Chapter 5: Where to begin

The bank job had been all over the news since the police rolled on the call. If Allison and I hadn't made it out when we did it was unlikely we would have been able to stay out of all the pictures and video. It had been a long and stressful day so getting to sleep was no serious obstacle at all. Almost as soon as Allison snuggled into my shoulder I was out, making the transition from asleep in my bed to 'awake' in my hammock in the glade. The first thing I did was feel for tonight's target group. I wasn't worried about Shannon; her key would bring her to us as soon as she got to sleep anyway. Parry and Mikkelson were still missing in action, but then it was still early so this was no real surprise. Also not surprising was that Easy was not available yet either. Allison had asked her to try and be available but her idea of an early night was home by midnight. Amber was sleeping peacefully but I decided to leave her to her own dreams as much as possible unless she started having nightmares about her experience or until Bob came up with some way that I may be able to help her through her trauma.

Allison popped into the hammock next to me, still curled into the same position we had just fallen asleep in. "I love waking up next to you almost as much as falling asleep next to you. So, where are we going first?"

"Well of the local people, Amber is the only one currently available, so how about dropping in on Samantha first."

"Should we test her or just show up?" Allison asked.

"We can do both. I don't think we have to be so elaborate though. We'll just show up and see how she reacts. I've got a lot on the schedule and I want to be free to move on if something more urgent presents itself."

"I'm glad you said it that way. Besides catching Angela's killer, nothing else we have would be more important than helping Samantha, but several qualify as being more urgent. Sam's situation sucks but as far as I know, no one's life or sanity is in immediate danger. So, Sin City, here we come."

It turned out Samantha was dreaming of school so when we arrived we just blended in with the lunch crowd and walked up behind her. I noticed the bracelet I had given her was on her wrist so we were definitely in her dream.

"Is this seat taken?" Allison asked. Samantha glanced at her and started to scoot over then did a double take as she realized who it was. She glanced around quickly but I was standing behind her so she couldn't see me. When she didn't see me she answered Allison.

"No, help yourself, there's plenty of room."

"How about for two?" I asked. She turned slowly and to a casual observer there was no hint of recognition in her eyes.

"Like I said, plenty of room." She turned back to her apple and I noticed she seemed to be watching a group of girls at another table.

Allison sat down next to her and extended her hand, "I'm Alice, by the way. I'm kind of new around here."

Alice is the name that Allison uses when we are with outsiders in dreams. She picked it because it's close enough to her real name that she would be less likely to miss it if someone called her by name to get her attention. She also looked like a girl from my freshman psychology class named Marsha. Shannon has a different dream persona for outsiders as well. She looks like Angela had before her life had been ruined and she'd had to cut off her hair to go into hiding. If she showed up Samantha would know her as Sharon.

"Pleased to meet you," Samantha said, shaking her hand. "My name's Samantha. Is this your first day?"

"Don't be silly, Sam. I know who you are. I just meant it was my first time 'here' at school with you. I think every time has been at your house. How have you been?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. I don't think I've ever met you before."

I reached and placed my hand on her shoulder. As soon as I touched her the bracelet she was wearing changed to her sister's charm bracelet. As soon as it changed she jumped up and threw her arms around Allison. "Oh, it's really you! I'm so happy to see you both. It's been so long." As soon as she jumped up to hug Allison I lost contact and the bracelet returned to its original appearance but she already had the confirmation she needed that it was in fact really us.

"Hello, Samantha," I said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "I'm sorry it's been so long since we came to see you. It's just that it's been a busy summer."

"I know," she said, suddenly very serious again, "and the paper said he got away again. I know that must be hard on you, working so hard like that and then losing him at the last second. But the paper said the FBI almost had him, so your work wasn't wasted."

"I know, but he still got away. He's still running around free and able to do it again to someone else." I couldn't look at her, couldn't meet her eyes.

"Oh my God," she said suddenly, her hand going to her mouth as she spoke. "You knew her. The girl he killed; you knew her, didn't you?"

I'm sure she thought I turned away out of pain, and she was partly right, but mostly I was afraid she'd see the truth if she saw my eyes. Thankfully, Alice rescued me. "We all did. Sucks big time, I mean it would have been just as horrible if it had been a stranger, but it wouldn't have been so personal. That's one of the reasons we haven't been around. We needed time to let things settle and deal with it. We just wanted to let you know that we haven't forgotten about you."

"Forgotten about her?" Sharon's voice came from nowhere. Suddenly she was there with us, she grabbed Samantha's arm and pulled her away from us and then spun her around while hugging her, "As if!" She leaned in quickly and gave Samantha a kiss on the cheek. "How have you been? I've been worried about you. Are you doing okay?"

I couldn't help but look quizzically at Sharon; I'd only ever heard that tone in her voice when she was speaking to Allison. It made me wonder if maybe she was beginning to take, or had already developed, a more serious interest in Samantha and her plight. Before Sam could answer she went on, "And why are you at school? I mean, it's summertime. Don't you get time off during the summer?"

"Actually, I had most of last month off. We're on a year round schedule," Samantha answered.

"Even so, why come here in your dreams? Couldn't you think of some place a little more fun."

Samantha's attitude was suddenly serious again, her eyes downcast. "I had to be sure." She turned and pointed to the table she had been watching earlier. "That girl over there, the one in the plaid skirt, she's going to be punished for disobedience. She talked to someone she wasn't supposed to."

"Oh God," Sharon said, "That's awful. But why put yourself through all this? It already happened so there's no way you can change it here."

"I need to be sure that she didn't do it while I was assigned to watch her. If she did, then I could be punished along with her, because I didn't report it, so I was trying to go over it all again to see if I missed anything."

My mouth was suddenly dry but Allison was almost white. "But if you've been off all month, then this had to be weeks ago, at least," she said. "How could they be thinking it was something you missed from so long ago? Wouldn't they have said something sooner? When did they tell you all this?"

"They didn't. I heard about it from Doctor Hendricks."

"You mean he warned you? Won't he get in trouble?"

"I don't know. I don't know what they do to the men if they break the rules. It could even be a test to see if I will report that he told me. But I will risk it for him because he has always been kind to me, even more so since Amanda died."

"But it could mean you getting punished," I said.

"It could mean that anyway so the risk is the same either way. Please don't worry about me, I'll be okay. I'm sure you have more important things to do."

"No," Allison said, placing a hand on Samantha's shoulder, "more urgent maybe, but not more important. Truthfully, we were sort of forcing Jimmy to take a break after Angela died, to take time to deal with it before jumping in again. But we're ready to get back to work now. One thing we wanted to know is if there have been any problems with your dad. Has he been having more bad dreams, or acting like something may be bothering him?"

"No, not that I've noticed. Mother hasn't said anything to indicate anything out of the ordinary. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing serious, we've just noticed that with a couple other people that Jimmy gave bad dreams, they tended to linger, so we wanted to check and make sure as best we can. I wish we could stay longer, but we've got a couple of other people to see." She stood and moved in front of Samantha, hugging the girl tightly. "But you'll be seeing more of us soon."

Allison moved back and I leaned down to kiss Samantha lightly, "I'll be back for you soon, I promise. However long it takes, I will find a way to stop this." When I kissed her, her hands came up to hold my head, stretching the kiss out.

"I know you will. Thank you."

I popped up a door and said, "If they give you a bad time about not turning Doctor Hendricks in, tell them you thought it was a test to see if you could be trusted." Then we went to the cabana to decide on the next move. I had a pretty good idea where Allison would want to go. Shannon had the same idea.

"So, do I finally get to meet the world's greatest sex therapist?"

Allison laughed and said, "I don't think that's how she thinks of herself, but unless Parry or Mikkelson is available, then yes, I think it's time to go see her. Jimmy?"

"No, neither one is there yet," I took a deep breath, suddenly nervous. "I guess it's time. She's waiting for us."

"Waiting for us?" Allison asked, "What do you mean waiting for us?"

"Duh," Shannon said, "you told her we were coming?"

"I know, but ... Jimmy, I know you can tell if others are dreaming, even where they are, but are you saying you can actually feel, or sense, her anticipation?"

I knew what she was getting at, "Yes, and you're right; this is different than what I normally feel with others, even from what I feel with Amber."

She smiled. "Very good, you didn't even hesitate over the name." She kissed me on the cheek. "I know it's hard but..."

I interrupted her, "But it's important. I know. Thanks for being such a monstrous little bitch about it. I don't know if I could have done it without you. So, do we go see her, or bring her here?"

"Oh, now there's a thought. What do you think, Shannon?"

"Oh, let's have some fun. Water slide!"

I kind of mentally closed my eyes and pictured Easy in my head. Immediately her dream started to take shape in my mind, she was sitting lotus fashion on the big bean bag in her room wearing torn jeans and a spaghetti strapped crop top which did a wonderful job of accenting her breasts. Apparently even this light contact was enough for her to notice me as she suddenly looked up and started to turn to face me. Her eyes met mine and she started to speak, "About time you got he-eeeek!" The word elongated into a scream as the beanbag suddenly dropped out from under her and she fell into a pool of water and then down the slide. I used a larger slide with more water just because she was still in jeans. I could have changed her clothes, but ... one shock at a time. Moments later she splashed down into the warm water of the lagoon. Zeus and Hera, the alphas of the dolphin pod that hung out there, chittered excitedly at her arrival. The three of us popped out seconds later.

"Oh my God, that so freaked me out," she said when we came up for air.

"I hope I didn't scare you," I said.

"At first it scared the crap out of me, but that was just the initial shock. I knew it was you so I wasn't worried. Most slides don't have that much water in them though. It's kind of different with so much; you really move."

"I added more because you were in jeans; more water, more weight, more momentum."

"Yes, I've taken basic physics, thank you." She turned in the water. "You must be Shannon."

"Nice to meet you," Shannon answered. "Why don't you put on your bathing suit before those jeans suck you under? This is Jimmy's place so you have as much control as in your own dreams. Jimmy, this was fun but I think we might be more comfortable talking inside."

Suddenly we were all sitting waist deep in the sunken area of the cabana, the girls, except for Easy, had already dried their hair. She was also still in her wet jeans and crop top.

"Sorry," I said. "If you'd rather we could sit on the couch instead."

"No, this is fine, but I don't have my suit with me. No one told me I would need to pack." She gave me a very interesting grin and said, "Of course I'm not opposed to skinny dipping..."

"Oh my God!" Shannon exclaimed, interrupting her.

"What?" Allison asked.

"I just realized," she said, looking at Elizabeth. "We're already naked to you, aren't we? You don't see our clothes."

I realized it had been a long time since I'd seen Allison blush like that; she turned the prettiest shade of pink as Easy's grin got bigger and she shook her head.

"You're quick. Nope, not a stitch, all I see is you."

Allison recovered quickly, "Well, in that case... ," suddenly she was sitting naked beside me. Shannon immediately lost her suit as well and both looked expectantly at me. Easy stood up and peeled her wet top off and began unsnapping her jeans. Her breasts were very nice, about the same size as Amber's but with larger nipples. She slid out of her jeans to reveal she wasn't wearing any panties either. I noticed she had changed her pubic hair from the images I'd seen of her earlier in the year. Then it had been waxed into a narrow vertical stripe, now it was in the shape of a little arrow pointing the way to heaven. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head as I felt myself responding to all the suddenly visible real estate. I mean, I'd seen her naked in dreams before. Heck, I'd seen her doing all kinds of things before, but that was just observation, this - this was personal.

"We're not going to get any work done tonight," I said.

She giggled and glanced toward my lap. "Why thank you. It's always nice to be appreciated. I'm glad you approve."

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not nice to tease?" Shannon asked. "What's not to approve? You're beautiful. He approved before, the only thing that's changed is that now he's drooling."

Easy leaned over and kissed Shannon lightly on the cheek, "So are you, and it's only teasing if you don't plan to follow through. I can see you all share, and that you all want me, but if you're not into strangers I understand."

"Thank you, Elizabeth," I said. "We're not, but you're not really a stranger, and I think we all have every intention of getting better acquainted with you at the earliest opportunity, but right now we have work to do. Naturally we were surprised when Rebecca told us you could see us. The question is do you see us the way you see other people or is it different in dreams?"

"Different, very different. It's much more intense. I mean, it's hard to explain, I see you, but I don't think I'm seeing just you."

"I think I know what you mean. You told Rebecca that I reflect and enhance Jimmy's glow. Is it different this time?"

"Yes, way different. With all three of you here, if I hadn't already seen you and Jimmy together, I don't think I would have been able to tell you and Shannon apart."

"Can you read us the way you did Rebecca?" Allison asked.

"No way, not like this. It's hard enough just keeping you separated."

"That's what I thought. Sha, can you excuse us for a second. I want to see if it makes a difference."

"Sure, no problem."

Just like that she faded out and was gone.

"Is that better?" Allison asked.

"Yes! Now that it's just the two of you... , it's weird though. I've seen you like this before, but now, it's like part of you is missing, Jimmy too, but... ," she stopped and looked at me closer. "There's something different about you. Something... , I don't know." She moved closer. "Something's happened. There's a, a sadness, but that's not it. I can't tell; I'm sorry."

Shannon popped back in and suddenly Elizabeth staggered and almost fell over. "Whoa! That was intense. It was like all of a sudden someone shined a spotlight in my head."

"I'm sorry," Shannon said, reaching out to steady her. "Next time I'll use the door."

"Thank you." She said, sitting down suddenly. "Wow, talk about intense. It's not just that your glow was back but both of theirs jumped up at the same time. Weird."

"Okay," Allison said, "I want to try something else. Shannon leaving helped you to see us better, this time we're both going to go. First we're just going to move farther way, out on to the beach, then we'll walk back in, I want to see if that makes more of a difference for you. Then we'll leave again, except this time we'll go somewhere else so you are totally alone with Jimmy and see if that makes more of a difference." She got up and kissed me, then took Shannon's hand and the two of them disappeared.

Immediately Elizabeth looked more relaxed.

"I take it that's better?"

"Yes, thank you. She was right; I can see more detail now. Jimmy, I didn't need them to leave to tell that there is a difference. You and Allison alone was enough to tell me that, and being alone with you will make it easier to tell more, but since I haven't really been alone with you before I won't be able to give you any details on what may be different."

There was a knock, then the door opened and the girls walked back in. "Did that help?"

"Yes it did," Elizabeth told her. "Could you do me a favor; step back out and close the door, then open it again."

Without hesitation the girls did as she asked, closing the door and the opening it to come in once more.

"Thank you. I was right. If neither of us can see you then you don't affect what I see, but as soon as you opened the door, your glow impinged and Jimmy's went up. I don't know if it's because he sees you or because you see him, but either way it changes with proximity. It would be interesting to see if you could sneak up on us if we weren't watching."

"Interesting," Allison said. "You can't have had time to get much done, so we'll leave you alone for a while longer this time." Beside her I could see the sudden glint in Shannon's eye and I had a pretty good idea how they were going to distract themselves, either that or she had ideas on how we were going to be spending our time alone.

"I'm curious, Elizabeth... ," I started after they had gone.

"Call me Lizzy, it's a name I reserve for friends, but like Alison said, we're not strangers, although I can't think of two stranger people ever in one place. Let's face it, Jimmy, we're not like other people, we're special, gifted, chosen by God to do His work."

"I don't think most churches would call what we do Godly. Your gift uses sex to accomplish His work, and mine... , well; mine has its own problems."

"Something happened, didn't it?" she asked, looking at me intently.

"You could say that."

"I can see it, now that they're gone. They didn't have to go so far, though I think they won't be missing us very much. Can we move over to the couch?"

"The water distorts your vision?" She nodded. "That's weird. It's not even real water. Do clothes interfere?"

"Only if they're wearing a lot; the more layers, the worse the distortion."

"So watching a lover undress is just as much fun for you as it is for us?"

"Oh, you can't imagine," she said with a grin, but then she grew more serious as she looked at me. She drew in close, beginning to run her hand above me, close but not touching. "You have a deep and abiding love for both of your ladies; they are truly a part of you." Her hand moved a little. "There is another though, this one shrouded in pain and loss, and yet ... not. You're hiding something; you have a strong sense of justice; a passion that burns within you; a flame to rival your love for those close to you, and yet it is darkened; it now causes you pain. There is ... it's gone! It was there! I saw it! For a moment it was as if there was someone else hiding inside you."

Without warning she slapped me hard across the face. Shock and anger flared through me briefly, but I pushed it aside since it was obvious she was doing it for a purpose.