Dreamslines... Realities Within, 2004

Dreamlines... Realities Within, 2004.

1 January 2004: The First Dream - A highly emotional dream involving me loosing my love during a tsunami. But, after I am rescued, I discover that my love has survived. Later, something unsavory things are going. I save a bunch of people... then things get really weird.
6 February 2004: Robbery - I witness my friend, Rich, commit robbery and I am more concerned about the fact that he's walking around in public with a gun out in the open.
7 February 2004: Transformation Crucifixion - A very odd dream where I am consciously and purposefully in several places at once. One of me is discussing the nature of good and evil with a man crucified in a pagan style. One of me is with my co-workers, reluctantly watching the live reenactment of the Christ crucifixion and I realize I am the one who needs to change.
20 March 2004: Gates of Heaven - Once again, another screwy dream with appearances by Yony, Robert and Heather. I'm left behind after a robbery. Angry, I seek out Yony who is working on an odd project that will get him to the "Gates of Heaven" where he's going to by his way in. If Robert doesn't kill him first.
10 April 2004: "The Stand" Dreams - It seems that as my mind works over some current thoughts and issues, it works it out within the backdrop of Stephen King's story "The Stand."
18 April 2004: Vampire Guardians - This is the kind of dream worthy of having a story written around it. I've just become a vampire, one of six, who, with the help of three humans, routinely saves the world. The people involved come from all walks of life.
24 April 2004: CDC & the Riddle - So, this is what happens when you watch Cowbop Bebop before going to bed. Those who know the movie will see it's influences in the dream. While getting my hair done, I have a run in with the CDC. After I escape, I end up in a junior high school, looking for shoes to steal and run into a couple of interesting people.
13 May 2004: Slipstream - This is one of those really fun dreams. It involves time travel, chase sequences, a precious book and sex. Plus, there is this really cool mode of travel in time and space called slipstream that, apparently, was a Nazi secret.
23 May 2004: El Diablo Comes - This was one of those rare epic dreams that make me want to write a long story around it. I am part of a group of teens working for a man who looks like Anthony Hopkins. We are some sort of elite force that he has no more use for. I am the only one who escapes when he tries to kill us of after a particular hard job. The rest of the dream involves me fleeing from him over various settings but, some how, all of this leads into time travel (I think) loop where I must be saved or the world dies.
06 June 2004: The Gift - This is what I get for reading Exit Mundi (various world ending scenarios) and watching The Dead Zone before going to bed. A series of screwy dreams that ends with a powerful image.
26 July 2004: The Cursed Statue - You know you are really getting into a game and into a character when you start dreaming in character. It's been a couple of years since I've done so but it seems that the Crimson Dawn game and the character of Ximena Harker has invaded my subconscious. In this dream, I dream, in character, as Ximena about being forcibly turned into an avatar of Kali by Setites.
18 August 2004: Atlantis - This is the kind of dream that is the seed to a much bigger story. I am part of a group of people descendent from the last survivors of Atlantis. Our goal is to remember our heritage and technology. We are already well on the way.
25 September 2004: Abandonment Issues - Oddly enough, while surrounded by close friends looking for a house to buy together, they willingly abandon me when I need to help getting home. Somewhat disturbing. Though, some friends believe that it is my mind telling me I should not look for help/support in an upcoming event.
9 October 2004: War Class - A variation on my "I can't find my locker/class" dream. This time, the two classes involve a war simulation and life size chess. I make it to the first one, causing the death of someone I care about and can't find the second one
3 November 2004: iPod Dubya - A very odd little dream about the President dancing with handsome, gay servicemen. No idea what it means.
13 November 2004: Pre-Grants Pass - A neat dream about the days just before the end of the world in the Grants Pass universe I'm envisioning. I meet up with a Goth guy I've had a crush on for a long time and end up his willing captive because my journal entry started the whole thing. This made me valuable.
31 December 2004: Spy Trap - Buffy approaches me about retrieving six picture pendants I gave out as gifts a few years back. They contain a secret code on microdots. As I collect them, we are persued by other spies. When the code is revealed, everyone is surprised and not in a good way.

1 January 2004
1st Dream of the New Year
I dreamt I was with Jeff Goldbloom, facing a crisis, an Armageddon, something like that. In our case, it was a tsunami. We has prepared for it as best we could but it was not enough. The tsunami swept over us, dragging us and many others along with it out to sea. He and I held onto each other as tight as we could until I was torn away by the current. I screamed his name but he went under. I couldn't get to him because of the current, the other people and the things in the water.

I was dragged along and away. When an undercurrent grabbed me and pulled me under I let it do it. I had lost Jeff. I was heartbroken. But, a hand from above plunged into the water and dragged me out. It was a handsome blond man. He pulled me onto his boat. I was the last survivor he managed to save. He held me there.

Time passed. I don't know if we were on the boat or on an island. I think, it was an island or land. The blond man and I had grown close. We both had lost someone. I was still mourning. He and I were laughing at something when Jeff hobbled into the room to surprise me. He saw me with the blond man and his face fell. He turned away.

I ran after him, leaving the blond man in confusion. I caught up with Jeff. We talked. I still loved him very much. I had started to move on because, "Well, you were dead." It turns out, Jeff had been rescued the week before and a woman was supposed to have told me. But she didn't. Seems she wanted to keep me from Jeff. I don't know why.

There is a shift in the dream and the blond man has told me that they are burying people alive - including Jeff. I had to sneak past the woman to the mass grave. I get into it and I start digging. The dead people I'm digging up with my hands are in the form of Ken and Barbie dolls. So, they are easy to move. When I come across the two living people, they are full sized and I dig them out. Jeff is one of them.

I find a grave site that looks like a large port hole filled with water. I look into it and there are people down there. All of them with their hands tied. I think they are dead. Jeff urges me that they are not. So, I open up the port hole and start pulling people out. People like Scully and Mulder as well as the blond man.

As I pull the people out of the water, they come alive and thank me for saving them. I pull everyone out, even the known bad guys because I can't just leave them there. That would be cruel. However, when I'm done pulling everyone out, I look around, it is daylight and we are in a grass plane that belongs to large leonoid creatures that look like the Kzinti.

The blond man is our leader. He drags a leoniod to the Kzinti leader, offering him as a peace offering. They accept. Stuff happens very fast. There is a bonfire. I am standing between Jeff and the blond man as we watch the Kzinti dance.

FADE

6 February 2004
Robbery
My friend Rich, looking as he did when I first met him, walks into the furniture store that I am, carrying a very large .357 magnum revolver. He marches up to the front office and proceeds to rob it at gun point. The manager, a blond man, tries to reason with Rich, but it does it work. It seems, Rich bought furniture from this store, it arrived damaged to his home and the store would neither replace the furniture nor give him a refund.

"But, Mr. Taylor, it is company policy to sell all furniture as is."

"But, Mr. Asshole, it is personal policy to shoot anyone who lies to me or tries to cheat me." He pulls back the hammer on the gun. "Do you want to give me the refund or do you want me to consider myself cheated?" The manager's water lets loose and he steps back, mumbling. "I'll take that as a refund." Rich uncocks the gun then turns and walks out.

I run after him. "Rich, what are you doing?"

He shrugs. "The man lied to me. I lied to him. We're even and I have crappy furniture."

"No! I mean, the gun." I point to the gun in his hand.

"This? I have no place to put it."

Just then, a bunch of screamy, blinky cop cars go by. "You can't just carry that in the open." I took it from him and hid it in my magazine. It was a poor fit. The gun was bigger than the magazine. So, I stuck the whole thing under my arm. Rich and I walked back to his apartment in silence.

FADE

7 February 2004
Transformation Crucifixion
This dream was about a live re-enactment of the crucifixion of Christ. It was being performed at my work but had elements of a LARP and the occult to it

The dream started out with a flash to a person kneeling on the ground, his hands nailed to two trees. One arm stretched out. One arm bend at a right angle. This was a pagan crucifixion. It had the meaning of transformation with the choice of transforming for good or evil.

Switch back to work. I am discussing the reenactment with my co-workers. Someone is already going through the crucifixion. One of me, represented by opening another telnet window, named Isabeau, was going to state with them and discuss the nature of good and evil with the one already crucified in a pagan manner.

I left to go save seats for me and my co-workers. There was something different about this upcoming Christ crucifixion. It was to represent a transformation more than a sacrifice. I didn't want to be there. I was mostly going to be in Isabeau, with the other one. I was the second one to the stadium seats. I sat down and looked at the other person arriving. He chose to sit next to me, on my left.

Lightening flash to the image of the kneeling crucifixion. It made me gasp. I was the only one who had the vision.

My co-workers all started to arrive. I got up to get some water. When I got back, I had to force myself in-between people to get back into my seat. As I sat down, I knew I didn't want to be there. I started to shift my consciousness over into Isabeau more so I could concentrate on that. But, my co-workers started demanding to know why Isabeau wasn't here. I remember trying to tell them that she couldn't waste the opportunity for this discussion with one going through the transformation. This started making them anger. They had to be here, why didn't she. They did not want to recognize that she was me.

There was another lightening flash to the image of the man in the kneeling crucifixion. I (as Isabeau) was standing next to him. His eyes suddenly opened. "You are the only one who understands. You are the only one who sees what is happening. You know that now, don't you."

Flash back to the reenactment of the Christ crucifixion and I am now the one standing on the stage, watching the me in the audience. I step back to the cross, preparing to lay back on it. I, in the audience, stands "No!" but no one hears me. I watch me lay down on the cross, preparing myself for the first pain of the nails.

Tori Amos sings in the background, "Crucify myself. I've got to crucify myself... I've got to change... Change... "

FADE

20 March 2004
Gates of Heaven
There was a robbery by Yony and Robert and, I believe a third man. The dream started with me knowing this. Somehow, I got caught, hanging upside down in a closet (slightly reminiscent of the Hanged Man tarot card). Yony left me there as I was shouting for him to come back and help me. He didn't, he was focused on his plan. I'm not sure he even heard me.

Then, another man came up to me and started talking to me. Telling me that I would have to die or shoot Robert because he was coming for me. The man, a professor, handed me a machine pistol. He was talking to himself more than me. Talking about how it had to look good and he (Robert) had to feel like he was in danger. He bent down and turned the gun on. The side of the machine pistol lit up. "That should do it." The professor said, satisfied.

A shot rang out and the professor dropped, "Yes, it should do. Well done." Robert stood there holding a smoking gun. He said something else to me and left, leaving me there, still hanging.

Somehow, I got myself free and I knew that Yony had headed to Heather's place, high in the mountains. I traveled there, looking for Yony. I think, I wanted yell at him for leaving me in the closet. When I got there, Heather met me and told me that both Yony and Robert were there. There was an uneasy truce between them. She thought that Robert was just waiting for the right time to kill Yony and take the money while Yony was only focused on his plan, which somehow involved the money.

I found Yony and started talking with him. I was mad at him but he didn't understand what he did wrong, "You left me hanging in a closet!" "But, I had to get here to work on my project." Finally, I asked him what he was working on. It turns out, he was making an air raft. It was a simple raft with helium balloons. "I have a lot of helium." I asked him were he was going. He told me, "I'm going up to the gates of Heaven and when I get there, I'm going to buy my way in." He indicated a pile of money.

At this point, I decided he was completely insane. I didn't know if the "Gates of Heaven" was an actual place or if he really meant the Biblical heaven. I think I tried to convince him not to do it. I'm not sure if I succeeded because I got tossed into another dream place. I don't think I succeeded.

This other dream place was a house with a war going on outside. It looked like Middle Earth was invading the Earth. Then, it looked as if it was a re-enactment for such a battle. The "hobbit" who was to be sacrificed was missing and somehow, I ended up having to take his place because I didn't want to be caught in the house. I headed out to the battle field and "hid" in my spot. Some of the warriors saw me and were surprised. "It's a woman this time. A woman is trying to sneak through. This'll be a good fight!"

Suddenly it was "Game On!" and the fighting started. My task was to get to other side of the battle field. Then, right in front of me, Yony and Robert were sword fighting. I know they were on opposite sides but I didn't know whose side I was on. Then, Yony killed Robert and laughed as he fell to the ground. "How do you like Heaven, Jennifer? Isn't it marvelous?" He asked as he reached for me.

FADE

10 April 2004
"The Stand" Dreams
Recently, I have been having a series of dreams I call "The Stand" dreams. Each one seems to be my mind working out a personal issue. In each one, something traumatic happens like Skippy the super flu virus and 99.9% of the earth's population dies. That is the background these dreams are running in.

The first dream I had involved me and, of my friends, only Monte surviving. We connected first on YIM, then by cell phone, agreeing to meet "half way" because us at Grants Pass. While we each traveled there, we had dreams of Randall Flagg and of another man, the Leader. In the dreams with Flagg, I always killed the Leader and went to Flagg. In the dreams with the Leader, he was always telling me that sometimes, a leader has make a hard decision that they don't want to make. I woke up from one of the Flagg dreams, scared and angry, yelling at the sky that I wouldn't do it. At that point, Monte arrived. Crying, I tried to tell him what I dreamed. He kept saying, "I know. It's ok." Then, we had thank-God-you're-alive-and-you-found-me sex. The rest of the dream was snippet bits of the future after that.

The second dream started off the same way but we agree to meet at Grants Pass, I went to REI and got really good hiking shoes. This was important to me. To be prepared. [Flash to a scene of Monte driving wildly through a busted up town.] Next, I went and took my neighbor's Jeep. I spent a lot of time making sure it was in good shape, filling it with gas and getting extra containers of gas. [Flash to a scene of Monte driving off road through rough terrain.] Finally, I went to the grocery store to stock up on water and non-perishable foods. Mostly canned meats, veggies and vitamins. Though, I did also pick up a box of sweets, too. From there, I headed out for Grants Pass.

The third recent dream started with me knowing I was to meet Monte in Grants Pass and I was already there, waiting in what looked to be the ruins of a castle. As I was waiting, I noticed a shine in the distance. It was approaching. As it got closer, I saw that it was a small wave of water, about a foot high. It didn't seem dangerous at first but I moved to higher ground in the castle. As I was doing that, the wave hit and places all around me started to break open with water. I fled to the highest point in the ruined castle with the water chasing me. However, after I reached the top and had no other place to go, I looked back and saw that the water line had stopped about 10 feet down and I was going to be just fine. As I watched, the water slowly started to recede and I know, eventually, I would be able to come down from my safe place to a new landscape.

The first dream seemed to delve into my need for companionship, trust and loyalty. I think, Monte has become a visual dream symbol of survival for me. Here, he represented the concept that I was not alone to face my fears and that I was loved.

The second dream seemed to dwell on my need to be well prepared for anything because I never know what is coming and I may need to support more than myself. Especially in an unfamiliar endeavor against unknown, if suspected obstacles. (IE: My planning for my year sabbatical.) In this dream, Monte was representing possible future trials as he traveled toward me.

The third dream seemed to focus on my ability to survive on my own - whether I like it or not. Sometimes, things seem overwhelming but I am strong, resourceful and determined. I can overcome them on my own. I rather liked this last dream.

18 April 2004
Vampire Guardians
I had recently and rather reluctantly become a vampire. I don't know who was my sire but I do know why this happened. One of the Guardians had died and I was to replace him. We were at a school that reminded me of University of Portland. I was following Lori through the library to get to the sanctum. It was really confusing. We had to literally go into files inside a filing cabinet. A guy stopped to question us in a weird manner. Turns out he was one of the human guardians and they had been speaking in code.

Once we finally arrived, I was surprised to see who else was involve. The guardian vampires were: Johanna (friend), Lilly (co-worker), Col. Jack O'Neal (SG-1), Major Sam Carter (SG-1), Lori (friend) and me. The human guardians were Alex (friend), Monte (friend) and another guy I didn't know.

It was explained to me that every certain number of days, the great machine would activate and we were there to power it. The machine would [do something] to [stop something] from destroying the world. Then, it was time. There were six grooves in the walls and floor that went to a center basin. Water started flowing. Within the water was a line of blood.

First, the vampires drank from the blood in the water. Then, they place their forehead down into so a line of blood would cross the forehead. Finally, the vampire guardian then stood against the grooves and let the blood and water flow over them. In the center of the room, the three humans stood in a circle with their backs to the basin. The power of the nine - six vampires and three humans - caused energy to shoot up from the basin to do whatever it was it needed to do.

As I stood under the running water and blood, I distinctly remember thinking, "Finally, this will satisfy my need for ritual."

Flash to a classroom at the school where a sullen looking girl is gripping her desk, looking horrified. In the front right of the classroom, only she can see the sanctum and our party going on after saving the world. She is having some sort of psychic vision. I am asking Johanna how to survive without killing. She hands me a tumbler full of blood, laced with something euphoric and tells me, "We don't have to kill and we have a good supply of blood but occasionally, we find someone worthy of being eaten and do so."

FADE

24 April 2004
CDC & the Riddle
I had a baby with me. I think it was mine. Maybe. I would go to a friend's house to get my hair cut. Then, I would go grocery shopping. I did this several times. Except one time, I brought a friend with me to the hair dressers. I asked him to do the grocery shopping for me while I got my hair done. I asked him to take the baby with him and teased him when he expressed doubt.

He went. While I was waiting to get my hair done in this house, something bad happened. Someone went insane and started shooting people. I don't know who. I remember as people scrambled to run or hide, I hid under the dining room table with the cats. When I tried to leave, to escape, I saw that the CDC was there to round up the insane one, affected by a chemical, and everyone else, just in case. They had machine guns. I saw one of the cats escaping, too. I decided to catch the cat and take it to them to make it look like I was cooperating.

However, I did this so I could escape. I caught the cat in the street. It struggled and tried to bite me as I brought it to the animal control people. At first, they were surprised and didn't want to take the cat. When I told them that CDC people wanted the cat, they took it. As they struggled to get the unhappy cat in the cage, I walked off, not wanting to answer any questions and to get away while everyone was distracted.

It was night again. As I turned the street, I started a light jog and realized I had no shoes on. Only socks. I looked and saw in the distance, a high school and knew there was a football game going on. I figured I could go there and steal a pair of shoes from the girls' locker room. I walked past a couple of fast food joints where lots of kids were hanging out on my way to the high school.

But, once I got to the school, I found it to be a junior high and instead of a football game, there was a banquet and a play going on. As I wandered through the school, looking for the locker room, I looked outside and saw that it was both daytime now and the school was next to a cornfield. As I thought about this, I walked into the band room. Two older guys were there. They reminded me of Rhonan and Sylvan. I sat down and started talking to them. We joked and laughed and Sylvan asked me why I didn't have any shoes on. Thinking fast, I told him I had lost a bet. I could not guess a riddle. So, I had to go without shoes for a week. They looked skeptical. I asked them if they wanted to hear the riddle.

Thinking fast, I said. "I am unseen but I am still felt. I am softer than a rose petal and stronger than a mighty cliff. What am I?" I knew the answer to the riddle I had just made up was "Wind."

Sylvan laughed and said, "Me!"

They couldn't guess the riddle and I wouldn't tell them the answer. We talked for a long, long time. Until Rhonan wanted to light a candle for me for warmed. I demurred but he insisted because I was cold. We talked some more until I fell asleep where I sat. Then, the guys left me to rest. When I awoke, Monte was standing in the doorway, wearing his long black trench coat. I knew he was a bounty hunter and was charged with taking me back to the CDC. Looking at him as I woke up fully, I tried desperately to think of a way to escape. I couldn't think of anything. We stared at each other for a long time.

FADE

13 May 2004
Slipstream
The dream starts out in 1940's. Bad guys want a book. A researcher who looks like Renee was involved in discovering Nazi secrets. Paranormal secrets, I believe. She has discovered they have been influenced by the future or by another dimension. Her family is killed while she is trying to protect her research. I am there. A neighbor, trying to help with all the weirdness going on. There is also a man is helping. A stranger named Nicholas Brendan (yes, of Buffy fame).

He and I hit it off very well. There is another murder, I think to persuade Renee to give up her book. The police are there as are the bad guys. In the middle of all the chaos, she is trying to flee and they are trying to kill her. I look outside and Renee is there. She is frantic to get away but she has seen the bad guy and knows he will get her this time. She gives me the book and I promise to protect it. She is killed shortly after that. As is Nicholas who was trying to protect her. His body disappears.

I am heartbroken at their deaths. I protect the book. Then, as weeks go by and we are recovering from the shock of the recent murders, a neighbor wants in to talk to me and my family. I know he is on the other side. I don't know how I know. I just do. I have kept the book with me to keep it safe. I need to get away because he has convinced my family to let him in. This means he will either find the book or start killing my family.

In desperation, I read the book and discover about the slipstream. The slipstream is a way of both traveling very fast and moving to a different plane of existence. It can allow you to move in time as well. It turns out, for me, it is a simple thing to do. I enter the slipstream to escape. It looks like rushing anime wind to me. This pushes me forward in time to a time where there are slipstream corps and operatives who work to stop people moving in time and from doing bad things in the past.

Nicholas is there. I am elated that he is not dead. He is surprised. He had only arrived home just a day before. He is healed now but, it was a very close thing. I tell them about the book and tell them about the neighbor who continued to look for the book. This it the last straw, Xander, the man behind all of this, has broken one too many rules. I am given back this precious book in cube format where it is implanted in my leg for safe keeping then Nicholas and I are sent on mission to capture Xander.

Once in Xander's lair, we split up, looking for Xander. I meet up with Nicholas again the bathroom. He is very surprised. I stop him from talking, from insisting we continue on with the mission and seduce him. {Me: "I can't help it. You, me, a secret mission, the thrill, the danger, me in a very short skirt and a thong..." Him: "You are very naughty, aren't you." Me: "You have no idea." Him: "I'm willing to find out.") The mission is interrupted for some wild monkey sex in the bathroom in various positions. Once we are done, Nicholas murmurs to me, "That was well worth it." Then, kisses me again, pressing something to my neck to make me lose consciousness.

When I wake up, I am lying on the couch in Xander's office where it turns out that Xander and Nicholas are twins. Something everyone neglected to mention. Obviously, I seduced the wrong one. (But, damn, was he good.) He is going to question me about the book and the secrets within it but I slipstream out. The ease of my slipstreaming surprises him. There is a huge slipstream chase all over the place. I am actually quite clever. Unfortunately, I don't know the area so I am caught by Nick and Tony who are, good-naturedly, just following orders and enjoyed the challenge.

As I'm pulled back in the office, I "call" for help in the form of my familiars before they can stop me. This upsets Xander and he has to move faster than he wants with my interrogation. I am bound and waiting as they discuss the interrogation techniques. I watch a bunch of their animal familiars in green and black uniforms patrol the halls, wondering why the heck all the familiars are little dogs and not something more useful like panthers. I see that my two white poodle familiars have infiltrated them. They come to rescue me but one is stopped by someone wanting to pet her. The other comes over and starts chewing on my bonds. I despair from escaping before the torture begins but the dog chewing my bonds lets me know my main familiar, a white Chinese dragon (a la Spirited Away), is coming to rescue me and he is pissed.

FADE

23 May 2004
El Diablo Comes
The dream started off with me running to the underground shopping mall. I have the sense that this is some sort of Bladerunner like future. I had no money and no idea and I was wearing only a hospital gown, a pair of sneakers and a trench coat. I was looking for ways to steal clothing. At one point I found some I could get away with. I tried to put them on discreetly but I ended up showing a whole lot to a whole lot of passer-bys who thanked me for the show. I wasn't embarrassed, just annoyed at the distraction. It occurred to me to go to the ladies room to finish getting myself together.

Once in the ladies room, my mind spun, trying to remember how I had gotten in this predicament. The rest of the dream was a flashback. I was at a school with five or six buddies. We were all in uniform, hanging out. It was clear we ruled the school and we were tough big shots. Then, a man looking like Anthony Hopkins as he did in FreeJack, showed up. We were all very respectful of him and liked him a great deal. He gave us a little speech on how the last job we did for him had been the best. Because of that, we were going to get an extra special reward.

Flash forward to the inside of some sort of amusement park ride. It had made me very nervous. So, when it started, I had adroitly climbed with it to the outside of the cage. This is what saved my life. I'm not sure how the ride killed my peers but, apparently, it did it very messily and I could do nothing to save them as they died. Though, I know I tried.

After that, I jumped down from the ride and started to run. Apparently, the whole amusement park set up was on school grounds. I avoided going into the school building. Instead, I ran down through the parking garage and out the back of it to the rocks. While I was still in the parking garage, Anthony discovered that his trap had not killed all of us and set out looking for me with his goons. He started talking and I could hear him echoing through the garage, "Ah, Jennifer. I should not be surprised at you and your escape. You were always my favorite and always the one who was most dangerous to me. I hope you know that I can't just let you go. I must and will catch you. But, I suppose we can have some fun along the way. Oh, it was very clever of you not to return to the building for your stuff. I taught you well. This will be particularly challenging on both our parts, I think." His voice is so smooth and so confident.

This made me both more afraid and more determined to flee and survive. Behind the parking garage was dirt road, some trees and then the rock city. I fled through the trees to the rock city. There were a bunch of crevices that lead down into a series of caves. You could cross these crevices by traversing over fallen petrified trees that had become stone bridges. I ran as fast as I could but I did not go down into the cave city. I wanted him to think I would because it would be harder to track me there.

I did have one detour where two little girls were looking excitedly and fearfully over the edge at something. They were pointing. "El gato! El gato!" I paused, thinking a cat needed to be saved but, it turned out a large black bear was climbing its way up to get the girls. I easily dispatched it by dropping a rock on its head, making it fall as I told the girls, "That's not a cat. That's a bear. Now, el Diablo is behind us. Run!" They knew what el Diablo meant and heard the urgency in my voice and fled.

I turned away and ran across the top of Rock city until I came to the edge of the regular city, pressed up against the rock. I easily traversed the tops of the buildings and started free climbing down from one building to the ones beneath it. I did this so easily. I was so strong and so limber. It felt good. This was what I was made to do.

I passed some building sport climbers with all their gear and they stared at me in wonder, this girl in nothing but sneakers, a plaid skirt, white bodysuit and white short sleeved blouse scrambling over the buildings without a hint of fear. I looked back at them and could see, past them, Anthony and his goons still following. "El Diablo comes! You must flee!" I took off again, leaping 30-40 feet to the building below and running.

My goal was the military base. The one group I knew el Diablo did not have control over. I was hoping they could help me, somehow. I scrambled from one building to another. I hopped the barbed wire fence and dropped 20 feet into the work yard of the military base, startling three men. I stood up, raising my hands. "I need..." one of them shot me with something. "... help." Then, collapsed. I awoke in a hospital bed with a start. I wasn't dead or in el Diablo's hands. So, that was a plus.

Then, the dream started breaking up into little incoherent scenes.

... An MP rushing into my hospital room with a trench coat. "They made a deal with him. They are going to hand you over. You must flee." He shoved me into the trench coat. "Hit me. Make it good and... good luck. Everything is counting on you now." I punched him in the face as hard as I could.

... I was climbing out of my bedroom window, shoving my feet into sneakers. Mom (a woman who was my mom in the dream but not my mom in real life) was saying, "But why did you have to work for him? I make good money. The courts are always asking for me." My scathing response was, "Oh, don't be so na�ve, Mother! You're not that good. It's because I worked for him that you got those jobs. It was a stipulation I push in my agreement with him and now, you've betrayed me!"

... I am standing looking over my own body in a morgue. I am beaten up and shot. "Well, shit. This doesn't look good."

"No, it doesn't." Says another blond haired girl on the other side of my body. "That is why I am going to save you. So you can get this..." she touches an unfamiliar chunky square necklace around my neck, "... to me and save my life. Because, without it, and you, the world dies."

"What??" I ask and the world fades to a fight in an unfamiliar stairwell. There is chaos, shouting and gunfire all around me. "Is this her?" a black woman asks. The blond haired girl nods. "Let's get her out of here before el Diablo comes."

FADE

6 June 2004
The Gift
This is what I get for reading Exit Mundi (various world ending scenarios) and watching The Dead Zone before going to bed.

I had some pretty violent dreams last night. One of them involved me and another girl escaping from someone who caught us again (I think). It was a stand off of sorts. The woman wanted something from me and I refused to give it to her. She threatened to hurt my nieces and I bluffed, saying that I didn't care what happened to them and she expected this and the torment had already started. I ran from that, calling my father for help. When he arrived, I cried on his shoulder, blubbering about Shannon's children. He told me it was alright. I did the right thing.

Switch to another dream. I was sitting inside a house, looking out the window at the balcony across the street and up a bit. There was a children's party going on and I suddenly got the impression that something bad was going to happen. I started to pick up the phone and call 911. But, since nothing had happened yet, I stopped myself. Then, the balcony collapsed and the children were screaming and falling. This time, I did call 911. However, my house phone kept hanging up on me. I got my cellphone and ran outside.

Switch to another dream. I'm walking along with my father. The world is ending. There is destruction everywhere. I have psychometry and if I touch someone, even in passing, I see how they die. Most of them have horrible, painful deaths. I walk to a church. People are talking about all sorts of strange supernatural stuff happening. I know it is because we have reached the end times. I walk through the church, to one of the inner rooms. There are several priests there. One starts to keep me out, but the priest in charge waves me in. As I walk in, I realize that it is snowing only in this room.

He is a young man who would be handsome if not for the air of a great weight on his shoulders. He turns to the other priest, "At this point, I cannot see what to do." I know this means he needs me. He needs my skills. But, I am so tired and so heart sore. I look him in the face and realize that his eyes are not of this world. They are pale green and white. He is not blind but he does not see as we do. I reach out my hand, knowing all I will see is his death. But, as he takes my hand, my Gift only shows me what is currently happening. It is such a relief. He takes my other hand as I rest my head on his chest. "I can only see this."

"I know." He says. "I exist only in the present. Rest now."

I close my eyes and do so.

FADE.

The image of me holding the priest's hand and resting my head on his chest was powerful and moving one for me. I felt at peace for the first time in a long time (in the dream) and very safe for the moment. Even if I had a hard destiny to face, at that moment, I had no care in the world. It was pretty cool.

26 July 2004
The Cursed Statue
Ximena slowly became aware in the darkness. There was movement around her bed. When she tried to sit up, she was unable to. Some force was keeping her pinned to it. One by one, candles were lit around her bed and she could see the figures now. They were the Setites she had fought at Peabody's shop as well as at White Chapel station. Some of whom should have been dead.

She tried to speak and found her voice missing. Now, as she looked around, she saw that she was no longer in her bedroom and no longer on her bed. Instead, she bound on a sacrificial table. Try as she might, she could not break the bonds. It was definitely a ritual going on. Chanting, incense and dancing. There were three female Setites dancing in a way that mimicked and invoked the goddess Kali (Much like it another dream I had called Dancing for Kali just over a year ago.).

Then, one Setite, the leader, pulled out the small "cursed" statue of Kali she had brought back with her from Egypt. He set it on the end of the table. A light grew out from behind the dancers. It grew so bright that it streamed from them, into the small statue, then from the eyes of the statue, to Ximena's eyes, making everything go white.

When she could see again, she was not Ximena. She was the avatar of Kali, the Destroyer. She was destroying this city, then soon, the country. Afterwards, the world. That which was Ximena had no control over her own body anymore. All she could do was watch her mutated body - how with ten arms - kill everything she loved. First, Percy had been beheaded. Now, this evil avatar was in the middle of eviscerating her love, Tariq. Ximena could do nothing to stop the raised blade that would behead him next.

Ximena woke up with a start and scrambled back, falling out of bed. Blood sweat stained her rumple sheets and once pristine white nightgown. She was in her home and room. There were no Setites, no rituals and her body was her own. Everything was in place, except... the cursed Kali statue was sitting on her vanity... where it should not be. "Nana! Where the bloody hell did that statue come from?"

Her ghostly ancestor replied. "Language, dear. It came from your study. It wanted to be here."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. Ask it."

Ximena walked over to the statue and picked it up. "You're not alive. You can't want anything!" In response, the statue turned its head and bit her on the hand, causing her to drop it. It fell in slow motion, tumbling over and over... until it was Ximena who was falling, tumbling over and over, screaming.

FADE

18 August 2004
Atlantis
I was standing on a gray cement bridge watching a little boy walk away. He didn't know I was watching him. This was a test. He had been given his Atlantis notebook to put all his memories of his past lives in and he was never to be without it. Nor was he ever to let someone else hold it. Like he was doing now. He had handed off the notebook to another young friend who was not part of the group. I shook my head at the failure but he was so much younger than I was when I entered into this life.

Flashback to an earlier time. I stood there nervously in my sleeveless white robe. It was time to be inducted. I raised the hood over my head and waited. A voice spoke. "Enter into the chamber through the waterfall and take your place." There were sixteen of us I had counted but I didn't know who anyone else was. I didn't get a good look.

I walked through the waterfall and took my place on the dais. Looking around, I started recognizing people - Yony, Jim, Shane and the GM from the werewolf game. He seemed most happy to see me, turning to give me a hug. "They say that old souls instinctively gather together as they travel from one life to the next." He whispered to me in the hug.

I was torn from my memories as I saw a woman approach the child with the Atlantis book. It looked as if she was going to take it from him. I ran up to stop her. To protect my own. She looked pleased to see me and backed off. There was something familiar about her. I invited her to walk with me.

Sitting back in the camper, she told me, "I know who you are. I know you are part of The Group. But, I don't know what The Group stands for. I have to know. I need to know if you are a danger to the world."

"We are not. We..." I stopped. She had picked up the Detection Stone and it was glowing. She was one of us. I smiled. "We... including you... are reincarnated souls from Atlantis. Our mission is to recover our lost civilization. We do this by gathering together and remembering the past. We have recovered much so far. Like that." I pointed at the stone she was entranced by. "Your bloodline is descendant from someone of Atlantis. It attracts their souls. It is why you dream the way you do. It is why you see things that others do not. The last of the Atlantis people planned this. They knew they were dying and they knew they would need time for this world to readjust. Now is the time for us to gather and reclaim who we really are. Welcome, sister."

She looked at me with great surprise but somehow knew my words were true. Instead of an enemy, she had found a family who would always understand and care for her.

FADE

25 September 2004
Abandonment Issues
Recently, I was discussing vivid dreams with Monte. I noted that while I had been having vivid dreams, I was not remembering them. The reason for that is the fact that I have stopped hitting the snooze button and started getting up as soon as the alarm goes off. I lamented that I missed remembering my dreams. So, I decided to hit the snooze this morning in order to remember my dreams. Perhaps, this morning was not such a good morning for that.

I dreamt that I had gone with a bunch of close friends to look at an old Victorian home. The eight of us were going to rent the place. It was really pretty. As well looked around, we started finding person items. The more we looked, the more it looked like someone else was moving in. Once that was discovered, we walked outside to go back to the cars.

I tarried a little, looking at the Victorian with longing. By the time I had walked back to the cars, someone had taken my seat in the car I had come in. I looked over to the other car, a green VW bug and saw that the front passenger seat was open. As I walked towards it, the driver, who recognized as Tim looked around, didn't see anyone and started driving away.