Night Dreams #4: Tall Man

By A. Lopez, Jr

A fresh start brings a new set of critical decisions for Joseph as the series continues with episode four. Will he help his new patient, Claire Botkins, while knowing the danger in not truly understanding his gift? Claire has a recurring nightmare of a stalker in her own house—a nightmare that tempts Joseph to help her with his unpredictable talents. His motives and decisions could put her in mortal danger. Will his quest to seek revenge against the demon lead him down a one-way road and past the point-of-no-return? Will Father Lombardi attempt to intervene? Joseph starts to second guess himself as he reflects on the past, and his wife, Andrea.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A. Lopez, Jr
• Release date: Sep 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370951918

A. Lopez, Jr

Born and raised in Texas and now residing in Arizona. I am an avid reader and big Houston Sports Fan. I play chess everyday when I'm not squeezing in a little time for writing. I published my first work Purgatory - 13 Tales of the Macabre and Floor Four - A Novella of Horror, an Amazon Bestseller in Occult Horror. Also completed is Night Dreams, an episodic series in seven parts that can be read separately or in one complete novel. My column, 'Ask AJ', appeared in All Authors Magazine online and I have had short stories published on Dark River Press, The Sirens Call eZine Issue #14 and the anthologies, State of Horror Illinois published by Charon Coin Press and Concordant Vibrancy published by All Authors Publishing. You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and my website, alopezjr.com.

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Contents

1.Reflection

2.Father Lombardi

3.Reaquainted

4.Kuhn's Market

5.Point Of No Return

6.Jack Shaw

7.Uncovering The Truth

8.Questions Answered

9.Worlds Collide

10.Better Days

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Copyright

1

Reflection

The time is 10:35 A.M. July 14, 2012. I am with my patient Claire Botkins for her second session, Joseph listened to the digital recording, reacquainting himself with his last session with Claire. You may start now, continue where we left off, or tell me about your latest dream.

Okay, thank you, she said, sitting up in the chair. Each dream starts the same. It’s a normal Thursday morning, garbage pick-up day, and I am getting ready for work, she continued. I am upstairs finishing my hair and makeup when I can hear the sound of the big truck coming down the road.

That’s how it starts, and now it is getting worse. Each time I have the dream, he is getting closer to me, Claire, mother of one, told her psychologist, Dr. Joseph Rickettes.

When you say he, he asked, you mean the man on the truck?

Yes . . . and this last time, he was at the top step of my porch and looking straight at me through the window in my door. I could see his face. His face was… she hesitated.

His face was what, Claire? the doctor asked.

It was evil, pure evil, she said, with fear and concern in her eyes. She shook her head as if to tell the doctor, there was no way he could understand what she was going through.

Claire was his first patient since attempting to help Andrea with her demons.

He looked at me like… she tried to continue.

Distracted by those thoughts, Joseph abruptly ended Claire's session. I am very sorry, Claire, but I must end the session at this point. Hearing his voice again from that day, and how he ended the session made him cringe, but now with his emotions in check, he was determined to see Claire through her ordeal.

He remembered how stunned she was at the abrupt ending.

You will not be charged for this session or the next, but please come back in a couple of days, he told her.

She could see a look of despair in his eyes and nodded. She stood up, walked to the door, and turned. Are you all right? she asked.

He waved his hand at her, barely making eye contact. I apologize, but I’m fine, thank you.

She left, closing the door behind her.

That day, he thought he might not be ready to do it again, but now that he had more time to think it all through, he was more determined than ever to move forward.

Life did not miss Claire Botkins when it passed out its share of disappointments, letdowns, and sadness. Prior to the last two years, life was good—her marriage to Jay, the house they bought, and the birth of their daughter, Lily. The worse thing about those two years was finding out about her husband’s infidelity.

Claire and Jay met at a mutual friend’s party. Jay spotted her near the bar as she talked with friends. Her long black hair and shapely athletic figure caught his eye instantly. After being introduced, they hit it off right away, and never looked back. Jay worked as a Sales Investor and Claire as an elementary school teacher. Not surprising to their friends, they married two years later. A year after that, almost to the day, they celebrated the birth of their daughter, Lily.

They seemed to be living the perfect life for a couple of years, but things changed soon after. Claire noticed a difference in Jay, a change. His work hours grew longer and made him irritable and short with her. This went on for some time and almost led to their first real argument. More time passed and things got worse when she found out about Jay's affair with a coworker.

Shock, anger, and total disbelief became a part of her life every day after.

Jay apologized, realizing the error of his ways, saying it was a slip, a one-time thing, but the hurt and betrayal were too much for Claire to take. The grieving process and the recovery played out over the next two years with it ultimately ending in divorce.

With the impending divorce, Jay turned angry, and Claire did everything she could to shield Lily from the negative, while at the same time explaining to her five-year-old daughter why her daddy was no longer living with them. He finally accepted the fact that Claire would not take him back and moved on with his life.

After everything was settled, the court granted Claire custody of Lily and she took out a lease on a house near her teaching job. The older home at 3553 W. Brentworth, was a small, two-bedroom house, perfect for them. Moving there ushered their lives into a new chapter. The sting of Jay’s infidelity never seemed to go away, but Claire found that a new start was just what she needed. She wanted to be the strongest mother she could be for Lily.

Shortly after moving in, the nightmares started.

1954

When police arrived at 3553 W. Brentworth St in South Pittsburgh, after a neighbor heard gunshots, they found the dead body of Jack Shaw with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The .357 Magnum on the ground next to him left little to the imagination of its raw power. Half of Shaw’s head was blown away. Pieces of skull and brains were scattered on the floor and the nearby wall. Blood pooled around Shaw’s body on the wooden floor. Officers, shocked by the morbid scene, moved through the rest of the house until they discovered the dead bodies of Olivia Shaw and a man by the name of Bill Westin. Westin was found naked on the far side of the bed, shot two times in the chest. Olivia Shaw was on the bed, also naked, and stabbed to death with a large knife lodged in her chest. Everything pointed to a murder-suicide carried out by Jack Shaw.

Jack Shaw was forty-two years old at the time of his death. His wife, Olivia, was forty-four. Bill Westin, the third person killed that day, was forty-eight. In their investigation, police later discovered that Olivia was having an affair with Westin, a coworker.

Jack Shaw, with jet-black hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes, stood tall at 6’ 5". Born in Iowa, and a poster child for what a corn-fed boy was all about, he moved to Pennsylvania in the early forties. He found work in the steel industry and later met and married Olivia in 1946. Their marriage, as many do, started off