He was fortunate today, it seems. Not one episode had happened. It was uncommon, but it did happen from time to time.

I need to be grateful for the little things. It's been a rough year for me, but I've been through more challenging.

Despite the awkwardness of working at the same place as his ex and that POS Getty, he could put up with it a bit longer. Perrin had applications at several small software firms out on the east coast. They were those working from home gigs that seem to be on the rise, so he wouldn't have to worry about "the dreams" affecting his work life any longer.

Hopefully, one of those will come through, and I can leave this damn purgatory I'm stuck in. You know it wouldn't be so bad if everyone in the office didn't know about what happened. And if that prick Getty wouldn't run his cock hoster to anyone that would listen.

Perrin had considered doing away with Getty. He could, no problem. They would never find the body.

He'd have a nice big bacon cheeseburger and maybe a nap afterward. He also had battle buddies that would be there at the drop of a hat. Some even specialized in that type of work now. Fixers, they called it. They worked at some kind of shadowy government contractor mumbo jumbo gig. They had tried to recruit him when his contract was up in Army Special Forces. But he was tired of the killing by that point, no matter how good he was at it.

Too many missing faces after that last mission. No, turning the page and starting a new chapter was good for me.

And so Brad still lives.

Logging out of the computer. Perrin picked up his things and headed to his vehicle.

Another day, another dollar, as they say. Now I just need to make it to the parking lot without running into Addison or Brad. And I'll chalk this one up as a win.

Feeling like someone was watching him as he walked to his vehicle, Perrin looked around. Finding the person he just knew he would run into. Brad stepped out of the parking lot stairwell.

"Sup, fuck face?" said Brad.

Sighing internally, Perrin turned around. " What do you want, Brad?"

"Addison says you still have some of her stuff you took when you left. How about you be a good little bitch and bring it to me tomorrow."

Ignoring the verbal jab, Perrin said, "If she thinks I have something of hers, she can contact me herself."

Yes, unfortunately, Brad still lives.

Turning around and pushing down the urge to throw Brad from the 4th floor of the parking deck, Perrin was annoyed with himself that he even stopped to listen to the shit for brains. Addison knew she was welcome to come to search the storage anytime she wanted. She never would, of course. They had said nothing to each other since that day. Perrin was okay with that. They had spent years together, and it ended with the worst kind of betrayal. Perrins catching the act left no room for discussion.

Climbing into his truck, he pulled out and made his way down the parking deck. He stopped by a burger joint and grabbed his favorite number 5 and went into autopilot as he merged onto the interstate.

"I finally found you." came a voice from his passenger seat.

Perrin stiffened internally. 8 years as an elite operator was the only thing that prevented him from giving in to the urge to jerk the wheel. The utter shock of surprise running through his body was nothing compared to the feelings that threatened to overwhelm him when he realized who the voice belonged to.

There she was. It's her—the woman from his dreams.

Yep, it's finally happened. I've lost my shit. They said it might happen one day. Combat stress does that to a person sometimes.

I'm going to look away, and she is going to disappear. This is definitely not real.

"Oh, I am entirely real, lover, and I did tell you I was coming, so I don't know why you are so shocked," Avaya said while popping a handful of his fries into her mouth.

Perrin ignored the dark-haired beauty taking the next exit that he could as she chewed loudly on his fries. Pulling into what looked like an old abandoned truck stop, Perrin parked his truck and promptly got out.

Deciding that yeah, he had definitely cracked. He looked back to his truck.

Fuck she still there, fuck fuck fuck fuck. Come on, Perrin, reason this out. No one was in the vehicle when you started driving. People don't just pop into existence while you're cruising down the highway at 85 mph. That is some fantasy bull shit.

Looking back again. Perrin saw her starting to unwrap his burger and promptly took a bite while watching him from his passenger seat.

Yep, that is definitely a person, and they are for sure, eating my number 5.

Gathering himself and wanting nothing more than to -nope the fuck out of this situation. Perrin sacked up and got back in the truck.

"Who the fuck are you?" he said.

"This is quite good, Perrin, my love. These modern worlds always have the best food. And you know who I am dear." she said.

"Avaya?" Perrin whispered as the full realization that his dreams of this woman must have held some truth to them.

But why do I know that name? It makes no sense. I've never met this person a day in my life, yet I feel like I know that face better than my own mothers.

"Are we just going to sit here, or are you going to take me back to your home," Avaya asked before taking another bite out of his burger.

Trying to wrap his head around this woman appearing out of thin air and failing to do so. Perrin decided that he needed time to think, and the best time to think was either sitting on the porcelain throne or driving down the highway. Only being able to do the latter but feeling like he might need to do the former. Perrin buckled up and pulled back onto the road. Heading back to his fifth wheel. Desperately trying to organize his thoughts.

If she is real, does that mean the dreams are real? Surely not. I mean, they felt real, but what I did in them just can't be real. They just can't… can they?

The thought troubled him deeply as he pulled into his little parking pad at the RV park. Getting out of his truck Perrin walked to his door and unlocked it. The fifth wheel was a decent size coming in at almost 40'. It wasn't the biggest, but it was reasonably close. It had all the amenities of home while being fully mobile.

Perrin set down his keys and made his way to the sectional like couch attached to the main living space. Avaya followed in behind him, polishing off the last remnants of his burger.

"There's a garbage can right there by the door," he said.

"Oh, thank you, lover," she said as she threw away the wrapper and bag of his dinner.

Deciding that there wasn't any reason to lollygag around about the situation, he just came out and asked, "So.. you're real, which means the dreams are real as well, I'm guessing…"

"Yes, Perrin, the dreams were …. Are real. Ah, well, hmm, where to start. I know that this is probably coming to be quite a shock to you. I didn't choose this situation you're… Uhm, I mean, we are currently in, and by the look on your face, you seem to be taking this better than I expected you too." Avaya said in a much less confident tone than before.

She started walking towards Perrin, and he couldn't take his eyes off her. She walked with such grace that he wasn't sure if she was a queen or a predator. Her movements were fluid, deliberate, and above all, dangerous. When you spend enough time around some of the world's best-trained operators, you realize that civilians don't move that way.

Perrin was torn between adjusting his pants or moving to a more defensible position.

Sitting down beside him, she adjusted the white dress she was wearing to a more comfortable and crossed her legs.

"This is the part that I've been struggling with how to tell you. We were supposed to have more time for me to meet you, where we'd get to know each other organically. We predicted that you would react poorly to what I have to say without it." Avaya said.

Tucking a stray strand of black hair behind her ear. She continued, "You do seem to take my sudden appearance much better. I suppose it's due to this being a more modern world. Video games and fantasy books make you more willing to accept the improbable, or so we believed."

What the hell is she talking about? Take what better? I'm freaking the fuck out.

"Could you imagine if you had been in the dark ages. What a disaster that would have been. And in a non-magical world no less." Avaya chuckled.

What the hell is she talking about? If it had been in the dark ages? I'm confused, and my shock is starting to wear off.

"See, I can already tell that you are starting to get wary. I didn't choose this path, Perrin, you did, despite my protests that it wasn't necessary."

You're damn right I'm wary of some insanely attractive woman appearing on my passenger seat out of fuck knows where. What path is she talking about?

"Okay, let's start with how we got to this point. A long time ago, you failed at... something, and you didn't take it well. You decided that you had lost touch with those you wished to protect. You needed to find a way back to that, else what was the point of doing what you were doing.”

“Of course, I tried desperately to dissuade you of this notion, but you had already made up your mind. A... Uhm let say a mutual friend of ours helped you set up this little experiment to help you find yourself again." said Avaya

"You see, Perrin, you are not completely human. Well, you are human, but you aren't mortal. You're technically immortal. You're not a... umm a capital G god, but at the same time, you are something more than that."

Deciding right then and there that he had definitely lost his mind and this chick who looks like she fell out of some wet dream he had, was also quite insane. He needed a beer and a pack of cigarettes.

Getting up, he headed over to his fridge and snagged a cold one out of the 12-pack. Popping the top, he turned it up and didn't stop until it was finished. Grabbing one more, he shut the fridge door. Moving over to the cabinets by the front doorway, he pulled a black bag off the top.

He kept it there as a go-bag just in case shit hit the fan. It kept all the things he might need in a desperate situation. One of those things was a pack of Lights. He'd quit smoking years ago, but things seem to be getting pretty fucking weird, and he needed something to take the edge off. Anyone who thought differently could go fuck themselves for all he cared.

"So let's get this straight. I'm immortal, and I'm not a god, but at the same time, I'm something more." Perrin said sarcastically.

Finding the lighter in the same pocket as the pack. Perrin started to put the bag back up but then hesitated and set it down by the door. He packed his Lights on the palm of his hand. Ripping the cellophane off the top, he opened the pack and flipped one around for luck.

At the rate this is going, I'm probably going to need it.

He pulled one out, stuck it in his mouth, lit it up, took a deep drag, and sighed.

"Okay, let's say I believe you. I don't mind you but let's say I do. Tell me what the dreams are about," Perrin said.

What Perrin did believe or didn't wasn't really important at this moment. She has possible answers to what's been going on with him, so he might as well hear her out. If she turns out to be crazier than a 4 door bicycle, he'd ask her to leave.

"Ah, yes, the dreams. Well, you were technically not supposed to be awakened for another 2300 years. Something happened which accelerated that timeline. The dreams are sort of a fail-safe in case something were to happen, and you needed to be woken up before the scheduled time." Avaya said as she stood up and walked over to Perrin. She grabbed the cig out of his hand and took a drag. Giving it back, she continued.

"On another level, the dreams signify that your mantle is making contact with you. It's trying to re-establish a connection with your soul. I was able to find you due to that. The thing is, I should have made contact with you before the mantle did. Technically the mantle doesn't need you to operate completely. I mean, it does, but it doesn't at the same time."

Walking over to the fridge, she grabbed herself a beer as she continued to speak.

"The mantle can't stay idle as it serves a fundamental function of this iteration or plane if you prefer. You could say that it has been running on a limited program, an autopilot if you will. If something happens outside of that program, it will reach out and establish a connection with your soul to fix the problem. Thus you have been having dreams of a sort." Avaya said.

As she walked back over to the couch, Perrin enjoyed the view.

Damn, if she isn’t built like a shit brick house.

Turning around and taking a seat, she raised an eyebrow. Feeling a little heat come to his cheeks, Perrin smiled and took another drag.

Like you didn't just do that on purpose.

"The further things get out of hand, the more the mantle tries to establish it's connection with you," said Avaya.

Right, so a mantle, Yeah sure, I kinda know what that is from reading fantasy books, watching anime, and playing video games.

"Alright, well, I guess that would explain why I've been randomly passing out during the day. The mantle needs me, so it forces a connection. I handle whatever is going on then wake back up." Perrin said, thinking aloud.

Yeah, that's making a little more sense than I'm comfortable with.

"Exactly, the system was set up so that even if something did happen, you would be able to handle it and then go back to your "experiment" none the wiser. You would have thought it no more than a strange dream and moved on. The problem is that the timeline of our plans has been accelerated. The enemy has somehow realized that you are here and unconnected to your mantle." she said as she crossed her legs.

"They are using these constant abnormal situations to have the mantle "ping" you to pinpoint your location. We thought we had fixed the issue. You probably had a brief period where the dreams just stopped. But they found some workaround, and now every time that the mantle needs to establish a connection, they are getting closer to ascertaining your location." said Avaya.

"Who is this enemy? You just said that I'm immortal. Why should it matter if anyone finds me? By definition, immortal basically means I can't die." Perrin said, giving her a confused look.

"We are part of a group of individuals involved in creating different planes of existence. Everything was perfect for a time. Then the enemy showed up and began twisting planes and worlds in such a way that we couldn't fix them."

Staring off in memory, Avaya continued to speak. "Sides were drawn up, and a war was fought. Several planes were destroyed, and atrocities were committed on both sides."

Perrin could understand that.

War is a nasty thing, and no one who willingly takes part in it comes out with clean hands.

"We were winning the war, but in the end, we lost. The enemy leader had found a weapon, and we had no counter. He gave us an ultimatum. Leave, or he would end all of creation."

Avaya seemed lost in thought after that, and Perrin let her be.

Now that is some heavy shit. What do you even say to something like that?

"Right, so where was I? Ah, yes, the immortal bit. That was the risk in the whole ordeal. If the enemy finds you right now, they could kill you easily and permanently. The chances are, they have already tracked you down to this planet by now." Avaya said.

Of course, someone is trying to kill me. Because why the fuck not.

Feeling frustrated, Perrin took another swig of his beer as he thought.

Okay, so I'm a god-like being; I have a mantle thingy that seems to steal my soul when it wants something. I'm somehow part of a group that played a role in the very creation of all things. Some type of biblical like battle happened, and our side lost. Yeah, starting to feel like I need my boots because the bullshit is getting pretty deep here.

"Well, then how do we re-establish my connection to this mantle thing."

"Now that's where things get complicated," said Avaya.

Perrin spit out some of the beer he was trying to swallow and started laughing.

"Oh, now it gets complicated." he got out in between fits of laughter.

"This isn't a laughing matter, lover," she said as a scowl took over her face.

Perrin felt a force start to weigh down on him. An overwhelming fear spread through his body. He broke out into a sweat, and his knees started to shake. He could taste bile in the back of his throat and was seriously contemplating throwing up.

What the fuck is this! I can't move. My heart feels like it's being crushed in a vice.

Realizing what she was doing, her facial expression turned to shock and concern. She rushed over and caught Perrin before he could fall. Guiding him down onto the couch and she started fussing over him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my love. I'm so sorry. I didn't realize what I had done. Please forgive me, Perrin. I would never hurt you, my love." Avaya said, frantically holding my shivering body.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, just uhm.. Give me a sec to recover." he wheezed out.

As he started to catch his breath, she relented with her fussing, but the look of shame and concern didn't leave her face.

"I shouldn't have done that. I'm so sorry, my love. I lost my temper, and normally that wouldn't be an issue, but you are in a mortal shell right now. I could have killed you by accident with my intent. Not to mention if anyone was looking this way, they would have felt that little display of power."

Little display his ass. Whatever that was caused my danger senses to fly into overdrive. Hell, I almost threw up and shit myself at the same time.

Giving himself a shake and straightening up, he looked at her. He wasn't exactly sure what just happened, but he was fairly certain the whole "if looks could kill" thing wasn't supposed to be real. Had she done that a little longer, he was reasonably sure he might have actually died.

"What did you just do? And what do you mean, if someone had been looking?"

A calico cat came wandering in from the back bedroom and hopped into Perrin's lap. Staring up at him with its heterochromatic blue-gold gaze demanding to be petted. A slow warmth began to flow through him. He started scratching the feline behind the ears absentmindedly. His aches left him as the heat continued to spread.

Avaya frowned down at the cat but then dismissed it.

"I accidentally released some of my restraint on my spirit, and combined with the method of travel I’m currently taking, it had a more profound effect."

Sure, that made perfect sense.

"Oh, don't look at me that way, Perrin. I'm trying to explain what happened, and I've already apologized." Avaya said.

The cat hissed at her and then started to push its head into his belly. Perrin continued to stroke the cat's fur while trying to make sense of what she was telling him.

Sneering at the cat, Avaya picked up where she left off. "I'm technically not entirely on this plane just yet. We are piggybacking off the connection the mantle has to you. That causes me to be more fully on this plane than I should be. This back door doesn't have the normal buffers that would be in place to suppress my presence or intent."

An odd feeling started to come over Perrin. He felt like he was missing something. Something was off in the room. He started looking around, but everything seemed to be in place. He looked down at the cat that he was now giving a belly rub. It’s purrs, vibrating his leg.

I don't have a cat, do I?

Feeling confident that No, he most certainly did not own a cat. He slowly pulled his hand away from the feline.

The cat cracked open one eye and looked at him. The blue vertical slitted eye assessed him critically. Realizing the gig was up, it meowed and stretched. Rolling off his lap, it jumped down and hissed at Avaya once more. Avaya sneered right back.

Starting to think he had seen it all and most definitely heard it all. Perrin looked between the two.

"What are you doing here, Dory," said Avaya annoyingly.

The cat hissed again at Avaya. Then looked away, tail flashing back and forth violently.

"You were taking too long, sister. I wanted to make sure you weren't having your way with our dear husband." said the cat.

Husband!? Okay, you know what. Whatever, this is just too much. I'm not even surprised at this point. I'm just waiting for the other hammer to fall.

Perrins's phone started ringing. Pulling out his phone and looking down at the caller ID, he saw that it was Mr. Johnston. The man had never called him before. A feeling of dread started to come over him as his mind raced to this morning's conversation as pieces began falling into place.

“they have already tracked you down ….“. That’s what Avaya had just said.

The stranger old man Johnston talked about this morning. Surely not.

As that thought finished running through his mind, a loud explosion went off right outside, rocking the RV.