by H. T. Night
“Fine,” I said.
Munson printed out twenty-seven pages. He organized the papers into the four dreams. Then he began shuffling the order. It didn’t take him that long.
“This is what we’re seeing, “Munson said.
“Huh?” I said.
“This is the order of the dreams. Your first dream is the third dream in sequence. Your second dream is the second dream in the sequence.”
“His third dream is first,” Steve chimed in. “And your last vision is the last thing you see. You see Felix’s last killing.”
I looked at Steve and Munson and said, “How long of a timeline are talking about here?”
“Look,” Munson said. “Felix and Tyler looked to be acquaintances when you dreamed about the drug exchange, or lack thereof. Tyler obviously doesn’t know where Felix lives and Felix writes down directions to his place.”
“That’s the mystery bit of information that Felix wrote down. His address?”
“It makes sense,” Steve said. “When Felix kills Tyler, that’s the second dream in the sequence. His clothes never change. One is daytime and the other is night because the daytime dream happened around 4:00 in the afternoon and the second dream happens a couple hours later, when it gets dark. It all happened on the same day.”
“The same day?” I asked.
“Once Felix kills, he’s going to do whatever he can to get away. But he doesn’t have money. I think he went straight to the old man’s house. That’s the third dream in the sequence.”
Munson nodded. “It makes the most sense. He goes to the guy who betrayed him, Douglas Schmitt. Douglas Schmitt is an old-school criminal that has seen more of the inside of a jail cell than he has not.”
“You know Douglas?” I said to Munson.
“Of course I do. I have been with the force for twenty-five years.”
I nodded. A guy like Douglas stays off the radar as much as he does because guys like Munson are all over him.
“He didn’t find any money at Douglas’s pad,” I said, agreeing with the order Munson came up with. “He needed to see his crack addict buddy. So he was forced to go to the crack house and try to hit up his crack buddy that owed him.”
“A buddy that he kills without reserve,” I added.
“He has reserve,” Munson said. “By this point in the day, Felix is practically mad. He has already killed two people and one of them is an old-school guy that never left the life. By the time he hits the crack house, he would do whatever it took to get what he wanted. What he needed was cash. That was why he spared the other girls’ lives. There are no more dreams because there are no more killings. I think he’s done after this. But...” Munson paused.
“Yes,” I said.
“Don’t you see, Hunter, you’re being given some kind of supernatural gift. He hasn’t done any of these killings, but I think it’s close, or your dreams wouldn’t be so rapid. The spiritual and supernatural world is crying out to you, Hunter.”
“Why am I getting these visions when I’m having a seizure? If they are crying out to me, why are they doing it when I’m most fearful and desperate?”
Munson and Steve both moved very close to me and Munson took the lead. “Hunter, they are crying out to you when you’re crying out to anyone for help. They are catching you when you have no choice but to watch.” Munson paused and then shifted gears. “Felix has two strikes on his record now. We believe if he continues to sell, he will meet the man who tried to rob him. That man will then be killed. The next in line then would be the three crackheads in the crack house. I truly believe, Hunter, that you have been put in this situation to talk Felix out of being a drug dealer. Because if you can do that, then you will save three lives and his life as he knows it.”
“You met the guy,” Steve said. “Is he a scumbag?”
“Not at all,” I replied.
“Then maybe he isn’t a true killer. I truly believe, along with Munson, that you’re placed here for the good of the person. The universe is speaking to you.”
“You’re saying I need to talk a drug dealer out of dealing?”
“If anyone could, you can, Hunter,” Steve said.
“Tell him about the other side of it. How many bodies you have buried on your contact list this year. Tell him all of that. Get real with him, and we believe you can save everybody’s life here.”
I looked at Steve and Munson. I was moved by Steve’s speech and just about everything Munson had said to me. I knew what I had to do to make the nightmares stop.
I needed to meet up with Felix and have a heart-to-heart.
Chapter Twenty-eight
6:00 p.m. Thursday Evening
I left Munson and Steve and headed home. I wasn’t sure how I was going to talk to Felix about any of this. I took a morning nap. I got up around 6:00 p.m. and had a strong urge to go visit Felix.
So that was what I did. I drove to Felix’s apartment in the dark of night. We had become besties as of late. I wondered what his schedule was like. I needed to try and figure out how close the date actually was that Felix killed Tyler and went on a temporary killing spree.
Knowing that Felix wasn’t a killer yet allowed me to see him in a whole new light. I wanted to save him. I wanted to save everyone. I had dealt with the sufferings of his victims all my professional life. It was time for a guy like Felix to see how drugs destroy families and destroy lives.
Tyler was going to show up at Felix’s place. To be honest, I wasn’t sure that particular murder could be prevented, what with it being at Felix’s own apartment.
I hoped that Felix wasn’t working on the night that I would actually catch him at home. I got lucky, because he buzzed me in. I headed up there with a twelve pack of beers.
“Hey, man, what are you doing here again?” Felix asked. He was confused that I had come over without calling or meeting him at the pizza parlor.
“Why, are you busy? ‘Cause I thought I could return the favor.” I held up the beer.
“Aren’t you hung over, man? I’m so hung over from last night. I had to get up early for work too.”
“Oh, shitty.”
“Come in, though, whatever.” Felix invited me in. He was acting a little more suspicious, as if I came at a bad time. I was going to just have to wait and see what happened. I walked into his place, and he set the beers on the counter and cracked a couple open.
I stared at Felix and thought he was acting a little weird. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but he seemed distracted. Not even distracted, but...sketchy. Considering just the night before he had mentioned how cool it was to hang out, he could barely even look me in the eyes, and he hadn’t smiled once since I had been there. His behavior was suspicious.
Suddenly, I realized Felix was wearing the exact same outfit he did when he killed Tyler in my dream.
Had it happened yet? Was that why he was acting so unusual?
Then there was a knock at the door. Felix peeled back the one window in his small apartment. He opened the curtain and I saw who it was.
It was Tyler. Tyler showed Felix a roll of hundred dollar bills. Holy shit. Tyler is here to rob Felix, which triggers Felix and puts him on a temporary murder spree.
“Don’t answer the door, Felix,” I yelled.
“What the hell, man? Shut the fuck up. Lower your voice. I know this guy. He and I need to go in my bedroom to discuss something important.”
“Don’t do it, Felix. Just trust me.”
“What the fuck...trust you? What the fuck does that mean? A friend of mine and I need to take care of business.”
“Felix, he’s here to kill you,” I said.
Felix looked at me, shocked.
“His name is Tyler, right?” I said, desperately. “He’s here to buy drugs. He’s actually here to kill you. He has been sent by Douglas.”
“How the fuck do you know Douglas? Nobody knows Douglas.”
“I know him. He wants to kill you.”
Felix looked at me, an
d he knew I either had lost my mind or I was telling the truth. Either way, he needed to deal with it and put Tyler on hold.
“Hey Tyler,” Felix yelled through the door. “Hey bro, I have company. Can you come by tomorrow morning?”
“What the hell, dude?” Tyler said.
“You need to come back,” Felix said.
“I’ll be back first thing tomorrow,” Tyler said. We both heard Tyler leave and go down the stairs.
Felix looked at me and said, “What the fuck are you talking about? Who are you?”
“Felix, I’m nobody. I know it will be hard to believe, but Tyler was here to kill you.”
“How the fuck do you know?” Felix said to me. “Fuck this. I’m sick of this shit.” Felix looked enraged. He took off, out the door, and downstairs after Tyler. I chased after him and I hit the bottom of the apartment complex about ten seconds behind him. I ran past the pool and made my way to the front. Suddenly, Felix just stopped. I didn’t know what to make of Felix’s actions, but I caught up to him and then I saw what he saw. There were police cars, fire trucks and ambulances right outside his apartment complex.
Felix recognized one of the guys outside and he said, “What the hell happened?”
“Yo, bro, like three people were shot by a drive-by. They caught the motherfucker up a ways that did the shooting. Dude, you know Tyler, homie?”
“Yeah,” Felix said.
“He’s one of the guys that died. He was coming out of the complex and was caught up in the crossfire.”
Felix looked at me. I looked back at him and I shook my head, astounded.
“What do you know, Hunter? Who are you?” Felix was horrified that Tyler was dead.
I started to talk when, suddenly, a large white eagle flew across the sky. As it did, I felt a peace come over me and I knew I had done the job that was given to me. I interfered with fate and saved two lives. Some people you can never save, and Tyler was one of those guys.
“Let’s go back to your apartment. We need to have a long talk.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
7:00 p.m. Thursday Evening
Felix walked behind me the whole way back to his apartment. I opened his door and I stood in the middle of his living room.
“Who are you?” Felix looked at me, afraid.
“I’m not sure,” I said.
“How did you know Tyler?”
“I don’t. I didn’t?”
“What about Douglas?”
“I don’t know Douglas,” I said.
Felix looked at me, and I was looking back at him as sincerely as I could.
“Then why did you say they were going to kill me?”
“Felix, it wasn’t them I stopped. It was you. I stopped you from committing crimes. I can’t even tell you what you were about to do.”
“Huh?”
“Felix, I can see the future.”
“Bullshit.”
“Is it?” I said. “How mad were you when I told you Tyler was here to kill you? Were you angry enough to kill?”
Felix looked at me and tears fell from his eyes. “How do you know any of this?”
“I was given a glimpse into the future and I was placed in your life to stop you from yourself. Apparently, murder was not that far away from your arsenal.”
Felix sat on his couch and began to cry. I wasn’t exactly sure what he was crying over, but I was going to allow him to compose himself and tell me whatever he felt he needed to.
“I have been going into a darker and darker place. I knew very soon I would be capable of anything.”
“Get out of the life, Felix. It’s not worth the gamble.” I sat next to Felix and I pulled a picture out of my wallet of Dave. “Do you see this guy?”
“His name is Dave.”
“You know Dave?”
“He was a bad junkie. Dave knew every drug dealer from here to kingdom come. I heard he got clean.”
“Well, you heard wrong. He overdosed a couple weeks ago. He was a good friend of mine. His daughter died when she was just four. He scored a 1520 on his SATs. His mother’s name is Lauren. He was a real person, who had the world in front of him, and drugs ruined his life. These people you sell to aren’t just looking for the next high. They are destroying their lives and the lives of those around them.”
Felix looked at me and said, “I’m not sure what paranormal Quantum Leap shit’s going on here.”
“Why do you say paranormal?” I asked.
“Okay, prophetic Quantum Leap shit.”
I wasn’t sure how well Felix had read me or if he knew I was also a vampire, but I think he just thought I was psychic.
“Look, Hunter. I know when it’s time to quit the game.”
“It won’t be easy,” I said.
“I know it’s time,” Felix said, once again getting very emotional. He didn’t cry this time, but I knew his heart was heavy. “I have to do it. I have been on this fence, wondering, ‘how heavy do I want to go here?’ The money is incredible but the risk and paranoia isn’t.”
That was what I needed to hear. I believed him. I felt peace, and I knew the nightmares were done.
I stayed with Felix and went through his DVR, watching random shows from The Colbert Report to taped reruns of Get Smart.
Regardless, Felix had heard and seen enough that he was going to quit. From where I was standing, that was all I could ask.
I went at home that night knowing the white eagle flying over was a sign that my mission was complete. The rest of the time I stayed with him because I wanted to be a friend and support him.
I left before the sun came up and went home to sleep in the duct-taped cave I now called a condo.
Chapter Thirty
6:00 p.m. Monday Evening
I couldn’t believe it was just two weeks ago I was attacked and I signed Dave’s death papers. Speaking of Dave, once I got this paranormal issue under control, I wanted to look into what exactly happened that day. I owed my friend that.
I met Steve at the bar for a Monday night football game. We had never missed a Monday night game, and tonight the bets were high. We once again bet on opposing teams, and I was happy to say that tonight looked to be going my way for once.
“Looks like my team is mopping the floor this time, buddy,” I laughed while I took a swig of the best MGD I had ever tasted.
“Yeah right, pal. The night is still young.”
I felt good for once, and things were finally going my way. I had saved lives for the first time in my life. I had spent my life trying to rid people’s lives of drugs, and it took turning into a vampire before I could do it.
I had told Steve and Munson over the weekend what had happened with Felix and me.
“Want to come over to my place tonight?”
“Like a sleepover?” I said, laughing.
“Like two buddies hanging out like old times.”
“I will take a rain check on that, Steve.”
“Why not?”
“I need to see a woman about a thing.”
“Donna?”
I nodded my head. “I think I might be in love with her.”
“Holy shit.”
“Holy shit, indeed.”
Chapter Thirty-one
10:00 p.m. Monday Evening
The game ended, and I won, finally. Steve was in a bad mood because he had lost. I told Steve we should go see Munson the following night and he was cool with it. I headed over to Donna’s, but first I stopped at a flower shop and I bought her one red rose.
Donna buzzed me into her complex and I knocked on the door to let her know I was here. Donna looked at me and said, “Is that for me?”
“Yes, it is,” I said.
“It’s beautiful and you look horrible.”
“Thanks. I think I need some sleep.”
“And you came over here?”
“Yes,” I said.
“And you think I’m that easy. That one red rose gives you all access to my bed?”
&
nbsp; “I was hoping. I swear, I just want to sleep,” I said with a big smile. “May I come in?”
Donna nodded and moved to the side and grinned at me as I walked by her.
“And you only want to sleep?” Donna asked.
“At first. Yeah.”
“And then later?” Donna asked.
“Then later I want to hear about your day and tell you some crazy ass shit about mine and then maybe...who knows... I might give you a kiss.” I walked in the direction of her bedroom, down her hallway.
“I have to wait ‘til then?” Donna asked.
“Maybe if you’re good, I will give you a kiss goodnight.”
“Ha,” Donna laughed. “You can’t resist these lips.”
“You’re right.”
I turned around and pinned Donna to the wall and gave her a deep, long passionate kiss. Our bodies were pressed together. We continued to kiss and kiss.
Then Donna pulled away and said, “Good night, Mr. Simon.”
I turned and entered Donna’s dark bedroom and just collapsed on her. I was out very fast.
I slept incredibly well. My dreams were filled with joy and I felt a strong sense of peace. That was for the first six hours I slept.
Then...
I entered my R.E.M sleep. My dream world began unscrambling and suddenly my eyes opened, and I could see the back of Donna’s head. I was also seeing visions of a brand new dream. It was as if I was caught in an alternative universe where I was not totally asleep and not totally awake. I became paralyzed, and I fought off the lightning rods of fear as my body was filled with uncontrollable fear.
That was when the dream was revealed to me.
As the color unscrambled, the seizure began triggering flashes in my mind. I fought through the fear and anxiety and I focused on my dream. I could feel my heart beating a hundred miles an hour.
The dreams weren’t over.
They were just beginning.
