In Dreams She Came 6

Chapter 20

Jerusalem 1127

The corridor continued into the darkness, with a slight downward slope that seemed to compel the three armored knights forward. The only light in this subterranean catacomb came from the oil lamps the three men carried over their heads. They had never been this deep under the temple before, and only chance, or perhaps the will of God, had led them here.

Three days prior, while exploring an abandoned ancient mine, the knights had discovered an ornately carved doorway, sealed with large, cut stones. The frame of the doorway was made from smooth granite, etched with strange symbols. One of the knights, named Sir William de Ferrieres, stood transfixed, staring at the writing.

“It’s a form of an ancient Semitic tongue,” he declared as he gently brushed away ages of dust, tracing the letters with his fingers. “Canaanite, I believe. See here! This is the word for death!”

“Death?” Is it some sort of curse or warning?” asked Sir Etienne of Navarre, as he made the sign of the cross.

“And here! This is the word for life!” Sir William announced excitedly. “Wait, I am reading it in reverse. I must go the other way.” He moved to the right side of the frame and wiped the accumulated patina off the markings to make the engraved letters more legible.

“Begone!” he stated.

“Someone went to a lot of trouble to keep this hidden and to keep people out,” said Brother Reynard, a Cistercian monk who accompanied the knights.

“That means treasure!” growled the elderly Sir Roger de Livegny.

“Not always, my greedy friend,” replied the monk.

“For I safeguard the secrets,” translated Sir William.

“See!” snapped Sir Roger. “Treasure!”

“Of life and death,” Sir William said as he finished reading the inscription.

“Well, that’s a bit ominous,” said Sir Etienne. “Why would someone have gone to all the trouble to build such a fancy doorway in the middle of a mine, this far under Solomon’s Temple, only to seal it up with granite?”

“To hide a treasure!” declared Sir Roger.

“Or to keep something dangerous inside,” replied Brother Reynard, who then crossed himself. The other knights all made the sign of their savior.

“We must inform the Grand Master,” replied Sir William. “This could be of interest.”

It turned out to be of great interest. It took them a day to breach the doorway and two more to remove the stones that had sealed it. Beyond was a small square room. Inside they found the skeletal remains of a man, seated at a small wooden desk. When they touched the body, it fell apart, collapsing to the floor in a pile of dust and bone fragments. As it did, a bronze dagger clattered to the floor, as if it had been stuck in the man’s heart for eons.

Upon the table were the remains of a candle and a papyrus scroll. Carefully, Sir William uncoiled the dry, brittle papyrus. The writing was in Hebrew.

“She comes in my dreams,” Sir William read. “She does unspeakable things to me. Things I crave. She steals my soul, bit by bit. I am nearly under her control. She speaks to me, pleading, commanding for release, but I cannot. I must not. Better to die by my own hand than become thrall to the Queen of Demons and unleash her upon the world of men.”

“Poor bastard must’ve killed himself,” said Sir Roger as he picked up the bronze dagger and tucked it into his belt.

“Someone sealed him in here!” declared Sir Etienne. “They put him in here and sealed the doorway forever. He was doomed. God rest his soul.”

“Why would someone wall him up inside this chamber?” Asked Brother Reynard. “Suppose he was some sort of criminal?”

“I don’t know,” said Sir William, “but it looks as if he had food and water to last a few days at least. I’ll take these scrolls back. They may explain what happened.” He tucked a handful of scrolls into his pouch and raised his lantern. “Let’s keep going.”

He walked to the far side of the small room and through an arched opening into a long hallway made of carefully cut stones, with a smooth floor and ceiling.

“Is it just me, or is this awfully fancy for a tunnel this far underground?” asked Sir Roger.

“A remarkable feat of engineering,” confirmed Brother Reynard. He was in the lead of the small group. He stepped forward, and the floor under his feet shifted. He lurched to keep his footing and froze in place.

“Careful,” he called back to the others. “The floor stones are loose here.” He took another step, and there was a loud metallic click. A long spear shot out of the wall to the right, struck the old monk in the belly, and carried him to the far wall. The head of the spear had passed through Brother Reynard’s body and stuck deep into a recess in the wall, impaling the monk to the wall.

He was alive, screaming in pain and agony as Sir Roger pulled the bronze dagger and cut the monk’s throat. “Sorry, Brother,” he said as he ended the monk’s torment.

“Why did you do that?” asked Sir Etienne. “We could have helped him.”

“I did help him,” countered Sir Roger. “He couldn’t have survived that wound, and by God, I wasn’t going to let him suffer.

“We should go back,” Sir Etienne declared.

“We keep going,” ordered Sir William. “Just go slowly and be careful. There are likely to be many more traps.”

The corridor seemed to slope downward. After several more minutes, the hallway terminated at a large iron door. Two massive wooden beams barred the door.

Sir William took one end of one of the beams, “Grab the other end,” he ordered Sir Roger, who moved to comply.

“Wait!” Sir Etienne shouted.

“What?” asked Sir William.

“Why are the bars on this side of the door?”

The knights stepped back from the door and stared. “Yeah, if they wanted to keep us out, there wouldn’t be beams on this side. This is as if this door is to…”

“keep something inside!” finished Sir Etienne.

Nobody moved for several minutes. Finally, Sir William broke the silence. “We have a job to do, now grab the other end of this,” he ordered.

They removed each of the beams and laid them to the side. Sir William gripped a large iron ring on one of the doors while Sir Roger grabbed the other. The two men pulled hard, straining with all their strength. Nothing happened. The doors didn’t budge.

All three knights then gripped one of the large rings and combined their strength to pull. Finally, the door opened with a loud, metallic whine, which echoed through the hall. Once it was wide enough, they stopped and stepped through the opening.

Inside they could not believe their eyes.

Chapter 21

I stared at the grizzled, old knight, with recognition.

“I remember things that I shouldn’t know,” I said. “How is this possible? What is happening to me? I must be going crazy.”

“Life would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?” Krieg replied, “If whenever something horrible happens, we could just go insane and ignore it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. And, contrary to what you are experiencing right now, you don’t really remember everything. You only have recall of specific things that you have experienced.”

“I’ve not experienced any of these memories!” I shouted. “I remember fighting in battles. I remember killing so many people! I remember… I remember dying! More than once!”

Krieg put a hand on my forehead. It felt hot. My mind filled with the image of flames, flames that surrounded me and threatened me. I was bound to a stake, with bundles of kindling piled up around me. It was me, but it wasn’t me. The remembered me had long hair and a beard. He wore a long white robe with a red cross over the front. The fire engulfed him, or rather me, and I opened my mouth to scream in agony.

Krieg removed his hand, and I collapsed to the floor, gasping and panting. “What in God’s name was that?” I asked.

“That was the 18th of March, 1314. The day you and I and several of our brethren were burned alive as recanted heretics,” Krieg explained.

“That’s insane! It makes no sense! How could that be me when I am here, now?”

“We are gifted, or some might say cursed, with the ability to restore memories from our past lives. Most people couldn’t handle it. The knowledge of past lives and deaths would drive weaker men insane.”

“Then, that is the answer!” I snapped. “I have lost my mind.”

“No,” Krieg said with a warm smile, “you have found it. Memories are like water. They flow and ebb. In time, you will remember more and more from your pasts. When you complete your training, you will remember most things. Until then, I’m afraid your memories may come at inopportune times, and desired memories may flee and fail to come when most needed.”

“That’s rather inconvenient,” I chided him.

“Well, our order has existed since ancient times,” he replied. “That’s a lot of lifetimes of memories to download. It’s an imperfect system.”

Jenny groaned in her sleep. “Is she going to be alright?” I asked the veteran demon hunter.

“It’s too soon to tell,” he replied. “Demonic oppression is akin to drug addiction. Jenny may suffer a form of withdrawals now that we have separated her from Lazarus. She will be moody, sinking into depression one moment, and lashing out violently the next.”

“What are we going to do about Desdemona and Lazarus?” I asked. “They will know you are here. You killed one of their hounds.”

“They will be nervous by now, wondering where the beast has gone. I doubt they’ve detected my presence; we likely have a few days. We will need them. I have to go to New York for two days. Guard the girl and keep her safe. Take no other action in my absence that might provoke our enemy.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “You’re leaving? Why?”

“There are things I must prepare, and the only place left in this country to do the work is our consecrated temple in Manhattan,” Krieg explained as he pulled his dagger from its sheath. “Here, keep this with you. Reinforce the wards on this house and keep the girl safe until I return.”

I took the blade. It felt comfortable in my hand. “When are you leaving?” I asked.

“Now,” Krieg replied, much to my surprise.

He gave me a burner phone so that we could communicate with each other while he was gone. Ten minutes later, he left. I immediately felt alone and afraid. My head swirled with memories and echoes of the past. I didn’t know what was real and what was a dream. One thing was crystal clear. I had to protect Jenny, no matter the cost.

Chapter 22

The night passed without dreams or incidents. I woke suddenly, bolting upright and looking around the room. The bed was empty. Jenny was gone. I ran to the bathroom, but she wasn’t there, so I darted out of the room and downstairs.

I flew around the corner and into the kitchen.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Jenny said with a smile. She was leaning against the counter, wearing her robe, and sipping a cup of coffee. “I was just about to come to get you. Breakfast is ready.”

“Are you ok?” I asked, surprised to see her up and around.

“Why wouldn’t I be, honey?” she asked, then turned back to the stove. She picked up the frying pan and a spatula, carefully taking out two eggs, done over easy, and placing them on a waiting plate.

“Uh, I dunno,” I replied, unsure about reminding her of her ordeal. Maybe it was best to just drop it for now.

Jenny walked, carrying the plate of food, over to the table, and placed it in my usual spot.

I walked over and looked. In addition to the two eggs, the plate held three slices of crispy bacon, grits, and a piece of buttered toast, cut diagonally. Jenny had gone all out. I couldn’t help but notice the table was set just for one.

“You’re not joining me?” I asked.

“I already ate,” she said, pulling out my chair. “Go ahead. Eat.”

I lifted my fork and started eating. As I did, Jenny stood behind me and massaged my shoulders. About halfway through the meal, she stopped and knelt next to me. I watched with curiosity as she smiled and ran her hand over my hip to my crotch and began to caress my cock.

“What?” she said coquettishly. “Can’t a wife show her husband love while he eats?”

“Uhhh,” I managed to reply. “No, it’s fine.”

She gripped my boxers and started to pull them down. “Well, lift your ass, silly,” she said. “I can’t get them off if you’re sitting on them.”

I raised my hips so that she could pull my underwear off. As soon as they were off, Jenny scooted closer and took my cock in her mouth. It was already growing erect, but her oral ministrations had me hard in almost no time. Suddenly, she pulled her mouth off and spoke, “Eat! You’re going to need your energy!”

I resumed eating as she sucked my cock. The feeling was incredible as she worked her mouth on my shaft slowly. I devoured the remains of my breakfast quickly, then stood, pulling Jenny to her feet and bent her over the table.

She giggled and spread her legs, the robe still covering her ass. I held my erect cock and guided it between her legs, and felt the warm wetness of her pussy on my cockhead. Jenny moaned, “Oh, now this is a great way to start the day. Give me that cock!”

I pushed it into her and grabbed her hips, thrusting wildly into her. On about the fourth stroke, I flipped the tail of the robe up, around her hips, exposing my wife’s beautiful ass.

I stared in shock and confusion at the red, inflamed flesh surrounding the fresh tattoo of a heart, entwined with rose vines, and pierced by the thorns, dripping blood.

“Don’t stop, baby,” Jenny said, looking back over her shoulder at me. “Fuck me, harder.”

“When did you get that tattoo?” I snapped. “That wasn’t there yesterday!”

Jenny giggled even louder. “Do you like it?”

I pulled my cock out of her and fell back into my chair. “What the fuck? When did you get that?”

“Don’t you want to fuck me, baby?”

“What? No! I want you to tell me when you got that fucking tattoo!” I was shouting angrily. Jenny smiled and stood up, then straddled me in the chair.

“Lazarus said it looks perfect on my ass,” she said as she reached down to grip my cock and guide it back to her pussy. She rubbed the head in her slit, then pushed it into her cunt, lowering her body and impaling herself on me. “He liked the way it wiggled as he fucked me from behind.”

I sat up, screaming, “Nooooooo!”

“What’s wrong?” Jenny asked, turning to stare at me, surprise written all over her face.

Confusion filled my brain as I looked around the room. Plywood still covered the broken window. Jenny lay next to me in our bed. I was drenched in sweat and was breathing hard.

“Bad dream?” she asked as she pulled me down to cuddle with her.

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess so.”

She kissed my cheek. “Poor baby. Want me to fix you some breakfast?”

“No!” I snapped. “I was thinking we could go out to eat.”

“Oh,” she moaned. “I could go for pancakes.”

Chapter 23

The afternoon was peaceful. Jenny was busy upstairs, and I was in the library looking through my father’s collection of books. I was surprised to find he had several ancient tomes on an array of bizarre topics like Demonology, Witchcraft, and Exorcism.

This was some spooky shit. I found a section of one book all about demonic oppression. It explained that demonic oppression was a condition when a demonic entity is influencing a person, corrupting them in preparation for full possession. According to what Krieg had said, this is what was afflicting Jenny.

Suddenly, I remembered that I hadn’t heard a peep from her in a few hours. I cautiously went upstairs to check on her, but she was not there. I came back down and found the back door that leads to our pool and patio was ajar.

“Fuck!” I shouted. “I had one fucking job to do!” I started to run out of the house, but at the last second, I remembered the dagger Krieg had left with me. I found it and tucked it into my belt, then headed next door. I knew where she must have gone.

I approached their house from the side, climbing their fence and dropping to the soft ground of their flowerbed. The backyard was empty. I snuck along the back of the house, checking each door. They were all locked. I could hear music coming from the great room.

The back of the house in that area was all windows, so I found a vantage point where I could hide behind a short stone wall and peer inside without being seen. What I saw shocked me and caused my panic to grow exponentially.

The first thing I saw was a woman in the kitchen, bent over the counter while a naked man fucked her from behind. I didn’t recognize either of them. To their left, another girl was on her knees in front of two men. They were all naked. She had one of their cocks in her mouth and jacked the other man. As I watched, she switched, started sucking the other man while jacking off the guy she had been sucking. I recognized her. It was the girl who had opened the door for us when we had come over before. I was pretty sure the guy she was currently sucking was the drummer in the band.

I scanned more to the left, into the family room, and saw a collection of naked bodies, in various combinations of sexual coupling. The red hair of Desdemona caught my attention. She was seated on the far side of the room, facing toward me, in a large, throne-like chair with her legs over the arms. I couldn’t see much as Lazarus’s back blocked her body. He was fucking someone, facing Desdemona. I couldn’t tell who, but I had a bad feeling.

I needed to move. I crawled across the patio, hiding behind the walls and other obstacles, until I made it to the far side, then raised up to peer back into the room. From this angle, I could see what was going on. Jenny was there, on her hands and knees, her face buried in Mona’s pussy, licking at her hungrily, while Lazarus was behind her, fucking her pussy hard. He held her by the hips and was slamming his large cock into my wife over and over.

I couldn’t move. I watched, frozen in place, mesmerized by the scene in front of me. I was repulsed, nauseated, infuriated, but I could do nothing but stare as Lazurus fucked my wife. Was I having another nightmare?

No. I knew. This was really happening. Jenny had snuck out, come over here, and was now being fucked hard, her tongue embedded in Mona’s cunt. I had no idea how long she had been there, but something told me today wasn’t her first time doing this.

Suddenly, Jenny screamed, and I felt a knife penetrate my heart. She wasn’t screaming in pain. She was cumming from the hard pounding his cock was giving her, and cumming hard from the look and sound of it. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Lazarus threw his head back and bellowed, bestially, as he came inside Jenny, shooting his seed into her unprotected pussy.

“Make one false move, and I’ll put a bullet in your head,” came a voice from behind me. I raised my hands and turned to look. A uniformed police officer stood behind me, his gun out and pointed at me. His partner stood behind him, his gun also out.

Fuck.

Chapter 24

“It was just sex,” Jenny said for the third time.

I had spent the night in jail. I tried to call Jenny, but she never answered. The next morning, she showed up to bail me out, but the charges were dropped, and I was free to go. It seemed that Desdemona and Lazarus didn’t want the trouble of pressing charges for trespassing.

“I don’t know what to say to you, Jenny,” I told her. “You knew I wouldn’t accept your having sex with them. After everything that’s happened, you knew how I felt, but you did it anyway.”

“They’re not bad people,” she argued. “You just don’t like them, but you should give them a chance.”

“Why? So they can fuck you more?”

“Honey, you can join the fun, but you’re just being stubborn. You know Mona wants to fuck you. You should. She’s so fucking hot.”

“Are you even listening to yourself?” I asked. “You’re not behaving rationally. The Jenny I married would never have willingly had sex with anyone but me.”

“You’re being melodramatic,” she said, criticizing me. “It’s just a little fun. You know I love you and would never leave you. What’s wrong with having a little fun?”

“One, because we’re married! We swore an oath!” I said harshly. “Two, they’re the last people on earth I want you to be around, let alone fucking. There are things going on that you don’t understand. Dark things. I’m afraid for you, Jenny. You have to listen to me.”

“Oh, honey,” she said, waving her hands. “Monogamy is such an outdated concept. We need to accept the fact that human beings were not made to have sex with only one person for their entire life. It’s boring, and sex is too good not to be shared. You need to get the stick out of your ass and try it. You won’t regret it. I don’t.”

“Jenny, they’re dangerous. They’re not,” I started to tell her, but I stopped myself.

“They’re not what? Boring? You got that right. Look, this is the new me. I feel free in a way that I’ve never felt before. If you think I want to stop, then you’re wrong.”

“Jenny, I don’t want you seeing them anymore,” I told her. “It has to stop?”

“Or what? Are you going to divorce me?” she chuckled. “You’d get destroyed in a divorce.”

“Jenny, they are, they are strange and dangerous.”

“They’re European. European are a hell of a lot more open about sex. Americans are so fucking uptight about their bodies. You just need to accept it, Babe.”

“I won’t let you go back!”

“You don’t fucking own me! I can do what I want!” she shouted and started to leave the room.

“Where are you going?” I demanded.

“Anywhere I fucking want! Just away from you!”

“Don’t go over to their house!”

“They’re not here anyway! They left today to go on tour! So, fuck you! That’s why I went over there last night.”

I watched as Jenny stormed out and stomped her way upstairs. I sat and stared at the wall. I didn’t know what to do. At least if what Jenny said was true, I didn’t have to worry about her going next door for a while.

I picked up the dagger. Thankfully, the police had returned it since Lazarus dropped the charges. It had an ornate brass crossguard and pommel, a smooth, wooden handle, and a long blade that was etched with strange writing. I ran my fingers over the lettering.

“I remember,” I said out loud. Somehow, I knew what the writing said. The dagger looked and felt familiar. I balanced the blade on my finger, then swung it around. “You belonged to Sir Roger, old friend,” I added.

Chapter 25

Gold glinted, reflecting the light from their oil lamps as the group of knights passed through the doorway. All around them were riches: gold coins, jewels, and religious artifacts.

“They’re Roman,” Sir Etienne said as he examined a handful of coins. “Augustus Caesar. That’s at the time of Jesus.” All three knights crossed themselves at the mention of their savior.

“I believe much of this came from the Temple before the Romans sacked it.” Sir Roger explained.

Sir William was not listening. His attention had been captured by a pair of massive stone sarcophagi in the back of the room. He knelt by one, wiping off the years of accumulated dust. “This says it is the tomb of Lazarus the Risen,” Sir William shouted.

“Lazarus, whom the Savior raised from the dead?” Sir Etienne asked.

“Yes,” said Sir Roger. “Perhaps they buried him with the chalice! We should open it.”

“This tomb has been sealed for more than a thousand years,” explained Sir William.

“Then whatever they placed inside should still be there,” Sir Roger argued. “And, if not, I don’t believe Lazarus will care if we opened the box. He’s long dead.”

“We should look,” suggested Sir Etienne.

All three of them pushed on the large, heavy stone lid. Slowly, it began to slide with a loud, grating sound. They gave a final shove, and the top slid off, falling to the floor with a loud boom that echoed and reverberated off the subterranean walls!

Inside all that they found was the mummified remains of a body.

They quickly opened the second sarcophagus and peered inside. The mummified body of a woman was all that remained.

Sir Roger began gathering all the treasure he could carry. Sir Etienne was busy looking for scrolls, books, or other forms of written evidence. Sir William was studying the writing on the second sarcophagus.

“Death comes to any who open this tomb,” he read aloud.

“Well, that’s not very reassuring,” Sir Roger said.

“There’s a name carved here on this second tomb,” Sir William said. Then to himself, he mumbled, “That cannot be.”

Sir Etienne looked inside the second sarcophagus. “There’s a scroll in here. He reached in to get it, and a sharp piece of metal in the shape of a viper’s fang snapped from the scroll and bit into his finger. “Oww!” he cried out, pulling his hand away, dripping blood.

“Another trap?” he asked. He staggered back slowly and grabbed at a hanging tapestry for balance. The cloth tore free, and the knight fell to his knees. “I don’t feel so well,” he said as he tried to stand, but only managed to fall on his ass.

Sir William ran to his aid. White foam frothed from Sir Etienne’s mouth briefly, then he lay still. His breathing stopped, and his eyes seemed to turn gray.

“Poison!” shouted Sir Roger. “Poor bastard!”

“We need to get out of here,” said Sir William, rising to his feet.

“Help me gather more treasure, and we can leave,” the other knight said.

“No, leave it!” Sir William ordered. “We have to go now!”

They could hear a scraping sound coming from inside the second sarcophagus.

“I’m not leaving this treasure,” argued Sir Roger.

Sir William backed toward the doorway, staring in disbelief as a mummified hand appeared on the edge of the sarcophagus.

“We have to go now!” he shouted.

Sir Roger looked over his shoulder and saw the half-decayed body of a woman, loosely wrapped in strips of cloth climbing out of the stone coffin. He turned back and ran out the doorway, shouting behind him, “We have to go!”

Sir William stared for a moment, recalling the name he had seen carved onto the side of the box. Lillith.

As the mummy turned to face him, Sir William felt his bladder release, then he turned and ran down the hall after his fellow knight, leaving a trail of piss.

Chapter 26

I didn’t sleep at all that night. In the morning, Jenny woke and acted as if nothing had ever happened. She was loving, kind, and gentle and shocked me.

“I had the weirdest dream,” she said. “I dreamed you got really angry and threatened to divorce me. For some reason, you thought I’d gone next door and had sex with Lazarus and Mona. Like that would ever happen.”

I stared at her, trying to decide if she was fucking with me, or if she was sincere. “What is the last thing you remember before going to bed?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I remember going to the concert, but I must’ve had way too much to drink. I think I blacked out.”

“That’s the last thing you remember?” I asked, the surprise evident on my face.

“Yeah, but the good news is I don’t have a hangover.” Jenny jumped up, declared she was going to take a shower. and ran to the bathroom, stripping off her pajamas. “Come join me!” she called out as I heard the water turn on.

As she bent over to dig a towel out of the cabinet, my eyes landed, with shock, on the fresh tattoo on her ass: a heart wrapped in rose vines, dripping blood.

THE END OF EPISODE SIX