July's Flesh: Haunted Halls: Rosebud Academy, #2

By Juliet Vane

At Rosebud Academy, the spirits have their own haunting melodies…

 

Lissa is tired of being afraid. After a fellow pianist disappears from the Rosebud Academy's summer music program, Lissa is determined to keep her head down, ignore the ghost in the hallway, and focus on her music and on the new tensions with her boyfriend.

 

But the unrestful spirits haunting the old school have other ideas.

 

July's Flesh is the second book in the Rosebud Academy series. If you like ghosts, mysteries, and creepy surprises, you'll love this haunted academy.

 

One-click July's Flesh and continue the gothic mystery today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Juliet Vane
• Release date: Oct 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386459521

Book preview

Before it’s Too Late

Iknew it was a dream even as I struggled to break free of it. Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor was the soundtrack. Strings, delicate at first, and then the chorus. It gave me the chills, even while I slept. But the worst part was Karl—Karl, floating in Green Lake, dead eyes staring and reflecting, in their blankness, the gray of the sky.

I’d found the guy responsible for all the thefts in June, and then, I’d believed that once he was out of the way, Karl would return. If the thief was gone, the suicide note would turn out to be a fake, and everything would go back to normal.

But the dream continued. In the background, a girl with auburn hair and sad eyes waved her arms, gesturing for me to hurry up.

Quick, she said, before it’s too late!

I tried to rush forward, to pull Karl out of the lake, but my feet were trapped in mud. I fell to my knees on the shore, arms outstretched, trying to get to him, wanting to shake him alive again.

Hurry! the girl shouted. Now she was on the opposite edge of the lake, so far away that it shouldn’t have been possible for me to even see her.

Karl drifted farther into the lake. When I struggled to push myself to stand again, I discovered that my hands were stuck in the mud, along with my feet. I couldn’t move at all.

Karl! I shouted. Come back!

I woke with tears leaking from my eyes. It was still dark outside, the sky just lightening to a cool blue-black. The lake shimmered in the distance, calling to me with its calm, yet pushing me away with its infinite sense of foreboding. I hadn’t wanted to go near it since Karl took that boat and disappeared.

While I watched, the groundskeeper, Mr. Abbot, walked across the lawn. He carried a shovel and limped slightly. I marveled at how early he must get started every day, but it made sense to get most of the outside chores done while it was still cool, and before the afternoon thunderstorms had a chance to hit.

I got out of bed, grabbed a change of clothes and my toiletries, and came out of my room, careful not to slam my door since most of the other musicians were sleeping. I skirted past the mirror at the end of the hallway so I could get to the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. Even though the face in the mirror—the auburn-haired girl of my dream—hadn’t done anything sinister, and in fact she’d helped me during my fight with Harrison last week, I was still afraid of her.

After showering and brushing my teeth, I faced the decidedly non-haunted mirror in the bathroom. Lissa, you can do this. One day at a time. Focus on piano. Practice. Make Chloe proud.

But once I stepped out of the bathroom and walked past that mirror in the hallway, all I could think about was that breathless girl’s voice urging, Quick! Before it’s too late!

Play What You’re Told

The morning’s group lesson with Brad and Akemi, my two fellow pianists, felt like it took days instead of ninety minutes. When I checked my phone afterward, I saw a message from Tyler, asking if I wanted to head into town for coffee later. I smiled because I thought I should, and answered yes .

Because I thought I should.

When I’d come to Rosebud last month, I’d known that the sessions would be grueling. I’d known that I would be pushed harder with my playing than ever before.

I hadn’t known that I’d start dating a cellist, or that a student would disappear, or that my piano instructor would turn out to be a thief.

Now I had a new instructor, and by the middle of my private lesson in the afternoon, I wished for anyone else. My fingers were already tired. Kolnikov tapped his foot impatiently, an uneven metronome to Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He’d pressured me into choosing this Rachmaninoff piece, but I couldn’t find the joy in it.

Kolnikov didn’t seem to care about joy. He pointed at the keyboard with one of his hairy arms. You will play this, because that is what pianists do. They play what they are told.

And so I played what I was told.

Afterward, I hauled myself out of the classroom, my shoulders slumping so far forward I could be the before picture in an advertisement for a confidence-building self-help book.

Ready to go?

I stumbled back, startled, my heart pounding until I realized the speaker was my boyfriend, Tyler. Forcing a smile, I said, Yeah, I’m ready.

I already had my big bag with me—large enough to hold a folder of sheet music, and I’d tucked my wallet in there earlier…even though Tyler wouldn’t let me help pay for our dates.

He drove us into the town of Switchback, where his Porsche got more attention than I was comfortable with. I drove an old Honda SUV and was used to getting around unnoticed. While Switchback seemed to have a mix of poor, middle class, and rich residents, I got the feeling a Porsche Cayenne wasn’t that common around here.

We stopped at a coffee shop halfway down Main Street.

I’ll be right there, Tyler said. He got out and came around the car. He opened my door for me.

I couldn’t remember if a guy had ever opened a door for me. As we walked toward the building, I caught our reflection in the window as we walked up—Tyler broad and muscular, and me a few inches shorter, hunched slightly with the fear that had been weighing me down. But I could definitely appreciate Tyler’s muscles; I usually gravitated toward guys who were built like him, broad and solid.

The coffee shop was cute, with a mountain cabin kind of feel to it—wood paneled walls with old glass window frames hanging from them as decoration. At the counter, a large paned glass window hung down and the menu had been written on it in marker.

I ordered a large hot tea from the woman at the counter, and Tyler ordered a macchiato with all kinds of adjustments.

I laughed as we walked over to a table. Wow, I had no idea you were so high maintenance with your coffee.

He shrugged. "I get used to certain things. I’ve missed having this drink every day. The coffee at Rosebud isn’t bad, of course, but it’s not my drink."

Makes sense, I said.

He was still waiting for his coffee. I imagined it would take at least five minutes to make, possibly more. He took his watch out of his pocket and checked the time.

You—you have your watch back! I exclaimed.

Yeah. Natalie went through Harrison’s room after he was arrested. She found my pocket watch, Kirsten’s necklace, and Denisovich’s violin. The police had their forensic people go through everything, and while they were reluctant to give it all back, I had a lawyer friend from back home get in touch with them.

That’s great, I said. Nothing was damaged?

Nope.

Did you hear if the old diary was found? The one I’d been reading?

Natalie didn’t say anything about it.

Well, I’m glad for you guys. My crystal elephant, the thing Harrison had stolen from me, had shown up in front of my dorm room door, smashed into countless pieces. I could only guess Harrison had done it because he was angry at me. He’d tried to come onto me several times, but I hadn’t been interested.

A small, guilty voice at the back of my mind said, Yes, you had been interested. My interest had been fleeting, and it hadn’t been based on anything except the forbidden nature of having the hots for my piano teacher. Besides, I’d been trying to date Tyler at the time.

And Tyler wasn’t the kind of guy who would put up with me dating someone else at the same time.

So what was up with Brad after lunch today? Tyler asked.

Brad? I blinked several times, forcing myself to come back into the present. I took another sip of tea and instantly regretted it. Still too hot to drink.

Brad was another pianist at Rosebud, along with Akemi…and Karl. Karl, who I hoped would come back.

Yeah, Tyler said, it looked like you two were having a pretty intense conversation.

Oh, he just wanted to talk about Kolnikov.

What about Kolnikov?

I struggled to remember. Um, something about the warm-up exercises? He wanted to know if I’ve been completing them every day. The exercises take a full hour. I laughed. Kolnikov is intense.

And that’s all it was? Tyler asked.

Yes, I said, feeling uneasy.

You were standing really close.

That’s what this was about? "Relax, Tyler—Brad isn’t even interested in