Dead Is Just a Dream

by Marlene Perez

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

  Acknowledgments

  Read More from the Dead Is Series

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2013 by Marlene Perez

  All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

  Harcourt is an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

  www.hmhbooks.com

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows: Perez, Marlene.

  Dead is just a dream / Marlene Perez.

  pages cm.—(Dead is)

  Summary: Paranormal warrior Jessica Walsh enlists the help of her psychic neighbor, Daisy Giordano, to help discover who or what is causing Nightshade, California, residents to die in their sleep with horrified looks on their faces.

  ISBN 978-0-544-10262-0 (hardback) [1. Supernatural—Fiction. 2. Nightmares—Fiction. 3. Murder—Fiction. 4. Psychic ability—Fiction. 5. High schools—Fiction. 6. Schools—Fiction. 7. Interpersonal relations—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.P4258Ddi 2013

  [Fic]—dc23

  2013003883

  eISBN 978-0-544-15627-2

  v1.0913

  To my darlings Uno and Dos

  Chapter One

  It got chilly on the beach at night. Cold sand between my toes made me shiver. I got up and threw another log on the fire.

  “I can’t believe summer is almost over,” Eva said. She snuggled closer to her boyfriend, Evan.

  “The sooner, the better,” said Andy. She flipped her curly blond hair in her haughty way. “We’ve gotten soft during the summer.”

  “Flo was on her honeymoon part of the time,” I pointed out. Flo was our trainer and head virago—woman warrior—which meant she was pretty much our boss.

  “We still should have worked out every day,” Andy said sternly. “Instead of spending all our time at the beach.”

  “We played volleyball and ran on the sand,” Raven said. “That’s still working out.” Raven was petite with dark hair. She’d grown it out this summer, and it hung down her back in a long braid. She didn’t look anything like her brother, Dominic, who was tall and blond. He resembled his aunt Katrina and his mom, but I knew from photos that Raven looked like her dad.

  Dominic stared at the fire. “I can’t believe it’s my senior year.”

  I had to bite my lip to keep from blurting out that I didn’t want to talk about it. Senior year and then what? He’d go off to college or move to LA to make it in the music business or something and we’d be over.

  He glanced at my face and seemed to read some of what I was feeling, because he added, “I don’t want to think about tomorrow. I just want to enjoy tonight.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, which had become even blonder over the summer.

  “Not me,” Andy said. “I can’t wait for senior year to start. The sooner it starts, the sooner it’s done and I can get to the good stuff.”

  The “good stuff” for Andy usually involved kicking someone’s or something’s butt. The town of Nightshade had been surprisingly quiet lately, so she was spoiling for a fight.

  “School doesn’t start until Monday,” Raven said. “We have the whole weekend. And look at that moon!”

  I craned my neck to look, and leaned back into Dominic, who put his arms around me. The crescent moon was obscured by a heavy fog.

  “Jessica, do you hear that?” Andy asked.

  “Hear what?”

  “That thumping noise.”

  “Sounds like something running,” Raven said.

  The “something” came into view. A ghostly white horse raced along the sand, hooves thundering as it went. Its eyes glowed red as it let out an ear-splitting whinny, and I was immobilized by a sickly dread. The whirlwind tattoo on my arm that alerted me of danger didn’t just tingle. It burned.

  I screamed.

  A second later, the horse vanished.

  “That was awesome,” Eva breathed. “Reminds me of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow—except without the Headless Horseman.” My best friend was a big horror movie fan and budding filmmaker.

  Dominic shivered and said, “I always wondered what paralyzing fear felt like. Now I know.”

  I nudged him. “I thought you never got scared.”

  “I do now,” he said. “That was freaky.” He picked up his guitar and strummed it shakily. A familiar blank look passed over his face, and then the first lyrics of “Wild Horses” came out of his mouth.

  When the song ended, everyone stared at him.

  “Is that a new one?” Andy asked.

  Raven rolled her eyes. “It was a Rolling Stones song, from like when your grandparents were kids.”

  “I’ve never played that before in my life,” Dominic said.

  My boyfriend was a seer who made predictions through song. They were usually warnings or clues to mysteries we needed to solve. Something was definitely up.

  Andy’s dad came to check on us. “How’s it going?” he asked. “Ready to head up to the house?” Andy and her dad lived in a cute place overlooking the beach.

  “Al-almost,” Andy said.

  “You look like you’ve all seen a ghost,” her dad said. He quickly realized he might have sounded tactless, and tried backtracking. “Sorry. I can’t believe I just said that after what happened.”

  What had happened was that a few months ago, we’d found a dead body in the cave on the beach. The cave had been barricaded shortly thereafter.

  Since then, we had to beg our parents, repeatedly, to let us have a bonfire on the beach. They’d only let us because we’d agreed to chaperones—plural. My parents were taking a walk down the beach, but my guess was they’d be back in a minute or two.

  “We were telling ghost stories,” I finally said. I wasn’t going to mention that we’d just seen a ghostly horse. They’d lock us in our rooms and throw away the keys, even though half of our little group were viragoes.

  Dominic kissed me on my forehead. “It’s almost time to go anyway,” he said. “How about if I give you a ride home? I want to play you my new song.”

  “What about me?” Raven said kiddingly.

  “I thought you were spending the night here,” Andy said, then realized that Raven was just messing with her brother.

  “Let me check with my parents,” I said to Dominic. “They’ve been protective lately.” I couldn’t really blame them. My parents were usually pretty laid back, because they had a lot of kids to keep track of. Eight, to be exact. I had one older brother and six younger sisters.

  Mom and Dad walked back to the bonfire holding hands. “It’s such a gorgeous night,” Mom said.

  They obviously hadn’t seen the red-eyed demon horse or she wouldn’t be saying that.

  “Mrs. Walsh, is it okay if Jessica comes over to my house for an hour or two?” Dominic a
sked.

  She gave him a long, considering look that moms always seem to have in their arsenal.

  “My mom will be there,” he added quickly.

  “Is Lydia staying in Nightshade long?” Dad asked. It was doubtful. Dominic’s mom was a virago, like me, only she didn’t protect just one town. Lydia Gray was a freelance virago, on call wherever she was needed most, which meant she spent a lot of time away from her family. Dominic and Raven lived with their aunt.

  Dominic shrugged. “I think her plans are uncertain right now. She travels a lot for business.”

  “And what business is that?” Mom asked. I shot her a stop-being-nosy look, but she ignored me. My parents, along with most of Nightshade, were unaware of the existence of viragoes protecting the town from danger.

  “We’d better get going,” I said.

  Dominic grabbed our guitars and we walked toward his car.

  “So senior year, huh?”

  “Yep,” he said. “That’s kind of what my new song is about.”

  “Senior year?”

  “No, after senior year.”

  “You want me to listen to a song about you leaving me?”

  He pulled me close. “We’ll talk every day.” My relationship with Dominic was just starting to feel like something I could count on, but I knew I couldn’t. My brother, Sean, and his girlfriend, Samantha, were still together, despite doing the long-distance thing during college, but they were an exception. I wasn’t sure Dominic and I would be.

  “What about college?” I asked.

  “I’m taking a year off,” he said. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Side Effects May Vary is going on tour.”

  “You’re going to be on tour for a whole year?” I couldn’t keep the alarm out of my voice.

  “Not the whole time,” he admitted. “But I will be gone a lot.” Side Effects May Vary had won the Battle of the Bands a few months ago and the grand prize was a recording contract with Cranky Kitten Records.

  I waited, but Dominic didn’t say anything else for a long moment.

  “What do you think?” he finally said.

  “Does it matter?” I snapped. “Sounds like you have it all planned out already.”

  “Jess, don’t be like that,” he said softly.

  “Like what?”

  “Mad.”

  I sighed. “I’m not mad. Just disappointed,” I said. “But I’ll try to make the best of it.”

  We made the drive to his house in silence.

  Katrina, his aunt, had a little bungalow with a swing on the front porch. Dominic pulled into the driveway.

  “Can you do me a favor?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “Don’t mention the tour to my mom,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about it yet.”

  “Okay,” I said. “It’s not like your mom and I have long chats anyway.” Truth was, Lydia Gray avoided me and I wasn’t sure why.

  The house was dark. “It looks like we have the place to ourselves,” Dominic said. He gave me a long kiss, not bothering to turn on a light.

  Which is why I jumped about a foot when light flooded the room.

  Dominic’s mom stood there, next to a tall brunette girl with smoky blue eyes.

  “Tash!” Dominic said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Surprising you, of course,” she replied. “Can’t a girl surprise her boyfriend?”

  Dominic grabbed my hand as I tried to step away from him. I resisted, but he brought me to his side anyway. “Tashya, it’s ex-girlfriend and you know it. This is Jessica, my girlfriend. Jessica, this is Tashya Bennington. We used to go out when we were sophomores back at my old school.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said. I held out my hand but she ignored me. I had no doubt she saw the kiss and heard Dominic call me his girlfriend, but she was pretending to be oblivious.

  She turned to Dominic’s mom. “Mrs. Gray, I’m starving. Is there anywhere to eat in this town?” Her tone made it apparent she didn’t think much of Nightshade, and I bristled.

  “I’ll fix you something,” Mrs. Gray said. “You had a long drive.”

  They went into the kitchen without Tashya even acknowledging me.

  “Nice to meet you, Tashya,” I called after her, but I didn’t really mean it.

  Dominic drew me into a hug. “I don’t know what she’s doing here, but I’m sure she’ll be gone by tomorrow,” he assured me.

  But Tashya didn’t go away.

  Chapter Two

  Saturday, Eva came over to decide what we were going to wear the first day of school. She had a duffel bag full of stuff, which she spread out on my bed.

  “Mom bought me tons of sweaters,” she said. “I don’t know what she was thinking. The temperature is still in the eighties.”

  “I know,” I said. “I think I’m going with a sundress.”

  “Evan got me a really cool Godzilla tee when he was on vacation. I’m going to wear that with a pair of shorts. At least I have some new sandals.”

  “Maybe I’ll go with shorts and a tee too,” I said. “What do you think of this shirt?” I held up a top I had borrowed from my sister Sarah.

  “I think the pink one is cuter,” she replied.

  “With my red hair?”

  “Why not?” Eva said. “You look great in pink.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “What about this one instead?” I held up a dark green top. “It’s a little dressier than a tee, but it’ll look good with these shorts.”

  Eva lost interest in fashion. “So what did you and Dominic do after the bonfire?” she asked. “Was it romantic?”

  “It was,” I admitted. “Until his ex-girlfriend showed up. But that doesn’t change the fact that, sooner or later, he’s leaving.”

  “That’s not for ages. And besides, he’ll be back. In the meantime, why not enjoy what you have?”

  “You’re right,” I replied. “I’ll try.”

  “We should go on a double date tonight,” Eva said. “Does Dominic have a gig?”

  “No. We were just going to rent a movie.”

  “Let’s do something different,” she said.

  “Like what?” I asked.

  “There’s the art exhibit.”

  “What art exhibit?”

  “Ms. Johns told me about it last time I was at the library,” Eva said. “It’s Jensen Kenton. There will be other art displayed too, but Jensen Kenton is the big draw.”

  “The landscape artist? Not even my grandparents like his stuff.”

  She shrugged. “It’s something to do.”

  “I’ll talk to Dom,” I said.

  “Good,” she replied. “Now try this on.”

  She tossed me a T-shirt with a galloping horse on it. I frowned. “This reminds me of the ghostly horse we saw last night.”

  “Give it back, then.” She held out her hand. “I can’t wait until you find out what that’s all about.”

  We decided to go to the art show, so Dominic picked me up and we drove to the library. The exhibit had been set up in the community room. Eva and Evan were waiting in the hallway. They were staring at something in one of the glass cases that lined the walls.

  “Sorry we’re late,” I said. “I couldn’t find my phone.”

  “Jessica, come check out these marionettes,” Eva said. “They’re amazing.”

  Row after row of wooden marionettes filled the cases. They were amazing all right, but kind of disturbing. Some were just puppet heads mounted on thin metal sticks. There were princesses in elaborate ball gowns, unicorns and elves, elephants and zebras, and even some clowns. In the next case, there was a troupe of skeletons, dressed in mariachi outfits.

  “Wouldn’t this one be perfect for a horror movie?” Eva said. She was pointing to an all-black figure, its face concealed by a mask holding the strings of an even smaller marionette. I gave it a closer look. The title was “Master Manipulator.”

  The exhibit was crowded, but I was relieved there was
no sign of Dominic’s ex-girlfriend.

  “I didn’t expect to see so many people here,” Dominic commented.

  “Me, neither,” Evan said. “Just goes to show there’s not much to do in Nightshade on a Saturday night.”

  If he only knew. It had been quiet in Nightshade all summer long, but it wasn’t going to last. I could just feel it. Of course, I had an advantage that Evan didn’t. My whirlwind tattoo had sounded an alarm at the beach, which meant trouble was on its way.

  Most of the crowd was gathered in front of a huge landscape painting. There were gasps and muttered comments as they stared. Dominic grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”

  The nighttime scene seemed innocuous until we looked closer and discovered the hidden images.

  “What’s that standing in the shadows?” Dominic leaned in and pointed. Upon closer inspection, I saw werewolves whose fangs were dripping with blood.

  Another painting was of a large red mouth, crammed full of glistening cockroaches.

  “Gross!” I said.

  The next display held four paintings. They were just as bad. On the surface the first one looked like a relaxing ocean scene with waves crashing on the shore, but underneath the waves was a huge horse nibbling on a dead whale.

  “This is different from Jensen Kenton’s previous work,” Eva said. “Very different.”

  An older man in jeans and an Andy Warhol tee overheard her. “You like it? I thought the residents of Nightshade might appreciate my new direction.”

  Eva looked at the next piece, which was a city engulfed in flames while a demon roasted what looked like a man on a spit. “Uh, you have an unusual idea about what people like.”

  “It’s supposed to represent the four seasons,” the man explained.

  “I don’t get it,” Evan said.

  “I don’t like it,” Eva said. I nudged her. I had a hunch we were talking to the artist himself, which was confirmed when the guy held out his hand.

  “I’m Jensen Kenton, and you’re not supposed to like it,” he said. “It’s supposed to make you think.”