The Dreamer Awakens Pt. 03: Isabelle

This is the last story in the Dreamer Awakens series. Apologies that it took so long to come out, it has undergone a lot of changes. You don't really need to read my other stories unless you want the full background, but to understand the context of this one, you might want to read the first two parts.

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The little black card reader by the double doors emitted a beep as Jack scanned his security pass.

Mid-afternoon sunlight flooded the open plan office as he strolled in, past a notice board that bore the photographs of Will and Norman, printed off from their social media. Besides the photo printouts were notices giving the dates and locations of their respective funerals, neither of which Jack bothered to read.

Jack sat at his desk in his corner of the office, now much quieter and emptier. No one there to block his view of the sunlight, the trees and industrial buildings outside. He realized how he felt significantly less shit about coming to work now.

For a second, Jack wondered if he had become a sociopath. He didn't ask Bronefar, his friendly local river spirit, to murder his coworkers. At least not specifically. But now that she did, he was actually okay with it.

Perhaps his unique personality was a side-effect of having magical abilities. If that was the case, then perhaps this was a survival mechanism. His newfound powers seemed to have drawn to him a small crowd of strange, power-hungry individuals who would think nothing of using him for their own gain.

He thought specifically of Gabriella.

The previous night, Jack found himself at a party in the Treasury again. It was one of Celia's monthly gatherings that involved members of her clandestine network and the theatre community that Gabriella ran.

This time, all eyes were on him and Olivia, as they got out of a taxi together and walked across the car park, into the bar.

At first Jack thought it was Olivia getting all the attention in her green dress, her fantastic cleavage nearly bursting out of it. He had trouble keeping his eyes off her himself.

Inside the bar, he noticed that some people were definitely looking at him. He assumed they were wondering who that guy was with the hot Eastern European blonde on his arm. Or perhaps they were thinking: who is this guy who survived being kidnapped by a cult of spirit-possessed prostitutes and had emerged with supernatural powers?

On entering, Gabriella excused herself from a small gathering at the bar and approached them.

'Jack! Olivia! Glad you could make it!'

She wore black dress and her hair was tied up. Jack rarely saw her out of business attire. They exchanged the usual air kisses, before she led them to the bar.

'Listen, Gabriella,' asked Jack. 'I've got a few questions that I really need ask.'

'Oh?'

'You never told me what exactly happened when I was kidnapped.'

Gabriella batted her eyelashes at him.

'What more do you need to know?'

'Who was behind all this? I seriously doubt those women in there were the masterminds of that operation. So whose bright idea was it to lure me into a glorified brothel, and wank me into an altered state of consciousness?'

Gabriella looked around, nervously. Jack realized he had spoken a little too loud.

'Alright, come with me.'

She led the two of them into an empty booth in corner, distant from the rest of crowd. Sitting across from them, she looked serious.

'Okay. It was one of Celia's competitors.'

'Does this competitor have a name?'

'I can't tell you. But what I can tell you is that he had taken the place over somehow. How all those women ended up in that place, we don't know. But what we do know is that he had a pact with something down there. That...Dark Goddess...as they keep referring to it, down there in the woods.'

'And how do you know this?' Olivia interjected.

'After we got Jack out of there, we inspected the place. That manor house had been abandoned for well over a hundred years. It seemed as though Celia's competitor was doing work on the place. But we discovered something else down there too.'

Jack's eyes narrowed. Vague memories rushed into his mind.

'A temple,' said Jack. 'Or what used to be one.'

Gabrielle stared at him.

'You know?'

'Not quite. There was something happening underground, wasn't there? There were men digging something up beneath the chapel.'

'And did you see what was down there?'

Gabriella was almost leaning over the table.

'No. Did you go in?'

'Yes. Our competitor had found the remains of something. Something far older than the manor house. Besides the usual archeological detritus -- pottery, bones, all that crap -- there was a crude altar. Just a stone slab. And above it, what resembled an effigy.'

'An effigy?'

'Yes. Something vaguely female, like the Venus of Willendorf, but with a face.'

Jack frowned.

'So they built this manor house on top of an ancient temple?' Olivia asked. 'Was that intentional?'

'I doubt it,' said Gabriella. 'It could have been entirely unconscious. Or purely coincidence.'

'I don't think it was coincidence,' said Jack. 'Whoever built that house must have been drawn there by something. To build a chapel on top of an ancient temple like that, something was going on.'

Gabriella looked at him with narrowed eyes.

'And that's why we need you, Jack. Someone with your talents could uncover whatever power is behind that place. You could tap into it, and channel that power, for the good of the City.'

For the good of her network, Jack thought. And at his expense.

Jack saw something in Gabriella's eyes. She was convincing, sincere while playing to his ego. But behind her eyes, he saw that part of her that saw him as a pawn. An interesting pawn, but a pawn nonetheless. Disposable. In service to a cause he would likely never fully understand.

'The good of the City?' he enquired. 'How?'

'How long have you lived here, Jack?'

'Too long.'

'Then you must know by now that this City has it's problems. The poverty, the social decay, the underfunded local council...'

'And the mismanagement of local resources by said local council.'

'You might have a point, but this City has always been a slum. It was like this before the Germans bombed this place into a crater during the War. The reconstruction made no difference. It has always been one of the poorest places in Britain.'

'Not exactly selling this place are you?' said Jack.

'You think this place is a shithole?' said Olivia. 'You should see my home town. We had nothing. Just grey, empty buildings as far as the eye can see.'

'Maybe you're right Olivia,' said Gabriella. 'I don't know where you come from, but you can't deny that this City has some real problems. And I think those problems stem from an ancient source. A root cause that has never been recognized, let alone addressed. Would you agree, Jack?'

Jack paused. He remembered his time in the Manor. As little as he trusted in Gabriella, he knew in his bones that there was truth to this.

He nodded.

'You're right. I know there's something down there. And that temple could be the source of it.'

Olivia's eyes darted between the two of them. They were being oddly serious.

'Will you go down there, Jack? See what you can find?'

'Haven't you checked the place out yourself?'

'We have, but we don't have your talents.'

Appealing to his ego again. Jack knew he was the canary being sent into the coalmine.

'We can send some people down there with you, if you like?' Gabriella continued.

'No thanks,' said Jack. 'I prefer to work alone with this sort of thing.'

'Are you sure?' said Olivia. 'I can come with you.'

'Sure. If you want.' Jack trusted her more than he trusted anyone Gabriella would send with him.

The rest of the night was a blur. Gabriella resumed her social butterfly mode. He barely had a chance to see Celia, who was always in the distance, surrounded by various groups of people.

Jack got a taxi with Olivia at the end of the night. She was tipsy, slurring suggestive comments in his ear that the taxi driver could probably hear. She didn't seem to notice or care how Jack was staring at her cleavage, as she pressed her firm breasts against his arm, her hands on his knees, his chest, his arms.

He woke up the next morning in Olivia's bed, in her penthouse flat overlooking the sea front. Her breasts were now pressed against his chest, her arm draped across him. He felt her breath against his neck. They were both naked, barely covered by the sheets, the curtains still open allowing the early morning sunlight in.

The sex they had that night was almost like their wrestling sessions, constantly changing positions -- sometimes she was on top, sometimes he was. Either way, he would never tire of her breasts, the smoothness of her skin, the smell of her perfume.

Jack turned his head and looked out of the tall windows. Across the estuary he could see the green land mass of Cornwall beyond her shores.

Olivia turned on her back and sighed, signalling she was awake. Jack's eyes went straight from the sea view to her breasts as they jiggled on turning.

'Good morning,' she whispered.

'Morning.'

She looked up at the window.

'Did we fuck with the blinds open last night?' she asked.

'I think we did.'

'Lucky the neighbours can't see us.'

'Nope. Just the seagulls.'

Olivia got up. Jack watched her firm ass in the morning sunlight as she sauntered over to the blinds, closing them.

Jack watched as she came back to the bed, the dim outline of her nude body coming towards him.

'No time for a lie-in?' he asked.

'I don't do lie-ins.'

She walked over to the bed and ripped the sheets off, revealing Jack's fully erect cock. She smiled.

'Morning wood?'

'I can't leave your house like this, can I?'

She got back into the bed and lay next to him, her breasts level with his face as she wrapped her hands around his cock and started stroking it.

He pulled his arm around her back and pulled her body closer to him, kissing her breasts until he gasped with the climax.

She wiped the end of his dick with some conveniently placed tissues on the bedside table, as he lay back in the bed.

'So when are you going to visit this Manor house?'

'This weekend,' said Jack. 'Still want to come?'

'Yes. But I'm curious. What are you doing to do?'

'Like I told her. I'm going to go in there, check out this temple. And then I'm going to commune with whatever monstrosity is down there and work out a deal.'

'A deal?'

'Yes. A deal. For my benefit, not Gabriella's.'

'You were planning on telling Gabriella this?'

'Fuck no. They're just using me. They need me more than I need them. Whoever this counsellor was, who tried to take over the Manor house, he didn't do a good job. He didn't have my abilities. Maybe we can do better. Maybe we can take that place over ourselves, and channel it's power for our benefit.'

'How?'

'I don't know yet. We'll figure that out when we get there.'

Jack's mind was still in Olivia's bedroom while he was sat at work that day. He was still figuring out how he was going to approach the Manor house that weekend.

He considered winging it. But then another thought entered his mind: there were ways he could gather intel before even entering that forest.

He would summon Bronefar. And he would do it during his lunch break, as usual.

A hand lightly rested on his shoulder.

'Jack?'

It was Sadie. She stood over him, her lithe figure in a white blouse.

'Sadie?'

'I just wanted to ask, are you coming to Will's funeral?'

Jack shook his head.

'Nah. Didn't really know him that well.'

'Oh. Okay,' her flace slackened. 'Well, if you change your mind I can arrange a lift. It would be good to see you there.'

'I'll bear that in mind, but I'll pass for now.'

'Two people on your team, dead on the same night. That's pretty shocking isn't it?'

'It is. What a terrible coincidence,' said Jack. He realized he probably didn't sound as sincere as he hoped.

'It would be good to have you there. For moral support.'

'You know where I am, if you want to talk.'

She nodded, smiled.

'Thanks Jack.'

She walked back to her corner of the office. Jack stole a glance at her ass as she walked away. And then he noticed Amber, staring daggers at him. He turned back to his desk and pretended not to notice.

That lunchbreak, he found himself by the river again. The water was almost still, reflecting the sunight. He spoke the incantation, and Bronefar appeared behind him immediately, like she was expecting this.

He turned to see her naked, shimmering form. Her bright, inhuman eyes stared at him expectantly. Her unnaturally perky breasts and slim body glistening as if she had just come out of the river.

'Jack?'

'Bronefar. That was quick.'

'Have you been having fun with Sadie and Amber?'

'I'm dating Amber. Haven't gotten around to shagging Sadie yet.'

'Oh. Well, let's see what we can do about that,' she smiled mischievously.

'That's not why I'm here. I have a question.'

'Then ask.'

'You know of the Courtenay Manor?'

'No.'

'In the woodlands north of here, there is a temple beneath a big house. A house that has been there for a few centuries. But the temple contains an effigy to an unknown Goddess.'

Bronefar's eyes widened as her smile disappeared.

'Famari!' she exclaimed.

'Is that the deity's name?'

'Yes. No one has served her in a long time. And she is hungry.'

'Hungry for what?'

'Pleasure.'

'Sexual pleasure?'

'Her rites are the rites of pleasure. Without her, crops struggle to grow, wealth does not come into the land. We are all her young. And it's like she has forgotten this place. Or she is sleeping.'

'So what does she want? An orgy?'

'That could work. Deep in her temple, like the ancestors of man once did.'

A plan was starting to form in Jack's mind. And Bronefar knew it.

'It doesn't have to happen all the time,' she said. 'Just a few times a year, at the turning of the seasons.'

'Like a seasonal festival?'

'Yes,' said Bronefar. 'The people of this land did this a long time ago, but they stopped.'

'And that's when everything went to shit,' Jack thought aloud.

'Good luck,' said Bronefar.

She disappeared, leaving Jack to walk back to his office building, pondering how he was going to pull this off.

He climbed the stairs of his office and emerged onto the corridor.

'Jack?'

Sadie was stood in the doorway to a stationary cupboard. Her blouse was unbuttoned, revealing a pale cleavage. She was wearing that push-up bra again, accentuating her small but perfectly formed breasts.

'Sadie.'

He approached her.

'What about that moral support you promised?'

Jack didn't remember promising anything, but before he had a chance to say this, she took him by the hand and pulled him into the stationary cupboard, shutting the door behind him.

'Come on, Jack, don't act so surprised. I've seen the way you look at me.' Sadie's hand was on his arm. 'Don't you want to take things further?'

'How much further?' said Jack.

She moved forward and kissed him, unbuckling his jeans. Her hand was immediately down his pants, caressing his balls as his dick started to stir fast.

Jack felt her full lips against his as he unbuttoned her blouse, running his hands up her slim body, feeling the firmness of her small but perfectly-formed breasts. Her nipples were hard in his palms.

She pulled out his hard cock, tugging on his shaft and she got down on her knees. Pulling his foreskin down, she placed those lips of hers over his cock and began sucking. He felt the warmth of her tonque against his shaft as he tried to keep as quiet as possible.

He climaxed in her mouth.

Wiping her mouth off, she stood up and buttoned up her blouse.

'We should do this again sometime,' she whispered in his ear, as he somehow managed to get his cock back in his jeans.

'Yeah. We should,' said Jack, a little stunned.

'Wait a minute after I leave, will you? Let's not walk in together, I don't want to make Amber suspicious.'

'Good idea.'

She left the storage room, after seeing that the coast was clear.

Jack walked back into the office, avoiding eye contact with Sadie who was now sat at her desk in the manager's section. He pretended not to notice Amber, who was pretending not to be glancing over at Jack as he walked in, but doing a poor job.

He sat at his desk, got out his phone and sent a message to Olivia before logging in.

'Olivia, are you still okay for Saturday? I thought we could visit the Manor first thing in the morning.'

A minute later, he got a reply:

'Of course. See you there at 10am.'

Saturday morning at 10am. Jack found himself stood with Olivia on the estate of the Courtenay Mansion. The grounds had been partially reclaimed -- the surrounding walls were covered in vines, almost submerged in places by the dense thicket of trees. The gravel paths were overgrown with weeds, the weathered statues covered with vines.

In the distance, the mansion loomed over the estate like a forgotten memory. Its once-grand façade, draped in ivy, bore the scars of time. The forest had encroached upon it, nature's reclamation project.

Jack pushed aside a rusted, wrought-iron gate, and they entered the estate. The gravel path leading to the front porch was overgrown with weeds.

The place was still dimly familiar in the overcast morning sunlight. Jack still remembered running in the darkness through these grounds with the other confused captives.

'Look at the windows,' said Olivia. 'Someone has worked on the place.'

Jack looked. The arched windows were in curiously good condition, even though vines had reclaimed the ancient stone walls.

He still remembered the morning sunlight coming in through the windows. In his trance, it looked like it was in pristine condition. It wasn't until his rescue, running through the dilapidated corridors that he realized that it was actually a ruin.

'Must have been Celia's friend,' Jack replied. 'He must have been half-way through fixing up this place before Gabriella came in and disrupted everything.'

'What did she do?'

'No idea. One minute I was lying on a bed upstairs. The next minute this woman bursts in and tells me to put my clothes on. The rest is a blur. Just me, this woman and all the prostitutes running blindly around the estate.'

Olivia looked quizzically at Jack.

'Who was this woman?'

'Again. No idea. It was like being woken suddenly from a dream. I wasn't all there.'

'Perhaps everything will come back to you when we walk around?'

'Perhaps.'

The oak door before them opened without much resistance. Jack noticed the modern hinges. The hazy sunlight spilled in over the debris-strewn floor of what was once a grand foyer. A huge set of stairs led up to the first floor, covered in dust and rubbish.

In the gloom, they noticed doors into other areas of the building. They walked into a dining hall. The curtainless windows let in the sunlight over an ancient table, lined with equally ancient chairs. The walls were damp, and there were large rectangular patches where paintings used to be.

Beyond this area, they walked through into an old kitchen. This room looked even older, the filthy walls lined with antique pots and pans. Shelves were covered in dust. An oak table was covered in dust and the remains of food on plates, suddenly abandoned.

Jack looked at the old sink by the window. He turned on the faucet. After a few seconds, water spluttered out of it. He switched it off and looked at Olivia with a frown.

'The water is still on.'

Olivia looked at the tap.

'Strange. Can we drink it?'

'I wouldn't risk it.'

The returned to the foyer and entered a room at the front of the building, a salon with bay windows looking out over the grounds. Light came in over the foliage outside.