Chapter 8: The Significance, Pt. 1

Dream sequence

Once again, Ray woke up in that same empty room as he had once before. This time, he was standing up. He noticed the chair was still there, but abandoned in a corner to his left.

The overall room, though, had some improvements. It was a little bigger, up from the 8 foot by 8 foot to 12 foot by 12 foot. The source of light, from wherever it was, was somewhat stronger. At this, he could see the walls were some shade of green, compared to the bleakness before.

Ray looked down at himself. Same clothes, different colour: similar shade of the walls. It wasn't that bright lime green, but it wasn't the puke-green either. He wrinkled his nose. Any kind of green was not his colour. At least he didn't look like a funeral director. More like a park ranger. Or those old veterans with their army uniforms in WWII. The Detective almost snorted.

He then stood to attention. Would Fraser show up again? For some strange reason the Detective was more reposed this time. Obviously he could not get out of these surroundings yet, so he should just let it play out.

On cue, the Mountie appeared. Still in dark blue apparel.

"I expected you back," his voice audited out. It sounded like the same formal tone he usually used, but it had a lot more authority in it.

He came closer, but still was a few feet away from the Detective.

Ray cleared his throat. "Yeah. About that. How come out 'visit' was cut short last time?"

"Why don't you ask your Dudley Do-Right friend of a Mountie. He woke you up, didn't he?" Fraser answered simply.

Ray shifted his weight. He wasn't confused, but he wasn't clear on what the other man was saying either.

Then awareness hit him. He suddenly realized that the 'being' in front of him resembled the Mountie, but was not the Mountie. So would that make him a version of the Mountie?

Ray quickly looked back up. "You're here to give me a message, aren't you?"

Fraser gave a small smile. "You are close. I'm only here to guide you and to help you. It's up to you to do the rest."

Ray frowned at the cliché. "Come on, I'm here, aren't I! Gimme a break."

Fraser gave a look that said "You're already being given one."

Ray ignored the obvious affirmation and waited for Fraser to continue.

"You better listen carefully to what I have to say, assuming you want to make sense out of all of this."

The Detective flashed back to the last time he was here. So that's what Fraser was saying before he got woken up. 'You better…listen'.

"Okay, if you're here to guide me, I can ask questions, can't I?"

"Most certainly you can, but answers are not always going to be found."

Almost before the words were out of Fraser's mouth, the Detective shot back a response.

"This is why I became a cop! Never liked this abstract stuff, ya know? Just bang, boom. Get the bad guy, and put him away."

Fraser smiled again. A knowing smile. "You sound like someone I know. Someone who is going to replace you in the near future. He has such a boldness."

The Detective frowned again, this time angry, and slowly turning red. "Whaddaya mean he's gonna take my place! What do you know!"

Fraser was patient. "No need to get upset. You will do this willingly, and when the time comes, you will understand."

Ray took a breath and composed himself. "You know, maybe you are revealing too much."

"Hm. I don't think so. It's what you do with the information that's important. But believe me, you will understand, all in good time."

There was no response. Ray stood still for a moment. He was just overwhelmed with how compliant he was being with the whole situation. It was in his nature to resist, or to fight, but he wasn't doing either of those things.

"I will tell you that we were cut off briefly last time because you were just being introduced to this concept." Fraser's arms opened wide and swept around him. "You were just beginning to accept it. It got you to think about what's going on."

"I don't know what to do," Ray replied, rubbing his forehead.

"You've already started, just by being here," Fraser emphasized. "You've come to a power that is beyond yourself."

Side note: Continue to pt. 2.