Chapter 4

Dallas wandered into the kitchen. The television playing in the living room served as his only companion. He pondered what would happen over the next few days as the world around him irrevocably changed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a reporter in front of a pile of rubble that had once been a building. He reached for the remote to turn the volume up. The reporter's voice was slightly garbled by static as she said, "People in the city of Los Angeles are currently digging through the rubble left behind after a series of massive earthquakes collapsed many of the buildings here in L.A. In the last 24 hours, there have been three earthquakes as well as a multitude of aftershocks. The devastation left behind leaves rescue workers little hope of finding many survivors. Scientists are desperately trying to identify the cause behind this unexpected development." As her segment continued on to extol the virtues of the scientific community, Dallas turned the volume back down. He consulted his dream journal. Having seen this series of earthquakes in his dreams, it was no surprise to him at all. He briefly wondered if anyone was believing the false shock expressed by the media. After all the devastation mankind had wreaked on the Earth, how could people possibly be surprised that the earth could no longer take it? How long did people believe mother nature would take their destruction without complaint?

Dallas moved to the large picture window in the living room. The solar eclipse was expected to occur momentarily. Dallas picked up his glasses from the coffee table and slipped them on. He had purchased these specially to watch the eclipse. It might be the last one he ever saw, and he wanted to enjoy it. Though he had not seen any evidence in his dreams, something was telling him that this eclipse would bring significant changes to his world. He saw the sun begin to darken at the edge as a shadow began to cross its surface. For the next little while, Dallas watched the sky fully expecting some drastic event to occur at the end of the eclipse. As the eclipse ended and nothing out of the ordinary appeared to occur, he felt a vague sense of disappointment. It wasn't as if he wanted a disaster to occur, it was more a fear of what else he might be wrong about. Could all of this, (the dreams, the volcano, the earthquakes) just be a big coincidence? Was it all in his head? Was he having some kind of nervous breakdown after losing his parents? With a heavy sigh, Dallas laid down facing the back of the couch. He had not slept much the previous night, worried about the events of the week. He decided to take a nap. Perhaps the world would make more sense when he woke up.

Dallas tossed and turned; his dreams filled with visions of natural disasters. The dreams took him from one country to the next, each filled with the screams and sobs of the latest victims. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami's, tornadoes, landslides, whirlpools opening in the oceans; virtually every natural disaster that could possibly occur had happened in his dreams. A sharp burning sensation on his chest jolted him awake. He raced to the mirror in the bathroom jerking his shirt off over his head as he went. In the mirror, he could clearly see a symbol had appeared on his chest as if by magic. Three connected circles now adorned his chest, each with a small symbol inside; a flame, a pyramid and an eye. Dallas wondered what this could mean. As he considered what these symbols could mean to him, Dallas began to connect the symbols to himself in his mind. The pyramid could be a reference to his background and degree in history. The eye could be a reference to his ability to see future events through his dreams. Dallas had no point of reference from which to connect the flame to himself. Perhaps, that would become clear at some point in the future.

Dallas went to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich then returned to the couch. He picked up his dream journal and pen from the coffee table, writing as he ate. It took him several hours to write down all the events from his dreams. He found, if he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could remember each dream in vivid detail to record the events. By the time he finished his journal entries, Dallas had a massive headache. He went to the kitchen and got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He returned to the bathroom and selected a bottle of pain reliever from the cabinet. After washing down the medication, Dallas decided to lay down on his bed for a short while.

He had barely entered the room when a sharp pain in his head drove him to his knees. Images danced across his field of vision. It was as though he was dreaming while awake. Dallas had watched enough television to know this is what people referred to as having "visions." The vision played like a movie through his mind, images of earthquakes here in his hometown and the destruction left behind. Dallas watched in horror as places he had known all his life crumbled around him, swallowed into the depths of the earth. The images continued playing through his mind until he began to fall over into the floor. His last thought, as black replaced the images from his vision, was how thankful he was that he was already on his knees. Dallas felt a sense of relief as he fainted into the peaceful darkness.

Dallas awoke on the floor of his bedroom. The room was darker. A quick glance at the clock told him that several hours had passed while he was unconscious; it was now dinnertime. Dallas slowly got to his feet and made his way to the bed. The emptiness in his stomach had him stumbling down the stairs to the kitchen. With shaking hands, he gathered a light snack of cheese, crackers, and deli meats. After years of dealing with the dreams, he had not been prepared for them to become a part of his daytime life. If day visions were going to come with this level of pain and passing out, they were going to be a bigger problem than the dreams had ever been.

Once again, Dallas turned the volume up on the television. Currently, there was a reporter broadcasting from Sweden. Many tourists had gotten caught up in several avalanches across the country. Agitated, Dallas changed the channel. This one had a news report of a giant whirlpool that had opened in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The whirlpool had already sucked down several ships and was quickly expanding. Shocked, Dallas quickly changed the channel again. This time he found a new report about a volcanic eruption in the Philippines. As he watched, Dallas recognized many of the images on the television screen came directly from his dreams. He raced to his dream journal. Scrambling through the pages, he found a matching entry for each of the news reports. His worries, that this was all in his head, were now a thing of the past. There was no doubt left in his mind. Everything he had seen in his dreams, and in those visions today, would surely come true.

With all of his worries and doubts settled in his heart, Dallas knew what his next move had to be. He opened his laptop, logged into his social media accounts, and began posting the video to every outlet he could. He was quite sure the governments across the world would make every effort to delete his video, as quickly as they could. Somehow, he had faith that there were enough Internet sleuths to keep his video going. Very soon, his video might be the only chance for survival many people had.

In a computer cafe in New York, sat a young man with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. He quietly concentrated on his work. Brooklyn had seen a video on the internet. It spoke to him as though the message had been meant for him personally. The video spoke of the end of the world, a government cover up, and a chance for survival. Nearly as soon as he got it downloaded, it disappeared from the internet. Feeling very strongly about the message, he reposted the video himself only for it to be taken down again. Brooklyn hated losing in general, especially losing any battle with the government. Using every ounce of his considerable technological savvy, he began an ongoing battle to keep the video live and viral on the internet. He contacted several of his online friends and asked them to do the same. Each of them agreed to help him keep it going. Brooklyn quietly thanked his server for the refill on his coffee as she topped off his cup. He was looking forward to winning this fight.

Back in Vermont, Dallas had barely finished closing the lid to his laptop when he felt pain begin behind his eyes. The images he saw were a bit different this time. Amidst the usual chaos of his visions, strange glowing circles of light began to appear. The circles swirled with a multitude of colors. Instinctually, he knew that these were portals to another world. Families were walking together into the circles of light. He knew that this was the work of the Jewel Empresses. These were the portals that would bond souls and take people to their new homes in another world. Many who entered the portal carried suitcases or boxes. As he watched, the suitcases and boxes were expelled from the portal gently landing in a neat pile nearby. He noticed that items on their bodies did not come back out. His vision took him to the football field at his local high school. In front of him stood a portal. This would be the portal that he would be using to evacuate.

His vision changed once again. For the first time since his dreams had begun years before, his vision was calm. He saw an unfamiliar landscape similar to what could be found in New Zealand. Overhead, two suns (one pink and one yellow) burned brightly in the sky, casting their light on the ground below. Rising high above the landscape stood a large stone castle. As he watched, two men appeared out of thin air. Dallas had never seen two more handsome men in his entire life. Both men were tall, muscled, and clad entirely in black leather. Who could ask for a sexier visage than tight, black leather? One man was slightly larger than the other with dark features and long ebony hair tied back with a leather strip. He carried a long sword at his hip. The other man had softer features with hair the color of beach sand secured atop his head in a man-bun.

Dallas followed the men as they entered the castle. Once inside, the men went to a room filled with equipment similar to a gym. The back wall of the room had two open doorways leading into further rooms. The men entered the rooms on the right. They carried on a conversation about wolves and traitors as they stored their weapons. Dallas did not understand the context of the conversation but decided it must not be important. Finished, they moved to the other room. This room was clearly a shower room. As the men began to remove their shirts, Dallas tried to turn away, feeling as if he were a perverted voyeur. Dallas found he was unable to turn his eyes away from these two gorgeous men. With their shirts completely removed, the men turned in Dallas' direction, allowing him a clear view of both of their chests. Both men bore a mark nearly identical to the one that had appeared on his own chest. The vision then faded to darkness.

Dallas awoke, several hours later, on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. His head was pounding worse than before. Dallas pulled himself up off the floor, made himself a sandwich, poured a glass of water, and downed two more pain relievers. He quickly grabbed his journal and recorded the events from his visions.

When the entries were complete, he read through the details of his last vision in his mind. He sat back on the couch and rethought the events of the last few days. So many questions swirled in his mind. Where was that place in his last vision? Is that what the new world looked like? Why did he see that castle? Would people live in castles like that one? Is that where he was supposed to go? Who were those amazingly beautiful men? Is that what gods looked like? He didn't doubt for a minute that those two specimens could be gods. Why did he have a symbol on his chest? What does it mean? Why did they bear the same symbol on their own chests? Would he ever get to meet those two men in real life? The questions fired off in his mind, one after another. Dallas had no answers and no place to get the answers either.

Frustrated, Dallas retired to his bed for the night. As his thoughts wandered back to the two hot men from his vision, Dallas found himself imagining what it would feel like to run his fingers through their hair. He imagined untying the ponytail of the ebony haired hunk and watching as his hair fell over his shoulders. In his mind's eye, he reached for the tie securing the sandy blonde hair from its perch atop the head of the softer man. He blushed as he realized he had begun to imagine himself with both men at the same time. He would never even think about doing something so shameless in real life, but here in his imagination it was safe. Here, he could imagine anything, and no one would ever know it. He continued thinking of the men, their skin, what they might smell like, his thoughts warming even as he drifted off to sleep.

Dallas found himself lying, naked, in a soft bed with black satin sheets. Strong arms lifted him from the bed into a sitting position as a warm body moved in behind him. Soft, wet lips kissed his neck gently. He turned his face to see the blonde man from his vision. His hands roved over Dallas' skin, from his shoulders to his hips and back. His breath tickled Dallas' neck as he continued to pepper it with tiny kisses. A second pair of hands gently touched his chest, thumbs rubbing across his nipples. Dallas turned to the front and saw the ebony haired man as he moved towards him. Their lips met in the softest of kisses. The ebony haired man was a masterful kisser. His lips gently coaxed Dallas, his tongue insistently running across the seam of Dallas' lips, silently begging permission to be let in. Dallas opened his lips, the kiss deepening as he felt the blonde move to the other side of his neck.

Ebony's hands slid slowly down Dallas' body. A gasp of surprise escaped from Dallas as he felt Ebony cup his dick with one hand, the other hand sliding down to gently caress his balls. No one had ever touched Dallas there before. A moment of panic set in as he realized what was about to happen. He felt the blonde guide his body down onto his side on the mattress with Ebony following him down, still cradling Dallas' member in his hand. Dallas felt wetness escape from his own backside. He had never felt that happen before and was momentarily confused by it. He felt a finger as it slipped into the wetness that was dribbling out of his hole, his panic forgotten in the sensations enveloping his body. Blonde whispered in his ear, "You're so wet for us, baby. I can't wait to feel my cock in this tight little pucker of yours." Blonde's voice was a sexy as his body was. Shivers traveled down Dallas' spine as his cock stiffened. The grip on his dick tightened slightly as the hand began to pump him up and down. Ebony spoke, "I want to take a little taste of you. I want to feel this cock in my mouth. Will you let me taste you, my sweet?"

On sensory overload, he nodded his head. Ebony's silky hair slid over his skin as he moved down Dallas' body. Ebony's tongue licked his balls and up to the tip of his dick. A wet heat, unlike anything he had ever felt, enveloped his prick. He heard a moan, surprised to realize it had come from his own lips. A second finger slid into the wetness leaking from his ass. The dual sensations of the fingers slowly sliding in and out of his ass and the wet heat on his cock was more than he could take. He felt his balls begin to tighten up. As the exquisite torture continued, as he felt a familiar tingle beginning in his sack and running up through his stiff rod. He arched his back as he exploded, his cum filling Ebony's mouth. A harsh cry tore from his throat at his release. Ebony looked him the eyes as he swallowed every last drop. Then he proceeded to lick his cock clean, running his tongue over every inch of skin and across his slit. Dallas felt his cock harden again. It was going to be a glorious night.

After a night filled with the hot dreams of the men from his vision, Dallas awoke feeling exhausted. Following a quick breakfast of toast and coffee, he opened his laptop and logged into his social media accounts. His video had gone viral! There were 30 million views and counting just on one site. He felt comforted to know he had done all he could to save as many lives as possible. He was nearly afraid to read the comments. He briefly ran through the comments. The general tone was mostly disbelief but there were some that seemed promising.

"With all of the crap going on this week, I can't think of a better explanation." "I would not put it past our world leaders to hide something like this." "If any magic portals open up, my ass is jumping in, for sure!" "If magic portals open up, we'll know this is legit. If not, he's just another crackpot."

Overall, it was the best Dallas could hope for, given the situation. He had not expected miracles or instant belief. He was simply happy that 30 million lives might be saved by his message. Maybe people will muster a little faith and try the portals when they opened. He could only deliver the message those women tried to get to the people and hope for the best.