Phantoms of Fall (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 2) (48 page)

“Really, Chase. I don’t see why you insisted I come
down here with you.” The voice was familiar but I couldn’t
quite place it.

“You
do
know Stephanie. It’s about time you take
responsibility for what you did twenty years ago.” That voice
definitely belonged to Mr. Raspatello.

Stephanie?
Stephanie Morgan, Garnet’s friend?
Where did Mr. Raspatello find her on such short notice?
I
peered over Zach’s shoulder to get a good look at her and I
couldn’t believe my eyes.

Ms. Wright, the librarian, was the only other person in
the room. She stood beside Mr. Raspatello clutching her khaki
sweater tightly around her.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she stuttered but the
ever reddening tint on her face said she
did
know.

“You found her body! You took her suicide note!” Mr.
Raspatello pointed his finger at her bony face. “I want to
know what it said!”

“She…she didn’t leave a note. You know that.” Wow.
She was a terrible liar.

“She did! And she nearly killed this poor girl tonight
in an attempt to have the truth finally be told!” Mr. Raspatello
glared at her through dark eyes and I was glad to not be on
the receiving end of them for once.

Ms. Wright wouldn’t budge.
She set her pointy jaw
with determination and stayed silent. So Mr. Raspatello did
something unexpected—he started unbuttoning his shirt.

Awkward. I wanted to avert my eyes but even after
everything I’d been through I was still curious to see what he
was doing. He
was
pretty cute, after all.

I wasn’t disappointed. I was too busy checking out his
broad chest to notice why he took off his shirt in the first
place. Then I saw it—the tattoo I admired through the sleeve
of his shirt on the first day of school. In a flowery script, the
word “Garnet” was emblazoned across his left bicep.

“I’ve carried her with me for twenty years! Twenty
years!
Do you know how hard it is to find a woman who
won’t mind that you have your dead girlfriend’s name
tattooed on your arm?” He was almost in tears. “It’s pretty
damn hard.” No almost about it, now—he
was
in tears.

He was getting nowhere with her and his frustration
grew visibly.
I knew exactly how he felt, too.
What could
have possibly been in that note that was still so important for
her to hide so many years later?
Important enough to not
reveal even when lives were at stake? Garnet’s hold on me
grew exponentially over the last few months—if this didn’t
end tonight, I was sure the next time I would end up dead.

Just thinking about it gave me a cold chill so I popped
my hands into my pockets for a little warmth. That’s when I
found it—the note I wrote before I tied that cord around my
neck.
Carefully,
I
unfolded
it
and
instantly
realized
something. It may have been written with my hand, but the
words definitely belonged to Garnet.

I got up from the bench and stood next to Ms. Wright.
“Did it go something like this?” I asked and then proceeded to
read the note Garnet and I had written.

“I can’t live like this anymore. I loved you, Chase, but I
know you were only making a joke out of me when you said
you’d meet me at the dance. Stephanie told me you were
lying—she overheard you laughing about what a fool I was to
ever believe that you liked me in the first place.
I thought
losing weight would make my life perfect but it didn’t and
now I’m more miserable than before. Time to end the
suffering. I love you, Dad. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the perfect
daughter you deserved.”

Chase—I mean Mr. Raspatello—stared in disbelief. “I
never said that, Stephanie! It was you!
Your lies sent Garnet
to her grave! You may not have laid a finger on her but you
killed her just the same!”

“I did no such thing!” Ms. Wright countered. “I lied—
big deal! Get over it!”

Was her heart made of pure stone? Her lies led to the
death of what was supposed to be her best friend. How could
she not feel any remorse?

“I loved Garnet! We were so much alike—we liked the
same books, we founded the Black Raven Society together! If
you hadn’t interfered, who knows where it could have led.”

“You only cared about her after she lost the weight—
never before.”

Mr. Raspatello shook his head. “So that’s what this
was all about. You were jealous of her because she was thin
and she was starting to be happy. And you weren’t.” He
laughed sarcastically. “I doubt you ever will be.”

Without a response, Ms. Wright flounced out of the
room and disappeared down the hall.
Mr. Raspatello put his
shirt back on and asked to see the note. I handed it to him
suddenly aware of the fact that he knew things about me that
I didn’t want him to know.

“How much did you tell him,” I whispered to Zach
hoping Mr. Raspatello wouldn’t hear. But sound traveled
oddly in that locker room and Zach wasn’t the one to answer
me.

“He didn’t have to say much. I figured most of it out
on my own.”

 

“Oh?” I questioned fearing his reply.

“You’re a lot like Garnet, you know. I noticed that the
first day of school. You’re quiet but deep—it shows in your
writing the same way it did in hers.
I could sense you
changing like she did, almost becoming her at times. When
you mentioned the Black Raven Society, I freaked out. Most of
your stories deal with ghosts or death in general and I got the
feeling that you had firsthand experience. I noticed you were
gone a long time the night of your party and I started to
wonder. After I heard about the break in on the anniversary
of Garnet’s death, I went to Rita Darcangelo for information.
I’d heard about ghosts appearing on the anniversary of their
deaths and I wanted to see if it was possible.”

It was worse than I’d feared. He knew I broke into the
school. “I didn’t mean to cause any damage that night—really,
I didn’t! I just wanted to see how she died but I got stuck in
here and it was my only way out! Please don’t tell anyone! I’ll
pay for the damage—I’ll take detention every day for the rest
of the year! I’ll do anything just please don’t tell!” Zach rested
a comforting hand on my shoulder.

Mr. Raspatello smiled warmly at me. “I won’t tell. If
you hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t know the truth about Garnet’s
death. I’ll figure out a way for you to pay for the damage
without anyone knowing it was you. As for detention, I think
we can skip that. But there is one thing I want you to do for
me, though.”

“Anything!” I said enthusiastically. Wait. He wasn’t
going to ask me for anything “inappropriate”, was he? I mean,
he was hot and all, but he was old it was still a creepy thought.
Plus, I was in love with Zach—who was sitting right beside me
so he
must
not be about to ask me for sexual favors. Get your
mind out of the gutter, Ruby!

“I would like for you to resurrect the Black Raven
Society—in Garnet’s memory. The rest of the class seemed to
like the idea so you
should have no problem
getting
volunteers to help you.”

“I will,” I agreed. “It seems like the right thing to do.”

“It definitely does. Well, I think I’ll find a delicate way
to pass this message on to her father—maybe he can find
closure now, too.”

Mr. Raspatello paused to look at the words Garnet
wrote one more time. As he did, a warm breeze blew through
the locker room from out of nowhere, fluttering the note in
his hand as it passed. As quickly as it came, it was gone again.
“Goodbye, Garnet.”

“Goodbye,” I whispered.

I was still weak from the attack and from barely eating
in days, but that didn’t stop me from being the first person to
rush out the door when school was dismissed.
With Zach
right behind me, I hurried out to my car. I was on a mission—
a mission that involved silverware and anything even close to
edible.
Honestly, who was I kidding—I didn’t really even
need that silverware.

When I slid into the driver’s seat of my red Neon, Zach
snatched my keys out of my hand.

“Oh no, you don’t! You almost died in there—you’re in
no condition to drive. Get in my car. I’ll make sure yours gets
home by the end of the night.”

He was probably right but that wasn’t what made me
get out of my car and into his.
I got into his car because I
wanted him to take care of me. After three long months of
torture, I was finally free but exhausted. The only thing that
would make me feel better—besides food, of course—was
having Zach by my side to lean on.
I saw firsthand the
destructive side of love—now I wanted to see the nurturing
side.

Zach agreed to tell Dad and Shelly nothing besides the
fact that I didn’t feel good. I wasn’t ready to tell them the
truth yet. Maybe I never would be—too many people knew
already.
But right now, all I really cared about were three
things. Food, my bed and Zach—not a bad combination.

Even though my mind said “eat anything and
everything”, my stomach pleaded “take it easy on me!” so
Zach stopped by the All American Diner for a container of
chicken soup before
heading to Rosewood. If it weren’t
steaming hot, I would have gulped it down right there in the
car.

I felt like hell so I went straight up to the attic—with
the soup of course—and let Zach explain the situation to
Shelly.
I grabbed a spoon, kicked off my shoes and crawled
straight into bed. I was barely settled in when Zach came to
join me. He made himself comfortable on the bed beside me.

“What about the shelter? Don’t you work today?”

“I do. But Shelly’s going to the grocery store for some
crackers and ginger ale to help calm your stomach. I told her I
would take of you until she got back.”

“Thanks, Zach,” I said and swallowed the first spoonful
of soup from the container.
It was delicious and I savored
every drop of the warm liquid as it slid down my throat.
“Thanks for everything.”

He snuggled closer to me and took the soup and my
spoon out of my hand. Spoonful by spoonful, he fed me the
chicken soup until every last bit of it was gone. He threw the
plastic container in the garbage, placed the spoon on my
nightstand and curled up next to me again.

“When Garnet was controlling you, how much of you
was still you?”

I could practically see the wheels turning in his head.
He was afraid that my desire to sleep with him wasn’t really
mine at all.

“I was mostly me up until Monday—then I was mostly
her.”

“Oh,” he said thoughtfully. “Exactly what do you mean
by
mostly
?” Zach pulled the comforter around me and
smoothed it down with his hand. When he was finished, he
rested his hand on my stomach and looked me straight in the
eyes.

There was doubt and vulnerability in his expression—
things I never wanted him to feel when he looked at me.
“Everything we’ve done, everything we’ve planned to do was
all me.” I removed my hand from under the covers and rested
it on his. “It was me who accepted this ring. I’m the one who
promised to love you forever—not Garnet.”

Zach rested his forehead against mine. “That’s all I
needed to hear.”

“There’s something else I want you to hear.” The tears
I was too exhausted to cry earlier finally found their way to
the surface. “You saved my life again today—thank you.”

“I would do it every day of my life if I had to,” he said
while casually playing with my hair. “I won’t actually have to
do it
every
day though will I?” he said with a wink.

He was
the only
person
in
the world who
could
possibly make me laugh at a time like this and I loved him
even more for it. As sleep began to overtake me, I gave him a
kiss and closed my eyes. He stayed with me until I fell asleep
but when I woke up he was gone.

40. Something to Be Thankful For

The first thing I did when I woke up that morning was
take a look in the mirror.
After days of avoiding it, I was
ready to see what I actually looked like. I still wanted to lose
the extra pounds I’d put on but I would do it the right way.
But when I looked in the mirror I realized I didn’t have to.
Not only was I not fat, I was actually pathetically thin. Was
that how Garnet saw herself even when she weighed barely a
hundred pounds? I already felt sorry for her but now I felt
even worse. No one should ever have to hate themselves like
that regardless of how they look.

She was all I thought about as I went downstairs to
join the party. Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t be served until
six o’clock but Rosewood was bustling with activity well
before noon. Diane and Shelly were busy in the kitchen while
the guys were planted in front of the flat screen waiting for
the football game to start. The only one missing was Rachel.

“Where’s Rachel?” I asked Zach after kissing him good
morning.

 

“She’s in Shelly’s office reading. She’s still depressed
about everything surrounding Crimson’s disappearance.”

 

“I wish we could find a way to cheer her up—I hate
seeing her like this.”

 

“I’m just glad that Boone was able to be here with her
today,” Zach said quietly. “He’s not doing so well, either.”

One look at Boone and I saw that he was right. The
normally rowdy Boone sat quietly on the couch staring at the
screen while Dad and Garrett discussed the upcoming game
animatedly.

“Why isn’t he with his family today? I would have
thought they would all be sticking together at a time like this.”