The man who freed Kik, now locked him in the trunk of his own car. He then causally made his way back inside. When he got near the elevator he pulled his glock 22 from its holster and fired two shots into the ceiling above. He then took his gun by the barrel and took a long, deep breath. He closed his eyes and braced himself for what had to come next. He smashed the butt of gun of it into his face right above his right eye, knocking him backwards into the elevator just as the doors had opened. A decent amount of blood squirted from the gash he just made but he continued to stay calm. He holstered his gun then took a cloth from his pocked and covered his cut. He folded his neck left, then right. The popping of his neck sounded like the grand finale of a fourth of July fireworks ceremony. He reached out and pressed the button for the third floor and patiently waited. It sounded like the elevator might finally give out as it made its way up. When the doors opened he waived his free hand to the four gorillas standing in front of him, including Money and Price, pointing their automatic weapons at him. “Relax fellas. It’s just me. He got away,” he said as the other men began to lower their weapons to the ground. They parted like the Red Sea for him to walk through. “Exactly how was it he got away,” Price blurted out as he strutted by. The man paused and looked at him, taking his hand away from the cut over his eye. He smirked as he shook his head slowly and adjusted his single breasted suit jacket. “You sure that’s the move you want to make right now,” he spoke in his unflustered tone. His eyes pierced through Price like a sharp dagger. Money took in a big gulp of air as he began to worry for his friend. Money knew much more about what the man in the suit was capable of and how quickly this could end for Price. Money tapped Price on the thigh and abruptly shook his head no just as he was about to open his mouth to form a word. The man rolled his eyes and continued walking towards his bosses office.





The man closed the door behind him and sat down in one of the cinnamon colored, leather wingback chairs that set in front of the bosses desk. The room was dimly lit and filled with cigar smoke. A glass of cognac sat next to a owl lampshade. “Would you like to tell me what happened Agent Domingo?” an aged voice full of wisdom and evil alike said from a fancy desk chair that faced the window behind the desk. “Ambushed. Still a bit fuzzy sir,” Agent Domingo said calmly as he wiped his gash again. “I was told words like ambushed, were not in your vocabulary when you were recommended to me Agent Domingo. I don’t think I fully understand what you’re trying to tell me,” the boss said with much displeasure. “Price and Money left their post, sir. There’s not much I can do with such inadequate help, sir,” he said firmly as he stood up and again adjusted his suit. “We’ll track him down again. You won’t hear from me again until that happens sir,” Agent Domingo said before walking out of the room. He mad his way back to the elevator, walking past everyone in the hall as if they weren’t even there. He pressed the button for the bottom floor and wiped his eye again as the elevator door shut.





He made his way outside, got in his car, and took off driving with Kik still in his trunk. He drove with the radio turned down very low although he could hear every word. He mouthed the words to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” as he maneuvered his way down a curvy two lane road. About thirty minutes into the drive he pulled the car over onto a patch of gravel and turned off the headlights. The light that shined when the car door opened was the only visible light for miles. The beeping of the car roared over the silence of the night. Agent Domingo walked to the trunk and opened it. He uncovered Kik’s unconscious body and woke him gently. “He buddy. Come on, I need you to sit up and drink this,” he said as he pulled the bag up over his mouth and began to pour in a blueish drink from a small vile down his throat. Kik almost gaged trying to get it down. He then freed Kik’s hands and handed him a fresh bottle of water. “It’s going to be a long ride. Get comfortable,” Agent Domingo said before slamming the trunk shut once again.





The blue elixir felt warm as it made it’s way through Kik’s body. He began to go numb but he was too high to notice. He began to hallucinate about red eyes, red I’s, and black elephants until he passed out again. When he woke, he was in small dark room on a hospital bed. He tired to sit up but couldn’t move at all. He could barely open his eyes, but when he did, it was too dark to see anything but the ceiling fan above. His head was throbbing and his ribs felt like that had undergone surgery. His mind turned to scrambled eggs as he continued to try and move any part of his body and met complete failure. Where was he? Why couldn’t he move? And why did his ribs hurt so much more than before? He continued to panic and scream on the inside until his heart monitor went off and triggered a small dose of clear liquid to be pumped into his I.V. He immediately fell back asleep.







Two days later…







“How are you feeling Kik?,” Agent Domingo asked from the shadows as he didn’t want Kik to see his face just yet. “Decent. Where am I?” Kik asked gingerly. “You’re safe. And your ribs aren’t broken anymore. I’ll save you anymore annoying questions. You were safe where you were so when I let you out of here tomorrow, go back there. I’ll keep them off your scent for now. We’ll talk more about the DEVO later. Rest up,” Agent Domingo vaguely explained as Kik did his best to follow. Kik tried to get a look at Agent Domingo but he had hidden himself very well. “What do you mean tomorrow? I want out of here now,” Kik began to reply but he soon realized he was talking to an empty room. He was no longer hooked to an I.V. and his ribs did feel considerably better. He could move, but he decided it’d be best to lay and rest. “And your ribs aren’t broken anymore,” Kik mimicked Agent Domingo as he laid back and got comfortable on his hospital bed.







"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""-







And I guess that’s where I’ll have to interrupt. I’ll admit I’m not to sure what the hell’s going on but apparently I’m stuck in this room for another night. I feel, actually I feel good. How I got here’s a little fuzzy though. The last thing I remember I had had my a*s handed to me, but now I’m safe, I guess. Only time will tell. If you’re bored by now I could care less. I’m telling myself this story. It’s the only thing keeping me from going crazy. And I feel like retracing my steps is the smart thing to do right now so bear with me.





I had been working on the DEVO for days. My new friend Wallace had turned out to be quite the asset, a borderline alcoholic, but an asset none the less. If it wasn’t for him and his damn pacing I might actually be finished fixing the DEVO and getting it to do what Monk had originally planned for it, live dream watching. But whatever. I want to skip to May 5th. As many of you know that’s my birthday, and for my 29th birthday I was to be buried at Sacred Oaks Cemetery at 12:30 P.M, how exciting…





I sat in front of the DEVO just staring at its beautiful structure. It’s silver shine from the titanium was still slick and fresh. The coils, where perfectly placed blue electrodes were sent from the machine to precise spots in the cerebral cortex for finding and reading dreams, had no damage at all. I was letting this take the place of worrying so much about the funeral. I told Wallace I would buy him some alcohol and a new jacket if he would go buy a camera and take some pictures of the funeral for me. There was a good chance if something was out of order Wallace would catch it in a photo. But most importantly he could absolutely get a picture of Peezy, which was what I wanted most.





THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. I heard Wallace’s footsteps and nearly jumped out of my seat. I ran upstairs and crawled to the kitchen to meet him. “Hey hey,” I said making the double pistons at him. Wallace set the digital camera down and slid it over to me. “Uh. You think I could get that money from you,” Wallace said anxiously. “Of course my good man. You have just brought me back to life. So to speak,” I said laughing a bit at the irony. I grabbed sixty dollars out of my pocket and tossed it over to him. “Uh huh. Yeah. Well, I think I’ll take off,” Wallace said strangely. “OK. I figured you wanted to tell me about the photo’s though,” I began but he had already exited the kitchen and was out of sight.





I made my way back downstairs, wondering what could have made Wallace act the way he did but I was too concerned with getting to the photo’s. I sat down at my chair and moved the DEVO out of the way. I turned the camera on and happily smiled at the first picture I saw. It was a picture of a small headstone that read “Kilae Idris Kippens 1990-2019.” How refreshing. I never wanted a big send off anyway. I flipped to the next picture. In the picture was small group of people standing watching the preacher give his sermon. I scanned through the faces only recognizing Josey’s friend from the eleventh floor. I moved to next. More faces. A few of them were fuzzy to me but I couldn’t put any names to faces. The next few were like that until I came across something I didn’t expect. It was someone’s face actually, Jordan Knight. My friend slash, fiercest competitor slash, number one enemy. I was very surprised to see him there given our previous encounter involved a few words we wont speak of now. It was actually quite pleasing to see that someone cared about me. There were more pictures but none of them were familiar or strange. I continued to flip the pictures searching for the one person I wanted to see. And then I saw her. The hit to the chest at what I saw felt like being hit by a special death move from one of my old video games. Peezy was standing there next to another man.













And listen, it wasn’t like she was just standing there next to him like, “Oh hey I’m Peezy do you care if I stand next to you.” It was more of a we came together thing. Every single picture she was more and more cozy with him. I think she was even smiling in one of them. Psst. That still pisses me off when I think about it. How could she. It’s a bit easier this time but when I first saw them, only those who’ve been there would understand. And I’m guessing most of you haven’t been presumed dead and had your girlfriend bring a date to your funeral. Anyway, glad I could get that off my chest.







I was devastated from what my eyes had just sealed into my memory banks forever. The knots in my stomach were so abnormal I couldn’t tell if I was going to throw up or pass out. I tried to start making up excuses for her actions but there were none. Whatever her reasons were, were her reasons. If I decided to find out why it would be in the very distant future. I couldn’t let my heart distract my head from accomplishing the goals I set out to accomplish. I’ll cross Peezy’s bridge when I get there.





Several days went by as I diligently worked on the DEVO. My work kept me busy as I hardly moved from my station. I actually blew through a bit more of my vapor than I had originally planned but I was content and focused on success, which also kept my mind off of Peezy. Things went surprisingly well though as I actually prepared to give the DEVO a try at what it was meant to do. Live dream watching.





It was just before dark when I decided I would ask Wallace if I could pay him to be my new guinea pig. It meant bringing him downstairs to the lab but hopefully it would be worth it. I walked up stairs and crept to the kitchen where I found him pacing as usual. “So Wallace,” I said startling him. “Hey man. Don’t be sneaking up on me like that. You liable to catch one,” he said laughing as he turned and faced me. I sat there looking up at him as the sun still hadn’t quite set. “I was wondering if you could do me a favor old buddy old pal,” I said trying to butter him. “There’d be payment,” I added. He looked at me with an easy smile. “You don’t have to bribe me to do everything Slim. What’s your favor?” he asked in his quirky tone.





I made the decision to tell Wallace everything, which was no easy task. If you could have seen the look on his face when he found out it was my funeral he was taking pictures of. He almost s**t his pants. For some reason I placed my trust in Wallace. Why? I couldn’t tell you. Anyway…





Wallace’s eyes lit up like a kid’s at Christmas when you’re an only child when we entered the lab. “Hey man I went to college and what not. Had a couple science labs and alllll that. But I ain’t never seen no lab like this one. You really got it made down here,” Wallace said as I led him to the lab table. There was envy in his tone but that was the least of my concerns. “Yeah just hop up there and get comfortable my man,” I said to him as I prepared the DEVO. He jumped a bit when I went to put the device over his head. You could tell he was nervous, and so was I.







“OK Slim. What’s next?” he asked me trying to regain his calm. “Well. You fall asleep. And I watch your dream right here on the screen as you have it,” I said I leaned over him to turn on the machine. [CLICK]. The sound of the DEVO turning on was almost better than sex. It was a beauty to watch the blue electrodes running down to his forehead. “Hey man! This doesn’t feel to good,” he said as his eyes began to close. I rushed over and turned the DEVO off. “Hey! Wallace wake up!” I said slapping him gently on the face. He coughed as he came too. “What, the hell, was that?” he questioned as sat up and tried to gather himself. I grabbed my forehead in disgust. How could I have forgotten sedative (or AM-14) that Josey’s friend made for us. We had jumped that hurdle so long ago that it had completely slipped my mind amongst all the other happenings.





“Are you OK?” I asked but my words were rather empty. I was annoyed with myself for forgetting the sedative. “Yeah I’m fine man, thanks for asking,” he said sneering up at me. I only noticed out of the corner of my eye but I had no time for it. “Do you want to give it another go then?” I asked impatiently ignoring Wallace’s obvious annoyance with me. “Sure Slim whatever,” he replied laying back down on the table. “Wonderful! I’m so sorry about that little mishap. Wont happen again,” I said to him studiously trying to figure out my next move. “What do you want me to do man,” Wallace asked as he tried to get comfortable. Without the sedative the DEVO was nearly kaput. There was only one option. “Um. Just fall asleep,” I finally answered him hesitantly. “What do you mean just fall asleep? I can’t just fall asleep out on command,” Wallace exasperated, flailing his arms in dismay.





I stepped back for a moment. I let everything around me fade away until there was nothing in the room but me and the DEVO floating weightlessly over my lab table. THINK. BE CALM. BREATH. That was how I dealt with my oncoming panic attacks. Crisis averted. I looked over at Wallace and smiled as I took a huge puff from my vapor and let out a gigantic cloud of smoke. He chuckled at my goofy smile and laid his head back on the table still trying to get comfortable. The two of us sat there patiently waiting for Wallace to fall asleep. The best I could do was try and guess when he reached his REM sleep and then turn the DEVO on. But that opportunity never presented itself because by the time he reached his REM sleep so did I.





The next morning I woke up alone in the basement. I figured Wallace had just gotten up and went about his regular day which was no problem. The first thing that popped into my mind was the AM-14 sedative that I needed to put Wallace to sleep and properly use the DEVO. I took a solid puff from my vape and scanned the room. I looked down and saw the camera Wallace used to take pictures of my funeral. It was the first time I had picked it up since the day of. That’s when I realized I never celebrated my birthday. I was too torn up about Peezy to think about myself at the time. So I decided that day would be just as good as any to celebrate.





I made my way upstairs to ask Wallace to go to the liquor store and buy us a bottle of “Von Strasser” Cabernet wine. I figured that was the best way to reconcile after our rough night. He of course accepted my offer but when he returned with two less expensive bottles of Taaka vodka instead of the expense wine I asked for, I new I was in for a peculiar night. It was only half past noon but Wallace insisted we begin drinking right away. “Here, this is you right here,” he said handing me the seventeen dollar bottle of cheap liquor draped in a wrinkled brown dress. “Go on now. Take that to the head. It’s your birthday we going to do this right!” he continued. His excitement was beginning to get contagious. I twisted off the blue cap and took my first swig. I scoffed as the clear lava burnt its way down my throat. “Yes sir! Enjoy that burn! That’s life right there. Feels like hell going in, feels like hell coming out, but that don’t stop it from being one HELL of a ride!” he said as he took a long drink from his bottle.





I must admit, the alcohol was strong but boy did it feel good to have that buzz. It only took a few more shots before I felt damn near drunk, but Wallace insisted we continue drinking anyway. To tell you the truth I really needed it. I vapor kept me calm and collected. It also tended to send all my emotions inward, creating a separate personality within myself. Long story short, I was wound up a bit too tight and the Taaka was about to help me release. Wallace talked, and I listened, laughing my way through a few too man shots. He had some hilarious stories to tell but I do have to say some of them were strikingly sad.





I don’t remember how or why, but for some reason he got on the subject of my funeral. “It’s been a that long since I’ve been around that many women! I tell you I don’t miss it,” Wallace drunkenly rambled on. At that moment the camera with the funeral pictures popped into my head. I suddenly remembered seeing Josey’s friend’s face. If I could secretly get in contact with her and get her to bring me a small supply of AM-14, all while remaining anonymous, I would be in business. Easy enough right? I awkwardly army crawled back to my room. Making it down the steps was an entirely different catastrophe all to itself. I’m not sure if I fell all the way down, or if I made it some of the way and THEN barrel rolled the rest of the way. All I know is I made it to the bottom but my elbow hurt like a son of a b***h the next day.





THINK. How do I get in touch with her? I typed in her name into my computer’s search engine. “Amanda Rosenbaum, MeetMeHere.club” was the first thing that popped up. It was most likely a coincidence but it was worth a try. Sure enough it was her. Her straight red hair and piercing blue eyes gave her away behind her leopard print masquerade mask. She was actually quite stunning the way she posed with her head slighted to the side. But I wasn’t in a place to be distracted by feminine talents just yet. I quickly made a profile and messaged her. I had to keep it as straight forward as I could given the delicate nature of what I needed from her. I let her know I worked on DEVO the with Josey in Lab D but left out any other names. I told her that because of the tragedy I was now working alone and in secrecy, but that without her cocktail I couldn’t accomplish what we had set out to do as a team. She sent back some long message about Josey and how she missed her. At least that’s what I got for the first two lines of it. I wouldn’t have even tried to read that much if I wasn’t so drunk. It was so hard to read I nearly threw up. Eventually I talked her into bringing the AM-14 to an abandoned house near where I parked my father’s car. She agreed to drop it off in the mailbox, and all I had to do was let her know when. Then I would bribe Wallace to go and get it for me and the DEVO would be ready for use.





I had planned to run right upstairs and tell Wallace of my plans but I never made it out of my seat. I passed out sitting there in my chair, too drunk to even remember falling asleep. When I woke I felt nearly dead. My body felt like it had been through a few rounds with heavyweight. That just goes to show now much of a lightweight I was. My stomach growled like I hadn’t eaten in years. I clumsily made my way through the room to the refrigerator and sought out the greasiest thing I could find. I popped a frozen pizza in the microwave. I ate and chugged as much water as I could until I felt sober enough to make my way back upstairs. It was nearly dark when I crept back into the kitchen and found Wallace pacing back and forth, holding his bottle of Taaka that was now half empty. “Oh there you are Slim! I thought you bailed on me for good,” Wallace said as I eased myself into position in the floor. It was strange how normal creeping around the upstairs of my own house had become. I took a deep breath and gathered myself before speaking as I still felt a little tipsy. “No. I just had some important business. Which is actually why I’m back now. I need to ask another favor,” I said. He stopped pacing and faced me as soon as I finished speaking. “Oh no Slim. I’ve done you plenty of favors. It’s time I ask one of you,” he said firmly but with smile. “And you have to say yes first cause I don’t have any money to pay you. I just need you to do this,” he added. It hadn’t crossed my mind until that point he truly hadn’t asked anything of me. He obviously knew I had a bit of cash put up but never asked for any. I owed him a favor in all actuality.





“Whatever you need. Is it money?” I asked. “No not at all. It’s kind of more for you than for me,” he said. I selfishly became intrigued. “Well, I know those pictures probably hurt a bit. You didn’t come back up here for days. I started to worry about you you know. Well. What if I told you that that man would be at your old lady’s house tonight?” he asked. I was completely shocked and frankly a bit confused about what was just said. “And then what if I said we should go down there and teach him the lesson his daddy should have,” he finished, taking a nice size swallow from his bottle. I could barely believe what I was hearing. That was the last thing that would have ever crossed my mind. I wasn’t the violent type at all and pushing Peezy to the back of my mind is what had allowed me to focus so much on the DEVO. It was now dark and getting a look at Wallace’s face was getting more difficult. I hated to disappoint him but he was truly putting me in a bind. “Look, I can see you’re hesitant. I’m not a bad person. But he disrespected you in a way I couldn’t imagine being disrespected. I don’t have anything to give but I figure this is about the only thing I can think to do for you that would truly be meaningful. I never was a bad gift giver,” he explained. Even underneath his drunken slur he sounded sincere. I couldn’t turn him down.





We walked together to where I had parked my dad’s car. It was the first time I’d been outside in weeks. It was so refreshing to be out I nearly forgot I was in hiding. I pulled my hood off my head as we got in the car. I was sober enough to drive but that didn’t mean I still wasn’t feeling the vodka. I made my way down the street taking it slow until I got into a grove with my state of being and headed towards the interstate so we could get to Peezy’s house. That was the easy part. I hoped and prayed the man in the photo wasn’t there as we made the twenty minute ride to her house in the most golden of silence. She lived in a small neighborhood right outside of the city, conveniently fifteen minutes from the college she worked at.





The lights were still on when we drove by her house the first time as slowly as I could. Now that I had driven all the way there I might as well get on board with the mission. I had kept Peezy in the back of my mind long enough. My heart stopped when I saw a darked haired man walk past a window as nonchalantly as I would have. My blood began to boil. I nearly hit the curb as I tried to turn down the next street. “Find somewhere close to park,” Wallace said calmly and I did as directed. We got out and snuck our way to the side of the house. We peaked into the kitchen window and waited for someone to show themselves. That’s when I saw her for the first time. Her dark hair was a treasure to my eyes. She smiled so beautifully, until I realized she was smiling at him. They spoke for a moment then embraced for another long one. The way he leaned in I couldn’t tell if he had kissed her or not. It was driving my nuts the longer they held each other. And if they kissed or not meant a number of different things that I needed to know right then and there.





They left the kitchen and headed towards the front door. Not knowing if they kissed was almost worse than actually knowing. My mind was going one hundred different directions. The methods I had been using lately to keep from my panic attacks weren’t working. But then I realized it wasn’t panic, it was rage. We moved swiftly to the corner of the house waiting for him to come outside. My heartbeat was slow. Whatever was about to happen, I was at peace with. As a man, I couldn’t stand for this. “I love you too,” the man said closing the door behind him. He made his way down the porch steps casually as if he belonged there. I was about to lose my mind. We quietly made our way across the street following him to his car. “You get back to the car, I’ll take it from here,” Wallace said as he put his hand on my chest. He shook his head at me until I agreed. “Don’t turn back. I don’t need any witnesses,” he said softly as I began walking back to the car. I heard him scream to get the man’s attention but after that I turned my focus on getting back to the car. By the time I got there I wasn’t even mad anymore. I kind of felt bad for the guy. Oh well. I sat in the car and waited patient but I only waited a minute or two. I saw Wallace running my way and immediately started the car without turning on the lights. When he got in we made our getaway as casual as can be. I turned the lights on a couple blocks down the street as if it were just and accident and then made my way back the the interstate.





I did my best not ask him what happened but I couldn’t keep silent any longer. I needed to know. “So what happened,” I asked as we pulled up to the spot I had parked the car before. “Let’s just say he wont be around your old lady anymore for any reason,” he said in his calm demeanor. But this time it sounded a bit more creepy than smooth. That was all I needed to hear. “I’ll need you to come out here and pick something up out of the mailbox tomorrow after the sun sets. Is that OK?” I asked him as we got out of the car and began our hike back to my house. “Yeah Slim. It’d be my pleasure,” he said laughing drunkenly. For a while I had forgotten we had even had any alcohol but I actually felt like I needed another drink right then.





We finally got back to the house and we both took a drink from our bottles. “I got one more favor to ask of you Wallace,” I said putting my bottle down on the counter. I need you to use my machine again tomorrow, the only thing is, you cant drink,” I said to him hesitantly. “I wont need a drink for a while after tonight Slim. That’s no problem,” he replied. “Salud,” I said as we turned our liquor up again. Nothing more needed to be said as we both went our separate ways for the night.





I didn’t wake up the next day until mid afternoon. I had a headache from hell and bad feeling about the night before. I went and found my vape and took a much needed drag. I then made myself some coffee and sat back down on my air mattress feeling like death. The vapor helped wipe some of the pain, but I realized when I was making my coffee that my stash was starting to get to a point that wasn’t to comfortable. I needed to slow it down a bit because getting back Phang’s house wasn’t going to be an easy task.





I got some much needed rest. The only productive thing I did was message Amanda to tell her to drop off the AM-14 that night at sunset. Besides that, I just laid there and watched “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” all day sulking about Peezy and forgetting I knew anything about what happened to that dark haired man I saw at her house.





When sunset came though I made myself as ready as I could. I made my way upstairs to find Wallace and give him his instructions but when I got to the kitchen he was no where to be found. I sat down in my usual spot in front of the counter and waited. It was only a few moments later that Wallace came walking through the door brandishing a big envelope. “Here you go Slim,” he said handing it over to me. I stood up and opened the envelope, pouring a smile vile of AM-14 into my hand. I smiled so big I should have been put on a Colgate commercial. “Look at that, he has teeth,” Wallace commented as I began to walk towards my room. “I take it we’re going to do that now then,” Wallace said following behind.





He laid down on the table and got himself comfortable. “You afraid of needles Wallace?” I asked as I prepped the sedative for injection. I didn’t have an I.V. so we would have to do it the old fashion way. For once Wallace was actually speechless. I could see how uncomfortable this was making him but I had no other choice. I think he knew that as well, hence the silence. I tied his arm with a tourniquet and sterilized it where I was going to inject the AM-14. I felt his muscles tense and I got close with the alcohol pad. “Those blue hands you got feel mighty cold,” he said referring to my latex gloves. “I owe you big time,” I said as I pumped his throbbing vein with the most quintessential sedative I’ve ever laid eyes on. Nothing could be more important to the DEVO than the AM-14. If the DEVO was Batman the AM-14 was most definitely Robin.





It began working on him instantly, sending him on a fast track to REM sleep. I placed the DEVO over his face and turned it on. It was beautiful. Everything was quiet except for the DEVO working its magic. I took a puff from my vape as a victory lap and then realized I’d forgot to turn on the screen. I hurried and turned the monitor on. Nothing. BREATH. PATIENCE. Thirty seconds felt like an eternity until the screen began to get fuzzy. Then it started to look like a storm cloud with red lighting streaks flying through them. Suddenly images of people began flying across the screen and slowly a gymnasium began to form. “Wallace! Wallace! Wallace!” the crowd began to chant. Soon the entire stadium full of screaming fans. A basketball came flying towards the screen but was caught by two outstretched hands. There was no doubt I was seeing Wallace’s dream as he was having it. I jumped up from my seat with so much excitement I nearly knocked my chair over. LIVE dreaming! I had done it! Monk would be so proud of me if he were still around to see.





His dream was very interesting to say the least. He played mystical game of basketball and even scored the game winning points. The crowd went wild. I only wish I had dreams like that. Then things got strange when he went through the line to shake the other players hands. They all had blue gloves on their hands when they went to shake his hand. The screen began to shake and go snowy. Things began to get dark and then just like that the screen went black and the dream was gone. I jumped up and ran over to the DEVO to see if it had moved out of place but nothing was wrong at all. My lab wasn’t simple by any means but if I wanted to solve this problem I would definitely need to be in Lab D. I needed to track his brain activity to see what went wrong and I simply couldn’t do that there.





I turned the DEVO off and replaced it back on my desk while Wallace lay there still knocked out by the AM-14. It had only been about thirty minutes or so since Wallace went under so there was no reason to try an wake him up until a decent amount of time had passed. I took a puff from my vapor and relaxed. Going over what I had seen in Wallace’s dream and how cool it must have been to be him at one point in his life. Then I remember seeing the blue gloves in his dream that were just like the ones I wore before I injected him with the sedative. I could tell he was scared of needles by his reaction. It was profound and strange at the same time. But it also led me to another conclusion about why things went fuzzy and then cut off. He was starting to have a nightmare when it happened.





Suddenly Wallace began moaning and twitching around on the table. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but it seemed as if he was in much pain. I tapped his shoulder to wake him but he wouldn’t. I then shook him but he only moaned louder and with more terror. It had been an hour at this point but he still wouldn’t be woken. I felt bad for him as he twitched harder and harder and continued to moan. The poor man was stuck in a nightmare with no way to escape. I continued to try and wake him up but to no avail. By hour two the moaning worsened and he began to sweat enough to fill a small kids pool. Since we had been using the AM-14 it had never held anyone under longer than two hours. I knew there was nothing wrong with the sedative, it had worked many times before. I then leaned over Wallace’s face and caught the faintest wiff of liquor on his breath. No wonder he was having a reaction to the AM-14, he drank when I told him not to. My sympathy for him then began to wear off.





It wasn’t until hour three that I finally got any real response from him. “Ahh! Get off of me!” Wallace screamed as he opened his eyes and clutched his fists under his chin. He groaned in pain from the wear and tear the sedative put on his body. “Are you OK?” I asked slowly and plainly. He looked up at me with a blank stare and glossy eyes. “Oh s**t,” I said aloud as I started to realize the agony I was putting Wallace through. And without the Narcan to counter the AM-14 he was in for a great deal of pain for a unknown duration of time. How could I have been so selfish to put him through that, I thought to myself. But then I remembered what I was going through and that without him I was just a sitting duck. I sat over him for another hour checking his pulse and respirations every fifteen minutes until he was able to help me carry himself up the stairs and to the couch. When I returned downstairs I sat in front of the DEVO with a half hearted smile on my face. Success with live dreaming came at an awful price, but I’ll take a side of pain with my main course for sure. They say blood sweat and tears get the job done so blood sweat and tears it would be.





The next morning I woke up and took to the bottle of alcohol I had remaining from two nights prior. I had nothing to do now but wait. Once Wallace had recovered I needed him to go back under and try to have a normal dream if possible instead of a nightmare. While I waited I might as well have a good time. I worked on ways to make it more comfortable for him all day long. Some of my ideas were OK, while some were just intoxicated mumbo jumbo. I did finally quit drinking when I started dry heaving from not having eaten all day. I ate and took a nap to sober myself up for what was hopefully going to be another good night.





I woke up around 10 P.M. with a slight headache but a puff from my vape eased the pain immediately. I grabbed a cold bottle of water for Wallace and headed upstairs to talk to him about using the DEVO again. I found him on the couch where I left him. I wish I had the Narcan to help with his recovery but it was too late for that. “How you feeling?” I asked cautiously as I made my way to the front of the couch. “Half dead,” he said with a half smile. “Let’s get you some water,” I said handing him the bottle. He sat up and guzzled the entire thing in less than ten seconds. “You weren’t kidding were you,” I said to him as I saw how softly he was moving. I hated to ask him to use the DEVO again but I had to.





“Have you eaten anything?” I asked. He shook his head no and I made my way to the kitchen where he kept his food. I opened the cabinet and found nothing but a few cans of beans and box of Cinnamon Crunchies. “Why you going through my stuff man?” Wallace asked angrily from behind me. I didn’t expect him to be able to move so well on his own. It was a good sign but the look in his eyes was giving me a bad feeling. “Did you not hear what I said?” he barked again. I could tell the AM-14 was making him a bit irritable. “I just getting you something to eat Wallace calm down,” I replied easily so as not to set him off. “Who the hell told you to do that though? And don’t tell me to calm down you son of a b***h I am calm,” Wallace said viciously. “I do apologize I didn’t know I was out of line,” I said trying to wave my white flag. “You never think you do step out of line do you, you little smart a*s,” Wallace said continuing his aggressive manor. I could tell I had no control nor was I going to gain any control over the situation at all. “OK. I’m just going to go back down stairs and come back later when you’re feeling better. “Oh and let me guess, when I feel better you want to stick another needle in me and put me through that hell again huh? Why don’t you let me put you under? You know what? I’m feeling better already. I’ll show you how I’m feeling right now,” he said grabbing a fresh bottle of liquor from under the kitchen sink. He unsealed it and began pouring it on the curtains over the sink. I stood there and watched as things escalated so quickly it was paralyzing. When I realized what was happening it was too late.





He took a lighter out of his pocket and smiled obnoxiously at me. “This is how I’m feeling right now! Burn baby burn burn burn!” he screamed as he lit the curtains on fire. I stood there frozen in time for a moment as I couldn’t believe my eyes. Wallace laughed as he hobbled his way back to the living room with the bottle and lighter still in his hands. I reached up to the top of the cabinet for my baking soda and put out the fire as fast as I could. But again it was too late as the smell of smoke began to pour in from where Wallace had taken his weapons of choice. When I got to the living room it was almost engulfed in flames. I scanned the room quickly seeing no sign of Wallace. I then ran downstairs to get everything I could ready to leave as I knew the house was lost.





When I got outside the flames had grown to an enormous size and the sound of sirens were approaching. I used the cover of night to make my way to my fathers car and began driving, not to any particular place, but as far away from the flames as possible. I’d have to mourn later. I had to find a place to go and I had very limited options or time. Here I was again on the road looking for a place to go. My life’s great right now huh? After about thirty minutes of silence and careful driving, I finally did come up with an idea. Wallace had taken a picture of the crowd at my funeral and a face I didn’t expect to be there was in one of the pictures, Jordan Knight. That’s where I would go. It was a long shot but it was worth a try.









