Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2)

by Joy Elbel

  He got out of the car, calling my name and buttoning his shirt simultaneously. “Ruby! Come on, sweetie! Get back in the car—we need to talk about this.”

  We needed to talk. Was he seriously going to use that tired old line on me after what almost just happened? I vacillated between fury and humiliation, not sure which one was more appropriate for the situation. I had only seconds to make up my mind. So I went with fury.

  “There isn’t anything to talk about,” I said angrily, facing the opposite direction. I didn’t want to face him—I couldn’t face him. “It’s getting late—I have to go home now.”

  “Ruby! Please, you have to let me explain!” He came up from behind and tried to put his arms around me but I shook him off.

  “No! You don’t want to touch me—I get that! Don’t do something you don’t want to do just because you feel sorry for me or something.”

  “Come on, sweetie! You know that’s not the truth!” he pleaded. “I love you!” “Obviously not enough.” I knew those words would wound him even before I said them. But I said them anyway and couldn’t take them back.

  “Maybe it’s you who doesn’t love me enough.” There wasn’t a hint of anger in his voice. Just sadness. “What’s up with you tonight anyway? You’re not yourself. Or is this who you really are and I just never knew it until now?”

  I couldn’t stand it anymore. “That’s funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you. I want to go home now.”

  “Yeah, that’s probably best.” He was in the Neon and had the engine running in record time. Once inside the car, I refused to look anywhere but straight down at the floor. Seeing his face would have all but killed me.

  When we got to Rosewood, I bolted from the car. But not quite fast enough.

  “I planned on showing you just how much I love you tonight,” he called out.

  Without turning back, I replied, “Yeah, so did I.”

  17. I Blew It. No—Not Literally!

  I snuck upstairs before Dad and Shelly could ask me any questions about my date. What could I possibly say to them about it? “Oh it was great until I tried to seduce Zach and he rejected me—what did you guys do tonight? Oh, and, I hope you didn’t have your hearts set on being grandparents— ever.”

  It was still early, but I got ready for bed anyway. And then I let the tears flow. With my face buried in my pillow, I let it all out. What happened tonight? How could our perfect night—our perfect relationship—become such an epic failure? And what did he mean by that last comment? “I planned on showing you how much I love you tonight?” Supremely cryptic considering that sex obviously had nothing to do with it.

  Misty. She may be nothing but a stupid bitch, but she knew what she was talking about when it came to Zach. He didn’t give in to my advances because he didn’t love me enough which meant she now had a prime opportunity to come between us. But how? I couldn’t see how she could pull it off, but now, honestly, I was afraid to underestimate her. The worst part was that I wasn’t even really mad at him—he just wounded my pride in the worst possible way.

  That was the only reason I lashed out at him. I really owed him a huge apology for that—I knew I did. So I decided to call him immediately and beg for his forgiveness. He wanted to talk and now that I’d calmed down I saw that he was right and I owed him that much. We desperately needed to talk. I dialed his number while practicing my apology but it was a complete waste of time. After what felt like a thousand rings, it went to voicemail. He totally ignored my call! What had I done? If he broke up with me now…. There would be no goodnight mwah for me tonight so I turned off my phone and shoved it into the top drawer of my nightstand. I switched off the light and lay there in the dark with Coco by my side. If I lost him for real this time, I would never be the same again.

  I barely got any sleep. Instead, I tossed and turned restlessly all night. There had to be a way to make it up to him—I just had to figure out how. When I finally fell asleep, I had an odd dream. It wasn’t the usual paranormal-themed nightmare. It was worse. I dreamed that Zach broke up with me. It felt so real that I woke up crying and for about ten seconds I thought it actually happened. Once I realized it was just a dream, I snatched my phone to call him. He would probably still be asleep, but I didn’t care. What I had to say to him was worth waking him up for. But just like before, it went straight to voicemail. This time though, I chose to leave a message.

  “Zach, it’s Ruby. I’m sorry about how I acted last night—please call me. You’re right, we do need to talk.” I couldn’t believe I just used the “we need to talk” routine. I felt so stupid I decided to hang up before I embarrassed myself anymore. The second I hit “end” I realized I forgot to tell him that I loved him. Should I call him back just to say it? I almost did but changed my mind. If he was thinking about breaking up with me, one call too many could be enough to tip the scales against my favor. Sinking back onto my bed in complete devastation, I decided to stay right there until he called me back. He would call back the minute he woke up, wouldn’t he?

  When noon came and went, I realized that wasn’t going to happen. It was Saturday—Zach would already be at the shelter by now. He was avoiding me on purpose. And speaking of avoiding people, Rachel would be here soon and wanting to know how our date went. I just couldn’t tell her the truth. I had to get out of this house and get out fast.

  I had no idea where I was going—I just drove. The only thing I took with me was my phone in case he called me. There wasn’t a lot of gas in my tank and no purse meant no money to fill it. After a quick drive by of the shelter to see if he was there—and he was—I went to the closest place where I knew I would be alone. The Hideout. Our Hideout. Or did it now belong solely to him again?

  I walked to the top, sat down, and looked out over the town. Charlotte’s Grove. I’d only lived here for a few months but I’d had more drama here than a lifetime’s worth in Trinity and all of it tied back to him somehow. My world revolved around Zach and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Did I take what Misty said too seriously? She was some dumb whore that he wouldn’t sleep with before he met me, what made me think he would change his mind about her now? Maybe she knew I was in the restroom that day and said what she did to get me to do something stupid like try to seduce him. If that was the case, I totally fell for it. But it was just so weird—why didn’t he want to have sex with me? That was all boys our age ever thought about, wasn’t it?

  It all boiled down to one dumb cliché. Zach and I really did need to talk—about a lot of things. He was the only one who had the answers to my questions so I needed to go to the source. Good relationships were built on communication, or at least that’s what they said on all of those stupid afternoon talk shows. But did that mean I would have to tell him the truth about everything? Would it hurt to keep this one little thing from him? Okay, so it was really that one big, hulking, ever present thing that would affect me—and him, too—until the day I died?

  Speaking of which, I still had to get rid of Garnet. But how could I think about her at a time like this? She’d done alright without me for the last twenty years and I had more important things to deal with now. She was simply going to have to wait her turn. Zach came first—that’s all there was to it. When my phone finally buzzed for the first time all day, I knew it had to be him. He got over his anger and was ready to talk things out with me. Imagine my disappointment when I saw that the text was from Rachel instead.

  “So…how surprised were u?!” Surprised? That was hardly the word I would use to describe last night. What was she referring to? I texted her back. “Surprised by what?”

  She replied almost instantly. “Zach’s big surprise, dummy!” Dummy was right. He had something big planned for me and I ruined it by trying to writhe around on him like some big haired chick in an eighties video. Now I felt even worse. I had some serious apologizing to do. And some explaining, too. Rachel wouldn’t rest until I told her how our date went.

  “We argued—never got 2 t
he surprise.”

  I sat back and waited for her reply. She didn’t keep me waiting for long.

  “Oh no! What happened?” Part of me wanted to spill the entire story to her. But he was the one I needed to talk to—not his sister. Not again, not this time. I knew she would want to kill me for not telling her what happened, but she was simply going to have to deal with it.

  “Can’t tell you—have 2 talk 2 Zach first.” I sent the text and turned my phone off so she couldn’t talk me into changing my mind about it.

  Zach usually worked at the shelter until four on Saturdays, so I still had a few hours to wait until we could talk. I decided to spend them sitting on the hill and admiring the view. Fall was in its infancy but the leaves were already starting to turn. In a few more weeks, the colors would be breathtaking and I thought about sharing it with Zach. We could sit here wrapped together in a blanket talking about the future and how we wanted to spend it together. Things would be okay once we had a chance to talk. Things would be more than okay. I had to keep believing that.

  When I got tired, I lay down on the grass and watched the clouds instead. I slipped into sleep quickly and deeply. When I finally woke up, my first instinct was to turn on my phone. It was almost five o’clock—he must have gotten back to me by now. One final text from Rachel was all I found. I didn’t understand. Why didn’t he get back to me? Or worse yet, he would have seen my car when he drove home—why didn’t he come up to see me? My chest got that hollow feeling inside. The one that came when someone you loved ripped your heart out and stomped on it before handing it back bruised and caked with dirt.

  Was he just going to leave it like this—no response, no closure? It couldn’t end like this. I loved him too much for that. But what could I do? Should I call him again? Should I stop by his house? I had to see him—we had to talk things out before it was too late. I walked down to my car determined to find him so I could fix what I had childishly broken.

  I drove with confidence and bravery until I got to his house and saw that his car wasn’t there. Panic enslaved me. He wouldn’t be out with anyone else so soon, would he? Not without officially breaking up with me first, right? He had to still be at the shelter—that was the only scenario that made sense. So I turned the car around and went to find out.

  There was only one car parked at the shelter and it wasn’t his. I didn’t know where else to look for him so I returned to Rosewood infinitely more depressed than I was when I left. Dad and Shelly were on their way out to dinner and invited me to go with them. How could I eat at a time like this? I assured them I would throw together a sandwich or something but that I had to stay home to do homework. It wasn’t a complete lie. I really did have homework—I just wasn’t going to do it. Instead, I went upstairs to call Zach. He would answer my call this time—I was sure of it.

  For about the millionth time in my life, I was wrong. No answer. So I gave in and texted Rachel instead.

  “Where’s Zach?”

  She responded instantly. “He’s not with u?” I wanted to cry. If Rachel didn’t know where he was, I was out of ideas. I sent back a quick “no” in response and threw my phone down on the bed. He hated me—that was all there was to it. There was no way I could focus on homework, so I listened to music instead. By music, I mean all of the songs that reminded me of him. And I cried until there weren’t any tears left.

  Trying to fight my way through the despair, I texted Rachel again.

  “When u hear from him, let me know. I really need 2 talk 2 him.”

  “K. Wish u would tell me what happened.” I couldn’t tell her what I did last night, it was too embarrassing. Even if she was my best friend, she was still his sister. “Sorry—it’s kinda private.”

  “K. I hate when u guys fight.”

  “Thnx—me 2.” Time for the waiting game. If patience is a virtue, I would never be a saint. This was the hardest part, sitting there wondering where he was and whether or not he would forgive me. A sudden urge came over me, so I planted myself at the desk and turned on the computer. It was time to start writing again. Writing was something I used to love doing back when Lee was still alive. writing for hours while he

  I would sit in the cemetery sketched headstone after headstone. It always made me feel better about whatever was troubling me. And something huge certainly was troubling me now. Why did every fight we have seem infinitely worse than the last?

  I sat at the keyboard and just let it flow straight from my subconscious mind and onto the monitor. Hours flew by as my story started to take shape. And then my phone rang. It was almost nine o’clock. Please let it be Zach! I sat there in fear of my very own phone. What if it wasn’t him? It was such a disappointment to wait for a call or text and then when you finally got one, it was from the wrong person. I was afraid to look to see who was calling me. As long as I didn’t look, I would never be disappointed. I could sit here all night believing that it was him even if it wasn’t. But of course, letting it go to voicemail would get me nowhere. I had to face epic disappointment and just look at the damn thing already to see if I wanted to answer it or not. So I peeked at it quickly with one eye closed and gave a huge sigh of relief. It was him.

  I answered the phone anxiously. “Zach?”

  He sounded distant when he replied, “Yeah.” Oh no. Was he going to break up with me over the phone? I mean, the least he could do was rip my soul out face to face like the last time. Regardless of what was in store for me, I had to apologize and at least try to fix things.

  “I’m sorry about last night.”

  There was a very long, very agonizing pause before he replied, “Me, too.” It was a step in the right direction so I continued on with a faint glimmer of hope. “Can I see you tonight? We really need to talk.” Really? Did I really just use that dumb line on him again?

  Instead of a reply, I got dead silence. Nothing. So I tried again. “Zach?”

  “I’m still here.”

  Well he could have fooled me. That glimmer of hope I had was fading rapidly. “Can I meet you at The Hideout?” The sound of a deep exhale came from his end of the line. “Just make it quick, okay? Don’t drag this out any longer than you have to.”

  What? That was a cold hearted thing to say. I knew for sure what was coming—I was going to The Hideout to get dumped. My world was going to fall apart no matter what, so I might as well get it over with.

  “See you in fifteen?” My heart began to shrivel in my ribcage just thinking about what was about to happen.

  “Fifteen,” he agreed and the line went dead. My hands shook as I inserted the keys into the ignition. I felt like a death row inmate when the governor failed to call—the end was inevitable, so just get it over with. Gas me until the pain was gone. He was already there when I pulled in, firing up the gas chamber, no doubt. I was about to get out of my car when he yanked open the passenger door and flung himself inside.

  “Just get it over with quickly, okay. It’s not nice to play with your food before you eat it.” His face was red and puffy like he’d been crying.

  “What do you mean?” I was confused. Did he actually think I was there to break up with him? “I know why we’re here—you’re breaking up with me. So pull the trigger and let me go. Just be humane about it, okay.”

  That was exactly what he thought. “Oh, Zach! I thought you wanted to break up with me. After last night and the way I acted.…”

  “So you want to stay together? Even after what happened?” “Zach Mason, I will never break up with you! You’re the only thing that keeps me going!” All of the tension in my body released, rushing out of me in waves.

  He grabbed me and hugged me close. “I’m so sorry about everything, Ruby.” “No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” I held onto him like I never wanted to let him go. Because I didn’t. “We need to talk about it though. There are things I need to tell you, things I need to ask you.”

  “Shhh, not tonight. Tonight I just need to hold you. When I thought I’d lost you….”


  “You’ll never lose me, Zach. Nothing in this world could make me want to live my life without you.” So we held each other quietly until I had to go home. Thinking about that night later, one poor choice of words kept coming back to haunt me. “Nothing in this world.”

  18. Break Up, Break Down

  I was so relieved that we were still together that I wasn’t even the slightest bit upset when he told me just before I had to leave that he wouldn’t have time to see me the next day. There was a mass rescue of forty cats from a house across town and Andy needed his help. So me being the awesome girlfriend that I was, I volunteered to help them.

  “Thanks, sweetie! You know I always need you around, but tomorrow especially. After spending the last twenty-four hours thinking that you wanted to dump me, I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”

  “I agree completely—I spent the last twenty-four hours feeling the very same way.” I felt so much better now that I knew he still loved me. Like that piece of my heart I entrusted to him was still locked safely away for eternity.

  “So now we’ll have two people to help us get them settled while we get some of them in to be neutered.”

  Two? “Oh, who else will be there?”

  “Didn’t I tell you? Chloe decided to start volunteering on weekends. Tomorrow will be her first day.” Chloe. I liked the girl, honestly I did, but something about knowing she was going to be spending every weekend with my boyfriend struck a raw nerve. Maybe he really did forget to tell me about it, but was it just a coincidence that she did, too? Or did she not say anything on purpose? If there wasn’t anything weird going on, why keep it such a big secret? I faked enthusiasm but tucked that knowledge into a safe place in my brain so that I could revisit it later. It wasn’t that I thought he was cheating on me with her, it just felt like there was something between them that I wasn’t a part of. And I didn’t like it.