Bridge Between Worlds

© 2000, 2023 J Rydher

The same question kept repeating in my head. What was happening to me?

I sat there in a daze trying to absorb what occurred in my most recent dream, while I also attempted to fight off the panic that began to seize hold of my brain and body. The phone ringing stirred me from the trance-like state I was in. I quickly snatched up the receiver, not caring who was on the other line. I needed to be snapped back to reality.

"Hello?"

"Joe?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"Joe, its Jeannette! It's 9:30, where are you? Are you all right?"

My senses came rushing back. "Jeanette, shit, I'll be there in 20 minutes. Stall him." I was supposed to meet with my boss at 8:30. I had overslept by 2 hours. I quickly cleaned myself up and was out of the door in 10 minutes. The look on my boss's face was the only thing on my mind right now. My dream could wait for the moment.

Bill Morse had been an editor for as long as it seemed there have been newspapers. He was tough, but fair. Still I didn't relish meeting with him today. When I entered his office he seemed surprisingly pleasant. For him, anyway.

"Nice of you to make it Joe. Did we disturb your beauty sleep?"

"Sorry Bill, I wasn't feeling well last night and overslept."

"You have been looking ragged lately. Everything all right? You getting laid enough?"

Mr. Subtle strikes again. "Yes and yes Bill, thank you."

"Good, than you'll be set to write this piece for next Sunday's paper." With that he dropped a manila folder on my lap. I opened it to find news clippings from our paper from 1908. They all dealt with the mysterious disappearance and murder of the 23-year-old heiress to the Barkley Diamond Company. She had wandered off from a party one night and never turned up. Several suspects were brought in by the police for questioning, but no one was ever charged with anything. The body was found not far from the house where the party was held. 1720 West Raymond Street. My eyes did a double take on the address. It was my address.

"The place where she disappeared from was my house?"

Bill started answering, but I heard nothing he said. My mind was back at my house. As if my dreams weren't enough to cause me despair, now I had this to deal with. I was beginning to wonder if for some reason God was testing my will. I'm not sure how much time had passed, but Bill's words began to fall back on my ears.

"Hence Joe you hold the winning folder in your hand. No one was ever arrested. Her relatives, friends, lovers, were all suspects, but nothing could ever be proven. The autopsy revealed nothing suspicious. There were no signs of a struggle, so they feel she may not have felt well, took a walk, and dropped dead."

I was still somewhat taken aback by the whole thing. "What do you want me to do, re-open a murder investigation?" I asked somewhat incredulously.

"I want you to bring this back to the forefront. The Barkley Diamond Company was just sold for more than 400 million dollars by Robert Kent. Heard the name before?"

He already knew the answer. Kent was one of the wealthiest men in America. Not just America, but the world for that matter. It seemed he was getting a lot wealthier. "Of course. Why the dramatic buildup?"

Bill smiled from ear to ear. "Robert Kent is the grandson of Jacob Kent, and Jacob Kent was Marilyn Barkley's fiancé."

"So you're suggesting there is a connection between the sale and a murder that took place over 90 years ago?"

"Exactly! The company had been in the Barkley family since the early 1800s. One year after Marilyn Barkley's death, Theodore Barkley sold the company to Jacob Kent for a third of its value. Barkley said he was too distraught over his daughter's death and wanted no part of the business any more. At the time, people just figured he was crazy. Today, I'm thinking..."

I finished Bill's sentence. "...he was blackmailed."

"Exactly again, Joe. Now Kent has turned an unimaginable profit by selling it off. I want you to dig deep and find out exactly what happened 92 years ago. So get up off your ass, wake up and get moving." Bill always loved to knock the aristocracy down a few pegs and this was a perfect opportunity.

Shortly thereafter, I left Bill's office and headed to the town library for more information. I didn't know where this story would go, but it definitely intrigued me. At least it would keep me from thinking about my dream. That was until I started digging deeper into the library's archives. I had wondered why there was no picture of the victim in the paper. When I open a social register from the time, I wished it had remained that way.

Marilyn Barkley was staring me in the face. The woman in my dreams was staring me in the face. For a moment I couldn't breathe and felt a full-fledged anxiety attack coming on. I got up from the table I was seated at and ran outside. I took in slow, deep breaths of fresh air. What was this all about? I quickly tried to downplay it by thinking I must have seen her picture recently because of the sale of the company. Yes, that had to be it. Moments later I realized I knew nothing about the sale until Bill just told me about it. I went back inside the library, tossed the social register inside my briefcase and scurried out before someone noticed. I quickly headed home with some reading and sleeping to do.

I grabbed a beer and a bag of pretzels from the kitchen for dinner and sat at my desk to begin reading the social register. There were several pictures of Marilyn Barkley and as I scoured over each one, I knew more and more that this was the person that was invading my dreams. I read more of the newspaper clippings until at some point I nodded off.

My image now had a name. I said "Hi Marilyn", and she smiled even wider than usual as if to acknowledge that I knew who she was. She carried a single red rose in her left hand as she approached me.

She leaned in to me and gently kissed me on the lips. She wasted no time, kissing my neck and chest and then worked her way down my body. She began to lap at the head of my hard cock with her soft tongue. The sensation it caused was that of immense pleasure. She continued working her tongue around the ridge and up and down the elongated shaft. I arched my back from the amazing feelings penetrating my mind. I wanted to ask her why she was in my dreams and what had happened to her. Her gentle touch and the heavenly aroma that surrounded her prevented me from doing so.

As the pattern continued, I couldn't take any more and began firing hot liquid into her open mouth. Marilyn stared directly into my eyes as my body convulsed again and again. For what seemed like several minutes, cum continued to flow from my cock and found its way down my dream lover's throat.

I began to lie on my back in attempt to catch my breath when I felt in an intense heat on my cock. I looked up and saw that Marilyn had my cock between the palms of her hand. As I watched with eyes wide open, my cock became fully hard again with seconds. With my mouth agape, I gave Marilyn an astonished look. She smiled in turn.

She sat down and gently pulled me towards her, my face heading towards the inside of her thighs. I parted her lips and started running my tongue alongside her outer lips. They were smooth and silky. My tongue penetrated her and the taste of sweet berries hit my tongue. Marilyn moaned quietly as I continued to sample her ambrosia. When she came, it was if the purest tropical fruit was hitting my tongue.

Marilyn returned me to my back and turned her graceful back to me and kneeled down, grasping my cock in her left hand in the process. She pointed my cock skyward and slid it slowly inside of her pussy. It was so wet, so wanton. She began to bounce repeatedly on my cock, her body moving gracefully up and down. It was the first time I heard a sound from her. She began to moan. Quietly at first, than louder and louder until she arched her back so that she was looking backwards at me. She let out one final scream and her body convulsed again and again, her juices flowing on to my cock like a wild river. The excitement of watching her orgasms overwhelmed me. I thrusted upward, unloading streams of cum deep inside her soaked pussy. She reached back kissed me gently on the lips and said, "I must go."

My eyes opened and I realized had fallen asleep with my head on my desk. As I saw the wall clock read 4 AM, it registered to me that I was nude again. As I got up from my chair, I felt a surge of soreness from my cock and I was covered with liquid. The smell of a sweet perfume filled my nostrils. My taste buds were inundated with a sweet, satisfying flavor. I was surrounded by remnants of Marilyn.

I got up from my chair to head to the bathroom when something caught my eye. I turned my head and saw the social register open to where I had left it. A perfect red rose lay between its pages. Unlike the other nights I had dreamt of Marilyn, what had taken place during this particular night didn't bother me. I felt oddly at peace. Somewhat like I had when I first starting having the dreams. Now I felt some strange sort of purpose as well.

I decided to call Teri to cancel my afternoon appointment. Instead I needed to do some more research and then talk to Lacey about all this. Though I had told Lacey some things about my dreams, I had purposely left much of the detail out. I didn't want her thinking I was one banana short of a bunch.

Jeanette Lacey and I had first met when we working as interns during college. I was working for a local magazine, while she began taking inroads into The Chronicle. She helped get me my job there and we have been best friends ever since. Lacey, as I liked to call her, was and is an extremely attractive woman and we did sleep together when we first met. But, it didn't take long to realize we were better off as friends and today neither of us would risk that friendship to move to the next plateau.

After spending several hours poring over research materials, I met Lacey at the O'Reilly's Tavern. It had become one of our regular watering holes. The place was a throwback to old time bars. The minute you stepped into the place, it felt like you had gone back in time 40 years. Pictures of actors, actresses, ballplayers, politicians, littered the walls. The walls and floor were oak, giving it a unique look and smell. It was definitely not the cookie cutter hangout that today's twenty-somethings like to hang out in. There were no Britney Spears fans to be found in O'Reilly's.

"Hi Max," I said to the owner as I walked to the bar.

"Hey there Joe my boy, how's it hanging?"

"It's hanging Max."

"Speaking of which, that fine lady friend of yours is at a table in the back and she looks hot!"

I smirked, shook my head, and said thanks to Max as I headed to the back of the tavern. Max wasn't kidding. Lacey did look incredible.

"Joe Joe" she shouted as she head towards the table, her smile gleaming with sparkling white teeth. If Lacey ever decided to give up journalism, she could do toothpaste ads.

"Hey Lace", I said as I leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. I waited for Max to leave us our beers before I began telling Lacey what had been going on in my life. This time I told her in-depth.

Lacey's eyes were wide open most of the time I was talking. Her mouth occasionally caught flies as well. When I finished, I asked her what she thought. After initially being tongue-tied, she gained her composure, her reporter instincts kicked in. She began grilling me with questions as to what I discovered in my research. She tried to sidestep the details of my dream, but it was virtually impossible. Who wouldn't want to know or find a reason for why this was all happening?

"Joe Joe, you're talking real, hardcore orgasms here, not just nocturnal emissions? I nodded my head in agreement.

"Damn, I need a toy at the very least." We both burst out laughing, immediately relaxing both of us.

"Lace, it's not just the sex itself. The sensation feels like we're making love, not just engaged in a sexual act."

Looking somewhat uneasy, Lacey said "I don't know what to tell you on that one Joe. Making love huh?"

I was as befuddled as Lacey was. "I don't know what to tell myself either Lace."

After dinner, we went back to my condo and reviewed my research materials. After a few more drinks, we nodded off on the couch, Lacey's head lying on my lap. Marilyn Barkley made her expected appearance as I began to dream.

The nightly ritual began as it always had of late, with a soft kiss on the lips and a smile. She then turned her head to the left and continued smiling. Seated next to me was Lacey, nude, her body tanned and toned. Marilyn stepped over and kissed Lacey softly on the lips and smiled. She began kissing her way down Lacey's neck, at times letting her tongue slip between her lips. Lacey softly moaned as Marilyn approached the area between her breasts.

One at a time, Marilyn took Lacey's breasts in her hands and licked circles around her nipples. Then sucked on them. Lacey was getting more and more aroused and began running her hands over her breasts as Marilyn tongued her way down Lacey's stomach and over her navel. She spread Lacey's legs apart and began rubbing her clit while her tongue moistened her outer lips. Lacey's legs spread even wider apart, almost performing a split in the process. Marilyn's fingers entered Lacey's steaming pussy and began probing and thrusting causing Lacey to moan even louder. Marilyn's mouth closed over Lacey's clit as her fingers continued to thrust faster and faster. Every touch, every move that Marilyn made was with loving, tender care. Why would someone want to hurt this creature?

Lacey began to thrash around as one orgasm after another hit her. With each came a loud, stretched out "oh". Lacey came several times before Marilyn removed her fingers and slid them inside her mouth, tasting Lacey's wet, sticky juices.

Marilyn then grasped Lacey's right hand and placed it on my hard cock. I moaned in anticipation. Marilyn squeezed her hand around Lacey's and the two simultaneously began to jack me off. This was no slow and sensual handjob. This was an aggressive attempt to get me to cum. As I neared my climax, Marilyn guided Lacey's body towards my cock. A moment later my adrenaline spiked and I ejaculated several streams of semen on Lacey's breasts and stomach.

Marilyn quickly went to work licking all of my output off Lacey's body. When she was done, she turned to me and smiled. She reached out and handed me a wooden frame with a man's photograph in it. As I began to look at it, I was woken up by Lacey leaping up off the couch.

"Oh my God, Oh my God," she kept repeating.

"Lace, what, what is it?"

"Her, she...," Lacey said, pointing at the photo of Marilyn.

I got up to go over and comfort her, but stopped when I felt something fall from my lap. It was accompanied a moment later by the sound of breaking glass.

I looked down at the floor and saw a picture frame, the same frame Marilyn had handed me in the dream. The glass covering it was scattered in pieces on the floor and on my shoes. It was then I realized that, for the first time, I was still fully clothed after a "Marilyn" dream. Lacey was still dressed as well.

I picked the frame out from among the debris and looked at the photograph of thirtyish year old man. It was James Barkley, Marilyn Barkley's only sibling.

After cleaning up the glass and giving Lacey a glass of Brandy to help settle her nerves, the two of us sat down and tried to make sense of all this.

"I think it's pretty obvious Lacey that somehow you entered my dream." Lacey could barely hold back her tears. This was a side of her that she rarely showed. Her ability to close off her emotions was one of the things that had kept us from becoming a couple after that one lustful night years earlier.

"Joe, my panties are soaking wet. I know those orgasms were real. I haven't felt that way since...in a long time. She made me feel things that I...I can't even come up with the words. I've never been with a woman before Joe. Not that I am sure I was really with one now. And, you...I know that was really you I was..." Lacey then made a jerking motion with her hand to illustrate. "Joe, what do think we should do now?"

It was a very good question and the answer was not readily available. One thing was for sure, neither of us wanted to go back to sleep.

to be continued...