Phantom (11 page)

Chapter Eleven

The week flew by as they tended to do when things were insanely busy. Between schoolwork and rehearsals, there wasn’t much time for anything else. Before Rebecca knew it, it was Friday, Halloween, the night of the dance. It was going to be her first real date with Tom. It was also the first life goal she could cross off her to-do list. Even all the craziness going on around her couldn’t diminish her excitement. In fact, she hadn’t heard from her stalker all week and therefore hadn’t thought much about him since Wendy’s return to school.

Wendy had been absent for only one day after her accident. Then she was back and just as determined as ever to make Rebecca’s life miserable. There was one deep gash on her cheek and another across her forehead that needed stitches, and multiple smaller scratches. But Rebecca had heard through the grapevine that the doctors didn’t think there would be any serious scarring. Still, she was cut up pretty badly, and it was impossible for high school kids not to stop and stare when she walked by. But she didn’t let it affect her performance. She returned to her role of Carlotta with a confidence and grace that made Rebecca admire her despite their personal issues.

 Wendy didn’t come right out and say that she blamed Rebecca for her accident. But the unspoken accusation was there, making her understand a little better why Justyn had been able to pick up so well on her own suspicions. Every time Wendy glared at her, Rebecca felt like she was waiting for the inevitable counter attack, however undeserving it might be. It wasn’t a good feeling to think that someone blamed her for something she knew she didn’t do, and it made her feel guilty about how she had treated Justyn.

As far as her co-star was concerned, Justyn had avoided her as much as possible. He moved through their mutual scenes with much less vigor than usual, and spent the rest of the time in the gloomy kind of melancholy that Goths were stereotypically known for. Yet, Rebecca knew that was putting on a front. A part of her missed the teasing Justyn, the sarcastic Justyn, and most of all, the sensual Justyn that could hold her enthralled with his hypnotic eyes and angelic voice. Still, she had to admit, there was a small part of her that was worried he might be the one who was causing the strange incidents. When days past without him speaking to her, she thought it was probably for the best if he moved on to other conquests.

She kept
telling
herself it was for the best, but she was having trouble actually
convincing
herself. She found that she missed his unique way of flirting. She was even thinking about seeking him out to apologize as she packed her books up after school. Miss King had canceled play practice so they could get ready for the dance, but she was sure he was still around somewhere. As it turned out, Rebecca didn’t need to seek Justyn out. He found her.

  “Hello, Becca.”

  At first, when she heard his soft voice speaking so close to her ear, she was startled. She actually felt the hairs on her neck rise as his breath teased her skin. She was so flustered that she dropped the book she was just about to put into her backpack. Nevertheless, she was secretly a little pleased that he hadn’t given up on her after all.

He gave her a crooked, sarcastic smile as he handed her the book she had dropped. “You know, you don’t have to worry. I wouldn’t attack you in front of all these witnesses.” He gestured to the still crowded hallway. School had just let out, and the students were shuffling around as they prepared for the weekend.

“Do you really believe that’s what I was thinking?”

He shrugged. “Only you know what you’re thinking.”

Rebecca blushed. “Well, I’m not worried about you attacking me. Even if we didn’t have an audience.”

“Really?” he asked. “Does that mean you’ve taken me off the Mainland Regional Most Wanted List?”

Rebecca had to laugh. He was taking her accusations fairly well. If he was willing to forgive her after the way she had treated him, the least she could do was apologize for it.

“I overreacted the other day. It wasn’t fair of me to blame you.”

“It’s okay. I’m used to being the scapegoat.”

“It still wasn’t fair.”

“No, but I forgive you. I even brought you a present.”

 Justyn extracted a round stone, about the size of an egg, from one of his large baggy pockets, and made a grand gesture of presenting it to her. He smiled at her as he held it out, a real smile, with no sarcasm behind it. It transformed his face. Black clothes, black makeup and all, he still managed to look innocent and sweet. Like a little boy giving someone a special gift he had made in art class. Rebecca couldn’t help but smile back, even though she was a little confused by his present.

 “A rock?” She teased. “Really, Lord Justyn, you shouldn’t have.”

The innocent look faded and turned playfully conspirative. “Sometimes, Becca, things are more than what they appear. Something can seem a little rough around the edges.” He flipped over his little stone, revealing an inner cavern that sparkled with a layer of blue and white crystals. “But when you take the time to look a little closer, you might find something there that you never expected.”

“It’s . . . it’s beautiful.”

 She accepted the gift hesitantly. She was almost afraid to touch it, worried that her clumsy hands would shatter its delicate perfection. It was surprisingly sturdy despite its fragile appearance. She ran her fingers along the shining crystals, and swore that the stone hummed with energy all its own.

“It’s a geode,” Justyn explained. “The crystals promote healing and creativity, and offer protection.”

“Is this your subtle way of telling me my acting needs work?”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, it can’t hurt. But I was more concerned with keeping you safe, especially after what happened to Wendy.”

It was only with great effort that Rebecca managed to keep the conversation light after the reference to Wendy’s accident. But she didn’t want the conversation to end badly when things were going so well, so she just played off her nervousness.

“Make me a better actor
and
keep me from falling off the stage. That’s a tall order. You really believe this one little rock can do all that?”

“There’s amazing power and beauty in everything in nature. You just need to take the time to look for it and understand it. Which brings to me my second gift.”

“Wow, I feel like it’s my birthday.”

“Well, Samhain, Halloween, is a special holiday at my house. It’s one of the most important and powerful days of the year for a Wiccan. My family always likes to exchange little gifts.”

Rebecca was having visions of Justyn and two black clad parental figures standing in the middle of the cemetery, chanting strange invocations in an effort to raise the dead. He must have noticed the look on her face. He rolled his eyes again, good-naturedly, and handed her a small paperback.

 “This book will explain things. Wicca probably isn’t what you think it is. But Samhain is a day when the veil between worlds is the thinnest. I always feel my father’s spirit is close by on Samhain.”

“Your father is . . . .” She paused, not wanting to sound rude.

“On the other side,” Justyn finished. “I call it the Summerland. It’s a place where your soul waits to be reincarnated.”

 “I’m sorry about your father,” Rebecca said. “What happened to him?”

 Justyn shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, but she noticed he had to clear his throat before he spoke again. “Cancer. It was a long time ago, though. I was barely walking.”

“So your mom raised you alone?”

“Pretty much. She got married again a few years ago. Matt’s cool, but he doesn’t really understand me.”

“I can’t imagine why. I mean—you’re such an open book.”

Justyn rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, as long as my mother’s happy, it’s all the same to me. Matt gives me my space.”

 “Well, I’m going to make a point of reading this book over the weekend.” Rebecca promised. “I’m sure it will be . . . very enlightening. But right now, I really need to get home and get my costume together. Will you be coming to the dance tonight? Or will you be too busy exchanging Halloween gifts and communing with the dead?”

“I’ll do my best to work it all into my schedule, but I can’t make any promises.”

It didn’t seem right that she should feel so disappointed when she was going to the dance with someone else, but still she felt her hopes drop. “All right. Maybe I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, maybe. Have a good time with Tom.”

 It was hard to miss the hint of contempt in his voice when he spat Tom’s name in only barely contained disgust. Rebecca was relieved when she was able to slip away before he could take it any further. The last thing she wanted to talk about with Justyn was her date with Tom.

Rebecca drove home, and immediately jumped into the shower. After she blow dried her hair, she rolled it in hot curlers. Then she fixed her makeup as she waited for the curls to set. It took her a few times to get the sparkling false eyelashes to stick, but when they finally did, she added glitter eye shadow and a deep pink blush. She didn’t normally wear much makeup, but for Halloween, which had always been one of her favorite holidays, she made an exception. Her own life was so boring, it was fun to pretend to be someone a little more exiting, or adventurous, or in this case magical. This year, Rebecca had chosen a wood fairy as her costume.

 After she was done with her makeup and removed the curlers, she used a sparkling lotion to cover her arms and legs in a very light, subtle shimmer before slipping into the costume. The flowing orange, gold and green gossamer top stopped just above her belly button. The matching skirt was a little shorter than she expected, but she had to admit, it was sexy. She completed the outfit with a pair of golden leg laces that tied just below her knees, a set of over-sized wings, and a ring of orange flowers that she placed on top of her hair. The whole ensemble was covered in a splattering of leaves, giving it an earthy, fall look. The colors complimented her olive skin tone, and overall, she was pleased with the final results. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to turn sideways to get her wings through the door.

Rebecca was always the one oddball female who was done getting dressed way before she had to leave. She had at least another half hour before Tom would arrive to pick her up. On a spur of the moment, she picked up Justyn’s book, and looked at the cover.

“Wicca Revealed,” she read aloud. “A glimpse into the peaceful life of pagans.”

 She opened up to the first chapter and found that just the first few lines enchanted her. She had known witchcraft wasn’t really a bunch of big-nosed women with warts who flew around on broomsticks. But she had never known much about the principles of the practice. She didn’t think it was anything more than casting spells and reading tarot cards. As she read the opening lines of the poetic “Wiccan Creed”, which beautifully summed up the basic philosophy behind the religion, she learned that not only was it not evil, it was actually beautiful. She finished the entire first chapter and was just about half way through the second when her cell phone rang.

 She stuck a piece of paper in the book to mark her page and picked the phone up off her desk. She noticed it said “unknown number” instead of a name, but she was worried Tom might be calling her to tell her that he had changed his mind about taking her to the dance after all. So she answered it on the second ring.

“Hello.”

“Don’t go to the dance with Tom tonight.”

 Rebecca just about dropped the phone when she heard the same garbled voice that had threatened her before, distorted by some of type of electronic gizmo. Even as her hand started to tremble she cursed the Internet for making it possible for some crazy person to obtain the device they were using to terrorize her.

“Who is this?” Rebecca demanded. “Why are you doing this to me?”

Instead of answering, the voice plagued her with a horrible tuneless verse. The same verse that the phantom sung not long before the chandelier was sent crashing down into an unsuspecting audience.

“Listen to the demands I make,
Do it for your lover’s sake.
If you don’t there’s sure to be,
Disaster, misfortune, a calamity!”

 The line went dead as soon as the last word was sung, leaving Rebecca to wonder if the Halloween dance could possibly go as well as she had hoped with such a horrible threat hanging over head.

Chapter Twelve

A horn was honking loudly and a little obnoxiously from her driveway. Rebecca peeked out her bedroom window and saw Tom’s truck. As she ran down the stairs, she resolved not to think about the phone call. There was no point in letting it ruin her night. After all, what could possibly happen at a high school dance? There would be at least a dozen chaperones there. She would be fine.

Rebecca had expected that Tom would at least be gentlemanly enough to get out of his car and knock on her door. Maybe it was for the best—if he didn’t come in, her father wouldn’t try to grill him about his intentions toward his daughter. In fact, her parents barely looked up as she slipped through the living room and out the door. They probably assumed she was going to the dance stag and riding with a group of girls, the way she normally did.