What Dreams May Come

She awoke from her dream in a state of shock. The scotch usually helped to keep her relaxed and calm during her most intense of dreams, but this one, it felt much too real and it was way too close for comfort. Her mouth was horribly dry. Her clothes were damp from sweat. Her head was spinning, almost as if she was drunk but she knew she only had 1 glass the night before. She got out of bed for a glass of water but on her way downstairs, she decided she needed something much stronger to calm her nerves. She needed to figure out what had just happened to her. She needed some scotch. She headed toward the liquor cabinet instead. Lillian is an attractive brunette with brown eyes and long, thick, curly hair. Attractive for 32 but with more wrinkles and body fat than she would prefer. When she was younger and in her prime, before her daughter of course, she had a petite and slender frame. Her nickname in high school was Lil Lil not only for her tiny body but for also being one of the only girls in town that could spit a rap. She was known to spit a rap or two at parties after a couple beer. She had gone by Lil though, for as long as she can remember. As a kid, she had assumed her parents had given her that name because she was a very little girl but turns out they were just too lazy to speak her whole name and eventually it became a bad habit. It was not until she was about 6 when she learned her real name was actually Lillian. Lil was easier to spell though, so she had decided all on her own at 6 years old, without her parents influence, that Lil was indeed her real name. She was already a very strong and independent girl for such a young age. She had matured quicker than most kids do. She was 8 years old, living with her parents and younger sister in a small town on Vancouver Island, when her first most memorable and horrific dream happened. A boy about her age, a boy she did not recognize was being grabbed and beat up by some kids older than him. Lil could feel the boy's pain through her dream, almost as if she was the boy herself. When they struck him upside the head to keep him quiet, Lil let out a horrific scream in her sleep, bringing her parents running to her bedside. The older boys tortured the young boy and Lil felt all of it. Then when they started to bury him alive, Lil could taste the dirt. She woke up in tears and gasping for air. That is how she awoke from most of her dreams ever since. She would normally wake up when she could not bare the pain anymore and as a kid there were a lot of unbearable dreams. Her mother, unsure of how to comfort her child who would be crying hysterically and unsure of how to deal with such intense nightmares, she would give Lil a nice spoonful of scotch to soothe the dreams. It really did seem to help her as a child or it was at least blacking out the dreams. Which was good enough for both Lil and her parents to get some sleep. She had been having these dreams ever since then but it was not until her early twenties when she realized these dreams of hers were actual real events that were happening all around her. She was 22, living not too far from her mother and sister but far enough that she wished she could see them more. She was struggling with her deadbeat gambler of a husband and basically raising their 4 year old daughter, Cassie, on her own when she had a dream about a local dog that was reported missing. She had seen the flyers plastered all over town over the last few days. She had fallen asleep thinking about the dog and when she had awoken, she could not shake the feeling that the poor dog really needed her help. In her dream, she had seen where the dog was. She wanted to go right away but of course, she had her wifely duties to do first. If she did not have breakfast ready in time, her once somewhat attractive husband, who was now balding in his early age and also had a gut so large she doubted he can even see his own p***s, well he would get quite upset and it was easier to please him than to argue. So after the breakfast was made, the chores were all done and Stephen gone off to work, Lil got Cassie into the car and she drove off towards the spot in the woods where she could picture the dog. She parked her car by the side of the road. It was a slightly windy day but not too bad of a chill for late October. They had to walk a little while but that was okay because Cassie loved the woods, especially in the fall. They walked about a mile, kicking leaves and running along, Lil just followed her memory. When they found the dog, he was whimpering, cold and clearly injured. Cassie went running towards him yelling, “Puppy!” but Lil stopped her. "The puppy is hurt, Cassie. Please don't touch him just yet. Let me call someone for help first." Lil got on her phone and called the police to report she had found the missing dog. Lil and Cassie waited with the poor, injured pup until a couple of officers had arrived to bring him to a vet. Of course the police did have their questions and some concerns. Like what was she doing way out in the bush? How did she know that the dog was there? They definitely scorned her about how it was not a safe place for a woman and child to be walking about. They told her the dog had looked like he was attacked by a cougar. Had she not noticed any of the cougar warning signs by the road? Lil felt stupid after they had told her this. She was not aware that there were such animals in the surrounding woods and she would have never taken her daughter in there if she had known. She had told the police that the injured dog had come to her in a dream. She had seen where he was and she went to him. The officer on the case looked at her a little funny. It was his sixth sense to know when people were lying and she was definitely not lying. Either not lying or she was a sociopath but it caught his attention nonetheless. It got him thinking about how maybe she would be to help him and the police department in the future, if she was not a sociopath that was. He said he would contact her soon in regards to her statement. The officer shook her hand, introduced himself as Detective Hodges. He mentioned to Lil how grateful the owner of the dog was and that the owner was also offering a reward. He told her that she could come to the station anytime to receive it. He tipped his hat to her and got into his police car. Lillian became a bit of a local hero after that day. She could not even walk down the street without someone wanting to talk to her. It was very strange to her but it was also very thrilling. This had finally answered her life long question as to why her dreams felt so real. For the first time in her life other than being a mother, she felt like she finally had a real purpose. She was born to help the people in her dreams. It was a few days later when Lil had read an article in the local newspaper about a missing 4 year old girl. The article read that the girl's parents were in a court battle. The mother wanted full rights and claimed that the father was a criminal biker but both the mother and father claimed to have no idea where their daughter was. According to the article, she was last seen at her daycare. The teachers had thought she was picked up by her father or at least by a man that looked an awful lot like him. Police were asking anyone with information to please contact the local department. The date on the paper was from 5 days ago. Lil felt sick immediately. She recognized the girl from somewhere. She thought hard for a moment and realized Cassie and the little girl went to the same daycare. Her name was Anna. She was blonde with blue eyes and the cutest little smile. Lil knew she had to help the girl. She was glad it was already evening so she did not have to wait long before she could sneak a small drink of scotch and hop into bed. She woke up in the morning in a little bit of a panic. She called the police department and asked to speak with Detective Hodges right away. Her stomach in knots as she waited on the line. The young girl had come to her in her dream last night and Lil was deeply concerned for the girl's well being. She was not moving in the dream. Lil was unsure if she was even alive. She was being kept in an old warehouse, handcuffed to a steel bed. There was a big, burly man that looked like a biker sitting off in a far corner, half asleep by a pad locked door. Lil could not quite make out what the sign on the door read but she was positive the last word was mill. When Hodges picked up the line she did not even take a breath trying to tell him everything. He was slightly confused and had to ask whom he was speaking to. Lillian apologized and gave her name. Hodges took a deep breath in and thought for a moment, “Thank you Mrs. Carmichael. You may have helped. We will be in touch” and he hung up the phone. The next evening the phone rang. It was right after dinner time so Stephen had not yet gone out for the night. He answered the phone and then called out to Lil, "Hey Lil sweets, phone is for you!” She was folding laundry in the bedroom. The only people to ever call for her were her Mama or her Sister. Stephen would have told either of them to just call back later because she was busy. Busy doing his laundry, but of course he would not say that. Who would be calling me this late? Lil thought. It was Hodges. He had called to tell her she had saved Anna's life. By being able to read the sign on the door, Hodges had known of an old paper mill warehouse on the outskirts of the city. They were able to get the girl out safely and arrest the one man that was on the premises. The man was not talking but did have biker affiliated tattoos. Hodges went on to tell Lillian that he believed the father owed a debt to the bikers and that the kidnapping was an unfortunate outcome. He ended with the fact that without her help Anna would still be suffering so the police department wanted to offer her a job to work in the station as a receptionist. She would have the added bonus responsibility of reading over and assisting in cases. First though, he wanted her to come into the station and to put her skills to the test in an interview. Lil was really hesitant, especially with no one but maybe her mother or sister to watch over Cassie. Stephen, who was listening over her shoulder the whole time to the conversation had a different opinion. He encouraged her to take the job and acted very excited, speaking quietly but still somehow managing to yell the words “Yes take it! Take the job!” He would never admit it but they really did need the extra income since he continued to gamble away all of their money without even a second thought about their future. His gambling was not so bad in the earlier years when Cassie was just a baby. Back then, it was only poker on weekends. As the years passed, Cassie now 4 years old, it was not just poker anymore. It was anything and everything he could gamble on. He does not care about us. Lil thought and then she also thought about the debt that just kept piling up. She was thinking about all this while still on the phone with the officer. She agreed to the interview, for the sake of her daughter's future. Hodges asked her to come in tomorrow. She agreed again, thanked him for the opportunity and hung up the phone. Stephen hugged her and gave her a crooked little grin. “You may have just saved us Lil honey!” He kissed her and ran out the door. Stephen proved everyday he did not care about what was going to happen to her and their daughter in the future or himself for that matter. She hated him for that. She knew she was going to have to make some big changes for herself and for her daughter if they wanted to have any sort of life. Later that night, the thought of her future changing drastically made her feel uneasy. Well it was either that or she was in for a restless night of dreams. Stephen was off who knows where, gambling their money. So she went for a glass of her favourite scotch. It helps with the dreams, she told herself. Little did she know that was going to be the excuse she told herself for the rest of her life. On nights when Stephen was not home, she got to drink her scotch right in bed. Which was almost as blissful as an orgasm to her lately. He hated the smell of it on her breath but she hated the smell of him. She finished her nightcap, set the glass down on her bedside table, turned out the light and drifted off into the darkness. Lillian had a rough morning. She had to deal with a fussy kid and a grumpy husband. He clearly had lost money last night. Lil could usually tell by his attitude how much money he had won or lost the night before. She had her interview to think about though so she paid no attention to Stephen's snarky and rude remarks. She was honestly a little nervous and unsure of what to expect of the interview. She had figured she was prepared for whatever they threw her way especially after the bizarre dream that she had last night. After Stephen had bitterly gone off to work, Lil got Cassie into the car and headed off into the direction of her daycare. Her new daycare, the fancy and expensive one her and Stephen had argued about but ultimately, she won. After the incident with Anna, Lil took no chances and she had gotten her daughter into the most prestigious daycare in Victoria. There was a 1:4 teacher student ratio, giving the students so much more one on one time. Her daughter deserved the best and knowing her daughter was in a safe place made Lillian feel so much better. She dropped her off with her teacher, Mrs. Johnston and then headed off towards the police station for her interview. It did not go exactly as Lillian had expected. She had assumed that Hodges would want her to read over some of the unsolved cases that they had and then to try to dream about them later that night. Which was actually exactly what he wanted but the last thing she had expected was to read a case about a missing boy from so many years ago. Hodges had brought her into one of the cozier interview rooms that they had at the station and handed her a pretty large stack of files. The files were from all over the Island and they had the photos of the missing persons paper clipped to the front of the folder. She had started to skim through the files by just looking at the photos on top. After only looking at a few, she stopped on a face she instantly recognized. He would be much older now, about her age, if he were alive. It was the boy from her very first dream. She froze and went into a dreamlike state. All the files that were on her lap had fallen to the floor. She had dreamt this dream many of times and always woke up. It was her first dream after all but this time when she dreamt it, she finally got to the end. She was not even aware she was in the police station when she came back to reality. She had never had a dream happen without her actually being asleep before. She supposed it was because she had already had this dream so many times but it was definitely a very odd experience. Hodges was kneeling beside her when she came to. “Lillian, are you alright? Lillian?” He questioned.. It took her a brief moment but she answered, “Yes.” She was a very pale white. Hodges brought her a glass of water. “Are you able to tell me what just happened to you, dear?” He asked her. She began by telling him the name of the boy was Jordan Hutchinson. He was 8 years old at the time of his death. He had just started the 2nd grade at a private school in Nanaimo. He was very mature for his age and he did not live too far from the school so his parents allowed him to walk home by himself after the first couple weeks. He was the only black kid at his school which unfortunately brought on bullying by some older kids. On the day that he had gone missing, the older kids from school had tried to take his lunch from him. He had managed to get away and ran into the office to escape. Obviously, that made the older kids mad. They waited for him at the end of the day and then followed him home. They snuck up behind him and grabbed him by his knapsack, pulling him backwards and knocking him on his bottom. There were 3 older boys, maybe between the ages of 9 and 12. They roared with laughter as Jordan let out a scream. The one boy, Lillian assumed he was the leader of the pack, struck Jordan upside the head. “Shut the f**k up!” He yelled at him. “Your whining and crying will not do you any good. No one is going to come help a black kid.” He struck him again, harder this time and Jordan fell unconscious. That made the leader panic. He was still just a kid himself. He had never knocked someone out before. He did not even know that was possible. He also did not know how to check someone's pulse. The youngest kid yelled at him, “What did you do man? You killed him!” The leader told his boys to help him. He told them they had to get into the forest up the road and to help him drag the body. He told them they had to help to bury the body and they obliged like the followers they were. Once they got into the bush, everything looked the same to Lillian. She was not familiar with the city like she was her own. She could not tell exactly where they were burying the body and that made her nervous. Since they did not have shovels, they used their hands to dig the hole. Jordan was only buried a few feet in the ground. He woke up as they had started to pile the dirt on him. He did not want to move because he thought they would hurt him more. He let the dirt cover his face. He accidentally opened his mouth and let dirt fall in. The weight of the dirt kept getting heavier. Eventually, he could not move at all even if he wanted too. He tried to scream and it only made more dirt fall in his mouth. Jordan Hutchinson was buried alive at 8 years old and there was nothing anyone could do now. The 3 boys cleaned their hands in the pond of water that was nearby and left the forest. That was the end of her dream. When Lillian finished, Hodges' jaw was dropped. He could not believe everything she had just told him. Those 3 boys were interviewed at the time of the missing report because they had been known to bully Jordan. Hodges knew the forest she saw in her dream and luckily there was only 1 pond of water in it. "I can not believe it. You just solved a fourteen year old cold case." Hodges said with admiration. That was more than enough for Hodges to offer Lillian Carmichael-Smith a full time position at the station. It was the beginning of a brand new life for her.