Chapter 11: Dreaming Out Loud
The Dahl
After their heart to heart, Bo and Lauren decided to take a trip to the Dahl and talk to Trick. They'd hoped that he would be able to help them with their current predicament. Trick was no Doctor, but he had been around for over a thousand years. If anyone could help them, it was him.
But sadly, Trick had never heard of anything like Nadia's condition.
As they were sat at the bar, Lauren's pager beeped. She pulled it out, checking the small creep for the code. *903* It read. That code meant that the Ash was requesting her presence. Which then meant that the new one had arrived and wanted to meet her.
He was early, Bo had said he was supposed to be here tomorrow.
"What is it?" Bo asked.
Lauren placed her pager back into her pocket. "It's the Ash, he wants to see me" she sighed.
Bo had no idea what this meant. For all they knew, this could be the beginning of their worst nightmare. "I'm coming with you" she stood from her stool. But to her surprise, Lauren tried to stop her from walking away.
"You can't Bo. He doesn't know about us, remember? It's too risky" Lauren didn't want to give away what upper hand that they had. Which wasn't a lot.
"I'm sure that it's nothing. He probably just wants to get acquainted with his Chief Medical Officer" Trick could tell that Bo was close to losing her temper. He didn't want that to happen.
Lauren agreed with him. "Trick's right Bo. I'll be fine" she smiled at her.
Dyson took that moment to walk into the bar, and he could immediately sense the tension in the room. He carried a large book in his hands, moving over to the bar he handed it to Trick. "Thanks again for the loan"
"Anytime" Trick smiled.
"Hey Dyson? Do you think that I could catch a ride to the compound with you?" Lauren wanted to ask him instead of Bo. The Ash didn't know about their relationship and she wanted to keep it that way.
Dyson nodded. "Yeah sure. I was about to head over there anyway. The new Ash wants to see me, God only knows what for" he scratched his beard tiredly.
Lauren turned back to Bo, touching her face with a smile. "I'll call you once I'm finished okay?" She didn't want Bo to worry about this.
"You better" Bo pulled her in for a kiss. Leaving it longer than intended.
Normally it was hard for Dyson to seem them do this, but to his surprise it was actually getting easier.
"I love you" Lauren pulled away.
Bo hummed. "I love you" she watched her Girlfriend walk out of the bar with Dyson. And instantly felt empty that she wasn't with her.
Trick could see that Bo was head over heels for Lauren. And that she was probably very frustrated at the fact that she couldn't find a way to free her. "Don't worry Bo. We'll find something. How about we go down to the lair. There may be something in the Ash's journals that can help" It was a start.
"Okay. Thanks Trick. I don't know what I'd do without you" She chuckled.
"Oh, suffer endlessly no doubt" he joked.
Bo followed him down to the Lair, hoping to God that there was something in the journals that could help them.
Light Fae Compound
"So, have you heard anything about him? The new Ash, I mean?" Lauren walked with Dyson down to the throne room, hoping that he had some insight for her. She didn't know what to expect, and that scared her.
Dyson shook his head. He knew as much as she did, which was nothing. "Nope, everything about him has been kept under wraps. They didn't even have a stag hunt for this guy, he just got chosen somehow" he found that strange.
And so did Lauren. When an Ash was either killed or deposed, the Elders would organise a Stag Hunt with three contenders. Whoever won all of the challenges, would be crowned as the new Ash. But they didn't have one for this Man, which just made her wonder why that was.
The two of them made their way into the throne room. Seeing a well dressed man standing in the centre of the room. He must've been doing some renovations, as there were four men carrying things out of the room. "Thank you very much for coming" he stepped forward with an inviting smile.
"Orders are orders" Dyson replied. It wasn't like he could tell them to get lost. If they called, he came. That's how it worked. He shook the Ash's hand, then watched him turn to Lauren.
"Dr. Lewis. I've heard so much about you from the other Elders" The Ash extended his hand to her.
Which Lauren happily took, and shook firmly. "Pleasure to meet you Ash" she nodded her head respectfully. She didn't know what to make of him yet, although she could tell that he used way too much product on his black hair.
He waved a hand at her. "Please, call me Lachlan. There's no need for formalities. I bet you're both wondering why I called you here? Not ten minutes into my new station as the Ash and already I was presented with a problem. A problem, that I will be need your help with" he had a thick British accent.
"What can we do?" With everything going on regarding Nadia, Lauren was happy for the distraction.
"It's come to my attention that a Dark Fae is feeding illegally in our territory. I need you two to find out what Fae they are and who they are. I won't have humans being fed on without my permission" Lachlan took a seat on his throne.
Dyson was surprised to hear him say that. "How many Humans are we talking about here?" He asked.
"An entire building full apparently, as you can see this takes importance" Lachlan said. He needed this dealt with now.
"Of course, we'll head over there right away. I'll just need to get my kit. Excuse me…" She nodded her head, then left quietly to head over to her lab.
That only left Dyson and Lachlan. "The building is on 23rd street, use whatever resources that you need" The Ash said.
Dyson nodded. "I'll get back to you with an update as soon as I can" he bowed once before walking off to catch up with Lauren.
Lachlan sat back in his chair, glad that he had cemented himself in with Dyson and Lauren. Sure they didn't know him which meant that they had no reason to trust him, but they would in time.
The Dahl
Bo was going through the old Ash's journals and had come up empty so far. She focused her eyes on the journal that was dated the month that Lauren was in the Congo. But as she flipped the pages, she had read nothing mentioning Lauren or Nadia.
Every time Bo thought of Lauren's ex, she couldn't help but wonder what Lauren was like with her. Was she happy? Were they in love? So many questions. One thing that she did know though, was that this Nadia was stupid to not want to have a family with someone as kind and as beautiful as Lauren was.
"Anything?" Trick approached her holding a tray of tea.
Bo shook her head while still skimming over the pages. "Zilch" she closed the book and placed it back onto the table. This was getting so frustrating.
"I'm sure that we'll find something soon enough. In the meantime, how about we discuss the mysterious little girl that you keep seeing?" Trick began to pour two cups of hot tea.
"I only saw her the once, do you have any idea what she is?" Bo sat back on the couch.
He shook his head. "Afraid not. It's hard to put a name to a face that I've never seen" To be honest, Trick was baffled by this. He knew that Bo was telling the truth about what she saw, but he also thought that maybe her own fear of Lauren's safety was stopping her from giving him a more accurate description.
Before Bo could say anything else, her phone began to vibrate. Pulling it out, she saw her Girlfriend's name on the screen. Her worry came screaming back to her, "What is it? Did he threaten you? I knew it!" She rambled.
"Bo! Calm down, I'm fine. He didn't threaten me, it was nothing like that. Okay?" Lauren tried to calm her down. She knew that Bo was worried, but this was something else.
Bo let out a breath of relief. "Sorry, I just got a little scared for a second"
"A second?" Lauren laughed into the phone.
Clearly, Bo wasn't hiding it as well as she thought. "Okay, an hour. Can you blame me? The last Ash wasn't exactly a stand up guy. I'm beginning to sense a theme. So, what did happen?" She asked.
"Nothing much really. He introduced himself to me and Dyson and then gave us a case to work on" Lauren answered.
A case? Bo was kind of annoyed that he had called them in just for a meet and greet and then have the nerve to drop work on them. "What kind of case?"
"He got word that there's illegal Dark Fae Feeding going on in his territory. He wants us to find out what Fae they are and stop them. Just another day at the office" Lauren chuckled.
Bo wanted in on this, mostly so that she could be close to Lauren. Just in case. "Need some help?" she hoped that her Girlfriend would say yes.
"Love some. It's the Freeman building on 23rd street" Lauren answered.
"It's a date, I'll be there in twenty. Love you" Bo smiled.
"Okay, love you too" Once Lauren had ended the call, Bo made her way over to the building.
At least now she would get to spend some time with her girl. She really hoped that this new Ash was different than the last. Better, even. She didn't have to worry about researching Lauren's servitude because Trick had offered to keep looking for her.
Freeman Building (20 Minutes Later)
Bo arrived at the building to see a bunch of men in suits guarding the doors, they were reluctant to let her in at first. But Dyson told them that she was with him. He led her to the apartment that Lauren was currently working in.
"Hey you…" Bo pecked her Girlfriend's cheek. Already feeling a lot better now that she was near her. Kenzi was right, she was whipped. "… So what's the deal with this place?" She asked.
Lauren was just finishing checking over an elderly woman who was complaining of not being able to sleep. And when she did sleep, she was woken up by terrible nightmares. She had never heard of anything like this before.
When they first entered the building, Dyson could smell the scent of something Fae. But since the culprit had been bouncing from human to human, he couldn't pin point where they were situated. That's if they were even actually inside of the building.
"I have no idea. This is all very strange" Lauren peeled off her gloves, placing all of the samples that she'd taken back into her medical kit.
Bo couldn't help but noticed that her Girlfriend looked very sexy when she was in Doctor mode, she loved seeing her like that.
"I agree. Look, there's nothing that we can do until we get the results back from your samples. I say that we just call it a day" All Dyson wanted to do was go home and sleep. Nothing more could be done right now.
Bo patted him on the back with a smile. "That's the best thing that I've heard come out of your mouth today" she turned to Lauren, grabbing her hand and leading her out to the car.
"Where're we going?" Lauren frowned.
"My place" Bo smiled.
Clubhouse (Later That Night)
After returning home. Bo carried Lauren straight to the bedroom, where they made the most of having the house to themselves. Kenzi had left a note telling them that she was helping out some of her cousins, with what Bo knew was probably illegal.
A trail of clothes were left from the top of the stairs to the foot of the bed. Bo and Lauren were content under the covers, in the hottest make out session to date. Bo was hovering over Lauren, her Girlfriend's hands running down her back.
"Feed" Lauren spoke between kisses.
As soon as she heard the words, Bo's eyes turned blue. She began to feed, enjoying the taste of her Girlfriend's chi. Lauren was so addictive. Bo knew that she should stop now, but she couldn't bring herself to pull back.
By the time that she had stopped. Lauren's body had gone limp below her. "Lauren?" She shook her gently, but she wasn't waking up. "Babe? Come on, wake up!" Still getting no response. This wasn't happening! Bo pressed her fingers to Lauren's pulse, desperately trying to find it.
But there wasn't one.
"NO! PLEASE!" She cried, still trying to wake her. But it was no use, she was dead. "Lauren, please wake up. Please!" She cried into her hands. She had killed the love of her life.
"BO!"
Bo heard Lauren's voice, but she didn't know how. Because Lauren still laid motionless beneath her. What the hell was happening? None of this made sense.
"WAKE UP BO!"
She heard her again, this time louder than the first. Suddenly, the room began to shake. Looking around, she saw the walls break down and a white light shined through. It was blinding, but Lauren's voice got louder.
….
Bo opened her eyes to see Lauren over her, shaking her. She was alive, this was unbelievable. "Lauren?" She had tears in her eyes as she sat up, touching her Girlfriend's face. She needed to know that this was real. "You're alive?"
Lauren had to frown, of course she was alive. "Yeah, you were having a nightmare. That's all it was babe…" She moved some hair away from Bo's sweaty forehead. "… What did you see?" She wanted to know. She had no idea what was going on. One minute they were sleeping peacefully and then the next Bo was screaming.
Bo took a breath, remembering that it wasn't real. "I fed off of you, and I couldn't stop…" She choked on her tears. "… I killed you. I'm so sorry!" She cried.
That did sound like a nightmare.
Lauren shushed her, bringing her in for a tight hug. "Don't be sorry. It's okay, it wasn't real. I'm right here babe, I got you" she soothed her, kissing her on the head as she laid them back down.
As they laid there, Lauren thought things over in her head. Bo was having the symptoms as the humans in the building. Terrifying Nightmares. Which then got Lauren thinking, it to be a Fae that fed on Nightmares. That was the one thing that the victims had in common.
And the only Fae that she knew of that could do something like that, was a Mare. As in Nightmare. Now that she knew what it was, she just had to find it.
Bo was wide awake, resting her head on her Girlfriend's chest. She was too scared to sleep, and if she did she was afraid of what would happen. Suddenly, Bo jumped at the sound of Lauren's phone ringing.
"Shhh. You're okay…" Lauren calmed her with a touch, before grabbing her phone and answering it. "… Dyson? Why are you so out of breath?" She could hear him panting on the other end.
"Sorry, but I had a really intense nightmare and I wanted to check on you guys to make sure that you're okay" he said.
Lauren wondered what his nightmare entailed. "I'm fine, but Bo isn't. She had a nightmare too. We're dealing with a Mare here, and I would say that it's a vicious one"
"I agree. We won't be able to sleep until its link to us is broken. I think that's it's safe to say that we need to get back to work" Dyson didn't want to, but they weren't getting any sleep while this thing had its hooks in them.
"Yeah, tell me about it. I'll get Bo dressed and then we'll meet you at the Dahl. Maybe Trick can help is with breaking the link" After Dyson agreed, she said goodbye and hung up the phone. Lauren was a little confused as to why she was the only one without symptoms.
Weird.
She coaxed Bo off of her chest, "We need to get to the bar. Hopefully Trick will have something to help you" she spoke quietly. She really hoped that she was right.
Bo nodded, she just wanted this nightmare out of her head. She was so rattled by her nightmare that Lauren had to help her get dressed. This never happened to her, it was like her body was frozen.
They left Kenzi a note on their way out, knowing that she slept like the dead.
The Dahl
Dyson called Trick to tell him what happened before he arrived at the Dahl. He was intrigued and asked them to get there as soon as they could. He had a way of breaking the Mare's link, but he needed Lauren's help to do it.
When they arrived, he saw the terrified looks in both Bo and Dyson. He had never seen them like this before. "Lauren? Would you come with me, I need your help with something? And you two, help yourself to whatever you'd like" he looked at the two.
Lauren turned to Bo, who obviously didn't want to be without her right now. "I'm gonna be right downstairs, okay?" She pressed a kiss to her forehead, then left with Trick.
Bo let out a breath, reaching over the bar and grabbing two glasses along with a bottle of whiskey. "So, what was yours about?" She poured the whiskey, then slid one glass over to Dyson who just knocked it back one. "That bad huh?"
"You could say that" he poured another for himself.
"I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours" she sipped the whiskey.
Dyson rubbed his eyes. "I dreamt that I went for a wolf run, only when I tried to shift back into my Human form. I couldn't…" He was reliving it again. "… I was stuck. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't turn back. It was horrible. Your turn" he turned his head to her.
Bo didn't really want to talk about her own, but that was the point of this. Dyson had said his, not it was her turn. "I was feeding off of Lauren and I couldn't stop. And when I finally did stop, she was dead" she finished the rest of her drink.
Dyson didn't know what to say to that, he would probably feel the same if he'd killed the person that he loved. "That's rough. We just have to remember that it wasn't real" that's all that he was thinking.
Lauren and Trick emerged from the lair, holding two glasses that were filled with a reddish liquid. "Drink this, both of you" she placed them on the bar.
Bo smelt the drink in front of her, and it was awful. "I think that I'm gonna stick with the whiskey, thanks though" she shook her head, pushing it away. There was no way that she was drinking that.
"No…" Lauren pushed the glass back in front of her Girlfriend. "… You have to drink it, it'll break the Mare's link to you. And most importantly, it'll take your nightmares away" She said.
"How?" Dyson frowned.
"It's made with Bacu Saliva, unfortunately we don't have time to find a live one. But I remembered that I had a vial of its saliva in my Lair. With Lauren's help I was able to make a tonic. It'll cure your night terrors" Trick was praising himself for being a pack rat.
They both grabbed the glasses, it smelt awful so that meant that it would taste even worse. They clinked their glasses, then knocked them back in one go. Drinking it all. After they'd finished, Bo and Dyson looked like they were going to vomit. They drank more whiskey trying to get rid of the taste.
"How do you feel?" Lauren asked.
"A little better, I can feel the cloud lifting. I'm not scared anymore" Dyson was so happy to not be reliving that horrible nightmare anymore.
Lauren was glad. "Bo?" She turned to her.
Bo smiled, "I'm good…" she wrapped her arms around her Girlfriend and brought her into a hug, she was so glad that she didn't feel the heartbreak and devastation of killing the love of her life anymore. "… Thank you"
"It's what I do" Lauren kissed her softly.
Dyson also thanked her before answering his phone. Apparently, the Mare had been found. Some guards that were checking on the infected humans heard a woman screaming, he followed the noise to the basement of the building. When he walked in he saw the Mare screaming in pain.
She was in labour, which explained why she fed off of so many people. She was probably eating for at least five or six. Everyone was glad that it was over. Dyson left with Lauren, they had to report their findings to Lachlan. Bo also took off, she was still tired from earlier and Lauren ordered her to get some rest.
After a sleep himself, Trick got back to finishing the Ash's journal. He had found an entry that spoke about the Congo, but he had a few more pages to read. As he flipped the next page, he saw Lauren's name.
….
May 12th
Yesterday I feared that this tribe wouldn't see the end of this week, but now I am sure that they will. Today I met a Human Doctor named Lauren Lewis, she shows great promise. She has a keen insight on the virus and its make up, I have every hope that she will create an antidote.
Although, I cannot help but think of how much the Light would benefit from having her join the fold. The high council would have some problems with it, but I have no doubt that once they see how brilliant and smart she is that they will see my point.
However there is one problem, I offered her a position with us and yet she turned it down. She was able to give me straight answers when my own Fae doctors couldn't.
May 13th
Lauren has proven to be a stubborn soul, she has refused every offer that I've made. I told her that money is of no object to me, whatever the price I will pay it to ensure her employment. Yet she turns me down. I pitched the notion to the high council, some were hesitant as I expected but others want her to join us. They have instructed me to go to extreme lengths to ensure her allegiance.
May 14th
Lauren has agreed to join the Light, although it was not entirely her choice. To ensure her employment I had to make a deal with a Dark shaman who resides here, I had him place a curse on Lauren's companion, Nadia.
A curse that mimics the symptoms of the Fae virus, it is a callous move I admit but it was the only way to have her join us. I offered her every resource at the Light's disposal, so that she would find a cure.
Although she will never know that there isn't one, for this I am deeply ashamed but I have my orders to follow. Lauren will return with me to the city, she will be under the Light Fae's protection for as long as she is with us.
I can tell that she thinks it will not be long until she finds a cure, but she will never find one. Lauren has saved the lived of over two hundred Fae, and as long as the curse is in place, she will save many more. If Nadia is the one to be sacrificed for the good of the Light Fae, then so be it.
….
Trick closed the book, he was too disgusted to read anymore, he couldn't believe that the Light would go this far to have Lauren work for them. They didn't care about the fact that they had ruined a young woman's life, or made her believe that it was all her fault. He was ashamed to call himself a member of the Light Fae. There was nothing left to do, but to call Bo and Lauren over.
1 Hour Later
Bo and Lauren entered the bar hoping that Trick had found an answer. They made their way downstairs where Trick was waiting, Bo noticed that he looked rather strange. He was more fidgety. "Please sit" he gestured to the sofa.
Both women sat and waited for Trick to speak. "Are you okay Trick?" Lauren asked worriedly.
He nodded, although he was dreading what he had to tell her. "Lauren, I'm afraid that the terms of your servitude to the Light was made under false pretenses" he said.
Lauren frowned, she didn't understand. "What do you mean?" she reached over to hold Bo's hand absentmindedly, wanting to feel safe.
"Your friend, Nadia? She's not sick…" Trick watched her tense up, holding Bo's hand tighter in fear of what he was about to say. "… She's been cursed"
