Get Out Of My Dreams (Joe the Magic Man Series Book 1) Read online

  What Readers are Saying About GetOutofMyDreams This story’s concept is unusual and clever. The idea of being able to be part of another’s dreams, and being able to control them is intriguing. Worth a look for those who like something different… J.E. Powell

  “Get Out of My Dreams” is a truly odd mix of the supernatural, crime solving, and light porn. Lewis is a talented writer and it will be interesting to see what his next book brings… E. Griffon

  Lewis wrote a rather creepy, but interesting story about dream invasion. It is thought provoking––well worth the read… G. Pace

  I thought the premise behind the book was quite imaginative––someone entering people’s dreams and taking control of their lives. The story is entertaining enough to keep the reader engaged to the very end… J. Miller

  This is a great book. It is nice to read something you can’t figure out right away! … S. Tanner

  Someone sneaking into your dreams and controlling you–

  –this caught my attention. This author can go far… Icemixx

  Load up your coffee, get comfortable, and allow Lewis to entertain you with this little gem… Dexter Don

  Different––if you like a story about dream-stalkers, then this is the one for you… M. Mooney

  Allan J. Lewis

  (Second Edition)

  Also by Allan J. Lewis ( Thrillers) Book Two Book Three Book Four

  JOE THE MAGIC MAN SERIES KILL THE PRESIDENT’S WOMEN THE ELUSIVE CRIME FIGHTER SERIAL KILLERS INCORPORATED

  (Erotica) JOE’S FORBIDDEN DREAMS SERIES TALE OF THE INN KEEPER’S NICE

  To find out more about Allan’s books visit his website, allanjlewis.com

  GET OUT OF MY DREAMS

  Copyright © 2014 by Allan J. Lewis All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission request, contact the author.

  Author's Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Second Edition

  Thankstomyfamily,whosaidIcould

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank my wonderful family for believing in me and for sticking by me throughout this journey to realize my lifelong dream. You are all wonderful.

  A special thanks goes out to the editing team at Cavern of Dreams Publishing, Bethany Jamieson and Mary M. CushnieMansour, for smoothing out some of the rough spots in my manuscript and turning it into a great story.

  Cover Design is by Terry Davis @ Ball Media, Brantford, ON, Canada. ([email protected])

  Cover Picture is photographed by Cathleen Tarawhiti, New Zealand. ([email protected])

  Chapter1

  Beep-beep. The alarm clock woke Alice out of her deep sleep. Beep-beep. It sounded again, by which time, normally, her husband John would have turned it off.

  Beep-beep. Alice threw her arm lazily behind her hoping to wake up her husband, but his side of the bed was empty. Beep-beep. “John?” Alice rolled over and shut off the alarm. It was 6:45 a.m. “John!” she called louder. “Are you in the bathroom?” No answer. “Are you all right, love?” Still no answer.

  She pulled the blankets off and dragged her legs out of bed, thinking he must have fallen asleep on the toilet, or that he could be ill. She stared, puzzled, at her panties lying on top of her slippers. She had gone to bed last night in a knee length satin nightdress and matching panties––she didn’t remember taking the panties off. She shook her head and shouted louder.

  “John, where are you?” Panic started to mount in her as she slipped into her slippers and grabbed her dressing gown. I could swear I slept with my panties on, she thought as she went to the bathroom. We didn’t have sex, so why would I take them off?

  Her husband wasn’t on the toilet. “John?” she called as she looked into the empty shower cubicle. Alice went back out to the hall landing and noticed the light at the top of the stairs was on. “He’s got to be downstairs,” she whispered. Why leave the light on when the summer sun is lighting up the house? It must have been dark when he got up, she reasoned as she ran down the stairs.

  Alice heard a moan coming from the direction of the living room. “Oh my God! John! Are you all right?” she shouted as she ran into the living room, fearing the worst. Alice gave a big sigh of relief when she saw her husband stretched out on the sofa.

  “What the hell are you doing down here?” she screamed, with one hand on her hip and the other one pointing upstairs. Her relief quickly turned to anger. “The alarm clock went off, and you weren’t in bed, or in the bathroom; I thought you were ill or something!”

  “All right … all right. Stop your shouting.” John sat up and rubbed his eyes. “I’m cold.” He looked around. “What the hell am I doing down here?”

  Alice noticed he was in the t-shirt and boxer shorts he had slept in. She saw the puzzled look on his face. “How long have you been laying there?” she asked, “and where’s your housecoat?” She had cooled down a little, and in a more concerned tone asked, “Are you ill?”

  John had no idea why he was sleeping downstairs. He was cold and grumpy. “What time is it?” He stood up gingerly. “Am I late?” He stomped his feet to get the blood flowing.

  Alice was trying to make sense out of it all. “Were you hungry and came down for something to eat?”

  John paced for a moment, and then headed for the stairs. “No, I wasn’t hungry, and I don’t remember getting up.” He looked at his watch. It was 6:50 a.m. “I’ve got to get ready for work.” He hurried up to the bathroom, with Alice right behind him.

  She watched as he applied his shaving foam. She gently put her hand on his shoulder. “Are you saying,” she hesitated, almost too afraid to ask him, “that you walked in your sleep last night?”

  John stopped shaving and looked at her in the mirror; he’d been having the same thought. “I’ve never done it before, but it looks as if I did,” he shrugged. “Doesn’t it?”

  “Maybe it’s your job … are you worried about something?”

  “No, it’s not the job.” But then he remembered he did have a dream about work, and it had been terrible. A cold shiver ran through his body. “Honey, seeing that you’re up, why don’t you make us breakfast?”

  ~

  John Timberlake was a prison officer and was known as J.T. to his work colleagues. John had come out of the military and gone straight into the prison service. He was thirty years old, five foot, ten inches tall, and a solid two hundred pounds. He worked out in the prison gym most days and still kept his dark hair short, like in his army days. He was at the California State Prison, in Los Angeles County, and although he’d been working there for nearly ten years, he wasn’t too keen on his job.

  He and Alice had been married for five years. She was twenty-seven years old and five foot, six inches tall, with brown eyes and black hair that she sometimes wore in a ponytail, which, with her curvy figure, made her look more like a college girl. They didn’t plan on having any kids for another couple years. Alice’s goal was to become a reporter for the local newspaper, but the only job they had for her was helping their Agony Aunt columnist answer the mail
, sort out the best stories, and research their authenticity. She could do most of her work from home. John and Alice were struggling to pay for their house, so John worked as much overtime as he possibly could. They lived in a three-bedroom house in a quiet residential area of Lancaster.

  When John came downstairs, Alice had his breakfast of two eggs and bacon waiting for him. It was too early for her to have such a large breakfast, so she just buttered herself some toast. She was worried about her husband’s sleepwalking, and before he could sit at the table, she was nagging him.

  “John, I don’t think you should go to work today, you should call in sick.” She was talking rapidly, so as not to let him get his say until she had hers. “You haven’t had a day off for ages, and I think you should see a doctor about last night; maybe the stress of looking after all those criminals is getting to you.”

  “I’m all right, honey, stop worrying.” He smiled at her. “I’m sure last night was just a fluke. If it happens again, I’ll go see the doc at work, okay?”

  They ate in silence. John was thinking about his dream; it had been so real and disturbing that he wondered if that’s what had made him walk in his sleep.

  “You’re looking pale. I wish you would take the day off.” Alice watched John gather his belongings. He walked over and gave her a kiss.

  “Don’t worry, I’m all right … I’ll see you later.” He walked to the door––What the… The two bolts were off. He turned around and looked at Alice. “Honey, have you been outside this morning?” John looked confused. “I swear I put the bolts on last night.”

  Alice shook her head as she made her way over to the door. “I haven’t been out, and you couldn’t have gone out either–

  –you had no slippers on. The cold path would have woken you, wouldn’t it?”

  “I dunno. Maybe I went out to take a piss?” He could see the look of concern on Alice’s face. “Anyway, love, I’m late.” He gave her another kiss. “We’ll talk about it when I come home. You go back to bed.”

  Alice waved him off but couldn’t go back to sleep. She couldn’t stop thinking what would have happened if he had walked out, and into the traffic. She had never worried about him before. He was this tough military guy that didn’t care two hoots about anything or anybody, but this morning he hadn’t been his cheerful self; he had been pale, and quiet.

  John couldn’t stop thinking about his dream as he drove to work. He had dreamed that three of his prisoners were raping him. He didn’t know the prisoners in his dream, yet they were as clear in his mind as if they were old friends. He even remembered the name of the leader––Horse, the others called him. John gripped the steering wheel tightly as the image came to his mind. Horse had stood, proud of his massive erection, and smiled at John as he whispered, “We’ll be having you again tonight, so don’t be late.” John heaved an enormous sigh, and then the image was gone. He told himself it was just a bad dream––a nightmare––and he tried to put it out of his mind. As if I would allow anyone to rape me; I would have hit him with my nightstick, and kicked him in the balls. But why didn’t I try to stop them last night? He thumped the steering wheel in frustration and tried to think about something else.

  But he couldn’t. All morning that dream haunted him, and it disgusted him. How could I let them do that to me, even if it was a dream? He wondered if he had gotten up in the night to get away from his dream of being raped, not by one prisoner, but by three. He couldn’t tell anyone about his dreams, but the first chance he had to talk to two of his colleagues, Andy and Bob, he told them about the sleepwalking, and the bolts being off the door. Andy and Bob were more than just workmates. The three of them and their wives were close friends, and went tenpin bowling together on the weekends. They showed concern for John, at first, and asked if he’d had a few drinks. Bob told him that his brotherin-law used to get up in the night, open the wardrobe doors, and piss all over his wife’s dresses, after only a couple of drinks. Then he would go back to bed and not remember a thing in the morning. When John said no, he hadn’t, they put the sleepwalking down to John being overtired and laughed it off by making a joke of it. John laughed with them, and said the job must be starting to get to him.

  John knew Alice would be worrying about him, so he phoned her to tell her what the boys thought––it’s just one of those incidents that happen. He tried to make a joke out of it by telling her she was lucky he didn’t pee all over her clothes.

  Alice was still convinced it was his work that was getting to him, all those convicts shouting and arguing. Sometimes John had to help break up a fight, which could be quite a stressful situation. Not that he moaned about his job; he hardly talked about the negative side of his work, but before they settled down to their evening meal, Alice would tell him what had been on her mind all day.

  ~

  “John love,” Alice smiled as she joined John in the living room, “you’re working in a confined place in that prison, and it’s stressing you out. I think you should take a week off.”

  “I’m all right. I think I did have a dream about work last night, and my job must have been on my mind when I went sleepwalking. I probably thought I was doing my rounds.” He tried to laugh it off. “Ha, if I did take the bolts off the door, maybe I thought I was opening one of the cells.”

  Alice stared back at him now, unsmiling. “What kind of dream did you have, was it a bad one?”

  “No, I can’t remember what it was now, it’s gone.” And then, Horse’s words came to his mind: “We’ll be having you again tonight, so don’t be late.” John spun around, half expecting Horse to be there, his voice had been so clear in his head. He shuddered.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing, just felt a draft, let’s change the subject or watch some TV.” John was sure his past was coming back to haunt him. The one bad thing he had done in his life, which he had regretted ever since, could be returning to punish him through his subconscious mind. He knew he couldn’t tell Alice about it. He was too ashamed, even though it had happened before he met her.

  John kept telling himself it was just a bad dream––what were the chances of him having the same dream again tonight? They watched some television and didn’t talk anymore about his sleepwalking until it was time for bed.

  “Honey,” John said casually, “you can lock up and set the intruder alarm to make sure it’s done right; if I get up in the night just tell me to get my ass back into bed.”

  “You better not go sleepwalking again.” There was a hint of fear in her voice. “You’ll frighten the life out of me. You did set the alarm last night, and you bolted the door––I saw you. I remember those bolts being on when we went upstairs.”

  “Come on,” John said light-heartedly, “we’ll both lock up.” He walked to the front door, with Alice right behind him. He, too, was sure he’d locked up safely last night.

  The bolts were just for additional security. Alice watched as John slid the bolts into place and armed the alarm. She noticed the worried look on his face. “You did put them on last night, I saw you,” she assured him again.

  “Then how come…” Another question jumped to his mind. “How come the alarm didn’t go off when I opened the door?”

  That same thought had been on Alice’s mind. “You must have switched it off when you were sleepwalking.” They looked at each other as they tried to fathom what was happening to him. “You must have opened the door, felt the cold air, and came back in and fell asleep on the sofa.”

  A horrible thought hit him. “Oh my God, you don’t think I went out sleepwalking in the neighborhood, do you?”

  “No, love.” Alice had wrestled with those thoughts all day, and she wondered why it had taken John so long to think he could go outside to take a pee, and not go for a walk. “If you went for a walk, your feet would have been dirty or cut,” she said halfheartedly.

  “Yeah, and my feet were clean.” He looked at Alice, hoping she would agree with him. She nodded. “Yeah, I
wouldn’t go walk about in the middle of the night,” John added.

  Chapter2

  B

  eep-beep. John shot up in bed and shut off the alarm before it beeped a second time.

  Alice didn’t roll over. She didn’t even open her eyes, she just spoke lazily: “Did you sleep all right?” “Yes,” he lied, his dream still vivid in his mind. He shook his head to get the image of the prisoner, Horse, out of his head. “I slept like a ba…” He didn’t finish the sentence as he stared in bewilderment at his t-shirt and shorts in a pile on the floor. “What the hell?” He threw the blankets off and sat up in bed, naked. “What’s happening?” He stood and looked at Alice, confusion written across his face. “Did I sleepwalk again?”

  Alice sat up, rubbing her eyes: “What’s wrong?” John pointed to his clothes. “I know I wore those to bed.” He was shaking his head in disbelief. “I know I didn’t take them off.” He grabbed his t-shirt and shorts and put them on. “Please tell me I didn’t walk in my sleep again,” John muttered to himself, more than to Alice.

  Alice could hear the panic in his voice and awoke instantly, afraid that John had gone sleepwalking naked outside. “The bolts!” Alice shouted as she swung her legs out of bed. “John, check the door and the alarm.” Before her feet touched the floor, she spotted her panties on top of her slippers, again. “Oh my God, what’s happening to us?”

  John had already left the room. Alice tossed her panties to one side, put on her slippers and dressing gown, and hurried after him. The first thing she noticed was the landing light was on again, and when she caught up to John, he was standing by the front door with both his hands held out in front of him as if willing the bolts to close themselves.

  “I’ve done it again.” He was shaking his head. “I’ve been sleepwalking.”