6 Chapter 6

Confused and alone again, Jason woke up in the cottage over the top of his bag, wondering what the hell just happened. He didn't expect Daphis to attack him the way she did. Oh well, he thought, she must have had a good reason. He checked his watch, and made note of the time. He had less than a half hour to kill before he had to meet for his potential work. Jason stood up, feeling good again, this was almost his favorite part of dreaming of the forest. Hell, he wasn't even sure anymore that they were dreams. He thought for a moment about bringing this up at his next session, but ultimately shook the idea from his head.

His phone started ringing, the same generic tone that was his alarm. "Hello?" Jason answered.

A voice on the other side gave a short, but direct set of directions, Jason listened for the ten seconds he was on the phone, then hung up the phone. One thing he liked was brevity. Conversation over the phone was not his thing. Jason started out the door of the cottage and locked it behind him.

It was a short walk to the coffee shop. This was his favorite place to kill time. It was small and modest, but decorated in a classy, extravagant fashion. The tablecloths were pretty, and unique from table to table, the pictures depicted dream vacation spots, the dishware was all unique from table to table as well. It was a pretty little hangout.

Jason ordered his usual at the counter, black coffee with a shot of espresso in a little cup on the side. At this point, he didn't even have to order, they just began preparing it the minute they saw him.

"What's the damage?" Jason asked, grabbing his wallet from his right leg pocket.

The barista smiled from behind the counter, "On the house, Mr. McNair."

Jason looked at her and pulled out a 10$ bill, setting it on the counter in front of her.

"Thank you again, darling." He gave her a smile and wink.

She blushed as he left the money and took his coffee, sitting down on a bar stool in front of her. She stayed by him while he shot his espresso and took a sip of the coffee.

"How is it?" She asked, flirtatiously.

Jason smiled, "Perfect, as always."

The barista was tall and pretty, mid twenties if he had to guess, slender, blonde, mad her name tape read Kailin Harris. Jason found her beautiful, but couldn't imagine seeing her more than just behind the counter, despite the fact that she was always trying to ask him out in her own, shy way. Out front, a very new Jaguar sports car, expensive for the area, pulled into the lot. Jason knew who this was.

"Gotta go." Jason said with a friendly smile.

"See you next time!" She said, enthusiastically waving as he started toward the door.

Jason walked out the front door to meet a man of his age, but much bigger stepping out of the car. The man dressed in an expensive suit and tie.

"Why are you always so overdressed?" Jason asked, scoffing.

The man only glared at Jason, nothing but a cold look to respond to the question.

"Do we have something to talk about?" Jason followed up, on a more serious note.

"Not here, get in." The man said.

Jason climbed into the passenger seat, nothing to say in response. They drove quickly away from the coffee shop, fifteen minutes away to a storage container just outside of a small scrapyard. Jason was the first to get out and start for the container. His driver close behind.

"You're walking awful straight today, Jason." He noted, looking at the lack of limp in Jason's step.

"I guess I just needed to sleep it off." Jason said, chuckling at the irony of his own inside joke.

Jason stopped just in front of the container, waiting for the driver. The driver pulled out a key and unlocked the padlock, opening the large door.

"Inside." The driver said.

Jason turned and stepped inside the empty container, stopping for a second after noticing that it was empty.

"There's nothing in here." Jason stated, looking back at the driver, confused.

"Now you see there's a problem, right?" The driver growled.

Jason looked at him, annoyed. "How is that my problem?"

"You like money, right? You like it when we have work, right?" The driver sounded more angry with each word. "Then why the fuck am I hearing that our clients are coming up short?"

Jason studied the drivers expression. He couldn't help but feel that this wasn't going to go well.

"Are you accusing me of something?" Jason asked, keeping his cool about the situation.

The driver moved forward, inches away from Jason's face. "Yes, I am accusing you of something."

Jason stepped back, keeping his eyes on the man ahead of him. "You know I'm not stupid enough to steal from you guys."

Both men maintained eye contact. Neither underestimated the others abilities, nor did any of them want this fight. Jason's advantage was his now painless body, the drivers was his size.

"Jason, we both know what happens when product is stolen." The driver said, keeping still, eyes locked on Jason.

Jason looked blankly at him, "I didn't steal anything."

All it took was one second, the driver moved for the 9mm tucked into his inner jacket pocket and drew it, enabling Jason to rush the driver. The driver wasn't quick enough to draw his weapon, Jason tackled him to the ground and tried to mount him for a few punches, but the driver knew how to fight. He flipped Jason over, rolling onto his feet and reaching for the weapon again. Jason was quick to act and kicked his legs out from under him, sending him flat onto his back. Jason made an attempt to capitalize on this, but the driver threw a fistful of dust and gravel into his face. Momentarily blinded, Jason staggered forward, having his legs knocked out from under him by the driver. The driver drew his weapon and fired two rounds into Jason's chest. Jason had time to register two thoughts before he went unconscious; one, he was going to die, two, he really messed things up here and wished he could fix them. Silence and darkness greeted Jason again, only this time, he knew they were there to stay.

Jason's eyes shot open, the trees above him let very little moonlight shine through. He sat up quickly, clutching his chest and struggling to take a breath in. Blood bubbled in his mouth and dripped out of his mouth as his lungs filled with his own blood. He staggered to his feet and stumbled forward, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

"Daphis." Jason spoke weakly at a barely audible grunt. "Help."

Jason continued stumbling forward, his legs were getting weaker and weaker but he continued forward. He had two wounds, both managed to pierce his lungs. Drowning in his own blood was a feeling Jason had never felt. He'd been shot before, he knew it was painful, he expected that. Drowning, though, that was a new feeling, and his new least favorite. Jason lost his footing and stumbled forward, spitting a mouthful of blood into the ground in front of him. His once light gray outfit was slowly turning a shade of crimson red as he was bleeding out on the enchanted forest floor. Jason saw a familiarly human, yet root-esque pair of feet as his consciousness faded. He slowly closed his eyes, and let the darkness take him again, dying for the second time in one day but two worlds.