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    Night Dreams #1: The Beginning
    Night Dreams #1: The Beginning
    Night Dreams #1: The Beginning
    Ebook85 pages1 hour

    Night Dreams #1: The Beginning

    By A. Lopez, Jr

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    About this ebook

    A doctor with a special gift to heal those suffering from their most horrific nightmares. His patients in desperate need to rid the demons in their sleep. But there is one catch...he must enter their night terrors, often putting their lives and souls in mortal danger.

    The Beginning takes us back to how it all started for Joseph and how he came to possess his power and at times, curse. As a young boy, he discovers a dark and dangerous world within his dreams and soon, he holds his mother's life in his own hands with each action he takes in her nightmares.

    Dream Psychologist, Dr. Joseph Rickettes uses the experiences from his youth to better understand his gift as an adult and help rid his patients of their demons. He is bound by the demons in their dreams, while he struggles to make sense of the nightmares that plague his own life. Each patient he sees suffers from their own unique night terrors that threaten to consume them all in their sleep, and if left unaddressed, claim their souls. Can Joseph navigate the thin line between good and evil to help his mother, and as an adult, will he continue to use his dangerous gift to help others?

    If you like your fiction taking you into the dark unknown, possibly leading to the darkest depths of hell, then the Night Dreams Series will be worth the ride.

    If you had the gift . . . would you use it?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherA. Lopez, Jr
    Release dateMay 22, 2013
    ISBN9781301180691
    Night Dreams #1: The Beginning
    Author

    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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      Book preview

      Night Dreams #1 - A. Lopez, Jr

      image-placeholder

      Contents

      Epigraph

      Prologue

      1. The Beginning

      2. Fishing Trip

      3. Nap Time

      4. The Garage

      5. Cash Only

      6. Funeral Serice

      7. The Mirror

      8. Showdown

      9. The Next Morning

      10. Reflection

      Andrea's Demon

      Author's Note

      Also By A. Lopez Jr.

      About A. Lopez Jr.

      Copyright

      You never know how crazy a person is … until they tell you about their nightmares.

      Prologue

      The time is 10:35 a.m. July 14, 2012. I am with my patient, Claire Botkins, for her second session, the doctor noted. 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 him, the doctor 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.

      Joseph Rickettes, thirty-eight years old and now thirteen years in practice as a psychologist, listened closely, taking in every word. Dr. Rickettes, a dream psychologist, specializing in listening to his patient's nightmares and helping them find the answers to cure them of their debilitating illness.

      Claire is his first patient since his last attempt, a couple of years prior, at helping someone with their demons. Hearing her delve deeper into her dream immediately reminded him of the worst of times in his past.

      He looked at me like… she tried to continue.

      Distracted by his own thoughts, Joseph abruptly ended Claire's session. I am very sorry, Claire, but I must end the session at this point.

      Stunned, Claire looked at the doctor, offended at first, but she could see something was wrong.

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

      Seeing a look of despair on his face, she nodded, walked to the door, and turned. Are you all right? she asked.

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

      She left, closing the door behind her.

      Thinking he may not be ready to do this again, his thoughts drifted back to when it all started.

      image-placeholder

      Donald Joseph Rickettes graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, one of the top universities in psychology in the country, with honors in 1996 and started his practice nearly four years later. He built his practice on referrals and it eventually grew into a very stable business.

      In 2001, he married his college sweetheart, Andrea, and the two lived happily for the next seven years outside of Pittsburgh . . . before her dreams started.

      Andrea's dreams were nothing out of the ordinary, but did gradually become darker and more ominous. She didn’t feel the need to tell Joseph about them—she didn’t know of his special gift—and she thought the bad dreams would pass. However, after two months, even she had to admit it wasn't getting better, in fact, it was only getting worse. If she was lucky, she would only suffer through a bad dream once or twice a week.

      Andrea finally told Joseph about the dreams, and as always with anything involving her, he listened with an open mind. She wasn’t specific at first, but over time, he coaxed the details from her and learned how they drove her fear. Being a psychologist, he knew how to gain his patient’s trust and helped bring out their inner fears, but this was different—Andrea was not a patient.

      She was his wife.

      As he delved deeper into her dreams, he realized how serious it was, and Andrea sometimes trembled as she spoke of the demon in her nightmares. She would often pause when she described the thing stalking her.

      Joseph knew he had to help her. The signs were clear that her dreams would continue to spiral out of control. To help her, he would have to reveal the secret he carried—the secret from a long time ago, when he was a child. He had suppressed his gift for many years, but knew it would resurface at some point in his life.

      That time was now.

      Andrea continued, This thing is dark and tall, except for those eyes. Its eyes are blood-red and filled with evil and hatred. She stood and put her arms out, extending her fingers. It has claws for fingers and hoofs for feet. She paused again. I know it's the devil.

      She looked at her husband, no longer afraid of what he thought or what he might say. She had finally let it out, and no longer had to hide her secret.

      Looking back to the past, even if for a moment, was difficult, considering all that had happened. He couldn’t believe how fast time had passed and as he sat back in his leather chair, momentarily putting aside the thoughts of his wife, he reflected on his childhood.

      1

      The Beginning

      Soon after Joseph Rickettes turned thirteen, he discovered something about himself, something he had only suspected before. Growing up, he always felt there was something different about him, but never understood or knew exactly what it was. Now, something had changed, his instinct, even at his age, was sharp and things became clearer. Realizations became part of his reality and he was starting to understand the things his mother was going through.

      Since he could remember, his mother, Patricia, always looked tired. He never knew why, but on the very rare days he saw her without makeup, he

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