Chapter 3

It was stormy that night, a particularly bad combination with my line of work. Sleeping was the only way I could stay in business, and the rain that raged outside, not to mention the deafening thunder, did not bode well for my task.

It was time for my concoction. It was something I was extremely proud of after a s**t ton of testing: four prescription sleeping pills, two melatonin pills, a gulp of liquid cold medicine and I was in business.

Nothing in the world could wake me up with my potion, and that's just what I needed.

“You coming?” I asked Guiness that night while placing a pair of earplugs in my pocket.

Guiness pondered my invitation, placing a fat, stubby finger on his lips. I knew this was for show. He constantly wanted to go with me; sometimes the offer didn't even leave my lips. When it was a particularly tough or confusing job, I welcomed his often clever mind.

I allowed him a few more moments of consideration before sighing and cutting a sleeping pill in half to add to the cheap beer I had purchased earlier. I was watching him drink when I heard a knock at my door.

“That must be him,” I reasoned, getting up to unlock the dozen locks present on my door. The neighborhood wasn't exactly the best, and after my ex-wife took everything in the divorce, I wasn't allowed the grandeur of anything more than a dusty, windowless apartment in the bad side of town. Thankfully, it was an apartment on the bottom floor which allowed me the basement, much to my -and ultimately Guinness'- luck. Even though Guiness would be enough to send even the most stalwart burglar running, I was still a hard-a*s about security. You could never be sure what was going on when you woke up in my type of business.

I scrutinized my client through the peep-hole for several moments. He looked as shaken as before, perhaps even more so now that it was night. Next to him was an equally burly fellow with the customary amount of tattoos for one in a biker gang. With their leather jackets and handkerchief hats, there was little doubt that they roamed the streets on their expensive Harleys.

My advertisement specified that the client bring a close friend to supervise. After all, I could be a scam artist that takes the money and credit cards in your wallet and dumps you in a back alley. Of course, I didn't know many con artists that used my excuse of being a nightmare exterminator. That alone should have allayed anyone's fears.

I had my own supervisor. My next door neighbor had proved to be a pretty good friend, and I knew him well enough now to trust him with making sure the client or their supervisor didn't wake up and strangle me... or worse.

“Well hello, Chuck,” I greeted, stepping outside and closing the door behind me. I withdrew a cigarette and lit it, puffing a few drags. It was a terrible habit I'd had since I was fourteen, one that I had never been able to kick for more than a few weeks at a time. I smoked even more just before a job, something to calm the nerves and jitters of exterminating nightmares.

“Hello, Mr. Clifton. This is Doogan, the supervisor you told me to bring.”

“Just Noah, please, and thanks for coming, Doogan. Now, tell me about your dream. I'll need the specifics to know how I can help you.”

The “bad-a*s” biker wrung his hands in what I could only assume was embarrassment.

“The dream starts off normal enough. I'm... er... with a woman. A real pretty one, with long white hair and pale skin. She looks albino, y'know? Those type of people who-”

“I know what albino is,” I remarked, somewhat insulted. “Go on.”

“Sorry. Well, we.. uh... are getting busy when she suddenly turns... uh...”

Again the wringing of the hands. He looked down and swallowed hard before continuing. I couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for the man as he shifted in discomfort.

“...she turns into that unicorn I told ya about. Same white hair, pale fur or whatever the hell unicorns usually have. She's on top of me when she changes, and before I can even do anything she stabs me in the chest with her horn. She has these vengeful eyes, like I killed her dog or somethin'.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, and turned away to take another drag. It wasn't the most ridiculous dream I'd had to deal with, but it certainly was the most absurd one I'd seen from a guy.

“Alright, let's do this.”

“Er, Noah?”

“Yeah?” I asked while walking to my neighbor's door and banging a fist against it.

“You're not gonna watch the beginning of my dream, are ya?”

“Nah, it happens. I'll hand ear-muff my hearing and avert my gaze. I'll have to check periodically, though, just to make sure it doesn't end the way you don't want it to.”

The neighbor's door opened and I smirked and gave a lazy salute in his direction.

“Hey, Ralph-E. You ready?”

Ralph's last name was Erickson, and so throughout college his friends started calling him Ralph-E, like the kid from A Christmas Story that I had to watch every year with my family. Needless to say, he didn't approve of the name, but what college student really cared about the feelings of a guy who didn't like the nickname assigned to him?

“Hey,” he answered, always a man of few words. He was a smart kid in college, always the one to get excellent grades. Unfortunately for him, he ended up being one of those kids that had a college degree, but ended up slinging hash when he didn't find a job that called for a major in 17^th Century French Poetry.

I led my troupe of visitors to my living room and slipped down into the basement with the assurance that I would be right back.

Reviews

[ATG]

A good chapter with no obvious errors. It was entertaining and interesting. I am noticing a pattern though. You ended this chapter a bit abruptly as you did with Ch. 1. You ended it wiith a part that should have continued. From what I have read so far, I believe the next chapter is going to be about Chuck's dream. This entire chapter should be devoted to that to some degree. It is more consistent and flows better when reading the book as a whole. The second thing I would like to mention is you referencing brand name products such as Ambien, Nyquil, and Lunesta. If you wanted to get this published professionally you must get rid of the brand names. You can say simply a mixture of sleeping medication or you can list of the chemical names if you need to add the extra detail. Also this information may have been better suited for an earlier chapter when you introducing the main character Noah.

[Angela Horst]

Changed the brand names. Thank you.

[jbcleere]

Good chapter, couldn't find anything wrong or any inconsistencies, flows well and holds readers interest.