Chapter 6 Shadows

Chapter 6 Shadows

  Asuka was waiting for Mosh to arrive in his inner world. She sat outside on the steps eagerly awaiting his arrival. She looked around the yard and noticed it was full of weeds. Since she was bored, she had decided to do some tidying up on the lawn. Asuka summoned a staff and spun it around using wind magic to pull out all the unwanted weeds. She made all the weeds flying in the air fall into a barrel made for compost. She then spent some moments with the staff, directing wind to cut a small garden plot under the front window of the house, uprooted grass also flying into the compost bin. Next she pulled out some seeds and began planting them orderly into the small garden plot, and then she summoned a hose which gave a light water spray over the newly planted seeds. She looked at the exterior of the house... the paint was worn and parts of it were patchy with wood that was peering through the chipped paint. She used telekinesis to pain a strip of it pink, and then white above the pink strip until it reached the roof overhang. Asuka looked at her work on Mosh's house, She nodded in approval! There was something missing... So she summoned a cute welcome mat with flowers on it in front of the front door.

 She saw a flash of light beside her and she looked in it's direction. There, on the lawn beside her, was a familiar man in a red space uniform who was standing arrogantly with his head slightly cocked to the side.

 "Culexor!" Asuka exclaimed, "What brings you here? errr, Mosh has been attacked at least twice since I've known him and where were you?"

 "Oh, I've been watching," Culexor said, "It's my job to guide Mosh to where he chooses to go, not defend him at every turn. He's perfectly capable of defending himself at times. If he wants training I can provide that... All he has to do is ask. Anyway you and I have something important to discuss."

 Culexor snapped his fingers and Asuka found herself with him in a black space where she could clearly see him, even though there was no definable source of light.

 "Wha...? Why am i here?" Asuka asked.

 "Mosh was going to arrive shortly and simply that wouldn't give me enough time to speak with you. Don't worry, you are quite safe here! right now we are outside of your normal dreamtime and after we are done I'll take you back to the right place and time you were before." Culexor explained. "Now there is a few matters I need to discuss with you... about Mosh."

 "What? is everything ok with him?" Asuka asked.

 "Oh, yes! nothing is wrong at all. Just a few things I should let you know about him. Things about his past."

 Asuka was curious bit skeptical. "His past? I'm sure he can tell me all about himself on his own time."

 "Well, I'm sure of that too, but not all things he will remember that I have to show you." Culexor said and then snapped his fingers without giving Asuka time to say anything. In a flash they were floating over an elementary school yard.

 "Where are we?" Asuka asked.

 "In Mosh's childhood. Right now he's around seven years old during lunch break in his old school. Now look over there in that tree!" Asuka looked and saw two children sitting on some thick branches on one of the trees. A boy and a girl. Asuka recognized a young Mosh. The girl was around his age, blond hair, and she kept kissing Mosh's cheek. Mosh smiled and told her to do it again. The girl kissed his glasses this time, and after Mosh took his glasses off and wiped them with a funny look on his face.

 "As you can see," Culexor said to Asuka, "At a young age Mosh is quite confident in himself when it comes to expressing his feelings for girls."

 Asuka looked at the scene again. She thought it was kind of cute. "I don't really understand why you are showing me this..." Asuka said.

 "Just wait a moment," Culexor said and snapped his fingers again. The scene shifted to a different school field. Mosh was a few years older, no doubt they were viewing a scene from a few years later. "Despite his confidence at a young age, Mosh begins to lose confidence after being rejected by a few girls."

 In the scene below Mosh was playing tag with some pretty girl. They were both laughing and making jokes with one another. The scene shifted and now Mosh was sitting at a desk in a classroom, and he was pulling a note out from his desk. It was from the girl and it read, "Please stay away from me." Mosh looked confused, here was a girl that he seemed to be getting along with, but suddenly she turned around and gave him that note without warning. Mosh looked down at the note again... He seemed sad.

 "Aw," Asuka said. Then the scene shifted to a few more years in the future. Mosh was now in junior high. He was walking through the hallways and everyone towered over him. There scenes of kids pushing him, teasing him, and girls laughing at him. He was always walking with a slouch. In many of the scenes he was stealing glances at a pretty girl his age with blond hair. He had many opportunities to talk to her, but he always just turned away even if she smiled at him.

 "By now, Mosh has almost lost total confidence in himself," Culexor stated, "So much that even by his late teens, the fact that anyone woman could like him is an incomprehensible thing."

 The scene shifted again to an older Mosh. A young woman his age had invited him over to help babysit. It was after the children were in bed. The young woman, who was pretty with long red hair joined Mosh on the couch as he was falling asleep. She laid beside him and cuddled with him. Mosh only smiled and didn't move. A few moments later the woman got up, said "You're weird," and went to sleep on the floor leaving Mosh by himself on the couch. He looked disappointed and slightly sad.

  Culexor spoke again, "Even with a chance to get lucky... Mosh made no moves. He did this because he had no idea that she wanted him to kiss her. By then he had taken his rejections to heart and convinced himself that a woman liking him romantically or sexually is far beyond anything he could ever achieve in his reality." Culexor let out a fake sob, summoned a tissue paper and wiped his eyes. "it's truly sad." He said in an obviously acting sad manner.

"Aw," Asuka said and looked down.

 Culexor snapped his fingers and now they were back in the black space.

 "Don't tell me that was his entire love life!" Asuka exclaimed.

 "Of course not!" Culexor said, "You wouldn't want to see Mosh in a dirty act with another woman would you?"

 "Well you don't have to show me that!" Asuka said sounding a bit annoyed, "but at least tell me how they turned out."

 "One in embarrasment, another in emotional chaos and tragedy, and In the last one he caught the woman cheating on her. You see, because of Mosh's perception of himself, he only attracted the type of women that would take advantage of him. Leaving every relationship he has ever had short and bitter."

 "Why didn't they last long?"

 "Because Mosh had the sense about him, to tell something wasn't right. And each time he left immediately. The only downside to this is that it skewed his perception of most women into a negative light. It also forced him to believe less and less in himself and in his potential love life. That's why it's important that you showed up."

 "But I can't be with him in waking life. His dream recall is minimal at times. I can't be enough for him." Asuka said.

 Culexor replied, "No, but you underestimate him. Already he's greatly determined to remember you. That will be enough for him for now. It will prepare him."

 "Prepare him for what?" Asuka asked.

 "To meet your twinner of course," before Asuka could respond in her shock Culexor snapped his fingers which summoned two images. The images depicted women that looked a lot like Asuka with some differences. One was much taller and of a different race, The other looked closer to Asuka in every respect, but still  different race.

 "Everything has been set up since before Mosh was born," Culexor began, "He is right on schedule in his life in order to do what he needs to do. In a year or so He'll be meeting one of these two twinners of you in his waking reality... maybe both. Your job is to prepare him for this."

 "What? Already you want to set him up with other women? This is absurd."

 "You'll see what the importance of this is in time Asuka. Again you underestimate him. I'm just preparing you now for what's ahead. Already I've given you insight into his psyche. You can use it to make an impression on his memory. You can also use it to foresee some of the pitfalls that lie ahead, and avoiding them." Culexor said.

 "Well I guess it doesn't hurt to know beforehand... Seems a bit sneaky."

 "Maybe," Culexor said. "Time will tell. I'll be seeing you later today with Mosh. For now, though, have fun on your date with him." Culexor snapped is fingers a final time.

 ***

  Nomad was dreaming that he was a limo driver in Boston, Massachusetts. He was in a nice suit and leaning against his white limo while waiting for his fare. He was outside of a nightclub and lit a cigar. He spat it out a second later.

 "What the hell?" He said, "Gross. Why am I doing this? Angel would definitely not like this! Tobacco is nasty, Seriously, What the hell!"

 He put his hand in his pocket and felt some paper rollies. He pulled them out and they read "100% HEMP PAPER!" He rolled another smoke with it without thinking and began smoking again. The people going in and out of the club looked at him funny.

 "Screw you!" he said, "I can smoke all I want. It's just a dream you stupid Massholes." Nomad realized he was smoking again and threw it away while cursing his luck aloud.

 Nomad got bored and opened his drivers door which was facing the street. He lay in the drivers seat with his feet resting on the street.  A truck rolled by and knocked his open door off.

 "Hey, this is a dream you idiot!" Nomad cursed at the truck. as he waved his fist. The truck turned into a dinosaur and stuck it's tongue out at him. Nomad laughed and watched the people going in and out of the club again. He saw angels, demons, aliens humans, monsters, vampires and mythical creatures.

 "What the hell?" Nomad said, "Is this club nexus on the moon? where Am I... and Where's my fare?"

 A pink alien was standing in line and staring at Nomad. "Hey, screw you... This is a dream," He said to the alien. The alien flipped nomad the bird with a  tentacle.

 Why do I always see that guy? Nomad thought. He Opened the passenger door. "What's in here?" he said opening the glove compartment. He found a bottle of white wine.
 
 "Ah delish!"

  He drank it down fast and cut his lip on the bottle. "Hey, you're bleeding pal," Someone said to Nomad walking by.

  "Hey, Schreeeww you maan." Nomad said drunkenly, "Thish ish a jreme." He tossed the bottle to the side and wiped his lips on his sleeve. There was blood he could see. He pointed his finger at his lip and healed his lip. Mosh and Asuka came out of the club. Mosh was wearing a black suit, a fedora had and a white tie. He was walking on a black cane. Asuka was wearing a cute pink dress and had her hair done up. She also had a little gold purse with her, and white high heels on. Nomad opened up the door for her and Mosh. Nomad got in. "Hey.. I jrank all th' wine... But, ah... Jus summon s'more if yaas needs ta."

 Nomad started the limo and drove off and he was driving all over the road. "Hey don't mind my jriving... ish just a jreme so..."

 Nomad didn't think he was drunk enough yet, so he opened the glove box and pulled out a small flask. It had the word "NOMAD," engraved on it. He laughed at that. He took a sip, "Ah Tequila!" Nomad said and guzzled the flask.

 ***

 Meanwhile, Mosh and Asuka were in the back of the limo. Mosh thought he was in the tail part of his dad's pickup. Him and Asuka were getting knocked around in the back due to Nomad's drunk dream driving.

 "Waaah!" Asuka yelled every time Nomad swerved a corner which sent her falling into Mosh, who was holding into a spare tire. nomad swerved the other way knocking Mosh in Asuka's direction, he face planted onto her breasts. She slapped him and realized it wasn't his fault. "I'm sorry, She said and hugged him. She drew back but before long, The limo swerved again and Mosh did a face plant on her crotch. Asuka slapped Mosh again, and then apologized.

 Mosh rolled down the window to the drivers area and yelled, "Drive straight d****t!"

 "ahh sheez maan. Sorry. Ish only a dream. So anyway," Nomad said silently and strangely to Mosh and Asuka, "Um, did I ever tell you about David Morehouse? I had an effing dream with him in it. I didn't write it down, I forgot most of it. Sorry." nomad was just babbling now. "Anyway, he's into remote viewing... They're astral, astral people, and astral perfectionists.... A lot of books about that. Why none about Shared Dreaming? Anyway, I'm babbling here. Sorry. D'oh!" Nomad noticed the window was now closed. Nomad drove to Mosh's house, which to Nomad looked liked his own old house in Cape Cod. He stopped.
 
 Mosh helped Asuka out of the limo. Mosh indicated he was proud of his inner world house. Though Asuka had been there only hours earlier giving it a make over. "It's cute," she said to him.

 "So have you guys heard about astral? Do you know about the astral body?" Nomad said and lit a cigarette. He threw it on the ground instantly. "D****t! why do I keep doing that?" Asuka laughed

 Mosh looked at nomad quizzically. "Of course I know about astral dumb a*s. Remember my astral and dream body? Pfft. you and your short memory."

 "Sorry," Nomad said again. Mosh tossed him a silver coin. "What is this?"

 "Your tip pal." Mosh said.

 "Hey, I don't need your stinking Canadian money pal. We may be in New England but we are still in the U S of A."

 "Hey... It's a dream, so money is irrelevant silly." Mosh said.

 Nomad looked at the coin and saw that it was an American Quarter Dollar. Washington grinned and bounced his eyebrow at Nomad. He the coin on the ground and a Quarter tree sprung up and began showering Nomad with silver coins. "Oh jeez," Nomad said.

 ***

 Asuka and Mosh hurried into the house. They went into the living room.

 "Finally we are alone," Asuka said.

 "Yeah really!" Mosh said and Nomad flew by a window. He was rambling about David Morehouse again. Mosh used telekinesis and closed the window shutters with a  loud bang. Asuka made a barrier around the room, which temporarily kept anyone out. She then threw a stop watch at the barrier. This was her trick to slow time down in a dream. Inside the barrier time was different, which gave her and Mosh more time alone. Asuka grabbed Mosh, and tossed him on the couch. Mosh had no time to react when she kissed him.

 ***

 "Stupid, stupid, stupid." Nomad said after he flew past the shuttered window. Mosh and Asuka emerged into the back yard a second later grinning ear to ear. "That was fast! holy hell." Nomad exclaimed.

 Nomad turned invisible and began flying. Mosh shrugged to Asuka thinking Nomad had woken up. "Come find me Mosh," Nomad told Mosh telepathically. He did figure eights in the air and soon other dream characters were flying with him. A Nor'easter rolled in and rain started to pour. A lightning bolt hit Nomad making him visible again.

 " You summon a storm Nomad? Umm let's all fly," Said Mosh, and they all flew upwards. Asuka projected some Dream characters to fly with them. Nomad went invisible again and a second later he was struck by lighting making him appear again. Nomad captured the light and summoned a mirror to project the light in the sky. It made the storm go away. Mosh landed beside Nomad.

 "Hello Mosh," Mosh said to Nomad. In Nomad's perception the dream exploded and he was dreaming in several parallel reality dreams.

 In one Mosh was a white knight, and Nomad was a little gnome. Mosh scooped up Nomad and rescued him from some orcs that wanted to eat Nomad. Asuka was near them and blasting the orcs with magic.

 In another they were five flames. Two flames were dying out, and two more were taking their places. The dying ones were Aoena and Poet. nomad had 360 vision.

 In another nomad was tumbling through space and he was screaming in terror. He was falling to hell. Mosh was a green and black angel. He caught Nomad and carried him somewhere.

 In another Nomad was about to kiss a japanese woman. Mosh appeared and punched Nomad angrily in the face. Mosh jumped on him and pummeled him to the ground. He stood up and looked at the japanese woman. "Oh you're not Asuka!" Mosh exclaimed.

 "No I'm her sister," she said.

 "Oh my god Nomad I'm sorry."

 "It's okay, it's a dream, and it didn't hurt." Nomad laughed standing up.

 In another dimension, Raven and Nomad were pilots of a passenger jetliner. Moash and Asuka were the only passengers. Raven and Nomad multiplied themselves and became flight attendants, served them Kobe steak, sashimi, other japanese food, sake and red wine.

 In another dream they were in a fine restaurant. Raven and Nomad were serving them dinner. Raven was a waitress and Nomad was a busser. Asuka was laughing at mosh's jokes. "aw you're cute," she said and wiped his mouth with her napkin.
 
 In another Mosh was a samurai in feudal Japan, who was riding a horse and wielding a spear. Nomad was a creature like a strange Oni. nomad had red and white rings painted on him. He was running away from Mosh. Mosh chucked his spear into him. "Hey I'm not going to be your target forever," Nomad said to Mosh shaking his fist.
 
 "Aw, it's just a dream onii-san," Mosh said and pulled the spear out of Nomad. Asuka flew by and casted healing magic on Nomad.

 "Too many dreams to perceive at once!" Nomad shouted and collapsed on the lawn. Mosh and Asuka looked at eachother. "I feel like I am going insane!" Nomad said and grabbed his head. He passed out, and a body floated out of him. It went toward the moon. Mosh and Asuka shrugged and went inside the house again.

***

 On the next night's dreams: Mosh was dreaming outside his house. He was shoveling snow in his driveway. Had it occurred to him that this was only a dream he would have stopped right there and have done something more interesting. But instead he shoveled away like a mule. He paused every now and then to warm his hands, in which he breathed on them for a few seconds. After that he resumed his chore. This repeated a number of times. but soon he was saved, A sudden force pulled him high up and into the sky.

 Mosh found himself in a black space. He was disoriented and trying to make sense of them.

 "Surprised to be here?" A familiar voice called out to him. Mosh saw a figure coming towards him wearing red. After a few moments the image became clearer.

 "Culexor!" Mosh exclaimed.

 "Oh don't look so glum," culexor said, "Be glad I saved you from that most bitter chore. Now, there is an important matter that we need to discuss."

 "What is it?" Mosh asked.

 "As you've already guessed by now, your old friends have been trying to hack your dreams lately. You know who, Aeona and Poet."

 "But.... But I told them on skype yesterday to stay away from me and my dreams."

 "Right, but just because you have a sign on your door telling them to stay out doesn't mean they can't knock that sign down and bother you."

 "What is it that they want from me? Why do they keep bothering me like this? Especially ever since that young girl named 'Shawna' began showing up in my dreams? What's so important about her?" Mosh asked.

 " That is the question isnt it?" Culexor stated, "Why? What have you noticed about your dreams since that child began showing up?"

 "Ummm I seem to recognize who dreamers are as opposed to dream characters. And lately when I am typing my dreams I am sort of able to fill in missing gaps and type the dream into a more coherent story line."

 "Exactly," Culexor said, "There's something unique about that child. She can give energy to someone and it heightens some of your natural abilities or at least helps to amplify them. Had Aeona told you anything previously about that child?"

 "Only that they shared the same physical body. She told me this in waking life, that when She was a child she was physically abused often. At times she was beaten quite badly. At a certain she wished she was dead. She begged for it often. She told me that Aeona had heard the child's call and had agreed the relieve the child of her pain. Aeona came from another dimension to do this. And then she said that she chose to live in the child's body and repressed her original personality. When I first met her she called herself Shawna and now all of a sudden she calls herself Aeona, and this big long story. I don't know if I believe it. But nonetheless I have seen that child in dreams since to removed her from her physical body. And I don't deny an effect on me."

 "Well there's something to that child then," Culexor said, " For the time being, she's safe in Raven's inner world. I suspect those two may try to use you to get there. You have to be careful."

 "Well What should I do? My recall is low half the time. And so far I've fallen for their tricks."

 "Well then, That's why i brought you here dreamer to prepare you. You won't be as easily fooled as you think. Raven's inner world is protected by a strong shield and there are powerful entities inside to keep unwanted beings out. They won't bother going through Raven since she's already suspicious of them. They see you as the weak link because of your recall. But just because your recall is low doesn't mean you can't hold your own against them. Much of what you don't recall is your deep dream self, who is more powerful than you can comprehend. now then i'll give you a test of what I mean." Culexor snapped his fingers and summoned a woman who was standing there and smiling at Mosh.

 "Well the," Culexor said, "Who do you see there?"

 "I see Mel," Mosh said, "But I can tell it's not really her... That's Asuka!"

  "Exactly," Culexor said, "You've had enough experience dreaming with Asuka to understand that she often changes her appearance based on what characters you expect to see. You know her energy already and can feel who she is no matter how she appears to you."

 "How is this relevant to Aeona and Poet going after me?" Mosh asked.

 "They are using similar disguises in he dream state. They may try to fool you or lure you into a trap. But since you already have experience my feeling is that you won't be fooled at all by their tricks. Even if your not lucid or in our deep dream self, a part of you can sense at least who they really are."

 Asuka smiled, bowed and then teleported away from the black space they were in.

 "Alright," culexor said, "That's all for now. So be careful in future dreams. You may not know what those two may try to pull off next." Before giving Mosh a chance to reply. Culexor snapped his fingers Teleporting Mosh away.

 ***

 Mosh arrived back in his inner world. He stood on the snowy sidewalk and observed his almost finished shoveled driveway. There, shoveling the last little bit was Nomad, who was cursing at himself and his work.

 "Nomad!" Mosh said, "What the hell are you doing man?"

 "Aloha!," Nomad said, "Uh, Asuka put me up to this..."

 "Now why would she do that?" Mosh asked while watching Nomad still shoveling.

 "Well uh, I came by here again looking for you. I saw Selene come out the front door... Or what I thought was Selene. I went to kiss her... and I got this!" Nomad pointed to his face where there was a red hand mark from where Asuka had slapped him.

 "Damn, you gotta watch out for Asuka, She always changes who she looks likes." Mosh said.

 "Anyway sorry man," Nomad said, "I apologized and Asuka said I could show my apology by getting to work."

 Mosh watched Nomad Shovel for a moment more. He then said, "Nomad... dude, put that down it's just a dream remember."

 ***

 Mosh was dreaming inside of a local dream Pub. He stood at a jukebox putting coins in and selecting songs from it. He had difficulty reading the songs that were there. Every time he tried to click a song, the name changed to something he didn't like. After much effort, He finally was able to hit the right song. But no luck... The song wouldn't even play.

 "Fack," Mosh said to himself giving up. He wandered to a table and sat down beside a regular that he seemed to know. It was a man in his forties or fifties, wearing semi dirty work clothes and nursing a coffee.

 "Hey John," Mosh said, "Any luck on the video Lottery? You are always marking the same four squares on Keno. You should try ducks in a row, I at least win my meal money back half of the time."

 Mosh experienced the dream diverging. The dream seem to split into a couple versions of the same dream.

 ***

 John stared At Mosh with his eyes glazed. Mosh watched as his eyes pupils expanded to cover his eyes completely black. Now john looked like a demon. He let out a strange grunt and swung at Mosh. Mosh blocked the swing and John swung his other arm around and grabbed Mosh from the other side. They seemed to be in a tangle. Mosh seemed to spin out of John's hold and took off out the door.

 His legs were like jelly. So hard to run. He looked back behind him a  few times and saw that no one was following. Just to be safe he ran to the end of the street. He was in an extremely small town. There was a small uptown portion which only consisted of a few stores. Mosh walked past those and turned another corner. He was now walking on a road with various farms in the distance. The last building seemed to be a corporate building of some kind. He entered the property through a gate and followed a circle road surrounding a large grassy area. At the end of the paved circle road he found a large entrance door and went in.

 He was now in something like and unmanned police station. Mosh found a vending machine and tried to buy a drink. He was thirsty from running and walking in the sun way from... He forgot now what he had been running from. He had some difficulty with the vending machine and decided to just leave the building. As he approached the main door to head outside, He saw a police car pulling up. The man in the car he seemed to recognize. But he wasn't sure who it was. Mosh just knew that he was in trouble.

 Mosh nonchalantly walked out of the door and tried to walk past the approaching Police car. Mosh hoped that the man would ignore him, but after Mosh was spotted, The police car stopped and a tall police man came out. The man was well built. Mosh just walked faster trying to avoid the cop. The cop got n his path. Mosh was now getting agitated and afraid.... Very afraid. Mosh began welling up in tears of fright. The cop seemed to be friendly and smiling, but mosh sensed something really wrong about the man. Mosh tried to make a dart past the Cop, but the cop grabbed Mosh's arm.

 "Stay the hell away from me man," Mosh yelled, "I know what you're after and you're not getting it. now F**K OFF and leave me alone."

 "Woah woah woah, relax man." The Policeman said still holding onto Mosh's arm. "I'm not going to harm you, I just want to know if you want to file a report against the man who attacked you. There were many witnesses." The man's voice seemed calm and reassuring. But Mosh was uneasy about the man still. He sensed something was definitely off.

 "No, it's fine," Mosh said. And the Dream diverged again.

 ***

 The Policeman nodded and got back in his car. Mosh watched anxiously as the car slowly pulled away from his site and left through the gate and onto the road. Mosh sat down near a tree. He saw the dream shifting around and falling apart. He concentrated on one spot, He was semi lucid now. At his concentration of that one spot the dream seemed to materialize again in front of him. Mosh got up and walked towards the gate.He saw a tractor driving pst the gate.

 ***

 "Fack!," Mosh was in the bar and cursing at the jukebox and slammed it in anger.

 "Hey A*****e," The bartender yelled at Mosh, "That's expensive equipment."

 "Well maybe you've been ripped off!" Mosh yelled. "You wasted your money on it and now it's wasting mine. I put 5 dollars in this thing and it won't play one damn song."

 "That's enough!" Yelled the bartender and shouted a few F-bombs at Mosh. Mosh returned a few F-bombs himself. Mosh turned around. Everyone in the bar had stopped and was staring at Mosh silently. They all had  a dark aura and their eyes began to glow red.

 "I'll just be leaving,' Mosh said as he ran toward the exit.

 ***

 "No that's fine," Mosh said to the policeman outside the police station.

 "Are you sure? That's a serious offense... when that man attacked you." Replied the cop. Mosh seemed less un-aware of any danger and he agreed to give a statement to the policeman. He followed the man into the building and they sat at a table. The policeman pulled out a note pad and began writing things down as Mosh very robotically gave a description of what happened at the bar.

 A dark figure flew at mosh and he stood up. A Woman covered in blackness hovered before Mosh. He looked at the cop and said "What the..." But the cop ignored Mosh. The woman gave off the appearance of a shadow being. But unlike a shadow being this one had eyes. Mosh recognized those eyes... so familiar. It was more like the being was wearing a dark blanket. The figure floated closer to Mosh and black arms came from the being's torso to try to grab at Mosh. Mosh blocked in a kung fu stance and now their arms sped up as fast of gunfire. Mosh experienced something like a ultra fast kung fu fight. He blocked and returned every hit that was coming from the dark being. After a minute or so of this, Mosh finally landed a punch right in the stomach area. They being flew back a foot or so. Mosh saw the being with surprise in it's eyes, those familiar eyes. Could that be Aeona? Mosh thought. Then a look of frustration swept over the Dark figure's face, but only for an instant. Then the being zipped out of sight in a flash. There was also no longer a policeman with Mosh in the Police station. He was all alone.

 ***

 Mosh was walking on a street close to his inner world house. With him was, Nomad, Asuka, Pixy from the moon, Zaphor who was Nomad's dream guide, and also a few other people Mosh didn't recognize. Asuka walked behind Mosh.

 "I'm positive it was Aeona I saw when I was attacked." Mosh state, "She was obviously trying to conceal her identity in a black substance but I clearly recognized her eyes."

 "Hmm," Nomad said, "You know from the beginning i was always skeptical of her."

 "How do you mean?" Mosh asked.

 "Well she was always being attacked months ago. Always in distress. I mean how could anyone attract so much negative beings without dabbling a bit in dark astral projection. And then her drama with that child... it doesn't make a lot of sense."

 Zaphor was a dragon man. He shot a tentacle into Nomad's head and Nomad's voice became deep and godly.

 "I am one with Zaphor." Nomad said, "Now I can see all that has passed, what is passing now and what will pass in the future."

 Mosh jumped back a bit in surprise. He calmed down after a second and continued walking. "Okay Nomad-Zaphor. Answer me this: Why is Aeona and Poet after a spirit child?"

 "They were one," Nomad-Zaphor explained. "Two souls in the same body, The child begged for death after horrid abuse and then Aeona came from another dimension. She fused with the child's body and fed off the Child's energy like a vampire. The child repressed the entire time... Being forced to witness Aeona grow up in her body, witness to all her adult acts. Still repressed, and always a child. There was no escape for her.

 "Aeona's memories repressed by the human mind. Until recently that is. By then she was already adept at astral travel and much of it's secrets not much known to human kind. She's apprenticing Poet in all of this. Delusional they are. They think that child is a key... a key to opening a dark dimension. They are in fact misinformed and confused... Deranged by dark energy they are. They tried to separate that child from Her physical form. But they failed in their attempt. So they got Raven's Guide to do it for them. Raven's guide put the child Shawna in Raven's inner world where she could be safe and protected. Free to grow up in dreams and be a child again. Aeona and Poet under estimated Raven and her guides. So they tried to appoint you to guard the child.

 "Your inner world has no protection yet. So even though you are the child's guardian it's best you keep her safe in Raven's inner world. They don't completely understand this yet, so that's why they are after you."

 "Woah," Mosh said, "That's creepy. Too much information." Zaphor withdrew his tentacles from Nomad's head as everyone turned to walk into the driveway of Mosh's house.

 "That was weird," Nomad said.

 "yeah tell me about it." Mosh replied. "Somehow I have to keep them from attacking that child. I have to deal with them somehow." They all walked into Mosh's garage where there were some drywall buckets to use as stools. Everyone sat down, except for Zaphor who turned into a miniature dragon and flew off.

 "I'll patrol the perimeter in case they come back," Zaphor explained.

 Mosh summoned a case of beer and handed them out to everyone still seated. Asuka just turned hers into a pink soft drink. Nomad and Mosh began smoking.

 "I think what you need to do..." Nomad said to Mosh," Is that the next time they attack. Conjure up illusions from your imagination to distract them." Zaphor flew by several feet away and was laughing.

 "Hey, i know I'll conjure one for you myself,"  Nomad said. "Just let me think." Zaphor flew from the other direction and was still laughing. mosh was staring at that. "Ha, ok i got it." nomad said and seemed to be concentrating hard.

 Suddenly the sky turned dark, it rains and lightning flashed all around them.

 "I know this!" Mosh exclaimed, "Jabberwocky!" He said.

 "Jabberwocky." nomad echoed. but he almost sounded confused.

 "You know... from alice and through the looking glass?" Nomad just looked at Mosh confused. "I saw this movie on TV." Asuka and Pixie stared at one another in confusion as well.

 A horizontal portal appeared just by the garage door. Mosh stood up quickly and got in a ready to fight stance. Everyone was staring at Mosh now as if he had lost it. Lightning flashed again and for an instant all the colors went inverted in the dream. After the flash was gone A tall and scaly black dragon emerged from the portal. Mosh ran up to the Jabberwocky and began beating on it's chest."

 "You're not real! I'm only imagining this! I'm not afraid of you!" Mosh yelled at the Jabberwocky. Everyone around stood in surprise. Mosh kept yelling his mantras and soon the Jabberwocky wasn't scary any more. It was now a dragon body suit, and was green. It was very silly looking. Mosh kept yelling.

 Asuka shrugged and decided Mosh was playing a game. She too joined in with beating on the Dragon's chest and began yelling "I'm not afraid of you." in a silly japanese accent. Mosh noticed a belt with throwing knives on the Dragon. He picked one off the belt and stabbed the dragon. He saw it only pierce the dragon body suit, which now looked like a green version of Barney. Mosh grabbed the other blade and stabbed the body suit again. Mosh stood back in frustration.

 Fake dragon hands on the body suit reached up and pulled of it's own head. Which was really a costume head. Underneath the fake dragon head was the head of a middle aged round balding man who wore glasses. He turned his head to nomad and said "What the hell? Nomad... Dude. This isn't the kind of shared dreaming that I signed up for."

 Asuka was still beating on his dragon suit and yelling, "I'm not afraid of you!"