Dreamcaster

Chapter 4: Beyond the Wall

After we had talked about the plan in the coffee shop, we started going over all of the details from my dreams that I kept record of. We started with what we knew for certain about them, and from there we sorted out all of the questions that were unanswered. Why was the dream recurring? Why was the sky grey near the bridge? Why were the two buildings past the cemetery in ruins? Why is it deadly to be out after dark? And most importantly, who were the hooded men?

We went back to my apartment, hooked up my laptop and began to do a detailed search for any and all locations that could even slightly resemble the church. We had a thought that this place may be an actual location because of the amount of detail I'd seen. For all intents and purposes, it definitely felt real, so it was worth looking into, even if the idea was slightly unhinged. We ended up finding five in the United States, seven in Germany, two in Scotland and sixteen in Ireland that fit the description to some extent. It wasn't exactly helpful. "So, these are our choices. How do you want to narrow this down?" Johnathan asked while still typing up different places in the search tab, going through picture after picture.

"Maybe try looking for ruins instead of places that are still maintained?" I suggested, leaning over the chair as I watched him work. Jonathan nodded and then began typing out different links into Google Maps. I didn't realize just how good he was with computers until I saw the speed at which he was able to do this. Different pages flashed on the screen and within a few minutes we were able to narrow it down to a possibility of five areas out of State that began to seem a bit more familiar.

"You said there were oak trees in your dreams right? I'm not seeing anything with a church per say, but it turns out that the trees you described only grow in one place, at least ones that are that big." A place came up on the screen and I leaned in to get a bit of a closer look.

"Quercus Virginiana?"

"Yep, it's the only place that I can find that's even close to those twisted Oak trees... If we sit here and look at castles and churches all day, we could be here for weeks, there's hundreds all over the world and we also have to take into account that your interpretation of your experiences might not be exact, dreams can be vague." He was right, for all I knew it could have been my mind just making things up, but even though I was hoping there was more to this, I have to admit I was a little perturbed when he was able to find something that close in real life, seeing the trees making my skin crawl for a bit.

"You're right... But at least it's something."

Johnathan put his feet up on my desk. "Well, what do say we get this ball rolling? We can look into this more in-depth once we find out more about your dreams."

I nodded as I stood up and walked over to a black bag that was laying on my bed. Inside was a list of possibilities of what could happen and instructions on how to deal with them, among the rest of the contents was a taser, two syringes filled with adrenaline, handcuffs, a flashlight, a medical kit, two inferred cameras and a handgun. I had prepared for any and every possible outcome, no matter how ridiculous or unrealistic it may have been. When I dumped out the bag onto the comforter, Jonathan gave me a disapproving look. "Do I dare ask where you got all that stuff?"

"J, you have your sources, I have mine. Can we just leave it at that?"

"Fair enough..." He said, still glancing over from time to time as I set everything up beside my bed. I had to admit that I was a little ashamed that I just had all this laying around my home, but maybe this time it could be used for something other than making more bad decisions in my life. I dragged my chair over to my bedside and handed the list to Johnathan.

"Read through this again while I get ready, It's going to be a long night and I don't want you to forget anything." He simply nodded and took the list, immediately he beginning to read through it. By the time I was done getting ready for bed, he had brewed a fresh pot of coffee, set up the cameras above my bed and was chugging down one of energy drinks that were in my fridge.