Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3)

by Joy Elbel

  “Story? There’s no story—there’s just the truth, Ruby!” Rachel replied defensively. “Drake’s innocent.” Obviously my idea of tactful was far different from hers. “I didn’t mean it like that, Rachel. I was just wondering because he’s never really said what happened, has he?”

  You could see the hamster running a marathon in his wheel as she thought about it. “No—I guess he hasn’t.” For a second, her face showed doubt. “But that’s okay, we’ll just have to ask him.”

  “How, Rachel? He’s in jail. They don’t just let anybody in, you know. It’s not like we can waltz right in there and pretend that we’re there for his conjugal visit or anything?” But the second I said it, I knew she was trying to figure out a way to pull it off.

  “Simple—we’ll just get Boone to ask for us. He’s his brother—they have to let him in.” I had to give Rachel credit. Her plan was much better than mine—and less likely to raise eyebrows. After all, we were both still underage and Drake didn’t need any more scandal than he already had. His arrest was all over the news—both local and national. NFL stars got into trouble with the law every day but kidnapping and potential murder charges still made the headlines.

  As we pulled up in front of the Bantam, my muscles began to tense and tighten. Was this how death row inmates felt as they walked to their deaths? I couldn’t imagine it feeling any worse. I had experience with ghosts—even ones that wanted to kill me. Why was Allison so much worse? I put one foot inside the theater and I realized why.

  Even at the height of the haunting, Rosewood never felt unwelcoming. And while the school wasn’t exactly my favorite place, the building itself never felt malevolent. But the Bantam, well, it felt like pure evil. The walls, the foundation, every part of it seemed to be steeped in violent despair. I didn’t just sense death and sadness, I sensed agony. It would take a lot of energy to make a structure that large feel so vile. What if Allison was too powerful for me to handle?

  I wanted to be a coward. I wanted to run away screaming and never look back. But if I did that, Rachel would never forgive me. So I plastered some fake confidence on my face and marched bravely beside her to the front row. We took seats beside the rest of the cast and waited for Jonas to take the stage. Or for Allison to level the building with a blasting shriek—whichever came first.

  “Okay people—can I have your attention please!” Jonas called out with authority. “Welcome back actors and actresses!”

  Just like last time, the door in the back opened with a loud bang and Lucas rambled in apologetically. Jonas gave him a sideways glance and continued on.

  “Tonight is the first of many rehearsals. We will meet every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from now until the end of February. That last weekend, of course, will be our time to shine—shine for the town of Charlotte’s Grove and shine for ourselves. But before we can shine, we need to polish. Did you all bring your copies of the script?”

  En masse, the sound of rustling paper erupted from the entire group. Everyone but me of course. Jonas noticed immediately, jumped down from the stage and strolled over to where I sat. His eyes fairly pierced into my skull. Great. This place made me uncomfortable enough as it was without his intense scrutiny. Someone, please, shoot me now.

  “I seem to recall that you didn’t even audition,” he said in an accusatory manner.

  “I…I…” I clearly didn’t know what to say to him. Thankfully, Rachel did. “Stage fright—she’s trying to overcome it. We thought maybe she could help with some of the backstage stuff, you know, to build her courage a little. Maybe she’ll even be cured in time to audition for your next production in March.”

  Now that was what best friends were for! Jonas studied me closely. “I like the idea. There is a part in that one that would definitely fit you.”

  Okay, now things were getting a little out of hand. If I didn’t find answers soon, I was going to be drafted into acting against my will. He would have to drag me onto that stage kicking and screaming—I would never get up there willingly! But for now, I just had to play along.

  I nodded my head and smiled. Jonas seemed satisfied by this and returned to the stage. “Let’s start at the beginning—Act One, Scene One. I need my Kira and actresses numbers one and two on stage. Roarke, take your place off stage left.”

  While they ran through their lines, Lucas made his way over to me and plunked down in Rachel’s empty seat. With a smile, he said only one word to me.

  “Bullshit.”

  “Huh? What’s bullshit?” I said utterly confused. “You told me before—quite adamantly, if I remember correctly—that you would never get on that stage. You lied to Jonas just now and I want to know why.”

  Lies—why did I always seem to get caught in them? “Rachel needs me here for moral support but she doesn’t want him to know that.” Once more I got that same one word reply.

  “Bullshit.” His smile grew wider and he tilted his head in a cocky manner. “What? It’s the truth,” I answered nonchalantly but inside I was panicking. What did he really think I was doing here?

  He motioned to the stage where Rachel was busy reciting her lines like a pro. “She doesn’t seem to need any support. You’re not here for her, you’re here for me.”

  He couldn’t have been further from the truth. I was there for Rachel, just not in the way I said I was. If it weren’t for Drake and Crimson, I would probably be out with Zach right now. Not probably, definitely.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here for Rachel—I told you that already.” “No. After what happened New Year’s Eve, you’ve been keeping your distance from me. But that wasn’t your choice, was it? It was Zach’s. But if you’re here with his sister, he won’t worry that anything’s going on between us and you still get to spend time with me.”

  I started to protest but he interrupted. “Save it, Ru. I know I’m right.” Jonas called for the next scene, a scene Lucas was in. He brushed my chin lightly with his fingers before taking his place on stage. “Don’t worry, though, I’ll keep that our little secret.”

  Whoa. I was not expecting that. I stayed in my seat and kept my focus on Rachel. Zach was right—this was more than just a crush. Lucas wanted me as way more than merely a friend. What was I going to do? It used to be easy to deny that his advances meant more. Now, not so much.

  As I sat there analyzing my situation, a chill crept into the theater. It was the chill I was searching for but far from ready for. Instinct kicked in and I snapped my head around expecting to see Allison in the balcony above me just like in my dream. Nothing. I kept my eyes trained on that spot, allowing them to adjust to the lighting. No shadows, no movement. Where was she? Sometimes not seeing ghosts was far more nerve wracking than having a full bodied apparition right in your face.

  The room was positively alive with energy—dark, negative energy. My skin prickled at the charge, not a single square inch of it remained untouched. The air thickened and wrapped itself around my wrists, tying them to the arms of my chair with invisible restraints. Furiously, I wrenched my arms up but they barely moved. My wrists stung as I fought against whatever was holding them down. Tightly bound, I watched my friends on stage reciting their lines oblivious to what was happening to me. They were so close but they might as well have been miles away.

  An icy cold trail made its way down the length of my right arm followed by an intense burning sensation. As it trailed onto my hand, a red scratch became visible. I was being cut by the cold tip of a spectral blade, deep enough to create small beads of blood along the way. She was torturing me in the same way she herself was tortured. A shrill cackle erupted near my ear and as the last note died out another sound replaced it.

  CRASH! Someone on the stage screamed and I was instantly released from my bondage. The remnants of one of the stage lights lay broken on the floor.

  “Lucas!” Rachel shouted. “You could have been killed!” Lucas stood still, pale as a corpse, and stared at the glass and metal just barely in fr
ont of him. Jonas ushered everyone off stage with a curt, “Take five!”

  Rachel scampered down the stairs to where I sat frozen from fear. “OMG! Did you see that? That thing missed him by less than an inch!”

  “Yeah,” I managed to mumble through my shock. Was the falling light a mere coincidence or did Allison cause it? “Ruby!” Rachel exclaimed. “You’re bleeding! It’s not bad though. Good thing, too, because you know how much I hate the sight of blood.” She turned my wrist to get a better look then pushed the sleeve of my sweater up to my elbow. The path of the invisible blade wound its way up my arm and disappeared under my sleeve. “What did she do to you?”

  “I don’t know! It felt like I was tied up and being tortured!” My voice shook as I described the sensation of being bound, of feeling the ghostly dagger rip through the top layer of my skin.

  “How did you break free?” she queried. “I didn’t—it just sort of happened. Actually, I think the sound of the light hitting the stage kind of broke the spell or something.”

  Rachel pulled a tissue out of her purse and wiped at the small speckles of blood dotting my arm. “Drake mentioned that Allison was cut. It sounds like she’s doing the same things to you that were done to her.”

  Rachel was about as comforting as a bed of nails. When I agreed to look for Allison, the potential for torture never entered my mind. Why would she want to inflict that kind of pain on an innocent person? She knew agony. She knew the feelings of helplessness. Why perpetuate that kind of suffering? It was brutal and cruel—the mark of insanity.

  “Please, Rachel!” I implored. “I don’t want to think about that right now! I don’t know if I can do this!” Tears welled in my eyes and I struggled to keep them restrained. “This is all too much—I need to leave!”

  “It’s okay. Just take a deep breath and try to calm down. I’ll stay here with you—I promise.” With Rachel by my side, my frazzled nerves slowly unwound. I watched Jonas inspect the mess on the stage with a puzzled look on his face. He looked from the floor to the ceiling and back down again, clearly bewildered by the accident.

  “Jackson!” he shouted to someone off stage. “Clean this up, please.” Jackson ambled into view, shuffling his feet slowly forward. The sight of him was almost as frightening as Allison herself. He was a large, lumbering man with a pronounced limp, dressed in a saggy, gray jumpsuit. Across the back of his clothing was the word “Maintenance”. His hair was balding in patches, cutting a bizarre path around his head that exposed large chunks of his scalp. I shivered at the mere sight of him.

  Rachel noticed my tremors. “We need to get your mind onto better things—here.” She handed me her phone. “Call Zach—talking to him will make you feel better.”

  As I took her phone, my finger hit a button and activated the camera. Click. Somehow, I managed to take a photo.

  “I don’t know how to turn your camera off—can you do it for me?” I thrust it back at her impatiently. Then I took notice of the photo I took and quickly snatched it back.

  The photo was an angled view of the floor in front of us. Yet it wasn’t. The floor in the picture was a bright, glossy hardwood surface, gleaming so brightly I could almost smell the scent of the polish it would take to get it that way. I glanced from her phone to the actual floor. The wood was pock marked and weathered, a light film of dust covering the surface.

  Frantically, I snapped another photo. This time my subject was the seat beside me. Again, what I saw with my eyes was dramatically different from what the camera produced. The ragged edges of the seat were tightly woven. The faded velvet was vibrant and new.

  “What is it, Ruby? What do you see?” Rachel peered over my shoulder to get a better look. “I don’t see what’s so exciting,” she replied with a frown.

  “That’s the point! You don’t see what I’m seeing! The entire theater looks drastically different to me!” I pointed to the seat. “Look here—to you this seat looks brand new, right? Well to me, it’s frayed and covered in mystery stains! It’s like I’m seeing how this place looked in a different time or something!”

  “Whoa,” Rachel said gravely. “That’s messed up. No wonder you don’t like it here.” Her eyes widened. “You know what this means, don’t you? You’re time traveling now, too!”

  The idea that Rachel thought I was time traveling was amusing—so amusing I almost wanted to laugh. Almost, but not quite. “No, it’s not time travel I don’t think. I think I’m just seeing things the way Allison sees them. If this place was recently renovated, it would have looked different when she was here.”

  With Scarlet, my energy was no longer my own. With Garnet, my feelings were no longer my own. Now, it was my sight. With each passing day, I was losing more of myself to the unknown. Including my sanity. How did Rita manage to not go crazy? She seemed so normal—how did she find a way to balance reality with this kind of perverse fantasy?

  As Rachel struggled to wrap her mind around it, Jonas called for everyone’s attention. “Because of our little accident, I’m going to cut rehearsals short tonight. I’ll see you all tomorrow at seven.” He approached Lucas who was now sitting on the steps of the stage still staring at the light that nearly smashed into his skull. Jonas put his hand on Lucas’s shoulder and spoke quietly to him. Lucas nodded his head and stood up.

  I wanted to leave the theater but I had to know that he was okay first. “Just a minute, Rachel,” I said. “He still looks pretty shaken. I’m going to see if he needs a ride or anything.”

  Rachel started to roll her eyes at the suggestion of helping Lucas but stopped when she took a last look at the chunk of metal as Jackson tossed it into the garbage. “Okay— make it quick, though.”

  I approached Lucas as he was putting on his jacket. “That was a close call. Are you okay?” He was still pale and visibly traumatized. He tried to put on a brave face but it was transparent. “I’m fine but thanks for asking.” As he slid his arm into the sleeve, I saw that he was trembling.

  “You’re not fine!” I insisted. “You’re shaking! And you shouldn’t be driving like that. Come with us. Rachel and I will give you a ride home.”

  His eyes flickered with emotion that I couldn’t quite discern. I hadn’t seen that look since shortly after we first met. When his eyes returned to normal, he spoke.

  “I have to drive home. There’s no way I’m leaving my car here.” He paused as he adjusted his jacket. “Unless you want to volunteer to drive my car for me then Rachel could just follow us in hers.”

  Me? Drive that awesome hunk of metal? I had my own frightening moment tonight but I was still calmer than he looked. I guess ghostly encounters were like rollercoasters— less heart stopping each time around. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to drive his car. I just couldn’t.

  “Fine. Give me your keys.” I tried not to look too happy about it but I was nearly ready to burst.

  He fished into his pocket to retrieve them then handed them to me with a smile. “Thanks, Ru.”

  “Rachel, I’m going to drive him home. Follow us in your car.” She flashed me a desperate “are you sure you should be doing this?” look but nodded her head in agreement. It was just a ride home—what’s the worst that could happen?

  Once I was behind the wheel of his car, I remembered my deal with Zach. I promised never to be alone with Lucas, that I would only see him at school and the theater. This was nothing more than an extension of the theater, right? What kind of person would I be if I let him drive home when he clearly wasn’t in any state to do it? And besides, Rachel was right behind us. If anything happened, she would know it instantly.

  Lucas stayed quiet until we were out of the glow of the streetlights and onto the back roads. “I could have died back there, Ru.”

  “I know, Lucas. Jonas better have the rest of those lights inspected. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”

  “I’ve never been that close to death before and it made me realize something,” he announced. Then…silence. “What?” I a
sked impatiently. “What did it make you realize?” But I already thought I knew the answer. He was going to tell me he liked me.

  “I love you, Ru. I know we haven’t known each other for very long but I feel like I’ve known you my whole life.” Shut the front door! He loved me? Zach and Rachel shared an odd twin connection. Was it possible that Lee and Lucas were linked in a similar way? It could be even stronger since they were, without a doubt, identical twins? It would explain why he felt like he’d known me for years and not weeks.

  “I…I.…” I wrestled my brain for a response but came up empty handed. Did I feel something for him? Yes. Was it love? Not exactly. At least not yet. When Zach first dropped the L bomb, I was ready for it—breathlessly anticipating it. But this came as more of a shock to me than any ghostly encounter possibly could. In the end, I gave the worst noncommittal reply in the books.

  “Lucas, I’m with Zach—you know that.” Great. As soon as the words were past my lips I knew what I should have said. I should have said, “I’m sorry but I’m in love with Zach.” Why did I have to go and give him the perfect opportunity to question my relationship with Zach?

  “You’re with him but do you love him? I know you have feelings for me, too, Ru. Can you actually sit there and deny it?”

  It’s a good thing it was dark in that car. I didn’t want to see his face and I certainly didn’t want him to see mine. “There’s nothing to deny. You and I are friends,” I replied with certainty.

  But that wasn’t entirely the truth. He fell somewhere in between just friends and more than just friends. It was a gray area, an area I was unfamiliar with and unwilling to explore. At least not yet.

  He didn’t reply and the interior of his car was consumed by an awkward silence. We didn’t speak again until he directed me to the right house. I parked the car and handed him his keys. “See you tomorrow, Lucas.”

  “Goodnight, Ru,” he said and positioned himself between me and Rachel’s car. He spoke quietly so she wouldn’t hear. “Sooner or later, you’re going to have to break one of our hearts. Ask yourself, whose will it be? If there’s even a ghost of a chance for us, you have to follow your heart.”