Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2)

by Joy Elbel

  Phantoms of Fall

  Book Two of The Haunting Ruby Series By Joy Elbel

  Phantoms of Fall, Book Two of The Haunting Ruby Series

  © 2014 by Joy Elbel ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Dedication

  As our journey grows curious-er and curious-er, I remain amused by all of the “small and cute” things life brings us. Just like Ruby and Zach, we will continue to push forward day by day until we come to the final page. Prologue

  Life can change in the blink of an eye. We experience it so many times, but each time always feels like the first. We fall and feel like we’ll never get up again. And then something happens to turn it all around. Then we rise and think nothing can ever bring us down. But just when we think we have it all figured out, life throws us a curve ball. Sometimes we can swerve gracefully and let that ball sail right past. And sometimes it hits us square in the forehead. I always seem to fit into the last scenario. I never see it coming until it’s gone and I’m left with nothing but confusion and doubt. And someone else always seems to get hurt in the process.

  There are times when fate opens a door that just can’t be closed and the one thing we once wanted most out of life becomes the last thing we need. Even after everything I survived since moving to Charlotte’s Grove, what happened next shocked me in a way I never could have anticipated. As my world fell apart for what felt like the millionth time, I had one thought in mind. Be careful what you wish for—because when you least expect it, you just might get it.

  1. The Results are In

  “We’ll have the results of your test in about three minutes. Until then, have a seat in the waiting area,” the old lady at the front desk said gruffly. “I’ll call you when they’re ready.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled back. I was so damn nervous and the fact that she was utterly emotionless about the whole thing grated on my last nerve. She dealt with kids in my situation every day—a little bit of compassion would have been appreciated. Thanks—thanks for nothing.

  I walked across to the waiting area where Zach was seated and flopped into the chair beside him.

  “Well?” he asked, his leg bouncing up and down nervously. “I don’t know yet—I won’t have my results for about three minutes.” Glancing at the clock on the wall, I watched the second hand tick slowly around second by second. “But I don’t have a good feeling about this.” My chest tightened as I said the words.

  Zach took a deep breath and reached for my hand. “You have to think positively. I came here with Rachel last year. She had a bad feeling about it, too. But she was wrong and everything was fine. I’m sure you’re wrong, too.”

  “I hope you’re right. But there are so many reasons why I think this is going to end badly.” My bottom lip quivered, signaling that I was on the verge of tears. “Maybe I wasn’t ready after all. Maybe I should have waited a little while longer.”

  Zach swallowed hard. “It’s too late to think about that now, Ruby. Let’s talk about something else.” But as I looked around, I couldn’t think of anything to say. I stared at the cold, impersonal décor thinking how much easier this would be if I at least had a comfortable chair to sit in or a TV to watch—anything to ease my nerves. “I really don’t want to talk right now. I just want to get out of here.”

  There were two other girls in the waiting area looking just as upset as I felt. One sat to my left nearly hyperventilating as her mother tried to calm her down. The other sat to Zach’s right, her father lecturing her about the mistakes she’d made. Dad and Shelly insisted on accompanying us, but they were busy pacing back and forth at the back of the room—at least I had Zach by my side.

  Two minutes ticked by on the clock when I announced, “I have to pee.” I rose out of my chair only to have Zach pull me gently back down.

  “No, you don’t—you just went not long ago, remember? It’s only nerves. You don’t want to miss it when they call your name, do you? I know you’re scared, but dragging it out will only make it worse.”

  He was right—rationally I knew that. But part of me wanted to hightail it out of there and pretend like I’d never even walked in that door. Most kids do it the second they get the chance and without a single worry. I wait for what seems like forever and yet here I sit scared to death. It just didn’t seem fair.

  The lady at the desk peered around her computer and called, “Johnston.” The girl with the critical father stared up at her like a deer caught in the headlights but remained glued to her seat. “Johnston,” she called again, more impatiently this time.

  I watched as the girl walked slowly to the front. I couldn’t hear a word of their conversation but I didn’t need to. She was at the desk for no more than twenty seconds when she turned around and walked back to her father, tears gushing from her eyes. My heart sank as I watched her slink out the door. Would I be in her shoes a minute from now?

  The woman peered around her computer yet again. “Matthews.”

  I stood up on wobbly legs, took one step toward her desk, and turned to Zach. “Will you come with me?”

  He gave me a smile as he put his arm around me. “Absolutely, I won’t make you do this alone.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Dad and Shelly had stopped pacing and were now anxiously watching us as we went to get the results. We must have been moving too slowly for Ms. Personality at the desk because she called “Matthews” again in an irritated tone. And me—well, I threw up in my mouth just a little bit. My life may or may not be about to change in a big way.

  Her face was blank, devoid of any hint of what news she was about to deliver. She simply handed me a card and said, “You passed. Step to your right to get your photo taken.”

  Immediately, I flung myself into Zach, squealing, “I passed! I passed my driver’s test!” Dad and Shelly each tossed me a thumb’s up and I returned the sentiment.

  The lady at the desk repeated, “Step to your right,” and pointed impatiently to the next line. Whatever. Her attitude wouldn’t get me down. I was now Ruby Matthews, licensed driver.

  2. Summer’s Fall

  I walked out of the DMV staring at nothing but the newly minted driver’s license in my hand. My photo turned out wretched, of course, but I was too excited to care. The man behind the camera offered to snap another shot in the hopes that the second time would be a charm but I declined hastily. There was that little gnawing fear in the back of my brain that said “take it and run before they change their minds” so that was exactly what I did.

  “Don’t worry about it Ruby—those photos always look awful,” Shelly assured me. “Show me one driver’s license with a flattering picture and I will be willing to guarantee it’s a fake. I had one once where my eyes were only half open and I looked like a zombie. And back then, they never even offered a do-over.”

  “She’s right, honey. You passed and that’s the only thing that matters. I’m proud of you, Ruby,” my dad said as he threw his arm around me and gave me a hug.

  “Thanks, Dad,” I said returning his hug with an even bigger one. It h
ad only been a few days since the explosive events at Rosewood the night of the big storm, but already our relationship had gone back to what it was like before Lee died. No, scratch that—it was better than it had ever been.

  The things I learned that night during my near death experience changed every relationship I had for the better. Shelly and I had already started to connect over the summer, but we felt closer than ever now. And the changes in my bond with Zach—well, I could feel my cheeks get hot just thinking about it.

  Once my dad released his hold on me, Zach swiftly took his place. “I told you that you were worrying for nothing. Rachel did the same thing.” He gave me a warm squeeze and a quick pat on the rear while Dad wasn’t watching.

  I was dying to be alone with him. Now that the ghosts were gone and nothing stood in our way, things were really starting to heat up between us. When we weren’t together, all I could think about was kissing him. And when I was kissing him, all I could think about was doing more than just kiss him. We hadn’t gone any further than that, but things were definitely getting intense. Everything felt right for once and I’d never been happier in my entire life.

  Dad and Shelly promised to buy me a car as soon as I got my license and they were true to their word. Zach and I followed them in his car as they drove to Big Al’s car lot just down the road from the DMV. I scoped out the choices the night before when Zach took me for one last round of parallel parking before my test. The perfect car for me sat in the same spot where I last saw it—waiting for me it seemed.

  Shelly and I took a seat in the grass while Dad made Big Al pop the hood so they could get a look at the engine. I didn’t know who he was trying to fool with that maneuver, but it certainly wasn’t me. Dad knew nothing about cars except how to drive them and how to call a mechanic when something went wrong. Zach, on the other hand, was an entirely different story.

  I watched with fascination as he placed his hand on the front of the car and leaned in close. The muscles in his forearm flexed as he loosened and re-tightened everything to be sure it was in good working order. As I watched him work his way around the engine, I imagined those muscles working the same way around me which gave me a warm shiver up my spine. He turned and gave me a wink as he lowered the hood and I had a feeling that he knew exactly what I was thinking.

  Twenty minutes later I was pulling off the lot in my new car. Well, it wasn’t exactly new, but it was new to me— just like a lot of things in my life since I moved here at the beginning of the summer. But summer was basically over now. The past week was nothing more than a blur to me. It was hard to believe that it was only a week ago that I almost drowned in the fountain at the mansion—not to mention everything else that happened that night. But the dust settled fairly quickly and Dad and Shelly had repairmen working nonstop to get the house back in shape. And at my insistence, Levi’s remains were laid to rest in the mausoleum in the crypt next to Scarlet’s where I knew they belonged. The house and I were both finally at peace.

  But I was about to embark on a completely new journey—one that frightened me just as much as the haunting did. The first day of school was only two days away and I was starting to get nervous already. Sure, it helped that I was dating the hottest guy in school and was friends with his insanely popular sister, but I was still petrified. It wasn’t my classes that really worried me—I was always a good student and I didn’t see how that would suddenly change. It was the fact that I was the new girl in school and I already had enemies.

  As many times as Zach told me not to give Misty a second thought, I did anyway. I couldn’t help it. Her reaction in the cafeteria during open house proved that I wasn’t overreacting. She wanted Zach and I was convinced that she would stop at nothing to break us up. Not that there was anything she could possibly do to come between us, though. After what we endured this summer, we were solid—I was certain of that. But I still didn’t relish the drama that she would be sure to create.

  When we got to Rosewood, I parked my red Neon right beside Zach’s. The minute I saw it on the lot, I knew it was the right car for me. Dad and Shelly would have sprung for something a little newer and definitely more expensive, but I wanted this one because it was a perfect match to the one Zach drove. I figured we were a perfect match so our cars should be, too.

  He got out of his car and climbed into the passenger seat of mine. “So we have two hours until the party starts…what do you want to do?” Zach asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

  I just smiled and replied, “What do you think?” It was nice of him to ask, but he knew full well what I wanted to do. Every spare moment we had was spent at The Hideout tangled up in each other’s arms. Why would today be any different? There were very few moments left of our summer together and I wanted to make the most of them. I spent the entire morning worrying about my driver’s test and the rest of the night we would be at Boone’s end of summer party. It was going to suck because now that Zach would be in school on Mondays, Andy asked him and George to pick up donations on the first Sunday of every month which happened to be tomorrow. That killed any chance of us getting together during the day and then we would have to be in bed early. I wasn’t even sure if I would get to spend any time with him at all tomorrow, so this was potentially the last few hours we would have alone together for at least a few days. We weren’t even separated yet and I already missed him.

  I parked at the bottom of the hill and we held hands as we walked to the top. The weather was perfect. It was in the eighties but without the level of humidity that would normally make it unbearable. But even though the temperature still said summer, the sky told a different story. The clouds were large and fluffy but had taken on a darker tone, one that said the warmth was about to give way to the crispness of fall.

  Every year I dreaded the arrival of that season and this year was no exception. Fall brought another year of school with its own new brand of torture. It was the time of year when everything you loved about the summer started to die and blow away in the wind. It was the time of year when everything changed. It made me sad to think about it so I gave Zach’s hand a little squeeze to get my mind off of it. At least I knew there was one thing I could count on this year— his love. That, I knew, would never change.

  We sat down on the top of the hill and looked out over the town of Charlotte’s Grove. I could just make out the school on the hill to the right. All I had to do was get through this year without too much drama and I would be home free. Next year at this time, Zach and I would be heading off to college and settling into our own apartment together. College would be so much different from high school. I suddenly wished I could turn the hands of time forward a year.

  “What’s wrong, Ruby? You seem distant,” Zach said, putting his arms around me and pulling me close. I had to shake off the sudden funk that now enveloped me. I didn’t want to ruin the mood. “Nothing. Just thinking about how next year at this time we’ll be in college and living together and how different our lives will be.”

  A flash of panic struck his eyes. “You’re not having second thoughts about that are you? About us living together? I don’t want to rush you but you know all I want is for us to be together. Always.”

  “No—just the opposite, actually. I wish it could be this year. I don’t want another year of high school. I’m ready to be an adult now.” I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arm around his waist.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me for a minute there. I don’t want another year of high school either. I can’t wait until next year. No curfews, no rules, no more nights without you. But this year will be better than every other year—I promise. And with all of the homework they’ll be piling on us, the days will fly by so fast we’ll hardly even notice them.” He paused and added quietly, “I’m ready to grow up, too.”

  He didn’t have to spell it out for me to know exactly what he meant when he said that. When we couldn’t express our love physically over the summer, we talked about it a lot. We t
alked about how when the haunting was over we could be together without restrictions and without fear. But now that it was possible, we hadn’t once brought up the subject of sex. It was so much easier to just kiss like crazy and not talk about it. So that’s exactly what we did.

  We kissed until we hit a fever pitch and then we kissed some more. His hands were all over me but he was always careful not to go certain places. Part of me was happy that he was a gentleman and respected those boundaries, but part of me wished he would just lose control. That was exactly what I wanted to do but I didn’t want to make the first move. So instead we kissed until we were delirious and wound up at the party two hours late.

  3. Falling Under

  Zach talked about nothing but the yearly end of summer party at the Sterling house on the drive there. Apparently, it was a custom that started ten years ago with Drake, and Boone chose to continue his brother’s legendary party tradition long after he graduated. Their parents were both lawyers and had a prosperous partnership in an office downtown. They were the kind of parents who gave their children everything you could imagine except for supervision. And tonight would be no exception.

  The house was in a section of town that I was only in once since I moved here. The Cedar Lane housing development was the ritziest part of town, just past the country club where the fundraiser was held. It was a gated community where most of the wealthy families lived. As we drove along the winding road toward the Sterling’s, it seemed that each house was bigger than the one before it. At the top of the hill sat the largest one of all—a two story brick Georgian-style that was almost the size of Rosewood. Almost. I was pretty sure I knew who lived in that one.

  “Let me guess,” I said sarcastically, pointing to the house at the top, “the Wolfe estate?”

  Zach snickered. “How did you know?” “Rachel said Misty’s house was the biggest one in town—next to mine, of course. Who else would want to live in a monstrosity like that?” I said bitterly, full well knowing that the house was gorgeous and the only thing I didn’t like about it was what lurked within its walls.