Darksun - Volume 1: Neco'ma

Chapter 2: That Same Dream Again

Reluctantly, Jake put the case to bed for the night. As he made his way home he pondered the last hours in his mind, trying to rethink possible clues the team might have missed. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a strange hooded figure on the rooftops. Jake rushed to the closest building, chasing the figure in black over the rooftops above Hollywood Boulevard. Jake felt that this scenario seemed eerily familiar; could it have been from his time at the academy? 

 He reached the shadowy figure, atop one of the tallest building in the area. Finally, he turned the guy around, and sees the face of a monster with glowing purple eyes snarling in a death-pitched voice, 'WAKE UP JAKE!' 

 Suddenly, Jake woke up in his apartment bedroom, sweating and fighting to catch his breath after what he just visualised. 

 'Shit! Not again?!' he said to himself. Jake had lost count of how many times he had had the same dream, and how he always ended up waking at around three in the morning. Since he began living in his apartment in the Eastside Barrio, he has had to deal with repeated episodes of insomnia. Never one not to take advantage of his situation, he decided to get changed and head in early to work. The only person to see him off was the apartment janitor Louie. 

 'Hey Officer, you're a little early to get into work today huh?' Louie asked. 

 'Um... yeah, I wanted to go in before anyone notices,' replied Jake, stifling a yawn. 

 'Hmm... you had the same dream again, didn't ya?' asked Louie. 

 Jake cringed at his predictability, 'well I guess you already know that, but I didn't want to repeat myself like last time,' he sighed. 

 Just as Jake headed out for the door Louie called after him, 'maybe you should talk to someone about it? Maybe then you'll be able to sleep better!' 

 Jake knew that he had a point, but was too proud to admit it. He gave Louie a quick nod, and pushed open the door to head straight to the precinct. 

 
LAPD Central Bureau Precinct – 

A few hours later, Jake was at his desk handling minor paperwork from several tasks during the day while listening over his voice messages. 

  'Hey bro, haven't heard from you in a while. We should catch up sometime! I know things are rough between you, mum and dad, but it would be nice to see you when you're not so busy being a cop. Hopefully you hear this message and I'll talk to you soon, love ya...' 

'Was that your sister on the phone?' asked Detective Reyes. 

 'Yeah it was - she is the only one in my family that I talk to these days,' replied Jake. 'My parents haven't spoken to me since I chose to enlist at the academy rather than attending Harvard University.' 

 'And you were here at your desk early again, weren't you?' Mia asked curiously. 

 'Well, I guess I just like to be early and get as much paperwork done as possible, so I can do more while on patrol,' Jake shrugged. 

 Mia was not entirely convinced, 'Jake, I'm a detective and it's my job to see through lies. Be honest with me, you didn't get much sleep again last night?' 

 It was tough for Jake to open up about his sleep-deprivation. He didn't want to look weak in front of her. Jake was still new to the force but he knew it wasn't professional to let his personal problems affect his work. 

 Mia raised an eyebrow in concern.

 At that moment, Jake knew that he didn't have her fooled, 'okay, you got me! I can't sleep without waking up from the same dream every night,' he admitted. 

 'A recurring nightmare is what's keeping you up?' asked Mia. 

 'Yeah, and it always ends the same with me waking up,' said Jake. 

 Mia knew she wasn't getting the full story. She glanced around quickly and figured that amongst the bustle of the other colleagues, there would be no way that Jake would open up more. 

 'Alright,' she concluded, 'how about you explain it to me over a hot slice of pizza?' 

 'Ugh... why?' Jake asked suspiciously. 

 'You've been here the whole day, you could use a break!' she suggested sincerely. 'Besides, ever since I've been assigned to the Darksun case, my other cases have been lifted. The Commissioner will call me if or when our vigilante appears, so basically I've got some time to spare.' 

 Jake cautiously agreed, knowing he couldn't deny his grumbling belly.

A few hours later...
After finding a popular Pizzeria in the Boulevard, Mia then allowed Jake to explain his recurring dream. 

 'It's a little hard to describe because over the years the images have altered every now and then... it's usually a shadowy figure running away from me. This time around, it must have been the vigilante. I was chasing him over the rooftops, but by the time I reached him near a taller building, and finally managed to turn him around, I saw a beast with glowing purple eyes, yelling at me to wake up. At that point, I normally wake up really abruptly.' 

 'Sounds like a really messed up dream, have you ever tried to understand the meaning of it?' Mia suggested lightly. 

 Jake answered truthfully, 'sort of, at first I tried to brush it off, but as the same dream kept coming back in different forms, I've slowly figured that it must be trying to tell me something.' He paused thoughtfully, 'my initial idea was that the person I've been tracking will never be found. But this recent dream had a shorter chase than the previous ones... it could mean that he might be closer than I suspect?' 

 'So, who is this person you've been trying to find?' Mia probed. 

 'An old friend of mine who went missing a few years ago,' he replied solemnly. 'He's actually the reason I joined the Academy in the first place.' 

 Mia's phone beeped with a new alert, interrupting their conversation. It was a text message from Commissioner Burton, 'Darksun attacked again, drug dealer blinded, Cradle2Grave Club, GET THERE ASAP!!' 

 'Looks like the case just got hotter than the pizza,' said Mia with intrigue. 'Lucky for us the club happens to be a few blocks from here, let's go.' Mia and Jake gathered their things and headed for the car speedily to scope out the new crime scene.