Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2)

by Joy Elbel

  I listened carefully as Mr. Hartley described his daughter’s weight loss. The similarities to what Ruby went through in the last few months were striking.

  “It all started when Garnet got a bad case of food poisoning at the end of her freshman year. She was incredibly sick for nearly a week. When she finally felt well enough to get out of bed, she found herself ten pounds lighter. I’d never seen her so happy and I was happy for her. But it was the catalyst for something dark, something negative.

  “She started running that summer and the weight began to fall off. Dinner at our house was normal—she ate almost as much as I did so I attributed the weight loss to exercise. By the time September rolled around, she was thin but not excessively so. For the first time ever, she was excited to go back to school. I was so proud of her because she was acting more like a normal teenager than I’d ever seen her act.”

  I didn’t like where this was going. Ruby got sick the first day of school and blamed it on Shelly’s eggs. Then she started running the track after school. It felt like she was following the same path as Garnet. How far down that path would she go? Several minutes had passed but there was still no sign of Ruby. But girls always took forever in the bathroom. What exactly did they do in there anyway? And why did they always seem to go in there in packs? The thought of grabbing Boone and asking him to accompany me to the toilet was such an insane thought but girls seemed to need a partner almost every time they went. Girls. Would I ever fully understand them?

  But not this time—Ruby was definitely alone. I had to go find her but I still didn’t know what was in Garnet’s suicide note. Normally, I’m a fairly patient person but not today. I wanted to just stand up and yell “Get to the point!” but I didn’t. My leg started to bounce up and down involuntarily. It happened every time I got really nervous but I never noticed it until Ruby pointed it out. Ruby. Everything always came back to her. It was like everything in the world reminded me of her in some way. I couldn’t imagine a world without her in it. Just spit it out, Mr. Hartley!

  “One day though, she came home crying. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong but I guessed that it was because of a boy. After that day, I noticed she didn’t seem to be eating much. Garnet started losing more and more weight. I took her to her favorite restaurant one night to cheer her up, hoping I could get her to eat. When she cleaned her whole plate, I was ecstatic until we got home and I heard her throw it all back up.”

  Dammit! Where was she? She should have been back by now. She wasn’t in there vomiting, was she? Ruby seemed so weak lately—what if she was passed out on the bathroom floor and she needed my help? Hurry up, Mr. Hartley!

  “I was about to get her some professional help when she started to change, started to seem happy again. When she asked if she could go to the Halloween dance, I agreed without hesitation. My daughter had never been to a school dance so I figured it was a good sign that she was doing better. I’ve spent the last twenty years wishing that I’d told her no.”

  Okay, here it comes. He was about to get to the part I was waiting for. As soon as he did, I would go find her. Just hold on a little longer, Ruby!

  “They found her body in the girl’s locker room that night. I knew how she did it but I never found out why she did it. My daughter left this world with no explanation.” Mr. Hartley paused to wipe away a tear. “Not even so much as a note to say goodbye.”

  “But she did leave a note—Ruby saw it!” I was so shocked by what he said that I actually said the words out loud. There wasn’t anyone sitting near me so I figured I was in the clear. Until a voice behind me responded.

  “Zach! What did you just say?” I turned around and came face to face with Mr. Raspatello who looked distraught and on the verge of tears. My mind raced to come up with a way to cover my tracks but fell short. There was something about the look on his face that stopped me from even trying to lie to him.

  “Come with me, Zach,” Mr. Raspatello said as he opened the door to the auditorium. Was I in trouble? If I got into any more trouble, I would get kicked out of school for sure. But I couldn’t waste time talking to him when Ruby needed me. And something told me she really needed me. Now.

  I had to risk expulsion and go find her. “Not now, Mr. Raspatello! I have to go find Ruby. I think she might be in trouble.”

  Pushing past him, I decided not to stop until I found her, not to turn around regardless of what he had to say. Until he actually spoke.

  “It’s Garnet, isn’t it? Garnet’s affecting her in some way, isn’t she?” he called down the hall after me.

  I stopped dead in my tracks. How did he know? How could he possibly know about Garnet? There wasn’t time to find out now. I needed to find Ruby before something horrible happened to her. Two people searching would be better than one.

  “Yes! I have to find her! You have to help me find her!” I pleaded.

  “Where do you think she is?” He caught up to where I was and looked to me for answers. Answers I didn’t have. “She said she needed to use the restroom but that was over fifteen minutes ago. I’m afraid she’s passed out or.…” I wouldn’t finish that sentence. Ruby was going to be okay— she just had to be.

  “We’ll start here.” Mr. Raspatello knocked loudly on the girls’ restroom door before entering. Searching stall after stall, we found each one empty.

  If she really just needed to use the restroom, Ruby would have gone to the nearest one, wouldn’t she? I knew the answer to that question but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. There was only one other place she could be and I prayed that it wasn’t too late.

  “Girl’s locker room!” I shouted out and took off down the hall. Mr. Raspatello was old so I expected to leave him in the dust. Imagine my surprise when he not only caught up but overtook me. Please, don’t let it be too late!

  Maybe I was wrong, maybe Ruby was just in a different bathroom. Maybe…. When I saw the door to the locker room was open, I knew I was right. I didn’t want to be right.

  Seeing that open door gave me the shot of adrenaline I needed to catch up to Mr. Raspatello so we made it to the locker room at the same time.

  “Ruby!” I cried out, knowing deep in my heart that she wouldn’t answer me—alive or dead. Calling her name made me feel better so I did it again. “Ruby!”

  The girls’ locker room was set up the same as the boys so I knew exactly where to go. I turned the corner not knowing what I would find. In a matter of seconds, this could be the worst day of my life. Or I could experience an overwhelming sense of relief. Which was it going to be?

  I didn’t realize there was a third option until it was right in front of me. She was alive but she was in terrible danger. There she was with an extension cord wrapped tightly around her neck, perched precariously on a chair that looked like it might roll out from under her at any second. My first instinct was to barge right in there and bring her down safely but Mr. Raspatello blocked me with a stiff arm to the chest.

  “What are you doing? You have to help me get her down from there?” Anger management classes or not—if I had to punch him in the face to get him to let go of me, I would. She was still alive and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep it that way.

  “No, Zach! We don’t know her state of mind—if you take one step toward her she may jump!”

  “You’re wrong!” I didn’t need his help. I would save her all by myself. Shoving his arm away, I started toward her. She seemed to be looking both at me and through me at the same time. Then Ruby lifted one foot off of the chair and dangled it over the edge.

  My breath caught in my throat. If I rushed right at her, would I get to her in time? This wasn’t a game. If I gambled and lost, Ruby would be dead. What should I do?! Oh Dear God, what should I do?

  “We need to talk to her—see if we can get her to come down on her own.” Talk to her—right. I could do that. “Ruby, sweetie, can you come down from there so we can talk? There are so many things I want to say to you.” After a brief flicker of
recognition she was gone again. She acted like she didn’t even know me.

  “No, not Ruby—Garnet! We need to talk to Garnet.” Mr. Raspatello barked angrily at me as he took a small step forward.

  “I don’t know what to say to her! I don’t know what brought her here!” I felt so powerless. Ruby never needed me more than she did right now and I didn’t know what to do to help her.

  “Garnet,” Mr. Raspatello said in a soothing voice. “It’s me, Chase. I’m sorry I was late for the dance. If you come down, I’d like to dance with you.”

  Nothing. Ruby didn’t show any sort of acknowledgement.

  “Zach! Quick—what do you know about Garnet’s suicide note? The pressure was tremendous—what if I forgot one single detail and Ruby died because of it? Hurriedly, I told him what Ruby saw in the locker room on Halloween night hoping I got it right.

  “She couldn’t read what it said, though!” I stressed to him. “How does any of this help us save her?” “It helps because there’s one living person who knows what was in that suicide note and that person is here!” Mr. Raspatello backed slowly out of the shower. “Stay with her! I’ll be back with some answers!” He ran out of the locker room and disappeared.

  I was alone with her now. We’d been alone together a thousand times but never like this. All those times we fought, all those times she wanted to do more than just kiss me—why was I such a fool? During the time we spent apart, I sometimes wondered if maybe I was wrong about us and that any other girl could make me feel the way she did. But now, all that doubt was permanently erased. She was the one—the only one. I should have given her everything she wanted but I didn’t and now it might be too late. If she lived to see morning, I wouldn’t make that same mistake again.

  “I love you, Ruby,” I whispered to myself. Even if she couldn’t hear it, maybe she could feel it somehow. Where her eyes had been glassy and vacant, suddenly there was a spark. “Zach,” she murmured and turned toward me with a single tear running down each cheek.

  The shift in her body weight was enough to send the chair rolling toward the dip in the shower floor. I shot toward her and wrapped my arms around her waist not knowing if I was too late to save her.

  39. Where the Truth Lies

  What was going on? My brain was foggy like I was drifting in and out of consciousness yet I remembered everything. It was kind of like I was in a movie yet watching it at the same time. I knew where I was and how I got there—it was just the “why” part that I was missing. I didn’t have full control of my actions and it was an awful feeling.

  When Zach and Mr. Raspatello showed up, I thought it was over. I tried to call out to them for help but it was like shouting at the screen during a horror movie. They couldn’t hear me and all the screaming in the world wouldn’t stop them from doing something stupid.

  I wanted to pull that cord off of my neck but my arms felt like lead and even the slightest motion seemed to make the chair move away from my feet. My perspective shifted back and forth from actor to observer at lightning speed. Every time I got an opportunity to try to help myself, it was gone again in a flash. I didn’t want to die—not here, not like this, not with Zach watching helplessly and unsure of what to do.

  Then he said it. The words that broke through the haze like nothing else did. “I love you, Ruby.” He spoke in a whisper but his voice came to me as clearly as if he’d shouted.

  “Zach,” I whispered back and twisted myself around to face him. If I was going to die, I wanted his face to be the last thing I saw on this earth. I barely managed to get the word out when the chair gave way and started to roll out from beneath my feet. At least I would die having known true love.

  The noose began to tighten around my neck, cutting off my oxygen almost instantly. I was already so weak from not eating that I felt faint with just the slightest pressure from the cord. This was it. Please, don’t make me listen to the sound of my neck breaking as I fall!

  I fell anyway—right into Zach’s arms. The chair was in the middle of the shower now. The only thing that stood between me and certain death was Zach. I should have been scared to death but I wasn’t—I trusted him with my life. Literally.

  “Ruby?” Zach said hesitantly, his voice quavering with emotion.

  I found my voice and spoke the sweetest word I’d ever heard. “Zach.” He lifted me up enough to ease the tension in the cord and I unwound it from my neck. Once I was free, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he carried me out to a bench in the locker room. He set me down gently but he didn’t let go of me and I hoped he never would again. We sat there together in silence until the sound of approaching footsteps in the hall came to a stop behind us.

  “Really, Chase. I don’t see why you insisted I come down here with you.” The voice was familiar but I couldn’t quite place it.

  “You do know Stephanie. It’s about time you take responsibility for what you did twenty years ago.” That voice definitely belonged to Mr. Raspatello.

  Stephanie? Stephanie Morgan, Garnet’s friend? Where did Mr. Raspatello find her on such short notice? I peered over Zach’s shoulder to get a good look at her and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  Ms. Wright, the librarian, was the only other person in the room. She stood beside Mr. Raspatello clutching her khaki sweater tightly around her.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she stuttered but the ever reddening tint on her face said she did know. “You found her body! You took her suicide note!” Mr. Raspatello pointed his finger at her bony face. “I want to know what it said!”

  “She…she didn’t leave a note. You know that.” Wow. She was a terrible liar. “She did! And she nearly killed this poor girl tonight in an attempt to have the truth finally be told!” Mr. Raspatello glared at her through dark eyes and I was glad to not be on the receiving end of them for once.

  Ms. Wright wouldn’t budge. She set her pointy jaw with determination and stayed silent. So Mr. Raspatello did something unexpected—he started unbuttoning his shirt.

  Awkward. I wanted to avert my eyes but even after everything I’d been through I was still curious to see what he was doing. He was pretty cute, after all.

  I wasn’t disappointed. I was too busy checking out his broad chest to notice why he took off his shirt in the first place. Then I saw it—the tattoo I admired through the sleeve of his shirt on the first day of school. In a flowery script, the word “Garnet” was emblazoned across his left bicep.

  “I’ve carried her with me for twenty years! Twenty years! Do you know how hard it is to find a woman who won’t mind that you have your dead girlfriend’s name tattooed on your arm?” He was almost in tears. “It’s pretty damn hard.” No almost about it, now—he was in tears.

  He was getting nowhere with her and his frustration grew visibly. I knew exactly how he felt, too. What could have possibly been in that note that was still so important for her to hide so many years later? Important enough to not reveal even when lives were at stake? Garnet’s hold on me grew exponentially over the last few months—if this didn’t end tonight, I was sure the next time I would end up dead.

  Just thinking about it gave me a cold chill so I popped my hands into my pockets for a little warmth. That’s when I found it—the note I wrote before I tied that cord around my neck. Carefully, I unfolded it and instantly realized something. It may have been written with my hand, but the words definitely belonged to Garnet.

  I got up from the bench and stood next to Ms. Wright. “Did it go something like this?” I asked and then proceeded to read the note Garnet and I had written.

  “I can’t live like this anymore. I loved you, Chase, but I know you were only making a joke out of me when you said you’d meet me at the dance. Stephanie told me you were lying—she overheard you laughing about what a fool I was to ever believe that you liked me in the first place. I thought losing weight would make my life perfect but it didn’t and now I’m more miserable than before. Time to end the suffering. I love you, Dad. I’m sorry
I couldn’t be the perfect daughter you deserved.”

  Chase—I mean Mr. Raspatello—stared in disbelief. “I never said that, Stephanie! It was you! Your lies sent Garnet to her grave! You may not have laid a finger on her but you killed her just the same!”

  “I did no such thing!” Ms. Wright countered. “I lied— big deal! Get over it!” Was her heart made of pure stone? Her lies led to the death of what was supposed to be her best friend. How could she not feel any remorse?

  “I loved Garnet! We were so much alike—we liked the same books, we founded the Black Raven Society together! If you hadn’t interfered, who knows where it could have led.”

  “You only cared about her after she lost the weight— never before.” Mr. Raspatello shook his head. “So that’s what this was all about. You were jealous of her because she was thin and she was starting to be happy. And you weren’t.” He laughed sarcastically. “I doubt you ever will be.”

  Without a response, Ms. Wright flounced out of the room and disappeared down the hall. Mr. Raspatello put his shirt back on and asked to see the note. I handed it to him suddenly aware of the fact that he knew things about me that I didn’t want him to know.

  “How much did you tell him,” I whispered to Zach hoping Mr. Raspatello wouldn’t hear. But sound traveled oddly in that locker room and Zach wasn’t the one to answer me.

  “He didn’t have to say much. I figured most of it out on my own.”

  “Oh?” I questioned fearing his reply. “You’re a lot like Garnet, you know. I noticed that the first day of school. You’re quiet but deep—it shows in your writing the same way it did in hers. I could sense you changing like she did, almost becoming her at times. When you mentioned the Black Raven Society, I freaked out. Most of your stories deal with ghosts or death in general and I got the feeling that you had firsthand experience. I noticed you were gone a long time the night of your party and I started to wonder. After I heard about the break in on the anniversary of Garnet’s death, I went to Rita Darcangelo for information. I’d heard about ghosts appearing on the anniversary of their deaths and I wanted to see if it was possible.”