The protagonist can see life events before they happen while he's sleeping. He tends to wake up at random times during the day and often ponders on those visions for at least 30 minutes after every dream. In this excerpt we are placed in the dream and then a conversation he has with his former lover, Jeremy.
Never Meet Your Heroes
Sir hides behind walls in the wide quiet corridor. Two people exit one of the many reclusive rooms in the space. It was Jeremy and his boss, Jessie Blair. Creator of the video game "Faceless." He peered his head to watch the two walk towards a set of stairs. He silently approached the two, up-ing his pace the further away they got to him. He immediately stopped himself when he saw Blair exiting the bunker. Blair and Jeremey exchanging goodbyes, "alright, see ya soon. Take care." Sir's body full of excitement, nervousness, and a bit of fear. Something in his mind told him to keep moving, but there was nowhere to hide. He was spotted by Jeremy,
"Sir! Whatcha doing here?"
"Was that Jessie Blair? Creator of-"
"Yep. That's him." Sir got closer to Jeremy pulling him closer by his waste until their body's met.
"Do you think you can put in a good word for me or put me in touch with him."
"Uh huh. Go talk to him before he leaves for the day."
"THANK YOU!" Sir promptly pressed his lips against Jeremy's before exiting the bunker. Blair, wrapping up a convo with the electrician working on a light pole, continued making his way out off the premises. Sir's steps slowed down the closer he got to Blair. He removed his wave cap and noticed he wasn't dressed for the occasion, but none of that seemed to matter in his dreams. He's had full-blown casual conversations with folks while half-dressed during his visions and the people wouldn't react to his exterior at. He thought about the blue tank top, green pajama pants and pink bunny slippers he had on and hoped that this time wouldn't be different. That his idol would not notice how he was dressed. Three feet away from Blair, Sir finally spoke. "Uhm, you're Jessie Blair, right?" Blair stopped walking and turned around quickly.
"Yes! Are you with the feminist collective?" He asked with a great big smile on his face.
"No. Do you mind if we walk and talk?"
"SURE!" Sir changed his position from standing behind Blair to walking right next to him.
"I knew you wanted to talk. What's up?"
"First, I wanna say "Faceless" is my favorite game, ever!" Blair shrugged and smiled.
"Next... I was wondering if you were looking for any-"
"You want a job?"
"YEAH!"
"Ha ha, I knew it! So, what qualifications do you have?"
"Well, I have my Masters and-"
"WHOA, you have your Masters?"
"Yeah, I know I'm not dressed like someone with a Masters in game design, but..." Sir paused himself to see Blair's reaction to the mention of his attire, but to no surprise, Blair's expression remained the same as it was before. Just like the other times. Blair waited until Sir stopped talking before continuing the conversation as if there were no pause
"Sounds good, so far, but I have to go. Go talk to my assistant, Jeremy Vang. He'll-"
"I KNOW JEREMY!"
"Oh, ya do? How?"
"He's the one who told me to talk to you.. we're uh, friends." Sir's lingering crush on Jeremy was easy to read, for Blair to pick up on, even in his visions.
"Uh huh... What are you willing to do for this position?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Whatcha got in mind, Son?"
"I... thought you wanted me to talk to Jeremy about setting up a meeting between us, so I can discuss-"
"You got it. Just tell me whatcha gonna do to work for the best video game developer in the business?" *PUFF*
In this next excerpt, we are in the middle of the conversation Sir is having with Jeremy about the dream he had the night before.
"Jeremy, does Jessie Blair have any sexual assault allegations against him?"
"How do you know I work for Jessie Blair?"
"Jeremy, focus. I saw it in a dream."
"Oh." Jeremy rolled his eyes and continued putting on his makeup.
"Does he or does he not?"
"No. Why would you ask me that?"
"... so I met him in my dream last night... I talked to you before, you were wearing the same outfit you have on now and he was wearing a black tux."
"That's not a vision, Sir, that's his signature look."
"I'm serious. We discussed before I met him and you told me to go talk to him."
"Mhm. So what did you wear? The green T-shirt and navy blue jeans you're wearing now?"
"No, I had on pajamas. Anyways-"
"Then it wasn't a vision, Sir. Just a dream. It's good to know you still dream about me, though." Jeremy finished up his makeup, got his belongings and made his way out of his apartment. Sir followed and continued to make his case as they walked down the hallway and out of the apartment.
"Jeremy, he came onto me." Jeremy looked confused.
"He tried to, he propositioned me." Jeremy still stared at Sir with uncertainty.
"When I told him that we know each other this slimy smirk on his face grew... but that wasn't the only thing that grew. He asked me what I was willing to do to get a job working for him. I asked him what he meant by that and he doubled down on it."
"Then what happened next?"
"Then "PUFF" I woke up. put on my shoes and made my way over here. To tell you."
"Hmm, okay."
"That's it? That's all you have to say?"
"Yeah. Many people sleep with their bosses."
"WHAT?"
"I'm saying many people sleep their way to the top."
"You telling me you slept with him?" Jeremy played dumb, sifting through the keys on his key ring until he found his car keys"
"SO YOU LETTING EVERYBODY HIT BEFORE ME?"
"SIR!"
"I'm just saying-"
"I already told you to wait!" Jeremy got in the driver seat and slammed the door. He sighed before rolling down the window,
"just go home or out for a walk or something. I'll speak to you later." The window slowly rolled back up before the engine started. Jeremy slowly pulled out of the driveway. "JEREMY!" Sir yelled in place before Jeremy pulled off the tarmac. He stopped the car and slowly rolled the window down again as Sir approached. "...What about his wife?" Jeremy began to turn pink but his deep breathing calmed his nerves just enough to prevent him from turning red.
"Ex-wife."
"Is she dead? Does she know he's gay or bi?-"
"Sir! I have to go to work! Take care of yourself, please?" Jeremy sped off into the road.
We are now at the Bunker Games office where Sir confronts Jeremy and Blair.
Sir gets off the bus stop 4 minutes away from the Bunker Games office. His face focused on the GPS app on his phone as he walks to the location. “You have arrived,” the soft-spoken AI assisted female voice says to him when he stops outside of the building. Sir slowly moves his head scaling the tall business building that had no actual resemblance to a Bunker. He was instructed by the front desk receptionist that Bunker Games’ Office was on the fourth floor. He entered the elevator, and the doors opened on the 2nd floor. Blair stood there, “It’s going up? Damn.” He said to himself. “Oh, snap, really? I thought it was going down!” Sir said, quickly. Blair chuckled, these elevators are buggy sometimes, man. Which floor were you headed to?” “… I was trying to find the main exit…” “So, on the first floor? Weren’t you just there?” “I don’t know, sir, it’s my first time being in this building… stupid GPS got me lost or something.” “Well I’m going down to the first floor, too.” They both re-entered the elevator going down to the first floor. Going down one floor felt like eternity to Sir. His beating heart thumping during the silent trip. Blair exited first once they made it to the first floor and turned right exiting through the exit where the staff parking lot was. Sir waited a few seconds before trailing behind him, making it through the swinging door before it shut. Blair, seemingly unaware of his trail, continued walking towards his pitch-black Cadillac Escalade. "Uhm, you're Jessie Blair, right?" Blair stopped walking and turned around quickly. "Yes! Hey, 2nd floor, right? Are you with the feminist collective?" He asked with a great big smile on his face. "No. Do you mind if we walk… and talk?" "SURE!" Sir walked next to Blair but kept a further distance. "I knew you had something to say to me, anyways. What's up?" "First, I wanna say "Faceless" is my favorite game… ever." Blair shrugged and smiled. "...I was wondering if you were looking for any-" "You want a job?" Sir’s body tensed up but he quickly gathered himself "Yep!” "Ha ha, I knew it! So, what qualifications do you have?" "Well.. I only have my master’s degree... that’s the only thing I have to offer." "WHOA, you have your Masters?" "Yeah… I know I’m not dressed like someone with their masters.” “Hey, I don’t always dress like this. “Sounds good so far, but I have to go. Go speak to my assistant, Jeremy Vang. He’ll-” “I know who Jeremy is, I mean I know Jeremy!” “Oh, ya do? How?" "He's the one who told me to talk to you.. we're... LOVERS." Sir contained his blushing. "Uh huh... What are you willing to do for this position?" "fuck!" Sir’s scream echoed throughout the parking lot. "Sssh, easy now. Whatcha got in mind, son?" "I... thought… no, I’m not doing this. I’m not gonna trade sexual favors with you for a job, Mr. Blair.” "You got it. Just tell me whatcha gonna do to work for the best video game developer in the business?" “NO! You’re not listening!” “Sshhh. Hey man, keep it on the down low.” Sir started shaking. “What’s the problem? I know you like big guys. Jeremy won’t know about a thing. I don’t kiss and tell,” Blair said with the same slimy smirk on his face Sir saw in his vision. “Jeremy,” he whispered before running out of the parking lot. “Hey, where you going?” “TO THE BATHROOM!” Sir re-entered the building and took the elevator to the fourth floor on a mission to find Jeremy. He rushed past see-through conference rooms looking for Jeremy and stumbled on the 9th one. Jeremy and stood inside in-front of the projector giving a presentation. His attention quickly turning to Sir who was outside waving nervously. The entire room turned their sights on Sir before Jeremy power walked his way out of the room. The man next to Jeremy continued the presentation and the others obverted their attention back to the big screen. “SIR, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?” “You’re not excited to see me…” “YOU SHOWED UP AT MY JOB, UNNANOUNCED DURING A VERY IMPORTANT MEETING. WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE EXCITED?” “Last night you were-” “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT LAST NIGHT! WE DIDN’T MEET UP—you’re talking about that dream…” “It wasn’t a dream, Jeremy. It really happened! Blair just hit on me like he did last night!” There discussion was briefly interrupted by Jeremy’s presentation partner. “Is everything okay, Jeremy?” “Yes, Mike. I’ll be back in a few seconds, keep on going with the presentation.” “But it's coming up to your part.” “WE’RE GOOD, MIKE! GO BACK INSIDE!” “SIR! I’m so sorry, Mike! He was just leaving, I’ll be in in, soon!” YEAH, MIKE! I’M TALKING TO MY MAN, HERE! SO YOU CAN GO BACK INSIDE!” “SIR, STOP IT! He’s not my man, just a friend and he’ll be gone soon, promise!” Mike reluctantly went back into the room and continued the presentation. “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!?” “Jeremy, you gotta listen to me. He wore the same tux I saw in my dream, and you wore this blue blazer and khaki pants.” “HE ALWAYS WEARS THAT TUXEDO WHEN HE VISITS THE OFFICE AND MY ASS ALWAYS LOOKS GOOD IN THESE JEANS, GLAD YOU NOTICED! NOW GO HOME!” “I told him we were together and that didn’t change a damn thing. He still wants sex in-exchange for a job.” “…. Go home Sir…NOW.” Sir gasped in disbelief. His jaw clinching as he watched Jeremy quickly collected himself and took back the lead of the presentation.
Committed
Sir spent the day sheltered in his studio apartment conducting research on Jessie Blair and scouring internet chatrooms sharing theories on premonitions and visions. He didn’t take much of what was said about visions seriously because he relied heavily on his lived experiences with his dreams coming to life, but his jaw dropped when he found something on Blair’s ex-wife’s, sister, Sarah Hart and her unheard of claims of sexual assault by Jessie Blair, which is rumored to be the reason why Blair’s marriage ended, but nothing substantial prove those claims and reason to be true. This bit of info still didn’t deter Sir from trying to find out himself. He planned to print out the documents was interrupted via a knock on the door.
“JEREMY! Whatchu doing here?”
“What’s the matter? Is there somebody here you don’t want me to know about?”
“NO, NOT AT ALL! I just wasn’t expecting to see you, ever since.”
“Ever since you showed up at my job unannounced?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Now I’m showing up at your “job” unannounced. Now we’re even.”
“Look, I wasn’t trying to start anything. I was there to tell you—”
“About the dream you had, right.”
“It wasn’t a dream…”
“Look, I still care about you, and I still worry about you.”
Then why don’t you believe me when I say something I saw in my dream is real?”
“Because, Sir, it’s not possible. How can someone see 24 hours into the future and why hasn’t anyone come out and say they can?”
“It’s not quite 24 hours. Sometimes it’s more. Sometimes it’s less. I don’t know why others haven’t come out, yet, but who’s to say there’s no others?”
“Reality. That’s who.”
“Reality isn’t a real person. Now if you would excuse me, I gotta go—”
“Go where, Sir?”
“Going to the library to print out some documents.”
“What documents?”
“Research files I found on Blair’s ex-wife’s sister. The original statement she made to the police about her sexual assault claims before recanting her statement and stuff about his divorce.”
“Are you serious?”
“Very. Make yourself at home, I gotta go—”
“NO, SIR! You should be out printing your resume and looking for a job, not digging up dirt for TMZ to rehash!”
“I’m not giving this info to TMZ. This is for my independent research.”
“You literally want to fuck up things for the man you wanted to work for? FOR MY BOSS!”
“That was before I found out he was a creep. Now I don’t want to.”
“BUT WHAT ABOUT ME?”
“What about you? Why would you want to work for a sexual deviant anyways, I thought you were against that kind of stuff?”
“I AM! But you have no proof that he’s a rapist. Just because you had a bad dream does not make him guilty.”
“He tried to proposition me two days ago in reality, Jeremy. What don’t you understand about that?”
“Are you sure you didn’t misread his ques? He’s a friendly guy, it may have come off as flirting, but it wasn’t.”
“What are you willing to do for this position?" Does that sound like friendly conversation to you?”
“You don’t give off bottom vibes, so I know he wasn’t talking about bending you over.”
“See, you’re not taking this seriously and that’s why I’m going at it alone.” Jeremy wraps Sir’s arms around his, “Hey, you’re not alone, okay?” They both sit on the tan corduroy couch.
“I think you need some rest. Some time away from all of this will do you go.”
“I’m resting just fine. It’s these dreams that are messing me up, but I’ll be fine.”
“Sir, you may have gotten lucky before, but I really don’t think these dreams mean you have superpowers.”
“There’s nothing super about this. Still, if I have to live with these visions, I’m going to make the best of it by not falling victim to unwanted outcomes.”
“And has that worked for you in the past?” Sir remained silent.
“Please, just get some rest.”
“Fine.” Jeremy kissed and hugged Sir before leaving the apartment. Sir waited until Jeremy got into the elevator to make his way out of the apartment. His apartment was on the 5th floor, but that did not stop him from jolting down the stairs. He briefly stopped to catch his breath when he got to the lobby and rushed out of the apartment to make it to the bus stop.
The next day almost mirrored the previous. With no dream to warn him what’s the come, Sir continued searching the net for more info to corroborate the documents he has. His studies were once again interrupted with a knock at his door. Sir went to go answer it and was met with an unpleasant surprise.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Celeste. I’m Frieda Snyder and this is Officer Frey. I’m a mental health worker for Rhett Mental Health Institution.”
“I know. I recognize your badge. I used to work there.”
“Oh, you did?”
“Yeah… why are you here?”
“Well, Mr. Celeste—”
“Just call me Sir.”
“Okay, Sir. We got a concerning report regarding your wellbeing, we’re here to help.”
“My well-being is just fine, thanks. Now if you would excuse me, I have work to do.” Sir attempted to shut the door in their face, but the cop placed his boot at the bottom of the hinge stopping the door from closing. An intense stare down between Sir and Officer Frey occurred briefly before Snyder intervened.
“We’re NOT here to hurt you, Sir. We’re here to help.”
“Who sent you?”
“I can’t tell you that. We’ll tell you more if you come with us to the hospital.”
“Why, I’m fine.”
“Sure, you are, Sir, but let’s go grab a coat and head down to Rhett.”
“You can’t just force me against my will!”
“Nobody is forcing you, Sir, we’re here to help.” Officer Frey made a call on his walkie “we have a “Code 8” here.”
“What does that mean?”
“Calm down, sir. Lower your voice!”
“YOU’RE IN MY HOUSE, YELLING AT ME!” Officer Frey maced Sir, two other officers bulldoze their way in the apartment and tackle Sir to the ground prying his hands off his face. “DON’T HURT HIM!” Frieda’s pleas are ignored while the cops cuff and carry Sir by his shirt and legs out of his apartment. The loud commotion and his screams command the attention of his neighbors and onlookers gossiping amongst one another. The officers throw him in the back of the Rhett Mental Hospital van before getting in their cars and following it. Frieda sits in the passenger seat of Officer Frey’s patrol car visibly disturbed. Once they got to the hospital, Sir was in shock. His body stiff and cold. Frieda ordered medics to deliver him to the emergency room. Sir conscious during the whole ordeal. Later that night Frieda visited Sir again as he laid in his bead silently staring up at the sealing fan. “You come to finish the job?” Frieda was taken aback by the statement. “N-no, Sir.” She awaited a response back, but he continued staring at the fan. She edged closer to the bed standing arm’s length away.
“How are you feeling?”
“…”
“I’m not here to nag. I’m here to help.”
“…”
“When you’re ready to talk, page me, please.”
“Still the same script, huh?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Rhett Asylum for wicked minds. We’re here to help.”
Mr. Celeste, I’m not reciting a script.”
“Well maybe you should. You’d probably save more lives as an actor than a foot soldier for this terrible place.”
“I don’t know what other hospitals you’ve gone to, but I assure you, Mr. Celeste, that patient safety is—”
“Our priority. Yeah. I still remember those training videos as if I saw them last year, and the year before.” He sat up from the bed “Now are you gonna tell me why I’m here?”
“We got word of concerning behavior. Mr. Celeste have you been seeing things that aren’t real?”
“Have I been hallucinating? No.”
“Okay. What about your dreams. Have they been anything unusual? Out of the ordinary?”
“Snyder, what would you consider an ordinary dream?”
“Well. Maybe flying in the air or seeing clowns.”
“If only I dreamt of flying out of here.”
“Mr. Celeste, I urge you to take this serious if you want the help.”
“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I don’t have dreams.”
“Do you get any sleep?”
“Plenty.”
“Surely there has to be times where you had a dream.”
“Nope.”
“Mr. Celeste—”
“What? What do you want me to say? That I dream of aliens invading Earth? Hate to break it to you, Doc, but that ain’t happening. If anything isn’t real in this world, it’s aliens.”
“We’ve got reports that you’ve made claims about events taking place in your dreams happening in reality.”
“Can you define “vision” for me, Doc?” She gave him a serious look raising an eyebrow at his request. He persisted. “Last question, I promise. I’ll answer anything you want, just read to me the definitions of vision.” She paused to look up the definition on her tablet
“The faculty or state of being able to see. The ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Celeste. Is there a reason why you asked me to define the word “vision?””
“Yeah.”
“What is the reason, Mr. Celeste?”
“Because I don’t have dreams.”
“You believe you have visions?”
“I’m far past belief at this point, Dr. Snyder.”
“And why is that?” He paused and took a shot of the warm water sitting in a paper cup on his food trey.
“Years ago, I dreamt of a patient here harming herself and someone else. Before that, she banged her head against the floor a couple times before I and two other nurses stepped in. Blood from her forehead fell to her mouth, she spat some of it in my eyes. Blood, mace, it all stings the same. I was sent to the hospital, a real hospital to get checked out for everything, HIV, AIDS, you know, that kind of stuff. I was in the clear after three hours of testing but was told not to come into work until a week later, so I gladly enjoyed my time off. When I returned, I was “demoted” to the “back of the house.” It’s where the least amount of action occurs because most of those patients are heavily sedated, as you know. She used to be kept back there, but all it takes is one attempt to be labeled self-injurious, as you know.
One night I fell asleep during one of my shifts and had what you would call a “dream” about Meesha, the patient who spat blood on my face. The dream I had was of her shooting herself in the head with a small revolver, but not before taking a couple lives along with her. Well things didn’t necessarily go as they did in my “dream,” but my visions are rarely 100% spot on. Just 97%. After receiving stitches and her own time away from here, she was sent back here. For a week, she displayed signs of improvement. She spoke coherently and even showed signs of remorse, but she was a slick one. The security officer who subdued her that day always carried his personal firearm in his boot. A small revolver. She somehow convinced the nurses that attended to her to leave her alone with him, but if you ask me, I think he was the one who made that call. Caught with his pants down, she was able to be reach for his gun, she shot him, one bullet to the face, instantly killing him. she ran out of the building long enough to run into ongoing traffic and got hit by some Karen on the phone arguing with her customer support. Corrinors ruled it a suicide, the guard’s family received a big payout, a bunch of layoffs happened, I got out of here before they got the pleasure in dropping me, then came the rebrand. Did I answer your questions, Dr.?”
“Yes. You did.”
“Anything else you’d like to know about my “condition?”
“I have all the info I need for now, Mr. Celeste, thank you.”
“Dr.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t just take notes. Meesha Prince. Look her up. And don’t let them get you.” She stared directly at Sir whose gaze pierced her soul. “Thank you.” Was all she could muster up to say and casually with angst walked out of the med room.