Short Story: "The Girl of My Dreams"

As any of you who follow my work (or even occasionally read my blog) knows, I'm not so much a writer as I am a chronicler of the Infestissumam. I document the history of the demonic world, I collect stories about their fell influences, I make cautionary tales to assist people not to fall under the demon's evil sway. But, servant to publicizing this world as I am, that doesn't leave much room for creative writing. 

That being said, it's not like I don't want to write my own stories, to create something that doesn't really belong to this world of horror I write about. So, lately, I've been writing short stories that you might consider are non-canonical in reference to the Infestissumam. Fun, chilling tales of horror of my own creation that don't tie in in any way to the larger world we are together exploring. In time I will gather these stories together into a collection, but for now, I will share with you one of these, which I call "The Girl of My Dreams."

Enjoy!

The Girl of My Dreams

I started my workday as I always did, bleary-eyed, and wishing I didn’t have to get up so damn early. But, when you work construction and it’s summer, you pretty much get up with the sun to get as much time on site as possible. So, I started my day off just like any other in the past three months while on this job, half-awake as I stumbled into the gas station-convenience store across from the hotel where my employers had put me up.

One of the benefits of being a site foreman was that I got to stay at a hotel near the job while my crew had to drive home every night, and another was that one of the guys would come to get me every morning with a company truck. I’d told him to get me at this store since I liked their coffee, so by this time I’ve gotten to know all the morning shift people who work there.

“Hey, morning, Joe,” said Roz, the cashier working that day. She was a wizened old lady who I think went around with a bike gang when she was younger, and who could still most likely beat the hell out of any guy she wanted to, but she was always bright and chipper every morning I saw her.

“Morn’…,” I mumbled, seriously hating these painfully early hours.

 The delicious odor of fresh, strong coffee greeted me as soon as I walked into the store, perking me up ever so slightly. Even if I were fully asleep my feet could find their way to the coffee counter all on their own, so I was pretty much going on autopilot. I pulled out the largest styrofoam cup available and poured in the most intense high-test they offered. I always liked to take a deep sniff of its powerfully strong scent before topping the cup and had just started to breathe in deeply when I stopped.

I unexpectedly became aware that I was being stared at.

I didn’t see something out of the corner of my eye, nor did I look and see someone looking back. Instead, it was just an awareness that developed out of nowhere accompanied by an electric chill that raced down my spine. I lifted my head from the steaming cup of coffee and looked first to my left, then to my right. That’s when I saw a beautiful young Asian woman looking at me with a smile that was both lovely and knowing. I’d swear on a stack of Bibles that she hadn’t been standing next to me a second before, but with as I groggy as I am in the morning anything’s possible.

I’ve always found Asian women to be the most attractive ladies around – I’ve dated and been with girls of all races, but we all have our favorites, right? – and this particular one was perfect. Cute face, silky black hair, buxom, large eyes, short. She was perfection. It was like I’d sketched her based upon my own fantasies. As I looked at her, though, I had the unsettling sense I’d seen her before.  

The woman continued to smile and look up at me with her big eyes until she sucked up a large mouthful of the slushie she was holding without breaking eye contact. She swallowed hard and then again smiled, looking very pleased with herself. I nearly dropped my coffee.

“Hi,” she said, her voice sounding as smooth as her skin looked.

“Uh-umm,” I stammered foolishly before I could regain my composure. “Hey, how are you?”

“Mmm…” she said as if tasting something delicious. “I’m doing very well, thanks.”

Even as I chatted with her, my mind raced trying to recall how I knew her. I know she wasn’t from the office, nor had she ever worked under me. Maybe I worked for her? I do some side jobs on my own, especially off-season ones. Had I ever done a job on her place?

She then leaned in and touched my arm to speak as she whispered, “I was wondering how you’d be feeling after last night…it was amazing.” She then giggled and brushed past me almost skipping to the counter, leaving me dumbfounded and confused.

What the hell did that mean? I thought to myself. I crashed early last night. I didn’t go out, and I certainly didn’t bring back the girl of my—

And then it occurred to me. I had dreamt of her last night in various scenarios one more primal and pornographic than the next. The vivid details of the hot, feverish dreams I’d had all night long came crashing back into my memory, and it felt like getting hit by a sludge hammer. The dreams tormented me deliciously all night long, and the things I saw her do to me in them…well, suffice it to say I should tip the hotel maid well for taking care of my bedsheets this morning.

How the fuck is this possible? How can the girl I dreamt of last night be right here, in the flesh, talking to me?!

I looked at her now, slack-jawed and my eyes wide, as she paid for her drink. Then, before leaving, she blew me a kiss. That was too much for me and the coffee did slip out of my hands, splashing all over the floor and on to me.

“Ah, shit!” I said, looking down at the mess I’d just made. Remembering the girl, though, I quickly went to the door and ran out to the parking lot, but she was nowhere to be seen. Thoroughly confused, I went back in to replace the coffee I’d spilled.

Roz was already cleaning up my mess with a dry mop when I got there. “Don’t worry about it, hon,” she said pleasantly. “Happens all the time.”

“OK, yeah…” I said, my mind still reeling with what just happened as I poured another cup of coffee. “Thanks, Roz.”

She nodded her head towards the door. “Did you know that girl?”

“No, I…I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

“Well, she sure seemed to know you.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said. “Do you know her? Have you ever seen her before?” 

“Nope,” Roz said simply and made her way back to the office now that the spill was cleaned up.

I was still thinking about things and sipping my coffee when the truck full of construction guys came to pick me up. Pulling rank, I made my worker in the passenger seat get out and squeeze in the back with the others and had started to forget about the weird incident as we talked about what the day would entail. Who would be doing what, how much we’d get done today, typical shop stuff. I was forgetting it, that was, until I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

I looked at it and saw I had a text message notification from someone named Lilly. This was odd because I didn’t know anyone named Lilly and certainly hadn’t put someone’s number in under that name.

I opened the message, which included a picture of the same Asian woman completely naked. The text simply read: See you tonight, lover.

I was, at the same exact moment, suddenly shocked, terrified, and intensely aroused as images from my dream last night flashed through my mind. As I struggled to balance these conflicting emotions, arousal quickly won out. I found I didn’t care how this was possible, or who she was, or anything else. I just wanted to feel my lips against hers, her soft skin beneath me, her hands wrapped around me. I didn’t care that it was a dream. I wanted her.

The day passed in a complete blur. I’m usually a pretty active site foreman, checking on progress, helping guys out, chatting it up, but today I hid in the trailer all day thinking about her and trying to text her back. Every time I sent a message my phone would tell me the delivery failed, yet I kept at it. When I went into my contacts to find her number there was no information on her, just a name. No number, no option to Facetime, nothing. It was like her name had just appeared in my phone. Yet, nonetheless, I kept trying to text her all day and into the night. 

I kept checking the time, though I tried hard not to. At 11:00 I turned off the lights and got in bed, which was my typical bedtime. I was hoping I’d fall straight asleep and begin dreaming, but I wasn’t as exhausted as I typically am after work, so it did take me some time. But before too long I did fall asleep, and almost as soon as I did I fell into a series of dreams that were so delightfully filthy and erotic I was practically drained come morning.

As soon as my alarm went off I was wide awake and ready to go, which is very much out of character for me. I threw off the covers, took a quick shower, and was over at the convenience store about a half-hour earlier than normal. Bob, the plump, dour worker on duty this morning, looked at his watch in surprise I was so early.

I was hoping I’d see Lilly. In fact, I needed to see Lilly. But, she was nowhere to be seen that morning.

I tried to be a little more active than I was the day before, both because I didn’t want to get a reputation as a lazy foreman and because we were having issues with a piece of the equipment, but I still spent the majority of the day hiding in the trailer. I mostly just sat there staring at my phone and trying to recall the events of the past two nights’ dreams.

At 11:00 I was getting into bed, thoroughly disappointed, and even more confused than before when my phone rang. My heart almost stopped when I checked to see who it was, and I saw Lilly’s name displayed.

I answered, realizing my hand was gently trembling as I did.

“Hello?” I asked, cautiously, confused, but also desperate to hear from Lilly.

“Hello, lover,” Lilly said, speaking in such a way that every word sounded like an erotic sigh. “How are you tonight?”

“I’m well, Lilly, I’m very well. I was…disappointed I didn’t get to see you this morning.”

“Mmhmmm,” she breathed, the phone making it sound like she was right next to me, right here in bed with me. My skin tingled in anticipation with every silky word she spoke. “I just bet you were, my love.”

“Will I, umm…see you tonight?”

Lilly giggled playfully. “Oh my, you are a thirsty boy, aren’t you?”

My heart was racing, and I was already aroused just by hearing her voice, just by thinking about her. I couldn’t help myself. I ached for her. I needed her with every fiber of my being. “Please? Will you please come to me tonight?”

She giggled again, then simply said, “No.”

That one single word was like a searing slap across my face, and I stopped breathing for a few seconds so shocking was her terse response. “No?” I said, with a tone that was far more whining and desperate than I would normally condone. “Why not? I need you.”

“Ooooooh, lover,” she cooed softly, “I know you do. I know how badly you ache for me, how much you want me, how much you want to use my soft flesh.”

I thought perhaps this was a game like she enjoyed hearing how much I wanted her. Maybe that intensified things for her, I figured, so I heartily agreed. “Yes, yes, Lilly. I need you. I need to use your body, I need you like I need the air.”

“Mmm,” she again sighed, “but nothing is free in life, is it, lover?”

I didn’t know how I should answer, so I simply said, “No.”

She giggled again, but this time it sounded somehow less playful as if there was a hint of a menacing growl to her laugh. “No, of course not. I’ve already given you two nights of unearthly pleasures for free, so if you want any more of me, now you’ll have to pay for it.”

Pay for it? Not a problem! I travel all over the country on jobs, I’ve paid for pleasure before, so this wouldn’t be a first for me. “Yes, OK, no problem,” I said eagerly, almost shouting with excitement. “I’ll pay any amount to have you. How much do you want?”

Lilly now laughed fully and openly, sounding both delighted and triumphant at the same time. “No, you can’t buy me with money, lover. My price is a little higher than that. You’ll have to buy me through action. With sacrifice.”

“Sac-sacrifice?” I stammered, confused, and a little apprehensive. “What do you mean?”

“Lover,” she whispered seductively, “I need to know how much you want me. How much you need me, how badly you ache for my sweet flesh.”

“I do, Lilly, I do. So fucking much.”

“Then prove it, love. Tomorrow, at work, you need to kill someone on the worksite. That way I’ll know how much you care. How bad you need me.”

This revolting request left me literally speechless. I was disgusted and appalled by what she was asking of me, and I knew I should have told her no, immediately hung up, and forgotten about this strange dream woman as soon as I could. But I didn’t, because I desperately hoped to hear Lilly say she was just kidding.

Without my answering, Lilly said, “Now you think about this, lover. It’s entirely up to you, but there are only two choices here: You kill someone tomorrow at work, or you’ll never dream of my flesh again. ‘Night.”

My phone beeped as the line went dead, even though I was yelling her name, desperately trying to make her come back. Not only was I not visited by her in my dreams, I hardly slept at all that long night. I kept thinking about her, thinking about what she did to me, thinking about possibly losing her. I would toss and turn, then get up and look at the night enshrouded landscape from my tenth-story balcony, then get back in bed to repeat.

I must’ve only gotten around an hour or two of sleep that night, and so was in a foul mood all the next day at work. I stalked the site that day barking out orders, pointing out every little error, and even fired two guys who came back to lunch five minutes late. My mood was not improved by the small voice that kept reminding me that it was now or never, that I acted here, today, or lose Lilly forever. That thought weighed on me all day, crushing me down as the day went on even as I struggled with my decision. Do I commit a heinous act and have my pleasures fulfilled, or do I do the right thing and suffer without her?

I struggled with that dilemma all day until an opportunity suddenly presented itself late in the day.  

The site we were building on was very rocky, but the company had a gigantic rock crusher to break the stones down to pebble size which we would then sell to landscapers for a little extra profit. This machine had been acting up, so a small mountain of unbroken rocks was building up around it until the repairman could come by, which was today. The rock crusher was separated far from the rest of the construction site. On a whim, I decided to take a truck and check on the progress because everyone and everything on the main site was pissing me off.

There, I found the repairman reaching up to his shoulder inside the gaping metallic mouth of this beast, fixing some gears that were preventing the huge teeth from doing their job. He was alone, and so he’d taken the standard safety precautions of turning off the machine and using a key lock to prevent it from switching positions accidentally.

I approached him, and he stuck his head up as he heard someone coming.

“Hey, Joe,” he said, popping back inside the machine. “How’s it going?”

“Today’s a shit day all around,” I said. “How’s it going here?”

“I’m all done, actually,” he said, still inside the mouth. “I’m just adding some lubricant now, but this beast is good to go.”

“Oh, yeah?” I said offhandedly, as I slipped off the key lock. “Good to go, eh?”

“Yep. She will be as soon as I get done lubing her up. We’ll be smashing stone in no time.”

“Terrific,” I said in the same disinterested tone as I flipped the power on.

The man’s horrified shrieks were loud, but not as loud as the sound of the machine churning, crunching, ripping, and tearing him to pieces. The cruel metal teeth bit into his arm, crushing and twisting it to shreds, and then drew him into its hungry mouth. His head burst like a watermelon as soon as the teeth dug into his skull, dragging the rest of his body into it greedily. Chunky bits of ruined flesh, tattered clothes, and smashed bones were deposited in a sloppy pile where the stones would normally be.

Once the man was reduced to a chunky red sludge, I simply turned the machine off, put the key lock back on, and returned to the main site. No one knew where I’d been, and no one really cared since I returned in a far better mood than when I left.

I awoke the next day feeling refreshed and energized having spent the entire night with Lilly. She did things to me that night that defy explanation, she gave me sexual delights that can’t be understood through words. Lilly did things that I thought were only legendary, yet she did them with skill and aplomb. The last thing she said to me before my alarm went off was, “I’ll call you tonight, lover.”

When I looked at myself in the mirror while brushing my teeth, I noticed I was paler, thinner, my eyes sunk deeper into my head than I remembered. I felt addicted to Lilly, and now I supposed I was starting to look like one, too. Whatever. I didn’t care, as long as I could taste Lilly in my dreams. Anything for Lilly.

I showed up on the worksite and feigned surprise to see it shut down and cordoned off by police. Apparently there had been an inexplicable malfunction yesterday with the stone crusher and it had eaten up the repairman fixing it. What a tragedy.

As there was no work for us that day, I went back to the hotel and sat in my room, anxiously awaiting Lilly’s call. She called right on time at 11:00.

“Hello, Lilly?” I said eagerly.

“That was brilliantly done, lover,” she said. “My very clever lover. You certainly deserved everything I gave you last night.”

I smiled proudly, feeling a warm tingle because of her praise. “Thank you, Lilly. I did it for you.” 

“Oh, I know, my love,” she whispered. “But now, what else will you do for me?”

I’d known this was coming. I’d known she was going to keep asking for things, for sacrifices if I wanted to be with her. In the back of my head, I’d known it, and now that it was here, I found I didn’t really care.

“Anything,” I said. “I’ll do anything. Just tell me what you want.”

She giggled happily. “Roz is closing the store tonight soon,” she said, somehow making even those words sound sexy. “Go there. Rape and kill her. Then you’ll have me tonight.”

The phone beeped as the line disconnected. Rather than posturing, rather than struggling with a moral debate, I simply got dressed and went over to the store, after first having gotten a hammer out of my truck.

I arrived just as Roz was walking out the door to lock it. “Hey, Roz,” I said, startling her.

“Ah, shit,” she said, spinning around to look at me. “You scared me, hon. Is everything OK?”

“Yeah, I was just hoping to get a snack before bed.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, hon, but the register is already closed out for the night so I can’t sell anything else.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“When you come in tomorrow,” she said, turning back to lock the door, “I’ll throw in an extra—”

She never had the chance to finish that sentence as I brought my heavy hammer down hard on her head, cracking her skull and knocking her out. The rest was easy. I opened the door, dragged her limp body inside, and did as Lilly told me to. I strangled her when I finished, then happily went to bed.

I awoke the next morning again feeling exhilarated, though looking even worse in the mirror. I looked like my life energy, my very essence, was being sucked dry. I looked like a shell of my former self. I didn’t care. All that mattered was Lilly.

I called the main office to check if the site was still closed, and it was. Another day of not working. I checked a voice mail I had from a local detective who wanted to speak to me about the incident at the construction site. He wanted to know if I could come by the police department and speak to him that same day.

Before I even had a chance to process that, my phone rang, and I was very surprised to see that it was Lilly.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hello, my love,” she whispered. “You did perfectly with Roz.”

“Thank you,” I said, that warm feeling again washing over me.

“But, lover,” she said, “Looks like you have trouble coming, don’t you? Looks like the police aren’t very happy with you, are they?”

“No,” I said weakly. I couldn’t figure out how I was suspected of anything, but apparently, I was. “I might be in serious trouble, Lilly.” 

“Sooooooo…,” she said, dragging the word out, “why not be with me forever?”

My heart once again skipped a beat, something she could do with alarming ease to me, and my arousal happened almost instantly.

“Forever?”

“Mmhmmm,” she sighed, “forever. For all time. We can delight in each other’s pleasure for all eternity.”

Just as I earlier knew Lilly would ask more of me, I already knew where this was heading, but I didn’t care. Anything for Lilly.

“How?” I asked. “How can we be together forever?”

I suddenly felt a breeze blowing across my back and turned to see the sliding glass doors leading to my balcony had slid open, the gossamer drapes blowing gently.

“I need you to fly for me, Joe,” Lilly said softly. “Just take a leap off that balcony and feel the exquisite freedom of falling for a moment. I fell once, too, but now I’m free. You’ll be free, too. Then, after one brief moment of pain, and we can be together forever.”

Without another word, the call disconnected.

So, here I now sit at the desk in my hotel, writing out what will seem like the most bizarre suicide note. I doubt many people will believe it – hell, I doubt anyone will believe it – but here it is, the unvarnished and untainted truth, nonetheless. I wanted people to know why I did the thing I did, and I need everyone to know that it was never personal, it was never because of hatred or anything, it was always for Lilly. Everything for Lilly.

And now, if you will excuse me, I need to experience the freedom of falling. For Lilly.