Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 12:57:08 -0600 From: Paul Tolbert Subject: NEW STORY: The Unit - Dream Catcher Disclaimer: The Usual. I don't own any of these WWE characters, just the original characters. Prologue -2 years Ago- "Almost...finished." Justin Gabriel sat behind a large metal desk in his newly acquired private office contemplating the project he'd been working on for the past couple of days. He'd been pushing to gain residence into the vacant office for weeks now after his previous colleague left the small engineering firm. The 29 year old South African native was an up and coming Airplane Engineer working on his latest top secret project. He continued to stare at the sketch in front of him and ponder at its effectiveness and usefulness. He'd been working for Auckland Aerospace Designs for almost 3 years and was quickly gaining ground amongst his fellow colleagues and superiors for his innovative ideas and hard work ethic. He was very proud of his job and good at it too. As a child, airplanes fascinated Justin. He thought they were the greatest thing ever invented. At age 12 he wanted to turn his passion for airplane designs into a career. He quickly took up hobbies involving airplanes and soon that's all he could think about. Justin was working on a side project sanctioned by his employer. The project entailed Justin to come up with an alternative design for a very important airplane part to make it more fuel efficient. He sat behind his desk and for several hours sketched and re-sketched a rough draft of the part after coming cup with the basic design. After what seemed like forever to him he finally came up with a unique design he believe to be what he was looking for. He carefully went over the design with tired eyes again and again to make sure he didn't miss anything. "This is it..." He said to himself. He smiled and leaned back in his chair, hands folded behind his head. "Mr. Hanzeel will be impressed." Justin turned his head and looked at the clock displayed on his computer monitor. "SHIT!" The time was 11:23PM. He had made arrangements for a dinner date at 9PM with a special woman he'd met at his local grocery market. He warned her that he might be late but she didn't seem to mind. He was sure she'd be fuming now. "Oh god Melina is going to be so fucking pissed!" Justin quickly reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone, which was turned off, and rapidly dialed her number. The phone ranged and went straight to voice mail. He made 2 more attempts before giving up. The phone would ring once and go to voice mail, something he took as a sign that she was purposely avoiding his calls. "God I'm such an idiot. I have the perfect chance to woo a girl I like and I blew it." Justin cut his losses and began to pack up for the night. It was late and he just wanted to go home and get some sleep. He'd been working tirelessly for hours and needed to wind down for a good night's rest. Lately Justin had a mild case of insomnia that was being treated by a sleep specialist. He attributed it to his hectic work schedule. Tonight was just one of those bad days. He grabbed his leather messenger bag and holstered it on his shoulder, grabbed his coat and headed out the door. As he walked towards the door he stumbled, nearly falling down. "Ugh I hope I can get home without having to call a cab." He regained his posture and headed out the door. He walked down the hall towards the elevator when he noticed a shadow ahead. 'Must be the janitor.' He continued to walk leisurely until he reached the elevator. He pressed the button on the panel and patiently waited for the doors to open. As he waited he began hearing high-pitched sounds coming from the direction of the shadow. "What the...?" He set his bag down and headed in the direction of the shadow to see where the sounds were coming from. As he neared the shadow the sounds became more deranged and horrific. He anxiously stepped forward and gasped at what he saw. "FUCK!" A bulky, green figure with several heads and a spiked backside appeared in front of him. Justin was frozen in place as the figure began screeching and wailing. His mind was racing at high speed as he stood in horror. Everything in his body was telling him to run but his body wouldn't respond. He stood there wide eyed looking at the monster unable to command his body to move. The monster stood still but continued to screech at Justin. Justin's eyes began darting back and forth looking for a way out. He noticed a fire axe enclosed in a glass box attached to the wall beside him. At that moment his body unfroze and the monster began to move towards him at a snail's pace. He reacted quickly and smashed the glass door and pulled out the axe. "DIE!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he repeatedly struck the monster. It began to bleed and scream profusely as Justin continued to strike it. He lost track of time and didn't realize his body was shutting down on him. His eyes began to get heavy and his body was rejecting his commands. He started to lose ground and began sinking down to the floor. He stared at the monster and noticed its subtle movements. It ceased its screaming. It was dead. Justin's vision became blurred, his racing heart slowed dramatically. "What's going on?" He asked himself as everything was becoming dark. His body was numb and his heart was shooting with pain. Justin gave one final breath before passing out permenately. The time was around 7:54AM before his lifeless body was found. ...