Alice stared in disbelief. “That’s it, you are going to see the doctor––no work for you today,” she said sternly.
“Okay, okay … I’ll phone in and tell them…” He gave Alice a confused look. “Tell them what?”
Alice shook her head. “I don’t know … just tell them you’re sick.”
“I’ll phone and ask to see the doc, and we’ll see what he has to say.” As John headed back upstairs, a voice in his head asked, “Are you going to tell the doc about your dreams?”
Alice was right behind him. She could sense his anguish as he spun around and looked at her, and then behind her as if he was expecting to see someone else. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Nothing, I’m fine.” He had wanted to ask if she’d heard someone talking.
“Don’t worry, love, a couple of weeks off and you’ll be as right as rain again.” She was trying to speak calmly to him, to get him to relax. She jovially added, “I could tie you to the bed tonight.” The humor left her voice when she saw him walk up to the bedside table and pick up an open condom packet.
John held it between his finger and thumb, and looked at it as if he had never seen one before. “We didn’t, did we?”
Alice looked from the condom packet to her panties that she had picked up off her slippers and tossed on a chair before running downstairs. Her blood ran cold. “No … no we couldn’t have.” She was shaking her head, her voice ringing with anxiety. “You might have taken my panties off without waking me,” she pointed to them. “But no way did you do me last night without waking me up. No way!”
“I took your panties off?” John flopped down on the bed. He was becoming more baffled by the minute. He had no memory of having sex with Alice during the night.
“Yes, you must have; I didn’t take them off, and it seems you did the night before, too. I found my panties on top of my slippers yesterday, and forgot to mention it with all the confusion.” She stared at the condom packet, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “There’s no way we had sex.” She looked pleadingly at John for an answer. “Is the condom still in it?”
“It’s empty.”
Part of John’s dream came clearly to his mind. He was in the cell with Horse and one of the other men––Vince––and Vince had said, “I don’t ride bareback, get me a condom.” Both nights Vince had asked John for a condom, and both nights he remembered giving him one. John shot back up off the bed and went to the bedside drawer where he kept the condoms. He pulled out another empty packet and showed it to Alice. “What’s going on?” John could feel his strength drain from him. “I must be going nuts.”
Alice was almost in tears. “The packets are empty, so where are the condoms?”
“I guess I must have flushed them down the toilet.”
Alice was shaking her head again. “You didn’t use them with me.” Tears started rolling down her cheeks. “I would know.”
John flopped back down on the bed and put his head in his hands. “This is driving me mad, why can’t I remember?”
Alice had no answers for him, other than to repeat herself again: “No way did we have sex.”
She was looking at her panties. “If I were drunk it would be different, but we hadn’t had a drink.” Then a thought hit her. “Oh my God, you don’t think we’ve been drugged?” She went and stood in front of John. “You hear so much about the date rape drug...” The thought of someone coming in and raping her in her sleep hit Alice hard. She caught hold of John’s shoulders and shook him. “That’s why the alarm was off, and the bolts open! He couldn’t lock up and reset the alarm on his way out!”
“What are you talking about?” Alice was making no sense whatsoever to John. “Who got out of what?”
Alice was sobbing her heart out as she tried to tell her husband her dreaded thoughts. “Somebody has drugged us, and made you open the door … he came up here and raped me … and … and … I don’t know! Oh John, I’m scared!” Fresh sobs wracked her body.
“No one has got into the house, and no one has raped you.” If anyone was raped the last two nights, it was me––in my dreams––but he couldn’t tell her that. He couldn’t explain what had happened. John hugged Alice as she cried and sniffled. “Come on,” he soothed, “let’s get dressed and have breakfast, and work out what we are going to do.”
“Phone the police … that’s what we’re going to do.” She took one look at her panties, and the thought of a stranger taking them off her made her stomach turn over. The thought of someone touching her––being with her––without her knowledge or consent was almost too much for her to swallow. She choked back the urge to vomit as she staggered toward the bathroom: “I’ve got to have a shower; this whole bizarre affair makes me feel disgusting.”
By the time Alice came down for breakfast, John had phoned work to tell them he was taking the day off sick. He’d had time to relive his dream of being raped by the three prisoners. It was like no dream he’d ever had before; it was so real! He remembered all their names now––Horse, Vince, and Tony. They were so pronounced in his thoughts, yet he had never met them and they were definitely not on his wing of the prison. But the worst part of the dream was that he had let them take him without putting up a fight; he’d gone to them willingly. “See you tomorrow night, J.T. You know what you guards tell us inmates–– you do the crime, you do the time.” That was what Horse had said just before John had woken. Those words kept ringing in John’s head. What could it mean?––that he was having homosexual feelings? A shiver shot through him at the thought. Was he going mad, or was he just overworked? His head was in a spin, looking for answers. He knew that Horse was a nickname, but if Vince and Tony were prisoners in his prison, he would find them, and then he would try to figure out what the hell was going on. John laughed as he tried to gather his scattered thoughts. Find them … it’s only a friggin’ dream! What am I thinking?
Alice came downstairs in her dressing gown, with a towel wrapped around her head, and her eyes still full of tears. She sat down at the table and linked her hands around the cup of coffee that John had waiting for her. There were a dozen questions running around in her head. She didn’t look at John as she timidly asked, “What’s happening to us?”
“Alice, sweetie, nothing is happening to you, it’s me and my stupid sleepwalking.”
“Just you? How did I not wake up to you taking off my panties and having your way with me? How do I not remember? And you say you don’t remember doing any of that either! So who’s to say that some … someone else didn’t come in here and fuck me? This isn’t just happening to you, John!” She couldn’t bring herself to say that a stranger might have had sex with her. Alice grabbed a napkin, wiped her tears and blew her nose.
John shrugged his shoulders and answered her question with a question. “You really don’t remember taking your panties off? I don’t think I took them off, and if I had of, why would I have put them on top of your slippers?” He threw her a puzzled look as they both had the same idea––Then who did?
“Well, I know it wasn’t me. Whoever took them off folded them and laid them on my slippers, I would never do that.” Alice sniffed her tears back. “I would have tossed them on a chair. And if you took them off, you would have thrown them anywhere. I’m starting to think I was drugged, somehow; how else can you explain it?” The tears rolled down her cheeks: “I don’t know who took them off, John, but I want to call the police.”
“You don’t think I drugged you, do you?” John thought Alice made it sound as if she had been the only one who was drugged. “You know I would never do something like that to you.”
“You? Oh god, no!” Alice knew their sex life hadn’t been that active lately, but she had never refused him. She could never give him cause to do something so desperate and malicious. “No, babe, I could never think that. But John?––if it wasn’t you, then who? I know this all sounds crazy, and calling the police sounds even crazier––really, what are we going to say? We woke up naked, Officer
, with our doors unlocked and alarm disarmed, with an empty condom packet on the nightstand, but we have no recollection of having sex with each other or anyone else? It’s insane, but I don’t know what else to do! I don’t know how else to explain this!” Alice choked back a sob as the words rushed out of her mouth. John knew they had to call the police; they had to consider all options.
It was Alice who phoned the police. She was in a bemused state and had difficulty explaining what had happened. However, when she mentioned John’s sleepwalking, the possibility they had been drugged, along with the fact that neither of them could remember what happened, the officer said he’d send someone over as soon as possible. Half an hour later, two detectives arrived at the house. Detective Miller and Detective White listened to Alice and John’s account of what had taken place over the past two nights, taking notes and asking questions as they walked from room to room checking the doors and windows for signs of a break in.
The house was a two-storey, with three bedrooms and a bathroom on the upper level. The first floor had a hallway leading to the kitchen. The living room was on the right, and a smaller room, which they used as a den, was on the left.
Alice and John were in a daze as they followed Miller and White around the house. The detectives asked their questions, with Alice nervously asking her own questions––was this possible?––had they ever heard of anything similar? The detectives just shrugged their shoulders. Detective White checked the slide bolts on the door and the alarm system in the hallway. They asked if anything had been stolen. Alice and John hadn’t given that a thought. Alice had only been thinking that she’d been drugged and raped because of the missing condom. John had been secretly thinking the condom was used on him. He was actually starting to wonder if the two dreams he’d had had actually happened here, in his bed. Of course, John kept those crazy thoughts to himself because they didn’t make sense. Both told the detectives there was nothing missing as far as they could see, other than the two condoms.
Detective Miller said they didn’t think it was a drug rape case, but told them both to go to their doctor and get a blood test to check for any trace of drugs in their systems, just to be certain. Neither detective seemed too bothered that nothing was stolen, and, in matter-of-fact tones, told Alice and John they would look into it. As he closed his notebook, Detective White suggested it might be a smart idea for Alice to change the alarm code, and not tell her husband what it was. That way, if he got up in his sleep again and punched in the old number, it would set off the alarm and wake her up. As they were leaving, Detective Miller told John they might get a call from another detective who handled cases such as this. They said their goodbyes, leaving Alice and John more confused than before. The detectives had said they didn’t think anyone had come into the house. It looked like a simple case of sleepwalking.
Alice and John sat in the living room, silently staring at the floor. It was John who spoke first. “Did you see them look at each other when you said that I had been sleepwalking the last two nights?”
“Yes, and they more or less dismissed the drugs and burglary.” Alice gave a big sigh. “I wish I hadn’t mentioned the possibility of rape; it was so uncomfortable trying to explain what happened. I think they thought I made the whole thing up. I felt as if they were laughing at me.”
“No, honey, they weren’t laughing at you; it sounds as ridiculous to them as it does to us. We don’t know what happened; it doesn’t make sense to us. How can we expect it to make sense to them?” He gave her a wan smile. “At least they’re sending over another cop who handles such cases. Let’s try to explain it better next time.” John gave another weak smile. “I hope the next cop has answers for us.”
Alice nodded and smiled back at him, but she could see he was putting on a brave face for her sake. John was not his happy-go-lucky self, where he could make a joke and see the funny side of most situations. He often came home from work with a funny story, and if something amusing had happened in Alice’s day, as well, they would joke about the day’s events–– they had the same sense of humor. But now this sleepwalking had sucked the humor out of their lives, literally, overnight.
~
When Detectives Miller and White made out their report, they decided to take it to their captain. The FBI had sent a memo to all police departments, asking that they be informed of any case where someone thought they’d been hypnotized, drugged, and made to do things they didn’t remember––or, cases where people claimed they had been sleepwalking and done strange things.
After listening to their report, the captain agreed with his detectives that the Timberlake case met all the criteria, and he contacted the FBI.
Chapter3
Alice and John went that morning to the local clinic for their blood tests, and were told it would take a couple of days for the results. John also went in to see the prison
doctor, and told him he was having nightmares about prisoners breaking out because he was leaving their cell doors open. John couldn’t tell him his real dreams, so he came up with a little white lie, one he thought would be believable and get him time off work. He told the doc about his sleepwalking and about taking the bolts off the front door. The doctor was sympathetic, and told him he was probably just stressed. He prescribed some medication to help with his anxiety, and something to help him sleep better. He also advised him to take some time off to relax. John’s little white lie had worked; Alice would be pleased.
Later that evening, as Alice and John watched a game show on television, Alice’s mind was on the meeting they’d had with the detectives earlier that day. “I don’t think those cops believed us, John; they didn’t seem to be taking us seriously.” Alice shook her head. She wasn’t pleased the detectives were taking their complaint so lightly. “Did you see that smirk on the young one’s face when you said my panties were folded neatly on top of my slippers? I was waiting for him to burst out laughing.”
“Honey, they deal with so many cases––this is just a case of sleepwalking.” He tried to smile at her. “On the other hand, if they thought it was drug related,” John shrugged, “they’d be all over our case. We’d have cops combing the house, probably with the K9 unit, looking for hidden drugs, fingerprints, and God knows what else.”
Alice knew John was right; nevertheless, it didn’t make her feel any better about the situation. All day she had been going over the last two nights in her mind and couldn’t make sense of any of it. Why should John start to walk in his sleep now?
Something else had been bothering her, too. She gave John a sideways glance before asking, “You told your doctor about your bad dreams, so why didn’t you tell the detectives about them?”
“I don’t know.” John had told Alice the same little white lie he’d told the doctor, and felt guilty. “I guess I feel kind of childish, having bad dreams.” He wanted to change the subject. “I’m going to make some coffee, do you want one?’ He went into the kitchen, with Alice right on his heels.
“Yeah, I’ll have a cup.” She sat at the table and continued: “What I can’t understand is how I didn’t wake up if I wasn’t drugged? I’m normally a light sleeper.” John had his back to her, and he just shrugged his shoulders. “How the hell you ever managed to take my panties off, without waking me, I’ll never know––nothing like that has ever happened to me before. Besides … I am always aware when you’re fooling around!” Alice thought about mentioning the condoms, but had a feeling John was upset and more worried than he was showing. “Well, let’s hope the day off you’ve had will let you sleep better tonight,” she added optimistically.
“Yeah, I’ll be all right with a couple of weeks off.” He passed her the coffee, and his dream jumped back into his mind–
–of Horse whispering to him: “See you tonight, J.T.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea that I change the alarm code tonight?” Alice noticed the dazed look on John’s face.
“I don’t know,” John answered absentmindedly. Hea
ring that voice in his head again had unnerved him. It didn’t sound like it was from his subconscious––it was more like someone else was in the room. But Alice was still talking to him, and it was obvious she wasn’t hearing anything out of the ordinary.
“John, love,” Alice could see he wasn’t listening to her. “The alarm will frighten the life out of you. I don’t want you having a heart attack just to wake us up. Plus, I read somewhere that the worst thing you can do is wake a sleepwalker.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the phone ringing. John answered it. “Hello?”
“Mr. Timberlake?”
“Yeah, I’m Mr. Timberlake.” John made a face to Alice.
“I’m Special Agent Jefferson of the FBI; is it all right if I have a few words with you?”
“FBI?” The shock on John’s face was matched by Alice’s. She sprang up and rushed to John, half pulling the phone from his ear so she could listen in on the conversation.
“I’ve read the report about your sleepwalking,” he spoke with a soft, lazy tone, “and, that your wife thinks someone may have drugged the both of you.”
“Well, we don’t think it was drugs … my doctor thinks it’s stress.”
“May I ask you a few questions?”
“Yeah, sure, fire away.”
“Have you ever walked in your sleep before, as a child, or even after a good night out?”
“No, never, not even when I’ve been pissed.”
Alice nudged him with her elbow, and mouthed for him to watch his language.
“Has your wife ever walked in her sleep?”
Alice shook her head.
“No, she hasn’t either.”
“The report says you and your wife had no alcohol the last two nights. Have you taken any sleeping pills, or any other medication that might affect your sleep?”
“No, I’ve never needed to, I normally sleep soundly.”
“Have you or your wife had any strange dreams, or nightmares––anything like that?”
Get Out Of My Dreams (Joe the Magic Man Series Book 1) Page 2
