What Happens When We Sleep
The man in black leaned forward and reached out a hand.
Stefanie jumped at the movement, her anxiety spiking, before she realized the man was only switching on the recorder resting on the cool metal table between them.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Stefanie’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“That’s what I thought about the others. The ones from my” -she paused- “dream.”
“I’m happy to show you my credentials again if that would make you feel more at ease,” the man said and reached into his coat.
Stefanie winced, but kept still in her chair.
“That’s okay,” she said. “I believe you. I’m just a bit worked up is all.”
The man nodded once and said, “Do you mind if we run through it one more time?”
Stefanie sighed but nodded.
“Great. Can I get you anything before we start?”
She shook her head.
“Excellent,” the man said. “Whenever you’re ready.”
She took a deep breath and said, “So, I was walking into some office building because I had forgotten something. I was supposed to be the only one there. It was after hours and pretty late. Anyway, when I went in I saw a light on at the end of a hallway that led to another office.”
Stefanie reached for a smoldering cigarette burning away in an ashtray on the table. She took a long drag, then released a thick plume of smoke.
“I could hear two voices but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. So I leaned in and listened. There were two...I guess I’d call them agents. They looked a lot like you,” she said.
The man smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“They were talking about how, in the last three months, the government has been using controlled mass-homicide to cut the population down in size. They started talking about how they only had until January first to finish.”
Stefanie shivered and said, “Then they started discussing creative ways to implement the next wave of killings. It was terrible, some of the things they came up with. But then they saw me and came after me.”
She laughed, more to herself than to the man.
“I’ve never run so fast in my life,” she said. “They started screaming ‘We can’t let her go! She can’t wake up!’ and ‘She’s going to tell everyone what we’ve done!’
Stefanie fell silent as she recollected the terror of the chase.
The man held out a hand, palm up, and said, “Please, go on.”
“It got weird. I started leaping through...gateways maybe, or windows. I’m not sure. I just know they led to various places: memories, previous experiences from my life, and a few that I didn’t recognize. But every place I went, they’d show up, until they finally caught up to me. One man yelled ‘Don’t let her go through! Fucking get her!’ but as they reached for me, I fell through the window and woke up.”
Stefanie leaned back in her chair.
The man brought his hands together with the finger tips touching.
“And that was it?”
“That’s it,” Stefanie replied.
The man stood, reaching again into his pocket. His hand brushed against the grip of a firearm.
Oh my god, Stefanie thought. He is one of them!
She scooted the chair back in case she needed to bolt for the door. Her heart thundered in her chest.
The man pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out for her.
“Your discharge paperwork,” he said with another half-smile. “You’re free to go.”
Stefanie released a relieved breath and beamed at the man. She reached out a shaky hand and took the paper.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice heavy with sincerity. “For a moment I thought-well, it isn’t important. Thank you!”
She exited the interrogation room and then the building, stepping out into a chilly night. She needed sleep, real sleep, but the relief she felt left a warm, pleasant feeling in her chest which stayed with her all the way home.
The man didn’t move from his chair in the interrogation room.
A second man entered, dressed in dark clothing similar to the first man’s wardrobe. He seated himself in the chair that Stefanie had vacated.
“Pay up,” the newcomer said.
The first man pulled a bill-fold from his coat and withdrew several large bills and plopped them down onto the table.
“What do you want to do about her?”
The first man pulled at his lower lip as he thought.
“Put a monitor on her, but leave her be. I don’t think she’ll be a problem.”
The second man nodded, and together the two stood and exited the interrogation room.