Dream Dancer (Ghosts Beyond the Grove Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

It was relatively short so I pulled out my laptop and wrote until we landed.  My flight from Denver to Pittsburgh was longer and there was no way I would keep my mind occupied enough to stop thinking obsessively about everything.  So before I even boarded the plane, I took the maximum recommended dose of melatonin to knock myself out.
         The plane was barely soaring through the Colorado sky when I fell fast asleep.  I was well acquainted with strange dreams but what my brain conjured up during my nap was completely different from what I was used to.  In my dream, I was sitting in a theater, empty except for Zach and me.  We were feeding each other popcorn and having a normal conversation while the previews flashed by on the screen looming in front of us. 
         As the opening credits began to roll by, Zach and I fell silent.  I couldn’t remember the name of the movie or what it was about, but I knew we’d both been dying to see it since the very first trailer was released.  Zach reached over and took my hand and gave it a squeeze.  The action was about to start.  We were both ready for this.
         That was the moment when a searing pain in my left ear rudely prodded me awake.  I was approximately thirty minutes away from setting foot on Pennsylvania soil again.  That knowledge brought mixed feelings.  I wanted to see Zach.  But was I truly ready to?  I hadn’t been gone long but obviously things had taken a downward spiral in my absence.  Helplessly, I’d watched as the Zach I knew faded away leaving me hurt and confused by it all.  And now, things were probably even worse than I remembered and I was no closer to helping him than I was when I left—possibly even further than I was before.
         Shelly met me at the baggage claim with a warm hug then promptly scolded me for my clandestine mission.
         “Ruby!  Don’t you ever run away from home like that again without letting us know where you are!” she reprimanded as she commandeered the larger of my two bags and made a beeline for the door.
         “Okay.  I won’t.  I promise.  But once I tell you why I did it, I think you’ll understand the motivation behind it.” 
         “Yes, well, you have an entire two hour drive to do that in.  You promised, remember?”
         Sigh.  No, I hadn’t forgotten but I had changed my mind.  Sort of.  I was mentally exhausted from the last few hours I’d spent in Arizona and still slightly groggy from the melatonin.  And even though I’d grown to despise the phrase, I was currently a victim of the dreaded monster known as jet lag.  I needed more sleep so that I could try to recapture the dream I lost during landing.
         “I’m extremely tired, Shelly.  Can this wait until we get home?  Please?  I need a nap to clear my head before going in to see Zach.  This is more of a sit down over a cup of tea kind of conversation anyway.”
         I could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to grab me and physically shake the truth right out of me.  Maybe it was the pathetic look on my face that made her give in and agree to wait.  Regardless, she agreed to my request and started the car.  I curled up into a tight little ball and fell quickly back to sleep.
         Almost immediately it seemed, I was in the middle of a dream—but not the one I was hoping for.  Instead, I was walking down a sandy beach with Zach.  We were right at the water’s edge but my usual fear of drowning wasn’t a concern for me.  It was like my two near-death experiences had never happened.  An alternate timeline of sorts where nothing bad had ever touched either of us.  So when Zach asked me if I wanted to go swimming, I instantly said yes.
         Zach dove in first but I followed right behind him.  No sooner was he in the water than he took off without looking back.  I, however, barely made it three feet from the shore.  While it looked like normal water