Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (47 page)

I listened
carefully
as
Mr. Hartley described
his
daughter’s weight loss. The similarities to what Ruby went
through in the last few months were striking.

“It all started when Garnet got a bad case of food
poisoning at the end of her freshman year. She was incredibly
sick for nearly a week. When she finally felt well enough to
get out of bed, she found herself ten pounds lighter. I’d never
seen her so happy and
I
was happy
for
her.
But it was the
catalyst for something dark, something negative.

“She started running that summer and the weight
began to fall off. Dinner at our house was normal—she ate
almost as much as I did so I attributed the weight loss to
exercise. By the time September rolled around, she was thin
but not excessively so. For the first time ever, she was excited
to go back to school. I was so proud of her because she was
acting more like a normal teenager than I’d ever seen her act.”

I didn’t like where this was going. Ruby got sick the
first day of school and blamed it on Shelly’s eggs. Then she
started running the track after school.
It felt like she was
following the same path as Garnet. How far down that path
would she go? Several minutes had passed but there was still
no sign
of Ruby.
But girls
always
took forever in
the
bathroom. What exactly did they do in there anyway? And
why did they always seem to go in there in packs?
The
thought of grabbing Boone and asking him to accompany me
to the toilet was such an insane thought but girls seemed to
need a partner almost every time they went. Girls. Would I
ever fully understand them?

But not this time—Ruby was definitely alone. I had to
go find her but I still didn’t know what was in Garnet’s suicide
note. Normally, I’m a fairly patient person but not today. I
wanted to just stand up and yell “Get to the point!” but I
didn’t. My leg started to bounce up and down involuntarily. It
happened every time I got really nervous but I never noticed
it until Ruby pointed it out. Ruby. Everything always came
back to her. It was like everything in the world reminded me
of her in some way. I couldn’t imagine a world without her in
it. Just spit it out, Mr. Hartley!

“One day though, she came home crying. She wouldn’t
tell me what was wrong but I guessed that it was because of a
boy. After that day, I noticed she didn’t seem to be eating
much.
Garnet started losing more and more weight. I took
her to her favorite restaurant one night to cheer her up,
hoping I could get her to eat. When she cleaned her whole
plate, I was ecstatic until we got home and I heard her throw
it all back up.”

Dammit! Where
was
she?
She should have been
back by now. She wasn’t in there vomiting, was she? Ruby
seemed so weak lately—what if she was passed out on the
bathroom floor and she needed my help?
Hurry up, Mr.
Hartley!

“I was about to get her some professional help when
she started to change, started to seem happy again. When she
asked if she could go to the Halloween dance, I agreed without
hesitation. My daughter had never been to a school dance so I
figured it was a good sign that she was doing better. I’ve
spent the last twenty years wishing that I’d told her no.”

Okay, here it comes. He was about to get to the part I
was waiting for.
As soon as he did, I would go find her. Just
hold on a little longer, Ruby!

“They found her body in the girl’s locker room that
night. I knew how she did it but I never found out why she
did it. My daughter left this world with no explanation.” Mr.
Hartley paused to wipe away a tear. “Not even so much as a
note to say goodbye.”

“But she did leave a note—Ruby saw it!” I was so
shocked by what he said that I actually said the words out
loud. There wasn’t anyone sitting near me so I figured I was
in the clear. Until a voice behind me responded.

“Zach! What did you just say?”

I turned around and
came face to
face with Mr.
Raspatello who looked distraught and on the verge of tears.
My mind raced to come up with a way to cover my tracks but
fell short. There was something about the look on his face
that stopped me from even trying to lie to him.

“Come with me, Zach,” Mr. Raspatello said as he
opened the door to the auditorium.

Was I in trouble?
If I got into any more trouble, I
would get kicked out of school for sure. But I couldn’t waste
time talking to him when Ruby needed me. And something
told me she
really
needed me. Now.

I had to risk expulsion and go find her. “Not now, Mr.
Raspatello!
I have to go find Ruby. I think she might be in
trouble.”

Pushing past him, I decided not to stop until I found
her, not to turn around regardless of what he had to say. Until
he actually spoke.

“It’s Garnet, isn’t it? Garnet’s affecting her in some
way, isn’t she?” he called down the hall after me.

 

I stopped dead in my tracks. How did he know? How
could he possibly know about Garnet?

There wasn’t time to find out now. I needed to find
Ruby
before something
horrible happened to
her.
Two
people searching would be better than one.

“Yes! I have to find her! You have to help me find
her!” I pleaded.

 

“Where do you think she is?” He caught up to where I
was and looked to me for answers. Answers I didn’t have.

“She said she needed to use the restroom but that was
over fifteen minutes ago. I’m afraid she’s passed out or.…” I
wouldn’t finish that sentence. Ruby was going to be okay—
she just had to be.

“We’ll start here.” Mr. Raspatello knocked loudly on
the girls’ restroom door before entering. Searching stall after
stall, we found each one empty.

If she really just needed to use the restroom, Ruby
would have gone to the nearest one, wouldn’t she? I knew the
answer to that question but I didn’t want to admit it to myself.
There was only one other place she could be and I prayed that
it wasn’t too late.

“Girl’s locker room!” I shouted out and took off down
the hall.
Mr. Raspatello was old so I expected to leave him in
the dust. Imagine my surprise when he not only caught up
but overtook me. Please, don’t let it be too late!

Maybe I was
wrong, maybe Ruby
was
just in
a
different bathroom. Maybe…. When I saw the door to the
locker room was open, I knew I was right. I didn’t want to be
right.

Seeing that open door gave me the shot of adrenaline I
needed to catch up to Mr. Raspatello so we made it to the
locker room at the same time.

“Ruby!” I cried out, knowing deep in my heart that she
wouldn’t answer me—alive
or
dead.
Calling her name made
me feel better so I did it again. “Ruby!”

The girls’ locker room was set up the same as the boys
so I knew exactly where to go.
I turned the corner not
knowing what I would find. In a matter of seconds, this could
be the
worst day of
my
life.
Or I
could
experience an
overwhelming sense of relief. Which was it going to be?

I didn’t realize there was a third option until it was
right in front of me.
She was alive but she was in terrible
danger.
There she was with an extension cord wrapped
tightly around her neck, perched precariously on a chair that
looked like it might roll out from under her at any second. My
first instinct was to barge right in there and bring her down
safely but Mr. Raspatello blocked me with a stiff arm to the
chest.

“What are you doing? You have to help me get her
down from there?” Anger management classes or not—if I
had to punch him in the face to get him to let go of me, I
would. She was still alive and there wasn’t anything
I
wouldn’t do to keep it that way.

“No, Zach! We don’t know her state of mind—if you
take one step toward her she may jump!”

 

“You’re wrong!” I didn’t need his help. I would save
her all by myself.

Shoving his arm away, I started toward her.
She
seemed to be looking both at me and through me at the same
time. Then Ruby lifted one foot off of the chair and dangled it
over the edge.

My breath caught in my throat. If I rushed right at her,
would I get to her in time? This wasn’t a game. If I gambled
and lost, Ruby would be dead. What should I do?!
Oh Dear
God, what should I do?

“We need to talk to her—see if we can get her to come
down on her own.”

Talk to her—right. I could do that. “Ruby, sweetie,
can you come down from there so we can talk? There are so
many things I want to say to you.” After a brief flicker of
recognition she was gone again. She acted like she didn’t even
know me.

“No, not Ruby—Garnet! We need to talk to Garnet.”
Mr. Raspatello barked angrily at me as he took a small step
forward.

“I don’t know what to say to her! I don’t know what
brought her here!” I felt so powerless. Ruby never needed
me more than she did right now and I didn’t know what to do
to help her.

“Garnet,” Mr. Raspatello said in a soothing voice. “It’s
me, Chase. I’m sorry I was late for the dance. If you come
down, I’d like to dance with you.”

Nothing.
Ruby didn’t show any sort of
acknowledgement.

 

“Zach! Quick—what do you know about Garnet’s
suicide note?

The pressure was tremendous—what if I forgot one
single detail and Ruby died because of it?
Hurriedly, I told
him what Ruby saw in the locker room on Halloween night
hoping I got it right.

“She couldn’t read what it said, though!” I stressed to
him. “How does any of this help us save her?”

“It helps because there’s one living person who knows
what was in that suicide note and that person is here!” Mr.
Raspatello backed slowly out of the shower. “Stay with her!
I’ll be back with some answers!” He ran out of the locker
room and disappeared.

I was alone with her now. We’d been alone together a
thousand times but never like this. All those times we fought,
all those times she wanted to do more than just kiss me—why
was
I such a fool?
During
the time we spent apart, I
sometimes wondered if maybe I was wrong about us and that
any other girl could make me feel the way she did. But now,
all that doubt was permanently erased. She was the one—the
only
one. I should have given her everything she wanted but I
didn’t and now it might be too late.
If she lived to see
morning, I wouldn’t make that same mistake again.

“I love you, Ruby,” I whispered to myself. Even if she
couldn’t hear it, maybe she could feel it somehow.

Where her eyes had been glassy and vacant, suddenly
there was a spark. “Zach,” she murmured and turned toward
me with a single tear running down each cheek.

The shift in her body weight was enough to send the
chair rolling toward the dip in the shower floor. I shot toward
her and wrapped my arms around her waist not knowing if I
was too late to save her.

39. Where the Truth Lies

What was going on? My brain was foggy like I was
drifting
in
and
out of
consciousness
yet I remembered
everything. It was kind of like I was in a movie yet watching it
at the same time. I knew where I was and how I got there—it
was just the “why” part that I was missing. I didn’t have full
control of my actions and it was an awful feeling.

When Zach and Mr. Raspatello showed up, I thought it
was over. I tried to call out to them for help but it was like
shouting at the screen during a horror movie. They couldn’t
hear me and all the screaming in the world wouldn’t stop
them from doing something stupid.

I wanted to pull that cord off of my neck but my arms
felt like lead and even the slightest motion seemed to make
the chair move away from my feet.
My perspective shifted
back and forth from actor to observer at lightning speed.
Every time I got an opportunity to try to help myself, it was
gone again in a flash. I didn’t want to die—not here, not like
this, not with Zach watching helplessly and unsure of what to
do.

Then he said it.
The words that broke through the
haze like nothing else did. “I love you, Ruby.” He spoke in a
whisper but his voice came to me as clearly as if he’d shouted.

“Zach,” I whispered back and twisted myself around to
face him. If I was going to die, I wanted his face to be the last
thing I saw on this earth.
I barely managed to get the word
out when the chair gave way and started to roll out from
beneath my feet. At least I would die having known true love.

The noose began to tighten around my neck, cutting
off my oxygen almost instantly. I was already so weak from
not eating that I felt faint with just the slightest pressure from
the cord. This was it. Please, don’t make me listen to the
sound of my neck breaking as I fall!

I fell anyway—right into Zach’s arms. The chair was
in the middle of the shower now. The only thing that stood
between me and certain death was Zach.
I should have been
scared to death but I wasn’t—I trusted him with my life.
Literally.

“Ruby?” Zach said hesitantly, his voice quavering with
emotion.

 

I found my voice and spoke the sweetest word I’d ever
heard. “Zach.”

He lifted me up enough to ease the tension in the cord
and I unwound it from my neck.
Once I was free, I wrapped
my arms around his neck and he carried me out to a bench in
the locker room. He set me down gently but he didn’t let go of
me and I hoped he never would again. We sat there together
in silence until the sound of approaching footsteps in the hall
came to a stop behind us.