Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2)

by Joy Elbel

  “I came to ask you one last time—who pushed me down the stairs?” There was something in his eyes that I couldn’t quite decipher. I’d never seen that look before so I had nothing to compare it to. Even though I had no intentions of getting back together with him, I was definitely disappointed that he wasn’t there to try to change my mind. Did that make me a bad person? It might, but it was the truth.

  Truth. That was something I seemed to have a real hard time with. But I kept secrets to keep him safe—that had to count for something. I could feel my eyes starting to water so I bit my lip in an effort to delay it.

  “I didn’t see anybody—I thought you just fell.” “You’re lying and I know it.” He shifted his arm around in the sling and winced from the pain. “When you’re ready to tell me the truth, you know where to find me. Until then….”

  He didn’t have to finish his sentence because I finished it for him. “I have nothing to say to you.” Of course that was a whopper of a lie. If I told him everything I wanted to say to him, we would both grow old and die right there on the back porch together before I finished. If only Garnet would have pushed me down those stairs instead of him. He was innocent and she never should have dragged him into this.

  Zach opened his mouth slightly as though he were going to say something but changed his mind and walked away instead. I watched him as he got into his car and left. Once he was out of sight, the spell was broken and I twisted the knob to let myself in. My entire body shook as I walked up the stairs to my room. Seeing him devastated me. But I did learn one thing from our encounter. If Garnet killed herself, it was because she was rejected by a boy. I knew I was right because death was the only thing that could remove the pain I felt from losing Zach.

  22. Funny Thing Is, I Never Chew Gum

  I needed something to dull the pain inside so I sat down at my computer and started to write. My hands trembled at the keyboard for the first ten minutes but I ignored it and kept going. Writing didn’t take away all my pain—it was more like a bandage that kept the wound from oozing all over the place. I had no concept of time when I was writing so when Shelly came upstairs and announced that I had a visitor, I assumed it was too early in the day to be anyone but Zach. I was wrong.

  Noon turned into four o’clock in the blink of an eye. When I got to the bottom of the steps, I saw my visitor— Rachel. This was going to be every bit as awkward as my encounter with Zach. She was incredibly close with her brother—they were twins after all. The last time he and I broke up, she didn’t talk to me for a week. This time it was two days. Was that a good sign or a bad one? I didn’t know but I was about to find out.

  Rachel stood in the entrance hall with an armload of books that looked like they weighed more than she did. I wasn’t sure how well she would receive it, but I offered to take them from her anyway.

  “Thanks—they’re super heavy.” The minute her arms were free, her left hand went straight to her hair and she began to nervously twirl a piece between her fingers.

  Awkward silence. I felt like I should say something but I had no idea what. “I’m sorry I broke your brother’s heart…and his arm,” came to mind but I opted for silence instead. But silence was an endangered species when Rachel was around so she started a conversation anyway.

  “So I brought you your homework and stuff. I’m doing the same for my brother, too. My car looks like a mobile library or something….” The hair in her hand was twirling around like a mini tornado.

  “Umm, thanks. How’s school? Is everyone still buzzing about my “acting debut”?” Don’t get me wrong, I was still mortified by that video. But if I didn’t joke about it, I would march right up to Misty and hit her so hard that her implants would burst.

  “Once Mr. Lascher got involved, the gossip died down a lot. He made an announcement that anyone caught with that video would be suspended so there was a simultaneous delete session during homeroom. No one’s said anything about it to me—I actually didn’t even get to see it.” The hair twister calmed from an F5 to a respectable F3.

  Managing a weak laugh, I replied, “You’re probably the only one who didn’t. I hear even the janitor saw it—cataracts and all.”

  Rachel laughed and let her hair fall through her fingers. “I’m sorry Misty did that to you and even sorrier that she got away with it. Someday, she’ll get what’s coming to her—and I hope you’re there to see it when she does.”

  “What do you mean, see it? I’ll be the one serving it to her on a silver platter!” I wasn’t trying to be funny—I really meant it. There would come a day when I had something on Misty and I would use it any way I could.

  “I hope you do—she went too far this time and she deserves to pay for it. I knew she would be mad that you were dating Zach, but….”

  The conversation grew ice cold when she mentioned his name. She probably wanted to talk about our break up. Too bad—because I didn’t.

  The hair tornado whipped into a frenzy once again. I used to think she only did that when she was thinking but obviously nervousness was also a trigger—kind of like when Zach got nervous and his leg bounced up and down. No. Stop. Thinking. About. Zach!

  “So I asked Shelly to keep this a secret for a while, but I think you could use some good news right about now. So when I told her about how the school has an eternal ban on Halloween dances, she had a great idea. There’s going to be a costume party this year after all.”

  I knew what she was going to say before she even said it. The clues all pointed to the dance being held here at Rosewood. How could they possibly think that I would like that idea? Without Zach, fun was lost on me. And now Public Enemy Number One Misty would have access to our house! What kind of damage could she do to me with that? Toilet cam? I shudder to think.

  I wanted to protest, to tell her what a bad idea it was but she was so excited that I didn’t want to make her feel bad. So I faked enthusiasm just like I faked every other emotion lately.

  “That’s cool. Is everyone from school invited?” Maybe they weren’t as dumb as I thought they were, maybe only a select few people were included in the festivities. Maybe…I was right the first time.

  “The entire senior class is invited! It will be the party of the century—I’m getting the invitations together this weekend. Do you want to help me with them?”

  How could I tell her that I hated the idea and that I would never help her pull it off in any way, shape or form? I was already furiously concocting an excuse for why I wouldn’t be able to attend the party in my own house. Then I realized something—I didn’t need to make up an excuse at all. I had a legitimate reason right in the palm of my hand.

  “I can’t help you this weekend—I have a job now.” Rachel’s mouth dropped open. “ You have a job? The daughter of millionaire parents has a job? Where? Better yet, why?”

  “Something Wick-ed. I needed something to fill in my free time since….” How could I finish that sentence without mentioning Zach? The answer was I couldn’t. So I switched gears instead.

  “Just because Dad and Shelly have tons of cash doesn’t mean I do. And besides, I’m going to need every penny I can get my hands on for our…I mean my apartment next year.” Seriously, couldn’t I get through one simple thought without thinking about Zach?

  Rachel gave me a sad look. “So can we talk about Zach? I promised him I wouldn’t interfere, but…” I cut her off in mid-sentence. “Then don’t. It’s over. I’d like to still be friends with you if that’s okay, but I don’t want to talk about him. Ever.”

  “Okay,” she said with disappointment, “And of course I still want to be your friend.” Whew. If there was any hope of salvaging what was left of my senior year, I needed Rachel’s help to do it. When she offered me a hug, I gladly accepted it.

  “Well, I need to get home now but I’ll definitely see you later.” She paused with her hand on the door before leaving. “Oh, and since we’re still friends I need to tell you this,” she said, pointing at my hair. “You looked
much better with the red—blonde is not your shade, girlfriend.”

  Except for the hour and a half I spent at the salon getting my hair fixed, I spent the rest of my week with Rita at Something Wick-ed. There was more to learn than I expected but she guaranteed me that I would be more than ready by Saturday—my first day of working alone. And she was right. Before opening that morning, I was so confident that I was extremely bummed when I realized that I forgot to bring my laptop. I planned on using it to write between customers but now I was left with nothing to fill in the dead time.

  There wasn’t enough time to run home and get it before we opened, so I whined about it to Rita instead. “Couldn’t you just stay for a half hour? I promise I’ll be quick about it—no distractions. I’ll just run in for my laptop and run back out! Come on, say you’ll stay!” I begged.

  Rita shook her fiery red mane side to side. “I can’t Ruby. I need to get on the road ASAP. The rest of the team is waiting for me in Ohio. I have a long drive ahead of me and I’m already running late. Today is the 100th anniversary of the Mossgrove axe murders. Activity at the old farmhouse picked up steadily over the past few months and we nailed the exclusive anniversary investigation.”

  She ran upstairs to grab the last of her luggage and asked me to help her haul it out to her car. “Do you have any idea how many ghost hunting teams competed to get that honor? I heard that Ghost Stalkers even tried to get the exclusive.”

  I stood on the sidewalk and pouted like a five year old but she ignored me and slid into the driver’s seat. She put the passenger side window down and yelled back, “Call me if you need me and if you get bored, check out the filing cabinet by the window—you might find something interesting in there.”

  I reentered the shop and flipped the sign to “open”. Without my laptop, it was going to be a long day. I settled myself on the stool behind the counter and stared out into the street.

  The first two hours dragged by at a snail’s pace. Every customer was over the age of seventy and I had to answer the same question, “Where’s Rita?” for each of them. By midafternoon, though, business picked up and the clientele grew younger. But what was a busy rush at 4:30 turned into a ghost town—pardon the expression—by five, so I found myself wandering into Rita’s office, curious about her parting suggestion.

  The filing cabinet by the window stared me in the face as I contemplated whether or not I wanted to open it. What could be in it that I would find so fascinating? It was probably just a trick Rita used to get me to stop begging her to let me go home for my laptop. I almost walked away without opening it. Almost. Then my curiosity got the better of me and I yanked the top drawer open with a flourish.

  Files. Files? Financial records, business receipts and old tax returns—I guess the joke’s on me. Slamming the drawer shut dramatically, I was surprised to see that the bottom drawer popped out with the impact. Just as I was about to close it too, I noticed one word on the front file that made me stop. Ghost. It was written in red marker and stood out boldly. Pulling the file out further, I read the full inscription. Ringer Road Ghost—1992.

  I flipped quickly through the rest of the drawer. What I was looking at were the details of every case the S.P.I.R.I.T. team worked on since forming in 1992. There were hundreds of files each marked with the name of the haunting and the year they investigated it. Wallace Hall Wraith—1993. Prison Apparitions—1997. Ghost Cat—2005. Would my story be in the last file? Skipping all the way to the back, I found a file marked Rosewood—2012 but it was empty inside. It was kind of weird to know that she was going to document my horrors matter-of-factly and slide it into a manila file for future reference.

  Thinking that I might find even the tiniest hint that could help me with Garnet, I snatched out the first file and returned to my post behind the counter. I opened the file to find that my original thoughts about her writing style were dead wrong. Instead of dry documentary style, the notes from the investigation were compiled into what was essentially a short story.

  Ringer Road got its name from the ghostly legend associated with it since the late eighteen hundreds. An old farmer wandered through the woods in search of his missing cow, ringing a bell as he went in hopes that the cow would follow the sound. As night overtook him, he wandered onto the road and into the path of a horse and carriage. His bell went unheard over the sound of their thundering hoofs and he was struck down by the oncoming carriage. The man was taken to the nearest farmhouse where he died two days later of his injuries. But that wasn’t the last time he was seen. Travelers that very night reported seeing the man standing at the bend in the road, vigorously shaking his bell. As they drew nearer, he vanished into thin air leaving behind only the reverberating chime to echo through their ears. Reported sightings of him number in the thousands with the last recorded sighting only two weeks ago by a young couple driving home from the movies.

  A chill crawled up my spine and nestled into my soul. Sure, I’d faced worse than that in my battles with the paranormal but it was still a frightening story because I knew it was real. And there were hundreds more just like it waiting for me in that filing cabinet. Inspecting the other contents of the file, I found tons of pictures, a small audio cassette and details of the investigation. There was even a list of witnesses they interviewed—that alone took up three sheets of paper. All of this for one harmless man with a bell—imagine what all would be in my file when she finally got around to filling it.

  The clock on the wall chimed six o’clock, effectively ending my first day of work. Not bad, I guess, considering I’d never had a job before. I flipped the sign, tidied up a bit and locked the cash drawer in the office until morning. Replacing the file back into the drawer, I made a decision. My laptop would be staying home again tomorrow—I had something better to do with my spare time.

  I arrived at Something Wick-ed an hour early the next day. Sure, there were things Rita wanted me to do before I opened, but mostly I was anxious to get my hands on that next file. Hurriedly, I shoved the cash drawer into the register and quickly restocked the shelves from the extra stash of candles in the backroom. I finished with thirty minutes left to peruse S.P.I.R.I.T.’s second case—Anger Doesn’t Die.

  I got so involved in the story that I didn’t keep an eye on the time and forgot to open the store. It was five minutes after twelve when a sharp rapping on the glass caught my attention and I realized what I did. Quickly, I bolted from the stool and opened the doors with a sincere apology. A steady stream of customers poured in throughout the day and I didn’t have a chance to read again until after closing. I hung around long after my work was done to finish reading that case and was tempted to start on the next one but refrained. Tomorrow would be my first day back in school since “the incident” and I still had homework to finish. I left Something Wick-ed reluctantly but with a smile. I really liked my job.

  By morning, I was wishing I could say the same about school. It was going to be a bad day for a number of reasons. First, there was the video. Most people probably deleted it from their phones after Mr. Lascher’s threat of suspension, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it was still floating around out there somewhere.

  Second—Misty Landrum was an evil bitch and I swore that I would punch her in the face if she even looked my direction. She probably gloated all week long to her coven about how well her plan worked. She got what she wanted at my expense.

  Third—my embarrassment went far beyond what could be seen in the video. Zach and I had a very nasty public argument before his fight with Ryan so news of our breakup—well, it wasn’t exactly news anymore. Everyone would know, everyone would whisper about it behind my back.

  Fourth—Garnet was still out there somewhere, prowling around in the shadows and planning who knows what kind of attack on me. And I was no closer to finding a way to stop her than when I ran out of the school in tears a week ago.

  Rachel agreed to meet me in front of the auditorium so I didn’t have to walk in alone. I waited nervously in
my car until I saw her little yellow Volkswagen in my rearview mirror. She practically had to drag me out of my car to get me to go with her, though. I wasn’t ready for this—not ready at all.

  “Come on, Ruby! You’re with me—no one will dare say a word. They know I would sic the wrath of Boone on them if they did.” She tugged at my arm until I finally gave in.

  “If you say so.…” Rachel was the most popular girl in school but even so, I doubted her ability to keep the wolves at bay. I was the weak, injured member of the pack—easy prey for anyone looking for a quick kill. I kept my head down on the way in and would have smacked my forehead on the door frame if Rachel hadn’t saved me in time.

  “Deep breath, eyes up, head high. You have to own it—act like it happened but that you could care less.” I tried to follow her instructions but panicked with the first sideways glance I got. Rachel steadied me with her hand and pushed me forward down the hall with her.

  “You have to get used to it. I won’t be with you all day so you need to toughen up fast.” She continued walking, smiling and saying hi to her friends as she went.

  She was right—of course, she was right. I took another deep breath and put a smile on my face, too. The walk to our lockers felt more like a walk to the electric chair. I was relieved when we finally got there and I flung my locker door wide to use it as a makeshift shield. Bad move.

  Inside my locker, swinging in a sinister fashion from the coat hook was a noose. I slammed the door shut so hard the entire line of lockers rattled and shook. Great. I didn’t want to attract attention by having anyone see what was in there but then I went all Incredible Hulk on it and made everyone stop and stare anyway. Smooth, Ruby, real smooth.