Peculiar Dreams

Chapter 6

Jaden stood up and nodded. "Thanks, doc, I need all the help I can get at this point..."

"Anytime, Jaden. Good luck to you, please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with." The doctor says with a smile.

Jaden smiles back and walks over to the door, closing it behind him. He shakes his head and thinks to himself, "Wow, I can't believe it has come to this..."

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As he slowly strolled down the abandoned, dark alley, Jaden pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and looked at it closely. "Well I guess this is the place..." He sighed to himself while feeling butterflies in his stomach. He pushed open the door and looked around. The room was filled with dusty old books piled up, a couple ouija boards, and even a crystal ball on the counter. "What the hell? This is a DOCTOR'S office?" He scoffed to himself. He was about to turn around and run out the door when a little old lady came walking into the room.

She looked at him and smiled sweetly. "You must be Jaden, I've been expecting you." He nodded as she walked over and grabbed his hand and studied it carefully. "Hmm, yes, very interesting..." she added as she let go of his hand and peered deeply into his eyes. "Having some strange dreams lately have we?"

Jaden nodded again with a puzzled look on his face. She giggled and smiled as she said, "I'm sorry, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Dr. Bloom (she makes air quotes with her fingers as she says the word 'doctor'). But please just call me Cathy. Most people don't think I'm qualified to be called a doctor, because my area of work is mostly in the supernatural and paranormal. I realized at a very young age that I have what you could call 'gifts'. I like to say I have one foot in this world, and one in the spiritual world."

"Well it sounds like I came to the right place then." said Jaden. "I never used to believe in all this kind of stuff until recently, but now it seems to be the only thing that can make sense of everything that has been happening to me."

She leads Jaden over to an old wooden table with some strange carvings on it, she pulls out a chair and motions for him to sit down. Then she walks around to the other side of the table and sits down. "I can understand where you are coming from, Jaden. Most people are very hesitant to believe in such things until they experience it for themselves. It can be quite life-changing."

"That's the understatement of the year." He laughs. "What started out as a simple dream has now made me feel like I'm completely losing my damn mind..."

She reaches across the table and pulls his hands towards her. She closes her eyes and is completely quiet and still for what seems like forever. Finally she opens her eyes and looks right at Jaden. "Okay, so tell me everything that has happened so far."

He sighs as he leans back in his chair and proceeds to explain all the recent events to her. From the dream, to seeing Chloe across the street, to the premonition of Mr. Carter falling off the ladder, and even the dream of his past life. The entire time he is talking, she focuses on him very intently.

When he finally finishes explaining everything, Cathy sighs very deeply. She gets a sort of troubled look on her face. "Hmm I was afraid of something like this." She says to Jaden. "I have studied many such cases and most are quite easy to understand, but there are a few like this that trouble me. You see, if you haven't figured it out yet, Chloe and you are apparently what we call soul-mates. You are very lucky to have found each other, most people can wait many, many lifetimes to accomplish this. But in very rare occurrences, one person can lose their way, and become trapped in a place we refer to as purgatory.

Jaden gasps. "I've heard of that, what is it exactly?"

She stands up and walks over to a pile of old books and sorts through them until she finds one and picks it up, walking back over to Jaden she says, "Nobody knows for sure, but I believe it is a place for souls to await their next destination. They can become lost and confused and not even realize where they are." She opens the book and flips through the pages, pointing out a few pictures to him. "They can travel to the dream world and even to the real world, but cannot be seen by everyone. As in your case, you were able to see her, most likely only because you two are soul-mates. Chloe may not even realize that she isn't actually alive. Some souls may become trapped in purgatory forever, if someone doesn't help them find their way to the next destination."

Tears begin to well up in Jaden's eyes, "Oh my god, that explains so much. So you're saying that she is supposed to be here with me, but something happened that trapped her there?"

She nods with a sad look on her face. "Yes... sadly. Something must have happened to cause her not to move on to her next destination. The tricky part is trying to figure out what that is. Because you never know when you will see her next, or even if you will be able to interact with her when she does show up."

Jaden jumps up from his chair, "There has to be something we can do! I need to be with her, I think about her every second. Please, I'll do anything to help her!"

Cathy stands up and grabs his hands tightly. "Calm down, it's okay, I understand what you are going through."

Tears start running down his face. He lets go of her hands and turns away. "How could you possibly know what this feels like? It's more painful than anything I have ever felt before!"

She sits back down in the chair and puts her hands over her face. "Because I have gone through the exact same thing. My husband just died a year ago. We have lived many lives together. And at one point he was trapped there too. It took years to find a way to save him."

Jaden spins around. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize... But you DID find a way? Can you help me save her?" he wipes the tears away from his face.

She slowly lifts her head up to look at him. "There is a way, but it is very dangerous. If something goes wrong, you could become stuck there too."

Jaden gets a determined look on his face, "I don't care!  I would rather be trapped with her there than to be here a minute longer without her."

She stands back up and looks him right in the eyes, "You don't understand completely. If you are both trapped there, there will be no escape. You would both be miserable. You would be together, but not remember each other. You would be constantly searching but NEVER find what you are looking for. Some would say it would be like being in hell. You need to think long and hard if you want to go forward with this. I will help you, but only if you realize the danger that is involved."

Jaden slowly walks over to the window and stares blankly outside as he sighs deeply. "I will do it. I will take the risk. If there is any possible way to save her, I have to try. I've never been so sure of anything if my entire life."

He feels her hand on his shoulder as if she is trying to comfort him. He sighs again and turns towards her, but she is still standing over by the table. "What the... Chloe?" He whispers. "Is that you?"

He feels a warm wind blow across his face and through his hair. He closes his eyes and can picture her face smiling at him. She moves her lips as if to say "Thank you." Even though he can't hear her.

He smiles back at her, "Don't worry, I will find you, wherever you are. We will be together again soon, I promise." She starts to fade away and he opens his eyes back up.

Cathy is standing a few feet away, staring towards him. "The bond is very strong between you two, I can tell. I really do think we can save her. Go home now and get some rest. Come back in the morning and we will begin."

Jaden hugs her tightly. "Thank you so much. I will see you first thing in the morning." He turns and walks out the door.