May 27, 2009
Blackburn, Lancashire, England
3:00 A.M.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I’ll never forget the night that everything seemed to end. I look up to the sky, a deep blood-red sky. A heart-stopping chill runs up and down my spine every time I glance up at it. I cannot seem to shake the feeling that I’ve seen it all before. The sun is black, releasing a strange glow instead of normal light. There are black clouds swirling in the sky. Blackburn, England stands behind me full of agonizing screams and loud gunshots are ringing out in the distance. I can almost smell the gunpowder flowing in the spring wind. Part of me feels invigorated by the smell while the rest of me is scared to know what is going on around me.

However, I'm not in the city any more. I'm in a large field, running from the rain. A rain that is like pure acid. Acid that can kill mercilessly. I caught a tiny taste of what it could do when the wind shifted just enough to make some of it hit me. Luckily, all it did to me was burn my clothes a little. Yet I cannot shake the feeling that the tiny drops are making me feel like I’m getting weaker. It hasn’t done anything to my skin yet. Nevertheless, I don’t plan to give it the opportunity to harm me or my newfound friend. A little girl of no more than five years of age is with me. She has platinum blond hair and strange glowing blue eyes. I do not know her name nor have I ever seen her before now, but I am trying to help her. For some reason she reminds me of my girlfriend Shelly whom I haven’t seen since any of this began. Shelly, I hope she’s okay. I haven’t seen or heard from her since any of this begun. God, I have no idea how any of this begun. I just remember running for my life. That’s all I can really say that I know about anything going on right now .I just have to keep running with this little girl until I can get some answers.

She is so small and innocent. I hate that she is privy to what we’re coming across while we run. The field that we find ourselves running for our lives across is full of dead bodies. There is only an occasional patch of dry brown dirt amid the slushy and mostly red mud. No doubt red from holy saturation with blood. Dead bodies lie in heaping mounds and surround us from every imaginable angle. We are running endlessly over the decaying corpses. I try to keep my mind off the mental anguish she has to be going through. Hell, I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind. I let my attention slip from her for a single moment when the last thing I ever wanted to see happens. The little girl then trips and the force of the fall manage to tear her hand away from mine. I want to stop to help her, but the acid rain, it's so close! There is nothing to do, but hope her death is a quick one.

Unfortunately, it is not! I turn and call to her to keep moving.

"Run! Crawl! Roll! You have to move! Get out of the rain!" My voice almost goes horse screaming to her.

Too late... As she finally manages to stand, and with a wave of tears streaming down her virtuous face, the acidic drizzle covers her unprotected body. I know I should run, but I can't. I'm frozen with fear and guilt. She lets out torturous screams of terror as the excruciating pain instantly overwhelms her tiny body. Her screaming is so harrowing and terrible. No one should ever have to suffer like that. Although, I know that my suffering for allowing that to happen to her will be more than anyone will ever be able to comprehend.

I watch in horror as the bubbling acid eats relentlessly through her soft young flesh, blood pouring down her arms like a red waterfall. Her skin has all but disappeared, leaving only vulnerable muscle exposed against the downpour. Her bare skull is visible, and yet she continues to shriek in torment. I watch until her bones crumple and are finally gone all together. The black cloud approaches and I turn to flee.

"That fate will not befall me!" I scream into the sky as I force my muscles to pick up the pace.

My body aches as I run... How long have I been running? Where am I going? I don't know, but I hope I get there fast! I cannot die here. I won’t.

I can see a cave just ahead as well as a couple of familiar faces. The Ruff Ryders greet me at the cavern's entrance. I know that I will be facing them in the ring in a few days. However, I am glad that they seem to have survived whatever is going on. They act as though none of this bothers them. Maybe it didn't... I decide to forgo pleasantries with them and try to calm my mind. I want to wash my brain of the site of that pour girl’s suffering. I decide to go inside the cave, but they stay behind. They will not die. I know that, but I don't know why or how. I just know that they will be better off where they are now.

The cave is dark and I seem to walk forever. Things too that is hideous to describe brush up against me as I walk. I come to a cavernous room. There is a huge fire in the center of the room with many odd psychedelic colors bouncing off its damp grungy walls. Many horrific demons dance around the blazing fire in dizzying circles. I hide behind a boulder and sneak around to get a better look, but one of them hears my movement. The demon is colorful and short in stature. I would almost dare to say that he is only three feet tall. He turns toward me and imparts a monstrous smile as he continues to perform his strange dance. I get the same chill that I always had when I spoke with Daniel or Hector after events. You knew that you were fine for you, but you had no idea what would happen later. Even though the other demons are at least ten feet tall, I somehow feel that the short one is the leader He stops his dance and makes his way over to me.

“Have you been enjoying the fun?” I try not to piss what’s left of my pants as he wanders my way speaking English.

“No.” I barely get anything out of my mouth from an overdose of fear and grief.

“But this is your type of fun. You love the pain. You revel in the anguish of others. You’ve just been too busy trying to make people think that you care that you’ve forgotten who you really are.” He smiles a little toothy grin again at me. He seems to know a lot more about me than I know about him.

“Why so silent Sean? You don’t like what I brought to you? You don’t like the way I remade Blackburn in your image.” I nod my head no. “Dammit. You just can’t get around what you’re looking at can you. Fine. I’ll show you what I really look like.”

He takes a few steps away and I see something that may stick with me for a long time. His body convulses and grows until he is not a little demon anymore. He is the last thing I thought I would see in a place like this. He is Ezekiel. He walks over to me trying to keep his long hair from getting in the way of looking at me.

“I’m not sure I approve of the bald look. I always thought that we looked better with long hair. To each his own I guess.”

I try to get a hold of myself. This has to be a dream. It’s the only way he can be standing here before me. I just have to snap out of it. “Wake up… Wake up...” I say the words like some magic spell will bring me out of this. Unfortunately, he is still standing there.

“I bring you the Final Judgment that you’ve been asking for and you think this is a dream?” I spits at me. I can feel his saliva burn as it slides down my chest.

“It’s not real. You’re not real.” I can feel some level of bravery returning. “You are just a wrestling gimmick!”

“Wrestling gimmick!” He draws his right arm back and slings at me. The force from his blow sends me into a far wall. My body sings in pain as I suspect that he broke a few bones. “You just got knocked the fuck out by a damn gimmick.”

I try to say something, but an undying pain is eating up the words. All I can do is lie there and try to pull myself up. He only calmly walks my way and hovering over me. I can feel another chill as his shadow touches me.

“See I think you just don’t understand what’s going on here anymore. There are things that you just don’t understand. You’re actually acknowledging those maggots. You actually care what they think. Ha! You aren’t even worthy to be alive. Now are we going to do this my way or not?”

I try to say something, yet my voice only comes out in whispers. I try to make my voice louder and just end up choking some of the air out of my lungs.

Cough
Cough
Cough

I attempt to speak and just end up with whispers. Ezekiel finally gets impatient and kneels down close enough to hear my whispers.

“Blow me.” I finally get him to hear what I think of all his bullshit.

He smiles and places a hand on my head. I feel a rush of pain course through my body as my voice finally returns in time for me to scream. I feel a white liquid coursing across my face. It won’t go away no matter how much I scrap at it. I feel a burning sensation course through my head and body. The last thing I see before I black out is his face smiling down at me. That smile is the last thing I see before I die.

Seconds seem to pass like hours before I reawaken. My eyes come into focus just in time to see the other demons starring in my direction. They are looking at me in awe before I look down at a pool of blood where Ezekiel was previously standing. I see him. I see him staring back at me before I realize the truth. It’s my face painting white with an inverted cross. Its my body covered in demonic tattoos. I have once again become the one thing I hated the most about my career. The demons start their horrific dance again as darkness pierces through the cave sending my senses into oblivion.

“Not Again!”

I flail my arms through and fore like a man possessed until the cold harsh reality hits me that it was all a dream. What really seems to annoy me is the single fact that I’ve had this dream before However, never to the degree that it put in a state of panic. It wasn’t some type of hallucination. This was my subconscious mind telling me that I’ve been pushing my body too much. I allow my head to rest against the hardwood floor in my apartment before coming to the realization that I threw myself from the bed.

“There are some food combinations that should not be ingested before bed.” I say aloud while staring over to the Thai and Chinese food containers that still litter my kitchen table. My stomach probably called in a favor to my brain to pay me back for that lethal food combination.

“I really have to get a grip here. It was just a dream. A creepy realistic dream.” I wipe a bead of sweat from my forehead.

The box flies across the room almost hitting the television before I slip back into thoughts about the challenge I have before me. I’ve been here for three days watching tapes of all his matches and training my body to walk into what very well could be my final RPW match. I have the opportunity to be the next Tran Atlantic Champion. A title that has yet to wrestled for since Adam Hartman lost it at London Burning. I have it set in my mind to bring a level of prestige back to the title if I could get my hands on it. Too bad, I’ll have to go through both Ruff Ryders to get there.

I hear a loud yawn come of the bed. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” I look up to see her leaned over the bed staring down at me.

I sit up and tilt my head back just enough to be under her black hair. For that one moment, all my concerns slowly disappear. I forget about the nightmare I just had. A mental game with the simple message that I’ve been training too hard and trying to carry the weight of the company on my shoulders. However, as I move my head away from her hair, I could care less about Kelley or Deppe. Right now, all I would rather do is spend eternity with her. She soon taps me on my forehead to wake me from my little daydream. I pull myself back up to the bed and cut on one of the nightstand lamps.

She readjusts herself in her small red tank top before moving just enough to sit next to me. From the looks of here I can tell that she would rather go back to sleep than talk about my dream. Yet I know Shelly would forego sleep to make sure I was all right. “You never answered my question.” She lets out a long yawn.

I let out a long sigh as my mind finally unravels from all of its concerns. I need to get to a point where I stop wanting to keep the weight of the world on my shoulders. “Sorry. I’m just thinking about the usual stuff. It just seems to have a whole different weight than it usually does.” I sigh. “I guess you could say that it’s more like getting me mentally prepared for Sweet Dreams.”

“That’s not it.” She folds her arms and gives me a look at almost goes straight through me. It’s hard for me to lie to those green eyes.

“I had the Ezekiel dream again.” I crack my neck from side to side.

“The one where t he two of you talk about American Idol? Geez… no wonder you woke up screaming. There is nothing better than dreaming about your alter ego dancing around in a bikini singing ‘Like a Virgin.”

I actually burst out laughing enough to send me off the bed. I catch myself before I fall and steady myself next to her. Shelly always knows what it takes to get my mind off my problems. God, I’ve had a lot of those lately. My mind is running in a thousand different directions lately. I want to focus solely on Sweet Dreams and the Ruff Ryders, but I’m having trouble doing that with all the other things currently going on in RPW.

“You need help.” I finally say after I make myself stop laughing.

“I need help?” she points at herself. “Oh no. I’m not the one dreaming about myself in tights choking me. I could write a book on some of the dreams that you’ve been having lately.”

I smirk. “I bet you could.”

“Seriously… what’s wrong? You’ve been having this dream every night lately. Is there something that you’re not telling me?”

“I’m worried. In some way I wonder if I made the wrong decision when I tore up that WWE contract on camera.”

“I was a little pissed about that. Nevertheless, the reaction you got from the crowd was awesome. The roof almost came off the place when you came down for that tag team match.”
“I know. It felt good to be on their side instead of the target they’re throwing garbage at. See, directly after last Crossfire I we all got word about how the ratings and things have been going for t he shows.” I clear my throat. “Buzz is keeping a positive attitude in front of all of us, but I’ve been hearing whispers that it is just a front and that Ricochet continues to be in a dire financial abyss.”

She almost looks confused for a moment. I’m not sure if it’s all the money talk or that fact that its 3 am.” How can it be that bad when the Tap ‘N’ Tin is packed?”

“Live attendance is up, but the ratings for Crossfire are down. The ratings have been dropping and not showing any signs of improvements. The drops in ratings almost mean that the advertisers will be trying to pull out. That is why Sweet Dream is so important to me. We pull this thing off big and we may start going back into the clear.”

“That’s where the dreams are coming from. You’re pushing yourself too hard lately honey. You’ve had three MMA fights and a wrestling match in Canada since last Crossfire. Then you get back into Blackburn and start training before we have to head into Chatham soon. You’re going to over do it.”

I snicker a little.

“What?” She waves her first at me.

“Buzz almost said the same thing when I talked to him backstage. He asked me to take it easy with the extra bookings and MMA fights before I burn myself out. He’s a little worried about one of his top stars getting hurt and not able to compete.” I yawn. “I told him that he was worrying about the wrong things.”

“I’m shocked that you actually had a conversation with him without telling him to shove his money up his ass. You are growing up Mr. Cain.”

“Nothing like that. I just listened while the guy talked. It was an interesting conversation going on. He was asking me why seeing that I’m the one talking about people stepping up to push Ricochet, Buzz want to know why I would risk my own importance in Ricochet in order to do these other side projects.” Shelly looks like she’s nodding off before I pinch her.

“Ouch!”

“What?” I throw up my hands trying to look innocent. “Anyhow, I told him about everything I need to be doing right now with the extra money. Moreover, I assured him that I‘d climb into the ring no matter what happens to me in a MMA fight. Besides I don’t think that he’ll ever ask me to stop since I’m out there becoming even more well known, possibly drawing in more viewers.”

“Hun, you climbed into a cage, choked a guy out, and screamed RP F’n W as loud as you possibly could. I would say that people googled Ricochet after that.”

“But is it enough? Sweet Dreams needs to be a huge success to save this company. All the guys need to go out there and pull off the show of their lives to save the company that they swear they want to stay in. I’m jus questioning the heart of some of the other guys lately. I need something big to draw in the fans.”

“Well I think you need to stop holding the weight of the world on your shoulders. Ricochet will survive or die. You can’t take it upon yourself to keep trying to be the lone soldier in a war to keep it alive. You can’t do that to yourself.”

“I have to. That’s why I’m having those dreams so much. Do you know the one thing fans ask me about more than anything else in the world?”

“What?” she reaches over to one of the nightstands, retrieves a hair tie, and puts her hair up.

“They want to know when he is coming back. “ I sarcastically stress the word he. I think that Shelly knows whom I’m talking about.

“Why? People wanted to see him booted from RPW."

“Right. However, he brought them into the arenas. They tuned in to see what he would do next. I have to admit that Ezekiel was a draw. The fans want him back. I’d almost say that they want him more than they want the American Nightmare.”

She leans her head on my shoulder. “Well” She taps me on his shoulder. “I think that is why you are having those dreams so frequently. You have convinced yourself that one wrestler could influence the future of an entire company. Ezekiel is not the savior of Ricochet. He wasn’t the thing that started all the budget problems. You have to stop thinking that you are the problem or solution to everything. You’ll drive yourself insane that way.”

“I know.” I try to keep myself in a state of calm. “I just feel responsible for most of what’s going on. Maybe I’m listening to too much of the crap coming from the Ruff Ryders whining. I get nauseous every time I hear them talk about how they want better dressing rooms and what not. They’re part of the problem right now.”

“So focus more on them and the match. Stop thinking that you need to be the savior of the company.”
I can tell she’s getting a little pissed. However, she’s telling me all the things that I need to hear because she cares about me.

“Fine. I’ll try to stay more focused on becoming the Tran Atlantic Champion. I’ll try to put everything else on the backburner. I promise.”

“Well maybe I’ll give you something special if you come back to the locker-room with the title.” She smiles.

“You’re going to wear a whip cream bikini?” My heart almost skips a beat in the solid hope that her answer will be the one I wants to hear. It’s amazing how you can almost forget about all the stress in your life when lust is involved.

“Sure.” She smiles knowing that I probably just hit a three point shot from half court in my mind.

The two of us let a few moments of silence pass while paying attention to the television. She
Always leaves it on so the background noise can help her sleep. It’s used to bother me at one point, but I learned to live with it.

“I might as well stay up and turn in early tonight. I should really hit the gym since you gave me such an interesting offer if I win the match. Don’t you think?” I start rubbing my hand down her back.

She lets out a loud sigh. “I’m not. I can’t pull this early morning crap unless I’m getting laid. You go get ready to fight and I’ll be curled up here asleep.”

I laugh. “You get me all fired up to beat the hell out of the Ruff Ryders to get the Tran Atlantic title and then you want to go to bed. That’s not far Shelly.”

“Well” She hesitates for a moment. “Why don’t you go find Shawn Kelley and Chris Deppe? You guys can then get the whip cream out and make bikinis on each other.”

I give her a look that’s a blend between fear and nausea before we both burst into laughter.

I stand up and stretch my arms. “Well I think I’m going to go grab some breakfast before I hit the gym for an early morning workout. I could really go for some Belgium Waffles.” I know that Shelly is going to be mad because that is her favorite food. Shelly would cross the gates of Hell to get a few waffles.

“Dammit! You had to say something about getting waffles.” She stretches her legs before standing up. “Alright I’ll come with you to watch you work out. But I’m taking a nap at some point in the day.”

“Fine.” I smile knowing that I’ve already achieved one victory today.

“Well I think that I need to take a quick shower before I go anywhere.”

“Good because I don’t want anyone to be asking about the smell.” I move just enough to avoid her arm swinging at me. “Well you go shower and make sure that you don’t use up all the hot water.”

“Blah. Blah. Blah.” She begins to leave the room before turning back to me with a coy smile. “And no sneaking a peak at me in the shower.”

“Scout’s honor.” I cross my fingers behind my back. “I’m going to find my DVD with some of the Ruff Ryder Matches on it. I don’t have much information on them working as singles wrestlers, but the tag matches will almost give me everything I need to know about them.”

“You do that.” She blows me a kiss.

She exits the room, leaving me to once again peer into the night again. I just can’t get over the fact that these dreams are trying to tell me something. Does the world want Ezekiel back? Would he make a difference to the crossfire ratings? I’m not sure anymore. These dreams mean something. They are my minds way of telling me what I really don’t want to hear. The lord of darkness came into Ricochet at Sweet Dreams. Maybe its time for him to return. I can hear the shower start up. I can’t focus on any of that right now. I have to finish getting ready for the Ruff Ryders. Buzz Stone gave me the opportunity to wear gold again in RPW. The people want to see me wear the Trans Atlantic championship and dammit, I want to see that whip cream bikini. I guess that means I’ll have to choke someone out. I get up and begin to head towards the bathroom. I gave her enough time before I go sneak a peek. Maybe a peek will lead to something else. It’s better than having nightmares.

[Fin.]