I moved to the edge and looked down. Even though I’d never really experienced a fear of heights, standing more than fifty floors above the earth made my knees weak. Nervously, I inched away from the edge and turned toward the stairway door. I waited.
Thankfully, my wait was brief as Penny blasted through the door right on time. She wasted no time and marched directly toward me and the edge of the roof. I’d hoped that she might take her time, convincing herself that this was her only way out as opposed to taking the bull by the horns and advancing toward her death so quickly.
“Penny, wait,” I said. “You don’t want to do this.”
Penny continued her march, walking past me and right up to the edge. She paused and looked down just as I had done moments before.
Nervously, I moved to her side. “Penny, why do you want to kill yourself? I’m here to tell you that whatever the reason is, it’s no good reason at all. Trust me when I tell you this. I’m speaking from personal experience.”
Penny raised her head up and looked toward the sky. She took in several deep breaths before hanging her head low once again. As she stood there, silently, her toes inching forward and over the edge of the roof, she swayed back and forth, tempting gravity to take over.
“I don’t understand, Penny. Why are you ignoring me?” I said, hoping to distract her for even just a moment.
Penny continued her silence as she inched even closer toward her death. Finally, when I felt she had reached the point of no return, I reached out to pull her back from the edge.
“You can’t keep ignoring me,” I yelled, just as my fingers touched her warm skin. Or so I thought. I had expected my hand to wrap around her arm, but my hand passed right through her body. What the hell?
Just then, I heard a loud voice across the vast rooftop.
“What the hell are you doing? Do not interfere! Haven’t you meddled in the lives of other people enough?”
A man in a blue suit with a matching bowler hat was running at full sprint in our direction. It was Enoch Gant.
“Penny! Quick, get away from the edge,” I pleaded.
Penny continued to ignore me, but she turned to the sound of Enoch’s voice.
As he neared our position, his speed increased exponentially. He was going to plow into the both of us, carrying us all over the edge.
“Stop, you lunatic! What the hell are you doing?” I demanded.
He was getting closer by the second, his face intense and manic. If I hadn’t known any better, I would certainly classify it as suicidal. He was going to kill himself, along with Penny and me.
I tried once more to grab Penny, but again my hand passed through her as if I didn’t exist. It became obvious to me that she could not see or hear me.
Suddenly, Enoch was upon us. He spread his arms wide and wrapped them around Penny and me as he launched over the edge of the building. Strangely, I was not transparent to him but only to Penny, as the sharp pain in my ribs forced me to gasp out loud. Enoch drove us over and toward our death.
“Why are you doing this, you son of a bitch?” I screamed as I sat up.
“Easy there, partner. I’m only here to help you. You know that, right?” Hauser said, sitting next to me on my couch.
I opened my eyes and rubbed the sleep away. As my surroundings became clear, I realized that it was all a dream. “Jesus, Hauser. How long was I out?” I asked.
“Not sure, champ. I’ve only just arrived a few moments ago,” Hauser said, lifting himself up from the lumpy couch. “I see that you’ve taken the warnings to not sleep to heart.” He winked.
“It’s not like that. I had a plan.”
“I’m sure you did, but you know what the Sentinel said.”
“I do, but I figured that if I could dream about saving Penny, that would help our efforts in luring Enoch out.”
“And? Did it work?”
“Well, sort of. He was in the dream, and I was trying to save Penny, but he ended up killing all three of us by pushing us over the edge.”
Hauser looked at me thoughtfully. “Hmm. I suppose that makes sense. So you actually died in your dream?”
“Well, no. Not exactly. Enoch did push us all over the edge, but I woke up, here, before we reached the ground.”
“Well that’s a relief. You know what they say, if you die in your dream you die in real life.”
“I’ve never heard that before. Yanking my chain?” I asked.
“I don’t know, sport. It must be something that I read on the Internet somewhere.”
“Wait, what? The Internet wasn’t even around when you became a soul collector.”
Hauser winked. “Let’s get back on topic shall we?”
I nodded. “All right. What did you find out?”
“I spent the greater part of the last day with Penny at her apartment. She is pretty messed up. She is as alone as she said, and I’m not sure if she can actually be saved, Jack.”
“Shit. So I did mess up, didn’t I?”
“Well, not so fast. Yes, you spooked the crap out of her at the community center, but at the same time she has been continuing to think about what you said to her.”
“Really?” I said eagerly.
“Besides the fact that she still thinks that you’re an old pervert, she’s been contemplating the value of life. I think that might be your saving grace.”
Relief spread through my veins. I suddenly felt euphoric, like a load had been lifted from my shoulders. “That’s fantastic, Hauser.”
“Not so fast, champ. You still have a lot of work ahead of you,” Hauser said as he reached out and twisted my arm so he could read my watch. “And there’s not a moment to waste. You need to be at the bookstore in thirty minutes.”
“What happens in thirty minutes?” I asked.
“Penny will be there, and it will be an excellent opportunity for you to make amends.”
“What exactly do I have to do? You used the rosary, obviously.”
“What I saw is not important, Jack. What is important is you arriving at the bookstore early, and then you need to knock your coffee over.”
“That’s it? That’s your big plan to make everything right?”
Hauser shook his head. “Just trust me, won’t you?”
I sensed something more, something he was withholding. “What aren’t you telling me, Hauser?”
He sighed. “There is… an incident. And if you just follow along with my instruction, we can minimize the ramifications. I don’t have time to go into it further, you just have to trust me. Can you do that?”
“So I just have to spill my coffee? Will I know when and where to pull off such an ingenious plan?”
“Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll be there with you and will walk you through everything step by step.”
“All right, let’s get a move on, then. Where is this bookstore that you speak of?”
“Great! It’s just a few blocks from Penny’s apartment. I think you’ll like it. You collect books, right?”
Chapter 10.5
When I walked into the Dreamcatcher Book Emporium, I was momentarily breathless. In all my years of living in the city, I found it odd that I’d never been to this particular bookstore. I thought I’d known where every one was throughout the city.
The store occupied the first two floors of an old brick warehouse. The interior walls were exposed brick, giving it a loft-style environment. The bookshelves stood away from the walls, creating a sort of racetrack feel all around the store. At the second level, open rails overlooked the central coffee bar.