Phantom (13 page)

“None.” He admitted. “I don’t drink.”

“Really? Not at all?” She couldn’t hide her surprise.

“I don’t believe in poisoning my body.” She must have looked as shocked as she felt because Justyn shook his head, half amused, but also slightly irritated. “I don’t shoot heroine either, in case you were wondering. Just because I’m Goth doesn’t mean I’m a lush or a drug addict.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that you
were
. I just thought that
I
was the only sober person here.” She tried to think of a way to lighten the mood. “Where’s your costume?”

 He was dressed in his normal, everyday clothes. He had on a black t-shirt with fishnet sleeves and decorative silver d-rings and silver zippers on the shoulders. His black, tight cut jeans were adorned with ornate bondage straps. His heavy black boots were silver tipped and had multiple silver buckles. And of course, his pentacle was clearly visible around his neck. It was exotic enough, but not at all out of the ordinary for Justyn, and could hardly be called a costume. But when he lifted up his upper lip in a feigned snarl that revealed pointed canine teeth, she realized he had added an extra touch for the evening. The fangs looked so natural, that for a second Rebecca found herself wondering if they might be real. It was a ridiculous thought, but she still had to clear her throat before she could speak again.

“A vampire?” she asked. “Are you serious?”

“What can I say? I enjoy irony.”

Rebecca laughed. “Obviously. But is that
all
? Just the fangs? No cape? No freaky contacts? No blood dripping down from the corner of your lip? If Halloween is really your favorite holiday, I’d think you’d do a little better than
that
.”

“Well, there is this.”

Justyn lifted his right index finger, revealing a large, full-fingered silver ring. It had an intricate skull design on the knuckle and a dangerous looking point on the tip. It was fashioned to look like a claw, and appeared to be capable of doing some serious damage.

“Yeah, I’d say that’s sufficiently freaky.” Rebecca admitted with a small shudder. “I stand corrected.”

She could see that he was amused by her reaction. “It’s just for effect. It isn’t sharp at all. See?”

Justyn ran the tip of the ring teasingly along her cheek. Then he continued, following a path from her neck to her bare shoulders, all the way down to the very tips of her own fingers. He was right. The point was completely dulled. Yet, her skin was suddenly covered with gooseflesh. She found herself shivering even though her face was burning, and she knew it was his simple touch that was making her tremble more than his vampire accessories.

Rebecca wasn’t sure how long they would have stood that way, their fingers touching, staring into each other’s eyes, barely hearing the thumping of the music around them. They might have stood frozen forever, maybe even drifted off into the fairy world that Justyn had mentioned. It certainly seemed in that moment that he was capable of anything, even transcending into a fantasy dimension. The magical imagery quickly dissolved when Jay appeared, ruining the perfect moment. He danced his way over to them, completely out of beat with the music, but hardly seeming to care.

“Hey, Becca. Hey, vampire.” He added casually. Justyn gave him a dirty look but stayed silent. “Where did Tom disappear to?”

“He wasn’t feeling well,” Rebecca told him. She was a little nervous. What would Tom think if he knew she was spending time with Justyn while he was indisposed? 

Jay slapped himself in the forehead and shook his head. “I
told
him Captain Morgan and beer don’t mix. But did he listen to me? Noooo. Of course not. He
never
listens to me.”

“He’s been gone for a while now. Maybe you should go check on him,” Rebecca suggested.

She really
was
concerned about Tom, but she also wanted to get rid of Jay as quickly as possible. She admitted to herself, with a little guilt, that it was because she wanted more time alone with Justyn. On Halloween night, of all nights, it was hard not be entranced by his odd charm.

 “Great! Now I have to be designated driver
and
play nursemaid?” Jay complained. “Sheesh!”

 He wandered off, shaking his head and mumbling under his breath. Rebecca turned back to Justyn, who was watching Jay walk away with a raised eyebrow.

“What is Jay supposed to be?”

“I’ve asked myself that question every day since freshman year.”

Justyn grinned. “I meant his costume.”

“Oh, that. He’s a chick magnet.”

“Hmmm. I see that Jay enjoys irony as well.”

The laughter died on Rebecca’s lips as the blaring base eased into a gentle ballad. She found herself examining her shoes. Justyn wasn’t shy at all; he reached out his hand to her.

“Since your date is otherwise engaged, do you suppose I might have the pleasure of this dance?”

At first Rebecca thought she should say no. After all, she had come to the dance with Tom. It seemed inappropriate for her to be dancing with someone else, especially someone who had so obviously set out to be Tom’s rival from the start. But before she knew what she was doing, Rebecca found herself accepting the offered hand, albeit somewhat timidly. She almost expected to find his skin as cold as any real vampire’s, and was a little surprised when his hand was warm to the touch.

They
glided
onto the dance floor. She ignored Carmen’s shocked stare. Other people were watching them as well. Among them was Wendy, who would probably waste no time telling Tom all about Rebecca’s disloyalty. It was impossible for people
not
to take notice. Justyn didn’t lead her in the modern, traditional slow dance where two people moved around in boring circles. Instead, he lifted her left hand with his right, draped his other arm around her waist, and began to lead her in the steps of a graceful waltz.

He spun her and dipped her, and guided her in movements she didn’t know she was capable of with her two left feet. She thought briefly that she should have been embarrassed and self-conscious. She knew that people were openly gawking at them and some were even hiding their snickers behind their hands. But Rebecca didn’t care. It somehow felt perfectly natural to be waltzing with Justyn. In fact, she really couldn’t imagine him dancing in any other way.

They turned and swirled to the slow love song, but Rebecca didn’t even hear the words. In her mind, she heard Mozart and Bach. In her mind’s eye, the room filled with teenagers and corny Halloween decorations faded away and were replaced with an elegant ballroom and beautiful people in swishing Victorian gowns and tuxedos with tailcoats. It somehow seemed like more than just a fantasy. It was like a long forgotten memory or a distant dream. Some part of her felt like she and Justyn had waltzed before, in some other time, in some other place. It made her feel almost giddy with excitement and longing.

The music ended much too quickly, and Justyn’s hands fell away. Immediately the spell was broken and Rebecca was back in the school cafeteria. A new slow song with a hip-hop beat had begun to play. Rebecca hoped for an encore, but Justyn had already started to walk away.

“Where . . . where are you going?” Boy, did she sound pathetic. Why didn’t she just get on her knees and beg him to stay?

Justyn gave her a small half-smile. “I’m afraid I must take my leave.”

“Time for you to get back to conjuring spirits?”

“Time for
you
to get back to your date. Thank you for the dance, my lady.”

Justyn was lost in the crowd before she even remembered to breathe. But she could still feel his arms around her waist; still smell his woodsy scent against her skin. She was left standing alone in the middle of the dance floor looking for a small glimpse of his shadow. She realized with a little wonder that she was trembling, gaping, swooning all over again. Every time she was around Justyn she turned into a weak-kneed mess. It really
was
getting ridiculous.

“Becca?”

Rebecca jumped at the sound of her name. She turned around and understood why Justyn had left so suddenly. She found a white-faced Tom standing behind her. His black pirate wig and beard had been lost somewhere during the course of the evening, and his blonde hair was a matted mess beneath it. Besides looking pale, he also looked embarrassed. Rebecca wanted to be mad at him for ruining their night together but she didn’t have the heart. After all, the dance hadn’t been a total loss, at least not for her. Not that she was going to admit that to Tom any time soon.

“Hi, Tom. Are you feeling any better?”

Rebecca actually thought he might cry with relief when she didn’t yell at him. “Yeah. A little. Listen, Becca. I . . . I’m really sorry about tonight. I was a total jerk.”

“It’s okay.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not okay. And it wasn’t even the real me. I don’t usually drink that much. I only did it because I was nervous and I wanted to impress you. I wanted you to like me, and instead I wound up making a total ass out of myself. Now you probably hate me.”

He looked so crestfallen that Rebecca wouldn’t help but take pity on him. “I already liked you, Tom. You just needed to be yourself.”

“Does that mean you’ll give me another chance?”

“Sure . . . why not?”

Rebecca was in a generous mood. She reached out to take Tom’s hand and lead him onto the dance floor. She was only slightly worried that his stomach might not be able to handle it. But it didn’t matter because they never made it that far. A couple of boys came running from the hallway. They were screaming so loudly it was impossible not to hear them, even over the blasting music. One of them screamed over and over again in an eerie monotone, the same desperate exclamation.

“He’s dead! He’s dead!”

The other one was a little more rational. He found the nearest chaperone, who happened to be standing just a few feet away from Rebecca and Tom. They were able to overhear every terrifying word—words that very nearly made Rebecca’s legs give out from under her.

“Come quick! Some man in a cape and a mask just
killed
Mr. Russ!”

Chapter Fourteen

Rebecca came very close to skipping school on Monday morning. She had barely slept the whole weekend, and she hated the thought of dragging herself through an endless routine of boring classes. But after giving it some thought, she decided that facing assignments was better than spending the day alone in an empty house, jumping at every sound.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Mr. Russ’s face. What little sleep she did manage to get, she spent dreaming of him hanging from the rafters of the stage, with the phantom’s voice laughing in the background. Sometimes that phantom sounded like Justyn, but other times she was sure it was Tom. And sometimes it was the nameless, faceless monster that was stalking her waking nightmares. Those nightmares were the predominant thoughts on her mind when she joined her friends at their lunch table on Monday afternoon. Even the fact that Tom chose to sit with them didn’t cheer her up. In fact, he and his annoying sidekick, Jay, were only making the day that much worse with their inconsiderate and uncouth topic of conversation.

“I heard he hung himself in the bathroom stall.”

 Tom made exaggerated gagging noises as he strung his own neck with an invisible noose. The others at the table laughed, but Rebecca grunted in disgust. Not that anyone noticed.

“I heard he was strangled,” Carmen added. “They say when they found him, he had huge red hand prints around his neck.”

Carmen was quick to chime in whenever anyone was talking about anything dramatic. She couldn’t stand being left out, so Rebecca expected no less from her. But she was surprised when even quiet Debbie starting to take part in the morbid talk. It wasn’t like her at all.

“The guys who found his body swear they saw a man in a cape and a mask running from the bathroom,” Debbie whispered. “They’re sure it was the killer.”

 Jay always wanted the last word. “I heard he drowned in the toilet bowl.”

  Rebecca had enough. With an outraged huff, she tossed her spoon down onto her lunch tray, so hard that remnants of yogurt shot across the table and splashed Carmen in the face.

“Hey, what’s
your
problem?” Carmen wiped yogurt off her nose with the sleeve of her shirt and gave Rebecca a dirty look.

 “My
problem
is that someone is dead! A human being is gone forever. It would be nice if
someone
would show a little respect, maybe an
ounce
of compassion, instead of treating his death like one big joke!”

Debbie was quick to agree and looked embarrassed. “You’re right, Becca. We shouldn’t be making jokes when someone was killed.”

 “Old Russ bit the big one. He kicked the can,” Jay said with a snicker. “He’s pushing up daisies. What do you want us to do? Cry like a bunch of babies?”

 Rebecca lost what little was left of her composure. She stood from the table and grabbed her lunch tray, prepared to stomp away. Tom grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back into the seat. She didn’t have the energy to fight him and she didn’t even realize she was crying until he used his napkin to wipe away her tears.