Dead Is Just a Dream Read online

  I was still processing the fact that my brother knew what surrealism was.

  “I remember something else,” he said. “Sam was at a stable but she wasn’t riding horses. She had some field trip for botany class.”

  “I’ll go check it out,” I told him.

  “Jess, thanks,” he said. “But take someone with you. And be careful.”

  “I will,” I assured him.

  I’d have to wait for the right opportunity. Mr. Platsky didn’t seem like he’d give us an open invitation to snoop around his farm anytime soon.

  “Try to get some rest,” Daisy said. But Sean wasn’t listening. He clung tight to his girlfriend’s hand and begged her to come back to him.

  Daisy and I left the hospital but my thoughts stayed there. Was Samantha the victim of a Mara? Or was there something else sinister going on in Nightshade?

  Chapter Nine

  Since her Vegas elopement, Flo had mellowed out a bit about the nonstop training. But now that there had been a few murders in Nightshade, she expected us to patrol.

  The doctor, and more importantly, Mom, decided my ankle had healed enough that I could return to moderate exercise—which meant that my Saturday night was going to involve a hot date patrolling the streets with my fellow viragoes instead of a hot date with my boyfriend.

  Andy picked me up and we headed for Main Street. She parked in front of Slim’s. The other v-girls were already there, but there was a surprise visitor.

  “Dominic’s mom is joining us on patrol?” I asked, dismayed.

  “I know,” Andy said. “Isn’t it great?”

  “Yeah, great.”

  We got out of the car and joined them.

  I took the opportunity to catch everyone up on the latest news. “Samantha Devereaux is in a coma,” I explained. “And I think it has something to do with the nightmare murders.”

  “Who do you think is behind it?” Flo asked.

  I shrugged.

  “Spit it out,” Andy demanded. “We don’t have all day.”

  “Andy!” Raven said.

  “No, she’s right,” I said. “I don’t know. I don’t know how long Samantha can hold on. We need to figure something out.”

  “We’ll help however we can,” Raven said softly.

  “Thanks, Raven,” I said. I hugged her.

  “Jessica, Mom’s going to lead the patrol tonight,” Raven said.

  I looked at Flo. “Is that true?” As our virago leader, she’d never given up control before. She loved bossing us around.

  “You follow Lydia’s orders,” Flo confirmed. “No questions.”

  I had questions. Major questions, but I knew Flo would give me her death stare if I dared to open my mouth. So I didn’t.

  “We’ll break into teams,” Mrs. Gray said. “Raven, you go with Andy. Jessica, you’re with me.”

  “With you? What about Flo?” I dreaded the idea of spending time alone with Dominic’s mom, and Raven looked disappointed that her mother hadn’t partnered with her.

  “Flo’s staying here,” Mrs. Gray said. “Any more questions? Or can we get started?”

  “We can get started,” I said.

  We divided the town into four quadrants and then went our separate ways. Mrs. Gray didn’t say anything until we reached the park.

  “How’s your ankle?” she asked.

  “The doctor gave me the all-clear.” I was touched by her concern, but the feeling was short-lived.

  “Then stop babying it and get a move on,” she snapped.

  “Yes, Mrs. Gray,” I replied.

  “Call me Lydia. We’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

  “We will?” I asked, but her attention was drawn to something on the path up ahead of us.

  “Did you see that?”

  “What?”

  Mrs. Gray had already sprinted ahead.

  I followed her but she was fast. I saw a flash of white as she ran through a copse of trees.

  I caught up to her in the middle of the park. She was watching a ghostly white horse drinking water from the fountain.

  “It’s here again,” I whispered.

  Raven’s mom put a finger to her lips. We watched the horse in silence until its ears went back, as if it heard something. The horse galloped off, but this time Mrs. Gray didn’t chase after it.

  “You’ve seen this horse before?” she asked.

  “On the beach, right before school started.”

  “And you didn’t bother to tell anyone that a Mara was in town?” She made her contempt for me obvious.

  “I didn’t know it was a Mara then, but I did tell Flo what we’d seen.”

  “We?”

  “It was the night Tashya came to town,” I said. “Everyone at the bonfire saw it.”

  “Tashya’s not the Mara,” Mrs. Gray said sharply.

  “I never said she was,” I responded. “Especially since I don’t even know that much about what a Mara is.”

  “You will,” she said. “You will.” But she didn’t bother to provide any further information. I resolved I’d find out more on my own.

  On Sunday, we took a break from our virago duties. Everyone had been invited to the Black Opal to watch Side Effects May Vary’s practice.

  The Black Opal was an all-ages club. The interior was painted in vivid colors and the ceiling was sky blue with fluffy white clouds. A bright orange portrait of Teddie Myles, the owner and legendary rock goddess, was displayed prominently on the wall behind the stage.

  “Any news on Samantha?” Flo asked.

  “None,” I said. “Daisy is going to try again to reach her telepathically, but she needs all the help we can give her. Any ideas?”

  “Maybe changing what she’s dreaming about will wake her from her coma,” Raven said.

  I stared at her. “That’s genius.”

  “Could we knock the shadowy figure out of her dream somehow?” Andy asked.

  “Maybe Daisy and Rose could help us with that,” I said.

  “I wonder how Sam has survived when the others didn’t,” Raven said.

  “Sam is tough,” I replied. “And she’s best friends with Daisy. The two of them have seen plenty of strange things before this.”

  “Or maybe she wasn’t the intended victim?” Flo said as she took a doughnut from her bag and chewed it contemplatively.

  “You told us no desserts during training, Flo,” Andy pointed out.

  “And you thought I was serious?” she said.

  Bert, the manager of Side Effects May Vary, approached our table with the band in tow and handed everyone Cranky Kitten T-shirts.

  “What’s the occasion?” I asked.

  “Did you tell them the tour was moved up?” Flo’s husband, Vinnie, asked.

  Dominic gave me a nervous look. “I was just about to.”

  “We’ve got a couple of months to prepare,” Vinnie said. “And then we’re hitting the road.”

  I turned to Dominic. “What about school?” I asked. “I thought you weren’t going until after graduation.”

  He shrugged. “Most of the tour is during winter break. And Aunt Katrina is going to tutor me on the road the rest of the time. The school’s already agreed.”

  “Sounds like everything’s all settled,” I said.

  “Jessica, don’t be like that,” Dominic said.

  “When were you going to tell me?” I asked in a low voice, but I could feel his band mates’ eyes on me. I was being the difficult girlfriend. I wanted to be happy for them, but I was too angry.

  “I was going to tell you,” Dominic said. “But I knew you would be upset.”

  “You were right.”

  “How long are you going to be gone?” I braced myself.

  “A month. All of December.” He said it quickly.

  “You’ll be gone during Christmas? And New Year’s Eve?”

  He nodded miserably.

  “I thought we’d have your senior year together at least.”

  “We
will have most of it,” he assured me. “I’ll be around for Homecoming and prom.”

  Most? He looked so distressed that I felt like a horrible girlfriend.

  I sighed. “I guess it won’t be so bad. We can still talk every day.”

  He brightened. “I can send you videos.”

  He got to his feet as the rest of the band started to tune up.

  “I’ve got to go,” Dominic said awkwardly. “But we’ll talk more about it later, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be back before you even miss me.”

  That was highly doubtful.

  My anger disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. I had bigger things to worry about. Like catching a killer.

  He joined the rest of the band onstage, and Vinnie on drums led off the set. Dominic stepped up to the mike and started to strum the new song, but then a strange look crossed his face. He was about to provide a clue—at least I hoped he would.

  “‘Runnin’ Down a Dream.’” Flo identified the song for us. “Tom Petty.”

  “Why can’t the killer’s name just be in the song title for once?” I grumbled, jokingly.

  “Let’s take a break,” Vinnie said quickly after Dominic was done singing the song. Most of the band had accepted Dominic’s being a seer, but Jeff Cool, the guitarist, was frowning. He was less than cool about Dominic’s predictions throwing off their set list.

  Jeff stomped outside. The break was really a time-out for him. Everyone in the band was sick of his whiny prima donna behavior. I wondered how they were going to survive a month on a tour bus with him.

  Dominic and his aunt Katrina went to Teddie’s office, I assumed to go over the band’s schedule with her. Or maybe just to say hi. Everyone liked Teddie.

  Flo, Raven, Andy, and I sat at the table discussing the latest development. “Why do my brother’s clues have to be so cryptic?” Raven complained.

  Maybe they weren’t cryptic at all. “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” Eva had told me she was having nightmares and had been dreaming of someone or something running. It sounded sort of like what had happened to Sam, and I didn’t want Eva to end up like that. I told the other v-girls what was happening to my best friend.

  “We’ve got to spend the night at Eva’s,” I said urgently.

  Chapter Ten

  I called Eva to make sure it was okay that we stay over, and after rehearsal, Andy, Raven, and I headed to her house.

  The Harris house was spotless and decorated in soothing beige, blue, and white, except for Eva’s room, which was lime green and purple and far from spotless. She loved to collect items for the horror movie she planned to make one day. A life-size cardboard cutout of Vincent Price stood in one corner, and her pet raven Poe’s cage in another.

  We ordered pizza and played board games late into the night.

  “So what’s the plan?” Eva asked. “I have a Spanish test tomorrow and I haven’t had much sleep in days.”

  “You can go to sleep and we’ll watch you,” I said. If a Mara was haunting the dreams of my best friend, I was going to catch it.

  We laid out our sleeping bags as Poe watched us from his perch.

  “No wonder you can’t sleep with that thing in here,” Andy said.

  “Poe’s not a thing!” Eva said indignantly. “He’s a smart boy. Aren’t you?” she cooed to her pet.

  “Nevermore!” he croaked. She beamed like a proud mama and gave him a cracker.

  Raven opened her bag and took out her laptop. “I’m going to try a little research,” she said. “Otherwise, what are we going to do if Eva does get a visit from the night mare?”

  “Good idea,” I said.

  “Here we go,” Raven said, after a few minutes of searching. “There’s something called a night hag. Red glowing eyes, screechy voice. Some of the legends say that if you call a night hag by name, she’ll leave you alone.”

  “That’s helpful, if we actually knew who it was,” Andy said sarcastically.

  Raven frowned.

  “The information is still useful,” I told Andy. “Anything else, Raven?”

  “If you put something metal under your bed, it will keep the nightmares away,” she said.

  “We should try it,” I suggested. “It can’t hurt.”

  Eva went to the kitchen and came back with a couple of forks. “Will this work?”

  Raven laughed. “As long as you put it under your bed and not under your mattress, it might do the trick.”

  After a while, the rhythmic tapping of Raven’s keyboard was putting me into a sleep-deprived trance. I was trying not to doze off, but failing.

  “We should have picked up some coffee at Slim’s,” I said, smothering a yawn.

  Andy held up a thermos. “Do you want it plain or with sugar?”

  “Sugar, please,” I said. “And milk.”

  “There’s some in the fridge,” Eva said. “Help yourself. In fact, I’ll go with you. Let’s pop some popcorn.”

  “You sure it’s a good idea to eat right before bedtime?” I asked.

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “My mom says sleeping on a full stomach can give you bad dreams,” I said.

  “Not to mention indigestion,” she said. “But it’s just popcorn.”

  Eva put a packet of popcorn in the microwave, and the buttery smell made my stomach growl.

  Eva’s sister, Bethany, came into the kitchen. From the way she was dressed, it was pretty clear she’d just come home from a date.

  “You’re out past your curfew,” Eva commented. “Mom’s gonna kill you.”

  “Mom won’t know,” Bethany replied.

  Eva crossed her arms over her chest. “Not unless I tell her.”

  “Don’t forget, I have dirt on you, too,” Bethany countered.

  “What kind of dirt?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” Eva said quickly. “Bethany’s just trying to scare me. Right, Bethany?”

  “Right,” Bethany agreed, but she wouldn’t look at me. “I’m going to bed.”

  “Good-night,” we called after her.

  “What was all that about?” I asked, after I was sure Bethany was out of earshot.

  “Nothing.”

  “It didn’t sound like nothing.”

  “It’s just sister stuff,” Eva said. She changed the subject. “Thanks for staying with me.”

  “Are you kidding me? I’m worried about you. I didn’t even know you could get scared.” Eva’s penchant for horror movies made her extremely hard to spook.

  She laughed, but it was a halfhearted effort.

  I grabbed mugs and milk and sugar for the coffee and Eva took the popcorn. I followed her back to her room.

  Everyone else was sleeping, even Andy, who’d boasted that she’d be able to outlast everyone.

  I held the thermos of coffee and poured myself a cup, then added milk and a generous helping of sugar.

  I wandered over to Eva’s desk, where a wooden figure sprawled across her desk blotter. “Is this your art project? Who is it going to be?”

  “Hey, no peeking,” she said. She threw a sweater over the marionette.

  “You can’t tell me? Not even a hint?” I tried to wheedle it out of her, but she wouldn’t spill.

  “I want it to be a surprise,” she said. “But I think you’re going to like it.”

  Eva settled into her bed with Ted Vicious, her punk rocker teddy bear.

  “Remember, if anything happens,” I said, “try to imagine something else. Something that makes you happy.”

  “Did you seriously just tell me to go to my happy place?” she asked. “The only thing that would make me happy right now is sleep.”

  “Go ahead,” I said. “I’ll stay up and keep watch.”

  “I’ll try,” she said. She plumped up her pillow and in seconds was out.

  Moonlight shone through the window and I went to pull down the shade.

  I looked down and saw a shadowy figure standing in the
yard. The person seemed to be looking up at me, but instead of a face, there was only blackness.

  I stepped back. My heart was beating so loud that it seemed it would wake my sleeping friends. When I looked again, the shadowy figure was gone.

  Then there was a thump above me. Like something heavy had landed on the roof. Poe started squawking, but I shushed him with a cracker.

  The noise came again. It sounded like someone was walking on the roof. “It’s probably just a squirrel or a bird or something,” I said to myself.

  “That’s a pretty big bird,” Raven said.

  “I thought you were sleeping.”

  “I was,” she yawned. “But that thumping woke me up.”

  The noise stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

  I crossed to the window and looked down. A clown stood under the streetlight. There was blood dripping from its mouth. I screamed.

  The sound woke up the other girls and brought Eva’s mom dashing into the room. “What’s going on?”

  I couldn’t tell the truth. Mrs. Harris would think I was crazy.

  I moved away from the window. “Sorry, I had a bad dream. I didn’t mean to scream.”

  “Did you girls watch Dawn of the Dead before bed?” she scolded. “I told Eva that would lead to nightmares.”

  “No,” I said. “But I had one of those dreams where I showed up to school without any clothes on.”

  “I’ve had those dreams before,” Raven said.

  Eva’s mom seemed to believe my excuse. “Well, go back to bed, girls. You have school in the morning.”

  After she left the room a groggy Eva said, “What really happened?”

  “I saw a freaky clown with blood dripping down its face.” I hated clowns more than anything. “Clowns scare me.”

  “Me, too,” Eva admitted.

  Raven ticked away on her laptop. “Actually, fear of clowns is a phobia.”

  “What’s it called?”

  “Being human,” Andy said dryly.

  “It’s called coulrophobia,” Raven said. “But Andy’s right. A lot of people are afraid of clowns.”

  “Eva, did you dream while you were sleeping?”

  She shook her head. “That was the most sleep I’ve had all week.”