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On the way back from the restaurant the four of them walked in silence, no one feeling like they had anything to say that could make this situation seem better than it was. This had been their best hope, and they had struck out. As they walked into the bar, how they felt must have been written quite clearly on their faces, for the smile on AJīs face as he saw them come in faded right away. They had barely made it to the back room (ll the tables were taken) before Howie, AJ, Nick and Justin were right there with them, Kevin and JC the only ones missing.

“So, I take it it didnīt go very well,” Nick stated, and Joeyīs snort seemed to answer that well enough. “Someone fucking proposed earlier today!” Brianīs voice was loud enough to make Nick flinch a little, and as he flung out his hands in irritation he hit Howie hard enough to make the man take a few steps back. “Sorry,” he mumbled, but Howie was quick to make a dismissive hand gesture, letting him know he was fine.

Taking a few deep breaths he continued. “Proposals are a wonderful thing and all that, but they seriously fuck everything up. The entire room was vibrating with happy emotions, and since they had been sitting at the same damn table, whatever might have been left from last night was completely eviscerated.” He let himself fall down on the couch, burying his face in his hands, ready to all it quits, too tired to give a damn.

Nick sat down next to him, put a hand around his shoulder and pulled him into a hug. “Donīt give up yet,” he said, kissing Brianīs shoulder lightly. “JC got a plan!” Brian raised his head and turned to look at him. “Really?” he asked, hope seeping back into his voice. “Yup” AJ replied, squatting down in front of him. “Weīre gonna take that logo of yours and show it around. Howieīs got cousins everywhere apparently, and Kevinīs gonna take time out of his busy schedule to have his law buddies have a look.”

Brian looked from Nick to AJ, his face beaming. “And the rest of us are gonna hit the net. Google the hell out of it until we find something!” Nick grinned, kissing his shoulder again before getting up, dragging Brian with him.

“See, a plan,” Justin smiled, and the others nodded as well. “So now you can get some rest,” Chris said, taking Brianīs arm, leading him towards the door. “Youīre starting to look like someone whoīs about a week past their due date, if you know what I mean,” he joked, and he continued to lead Brian towards the exit. Brian had to laugh a little, knowing full well he probably looked about as tired as he felt. “OK, but Iīm taking tomorrow off so I can help you guys with the googling,” he said, turning to the others. “Fine!” AJ answered. “Weīll be here around ten,” Nick said, and from behind him Justin mouthed īnoonī, holding up ten and then two fingers.

**********

Itīs dark all around him, and as he tries to take a few steps he stumbles over something lying on the ground. He looks down, but itīs too dark to see what it was. He tries to take another step forward. Nothing o the ground now. Ahead of his he was see lights, and he slowly works his way over, looking down but still unable to make out the ground beneath his feet.

One second the lights are still far away, then suddenly they are right there in front of him. They are coming from an open door leading out to where he is standing. He takes a step forward, but once again almost stumble over something. He looks down again, a reflex, but is surprised when he can see the ground this time, and the trash spread out around him.

He looks around again, and he is no longer surrounded by complete darkness, but by the outer walls of several buildings. He recognizes the place. Heīs back in the alley, and this time he is alone.

He turned slowly, trying to see if he sees anything that is familiar, anything that can give him a hint of where this alley is. It looks like every other dark and somewhat abandoned alley, the kind you donīt walk down unless you absolutely have to. On the wall opposite him he can see the upper half of a broken sign, a single red rose the only thing that is left on it. Beside the sign on the wall someone has tagged a name, Gothsa-something. The paint on the walls used to be red once, but now they are so dirty it doesnīt look like anyone has bothered with them in years.

He turns back to the source of the light. Itīs coming through the door some somewhere else, but when he tries to take a step towards it, it moves away at the same time. This is as close as he is going to get.

The door opens again, and he can hear music coming from inside. It closes, yet the light remains, even though there are no streetlights anywhere. It opens again, and this time he can see the wall on the other side. Neon green and silver. It closes again. The alley turns, and there she is. Standing there, looking around. Nervous. He tries to move closer, to get a good look of her face, but itīs still just a blur. Behind him the sound of music rises for a second as the door opens again. He half turns, looks at it. Turing back she is gone. The light is gone. The music is gone. Everything is gone. Everything but the gun. BANG!

Brian hit the floor, his body covered in sweat, sheet tangled at the bottom of the bed. Running a hand over his face he tried to calm his breathing. īShitī he thinks, getting up from the floor and lying back down on the bed. “Shit!”

**********

Nick and AJ are sitting by the bar when Brian walks into the BoneDry around eleven the next day. As he walks over to join then Chris appears from the kitchen, only to turn and head back in again right away. From their table in the corner JC looks up from the laptop sitting in front of him. He nudges Justin, sitting net to him with another laptop, and they both head over.

Sitting down he rests his head in in arms, and closes hie eyes for a second. “I had a dream,” he says after a little while. He doesnīt need to explain what kind of dream he is talking about. Though he doesnīt have premonition dreams often, they do occur every now and then, and they are usually never about anything good.

“What did you see?” AJ asks, his hand running small circles on Brianīs lower back, soothing him. “The alley,” he starts. “I got more details, walls mostly, but there was this club. It had a back door or something leading into the alley. It opened a few times.” He took a deep breath, and turned to JC. “You think we can do that drawing thing of yours again?” JC smiles at him, and goes to get his drawing materials before heading into the back room.

“You sure you are up to this?” Nick asks him, a worried look on his face. “I gotta be,” he replies, and smiles what heīs hoping looks like a reassuring smile. As he gets up Chris emerges from the kitchen, carrying a plate with a piece of what looks like chocolate cake. Handing it to him he smiles and shrugs. “Chocolate cake always helps me when Iīm not feeling too hot. And also, I couldnīt sleep last night, so, you know, I made cake.”

“Thank you,” Brian says, taking the plate and heading into the back room. He puts the plate on the table in the corner, and lies down on the couch, not wanting a reprise or what happened last time. JC already has his sketchpad and pencils out, sitting on the floor with his back against the couch. “Just tell me what you saw.”

Brian closes his eyes, steadies his breathing, and try to picture the alley in his mind. At first everything is dark, like it had been in his dream. But after a little while the light comes back, and he is staring at the red wall. He quickly tries to describe the graffiti on the wall, but he still canīt see it clearly, so he moves on, turns around in his head, towards the music.

He can see the closed door to the club, a concrete stair with three steps leading up to it, the area around littered with trash bags and someone didnīt bother to move the twenty feet to the container standing by the wall. There is no sign on the outside, nothing that indicates what kinds of club this is.

He concentrates, and opens the door in his mind. In the background he can still hear the music, like a dull ace almost, itīs there, but he is not able to make out what song is playing or even what kind of music it is. Inside the door he can see a wall. Itīs mostly black, but there is also green and silver. He tries to focus, to see the colors more clearly. They seem to make a swirling pattern, but he canīt tell for sure. He looks for a logo, but there is none. Just the wall and the colors.

He opens his eyes, finding himself still lying on the couch. Turning his head he finds JC looking at him, a couple of rough sketches in his hands. “You get anything?” he asks. “Not much from the alley itself, but I got a decent one from the open door to the club,” he answers as he gets up from the floor. Sitting up from the couch Brian is thankful when JC hands him the plate with chocolate cake. Even though it seemed like their little session only took a few minutes, his stomach tells him differently. As he eats the cake, JC goes over the the door and motions for the others to join them.

They enter the room just as Brian finishes the cake, Nick hanging back at the door, keeping one eye on the bar and the other completely focused on him. JC lays his sketches out on the table, and explains what they are showing and how Brian had described it to him. As he comes yo the one showing the inside of the bar, Brian notices how JCīs rendering of the swirling pattern is very close to the one he saw in his dream. He couldnīt remember describing it that well.

“Iīve seen that before!” Chris says, picking up the sketch. “You remember where?” AJ asks, looking at the sketch over Chrisī shoulder. “No..” Chris shakes his head. “Just… I know Iīve seen it before.” JC takes the sketch and looks at it again. “OK, I guess weīre going bar hopping tonight then,” he says, and folds the sketch to put on his bag. “You wanna hit every bar in the city?” Chris asks, looking at him with raised eyebrows. “Iīm sure you can narrow it down to a general area Chris. You just need to sit down and concentrate, do some breathing exercises or something.” He narrowly escapes Chrisī hand hitting his head by ducking, and backs away to stay out of reach as he grins.

“Iīm pretty sure I remember what part of the city itīs in,” Chris says, not moving to follow JC, content to give him a look that clearly states he will get him back sooner or later. “Well then, itīs a date,” Nick says from the doorway. “You and Justin hit the clubs, and the rest of us will continue to search the internet for that logo thing.” “And youīre gonna stay here and eat the sandwich Chris is about to make for you, and then you are going to lay back down and sleep,” AJ says, leaning down to kiss the top of Brianīs head before he herds the others back to the bar, closing the door behind them.

**********

Itīs dark all around him, and not a sound can be heard. He doesnīt move, doesnīt need to. He knows where he is. He is waiting for the music to start, like it did the last time. Waiting for the light to appear, like last time. But nothing happens. There is no music, no light, nothing. Just darkness.

Suddenly there is someone behind him. He turns to find the woman standing when her back to him. She turns, slowly, looking around. Her face is still a blur, yet he still knows what sheīs feeling, he still knows she is looking nervously around, like she is looking for someone.

She takes a few steps, looking around again, like she is being followed. He tried to follow, but she doesnīt appear to be moving away from him, no matter how many steps he can see her take.

She stops, staring straight ahead. Then sheīs gone, and all that is left is the gun. He canīsee whoīs holing it, isnīt even sure someone actually is holding it. Itīs just there. He looks at it for the longest time, but nothing happens. He looks around, trying to find the woman again, but sheīs not there anymore. Itīs just him, and the gun. BANG!

He sits up, reaching out, grabbing hold of the back of the couch. Heīs covered with sweat again, and starts to shiver. Heīs still in the back room, his sandwich sitting half-eaten on his plate. He rubs his eyes and checks his watch. Eleven thirty p.m. Heīs been sleeping for almost twelve hours.

He gets up and walks back into the bar. The others are all there, except for Chris and JC, who must not be back yet. Most of them are sitting at their table, Nick and AJ helping Dean at the counter. As they seem him, Nick yells something into the kitchen, and two seconds later Sam emerges. They must have called him in to work an extra shift, because he wasnīt supposed to work tonight. They say something to Sam and Dean, and then walk over to join them at the table.

He sits down and looks around the table, meeting everyones eyes before he talks. “I had another dream. Weīre running out of time!”

**********

Brian goes through what happened in the dream quickly, itīs not like he learned anything new about where it would happen. All that he saw was things he had already seen in another vision or dream. Itīs the feeling the dream left him with that he lingers with. The reason for his visions, her death, is coming closer. They are running out of time, and he is starting to worry they will be too late.

“Weīll find her,” AJ says, reassuring him. He is about to protest, to tell AJ that he canīt know that for sure, Justin and Chris comes bursting through the door, almost knocking over two tables and one slightly unstable and probably heavily intoxicated middle-aged man before literally sliding to a halt in front of the table. “We found it!” they yell in unison, the both of the grinning like madmen.

“You did?” Brian asks, looking from one to the other. “The Eclipse,” Chris says with a grin. “I knew Iīd been there before. You donīt find many places with neon green and silver decorations you know.” “Only took us about a dozen tries too,” Justin says, “clearly he was not entirely sober the last time he was there, because while he remembered the inside of the club perfectly, he somehow managed to forget that it was located near not one but three sex shops! You know he had to be trashed to forget something like that!” Chris makes a move to punch Justinīs shoulder, but he manages to dodge it, almost falling over Kevinīs lap as he does so.

“Brian had another dream while you were gone,” Howie tells them once Justin is back on his own two feet. They both sober up immediately and look at him with concerned looks. “You all right?” Chris asks. “Iīm fine!” Brian replies, but he has a feeling they donīt quite believe him. “Nothing new, just. It was a warning you know. A timer going off in my head telling me we are running out of time.”

“Any indication on how much time we have left?” JC asks him. “Not much. But Iīm pretty sure…” he is interrupted by Howieīs cell phone. Checking the caller id Howie gets up from the table and makes a īI gotta take thisī signal as he hurries to the back to talk a little more privately. Watching him go, curious as to who was calling, Brian continues. “Eh, yeah. Iīm pretty sure itīll happen after her promotion. Like, not the same day, but within a few days.”

“So, now we just need to know when she got promoted. Which means we also need to know who she is, and where she works,” Kevin says, his voice sounding less than enthusiastic. “Or we can just stake out the alley,” Justin suggests. “Thatīs a good backup plan Justin, but…” JC looks from Justin and then across the table at Brian. “I donīt think we should give up on the logo just yet. I mean, knowing which day itīll happen would give us an advantage, you know. Besides, ten people hanging out in an alley night after night might raise suspicion, you know. And the last thing we need is for whoever this killer is to change the plan at the last minute”. Brian nods, he can see what JC means. If the killer thinks they are going to be in the way, he or she might decide to kill the woman somewhere else, and there is a good chance he wonīt be able to see that change until itīs already too late to save her.

“So, back to the internet?” Nick asks, and he shrugs, so Nick opens up his laptop again, continuing the search. He is in mid type when Howie returns and closes the laptop over his hands. “Hey!” Nick yells at him, and swats his hands away. Howie ignores him and closes the laptop completely. “What?” Nick asks him, a little annoyed. “No need,” Howie replies, and turns to Brian. “BME. Blake Moon Enterprises.” He grins, and waves his phone in the air, “that was my cousin, he came through. Sent over a jpeg of the logo, and itīs a match for the one JC sketched. Itīs some kind of consulting business, and Iīve even got an address!” “I could kiss you,” Brian leans back and rests his head against the wall, closing his eyes, feeling like someone just lifted the weight of the world off his shoulders.

“Their offices open early, but I think our best bet is to head over around noon tomorrow. Not too early, you know,” Howie looks around the table, and they all nod, agreeing with his line of thought. “So, who goes?” Joey asks. Heīs been quiet until now, content with listening to what the others have been saying. “I have to put in a few hours at work in the morning,” Kevin says “but I can take the afternoon and evening off, and, if you need me too, I can take the day after off entirely. This is more important than my case, plus, Iīve got like two weeks to prepare anyway.” Brian smiles at him before he turns back to Joey to answer his question. “You need to work?” he asks, and is relieved when Joey shakes his head. “Taking some personal days.” “OK, so youīll come, and maybe Nick or AJ, Howie, Lance and JC.”

Justin is about to protest being left out when AJ places a hand firmly on his shoulder. “Your turn to stay behind barista. Not to worry though, Chris and Iīll be here to keep you company, while Nick goes with Brian to make sure he doesnīt fall over or something.” When Brian makes a grunt-like noise in protest to the comment about his health, he is silenced by AJīs īyou look like crap manī look, complete with one raised eyebrow. “So, weīve got a plan then,” Joey states, looking around the table. When no one protests he gets up from the table. “Itīs getting late and I have a wife to get home to. Weīll meet up here tomorrow around eleven?” Brian nods a yes in reply, and Joey grabs his coat, waving goodbye as he walks out the door to hail a cab home. Suddenly realizing just how late it is, JC and Lance both decide itīs time to head home as well. Chris says something about not bothering to go home since he gotta open up tomorrow anyways, and retreats into the back room to spend the night on the couch there. Letting Justin close up, Nick and AJ walk Brian to the curb and hail down a cab for him. After holding the door open for him and making sure the driver has the right address, they both give him a quick kiss on the cheek before saying good night and closing the door with a “see you tomorrow”.

**********

Blake Moon Enterprises is located at the thirty-seventh floor of a massive skyscraper, and as they cram everyone into the elevator, Brian wonders if maybe they should have gone in a smaller group. They arrive in a lobby area, and decide to split up and have a quick look around before they start to ask questions. Lance drags JC and Howie off in one direction, and Brian head the other way along with Nick and Joey.

Walking around a corner and into the office space, it feels like déjā vu. Looking around he his vision flashes before his eyes. Everything is like it was in his dream, except for the fact that there are no decorations or celebrations. People are sitting at their desks doing their job instead of gathered around a woman celebrating her promotion.

“Look!” Nick nudges him and points to one of the trash cans in the corner. Over the top used party decorations are hanging down to the floor. “Party must have been recent for that still to be there,” Joey notes, and Nick nods in agreement, just as the other three join them, having see the decorations from across the room. “So, ask the lady at the front desk?” JC suggests. “You and Howie go,” Brian replies, pointing to Lance. JC might be a good talker, but he dresses weird, even for an artist, and he just canīt see the nice elderly lady at the front desk giving any information to a man dressed in something that looked like paint had thrown up all over it.

As Lance and Howie goes to get information, he leads the others back to the side of the lobby, trying to stay a little out of the ladyīs line of sight, just in case she remembered they had come in in a larger group. They watch as Howie says something that makes the lady smile and what looked like blush a little. Then she said something else, beaming at something Lance said, and then pointing towards the elevator. Lance and Howie turn to look, but the doors are already closing. Thanking the lady they hurry towards the elevator, covertly motioning for them to follow, impatiently pressing the button several times.

“The promotion was yesterday, her name is Susan Marsden, and we just missed her,” Howie explains when they join them by the elevator, pressing the button once more as if itīll make the elevator come back any quicker.

When the doors finally open they rush in, and before the doors can close Brian is already running his fingers over the buttons, trying to get something off them that can help them.

BANG!

He pulls his hand back quickly. “Tonight,” he says. “Itīll happen tonight!”

**********

As they exit the building, a plan is already brewing in Brianīs mind. “Did any of you get a good look at her?” He asks Lance and Howie. Howie shakes his head, he didnīt get a good enough look at her, so Brian turns to look at Lance. “I caught her reflexion in the elevator right before the doors closed,” he says slowly. “If you see her again, will you recognize her?” he asks, and after a few seconds Lance nods.

“Good,” Brian says relieved, his plan was depending on at least one of them being able to recognize her on sight. He tells Lance to stay put, keep an eye on the building, and he will send someone to join him as soon as possible. Brianīs plan is pretty simple. Some of them will stay at the office building, waiting for her. With any luck, she will come back, and they will be able to keep an eye on her, and when she leaves, they can follow her and maybe find out who, if anyone, is following her. The rest of them will return to the bar. Someone will have to stay and keep an eye on the place, while the rest head over to the alley. If she doesnīt return to her office, that is the only other place they know for sure she will be, so that is where they will have to wait for her.

Leaving Lance to wait alone, they hurry back to the bar to tell the others of the plan. When they arrive, Kevin has already arrived, and is keeping AJ and Justin company at the bar. Brian quickly fills them in on the plan, and when he finishes, Kevin volunteers to be one of the people staying behind. “You should stay too,” Brian says, looking at Joey. When he looks like he is about to protest he raises a hand to stop him. “Youīre married, and I really donīt want to have to be the one who explains to your wife why you are spending the evening in a dark alley waiting for a murder to go down.” Joey clearly doesnīt like being left behind, but he understand where Brian is coming from, and instead of voicing his protests he just nods in agreement.

Turning to Chris and Justin, Brian asks them if they wouldnīt mind joining Lance at the office building. They both agree, and decide to head off immediately, so if she comes back and moves again, Lance wonīt have to follow her alone. After they leave, JC, Howie, Nick and AJ all look at him, waiting for him to decide their next move.

“Anyone have warm coats or something with them?” Brian asks, looking around, and in met my shaking heads all around. “So, go home and get some?” AJ asks, and Brian smiles in return. “Probably a good idea. Meet back here in an hour and then head over to the club?”