Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2)

by Joy Elbel

  How was he going to react? I never thought that far ahead. Too late now—the words were already out there. Dr. Matthews put his arm around my shoulders. That was a good sign right? “I know you do, Zach. Shelly and I had a long conversation with your parents about what happened. They told us about the steps you’ve been taking to better yourself. But what impresses me, is that you chose to join that group yourself. It wasn’t something forced on you—it was your decision. Any man who recognizes his own weaknesses and works to change them, well, that’s the kind of man I want my daughter to date.”

  Holy hell. He called me a man! My chest swelled out noticeably as I tried to show that I was worthy of that title. “But,” he warned, “We will keep an eye on your progress. One more incident like the one you had with that Fedderhoff boy and you’ll never see my daughter again.”

  There always had to be a “but”. I could feel my chest rapidly deflate after that but I had to press on. “I promise I won’t step out of line again, sir. She means a lot to me and I don’t want to disappoint her—or you—ever again.”

  “I hope you don’t.” Dr. Matthews dropped the serious father routine and started to walk toward the mansion. “And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Jason?”

  After a much easier apology to Shelly, I was back in their good graces again and I went upstairs to find Rachel. What I found was my sister making out with Boone. How disgusting.

  “Really guys, aren’t you supposed to be focusing on me right now? If there’s any hope of me getting Ruby back, I’m gonna need your help.”

  Rachel broke away from Boone to get a good look at me. “Oh, Zach! You look hot!” Normally, I would have been creeped out to hear my sister say I was hot but tonight I needed every ego boost I could get. “Thanks, I guess. So come, on let’s go over the plan one more time.”

  Rachel rolled her eyes at me. “For the hundredth time, Zach, when Ruby gets here I’ll give her enough time to look around and see that you’re not here. Then, I’ll have her help me pass out the masks and give her the one that matches yours. When I send Boone to come get you, you pop out of nowhere and steal her heart.”

  She made it all sound so easy. “But what if….” “No ifs and no buts!” she said handing me a silver mask trimmed with gray feathers, “Trust me little brother, she’ll be yours by the end of the night.”

  Mine by the end of the night. I liked the sound of that. I took the mask from her and stuffed it into the pocket of my cape. “Okay, where am I supposed to hide?”

  “Over here.” Rachel led me out of the ball room and into a small bedroom next door. “You can watch out the window for her while you wait. Oh, and Chloe can’t make it until late anyway so Ruby won’t even know she’s here until after you guys are back together.”

  Rachel was halfway out the door when she turned around and threw something at my chest. I looked down to find a condom caught in the fur trim of my costume. “Just in case,” she said with a wink and closed the door behind her.

  I stuffed the condom deep into my pocket—I wouldn’t need it but I definitely didn’t want Dr. Matthews to see it— and took a look around. Luckily, my hiding spot was one of the rooms Rachel and Shelly fully redecorated already. So I pulled a chair up to the window and watched for Ruby to come home. One by one, I heard the chaperones arrive—each time sending my heart into a frenzy thinking I was about to catch a glimpse of my beautiful Ruby. Impatiently, I checked my watch. It was 5:30 already. Her shift at Something Wicked ended at five. According to Shelly, on a normal day she would be home by about now but she insisted on stopping for party snacks so tonight she would be a little late.

  I was about to kick back and try to relax for a little bit when another car zoomed down the drive. The second I saw the nose of her car I knew it was her. She was early. The thumping in my chest increased until I was afraid she would hear it even from below. I stepped back from the window so she wouldn’t see me but I kept her in my sights. Any second now she would be inside the house only feet from where I stood.

  But something was wrong. She stayed in her car staring straight ahead with her hands still on the steering wheel. I knew that look—she was thinking hard about something. What was on her mind? She couldn’t have seen my car—there weren’t any windows in the garage and her dad closed the door while we were talking. Suddenly, she stared directly at the window I was watching her from. There was no way I was visible so I stayed in position and locked eyes with her. It was weird—like she could sense that I was there. She looked away quickly but her eyes came back to the same spot one more time before she finally got out of the car.

  I crept to the door to listen for the sound of her footsteps but they never came. Instead, there was a light knock on the door which nearly gave me a heart attack. I opened the door a crack and found my sister on the other side of it.

  “Hey, Ruby forgot to stop at the store so she’s going back there now,” Rachel announced as she pushed the door open and walked in. “You’re safe for at least fifteen minutes— come take a look at the decorations and stuff.”

  “No thanks, Rachel. I kinda want to be alone right now.” I flopped back down into the chair and closed my eyes. I felt her arm slip around my shoulders and she said quietly, “I know how much you miss her, Zach. Just hold on a little while longer, okay? Things are going to work out for you two—I’m sure of it. The pain I see in your eyes since you broke up—well, I see it in her eyes, too. Just tell her how you feel, tell her she’s the only girl for you. You said she’s trying to keep a secret from you, right? Something big, something that would affect your future together, right?”

  Slowly, I opened my eyes. I tried to answer her but if I did I knew I would start to cry. So instead, I nodded my head yes.

  “Okay, whatever that secret is, if you’re willing to live with it—tell her that. Tell her you know everything and that it doesn’t change how you feel about her. Tell her you love her no matter what.”

  And I did love her no matter what. I knew exactly how my accident happened in the stairwell that day and I knew why she didn’t want to tell me the truth. Ruby could see ghosts and I was okay with that. Now proving that to her was going to be the hard part.

  “I will, Rachel.” I reached up and gave my sister a big hug. She deserved it. She’d gone out of her way to help me win Ruby back for the second time. Rachel was the best sister in the world but if I told her that, she would never let me live it down. “Thanks for everything.”

  “Well, it looks like people are starting to arrive so I better go play hostess since Ruby’s not here.” She gave me an encouraging smile as she left the room. “If you need anything, text me.”

  So I sat there alone in a room growing steadily darker while waiting for my cue. Music and laughter filtered through the wall making me feel even lonelier than I already was. I checked my watch every few minutes, first out of boredom then eventually out of worry. Ruby should be back by now. What if something bad happened to her while I was hiding in here like a coward? What if she was hurt or in danger? I knew nothing about this new ghost in her life—could this one be more dangerous than Scarlet was?

  And what was up with her rapid weight loss? She was so thin and pale lately. God, I hope she’s not seriously sick. She threw up a few times at the beginning of the year but I thought she was just stressing over school. When I mentioned it to Rachel, she actually said she thought Ruby looked great—I should have known she wouldn’t get it. Chloe agreed with me, but neither of us knew how to talk to her about it when she wouldn’t even say hello to us. If she wasn’t sick, there was only one other option.

  She was doing this to herself on purpose. Girls took drastic measures when they thought they were fat—could Ruby be anorexic? I never made her feel that way did I? Did she think I wouldn’t sleep with her because she wasn’t skinny enough for me? She was beyond perfect just the way she was—there wasn’t a single thing I would change about her. But girls could be so sensitive sometimes. One time when we w
ere young, I told Rachel she had legs like Kermit the Frog. I was just pulling a stupid, mean brother trick but she took me seriously. She refused to wear shorts until middle school, like five years later. I told her that I was just messing around with her, but she took it to heart. If I said or did anything that made Ruby feel less than perfect, I wanted to know what it was so I could fix it.

  All of these thoughts made me even more worried about where she was. I pulled out my phone and texted Rachel. “Almost 7—u heard from Ruby?”

  An eternity went by while I waited for her reply. It came in one short word. “No.” I couldn’t stay there in that room worrying about her anymore. Pacing the floor, I checked the window about every ten seconds for some sight of her. I texted Rachel one more time. “S’thin’s wrong—goin 2 look 4 her.”

  I barely set one foot out of the bedroom door when Rachel came bolting down the hallway. “No, Zach! You’ll ruin everything! I’m worried about her, too, but why don’t you let someone else go? Jason was getting ready to go anyway so just sit back and let him find her.”

  “Is he going now?”

  “Yes, just relax. If she was in an accident, we would know by now. She’s probably having car trouble.”

  “Fine. But if you don’t hear from her or him in five minutes, I’m going after her myself.”

  “Five minutes? He’ll barely have the car out of the garage in five. At least give him fifteen!”

  “Five minutes is my final offer.” I tapped my watch and noted the time. “And it starts right now.” Rachel knew when it was pointless to argue with me and that time was now. “Fine,” she said as she stomped away in that ridiculous vampiress outfit. “I’ll let them know. Just get back in your room.”

  I sat back down with the intention of watching every second of that five minutes tick by. No sooner did my ass hit the cushion when I got a text from Rachel. “She’s here!!” I breathed a huge sigh of relief that she was okay then caught it in my throat when I realized it was almost go time. What if she didn’t love me as much as I thought she did? What if I left here tonight even more brokenhearted than I already was? What if she didn’t believe me when I told her the truth about me and Chloe? Would Chloe be willing to reveal her secret to help me?

  Now that she was here, I really started to panic. She could get mad and kick me out. She could tell me never to come near her again. Ruby was a beautiful girl—what if some other guy made a move on her before I got to her? If I found some slobbering idiot with his hands all over her I would….

  I would do nothing. My anger got me into this—it certainly wasn’t going to get me out of it. If she found someone else—regardless of who he was—I would wish her luck and walk away. Then I would go home and cry until my eyeballs fell out of their freakin’ sockets.

  What was taking so long? I texted Rachel to find out.

  “In shower—wanna join her? ;)” “Smart ass.” She knew I would give anything for an opportunity like that. Just the mere thought of it was enough to make my hormone level rise along with other things. I concentrated on unpleasant thoughts to get rid of it—Viking princes wielded axes not swords.

  I just got my crotch under control when the door opened and Boone appeared.

  “Hey, Romeo, time for action!” Finally. My legs nearly gave out beneath me—that’s how nervous I was. But I had to pull it together if I hoped to impress her so I pretended I was as confident about this plan as Rachel was and walked into the ballroom.

  The room was dimly lit and full of people so I scanned the room blindly in search of her. The crowd at the center of the room began to diminish until there was only one person left standing in it. My Viking princess. If I hadn’t known we were dressed alike, I never would have known it was her— the blond hair threw me off. But the closer I got, it was like I could feel that it was her, feel the energy start to build. She was the last one in the room to see me. When she turned around, I fell in love with her all over again.

  She was gorgeous. Her costume fit her perfectly— every curve of her body was visible beneath the icy blue fabric of her dress. I wanted to take her in my arms and never let her go. I was about to make my move when she said something unintelligible and started to flee. For a split second, I considered letting her go.

  But I changed my mind and reached out for her hand hoping I would catch her in time. I thought I was too late until I felt the warmth of her skin on mine and the same powerful current I felt the first time we touched. She didn’t resist me. Instead, she turned to face me and I melted. Her eyes simply captivated me. They were wide with surprise and the color of her dress made them emeralds sparkling in appear greener than usual, like the moonlight. I stood there

  mesmerized by her as the band started to play.

  30. The Moment We’ve Both Been Waiting For

  My whole body trembled as we stood there staring at each other in silence. I’d never felt such intensity before. I went through every range of emotions possible but in the end it all came back to my love for Zach. Just like always. But what good could come of it? How could I possibly walk away from him after this? When that song ended, I would be irreparably broken. Good sense told me to run away now before I lost any more of myself to him.

  But when he finally broke the spell and pulled me close, I ignored my mind and gave in to what my heart wanted. Crimson’s voice was hauntingly beautiful as she sang a love song that felt like it was written just for us. I wasn’t paying much attention to the lyrics, though—not with Zach’s arms around me. I didn’t even care that he was clumsy with his left arm because of the cast. He was perfect even when he wasn’t.

  It felt like we were alone in the universe with only our hearts to guide us. I was so caught up in this beautifully twisted illusion of reality that I forgot about everything that separated us in the first place. I wanted this moment to last forever. But sadness grew within me as I realized that our lives weren’t perfect and that all of those imperfections would once again resurface the moment the song ended.

  I had to get away from him before I fell in too deep. Releasing my hands from around his neck, I turned to go before he saw the tears that were about to flow. But he held firmly to my waist and pulled me into him. He was behind me now with his hands on my stomach and his head bent close to mine. The sound of his soft breath in my ear was all it took for me to surrender. I leaned my head against his chest and entwined my arms with his. We danced this way until the last words of the song escaped Crimson’s lips.

  The spell was broken. Or was it? The music changed tempo but we remained in our lover’s embrace. I tried to find the strength to walk away but I couldn’t. Then he whispered in my ear.

  “Ruby,” he spoke softly with words that were only meant for me to hear, “Walk with me. There’s something you need to know.”

  Oh no. A knot grew in my stomach larger than the one I had when I broke into the school. What could he want to tell me? If he told me he got Chloe pregnant, I would die right there on the spot. Part of me didn’t want to know what was on his mind. Luckily, that part was overruled by a burning curiosity to hear him out.

  When I turned to face him, I forgot all about the tears that were now streaming down my cheeks. He noticed them instantly and brushed them away with the fingertips of his broken arm. There was something so vulnerable, so unguarded about the way he did it. It was like he was using the broken pieces of himself to fix the shattered pieces of me. I wanted him more than ever. I wanted him enough to tell him the truth—all of it.

  I wanted to just start blurting it out right there on the dance floor regardless of who was listening. I wanted to shout “I love you Zach Mason!” as loud as my voice would allow me to. Instead, I nodded my head and let him lead me out of the ball room. He held my hand as we descended the steps and walked out the front door of the mansion.

  “You don’t mind if we talk out here, do you?” he said as he guided me out to the oak grove, “It’s really hot in there.” Hot? Try on fire. My costume had me hot enough o
n its own not to mention the heat we generated between us. “No, this is fine.”

  The crisp fall air nipped at my skin and it was heavenly. As we made our way out to a private spot, the leaves crunched under our feet but it was the only sound we made. We walked to the one spot where moonlight found a way to filter through the leafy canopy to the ground and he stopped.

  “Ruby, I know who pushed me down the stairs that day.” That was it? That was why he brought me out here? To tell me some convoluted theory he had about which one of Ryan’s friends exacted revenge on Ryan’s behalf? I considered baring my soul to him and this was what he wanted to tell me. Dumbfounded, I just stared at him. When I didn’t respond, he repeated himself like I was supposed to know who he thought was responsible.

  “Okay,” he said, “let me try this a different way. I know your secret, Ruby. I know you can see ghosts and it doesn’t change how I feel about you. I love you regardless.”

  My secret? I could feel my eyes widen as I tried to figure out what to do or say next. My next words to him were crucial so I paused to consider them. As I was thinking about my next move, I stared at the ground by my feet. That’s when I saw it—the pink stone I saw the day he brought me out here when he found the stitches in the back of my head. Something about that stone reminded me of him that day and of how my world would forever be changed by having known him. That day was months ago, but nothing about how I felt about him had changed, nor would it ever. That’s how I knew that I needed to be honest with him. I bent over and picked up the stone and concealed it in my pocket before admitting the truth.

  “How did you figure it out? I wanted to tell you, but I thought telling you would change things—or worse yet, put you in danger.” I stroked the cast on his arm. It made me sad to know that it was my fault that he got hurt.

  “I knew it a split second before I fell. Those weren’t ordinary hands shoving against my back. There was just pressure and then an icy sensation cut through me. I remembered how Rachel described the attack during the séance and I knew I was experiencing the same thing.”