Wraiths of Winter (The Haunting Ruby Series Book 3) (44 page)

Lucas kicked off his shoes and settled onto the bed
with me.
We sat there without speaking for a minute, the
sound of our sodas fizzing in their cans the only audible noise
in the room. I thought back to the day I met him and how
furious I was when I found him in my bed. Things sure had
changed in the last few months.
I
really changed in the last
few months.

Since awkward silence is, well,
awkward,
I struggled
for something to say to him. I felt horrible sitting here in bed
talking to Lucas while I knew that Zach was at home stressing
over who I was with and what we might be doing. I didn’t
want to talk about my relationship with Zach or my friendship
with Lucas. My paranormal problems at the theater weren’t
exactly something I felt like discussing either.
Jackson might
be
planning
to
kidnap me
The fact that
tonight
was

something I still wanted to deny. That left…nothing to talk
about but school.
Before I had a chance to decide what to
even do with an innocuous topic like that, Lucas went right
for the jugular.

“Let me see that,” he said, pointing to my left hand.
More specifically, he was focusing on a particular finger on
that hand—the
one that still proudly displayed Zach’s
promise ring.

Subconsciously, I squirmed a little. I didn’t like talking
to Lucas about Zach.
There were details of our relationship
that were simply none of his business. On the flip side, I also
didn’t like talking to Zach about Lucas because it always
seemed to cause tension between us.
Suddenly, awkward
silence didn’t seem so awkward anymore.

I couldn’t let Lucas know that he made me nervous,
though, so I nonchalantly said, “What, my ring? Is that what
you want to see?”

“No,” he replied sarcastically, “I’m interested in your
manicure. Of course that’s what I’m talking about. I have yet
to see you without it. Do you ever take it off?”

“Never,” I replied without hesitation.

“I distinctly remember telling you to never say never,
Ru,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Zach gave it to you, didn’t
he?”

I squirmed inside again at his question. Zach gave me
that ring the night we almost slept together. That wasn’t a
topic I wanted to discuss with Lucas. Ever. But I knew that if
I didn’t at least acknowledge the fact that Zach gave me that
ring, he would jump to his own conclusions anyway. I needed
to be honest—for
once
in my life.

“Yes, it was a gift from Zach.” I paused before adding,
“It’s a promise ring,”

 

“A promise ring,” he repeated as he inspected it
closely. “What exactly did he promise you?”

Was he being serious? Did he really not know what a
promise ring meant or did he just need to hear it from my
lips?
Did he
want me to explain
to him
the level of
commitment that I had to Zach? And if so, why?

“You know what promise rings are for, Lucas. You’re
from Pittsburgh not Zimbabwe—do I really have to spell it
out for you?”

Lucas grinned at my sarcasm and asked a different
question. “Did you promise him that you would never take it
off?”

“Yes,” I replied quickly and attempted to change the
topic of conversation to something less controversial and way
less personal. “I came up with the perfect plan to sneak you
out of here in the morning. Wanna hear it?”

“Sure I do—in the morning.
Right now, I want to
know more about this promise ring. How long ago did Zach
give it to you?”

Why was Lucas so frustrating? Why did he insist on
sniffing out every last detail about my ring? Again, I gave him
a one word answer and continued on with the details of my
plan.

“Halloween.
This house was part of the Underground
Railroad back in the 1800’s—it’s full of old tunnels and secret
passageways. One of them—“

Lucas
interrupted me
mid-sentence. “Will surely
allow me to sneak out unnoticed, I’m sure. So what you’re
telling me is that this ring hasn’t left your finger in almost four
months? Not even long enough for you to wash your hands?”

I simply couldn’t take it anymore. “No!” The word
blasted
out
Pausing
for
of
my
mouth forcefully and
way
too
loudly.
a moment to make certain
that my
outburst

wasn’t noticed by either of my parents, I continued on in
much softer tones. “No, it hasn’t. When I promised to never
take it off of my finger, I meant it. I’ve never broken a promise
and I never will. Especially not one I made to Zach.”

Okay, so that
was
a lie.
I broke a huge promise to
Zach over the summer before he knew about the haunting at
Rosewood. It caused us both an unnecessary amount of pain
and I learned my lesson. If he wanted me to wear that ring
24/7, that’s exactly what I was going to do.

“Whoa, Ru! You don’t have to get so defensive about
it! All I meant was that Zach probably expected you to at least
take it off when it made sense to—like when you’re taking a
shower or making meatloaf or something. I think you took his
words too literally.”

“Oh,” I muttered, suddenly seeing the point he was
trying to make. I guess it did make sense. Sometimes when I
washed my hair, a strand or two would get wrapped around it
and yanked out inadvertently. And while the mere thought of
me making meatloaf was insane, there were definitely times
when I had my hands in messy things that should never touch
a ring that special. I
did
take Zach too literally, didn’t I?

Lucas sat silently beside me as I pondered my own
stupidity for a few more moments.
He must have realized
how stupid I felt because he mercifully changed the subject.

“You were right, Ru. I really should know tonight
what I’m going to have to do to sneak out of here in the
morning. Why don’t you tell me your plan now. Or better yet,
why don’t you show me?"

My plan involved the dark passageways that led from
the attic to the network of tunnels in the basement. I hadn’t
been down there since the night Scarlet tried to kill me. Once
that horrible incident was over, I swore to myself that I would
never venture down into that claustrophobic maze again for
as long as I lived. There were so many corridors that even
Louis and Clark would have had a hard time finding their way
back out of there. Maybe Lucas was right—if there was any
hope of him
successfully
navigating
that labyrinth in
the
morning, he would need to have some idea of where he was
going ahead of time. Plus, it would give us something to talk
about besides my relationship with Zach.
Lucas always told
me I should never say never—at least
this
time, he was right.

“Good idea, Lucas. We have a lot of time to kill tonight
anyway plus I highly doubt Jackson would look for me in that
dank cellar. Put your shoes on while I grab a flashlight.” I
jumped up out of bed before he could even respond and
reached into my nightstand. Once I realized that paranormal
experiences were going to be a huge part of my life, I started
placing flashlights strategically around the attic. As I pulled it
out of my drawer, I made a mental note to put one in my
purse as well.
Once I was outfitted with a pair of boots that
could stomp out even the biggest and hairiest of spiders,
Lucas and I slipped through the opening in my closet and into
the hidden portion of the attic.

It looked exactly the same as the last time I was in
there.
Boxes upon boxes of dusty and long forgotten items,
thick strands of cobwebs stretching from the ceiling to the
floor. Even the dressmaker’s dummy stood right where
Rachel and I first found it. I distinctly remembered making
the decision to throw that creepy old thing out if I ever made
it out of that house alive. In the midst of everything else that
was going on, I simply forgot. I wasn’t going to make the
same mistake twice.
Before venturing beyond the hidden
door leading to the staircase to the cellar, I picked up the
filthy thing and placed it just inside the entrance to my closet.
Tomorrow night was garbage night and I didn’t want to forget
to make good on my promise to myself again.

Lucas held the flashlight for me as I searched the wall
for the hidden latch that would allow us
access
to the
stairway.
As the door creaked open and I stared down the
steps, more and more details of that horrible night flooded
over me. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

“Lucas, I don’t think we should go down there. I don’t
want to go down there. I’ll think of a different way to get you
out of here in the morning. This was a really stupid plan.” I
tried to stay calm and not show my fear but I was on the verge
of a full blown anxiety attack.

“Nonsense, Ru. This plan is ingenious—practically
foolproof.
You need to face your fears. Scarlet is gone, right?
You said that she and Levi are at peace now. If there were any
other ghosts in this house, you would know it by now. And
besides, I’m with you—I won’t let anything hurt you.” He held
out his hand for me to hold. “Trust me.”

And I
did
trust him. He was right. There wasn’t
anything or anyone down in those tunnels now. Those things
that were worthy of my fear had been gone for months. Even
Levi’s remains were no longer there. He and Scarlet were
both resting peacefully in the mausoleum. My encounter with
Garnet didn’t make me afraid to go to school. There was
simply
no good reason
for me to fear my
own
house
anymore—not even the creepiest parts of it. I could do this. I
needed
to do this. My unresolved issues from Lee’s death
weren’t the only things from my past that I needed to face
head on.

I took a deep breath and reached for his hand. “You’re
right. Let’s do this. I don’t really want to, but I should
probably take the lead since you don’t have a single clue of
where you’re going.”
Cautiously, I placed my foot on the
second step and started to have second thoughts about my
attempt at bravery.

Lucas squeezed my hand for reassurance. “No,” he
replied, “I think we should go together—side by side.”

It
was
an
uncomfortably
tight
squeeze
as
we
synchronized our steps and made our way to the bottom but I
sure as hell didn’t mind. Anything was better than facing my
fears alone. I made Lucas take the flashlight so that I could
use my right hand to steady myself against the wall.
After
what felt like hours, we were both standing at the bottom and
facing a myriad of tunnels to pick from. I was running for my
life the last time I was in this basement. I had no idea which
path led back toward the trap door leading into the garage.
Once again, I realized how poorly thought out this plan really
was.

“I don’t know which tunnel we should take, Lucas.
This really was a stupid idea. Let’s just turn around now
before we get lost.” I happily set my foot back up onto the
step but he didn’t follow suit.

“Well, okay. If you
really
had your heart
set
on
sleeping
with me, I suppose I shouldn’t argue,”
he said
without even a trace of humor in his voice or on his face.
“Let’s go back to bed then.”

He was being serious—or was he? Was he just trying
to get me to face my fears or did he wholeheartedly believe
what he was saying? I simply couldn’t tell. Why was he so
hard for me to read? Nearly every one of Zach’s words felt
sincere to me—why couldn’t Lucas be the same way? He was
like a cryptic fortune cookie—one where you couldn’t figure
out if it was predicting good luck or something more ominous.
Like that damn fortune I got at Chow Ming the day Lucas
walked into my life.
Okay, maybe
walked
wasn’t quite the
right word for it—
steamrolled
seemed like a
much more
appropriate description for how we met.

“Fine,” I conceded, “but if we get lost down here, I
will
have an anxiety attack of epic proportions. Consider this fair
warning. Which path do you want to try first?”

“So you’re more afraid of what would happen if we
went back upstairs, then? Good to know. Don’t worry
though—I won’t get you lost down here. I promise. All we
have to do is pick out some sort of landmarks as we go.
Or if
all else fails, we make some of our own. Follow me.”

Against my better judgment, I decided to trust him
and we set off to find our way through the underground maze.
Every path looked the same to me but as we walked he
pointed out ways to remember which direction would lead us
back the way we came. They were small things I never would
have noticed like an oddly shaped root jutting through the
dirt wall or a stone lying in the middle of the path.
When all
else failed, he would carve the letter “L” into the tunnel wall.
He was good at navigating but one thing didn’t make any
sense to me.

“You’re marking the right side of the wall—shouldn’t
you be using the letter “R” instead?

He placed the beam of the flashlight directly on my
face as he said, “The letter “L” doesn’t stand for left—it stands
for Lucas. You carved your initial into my heart but you won’t
let me do the same thing for you. The very least I can do is
carve mine into these walls.”

Less than an hour ago he was hinting that he wanted
to commit sinful acts with me upstairs yet now he was being
Mr. Romance.
Why
did he
have to
be so
confusing, so
contradictory in his words?
My face was getting hot and I
didn’t want him to see that I was blushing. Quickly, I batted at
his arm to get out of the spotlight he’d put on me. In my haste
to once
again
have my
emotions
safely
hidden in
the
darkness, I swatted with too much force and
sent
the
flashlight flying down the path in front of us.