Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3) (8 page)

“Oh, wow, look at the time!
My curfew on school
nights is ten and that applies to having friends over, too. You
have to leave before my dad comes in here and boots you
out.” Thank goodness I found a viable excuse to end the
conversation.

“Saved by the bell
this
time, Ru,” Lucas said as he
pulled on his jacket and opened the front door. “But sooner
or later you’re gonna have to face your feelings for me.” And
with that, he was gone.

I went upstairs to get ready for bed.
Checking my
phone, I found that I had several texts from Zach wanting to
know how things went with Lucas. If I hadn’t found them, I
would have totally forgotten to call Zach like I promised.
He
would be so pissed at me if I forgot about him again. Tired
from the events of the day, I changed into my pjs and climbed
into bed. I hit Zach’s number on my speed dial and waited for
him to answer. He picked up before the sound of the first ring
died out.

“Ruby! I texted you about a million times. You forgot
to call me again, didn’t you?” Zach sounded both sad and
angry at the same time.

“No, I didn’t forget to call you. Lucas just left a few
minutes ago.” I thought that knowing I didn’t forget about
him would cheer him up. Once again, I was wrong.

The other end of the conversation sat silent. “Zach,
are you still there?” I checked my phone to see if we were still
connected.
Nope, the problem had nothing to do with our
phones and everything to do with our conversation.

“Three hours? He was at your house for
three
hours?”
The hurt and anger grew exponentially with each word he
spoke. “So, did you find out anything about his family? Does
he know where he was adopted from?”

“Actually, we didn’t even talk about him. He wanted
to hear all about Lee first so I told him everything I knew.” I
picked up the drawing Lucas made of me and admired it as I
talked to Zach.
Aside from the grossly inflated chest, it really
did
look exactly like me.

More silence from his end. “Zach?”

A heavy sigh reverberated through my ear. “You
spent three hours with him and didn’t even ask him one single
thing about his family?”

Great. I didn’t even tell him that Lucas flirted with me
and he was still mad. “No, but he really wanted to talk about
Lee—about
how they
were different
and
how they
were
alike.” I opened the drawer of my nightstand and slid the
drawing inside. “He wanted to know how Lee died. I can’t
just cut to the chase without giving him what he wants first.
Be patient.”

“Giving him what he wants? I know
exactly
what he
wants—he wants you!”

Zach was right and I couldn’t deny it. But I also
couldn’t reveal to him all of the things Lucas was saying.
Doing that would cause more harm than good. “Even if he
does, Zach, he’s not going to get it. I love
you
!”

“I love you, too, Ruby, but I don’t like where this is
heading. He’s just going to drag this whole thing out to spend
more time with you.” The anger died away leaving nothing
but the sorrow. “The worst part is that you’re falling for it.”

“I’m not falling for anything, Zach! The next time I see
Lucas I’ll dig for info—I promise!” After another awkward
pause I added, “I need you to trust me.”

“I
do
trust you—it’s
him
I don’t trust! You need to
wrap this up fast. Do you hear me?”

Why was everyone so against me talking to Lucas?
Just
because he
was
new in town didn’t mean he was
dangerous. He moved here from Pittsburgh not San Quentin!
Did the entire town start locking their doors at night after
I
moved to Charlotte’s Grove? Probably not, so why should
they treat Lucas any different?

It was too late and I was too tired to argue. “I’ll do my
best, Zach. Mwah and see you in the morning.”

 

“Mwah.” Click. Conversation over, apparently.

Even though I was dead tired, I lay awake for the
longest time unable to clear my head long enough for sleep to
take over. When it finally did, though, I was dropped into a
hideous nightmare.

I found myself in an unfamiliar place but a place that
on some level felt like home. Seated in a thick velvet-padded
seat
of
the
deepest
burgundy
hue,
I
surveyed
my
surroundings. The Bantam Theater. Even though I’d never
been inside it, I knew that had to be where I was.

I was sitting in the front row, the vast empty stage
looming before me. A heavy burgundy curtain hung loosely at
the sides exposing every inch of what it was meant to conceal.
The place was dead quiet and I thought I was alone until I
heard footsteps in the balcony above me.

They
were
quick,
frenzied
steps—the
sound
of
someone running for their very lives.
Standing up to get a
better look, I shielded my eyes from the glare of the massive
chandelier to peer into the shadowy loft overhead. All I could
make out were two figures struggling in the darkness. From
what I could see, one of them appeared to be male, the other
female.
Whoever she was, she seemed to need help—more
specifically,
my
help. I was seized with the idea that I was the
only one who could help her. Without me, she would surely
die.

I raced to the back of the theater in search of the stairs
that would lead to the second floor. Just before I reached the
spot that sat directly under the edge of the balcony, a blood
curdling
scream
pierced through the air and
something
toppled over the edge of the overhang. I knew before I even
turned around what that
thing
was.

There she lay, splayed on the frayed red carpet of the
main aisle clothed in a blood stained wedding gown. Her neck
was bent at an odd angle and a mop of tangled hair covered
her face.
Looking up, I saw her attacker slink silently back
into the shadows and disappear.

I knew it was too late to help her but I felt the need to
comfort her anyway. As I brushed her hair back into place,
one by one her features revealed themselves to me. When her
face
was
wholly
visible,
I
stumbled
backward
in
uncontrollable horror.

The girl who lay broken and bloody on the floor of the
Bantam Theater was me.
7. A Step in the Wrong Direction

So once again, I had so much on my mind that I
thought my brain might explode.
Lucas was mysteriously
absent from school the rest of the week and I had no other
way of contacting him.
No Lucas meant I was no closer to
finding Lee’s biological parents. As each day passed, I could
feel the urgency to end the situation grow stronger. Although
he wouldn’t admit it, I knew that Zach was pissed at me. It
didn’t help matters that I now had to explain to him that I was
going to try to contact Allison Cornell in hopes of saving
Crimson’s life.

“No, Ruby, absolutely not! How can you even
consider
doing something so stupid?” Zach scolded me on the way
home from school Friday afternoon.

“I’m trying to help find Crimson before it’s too late.
There’s nothing stupid about it.” I folded my arms across my
chest and gave him a look of pure defiance. “You can’t change
my mind and you certainly can’t tell me what I can and can’t
do. If you don’t want to help me, Rachel will.”

Zach released an exasperated sigh. “I should have
known
my
sister was
involved in
this.
I love her, but
sometimes she just doesn’t think things through. You haven’t
forgotten about that séance she arranged, have you?”

Was he crazy? Of course, I didn’t forget. You don’t
just watch some shadowy entity plow straight through your
best friend and then forget about it a few months later. Sure,
Rachel’s plan that night wasn’t exactly a stellar idea, but she
never expected anything bad would happen to either of us.

“Look, Zach, all I’m going to do is try to talk to
Allison—try to find out who killed her. It won’t be like the
other times. This time I know who I’m dealing with and I
know how to help her,” I said biting back the harsh words I
really wanted to say. “And besides, this is just a shot in the
dark. There’s no guarantee that I’ll even be able to
communicate with her.
But regardless of whether or not I
can, I need to know that you support me no matter what.

Zach pulled down the drive toward the mansion and
as we drew closer I could see that a black car with a Cold
Eternal bumper sticker was parked in front.
There was no
one else in this town that I could picture driving that car—it
had
to belong Lucas.
The calendar said December, but I
braced for a fireworks display worthy of the Fourth of July.

“I
do
support you more than you seem to realize! I’m
just scared of what might happen to you.
In more ways than
one.”

That
, I knew, referred to Lucas. Who, by the way, was
sitting in his car watching us intently in the rearview mirror
as
we pulled up behind him.
If I had to guess, he was
probably wishing he could read lips right about now.

Arguing with Zach in front of him would only make
matters worse so I played the only card I had. “If you don’t
help me, something bad really
could
happen to me! Please,
Zach, you’re my
hero
—I
need
you!”

We both knew he couldn’t say no to that. “Fine, Ruby.
I’ll help you but you need to promise me that you’ll think
before you just jump into anything. And don’t hold anything
back from me even if you think it might hurt me.”

Well, we definitely weren’t talking about ghosts any
more.
Was
Lucas
right?
Could Zach sense my
growing
attraction to him?
He knew that there would always be a
place in my heart for Lee and he was okay with that. But was
Lucas now occupying that place along
with
Lee? I wasn’t sure
and I was kind of afraid to find out.

“Okay, Zach, I promise.” I leaned over to kiss him
goodbye fully aware that Lucas was still watching us. Zach
held my lips to his for a few beats longer than he normally
would have. He must have noticed our audience, too.

“I’ll give you a call after work,” Zach said, gently
massaging my shoulder as he spoke. More theatrics. He was
always affectionate but I knew that this display was as much
for Lucas’s benefit as it was mine. “I’m going with you guys
when you talk to Drake tonight.”

We said we loved each other and I got out of his car.
Zach and Lucas exchanged icy glares as Zach drove around
him and away from the house.
I felt like a mouse caught
between two lions, not sure if they would pounce on each
other or on me.
I slung my
bag
over my
shoulder and
approached Lucas.

“Hey, what’s up? You haven’t been in school for days,”
I asked as I ducked my head inside his now open window.

“A lot’s happened since I moved here. I just needed
some time to think. Get in—there’s something I need to tell
you.”

The wind was freezing cold and Lucas had his heat on
full blast so it was a welcome invitation. I opened the door
and climbed inside without hesitation.

“Look, Ru, I want to say I’m sorry about how I’ve acted
with
you—my
hitting
on you
and
all.
I was
just so
overwhelmed by finding out I have—I mean
had
—a twin
brother. And, well, I didn’t expect to feel the way I feel about
you, either. Sometimes I don’t handle my emotions so well.
Sometimes I do and say stupid things to cover up how I really
feel.”

What exactly was he trying to say here?
How
did
he
feel about me? It was so much easier to dismiss his sexual
innuendo than it was to ignore this outright pour of emotion.

“I understand. Finding out about Lee must have been
a real shock.” Whatever feelings he had for me, well, I wasn’t
going to ask him about them. He couldn’t just hint around and
hope for me to come right out and ask him about it point
blank. I wouldn’t say a word until he spelled it out clearly for
me.
And what would my response be when he finally did? I
don’t know but I couldn’t help staring into his warm brown
eyes and wondering what he was feeling.

“You’re the best, Ru. I’ve never met anyone else like
you,” Lucas said placing his hand on my shoulder and casually
giving it a squeeze.

It was a little awkward but I didn’t pull away. Did he
do that as a show of affection meant to rival Zach’s from
earlier? I had no way of knowing—but I did know that at the
end of the day, I would have the most relaxed muscles of
anyone in Charlotte’s Grove. If only they could figure out a
way to release the tension piling up in my brain—now
that
would be freakin’ priceless.

“When I confronted them, my parents admitted that I
was adopted,” Lucas said sadly as he removed his hand from
my shoulder. “All they could tell me was that I was adopted
out of Allegheny County.
They had no knowledge of Lee,
either.”

My heart went out to him. It had to be tough to learn
something like that about yourself. “Well, at least now we
know where to start looking. I’m sure there must be a
website where we can request information or something.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied quietly. “Do you have
time to help me start looking tonight?”

 

I checked my watch for the time. “No, not really.
Sorry. I have plans with Zach later. Tomorrow night maybe?”