Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2)

by Joy Elbel

“Well, Zach for one. I don’t know what exactly happened between you two but it sure must have been a big deal. Oh, and Ryan of course—he won’t come within fifty feet of you after that beating he took.”

  My already hollow heart felt emptier than ever. He hated me so much that he wouldn’t even attend the party his own sister planned because it was in my house. If only I could have made the summer last forever. Zach and I would still be together and my life would be perfect. Ghosts were real— why couldn’t time travel be real, too?

  With everything else that happened, I forgot all about Ryan. The last time I saw him he looked like he’d argued with a meat grinder and lost. “So how bad was he hurt—Ryan I mean?”

  “Broken nose, broken jaw, two cracked ribs—Zach really messed him up. His high school football career is over. By the time he heals, the season will be long gone.”

  Don’t get me wrong—I hated Ryan. He was nothing but a pig who thought girls were only good for one thing. But did he deserve the punishment Zach dished out to him? The answer was no. As much as I loved him, Zach turned into a beast that day and what he did was beyond wrong.

  I had to change the subject. “Do you think Misty will come?” I got busy mentally concocting a scheme to lure her into the old tunnels and lock her in there. I was entitled to some amusement, wasn’t I?

  “I don’t know—she’s hard to gauge sometimes. She may show or she may just send her minions. Either way, I won’t be surprised.” Rachel saw the look on my face and added, “Don’t worry, though, this is your house. You can be her personal chaperone—you can kick her out the second she misbehaves.”

  Chaperone! Why hadn’t I thought of that myself? If I could only tell Rachel that she was a genius! “That’s a good idea, actually. Chaperones, I mean. With so many people here, Shelly might want to think about finding some backup—in case of any fights or anything.”

  Rachel wrinkled her nose in distaste. “You mean like teachers?” “Yeah, but just the cool ones.” If I could get Mr. Raspatello to help chaperone the party, I would know without a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn’t catch me in the school. It was going to be the twenty year anniversary of Garnet’s death. Who knows, maybe he would show up there to celebrate the milestone like the creepy killer he was.

  “Who did you have in mind?” Rachel began to twirl her hair so I knew she was at least thinking about my proposition.

  Nonchalantly, I said, “Well, Mr. Raspatello’s not bad. And.…” I struggled to think of one other name I could include so I wouldn’t appear obvious.

  Rachel helped me out there. “Ooo, Coach Hunter definitely! And you probably don’t know her, but Mrs. Gregory the Spanish teacher is pretty cool, too.”

  Thank you, Rachel! “Okay, we should probably mention it to Shelly—I’m sure she’ll agree. And as long as the teachers are good with it, we’re all set.”

  “We need to go pick out costumes ASAP. If we don’t hurry, all of the good ones will be gone. This party is going to be the biggest thing to hit Charlotte’s Grove in years. I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t want to be caught dead in a stupid costume.”

  I couldn’t care less about my costume but I just didn’t want to be caught—dead or otherwise—so I agreed with her wholeheartedly. The party wasn’t the most important thing happening that night. To me, it was nothing more than the perfect distraction, something I could use to carry out my criminal plans in private. So far, my plan was working perfectly.

  Rachel packed up her stuff and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Well, I need to head home now—I’ll see you at school in the morning.”

  I nodded quietly. School sucked and now that I was working on the weekends, Monday rolled around twice as fast as it did before. I was turning on my computer to do a little writing before bed when Rachel popped her head back in the door.

  “Zach will be back in school tomorrow—thought you might wanna know.” After delivering that news, she disappeared once again.

  Seeing Zach, being so close to him again, was going to be tough. When I was near him, it was like I lost control of myself. Staying focused was crucial now. I couldn’t let him be a distraction. One slip could mean the difference between life and death.

  26. Unexpected Visitors

  I walked into school the next morning not knowing what to expect. Would Zach try to talk to me? Or would he now be Misty’s best friend, catering to her every need as payment for getting him back into school? I should have been thinking about other things but I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I tried hard to fight it, but he just had that effect on me and I didn’t know how change it. The time we spent together was so magical that even after the breakup I was still under his spell.

  Homeroom was nothing but a triple whammy. The three people I most wanted to avoid were all going to be crammed into that tiny little room with me. I was the first person to walk in so I got settled into my seat in peace. That peace was short lived. Mr. Raspatello waltzed in with a cup of coffee and immediately called my name.

  “Ruby, your stepmother called me this morning and asked me if I would help chaperone the Halloween party.” He looked at me like he was expecting some sort of response. He got nothing but a dumb stare. “I said yes, by the way.”

  Whew. I was doing the happy dance in my mind but just muttered a quick, “That’s cool.” He couldn’t know how happy I was to have him at the party. He was intelligent and I was afraid he would figure out my plan if I showed too much enthusiasm.

  Next, came Misty. She sauntered into the room wearing the biggest smirk I’d ever seen on her face. I weighed the options. Would punching her in the face be worth the risk of suspension? Definitely, however it would have to wait. I couldn’t let her distract me from the more important matters at hand.

  One by one, every seat in the room filled up except for the one directly beside me. I was so conflicted. I didn’t want to see him because I knew my heart would break again at the mere sight of him. But then there was the part of me that wanted to see him, to make sure that he was okay. As I sat there fighting my conflicting emotions, Zach walked into the room.

  The good news? He totally ignored Misty when she tried to talk to him. The bad news? He pretended that I wasn’t even alive. Instead of taking the seat beside me, he took Rachel’s instead. It seemed like it was only yesterday that he moved his desk so that he could be closer to me. Now, he couldn’t get far enough away.

  He was still wearing the neck brace and cast and although he didn’t seem to be in pain, he did look quite uncomfortable. He never even glanced in my direction. As soon as the morning announcements were over, he approached Mr. Raspatello’s desk. With a few whispered words, Zach handed him a slip of paper and walked out of the room.

  Where was he going? I knew it was none of my business but I still would have given anything to find out. All I knew was that he didn’t come back. I didn’t see him again until math class at which point I wished I hadn’t.

  I spotted him from halfway down the hall. Let’s face it—he was pretty hard to miss. It’s not every day you see a Norse god who looked like he shopped at a medical supply store. But that wasn’t what really caught my attention. It was the giggling girl by his side, clearly happy to be in his company. That girl was Chloe Cosgrove.

  I knew it! She was after my boyfriend the entire time. I would have been torn apart to see him with any girl but this sight hurt twice as bad. She was my friend! There was a definite point where I trusted her and told her things I now wished I hadn’t. As I brushed past them and through the doorway, Chloe called my name. I ignored her and kept walking. With what little pride I had left, I refused to let her see the tears forming in my eyes.

  When he took his seat in front of me, I hid my face so he wouldn’t see them either. I sat through the entire class feeling like someone had punched me in the gut. All of the special moments I should have been sharing with Zach, he was now sharing with Chloe. I knew it was my choice to give him up, but I did it for good reasons. I didn’t e
xpect him to be alone the rest of his life but another girlfriend already? So soon? He could have at least pretended like our relationship meant something to him. He just wasn’t the boy I thought he was. How could I have been so wrong about him?

  I spent five minutes in the rest room before stopping at my locker to give him time to do what he needed to do and be gone before I got there. When I was done, I tracked down Coach Hunter to see if I could use the track. If there was ever a day when I needed to run away, it was today. As expected, she was happy to see me so I changed quickly and put it into full gear.

  How did I get to this point? Sure, it was Garnet who pushed Zach down the stairs, but in his eyes, it might as well have been me. If he only knew the truth—the truth I could never tell him—he would see that breaking up with him was the most selfless thing I could have done for him. He would see that hurting him was the last thing on earth I would have done voluntarily. But my hands were tied. He would spend the rest of his life thinking that I didn’t love him, thinking that he meant nothing to me, when in fact it was the exact opposite. Zach was everything to me and I would never forget him—never stop loving him for as long as I lived.

  I was so deeply lost in thought that an hour went by without notice. Coach Hunter actually had to come out to tell me I needed to come in because she was ready to leave. As we walked into the locker room, I glanced up at the window my whole plan pivoted around. I had to get my focus back— Mr. Raspatello got away with murder for twenty years, but his time was up. I had to stop him.

  Shelly had talked to Coach Hunter about chaperoning the party, too, and she was definitely onboard. So far my plan was working. It had to—because if it failed, I was in deep trouble. And that was the best case scenario. The worst case? Garnet would have a new haunting buddy.

  It was the most miserable week of my life. Every time I saw Zach outside of class, he was practically glued to Chloe’s hip. And every time I saw Chloe, she tried to talk to me. What? Wasn’t taking my leftovers before they were even cold not good enough for her? Did she find it necessary to rub my face in it as well? My heart was already destroyed beyond repair—there was nothing left of it.

  I kept a low profile around Mr. Raspatello and when it came to Misty, well, I consoled myself with thoughts of future revenge. One day I would gain the upper hand in that battle and then I was going to use that hand to smack her right across the face. But as much as I relished that thought, Misty had to take a back seat for now. Revenge wasn’t just a dish best served cold, revenge was a dish best served by me.

  When Friday night finally arrived, I was drained both mentally and physically. My stomach felt even worse than before and I was horrified to see that I’d lost another five pounds. I had to find out what happened to Garnet soon— while I waited to put my plan into action, I was literally wasting away.

  There wasn’t a whole lot I could do during the week, but my weekend schedule was packed solid. Work at the shop meant I could read more of Rita’s ghost hunting records. Don’t get me wrong—I had no interest in ghost hunting beyond what I needed to do to rid myself of my current problem. There was no way on earth—I repeat, no way on earth—that I would ever turn it into a hobby the way Rita did. Never in a million years. No, make that a trillion.

  After work meant time spent with Rachel planning the accursed party. She asked me to help pass out the invitations this week but I refused. Most of these people were strangers to me. Strangers who saw me freak out in the shower, no less. In exchange for not helping with that task, I agreed to get a head start on decorating the ball room Friday night while she was busy cheering at the game.

  So while every normal teenager in town was enjoying the football game and the dance afterward, I was setting up a ladder to hang crepe paper bats. Halloween was my favorite holiday but even that was ruined for me this year. No boyfriend, a party I didn’t want, and breaking and entering— not the best Halloween ever, for sure. I didn’t even want to pick out a costume but Rachel was forcing me to do it. Monday night after school, I was meeting her at The Village to pick one out. She would try on fifty different outfits before finally choosing one—this I knew. I also knew that I would grab the first one I found and be done with it. There was no reason to care about how I looked anymore.

  I decorated until nearly midnight and was so tired that I fell into bed without even changing my clothes. Morning came in the blink of an eye. Eight hours of sleep felt more like two. I took one look in the mirror and wished I hadn’t. My face was pale and large black circles hung well below my eyes. Was it just me or was I even starting to actually look like Garnet? Like I needed another depressing thought to dwell on.

  The shop seemed to get busier every week so unfortunately, I got absolutely no reading done. As soon as I closed the door behind the last customer, I settled in to do a little reading before heading home. No sooner did I sit down and open the file until I heard a blood curdling scream that seemed to come from right in front of me. When I raised my eyes expecting to see something horrible unfolding on the street outside, I nearly fell out of my seat. Something horrible was unfolding right there in the shop.

  A woman in Victorian-style dress ran through the shop screaming as a dirty, unshaven man chased after her with his left fist raised. In that fist, he clutched a butcher knife. The blade was razor sharp and nearly eight inches long. The apparitions were unlike any I’d seen before. They were almost solid looking yet they passed through the display tables without causing any sort of disruption to the items resting on them.

  I watched in a state of fear-induced paralysis. That woman was about to die right in front of me. I wanted to close my eyes but morbid curiosity wouldn’t allow me. Her ankle turned inward and she fell forward, her head slamming on the tiled floor with incredible force. Without hesitation, the man fell upon his prey as she raised her arms in defense. It was like holding out your hands to stop a runaway freight train.

  The tip of the blade found its target as it plunged into her chest. Eight inches of hard steel pierced her body as the knife sunk in up to its hilt. But it wasn’t over. With a ruthless yank, the man ripped the blade up and out of her chest releasing a spray of fresh blood along with it. Her screams turned to gurgles as the air seeped out of her lungs and the blood oozed in. But it still wasn’t over. In fact, it had just begun.

  Again and again, the man sank the blade into her flesh until the light left her eyes. Then as quickly as it appeared, the gory vision was gone. I couldn’t move. I stood with my mouth hanging open in disbelief. When the shock wore off, I ran for the phone and dialed Rita’s number.

  “Is something wrong at the shop?” I could hear the panic in her voice but it was nothing compared to the blistering terror in mine. “Rita!” I blurted out, “There was this woman and she was running! And then there was this man with a knife and he stabbed her over and over again!”

  “Oh, them again. I haven’t seen them in years—I forgot all about them! I’m sorry I didn’t warn you!” “ What? You’ve seen them too?” Knowing that I wasn’t stark raving mad and that Rita had seen them too made me relax just a little.

  “Yes. They kinda came with the property, so to speak. I have no idea who they are but I saw them a lot when I first bought the building. It was so intense in those first few months that I almost sold the place. I did a lot of research, but I never could figure out who they were. I haven’t seen them in a few years—I thought they were gone.”

  “Oh, they are most definitely still here.” I still had a lot to learn about ghosts so I asked the one question lingering in my mind. “What kind of ghosts are they?”

  “Just residual—they’ve never interacted at all. They have no clue they’re being watched. Their emotions were so intense that they somehow carved themselves into their surroundings. That’s the kind of thing that usually happens on the anniversary of the event.”

  Anniversary haunting. Was this what I was going to experience on Halloween—alone in the dark and creepy locker room at the scho
ol? And if so, was I ready for this? I don’t know what I expected to see in that locker room but if it was anything like this, I was about to have second thoughts. Suddenly, I was struck by an odd question.

  “Is it possible to see something like that if one of the people is still alive?” “Sure—I’ve seen it first-hand. When we investigated at the Winterbourne Lighthouse in Maine, we saw the murder of the lighthouse museum curator. She was killed in 1984 and at the time, her killer was in the state penitentiary.”

  Would I get to see a teenage Mr. Raspatello wrap a noose around Garnet’s neck and hoist her writhing body to the ceiling? Suddenly, I didn’t want to go in there alone. But who could I get to help me? Rita wouldn’t want any part of breaking into the school so she was definitely not an option. Rachel? She would help me—I knew she would—but could I trust her not to tell Zach the truth? I had the answer to that before I even finished asking myself the question. Definitely not. I would have to do it alone—there was no other way.

  “Interesting.” It was all I could think of to say. The bizarre image I just saw was nothing compared to what I might see on Halloween. After assuring Rita that I was fine and not too scared to return to work in the morning, we ended our conversation. I took one last look at the spot where I watched the spectral murder and turned out the lights. Things were about to get more intense than I bargained for.

  27. The Best Laid Plans…

  My intentions were simple—keep the distractions to a minimum in the two weeks leading up to Halloween. If I was going to pull this whole thing off, I would need a clear head. So of course, they turned out to be intensely dramatic weeks. Misty kept her distance and Mr. Raspatello left me alone. Even encounters with Garnet were minimal. That left only one other source.

  Zach continued to pretend that I didn’t even exist. Chloe couldn’t keep her hands off of him. Every time I saw them together, she was giggling and looking like the happiest girl in the world. That was how I used to look. I hated her so much but how could I blame her? Being with Zach was amazing and if the situation were reversed, I would have sunken my claws into him at the first opportunity, too.