Dream Season
Episode 2
And the Bed Time Stories
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Chapter 1
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Jamie was sitting alone in his room staring at the crystal-covered rock his father had recently sent him. He didn't see much of his dad; the man was busy travelling for work most of the year, sending unique gifts when he could. A few months back, Jamie had received a book of Arabian Fairy tales that had quickly become one of his favourite possessions. The book with its sapphire blue cover and gold detailing, sat proudly on his bedside table, all set to be read. Every night, Jamie would pick a story at random and read till he could feel his eyelids drooping or his mouth cracking with a yawn.
Tucked into bed with his cookie monster pyjamas and stuffed blue rabbit, the kid leaned over and grabbed the book from its perch. With his finger pressed against the page, he moved up and down the crisp paper, eyes closed so his pick would be a complete surprise. When the digit stopped its journey, Jamie looked to see what story he would read that night.
"The old man and the hind, that's a good one."
He smiled and made himself comfy, his head buried deep into the overstuffed pillow that propped him up at a slight angle, perfect for reading.
"This hind you see is my wife..."
It was a short tale, so he had just enough time to finish it before his eyes finally fell shut and his mind succumbed to a most fantastical dream.
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Mrs Sanders didn't really care for her husband's friendship with his ex-wife, no matter how many times he told her that it was for the sake of his son. To be honest, she didn't like the boy too much either. He was a constant reminder that someone else had her husband first, and she didn't like how the man doted on his kid. That love was meant to be hers. She wished both of them would just disappear from her life so she could have Mr Sanders and his vast fortune to herself.
One night, as she felt the magic pulsing through her bones and into her fingertips like electricity, she decided to grant her own wish.
She'd never felt this way before, had never believed in magic or had any desire to practice it. But that night she felt compelled to go over to that pretty little house that her husband had paid for, where that spoiled brat lived with his perfectly polished mother and cast a spell that would take care of her problems once and for all.
Where she learned this spell, she had no idea.
Would it work, does magic even exist? Something told her yes, though again she was not sure what?
The thought of whether she should be doing this, never crossed her mind as she made her way down the white stone path. Tuffets of overgrown grass tickled her toes where they were left uncovered by her purple velvet slippers. Her black satin gown flowed loosely in the wind as she reached the front door. Theirs was a small town, the kind where neighbours looked out for each other so there was no point in locking doors in the evening. Mrs Sanders walked through the front passage heading straight upstairs where she could hear a mother reading a bedtime story to her son.
As the bedroom door swung open, the occupants startled and turned toward their intruder.
"Debra! What on earth are you doing here?" The woman exclaimed as she drew the boy closer to her chest. "Is it Mark, did something happen?"
The intruder laughed, a glint in her eye that spoke of danger. Without a word, she began moving her hands in a circular motion, little sparks jumping with life from her palms.
"Mummy, what's she doing?" The kid's eyes drew toward the magic, like most people his age he still had enough imagination to believe in such things.
"I don't know honey," she replied calmly before turning her attention back to Mrs Sanders. "Whatever this is, it's late and Mikey should be asleep."
As a blue smoke began to build around their feet, the boy and his mother tried shuffling away but found there was nowhere for them to run. The chuckle continued with its menacing tone, scaring the poor child as he clung to his mother's shirt. Questions were asked, but no answers were given, not that it would help the pair now. The room soon filled with a cerulean mist, the three people inside vanishing into its depths.
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Jake dragged himself down the annex's staircase. His blue woollen robe wrapped tightly around his waist as he tiredly rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The muscles in his legs ached and bones in his back cracked as he took each step with an air of attentiveness. He was that kind of tired that seeped into your entire body making it feel about a decade older. Slowly making his way to the ground floor, the librarian tried to wake his joints up by rotating them cautiously, but only managed to spread the aches further. It was the third morning in a row where he'd woken up like that.
Finally reaching the bottom step, he took a moment to breathe in his surroundings.
Stone normally had the annex to himself in the morning. Jones and Cassandra weren't fond of getting up early. Baird would already be out for her daily run. And Jenkins spent more time in his lab than the main area when there wasn't a case. This left Jake with a huge space to himself, where he could relax in his comfy pyjamas, drinking a hot cup of joe whilst he caught up on the latest from the world of historical art and architecture. For at least an hour or two, he would have the peace and quiet he craved for.
So, the fact that there was a smell of coffee in the air, and multiple people buzzing around, meant that something was off.
"What are you guys doing up so early?" The historian questioned as he stumbled toward his desk. The pounding between his ears had him reaching for the pill bottle he kept in his drawer, a familiar routine by this point.
"Early? What are you talking about?" Jones replied, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "We're not early, your late... extremely late. We thought you'd gone out with Baird."
"Who'd gone out with me?" The guardian called out as she jogged into the room. She had too much energy for whatever time it was. "Christ Stone! Go back to sleep, you clearly need it."
The room turned to look at him. His pale as ash skin stood out under his scruffy brown hair, and the patches under his eyes were dark and sagging. They could tell he was struggling to focus as he squinted with those red-rimmed orbs, his hands coming back up to scratch at them. As he sat there, slumped on the edge of his desk, the team couldn't help to think of how small he really was. He normally covered it up with a larger-than-life personality, filling the space with endless facts and opinions. But now it was obvious that he was in fact a good few inches under six feet, and somehow shrinking by the minute.
Jake pulled up the shoulder of his dressing-gown, suddenly feeling the chill from all their gazes.
"That's the problem. When I do try to sleep, I just keep getting these strange dreams. I must have woken up at least five times last night." He huffed, falling heavily into a wooden chair.
"You should avoid eating cheese before bed, it gives you nightmares." Jones pointed out before heading back to his project.
"Pretty sure that's a myth," Cassandra responded before Jake could. "Most nightmares are caused by overtiredness, hearing strange sounds in your sleep, mental health disorders... oh and yeah, needing to pee." She smiled as she listed off the contents of a high school textbook.
"As interesting as that all is, I wasn't having nightmares. They were dreams, very strange dreams that made no sense." Stone clarified, his mind still swimming with images that had no context to them. "They were like memories, missions that we'd done together, but there was this man with us that seemed familiar yet not. God, I'm not making any sense." He rubbed his hands along his aching temples, hoping to erase the pictures from his mind.
"No, you're not mate," the thief patted his friend on the back. "But then again, you never really do."
"Thanks," Jake answered sarcastically, rolling his eyes to emphasize his tone. "They would start off normal, like that time at the henge where we found the crown of King Arthur. But this time, instead of it being just me and Cas, this guy was there. I couldn't tell what he was saying, but it seemed like he was in charge."
The others looked at him like he was out of his mind. And who knows, maybe he was. Why else would he be dreaming about a life with this mystery man that never happened? They all stood there for a few seconds more, silent and nervous before Baird stepped in to break the awkwardness.
"It's probably just stress, Stone." Jones and Cas nodded in agreement. "These past few years have been tough on all of us, but you mostly. Your mind probably just wanted a chance to escape, so it made a world where someone else was our leader."
"Maybe?" He didn't seem all that convinced, but before they could argue about it more, the clipping book activated. "No rest for the wicked."
Baird, Jones and Cassandra raced over to the book, with Stone trailing slowly behind. The guardian took her spot in front reading where the pages opened themselves.
"A woman and her son have gone missing."
"What's so strange about that?" Jones asked from over her shoulder.
"Nothing, except the fact that a cow and its calf were found in the child's bedroom."
"Wait, what?"
"That's what the article says." She moved out of their way so they could see for themselves. "The dad came to pick up his son from his ex's house, only to find them both missing and a couple of cows left in their place." She sighed wondering if her life could possibly get any weirder. "Jake get yourself dressed while the rest of us set up. It looks like we're heading to Wyoming."