I don’t.” Jake added.

“Since when do you count? I was referring to this lovely young woman.”

“Whatever,” Jake then turned to speak to Jessica, “Sorry about him; he’s a little too capricious because he’s been playing Puck for the past hour and a half.”

Jacob then bent down to up help pick up some of the books Joshua had caused Jessica to drop. He saw titles that included Which Witches, The All Illusion, The Night's Soul, The Secret of the Silence, Mists in the Vision, and the Epiphany of Dreams.

The last title drew his attention the most.

“Epiphany of Dreams?” He asked aloud.

“Give me that!” Jessica snapped, “It’s about subject matter you simpletons couldn’t understand!”

“It’s a Book of Poems written by Laurannia Fischer. She’s most famous for the poem, One Final Goodbye.

He then opened the book to page. 145 and spoke the poem aloud.

“Is this is? Is this really the end?
Let me give you one last hug,
One last smile, laugh.
Give me this chance, to tell again,
Exactly what you mean to me...
Is this it? Is this really the end?
If it is, then may our love never end...
If this is truly the end, then let me say,
Once more, I love you.
Let me say, One Finale Goodbye.”

Jessica then centered her eyes on Jacob, placing a slender finger thinking. “You remind me of Ishmael; a narrator in a short story she wrote. You look dumb but there might be some hope for you after all.”

“That’s it! Now I know where you I remember you, Mr. Det! You were in my dream!”
 
Seraph yawned while standing at the back of the restaurant. It was nearing 4 o'clock and the school crowds would be coming in soon. Usually mornings were fast and full then the crowds would die down around 4 and some small teenage crowds would float in here and there.

Seraph sighed and took a moment to wake herself up as much as possible. She ran her tongue over her front teeth; bicuspid to bicuspid and briskly walked to her current table of customers.

"How is everything over here? Everyone's food is good? Everything is cooked ok?"

The group of 6 nodded, mouths stuffed with food or blocked by straws, excessively and hurriedly.

Seraph pushed further.

"Is there anything else I can get for y'all?"

Her North Carolinian accent broke through as usual. It often gave her a home-down girl appearance. Seraph wasn't anything like that. She'd left North Carolina for some freedom and some culture. Provere wasn't bringing her much in those departments but it was her fault for not finishing high school. Seraph had recently been speaking with the counselors at a nearby high school in the hopes of taking one or two classes to get her diploma.

After a few more moments Seraph left her table to rest and returned to the kitchen in the back of the restaurant.
 
Her glaring at Joshua had shifted to a more confused and almost curious expression. Now he was talking about dreams. The same dream? Astral projection came to mind. An out of body experience, where your soul is transferred somewhere else while your body remains behind. Perhaps if they had found some way to tap in to a power like that.

"This conversation is thrilling, really, but I have some serious research to do." Jessica snatched the rest of her books back from Jacob.
 
"Uh, negative, Ghost Rider," Josh said, holding his hand out to stop Jessica. "I think we should sit and talk about how we all somehow know each other without me even thinking of possibly wanting to know you."
Jacob looked over at Josh and raised his eyebrow. Josh seemed to have this habit of being a subtle asshole. "Well, what do you suggest?" Jacob asked, crossing his arms.
"I know this great diner a few blocks from here. We can discuss this craziness over coffee. If you have no money, I'll pay. If you have no time, I'll charm your mom and she'll forget you were ever late," Josh offered, smiling his "signature" grin.
Jessica rolled her eyes and sighed. Was this guy for real?