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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Dream Student (Dreams #1) by J.J. DiBenedetto Blog Barrage

Published April 2nd, 2013

Description:

What would you do if you could see other people’s dreams? If you could watch their hidden fantasies and uncover their deepest, darkest secrets…without them ever knowing?

Sara Barnes is about to find out. She thought that all she had to worry about was final exams, Christmas shopping and deciding whether she likes the cute freshman in the next dorm who’s got a crush on her.

But when she starts seeing dreams that aren’t hers, she learns more than she ever wanted to know about her friends, her classmates…and a strange, terrifying man whose dreams could get Sara killed.

“Dream Student” is the thrilling first installment of the Dreams series.

 Excerpt:

There’s someone in bed with me.  Someone’s next to me, someone warm and soft and he’s – wait a minute, that’s not right.  There isn’t any “he” at the moment for me to be in bed with.

She.  It’s Beth.  She’s in bed with me – I don’t know why, I don’t remember – and then it all comes back in a rush.  I had a nightmare, I freaked out, and she decided I needed to be held.  Except it isn’t helping.  I sit up, and it’s as though it never went out of my head - I’m seeing it again, the bedroom, the man, the… 

Beth stirs herself awake, sits up.  I can barely see her; I’m still in that bedroom, still watching that helpless girl scratching and clawing and…

Beth fades in and out of view; for a moment I can see her more clearly.  Her eyes narrow, focusing on mine.  Then she’s gone again, and I’m watching the – the – the murder.  That’s what it is.  I can’t get it out of my head.

I feel – what?  A hand, soft, gentle, on my cheek.  It’s Beth.  She’s back.  She’s moving towards me, her face is just an inch or two away from mine, her lips are…

“What the hell are you doing?”  The bedroom and the man and his victim are gone, and Beth is suddently three or four feet away from me, her hand up, bracing herself against the wall.  My hands are out in front of me; I must have shoved her away into the wall without even realizing what I was doing.

She’s staring hard at me, right into my eyes, trying to see if I’m back here with her, if the nightmare is out of my mind.  It certainly is.  She stares for another moment or two and then, without any warning, she dissolves into laughter.  “You should – God, you should see your face right now!”

I don’t really see what’s funny about anything right now.  “What were you doing?” I snap at her, breathing rapidly.

She needs a few seconds to recover her composure.  “You were gone again, and I felt like I had to do something to bring you back.  It was either that or a good hard slap.”

My breathing slows; it’s almost back to normal.  “I guess that makes sense.”  I think I might have preferred the slap.  But I have to admit that her way did work; I’m certainly not thinking about the nightmare now.  I'm pretty sure she's driven it away for the night. 

About the author:

J.J. (James) DiBenedetto was born in Yonkers, New York. He attended Case Western Reserve university, where as his classmates can attest, he was a complete nerd. Very little has changed since then.

He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia with his beautiful wife and their cat (who has thoroughly trained them both). When he's not writing, James works in the direct marketing field, enjoys the opera, photography and the New York Giants, among other interests.

The ‘Dreams’ series is James’ first published work.

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