Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3)

by Joy Elbel

  29. Hyde and Seek

  When Lucas walked into Something Wick-ed with a cocky smile on his face, I was certain their partnership would be over before it began. But with the utmost grace, Zach thanked him for coming and offered him a seat. When Zach showed no trace of jealousy, Lucas backed down and politely asked me why I invited him to join us.

  “I need your help, Lucas. There’s a killer on the loose and I think I’m his next target.” Whatever he was expecting me to say, it wasn’t that. His jaw dropped immediately and he sat there in shock for a moment. Did I underestimate his feelings for me? I thought so until he answered me unreservedly.

  “I’m in! What do you need me to do?” He leaned forward in his chair, eager for details. “I need you to keep an eye on her at all times,” Zach informed him. Quickly, he added, “Except for when she’s with me, of course.”

  “Of course,” Lucas replied unemotionally. “Does this have something to do with the body they found at the church this morning?”

  “It does,” I replied. I explained the details of the murders and their link to the Bantam Theater. “Oh, it all makes sense now! That’s the only reason you’re there, isn’t it? You’ve been trying to catch a killer using Allison’s ghost! And you have a suspect, don’t you?” “I do—Drake Sterling.”

  Lucas’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “ The Drake Sterling? The one police arrested a few weeks ago? He’s an NFL linebacker—I’ve been watching the coverage on ESPN!”

  “Yep, that Drake Sterling,” I confirmed.

  A look of worry engulfed his face. “That dude’s HUGE! I’m no match for him.” Zach sat up straight and puffed out his chest in a classic alpha male pose. He was clearly much larger than Lucas—did he really have to call that much attention to it?

  “Oh, whatever, dude—you’re no match for him either,” Lucas said as he shoved a proverbial pin into Zach’s testosterone balloon.

  “If you’re afraid, say something now,” Zach taunted, “I can’t have you running away from danger if Ruby ever really needs you.”

  “I’m not scared—are you?” Lucas retorted. Suddenly, I was caught in an episode of National Geographic. You know the ones I mean. Male grizzlies grappling over mating rights. Peacocks displaying their plumage for the hens. Roosters pecking each other’s eyes out to stake their claim on the roost. If I hadn’t really needed their help, I would have been seriously offended.

  “Okay guys! You’re both brave, alright? So can I count on you Lucas, or what?” “Definitely,” he replied, more to Zach than to me. “And since I have access to the theater, I can help you out there, too. After what happened with the gun, I think I’m the one you need—not him.” Definite emphasis on the word “him”.

  Zach was ready with a response but I denied him the opportunity. “Lucas is right—Allison wanted to hurt you that night. Or worse. No theater for you. Period.”

  The three of us worked out a strategy so that I would never be alone. Thanks to my dad’s recent dislike of Zach, Lucas ended up bearing most of that load, starting with the theater that night.

  After Zach’s close call, I had promised him I wouldn’t go back there and he definitely wasn’t pleased that I was not only going back but going back there without him. Lucas left with the promise that he would return when it was time to close the store. Zach stayed with me the entire day talking about school and how to get back into my dad’s good graces. The only thing he never once mentioned was Lucas and the inordinate amount of time I would be spending with him.

  Closing time came with a changing of the guard. Lucas waited in his car while Zach gave me a goodbye kiss. Zach was quite the kisser but this one was spectacular—on purpose, I suppose. He walked me to my car and kissed me one more time before closing the door for me. Before he pulled out behind me, Lucas gave a manly rev of his engine. Boys! They thought it was all about who had the biggest…engine.

  The first scene to be rehearsed was one between Rachel and Brian, leaving sufficient time for Lucas to question me.

  “So I understand why Zach can’t protect you here or while you’re at work, but why am I in charge of seeing that you get to and from school okay? There’s something you haven’t told me, isn’t there?”

  His question made me squirm just a little inside. Zach didn’t want me to tell Lucas that we technically weren’t allowed to see each other. But that was just his male pride talking, wasn’t it? I was torn. I made a promise to Zach that I shouldn’t break. But if Lucas was willing to put his life on the line for me, he deserved an answer.

  “Yes, there is. My dad thinks we’re not dating anymore.” Straight to the point—no unnecessary details.

  Lucas smiled widely. “So what did Mr. Perfect do to make your dad so mad?” He was infuriating. Why couldn’t he ever just accept my first answer? Always, he had to dig for something I didn’t want to give up. So I replied as delicately as possible.

  “Nothing actually—it’s what my dad thinks he did that’s the problem.” “Cryptic answer, Ru, very cryptic.” Lucas sat there quietly beside me and pondered my words for a moment. His furrowed brow soon relaxed. He’d had an “a-ha” moment.

  “He caught you two in bed, didn’t he?” he exclaimed. My brain had no intention of answering him but my face wouldn’t obey. My cheeks were in a full out blush within seconds.

  “I’m right—I knew it! But you said that Zach didn’t actually do what he was accused of so that means you guys still haven’t slept together!” he said with obvious excitement.

  Again, I couldn’t hide the fact that he’d hit the nail on the head. “That’s none of your business,” I mumbled uncomfortably.

  “It is my business if I’m the reason why.”

  Damn him! Why was I so transparent when it came to him? Zach rarely, if ever, knew when I was lying. Lucas, on the other hand, could see right through me. Now what?

  “It’s not what you think!” I protested and left it at that. “My dad really lost it when he saw the gift the killer sent me. He assumed it was from Zach and grounded me on the spot. If it hadn’t been for Shelly, he would have probably locked me away in a tower by now.”

  Locked me away in a tower. Something about that phrase resonated within my brain. But what? As Lucas rattled on about who knows what, I pondered that phrase. When I was about to give up, it hit me.

  “Give it a chance, Ru, you might find—” “That’s it!” I interrupted, “This place has a bell tower—I thought I saw someone up there the first day I was here! It’s the perfect place for a killer to hide his victims! Crimson’s there—I’m sure of it!”

  Lucas went from cocky to curious instantly. “You’re right—there is a tower!” Then came the frown. “But where’s the access to it? You’ve been backstage—it’s not there. Where else would it be?”

  I pointed above us. The balcony remained the only part of the theater I had yet to explore. “It has to be up there somewhere.”

  Lucas looked up at the balcony. “You’re probably right. So how do you think it happened, the murder I mean?” I had a theory. “Allison was part of the group working to restore the theater when she died. What if she broke up with Drake that night? He could have followed her here and attacked her in a fit of rage. She ran up into the tower but he followed her. They argued, he pushed her down the stairs, and she broke her legs. And then he snapped—if he took her to the hospital, she would tell them what happened. He would go to jail and lose his shot at the NFL. So he dragged her back up the steps and kept her there until he could figure out what to do. Maybe he tried to convince her not to tell on him— even asked her to marry him. When she refused, he killed her. Then he got a taste for it and now he’s compelled to do it again.”

  Lucas laughed. “You have quite the imagination, Ru! But, you may be right. Serial killers have to get their start somewhere, I guess. So do you want to go take a look at it now?”

  Just as I was about to say yes, Jonas called for Lucas. “I need my Erik on stage now. We’re going to ta
ke it from the top of the kidnapping scene.”

  “I guess it’ll have to wait—I’m up.” Lucas made his way to the stage leaving me alone in the dark recesses of the theater.

  I had every intention of staying right where I was— really I did. Going into that tower alone was never on the agenda. But as always, I really wasn’t the one writing that agenda.

  As I sat there watching Lucas rehearse the kidnapping scene with Rachel, I started to get warm—warm enough to take my sweater off. Weird. The theater was always so cold. Whatever—it was a welcome change. It almost felt like summer in there.

  Summer—when things were way less complicated between Zach and I. My dad liked him then and Lucas wasn’t around to interfere. Hot, sweltering summer. Nights spent at The Hideout talking and getting to know each other. Burning, blistering summer.

  Sweat was pouring down my back like I’d been baking in the sun for hours. This wasn’t normal. As I looked toward the stage, my sight was skewed by wavy lines—the kind that poured from the pavement when the sun set it on fire. The theater felt like it was about to ignite.

  Although there was no visible smoke, the air became too thick to breathe in effortlessly. Hot, heavy, dusty air. The arms of the seat I was sitting in became too hot to touch—like a metal spoon left in a boiling kettle. Then a searing pain shot through the upper part of my back—the part revealed by the tank top I was wearing. I shot out of my seat and into the aisle. That’s when I saw them.

  Footprints. Bloody barefoot prints on the hardwood floor. They formed in a line heading straight to the lobby. The blood sizzled from the heat, bubbling and evaporating until there was nothing left. She wanted me to follow her and I knew right where she was taking me.

  Lucas was still on stage but I couldn’t wait—the footprints were disappearing quickly. Drake wouldn’t be here while the theater was occupied. Now was my chance to find Crimson and end the nightmare. I caught up with the trail of footprints as they wound around to a curtain just beyond the ticket counter then disappeared beneath it.

  With the curtain hanging all the way to the floor, I’d never even thought about what might be behind it but I was about to find out. I brushed the heavy fabric aside and found a narrow curving staircase with bloody footprints slowly climbing them. I held tightly to the rail as I ascended behind them.

  At the first landing, I could see the balcony ahead of me. In my dreams, that was always where the murder took place. Fear started to take root. Maybe I should retreat until Lucas could accompany me. I’d already discovered one dead body today, wasn’t that enough? Then my conscience kicked in.

  The body I found up here might still be alive. Every single second was precious—one more night and she could be dead. My intense fear took the backseat to possibly saving someone’s life. The bloody prints continued past the balcony, climbing toward the tower instead. I took a deep breath and followed them once more.

  The air became hotter as I went until I thought I might pass out. The stairway grew increasingly darker as I climbed until I could barely make out the prints on the steps ahead. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and used the flashlight app to light the way. My heart pounded relentlessly as I approached the final landing. I paused for just a second to prepare myself for whatever I might find then I removed my foot from the top step and shined my light into the dark tower.

  Nothing. No body—alive or otherwise. In fact, the tower was empty—there wasn’t even a bell. The floor was dusty and showed no trace of any recent visitors. At least not human ones anyway. A cluster of pigeons sat roosting in the rafters above, the floor below them littered with feathers and droppings. The bloody prints led through them to the far window and disappeared.

  Of the four windows in the tower, only one was still intact. A snowy draft blew through the boarded up openings, chilling me as I passed. The air was welcome after the intense heat that had engulfed the theater. Slowly my body temperature was returning to normal except for that one spot on my back that felt like someone had held a scorching hot iron against my skin.

  When I got to the window, I stared threw the pane in wonderment. From this vantage point, I could see all of the lights from downtown Charlotte’s Grove winking back at me. It was such a beautiful sight that I almost forgot where I was. And who was with me.

  A gathering of what felt like spider webs started to entwine around me, like I was the fly about to be gobbled. Sticky threads crawled up my arms and reached for my face. The faster I moved to brush them away, the faster they seemed to regenerate and climb even faster. The spectral netting held me tight, constricting my movements until I was powerless to fight it.

  I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t move. The only parts of me not covered in it were my eyes and nose. My eyelids were glued open so that I couldn’t even close them to the horrors unfolding. Whatever she was going to do to me, she wanted me to be alive and to see it coming. The threads began to tug at me, pulling me forward toward the window. The bottom pane shot upwards, blasting me with a frigid wind as I was flung toward it. Allison was trying to throw me out of the window!

  Struggling to get even one arm free, I wrenched with my right wrist until just the tips of my fingers were unbound. There wasn’t time to work on my other hand—I was about to plummet to the alley below. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to hold on with just one hand, but I was certainly going to try.

  I dug my fingernails into the soft, rotting wood frame and hoped for the best. I’d survived a lot in this town— drowning and even a coerced suicidal hanging—but Zach was always there to save me. Not this time. miles away, probably plopped in front This time he was of the television

  watching Sunday night football. While he shouted at the refs for a questionable call, I would be silently plummeting to my death.

  My fingers cramped in extreme pain as the webs fought to break my grip. My head was outside the window now, snowflakes stinging my unblinking eyes. The alley was so far down—there was no way I could survive a fall like that. Not even close. Would people think it was an accident or a suicide? Two people would definitely know the truth. Zach would blame Lucas—he was supposed to be keeping an eye on me. Lucas would feel like he’d failed me. The wood tore away under my grip and I pitched forward.

  “Ru! Hang on—I’m coming!” Lucas’s footsteps thundered across the tower floor sending the pigeons into frenzied flight.

  At the sound of his voice, the webs disappeared and left me hanging from the frame still about to fall even without their assistance. Now that my left arm was free, I flung it out wildly for something to hold onto but my fingers met with dead air. My center of gravity was too high. I lost my grip and toppled forward.

  “I got you, Ru!” Lucas shouted as his arms locked around my waist. I was suspended in midair—he was the only thing that stood between me and a bone crushing death. But I trusted him and that trust was all I needed.

  As he pulled me to safety, I tumbled backwards and knocked him over, losing my sense of balance in the process. Lucas fell flat on his back and I landed straight on top of him. We were pressed against each other so close—closer than I’d ever been to anyone other than Zach. Heaving breaths, unimaginable relief. I felt so…alive.

  Lucas wrapped his arms around me. “What a rush!” he exclaimed and I knew that he felt it, too—that undeniable desire to take the moment anywhere it wanted to go.

  Acting on instinct more than anything else, I leaned forward fully intending to kiss him. Just as our lips were about to touch, we were interrupted.

  “Ruby? Lucas?” Rachel stood at the top of the steps staring at us in disbelief. With the bitter sound of betrayal in her voice, she asked, “How could you?”

  “Rachel!” I exclaimed, scrambling to peel myself away from Lucas. “It’s not what it looks like! Allison tried to throw me out the window and Lucas caught me just in time!”

  “Oh,” she said coldly, “It’s exactly what it looks like!” With a dramatic flair, Rachel stormed down the stairs leaving me stunned
and speechless.

  She was right. What she saw went far beyond gratitude for saving me. If she hadn’t walked in when she did, I would have totally kissed Lucas. I should have been happy that she stopped me from making such a huge mistake. But I wasn’t because I wasn’t thoroughly convinced that it would be a mistake.

  30. Drift

  “He saved you—that’s all that matters.” That was all Zach said to me when I called him to explain what happened in the bell tower. It wasn’t easy to describe how I ended up on top of Lucas but I had to do it. Rachel had probably already described it to him in horrific, overblown detail. But as hard as it was to tell him, it was even harder to hear his response.

  Had he given up on me? Was the pressure of being separated by my dad’s irrational temper getting to him? I told him that I was so happy to be alive that I almost kissed Lucas and that was his response? Don’t get me wrong, crazy jealous Zach wasn’t who I wanted but a little bit of jealousy would be appropriate at a time like this. Wouldn’t it?

  Well, in less than twenty four hours, I’d found a dead body, somehow gotten Lucas without killing each other, and Zach to work together and survived yet another

  paranormal attack on my life. My work was done for the day. I went to bed exhausted and slept like a rock until morning. With the harshest days of winter upon us, it seemed only fitting that my heart should go through some tough times as well. Zach remained at arm’s length but Lucas grew closer than ever. And strange things started to happen.

  It all started Friday after school. Lucas followed me home according to plan, the same way he had every other day that week. But just as we got to the gates of Rosewood, a sports car pulled out of the drive and took off in the direction of Silver Lake. That sports car belonged to Drake Sterling. In a panic, I pulled onto the edge of the road and waited for Lucas to pull up alongside of me.