Chapter 74: Scheduling

Actually Mom's idea of getting to be early was just the opposite of what we needed. We were all for getting to bed early, but instead of trying to get to sleep on the off chance that I would be able to bridge Angela again, I felt my best chance would actually be to stay up as long as possible and sleep the next day. In the week that she had been missing my only successful attempt, not counting the near miss this morning, had been in the middle of the day. Granted I didn't know she was actually missing the first four days, but looking back I think I would certainly have felt her distress even if I wasn't looking for her.

So I think Mom and Dad were a little surprised to see us all up watching a movie when they came home. They didn't actually say anything, just gave us a general round of hugs goodnight, but I could tell Mom was wondering what was going on. Rather than let her wonder I explained my concerns.

"So far the only time Angela has even been on the dream map was early this morning and then again this afternoon, so rather than try and get to sleep early on the off chance I might run into her, I decided to play the odds and try to reach her during the day. I think he's been keeping her up nights mostly to screw up her sleep patterns but there may be other reasons."

Suddenly Allison sat up on the couch and smacked herself in the forehead. "Oh course! Stupid, stupid, stupid. It's so obvious. Jimmy, of course there are other reasons. He doesn't want to draw attention to himself. He probably works during the day! Rebecca said something about checking the local cable companies and others that might have drivers in vans to see if anyone had suddenly disappeared or started calling in sick a lot. He's keeping his cover by going in as usual. I'll bet that's why you reached her. He wasn't there to wake her up."

"Then when is he sleeping?" Shannon asked. "I mean, if he's torturing Angela at night, and he works during the day, when does he sleep?"

Something clicked in the back of my brain. "That's a very interesting question, Shannon. And I think I may have the answer. If I'm right, it would answer or confirm several other questions and theories we've been wondering about. I need to talk to Bob about it but I think the answer is, he doesn't, at least not much."

"How is that possible?" Mom asked. "Everybody needs sleep."

"Yes, but not as much as some people think. The body is very adaptable. Sleep is basically a cleaning cycle for most of our systems, mental and physical. The physical can take care of itself in many ways, not as well, but it can get the job done. The mental side is totally different. The brain is more complex and therefore more delicate. Neglecting its needs can cause all kind of problems and imbalances. Insomnia is a recognized medical condition and affects people differently. More importantly, there are many documented cases of sleep dysfunction being a common side affect of different psychological problems."

"It would explain a lot," Allison said.

"Yeah, like why my contact with him is so unpredictable. Bob and I have suspected a mental illness for some time but it's not like we can call him in for a check up."

"So you'll all be staying up for awhile?" Dad asked.

"As much as possible yeah," I answered. "I know it's a long shot but if what we suspect is right then my chances of reaching her are much better during the day."

"Okay, try to keep it down; some of us have to work tomorrow."

They headed down the hall and we returned at least part of our attention to the movie. It was only a few minutes before Allison stopped it again.

"So, do you still think it's some kind of mental problem that's keeping you from bridging the killer directly, or just that he doesn't sleep much?" she asked.

"I think it's actually a little bit of both," I answered. "The not sleeping part would explain why my flashes from him are so intermittent. But even when I'm getting them I can't get to him, only watch. It's obvious the images are from him, but I can't interact with any of it. It's always been memories, and even those are more like watching television. It's not even like the girl in the closet where I'm sort of there with her. So, for now I don't think there is any reason to abandon the current theory of mental illness. It seems to fit."

"That's not true," Shannon said.

Allison and I both turned to look at her. "What's not true?" Allison asked.

"The part about only being able to watch like on television, what about the guy in the cell? You said you were in a hallway or something and could look in the window, or through the bars, or whatever it was, but you were in the scene."

She was right. Allison and I stared at each other for a second and then Allison hugged her. "Don't you ever tell me you're useless again, girlfriend. It's just like I keep telling you. You see things we don't. You ask questions we don't think about."

"You mean I'm right? I was just asking..."

"Yes," I interrupted, "you were just asking... the perfect question, as usual. One that I, we, should have thought of before. I was in the scene, even if it looked like I was on the outside looking in. I just didn't try to see if I had any control." I stopped for a second to recall the dream I had been in. "I didn't realize what I was seeing until afterward. I was so used to only seeing images of the girls, past and present, that I never questioned whether that particular scene was something more. I can't believe how stupid I've been."

"Oh stop," Allison said. "It's just like you said, everything you've ever gotten from him, all the way from the first images Amy showed you, were memories; past or present they were still only memories. You didn't even understand what it was you were looking at, how could you possibly jump past that to experimenting in the time you had. The important thing is, now that my lovely young friend here has pointed out the obvious, you can be ready to take advantage if or when you get the chance."

"And what if I don't get another chance?" I asked, still not willing to concede the point.

"Then you never really had the chance to begin with," Shannon answered. "Whether or not you get the chance again, you didn't have time to do anything in the short visions you had. It's all you can do to keep the windows open long enough to figure out what you're seeing most of the time. There was obviously nothing happening that you perceived as being important enough to even try to get a longer look at than you were getting. Besides, you may not be able to keep those open any longer than you do the memory pieces. Remember, according to your working theory, his mind operates differently than what you are used to. Even if you had been able to tell it was not the usual memory image, there is no guarantee that you would have been able to do anything with it. All you can do is try again next time you get the chance."

"You mean if I get the chance?"

"Well, personally I hope you don't get the chance, because from what you and Bob have said his control was getting better as the deadline approached. The only way you may get a chance again is if he gets away," Shannon said.

"Oh, don't say that," Allison answered. "I don't even want to think about that."

"Right, none of us do," Shannon continued, "and since in all likelihood he will be too focused to allow Jimmy to really do anything, then we don't want him to have another chance because it will mean it's too late for Angela. If he gets a lucky break and has a shot, he can take it, but hopefully we'll get what we need another way and Rebecca will nail this bastard before we have to worry about it."

"I can certainly live with that," I said.

It was pushing midnight by the time the movie ended and I could no longer keep my eyes open. Allison was already snuggled up asleep next to me. Shannon was laying with her head in my lap and I thought she was out as well but she turned her head up to look at me.

"How are you holding up?" she whispered.

I gave a long slow stretch so I wouldn't disturb Allison, "I think I've about had it, I can barely keep my eyes open."

She got a mischievous gleam in her eyes and said, "Maybe I can help." She rolled off the couch and immediately began untying my shoes. It took no imagination at all to understand where she was going and suddenly I was very awake.

"What are you doing?" I asked in an urgent whisper.

She didn't answer, just rolled her eyes and gave me a look as she pulled off my second shoe and then reached up and started unbuttoning my jeans.

"Are you crazy? You want to get us caught?"

"No," she whispered back, "and if you don't either then maybe you should just shut up. Nothing attracts attention like a whisper." She started tugging my pants down. "A little help here?"

I lifted my butt up off the couch and she pulled my pants down and off. As soon as the pants cleared my hips the tent pole sprang straight up and out the fly of my boxers.

"Oh goody," she said. "Look what I found!"

Suddenly Allison stirred beside me. It looked like she was still asleep and just moving to a more comfortable position. Apparently she'd gotten to be a pretty good actress. Neither of us realized she was really awake as she sort of snuggled down towards my lap, but when she opened her mouth at the last second and swallowed the top half of my erection the jig was up.

"Hey!" Shannon whispered. "That was my idea!"

Allison giggled around her mouthful and slowly worked her way up to the top, massaging me with her tongue all the way. Finally she let me go and answered, "See, I told you, you always have these great ideas and you just wouldn't believe me. I must say though, this..." she gave me a quick little lick, "was one of your better ones."

"Yes, it was, so why don't you give it back and let me finish what I started?"

Allison kissed the head and said, "I'll tongue wrestle you for it." And she started licking hard around the top of my shaft, working her way back and forth around the head.

"Bitch!" Shannon said, but she was smiling as she moved forward and began playing tag with Allison around my shaft. When they suddenly met at the top and started frenching around the head I thought my other head would explode. They started pressing harder, each trying to force the other one far enough away to allow them to capture the tip.

Suddenly Allison gave a start and pulled back, which gave Shannon the opening she had been wanting and she quickly took me into her mouth. I looked at Allison to see what was up and saw Shannon's hand up under her sleep shirt, massaging her through her panties.

"Cheater," Allison complained. She might have said more, but just at that moment Shannon got a finger inside her panties and shoved it deep into her already moist box. Allison's head snapped back and she bit her lip to keep from crying out as Shannon began to work on both of us at once.

Suddenly Shannon released me, moved over, and started tugging Allison's panties down. Allison lifted up enough to help and placed her hands on Shannon's head as the older girl leaned in and began taking long licks of her lover's suddenly very wet nether regions. Shannon took Allison's wrists in her hands and pulled them away, placing the left on Allison's own breast and the right in my lap. My younger lover took the hint and began slowly stroking my shaft. I thought she was going to rip it off when Shannon started sucking hard at her little love button. Fortunately she realized what she was doing and released the death grip, moving the hand instead to her other breast she began pinching and massaging herself as Shannon continued her assault. This left me suddenly out of the loop.

I decided it was time for a little turnabout and slipping down to the floor, I tugged Shannon's panties down over her shapely butt. She lifted her knees up to allow me to remove them completely without missing a lick. Once her treasures were bare I rolled onto my back and began licking in earnest. As soon as I hit her love button she gave a groan that would have awakened the whole house if it had not been for the muffling affect of Allison's muff. Even I had to chuckle at that play on words.

Suddenly Shannon pulled off my face and whispered, "Fuck me." The fact that she even used the word was clear indication of just how badly she wanted it, and, being the ever faithful servant, I immediately slipped out from under her and got up on my knees.

I figured out a while back that when Shannon starts talking like Allison she expects me to treat her like Allison, so as soon as I was in position, the head of my cock just parting her now soaking lips, I grabbed her hips and slammed myself forward as hard and as deep as I could. The impact drove her mouth hard into Allison's crotch and I thought my sister was going to jump over the back of the couch. Her back arched, her hands shot down and, grabbing Shannon firmly by the hair, she began grinding herself against the older girl's mouth.

It was obvious how close Allison was and then Shannon administered the coup-de-gras by first shoving two fingers deep into Allison's wetness then pulling them out and shoving forward again, only this time one went straight into Allison's cute little rosebud, all the way in.

Several things happened at once; Allison's eyes, which had been closed in concentration, flew open wide, her head snapped back, causing her to arch her back up off the couch, and she took a huge gasping breath. She then bit her lip as orgasmic convulsions shook her body, her hips pumped up and down, still grinding themselves against Shannon's hungry mouth like she was trying to pull the girl inside of her. This went on for some time and I didn't realize she was still holding her breath until her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed down onto the couch.

Somewhere in the middle of all that Shannon's own spasms started and I felt the contractions around my cock, which was still buried inside of her. This reminded me of what I was supposed to be doing and I began thrusting into her again.

She leaned her head on the couch next to Allison as I renewed my assault but stopped me after a few seconds, whispering, "Thanks, that was fun, but before we were so rudely interrupted, this was supposed to be about you. Come here," she said, indicating the cushion on the couch that was not currently occupied by Allison's still unconscious form. I took a seat and she quickly resumed what she had started before. What can I say? It was wonderful. The brief interruption was enough to diminish my level of urgency and allowed her to take her time and really enjoy one of her favorite activities.

She had explained once before that it didn't matter which one of us it was, Allison or me, she just loved going down on us. The feeling she got from giving us such pleasure was something she just couldn't get enough of. Surprisingly she said she liked doing me just a little bit more because there was more to it. It was more physical and more challenging. Especially once she learned how to deep throat me. Her latest trick was to swallow me all the way to the base and then try to stuff my balls in her mouth at the same time. There were very few angles that allowed this and she probably wouldn't be able to do it much longer regardless. I hadn't really noticed but both of the girls insisted that I had been getting bigger and Shannon said that pretty soon it just wouldn't be possible for her to fit it all in at once unless I was soft. Me staying soft in Shannon's mouth is not likely to happen anytime soon so... she was making the most of it while she could.

I noticed Allison had rejoined us when she gave a sigh of contentment and reached out to stroke Shannon's hair as she bobbed slowly up and down on my slick shaft. "That was wonderful, Sha, thank you."

She lay watching for a few seconds then crawled up on her knees and stuck a breast in my face. Oh yeah, I can take a hint and I began paying homage to the parts of her that had been growing this year. I suddenly realized that I was not the only one who had grown and Allison had now reached the point that Shannon had been at when we first started exploring each other the previous fall. She was now a firm half a grapefruit, up from her original orange. The biggest difference was that Allison's nipples were more prominent, having grown proportionally with the surrounding flesh, where Shannon's were still somewhere in the quarter to fifty cent range, Allison was a solid Silver Dollar. I sucked a buck and half's worth of flesh into my mouth and tried to make change while rolling the twin between my fingers. The extra stimulation of a nipple on my tongue pushed me right over the edge. The spasms started and I was suddenly filling Shannon's mouth as she locked her lips around the head and gently massaged my cock and balls with her hands.

When the flood finally stopped she climbed up, pulled Allison's mouth to hers and shared the bounty of her personal harvest. This was another of their favorite activities and they spend over a minute slowly exploring each other's mouths for the last little bit of flavor.

By now it was well on towards one o'clock and we were all pretty awake so we got dressed again, Allison dug out "Victor Victoria" from the DVD cabinet, and we settled back onto the couch to watch.

I'm not sure what time I actually fell asleep but I suddenly found myself in the glade with both of the girls cuddled up next to me on the blanket. I reached for Angela but she was no where to be found. I lay back in the cool shade and let my mind drift. Before long I felt a tug, getting up I moved to the nearby door and stepped into the hallway outside my office. I was getting used to these feelings; more and more often if someone was thinking of me in dreams, I could feel them. I was pretty sure I knew who it was before the elevator opened and Bob and Rebecca stepped out.

"Thought you'd never get here, Matthews," Rebecca said. "What kept you?"

"I've been trying to stay up as late as possible in hopes that I'll be able to sleep more tomorrow."

"Why would you want to do..." she stopped and looked at me. "You found her! Why didn't you call me?"

Bob came to my rescue, "There was nothing to report that couldn't wait. Nothing we would all want discussed on an open phone line anyway."

"So what happened?" she asked as we moved through the door and into the office. She and Bob took the love seat. "I'm surprised the girls aren't here."

"We were cuddled up in the glade, since we weren't going to be discussing anything new I figured I'd just leave them there, they can join us when they want." I sat in one of the chairs, and quickly brought her up to date on what I had been doing.

"Do you think it will work?" she asked.

"Oh, unless something goes wrong, it should work very well indeed," Bob answered. "The mind is very powerful and if it can get the time it needs to rest, which Jimmy seems to have given hers, at least temporarily, then I think his personal time table may be somewhat upset."

"Great, any time you can buy us is good. So far we're coming up empty on everything we look at."

"No luck with trying to find the van through local companies?"

"How local? We're assuming he's still in southern California because he dumped the tow truck back in the local marketplace, but that's still a huge area, and we can't pin it down too closely or we could miss him. Do you have any idea how may companies use those vans? Here's a hint. A lot! I hate to seem like I'm putting pressure on you, Jimmy, but it's beginning to look like you may be the only shot we have."

"That's why I stayed up so late. We figured out that he is still working whatever day job he has so as not to attract attention by his absence. That means that he's home with Angela at night, and that's why we haven't been able to reach her. We're hoping that if I can sleep during the day, I'll be able to get to her more often and for longer periods of time. There's only one thing that worries me."

"What's that?" Bob asked.

"It's almost the weekend again and if he's off then he'll have several days to devote to her without interruption. If I don't reach her today, I may not get another chance until next week."

Rebecca reached and put her hand on mine, "You can only do your best, Jimmy. Just don't give up."

"No chance of that happening. I'm going to find her, whatever it takes." I turned to Bob. "So far we've been working under the idea that there is something in his mental makeup that is keeping me from bridging him directly. We came up with something else as well. Allison figured it out earlier. Isn't insomnia or an inability to sleep normally symptomatic of several different illnesses?"

"There you are ladies and gentlemen, a perfect example of a rhetorical question. You know very well it is; you're probably the most attentive student I've had in my class in years, especially when it comes to anything related to sleeping and dreams. It narrows the list of possible conditions that could be causing you, or more correctly preventing you from reaching him. That could also explain why the few contacts you have had have been so random and intermittent."

"That's what we were thinking. We also figured out that I may have blown at least one opportunity."

"Really, how so?"

"You know that image I got of a guy in cell, the one in the straight jacket and mask?"

"Sure, I think we talked about it, at least we discussed the idea that he may be schizophrenic and that maybe one of his alternate personalities is in control and that's what keeps you from bridging him. 'The Man in the Iron Mask, ' I think Shannon called it. The suggestion being that the guy in the cell is the primary or original personality and that he's the one that's opening the door for you."

"Right, well I didn't even consider it at the time, but looking back, I don't think that part was just a memory vision. I think if I had tried I might have been able to do something during that part of the sequence."

"Interesting idea, but be very, very, careful if you get the chance. Sometimes the personalities are completely separate and know nothing of each other. That does not seem to be the case here. The image of the cell and being locked up against your will is an indication of intent. It is entirely possible that interacting with the primary may give you away to the alternate; you could lose your one advantage."

"I'll keep that in mind, any other suggestions?"

There weren't any so I headed back to the glade to see the girls. Once I was there I woke us all up so we could try again later. I hoped I wouldn't have to spend the entire weekend on catnaps trying to get lucky. For one thing I wasn't sure how long I could survive their attempts to alternately keep me awake or put me to sleep.

By late Sunday afternoon I was a wreck. I had not slept for more than a couple hours at a time all weekend. I hadn't been really awake for much more than that either. The sudden radical change on my schedule was taking its expected toll on my body. I was in that lethargic state they make fun of anytime they show country folks on a porch; an image that never made sense to me. A rural lifestyle tied to the land is anything but restful. Crops and animals required a lot of attention and a lot of work; those people were just plain tired. The only reason you always see them on the porch is because the photographers were too lazy to go out to where the actual work was being done.

I had somehow ended up on the couch watching golf of all things. Now that's a recipe for excitement if I ever saw one. There seemed to be two basic scenes, the first was a shot of a camera trying to track a tiny white ball across a blue and white sky. The second was usually of someone imitating a mime imitating a statue... badly, while someone else whispered the commentary in a semi conscious tone that was apparently supposed to add excitement and meaning to the scene. Allison had given up trying to match my schedule late Saturday. She had stayed up with me late into the night but otherwise she appeared to have taken the path of leaving me to sort it out on my own.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and that desperate times breed desperate actions. It was mid afternoon, somewhere around 3:00. Mom and Allison had gone to the store to do the grocery shopping for the week. Allison was getting in a little domestic training. It was her week to cook so Mom made her plan a menu of sorts and then go through the cupboards to make sure she had everything. I had commented that it sounded like a good idea and Mom assured me that I would get my chance next week. Dad had fallen asleep in the chair while reading a book and trying hard to ignore the television.

I'm not sure exactly what happened. You know that place you get in when you've been napping but not really sleeping, where you're not really asleep but not really awake either, and you have to keep looking for clues to tell you where you are. I found myself staring at the television to try and determine if I had actually dozed off and missed something or if I'd just imagining it. Golf is not a great sport for that. I didn't know the players so I couldn't tell who I was looking at or remember who I had been looking at before, and the announcers all sounded the same. So unless I had dropped off in the middle of a commercial, or woken up during one, I really couldn't tell the difference. It's kind of like when you're reading and you finally figure out that you've read the same paragraph or even the same line in a paragraph like twelve times and you still don't know what happens next? That's were I was. I'd swear I wasn't asleep, I'm pretty sure of that, but suddenly I felt a familiar tug, the kind I get in dreams that alert me to people I'm interested in or are interested in me, and the suddenly I was standing by the pool. I didn't remember walking out the back door, but suddenly there I was. I looked around but everything looked normal. I even had on the same clothes I'd been wearing inside. Suddenly a body erupted from the surface of the water. Oh shit! It was Angela, and she didn't just pop up out of the water and look around. She exploded out of the water and landed on the patio in front of me. I reacted without thinking and caught her as she began to fall.

"Jimmy!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Before I could answer she rambled on, "You can't be here, you're not supposed to be here, this was supposed to just be a place I could come to rest, and I'm so tired, and oh god, Jimmy, he hurt me, it hurts so much, and I'm so tired and..."

"Angela!" I yelled and gave her shoulders a shake. I was in deep shit here. I'd been drawn to Angela's dream before she even arrived, which was not totally unprecedented, I'd done it with Allison before but never with Angela. But I wasn't prepared and now I couldn't change. This was bad. What to do?

"Angela, what are you talking about? This is my back yard. I live here. What are you doing here? How did you get in my pool? And how did you jump all the way out of the pool and land on the side? And you're dry? This doesn't make any sense. It can't be real."

She caught herself then and stood up a little straighter, caught her breath and stopped crying long enough to answer, "Of course it's not real. It's a dream. They set it up so I could come here to rest. But why are you here?"

"How should I know? You said it's a dream. Whose dream is it?"

"Mine, of course."

"Then why are you asking me why I'm in your dream? If I'm here it's because you wanted me here."

"No, I didn't want you here, I mean I wanted someone but it wasn't you, not that I don't want you here, but you're not the one I was thinking of. It was supposed to be that other guy, the one that set up the whole thing, but you're here now so maybe I wanted someone familiar so I could... Oh God, Jimmy, I'm so glad you're here." She buried her head on my shoulder and the tears rushed back to fill the sudden silence.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her as she cried. Think, Matthews, there's got to be a way out of this, I needed to be someone else but I couldn't just change. Duh! Suddenly the proverbial light came on. Behind me the door opened and a second me walked out as the image of Tim I had used when I appeared in her other dream.

He didn't hesitate but just walked up and said, "Angela, I'm glad you finally made it. I've been waiting all weekend for a chance to meet with you. I see you found a familiar figure to comfort you, but we really need to talk before we lose the opportunity, so if you don't mind..." My original self began to fade from her arms.

"No, wait. I mean, please, can he stay? I need someone right now and I know Jimmy cares for me. I guess I just didn't want Tim to see me like this."

Boy, I really hadn't been paying attention. Suddenly I realized that Angela was, and had been, naked ever since she jumped out of the pool. Now that I looked it was impossible to ignore the bruises. Her face was okay, but there were bruises of various sizes scattered down across her body. Mostly they were small, but there was a really big ugly one on her thigh. There was another one that looked like a hand print on her hip. It didn't take much to imagine what had been going on when that one was made, the angle pretty much said it all.