Dream World

by T. G. Haynes

  It seemed to take an eternity for Kate’s second orgasm to subside; not that she was complaining in any way. When it eventually did so the lovers lay down on the bed, all three of them completely spent. In a moment of indulgent selfishness, Kate suddenly desired to be alone, so she closed her eyes and vanished Gary and Clive out of existence.

  After lazing around on the bed for a few more minutes, although it was only a dream, Kate decided she felt like freshening up, so she nipped into the en suite and treated herself to a shower. The tiny jets of water felt fantastically refreshing against her skin. It was strange that it took something so relatively mundane to make her reflect on how amazingly real the dreams she experienced at the centre seemed. As she lathered the shower gel around her breasts and stomach she wondered how Richard had come up with the idea in the first place. It was sheer genius, not to mention incredibly liberating. Whereas it was unlikely that she would have ever indulged in a threesome in real life, in the dream centre, Kate had no qualms about enacting such a fantasy with two comparative strangers.

  As she reflected upon events in the bedroom with Clive and Gary she stroked her pussy gently. There was nothing better than taking a shower after a highly passionate encounter, followed by, hmmm, how did she want to end the dream? What about sipping a cocktail whilst watching the sunset behind Sydney Opera house? No, she’d already visited Sydney, there was no point in returning. What about the pyramids at Giza? Whilst she pondered over whether or not to visit Egypt, she washed the shower gel from her body.

  Stepping out of the shower, Kate grabbed the towel from the handrail and wrapped it around her. She was just about to dress for Egypt when an even more exotic destination sprang to mind - the Taj Mahal. The Mughal palace had always intrigued her, ever since she first saw a picture of it as a very young child. So, Kate conjured a green door into existence. She dried herself off, then discarded the towel on the floor - it wasn’t as if anyone would have to clean up after her. Before stepping through the door she imagined that she was dressed like an Indian Princess, in a bright multi-coloured sari, with a turquoise pashmina wrapped around her neck.

  The instant she stepped through the door Kate found herself wearing the outfit she had pictured. She purchased a cup of Chai from a nearby Charwalla and drank it as the sun set behind the spires of the mystical Taj. Though night was drawing on the heat of the day still rose from the earth, seeping into the bare soles of her feet. How amazing, she thought. Red Square in the afternoon, the Taj Mahal at sunset, there can’t have been many people who had been lucky enough to experience that combination in one day!

  Taking one last final look around, Kate handed the empty cup back to the Charwallah, then conjured up a blue door. As her right hand worked the handle the door trembled so violently she tried to step back from it in order to assess what was going on, only it was too late. The door was partially open. Kate was unable to close it. With a feeling akin to that which you get when you fall in a dream, forcefully, she was sucked through.

  Something had changed. Something had gone horribly wrong. Rather than waking back at the dream centre, Kate found herself inside what appeared to be a large church or cathedral. The place was deserted and only illuminated by candlelight. Glancing down she discovered that she was dressed in the same clothing she had worn when she had visited Moscow in the previous dream. It was a good job, for a cold wind blew through the church. Kate pulled the collars of her coat tight around her neck.

  There was something about the atmosphere inside the church that was disconcerting, so Kate tried to regain control of the situation by willing another blue door to appear. For some unknown reason, she found herself unable to summon one. Though the faint outline of a blue door shimmered into existence, she couldn’t get the object to stabilize. Calling upon every last ounce of mental strength she closed her eyes and urged the door into existence.

  Something changed within the dream scenario, though what, Kate couldn’t be sure. It was as if someone had opened a door into her mind and entered. Kate opened her eyes and looked around, but couldn’t see anyone. Disappointingly, there was no sign of a blue door either. Unsure as to what to do, she decided she had no option other than to explore the church. Though the place of worship appeared to be empty, just in case anyone was lurking in the shadows, Kate steered clear of the central knave and skirted the interior perimeter walls. She hadn’t gone more than a couple of dozen yards when she stumbled upon a gift shop. Perhaps it would give her a clue as to where she was.

  Annoyingly, as she entered, a small bell tinkled. She held her breath in case the noise had alerted anyone to her presence. When no one appeared after a minute or so, Kate figured that she was safe and so she propped the door open and investigated the shop. A conveniently placed postcard stand just to her right was just what she was looking for. As her fingers closed upon the first postcard that came to hand, Kate felt even more uncomfortable. The minarets on the card were undeniably distinctive. It appeared that she was inside St. Basil’s Basilica back in Red Square.

  Replacing the postcard, Kate made her way out of the shop and back into the main body of the church. She was just contemplating her next move when she heard a set of doors open at the far end of the building. Crouching down between two pews, so as not to be seen, she waited and watched to see if she could spy a glimpse of whoever it was who had entered the church. Whoever it was was breathing heavily and dragging their feet, as if they were injured in someway. Avoiding the main aisle, the injured party slunk off into one of the small chapels in order to hide.

  By this time, Kate’s heart was pounding in her chest, her feelings a mixture of intrigue and fear. It was the former that proved overwhelming. She simply had to know who it was who had entered the church, so she cautiously made her way towards the Lady Chapel where the person had taken refuge. Her prudence proved unnecessary. As she approached the figure from behind, it quickly became apparent that he was in no fit state to worry about anyone other than himself as he appeared to be bleeding. He was slumped down on his knees in front of a small altar, which was surrounded by candle stands. As Kate watched he removed one of the candles from the box nearest to him, lit it and offered up a silent prayer. Raising his face heavenwards, Kate saw his features in profile and realised who it was.

  ‘Don’t be afraid,’ Dexter said.

  ‘I’m not,’ she replied. Nevertheless, she approached him warily.

  ‘Good, because it’s not me you have to worry about,’ he explained.

  Kate caught her breath.

  ‘You’ve been shot!’ she exclaimed, before dropping to her knees in order to take a look at the wound, which was worse than she had initially anticipated.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.’

  ‘But...’ she said.

  He laughed, ironically. ‘After all, it’s only a dream.’

  ‘Who did this to you?’ she asked.

  ‘Your old friend, Comrade Nadia.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Long story.’

  ‘Try me,’ she said.

  Dexter grimaced and keeled over. Taking him in her arms, she tried to haul him to his feet. ‘Dream or no dream, we need to get you to a hospital.’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘We can’t leave the church.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because we’re safe here, they can’t touch us. It’s sanctuary.’

  ‘Dexter, you’re not making any sense. Look, this is my dream, I can control it, I can get you out of here.’

  ‘Just like you controlled the scenario back at the café in Red Square?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Don’t try and kid yourself. You weren’t in control back then, were you?’

  ‘I admit it felt odd for a while, but...’

  ‘It’s not the only time, is it?’ he pressed.

  ‘What are you saying?’


  ‘They’re accessing your dreams, Kate. They’re manipulating them, taking charge of aspects of them.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ she said

  ‘Please,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to believe me.’

  ‘It’s your wound,’ she insisted. ‘You’re becoming delusional. Look, I tell you what, I’ll do something to demonstrate that I’m still in command.’

  ‘What, like conjure up a blue door.’

  Determined to prove him wrong, she focussed upon producing a blue door. Concentrating all her efforts she managed to summon one into existence, just to the side of the candle stand.

  ‘There,’ she said triumphantly. ‘I told you I was in charge.’

  Before Dexter had the chance to respond an all too familiar voice said, ‘Of course you are.’

  Kate and Dexter turned to find Nadia and the two waiters standing behind them.

  ‘What are you doing inside here?’ Dexter said. ‘There are rules, remember?’

  Nadia smiled, coldly. ‘There might have been in early versions of the programme, but it’s been upgraded since your time.’

  Feeling the need to try and protect Dexter, Kate stood up and faced down her icy Russian nemesis. ‘I’m warning you, get out of here.’

  ‘Or else what?’ Nadia scoffed. ‘Unless you want a taste of the same medicine.’

  To back up the threat, Nadia withdrew the Walther from her right coat pocket.

  ‘Get out of here, Kate,’ Dexter warned.

  ‘No chance. There’s no way I’m leaving you here with this monster.’

  Nadia raised her right eyebrow. ‘I’d be careful with the compliments if I were you, Babushka. I have a long memory.’

  ‘Please,’ Dexter urged her.

  ‘This isn’t over,’ Kate told him. ‘I’ll come back to you, I’ll find you.’

  ‘Yes, alright, but go now so you can fight on another day.’

  Kate took a step towards the blue door. Nadia couldn’t resist a parting taunt. ‘That’s it, run like the coward you are.’

  Through gritted teeth, Kate responded, ‘Well meet again, Comrade.’

  ‘I doubt that very much,’ Nadia replied

  ‘Don’t count on it,’ Kate retorted, determined not to let Nadia get the final word. With a last glance in Dexter’s direction, Kate blew him a kiss, then stepped through the blue door.

  Reality

  Kate awoke to find Richard at her side. He was in the process of removing the drip from her arm.

  ‘Are you alright?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, why?’ she replied, warily.

  ‘I’ve never seen anyone who has used the centre experience such agitated dreams. You looked like you were having a nightmare.’

  ‘How could you tell?

  ‘The pads that attach to your head don’t just help to stimulate and enhance your experience, they also allow us to monitor and observe you, to make sure that nothing untoward is going on inside there.’ Richard tapped Kate’s head.

  She flinched away from his hand, uncomfortable with the overly familiar gesture. ‘I never knew that,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure I’d have signed up for the experience in the first place if I had.’

  ‘Easy, calm down,’ he said, trying his best to re-assure her.

  Kate felt far from calm, but she controlled her rising temper. The last thing she wanted to do at that point was to arouse his suspicions. She knew that would only lead to him asking more awkward questions.

  ‘So, what were you dreaming about?’ he asked.

  ‘This and that,’ she replied, deliberately keeping her answer as vague as possible.

  ‘Would that be a similar ‘this and that’ to what we got up to in the hotel room in Sydney?’

  ‘What you got up to,’ she corrected him.

  Ignoring the correction, Richard continued to press her. ‘I’d love to take a trip with you again sometime. You’ve got quite a sub-conscious, if you don’t mind me saying, Miss Phillips.’

  ‘Thanks for the proposal. I’ll think about it.’

  ‘It’s only fair to warn you, advanced bookings are increasing all the time. It’d be a great pity if it reached the point where I wasn’t able to squeeze you in.’

  ‘Are you suggesting that if I don’t agree to your request I won’t be able to book a slot in future?’

  ‘Kate. Kate. You’ve got me all wrong. That would be blackmail. I don’t play those kinds of games. I’d just like to show you the true potential of your dreams, that’s all. And,’ he added, ‘make sure that you don’t experience anymore unpleasant nightmares.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that,’ she told him as she gathered her things. ‘I had a lovely time, thank you.’

  Kate then bade him goodnight and left the centre.

  ‘Did you indeed,’ Richard said to the empty room when she had gone. As he reflected on the conversation he crossed the dream chamber and plugged one of the pads into a socket over on the far wall. He switched on the monitor above the bed on which she had slept and muttered, ‘Right, Ms Phillips, let’s see what Nadia has to say about your dream.’

  Richard wasn’t the only one who was thinking about Nadia Petrova. As she crossed the car park Kate was already planning how to take her revenge on the feisty Russian temptress who, she surmised, was an insubordinate element of her sub-conscious. That said, Nadia wasn’t the sole focus of her attention. Far from it. Pulling out of the car park Kate analysed all of the dreams she had experienced that night in the hope of making some kind of sense of them. What concerned her most was that apart from the Clive and Gary dream - which she had enjoyed immensely - she hadn’t felt fully in control of any of the other scenarios. Could she simply put this down to her mind playing tricks on her? After all, she had suffered no real harm and even found aspects of the dangerous situations she had experienced quite thrilling. She was rather proud of the way she had stood up to Nadia in her final dream of the night, although she wished she had come out with a better parting quip. She would have to work on her one liners. They weren’t quite James Bond calibre as yet.

  Pulling up at a set off traffic lights Kate was in half a mind to call in on Sylvia when she heard someone cough. She froze. It was every woman’s nightmare scenario. There was someone in the car with her. The lights changed to green. Kate barely noticed. The car at her rear tooted angrily. Glancing at the car in her rear view mirror she wondered if she could somehow gesture to the impatient driver and get him to help her. The trouble was, having automatically locked the doors on entering her car, exiting her vehicle without alerting the attention of her stowaway passenger wouldn’t prove easy. Reaching for her keys, Kate pressed the button she hoped was the locking release. The locks clicked loudly causing her to flinch and the person hiding in the rear of her car to draw a deep breath.

  Honking loudly for a second time, the car at Kate’s rear pulled up beside her. She glanced across at the driver. He looked quite a big chap. He mouthed an angry obscenity as Kate’s hand closed on the driver’s side door handle. She pushed. Nothing happened. The car beside her pulled away. Kate realised that she must have inadvertently pressed the button that locked the doors, and the noise she had heard was simply the locking mechanism in operation.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ a voice said. ‘I’m not going to hurt you.’

  Through the fog of fear a part of Kate’s mind remained alert enough to recognise the voice. That wasn’t her main concern though. Her main concern was escape. Her second attempt at pressing the correct button on her keys proved successful. The locking mechanism popped and she threw the driver’s side door open.

  ‘Please,’ the voice urged. ‘Help me.’

  Kate tore off her seat belt and was about to bolt when a thought crossed her mind. If whoever it was had meant her any harm, surely he would have already acted by now? Ni
nety nine point nine per cent of her instinct told her to run, but, much to her own annoyance, the tiny fraction that disagreed overruled her and forced her to turn around. She discovered Dexter lying across the back footwells of her vehicle. He looked pale and drawn and in pain. His right hand was clutching his stomach. Blood was seeping through his fingers from a wound that looked to be in a similar place to where he had been shot in her dream. She shook her head, trying to disavow the similarity.

  ‘This isn’t happening,’ she told herself. ‘Come on, Kate, snap out of it, girl.’

  ‘It is happening,’ he contradicted her. ‘And you need to deal with it.’

  ‘Alright,’ she barked, partially annoyed at herself, partially at Dexter. ‘I’ll take you to the general hospital. They can look after you there.’

  ‘I’ve told you before, no hospitals.’

  Kate froze. How could he possibly know that was what his dream counterpart had said to her not less than an hour ago?

  ‘If you take me back to your place, I promise I’ll try and explain,’ he said.

  She hesitated.

  ‘If you don’t,’ Dexter gasped, ‘he wins.’