Dying Dreams (Book 1 of Dying Dreams Trilogy) Read Online Free

about them six months before. He’d started testing her. She told him about the dreams she’d had in the past, always about dissection animals and he found out exactly how they’re killed and prepared for dissection. She’d never looked into it before, but it matched her dreams perfectly. Still, the method of death wasn’t terribly surprising and Liza figured she’d just made a reasonable assumption in her subconscious and then dreamed it.
    So, Ellison concocted some tests. A buddy of his had killed a deer and they didn’t tell Liza how. That night she dreamed she was a deer shot with an arrow, she’d run off and been taken down by two more arrows. Her dream replicated exactly what had happened. Ellison was convinced, but she wasn’t ready to believe it until he took her to the local vet’s office. He’d slept with a girl who worked there, Liza accused him of sleeping with her just to get an in at the vet’s office but he denied it, and she let Liza get close to a dog who’d died in an unusual way.
    That night, she dreamed that the dog, a German shepherd, was chasing a squirrel. The dog ran into the street following its prey and almost got hit by a car. The dog made it across the street and into the woods and was caught in a bear trap. The dog, though bleeding heavily, was still feeling strong and probably would have survived but, in its effort to get free, it made a lot of noise and a pack of coyotes took advantage of the easy prey. It was a horrific, painful death and she told Ellison she was done. She wasn’t going to play his game anymore. He apologized and felt terrible. He gave her the report of the dog’s death and it matched her dream exactly. They were both convinced after that, but they never talked about it again and she’d hoped never to die in another dream.
     
    The biology lab at East Carolina University was empty when Liza arrived, so she started working. The university had suffered extensive flooding and wind damage in a major hurricane six years before and many campus buildings had had to be condemned. There hadn’t been money to replace the buildings, so modular classrooms had been moved in and now constituted the science department. What the school lacked in looks it made up for in the dedication and achievements of its faculty.
    Liza was putting together specimens for an undergraduate summer school class, an underwater botany section. She used the seaweed she’d picked up the day before – the bits her friend didn’t need for her project – as well as samples they’d ordered that were from different fresh and saltwater bodies around the world. It was actually a pretty interesting array. She got everything together and laid it on the desks next to the students’ microscopes. The professor she was assisting, Dr. Gupp, showed up as she was finishing. He was older than her, in his mid-forties and starting to grey, but he looked like he was in his early thirties. He was in great shape, tan and lean, and he had an easygoing and fun personality. She’d never seen him get angry, but that morning he looked worried.
    “Morning, Liza,” he said, as he walked in. “Would you mind putting off what you’re doing for a moment to speak with me?”
    “Sure, Gupp,” she said, not worried. She worked hard for Dr. Gupp and was over two-thirds of the way through her dissertation. Whatever he was worried about couldn’t possibly affect her directly. She followed him back to his office and sat down in the chair in front of his desk. She was still tired from her night out and it felt good to sit. Dr. Gupp sat on the corner of his desk and looked down at her.
    “Where’d you find those samples you gave me yesterday?”
    She wanted to tell Gupp the truth, but she’d promised Agent Rice she wouldn’t and, well, the whole story just sounded too weird in her head. “There was a dead fish washed up on shore. I’d never seen anything like it before.”
    Gupp nodded. “Any chance you bagged the fish