This is the last story in the Dreamer Awakens series. Apologies that it took so long to come out, it has undergone a lot of changes. You don't really need to read my other stories unless you want the full background, but to understand the context of this one, you might want to read the first two parts.
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The little black card reader by the double doors emitted a beep as Jack scanned his security pass.
Mid-afternoon sunlight flooded the open plan office as he strolled in, past a notice board that bore the photographs of Will and Norman, printed off from their social media. Besides the photo printouts were notices giving the dates and locations of their respective funerals, neither of which Jack bothered to read.
Jack sat at his desk in his corner of the office, now much quieter and emptier. No one there to block his view of the sunlight, the trees and industrial buildings outside. He realized how he felt significantly less shit about coming to work now.
For a second, Jack wondered if he had become a sociopath. He didn't ask Bronefar, his friendly local river spirit, to murder his coworkers. At least not specifically. But now that she did, he was actually okay with it.
Perhaps his unique personality was a side-effect of having magical abilities. If that was the case, then perhaps this was a survival mechanism. His newfound powers seemed to have drawn to him a small crowd of strange, power-hungry individuals who would think nothing of using him for their own gain.
He thought specifically of Gabriella.
The previous night, Jack found himself at a party in the Treasury again. It was one of Celia's monthly gatherings that involved members of her clandestine network and the theatre community that Gabriella ran.
This time, all eyes were on him and Olivia, as they got out of a taxi together and walked across the car park, into the bar.
At first Jack thought it was Olivia getting all the attention in her green dress, her fantastic cleavage nearly bursting out of it. He had trouble keeping his eyes off her himself.
Inside the bar, he noticed that some people were definitely looking at him. He assumed they were wondering who that guy was with the hot Eastern European blonde on his arm. Or perhaps they were thinking: who is this guy who survived being kidnapped by a cult of spirit-possessed prostitutes and had emerged with supernatural powers?
On entering, Gabriella excused herself from a small gathering at the bar and approached them.
'Jack! Olivia! Glad you could make it!'
She wore black dress and her hair was tied up. Jack rarely saw her out of business attire. They exchanged the usual air kisses, before she led them to the bar.
'Listen, Gabriella,' asked Jack. 'I've got a few questions that I really need ask.'
'Oh?'
'You never told me what exactly happened when I was kidnapped.'
Gabriella batted her eyelashes at him.
'What more do you need to know?'
'Who was behind all this? I seriously doubt those women in there were the masterminds of that operation. So whose bright idea was it to lure me into a glorified brothel, and wank me into an altered state of consciousness?'
Gabriella looked around, nervously. Jack realized he had spoken a little too loud.
'Alright, come with me.'
She led the two of them into an empty booth in corner, distant from the rest of crowd. Sitting across from them, she looked serious.
'Okay. It was one of Celia's competitors.'
'Does this competitor have a name?'
'I can't tell you. But what I can tell you is that he had taken the place over somehow. How all those women ended up in that place, we don't know. But what we do know is that he had a pact with something down there. That...Dark Goddess...as they keep referring to it, down there in the woods.'
'And how do you know this?' Olivia interjected.
'After we got Jack out of there, we inspected the place. That manor house had been abandoned for well over a hundred years. It seemed as though Celia's competitor was doing work on the place. But we discovered something else down there too.'
Jack's eyes narrowed. Vague memories rushed into his mind.
'A temple,' said Jack. 'Or what used to be one.'
Gabrielle stared at him.
'You know?'
'Not quite. There was something happening underground, wasn't there? There were men digging something up beneath the chapel.'
'And did you see what was down there?'
Gabriella was almost leaning over the table.
'No. Did you go in?'
'Yes. Our competitor had found the remains of something. Something far older than the manor house. Besides the usual archeological detritus -- pottery, bones, all that crap -- there was a crude altar. Just a stone slab. And above it, what resembled an effigy.'
'An effigy?'
'Yes. Something vaguely female, like the Venus of Willendorf, but with a face.'
Jack frowned.
'So they built this manor house on top of an ancient temple?' Olivia asked. 'Was that intentional?'
'I doubt it,' said Gabriella. 'It could have been entirely unconscious. Or purely coincidence.'
'I don't think it was coincidence,' said Jack. 'Whoever built that house must have been drawn there by something. To build a chapel on top of an ancient temple like that, something was going on.'
Gabriella looked at him with narrowed eyes.
'And that's why we need you, Jack. Someone with your talents could uncover whatever power is behind that place. You could tap into it, and channel that power, for the good of the City.'
For the good of her network, Jack thought. And at his expense.
Jack saw something in Gabriella's eyes. She was convincing, sincere while playing to his ego. But behind her eyes, he saw that part of her that saw him as a pawn. An interesting pawn, but a pawn nonetheless. Disposable. In service to a cause he would likely never fully understand.
'The good of the City?' he enquired. 'How?'
'How long have you lived here, Jack?'
'Too long.'
'Then you must know by now that this City has it's problems. The poverty, the social decay, the underfunded local council...'
'And the mismanagement of local resources by said local council.'
'You might have a point, but this City has always been a slum. It was like this before the Germans bombed this place into a crater during the War. The reconstruction made no difference. It has always been one of the poorest places in Britain.'
'Not exactly selling this place are you?' said Jack.
'You think this place is a shithole?' said Olivia. 'You should see my home town. We had nothing. Just grey, empty buildings as far as the eye can see.'
'Maybe you're right Olivia,' said Gabriella. 'I don't know where you come from, but you can't deny that this City has some real problems. And I think those problems stem from an ancient source. A root cause that has never been recognized, let alone addressed. Would you agree, Jack?'
Jack paused. He remembered his time in the Manor. As little as he trusted in Gabriella, he knew in his bones that there was truth to this.
He nodded.
'You're right. I know there's something down there. And that temple could be the source of it.'
Olivia's eyes darted between the two of them. They were being oddly serious.
'Will you go down there, Jack? See what you can find?'
'Haven't you checked the place out yourself?'
'We have, but we don't have your talents.'
Appealing to his ego again. Jack knew he was the canary being sent into the coalmine.
'We can send some people down there with you, if you like?' Gabriella continued.
