Sheryl Foster never dreamed that her new job assisting a private investigator would merge with her night-time dreams, throwing her into the path of a serial killer. After six months the lucid dreams were again consuming her sleep as she entered the killer's world and watched, without realizing that this time, he could see her. The pain of his bullet slamming into the chest of her astral body, left her physical body stunned and frightened. Here's how it began:
Plush carpeting muffles the creak of a floorboard just beyond the foot of the bed. Seeking its source, the sleeping man rouses and stretches his bronzed, muscular arm outward toward the bedside lamp, fumbling for the switch. Illusive night shadows reveal feathery shades of lunar light vacillating amid the murky darkness that fills the room.
Long strands of honey-blond hair brush his shoulder as his wife rises to a leaning position on her right elbow. "What is it?" she asks. "Is something wrong?" She jerks her head to the side as an unfamiliar figure enters her view. Flaming streaks of red-tinged shapes amid the gray shadows merging with the iridescent glow of waning moonlight, stream through the bare windowpanes and fall on the intruder. He stands tall and slender at the foot of the bed, peering at them through dark piercing eyes. His black hair and ruddy complexion frame a red star-shaped birthmark prominent on his left temple. Clothed in a black, turtleneck sweater and slacks, with a leather jacket slung over his right arm, he fingers the silver buckle on his belt. Its imprint, the image of an inverted horseshoe, shines in sharp contrast to his outfit. Black leather gloves partially conceal the shiny metal of a gun glimmering in the moon's rays.
She screams. One of those long, blood-curdling screams designed to wake the dead, as she realizes that she is about to join them. Her husband attempts to get out of bed and manages to partially stand before the intruder shoots him throught the heart. Then he shoots the blond. The screaming stops. The room is deadly silent once again. Blood splatters on the headboard and on the wall behind the bed, spraying to the sidewall and onto the floor. Motionless, the couple slumps in the midst of their own blood as it soaks through the rumpled bed covers. The intruder wipes his gun, carefully folds the handerchief and replaces it in his pocket. Then he picks up a small object from the dresser, which he places with the gun into a small pouch of his jacket. He calmly walks to the side of the bed, standing a moment to admiere his handiwork. With a tiny pair of shears, he snips a lock of blond hair from the woman's head. After making his way to the opposite of the bed, he severs a lock of her husband's curly black hair and places them together in a small plastic bag, which he tucks inside with his other treasures. A thin smile parts his lips as he turns and walks through the living room and out the front door.
Outside, crimson streaks of light penetrated the vanishing shades of nightfall and filtered through the window giving promise of another beautiful Carolina day. Leaves rustled softly against the window swaying to the cheerful songs of bluebirds and robins as they began their morning serenade.
The author, Lois Wilmoth-Bennett, has retired to Florida to write and publish books for several outstanding authors which can also be found on Kindle. Look for her first book, Beyond Forever, and books by authors Carla Suson (Independence Day Plague), Stephen Kanne (The Furax Connection), Allen Hunt (18 Days in September), T.L. Gray (The Blood of Cain), Eileen Bennett ( Amanda's Voice), Donald Himelstein (Above Honor:Rachel's Story), Judith Finkel (Texas Justice), B.F. Eller (The Cleansing), James J. Valko (The Find) and Elizabeth Towles (The Long Night Moon) among others from Fireside Publications all available on Kindle.
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