Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (33 page)

My pulse began to race. Would I have to stay in here
all night? I didn’t even have my phone on me to let anyone
know that I was okay. Dad and Shelly would be so worried
about me—they would probably even call the police. What if
the police went looking for me and found my car? Oh no, now
what
was
I
going
to
do?
I
was
on
the
verge
of
hyperventilating so I sat down on the bench to calm down and
think it through.

Once my
breathing
was
under control, I
lit
the
flashlight to check my watch. It was almost seven o’clock.
They would be wondering where I was by now. How could I
formulate such an intricate plan to break in and forget to
devise a way to get back out? I closed the window that I used
to enter the school and began to pace the floor. I had to get
out even if I had to break a lock to do it.

After checking every possible outlet for escape in the
locker room, I had no choice but to wander out into the main
hallway in the hopes of finding an open door. But the doors to
each classroom were all locked up tight. I was going to get
caught—I could feel it in my bones. Would I get kicked out of
school for doing this? Unlike Zach, luck wasn’t on my side.
One thing I knew for sure—Jack Wolfe would send me to the
proverbial electric chair if this went up before the school
board for review.

I had no choice but to break a window.
This plan
wasn’t supposed to include vandalism of any sort but there
was no other way around it.
I snagged a chair from the
cafeteria and returned to the windows near the gym.
Lifting
it high over my head, I closed my eyes and swung it as hard as
I could. The crash was deafening—so loud I could swear the
whole town could hear it.
As the cool October air flooded
over me, I stepped out into freedom and ran like hell for the
car.

I hit every red light on my way back through town
giving me time to rehearse my excuse for why I was so late. I
would tell everyone that I forgot to lock the safe
before
leaving Something Wick-ed, so I had to go back to the shop.
That would explain away about twenty minutes of my missing
time—how could I account for that other hour?
Think, Ruby,
think! There had to be a lie big enough to cover my ass.

It was super hard to think with a tsunami of paranoia
washing over me. I checked my rear view a thousand times
looking
for the police
car that was
surely
behind me
somewhere. I drove with the music off—something I never
dreamed of doing under normal circumstances. My ears were
in
hypersensitive mode
waiting
for
the inevitable sirens.
What if they sent me to jail? I wouldn’t last five minutes in a
cell with some chick who shot her husband and then slept in
the same bed with his corpse for two weeks.
Contrary to
popular belief, I was a delicate flower, one that would wilt and
die under that kind of pressure.
Not to mention the fact that
no girl wanted to lose her virginity during a conjugal visit!

As I pondered how bad I would look in an orange
prison jumpsuit, the answer came to me. I had my perfect lie.
The story went like this.
The line at the grocery store was
huge and it took forever to get rung up. When I was finally
out of there and almost home, I remembered that I didn’t lock
the safe at the candle shop. When I got to Something Wick-ed,
I forgot to lock the door behind me and an old lady came in
thinking the store was still open. I tried to explain to her that
the store was closed, but she didn’t get it so I had to stay and
wait for her to finish before I could leave. There. Now that all
of my bases were covered, I was ready for the stupid party.

And not a moment too soon.
I was just putting the
finishing touches on my excuse when I got to Rosewood. Two
hundred people RSVP’d for the event which meant at least a
hundred cars all of which lined both sides of the driveway. I
really didn’t know what anyone drove so I didn’t even bother
to scan the lineup for anyone I knew. Rachel would be my
only friend there regardless of who else decided to come.

Thankfully, someone had the foresight to reserve a
parking spot for me so I pulled up next to the garage and
gathered the snacks out of the car. Music was already blasting
from the direction of the ball room and I wondered if anyone
besides Rachel and my family would even notice if I didn’t
show up to my own party. Most definitely not.

Dad and Shelly met me at the front door.
“What took you so long?” my dad asked with a
worried expression on his face. “That car didn’t give you any
problems, did it?” He turned to Shelly. “I knew we should
have gone with a newer model!”

With a practiced tongue, I retold the lie I told myself
on the way home. When I was finished, I held my breath and
waited. Would they believe me?

“Oh, okay,” Shelly answered. “Next time, give us a
call—we were worried about you.
Five more minutes and
someone was going out to start looking for you.”

What exactly did they think happened to me?
This
wasn’t the big city. It’s not like girls went missing from the
town of Charlotte’s Grove every day or anything. But that
was inconsequential—they bought my lie and that was all that
mattered.

I climbed the steps to the second floor hoping that
Rachel wouldn’t catch sight of me. No such luck. The second
my foot hit the bottom step to the attic stairs I heard her call
my name. If I pretended not to hear her she would just follow
me anyway so I stopped and turned her direction.

It was kind of funny to see her in her costume. She
picked out matching vampire and vampiress outfits for her
and Boone to wear. It wasn’t the fake fangs that made me
laugh, though—it was the long black wig on her head.
So
tonight I was a blond princess and she was a raven haired
creature of the night—it was almost like we were dressed as
each other this Halloween.

“There you are…finally!” Rachel bent over to adjust
the laces on her boots and
I was almost blinded by
her
cleavage. It was so cool that Boone trusted her enough to not
go berserk when she showed a little skin. If that were me,
Zach would complete flip out. But I guess that was a pointless
argument now.

“You’re missing the best party evverrr, by the way! Go
get into your costume!
You have to meet Crimson and the
rest of the band and Boone’s brother Drake, too.”

Breaking into the school made me feel dirty, like I
needed to wash away my sins. I wasn’t going to that party
until I got a shower—there was no way on earth.

Rachel made a pouty face. “That’s a good idea but
make it quick.” She shook her finger at me like I was a
naughty child. “You don’t want to miss the masquerade
dance. It’s guaranteed to be the best part of the night.” She
flipped her black tresses over her shoulder and sauntered
back down the hallway.

What did she mean by that comment?
She thought
that me taking a shower was a good idea—did I smell like that
scuzzy locker room or something? I did a quick smell check
on my sleeve but smelled nothing but the faded scent of my
Midnight Kiss perfume. Whatever. And she was wrong—I
did
want to miss the masquerade dance. Even if some fool did
take pity on me and ask me to dance, I wouldn’t say yes. The
only boy I ever wanted to dance with was Zach and we’d
already shared our last dance.

I took my time in the shower while I thought about
Garnet. How was I going to help her now? She killed herself
and I had no idea why she did it. Her father was the only one
with those answers now.
He probably had her suicide note
tucked into a safe place somewhere—a place where I had no
hopes of finding it. It’s not like I could break into Jonathan
Hartley’s house and look for it—one break-in per lifetime was
the max for me. I was just going to have to ignore her until
graduation.

Even though I would be wearing the blond wig, I took
the time to straighten my hair anyway.
I mean, there was
always the chance my wig could fall off, right? Really, I was
just prolonging the inevitable walk of shame to the ball room
to face the rest of the school.
Nearly every one of them saw
that video Misty had taken of me. I had no desire to see them
inside of school let alone in my own house.

After a quick spritz of Midnight Kiss, I adjusted my
dress and my crown and headed to the party. It was almost
eight o’ clock—thanks to my extracurricular activities tonight,
I would only have to put up with two hours of torture instead
of four. The one consolation was the music—NeverMore was
a freakin’ awesome band!

I was more nervous walking into that ball room than I
was when I broke into the school.
I felt like I needed a
cigarette and I didn’t even smoke. When I walked in, I
expected every
head to turn
and
for the whispering
to
commence but I was dead wrong. Instead of treating me like
a pitiful museum exhibit, they actually…
spoke
to me.

I didn’t know any of their names, but several people
greeted me with, “Great party!” and I even got one, “Awesome
costume, Ruby!” from one of the popular girls.
I peered over
my shoulder to see if there was another girl named Ruby
behind me—someone way cooler than me.
Nope, no one
there.
It felt like I just stepped into a parallel universe, one
where I was
normal and at least semi-popular.
Was
I
hallucinating or something?
No, I knew what it was—the
punch was spiked. I walked over to the coffin buffet table and
snagged a cup for myself
as Mr. Raspatello stared at me
strangely from the corner of the room. Why did he have to be
so weird?
He unnerved me. Spiked punch started to sound
really good so I took a whiff and hoped for the best. It didn’t
smell like
alcohol but
I
chugged it anyway,
just in
case.
Alcohol wasn’t something I normally drank,
but it sure
wouldn’t hurt tonight.

Rachel spotted me just as the band wrapped up their
song. She whispered something into the ear of the lead singer
who then announced that they would be taking a ten minute
break. Rachel motioned for me to join them so I snaked my
way through the crowd to where they stood.

“Finally, Ruby! I was starting to think maybe you
weren’t alone in that shower!” She gave me the same wink
she always gave me when she teased me about what Zach and
I did on our dates. Did she forget we broke up?
Who else
would she think I would even consider sharing a shower
with?

“Definitely alone,” I confirmed. This was awkward.
Highly awkward. I was talking about showering with—or not
showering with, to be more accurate—some nameless guy in
front of a total stranger. A stranger with cherry red hair and
more piercings than I’d ever seen on one human being and a
lacy, swirled tattoo on the side of her neck. This had to be
Crimson.

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Rachel laughed. She flung her
arm around the other girl’s shoulders and introduced her to
me. “This is Crimson, lead singer of NeverMore
the
coolest
band ever.
Crimson, this is Ruby, the girl with the wicked
mausoleum I was telling you about.”

“Nice to meet you, Ruby. Rachel’s told me so much
about you that I feel like I know you already. The band will be
in town for a few months. I’d like to check out that
mausoleum—that’s if the offer still stands,” she said with a
smile.

Crimson’s smile was contagious. It was genuine—
she
was genuine—like every word she ever said would be the
honest truth.
After my first impression of Chloe, I learned
that I shouldn’t trust my instincts anymore. But for Crimson, I
was willing to make an exception.

“Absolutely!” I blurted. Why couldn’t I have said
something cooler? Next to Crimson I felt like such a dork. She
was everything I wished
I
could be. Pretty in a unique sort of
way, talented, and confident with who she was. I, however,
fell short in every category.

“So…,” Rachel gave me a strange look and I feared
what would come out of her mouth next. “I was wondering
how you would feel about me telling Crimson about our
adventures this summer?” She cocked one eyebrow at me
mysteriously.

“Our what?” Rachel was usually about five minutes
behind me in conversation but this time she was way ahead.
When I finally realized what she was talking about, I cringed.

Talk about ghosts? Here? Now? Not with so many
ears in the room simply waiting for the next bit of juicy gossip
they could use against me. Misty was a no-show but several
denizens
of her snake
pit were slithering
around here
somewhere.
I
could see
the
headlines
in
the
school
newspaper now. “Ruby sees ghosts—should see a shrink
instead.”

“She’s cool—you can totally trust her, Ruby. She’s
really into stuff like that.” Rachel fished for a different answer
from me but she wasn’t going to get one.

“Oh, it’s not her I don’t trust,” I said motioning toward
the center of the room. “I’m already the most picked on
person in school. If anyone else were to hear.…” I trailed off
now picturing the headlines on the front of the Charlotte’s
Grove Courier, too.