Love That Never Dies

"Margaret, I'm starting to have those dreams again but they seem... different this time."

Margaret was Anne's therapist for three years now and she knew her patient pretty well. Anne was thirty-four and still single. She was pretty enough to an outside observer but ever since the accident twelve years ago, she just hasn't been able to open up to anyone. During her college years, she had been dating a boy that she absolutely adored. He was a year older than her and they were engaged to be married right after they both graduated. Tragically, Paul was killed in a motor vehicle accident two months before the end of Anne's senior year.

Anne claimed that she and Paul had been soul mates and that she would always compare anyone else she met to him. About a year ago Anne admitted to Margaret after a long session that she was having these seemingly real sexual dreams about Paul. They had been getting in the way of her attempts at a new relationship and causing her to be unrested every morning before she went to work. It took her a while to talk about them because, after all, they weren't unpleasant dreams.

Margaret said that Anne should take a couple of days off from work and go to a resort. Margaret thought the change in surroundings and the chance to meet someone new would put an end to the dreams, or at least make them less of a distraction. Internally, Margaret thought that at least Anne was 'imagining' sex every night. Well, it had worked, but now it seemed they were back again.

"How are they 'different' this time, Anne?" Margaret asked.

"Well, last night I had the dream again and it seemed so real to me! In fact... when I woke up, the door to my room was open." Anne paused, "I always close my door at night. Always!"

Margaret looked seriously at Anne. "Do you lock the door at night or just close it?"

"Well there's not a lock on my bedroom door." Anne said.

"Did you have the window open last night?"

"I don't remember. Maybe," Anne replied.

"It was probably the wind. Sometimes I have doors in my house that close or open on their own. Do you think you need to take some time off again?" Margaret asked.

"I don't have any more days coming to me at work." Anne furrowed her brow. "Maybe I can go somewhere for the weekend," she suggested.

"In the meantime," Margaret continued, "take this prescription and try to get some rest."

That Friday, Anne called Margaret for another appointment. When she arrived, she looked very worried. "So what's going on Anne? You look upset."

Anne was staring at the floor. She looked up at Margaret and said, "It's starting to scare me."

"Being scared is new, isn't it? The dreams never scared you before. What happened?" Margaret asked rather clinically.

Anne paused without saying a word. Then she stood up and undid the button of her pants. She pulled them down just over her hips and turned her hip toward Margaret. Margaret leaned forward to look. What she saw was a red mark on her hip. "What's that from?" she asked.

"I have no idea. I woke up with them," Anne said.

"Them?" Margaret replied. As she looked closer, Margaret saw that it resembled a large handprint with the fingers pointed forward and the thumb upward. She sat back into her chair and thought; this could be a couple of things. Either Anne had sex with someone last night and is not telling me for some reason, or... Margaret had heard of cases where a person's belief was so strong that they could make their body bruise or even bleed by willing it. "Have you had sex with anyone over the past couple of days, Anne?"

"No," she said indignantly, "not since Paul died."

"I think we should schedule you for a sleep-lab tonight," Margaret said. "We can check out your EEG patterns and try to diagnose what it is that's causing your hyperactive dream state."

After some more small talk, Anne agreed and met Margaret later that day at the lab. Anne had brought her nightgown, pillow and toothbrush as Margaret had instructed and the two women sat in the conference room and talked. "Next door are a couple of small rooms where you will be sleeping," Margaret said. "Before you go to sleep tonight, we will fit you with these small wires, attached to your head, which will send us signals showing which state of sleep you are in. Even though this is a strange environment, we can't give you anything to make you sleep or it will color the results. You'll just have to stay up until you get tired enough. Do you play cards?"

Anne and Margaret and the two technicians played cards until past one in the morning before Anne started to yawn and state that she was ready for bed. They had fitted her with the wires earlier and just had to plug them in above her bed before she went to sleep. Surprisingly, it didn't take Anne long to drift off to sleep. Soon they were reading her alpha waves and keeping an eye on the peaks and valleys. About four in the morning, after the technicians went on break, Margaret was aroused by the sound of a faint beeping and a red light in the control room. She turned on the infrared monitor, which showed Anne in her room, sleeping on her side. As her brain wave monitor started to show some activity, Anne rolled over onto her back. Margaret watched the monitor and thought she saw the sheets sliding down Anne's body, slightly past her chest. There was some motion on Anne's chest even though her hands lay at her sides. Margaret touched the controls and the camera zoomed in to look closer at the movement. It was the most amazing example of muscular manipulation of the mind that Margaret had ever seen. It looked as though Anne's breasts were being kneaded and squeezed by invisible hands. Her nipples were visibly erect under the nightgown and were seemingly being pinched and pulled as Margaret watched in amazement. She had to admit that it was almost causing a reaction in her own body to see Anne start to squirm and moan softly.

A moment later the effect stopped. Margaret moved over to the readout from Anne's electrodes and studied them. As she did, she saw them wake up and start their hyperactivity again. Margaret moved back to the monitor and was startled. The bed sheet slid all the way off the bed and onto the floor. It was then that Margaret noticed a lighted area hovering just over Anne's body. Anne rolled over onto her stomach and then it seemed like she was pulled up by her hips to come to rest on her knees with her arms still at her sides and her face in the pillow. Margaret watched in amazement as Anne's nightgown slid upward over her ass and down to her lower back. Again, Margaret zoomed in the camera to look closer at Anne's buttocks. She saw the skin on Anne's hips press in as if squeezed by an invisible force. Then Anne's vaginal lips slowly opened on their own and the hole of her vagina opened as well. It was as if a glass tube were being inserted into her. Then Anne started moving back and forth as if someone was pulling on her hips. It was then that Margaret noticed the light area again. It was right behind Anne and it seemed to be getting a bit brighter as it took on a shape. It looked like the outline of a man, positioned to penetrate Anne from behind. Margaret watched in horror as the ghostly image fucked her patient in the next room.

Steeling herself, Margaret took a deep breath and hurried down the hall to Anne's room. As she approached the door, she could hear the moans and heavy breathing coming from Anne. As she unlocked and opened the door, Anne cried out from an uncontrollable orgasm. The image of the intruder turned and looked at Margaret with a look of shock. She barely made out the features as the image started to fade.

When it was gone, Anne's body slumped to the bed. Anne's breathing returned to normal and she continued to sleep. By the light from the open doorway, Margaret carefully picked up the blanket and laid it down over Anne's body. As she closed the door and retreated down the hall, she noticed that Anne's jacket and purse were sitting on the conference table. Instinctively, Margaret opened her purse and searched for something. Finding her wallet, she opened it and discovered a picture. It was a picture of Anne when she was in college. She was in a photo booth with a boy that Margaret assumed had been Paul. Now she knew.

- - -

Two weeks later, Anne came into Margaret's office again for her weekly visit. She seemed very excited this time. "Still not having any dreams, Anne?" Margaret asked.

"No, seems I'm all done with that. I can't thank you enough." Anne smiled. "My life's back in my control and I think I found someone. At least he's asked me out a second time."

"That's great Anne, I'm glad it's working out for you." Margaret studied Anne's face. "But tell me, you seem too excited for just a second date. What's going on?"

Anne didn't speak for a moment. Then she looked right into Margaret's eyes and said, "I'm pregnant Margaret. I'm going to have a child. Isn't that great?"