Disclaimer: All rights belong to the creators and writers of Julie and the Phantoms (2020). I take no credit, and I do not mean to break any copyright rules. This is simply a work of fiction made for enjoyment. No money is being made.

Rating: K+

Author's Note: I know one of the writers said Willie was an 80s ghost but I've always headcanoned him as a 60/70s kinda guy so *shrugs*

Chapter 35

Julie lands on the carpet floor of one of the many rooms in Trevor Wilson's house. The sunlight is streaming in from the large windows, warm on her skin. Her head spins and she curls up into a ball and groans.

The sound of running footsteps near, and suddenly she's attacked by several screaming and squealing people.

"Julie! Oh my gosh, you're back!"

She manages to push them away and sit up. Reggie and Flynn are on the floor next to her, and Carrie standing just behind them, her arms crossed over her chest. For once, she's not scowling at Julie. In fact, she almost looks relieved.

Flynn opens her mouth when suddenly another figure appears, half-landing on her. Messy blond hair covering blue eyes - it's Nick.

Carrie rushes forward and pulls him into a hug. He looks surprised, but quickly reciprocates. It's a long moment before they pull apart, and Julie is stunned to see that Carrie is actually crying.

"I thought I'd lost you forever," she says, furiously wiping at her cheeks. "You and my dad and everyone."

Carlos is the next to tumble into the room. He jumps to his feet, a large smile on his face.

"You will not believe what just happened to us," he says. "That's the future of VR gaming right there."

Julie rolls her eyes, but she's too happy to be mad or irritated at him. Reggie pulls him into a hug and Carlos doesn't fight it. Flynn reaches over and grabs Julie's hand. She also has tears streaking down her cheeks.

"We really thought you guys were gone," she says. "When you didn't come out immediately to let us know what was going on, I knew something horrible happened there."

Julie nods. "I couldn't leave the game. I lost all my special powers. And it was totally different than last time. Willie was right about the game changing."

The words have barely left her mouth when Willie himself appears. Even though Julie knew that he was his own avatar in the game, she's still surprised to see that he looks the exact same. The only difference is his apparel - in real life, he's wearing a cropped, tie-dyed t-shirt, a shark tooth necklace, jeans, and grungy white converse. He looks around in surprise.

"Willie!" Flynn reaches over to him. "It's me, Flynn! I was the white frat boy when we last met!"

He looks taken aback, but then a small smile grows on his face. "Hey, Flynn. Or should I say, Brad."

"You should not," Flynn replies. "I'm glad you made it this time!"

Reggie greets Willie while Julie trains her eyes on the TV screen. Where are the others? They should be here in a few seconds.

A minute passes. Julie doesn't move. Around her, she hears Flynn and Nick introducing Willie to Carrie. She hears Carlos telling Reggie about what happened to them in Jumanji. She's aware of everything going on around her, but she can't focus on it. Her sole concentration is on the TV.

"Where are they?" she explodes after another minute passes. "They should have been right behind us!"

Willie freezes and turns to look at the TV. He looks at it strangely, as if he doesn't recognize it. Julie remembers that he's been in the game even longer than the boys, and she wonders what year he even entered the game.

"I don't...I don't think they're coming," Nick says slowly. "They made that deal with Caleb."

"But they didn't, like, sign for it or anything." Julie turns to Willie. "Did you do anything to finalize your deal with Caleb?"

Willie's eyes don't leave the TV screen. "We shook hands, and I got this weird purple mark on my wrist that didn't fade until after you guys left the first time."

"See? they didn't shake hands, so it was never official. They have to come through."

"I don't think Caleb will see it that way," Nick says gently. "He was in my head. I've seen into his mind. He's not the kind of person that would respect a technically like that if it doesn't work in his favor."

"What happened to you all exactly?" Carrie asks. Everyone ignores her.

"This is all my fault." Willie buries his head in his hands. "I should have never contacted Alex. Now he's stuck in there forever and it's my fault."

Julie reaches over and sets a hand on his back. "It's not your fault, Willie. Caleb wanted the boys, and he would have done anything to get them back."

"If he wanted the boys, then why isn't my dad here?" Carrie demands.

"Bobby replaced me," Reggie says, his face turning horrified. "Bobby replaced me in the game and in the band!" He turns to Julie slowly, his eyes watering. "This is how Bobby must have felt when we disappeared. One minute, we were there together. The next, everyone but him was gone. He was the only one left behind. I can't even be mad at him anymore."

"Wait." Carrie looks between Reggie and Julie. "What happened? My dad is coming back, right?"

Numbness fills Julie as she stares helpless at the TV screen. So that's it. They're gone. She can still see Caleb's smug face in her mind, his mouth moving as he says, "You're too late." After all the fighting, all their struggles and suffering, Caleb still won.

Caleb won, and she'll never see Luke or Alex again.

Willie and Reggie must have come to the same realization. The three of them sit together, their faces slack, their bodies drained of energy, staring at that damn TV screen, waiting for the impossible. Around them, Nick and Carlos tell Flynn and Carrie about what went down in the fortress, including the deal the three members of Sunset Curve made.

Carrie staggers and falls to her knees, her body racked with sobs. Nick and Flynn surround her, holding her as she falls to pieces. If Julie wasn't feeling equal loss herself, she would have felt for Carrie, maybe even gone over and tried to help her; as it is, she's not sure she won't fall apart herself.

Julie reaches out, grabbing one of Willie's hands and one of Reggie's. She knows that willing their friends to appear won't work, but that isn't about to stop her anyway. Julie just can't accept that she tried her best - that they all tried their best- that they clawed and they fought and it was all for nothing. She can't believe that life could be so cruel.

Please, Mom, she prays in her mind. It's been so long since she reached out to her mom, and she doesn't even know if she's there, or if she can hear her, but she has to try something. If you have any influence at all in the universe...please bring them back to me. I can't lose anyone else.

Nothing happens. After another minute of waiting, Julie hangs her head. Her chest physically aches. She hadn't noticed at first when she'd returned, but her head is pounding and her eyes are practically closing on their own. She's exhausted, emotionally and physically drained. What she's feeling right now is only a precursor to the real heartache that she knows is coming. Her brain can't process fully what has happened, but when it does, it will be like getting hit with a train.

Julie knows all too well how grief works.

Her voice is hoarse when she asks, "How long were we gone?"

"Three days," Flynn says quietly. "Carrie, Reggie, and I haven't left the house. We contacted everyone's parents and told them we were with Trevor. We were going to tell the truth, but it sounded too crazy and we didn't want anyone to freak out and contact the authorities."

Carrie sniffles and wipes at her face with her sleeve. "Maybe it's good that my dad isn't coming back. I'm sure your parents are gonna be pissed at him. But it was the only choice we had."

Julie sighs. "We have to tell my dad the truth. How else do we explain Willie, or the fact that…" She trails off, unable to say it out loud. If she says it out loud, it becomes true.

Flynn pulls out her phone. "I'm not telling my parents the truth. I'd rather be grounded than have them think I'm crazy."

Willie stares at her phone. He slowly turns around to Julie. "What year is it?" he asks.

"Twenty twenty." She gives his hand a squeeze. "Time passes differently in the game from real life. The boys found that out the hard way last time."

Willie takes a deep breath. "I can't believe it," he says. "The world makes it this long."

"But probably won't last too much longer," Flynn says. "Hate to be the one to break it to you."

"Did we win the war, at least?" he asks.

"Which war?"

"You know. Vietnam."

Flynn's eyes grow wide. "What year are you from?"

"I started the game in nineteen sixty-seven."

Nick's eyebrows shoot up. "He doesn't know."

"Know what?"

Julie and Flynn also look at Nick curiously. There are a lot of things that have happened in the past fifty years that Willie wouldn't know about.

"That humans have walked on the moon."

Willie's jaw drops open. "So we - we won the space race. Against the Soviets."

"That's another thing," Flynn says. "The Soviet Union doesn't exist anymore. It's just Russia now."

As entertaining as history class is, Julie doesn't feel in the mood for it. How could she? Right now she wants to pass out for twenty four hours, eat her favorite comfort food, watch some comfort TV, and try to forget about how her life is falling apart yet again.

Julie pushes up from the floor and gropes around her pocket for her phone. "I'm going to call my dad," she says. "He's probably freaking out."

"I'm going to call my dads, too," Nick says. He steps into the other room. Carrie holds herself tightly. Julie pauses with her hand over the dial button. As much as she's lost, at least she still has someone to go home to, and people to go with her. Carrie has no one now. When they leave, it will just be her.

Carrie's already without a mother, and now she's just lost a father.

Julie stands and walks over to the other girl. "Hey, uh, Carrie? Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure." Carrie wipes at her eyes, which haven't stopped leaking since they realized the others aren't coming back.

Julie leads her to the next room. "Look, I know things are really hard right now for all of us, but I need to ask a huge favor of you."

Carrie sighs. "What is it?"

"Do you think Willie can stay here today? And maybe indefinitely? My dad said he needed a warning before I brought any more strangers over, and it's going to be hard enough explaining where we were and what happened. I know you don't know him, but he's a great guy. And - "

"Yeah, he can stay." Carrie motions around. "This house is plenty big. Especially now." Her voices catches on the last word, and she presses a shaking fist to her mouth.

Despite her grief, Julie can also sense relief under the surface. She's glad Carrie won't be alone right now.

"Thanks. I'll let him know. You'll probably have to explain a lot of things to him."

"It's fine. It's not like I have anyone else to talk to."

Julie pauses. On instinct, she reaches out and gives Carrie a hug. The other girl stands stiffly.

"I'm really sorry about your dad," Julie says. "I know - I know how hard it is. If you ever need someone to talk to…"

"Yeah. Got it. Thanks."

Julie and Carrie walk back to the room with the others. Julie explains the arrangements to Willie, who nods. Between finding out he's living fifty years in the future and having just lost Alex, he's in enough shock that Julie isn't even sure he really cares or understands the full extent of his situation.

Julie then calls her dad.

"Hey, Dad."

"Mija! You're alright! What happened? You just disappeared for three days! I thought you were just going to hang out for the afternoon. I was so worried!"

"It's a long story," Julie says. "And it's better if we tell it in person."

He must hear the deadness in her tone, because there's a long pause at the other end and when he speaks, his voice is gentle.

"Julie? Are you okay?"

She clutches the phone hard and bites her trembling lip. "No, Dad. I'm not okay. Can you just come and pick us up, please?"

"Of course. I'll be there as fast as I can."

Flynn's parents, Nick's dads, and Julie's dad all end up pulling up to the mansion within minutes of each other. Julie manages a half-hearted wave to the two of them as she, Reggie, and Carlos walk to her dad's car. He immediately pulls the three of them into a massive hug. Melting into his arms, Julie feels the tears coming.

This reminds her too much of the day her mom died. It's all too much at once. The sobs start coming and they don't stop. Her dad holds her tightly and sways back and forth gently.

"It's going to be okay, mija," he whispers into her hair. "I promise."

Julie manages to get a hold of herself. If she's falling apart now, when the full weight of it all hasn't even settled in yet, she dreads the wave of pain that's coming.

When she steps away, she sees her dad looking around. "Where are Alex and Luke?" he asks.

Julie glances over at Reggie, whose eyes are also bloodshot and rimmed with red. Even Carlos looks sad as he clings to Reggie's side - Carlos, who is always so independent and prides himself on it.

Her dad turns to see their expressions and his face instantly turns from innocent curiosity to horror. "Oh, díos," he swears. "Something happened to them."

"They aren't - " Julie's voice cracks. "They aren't coming back."

He looks around again. Flynn and Nick are gone. His gaze turns to the front door of the mansion. "Is Trevor Wilson behind this? Flynn said you guys were with him."

Julie shakes her head. "He's not - he's not coming back, either."

He's silent for a beat. Then he sighs. "Okay. I'm taking you kids home. Then someone better tell me what happened and why I'm missing two members of my family."

The ride home stretches out forever. The car is dead silent except for the occasional sniffle. Julie's dad watches them in the rearview mirror.

The last thing Julie wants to do when she gets home is go over the entire story. All she wants to do is pass out on her bed and try to forget for a few hours the nightmare that has turned into her reality. Still, she knows her dad won't be satisfied until he hears the truth, and it's better to rip the bandaid off quickly.

They all sit in the living room, her dad on one side and she, Reggie, and Carlos on the opposite couch. Julie wraps a blanket around her shoulder and leans into Reggie's side as he starts the story from the very beginning.

"You've probably noticed by now that we aren't...normal," Reggie says. "Luke and Alex and I aren't - weren't - exchange students. We told you that because the truth is so crazy that no one would believe us. And our entire lives could be threatened if certain people hear what happened."

"Is this about your parents and their money laundering?" Ray asks. "Are they part of the Swedish mafia?"

Reggie shakes his head. "Our parents aren't criminals. We're not from Sweden, either. We're from nineteen ninety-five."

He launches into the story about the band and the night they were supposed to play at the Orpheum but disappeared. Reggie pauses while Ray pulls out his phone and finds the article on them. His eyebrows shoot up but he simply nods at Reggie to continue. Julie winces when he explains how they were sucked into the game.

When Reggie stops, Julie knows it's her turn. She talks about how she discovered the boys' stuff in the garage, including the game. She relives her experience in Jumanji the first time. Reggie occasionally adds in missing bits and pieces.

"So that's when the boys appeared," Julie explains. "The video game spit them out in present day. I didn't want to lie to you, but I didn't want you to think I was crazy, either."

Her dad is quiet for a long time, his face unreadable. When he finally speaks, he looks over at Reggie. "What about your parents? Wouldn't they want to see you?"

"I tried looking for them, but they're gone. All my neighbors, too." Reggie shrugs slightly. "Not that we were much of a family before, anyway. Luke and Alex and Bobby - they were my real family."

"We don't know about Alex's parents, either," Julie says. "We did find Luke's parents, but...we decided it's too dangerous to let anyone know the truth. People will start asking questions that we can't reasonably explain. We'll all be locked up in an institution."

"This article couldn't prove the truth?" her dad asks, motioning with his phone.

"If by some miracle they believed us, who knows what they would do to us?"

Ray nods. "Okay. Say for the moment, that I do believe you. So what happened at Carrie's?"

This time Carlos takes over the storytelling. He lacks the discretion of both Julie and Reggie and tells the story like it's an epic yet tragical adventure, not a harrowing, life or death experience. He also doesn't edit it down like Julie and Reggie did, and she can see lines etching themselves into her father's face.

"So then I tackled Caleb and I held him while Nick grabbed the jewel and smashed it. We all yelled Jumanji and then we returned to the real world," Carlos finishes.

"But Luke and Alex and Trevor - they stayed behind?"

"Caleb had them trapped." Julie pulls her knees to her chest. "It was awful. They were fighting against him, but he was controlling their bodies."

Her dad exhales deeply and shakes his head. "This is - insane."

"But you do believe us?"

He lifts his eyes to meet theirs. "I have to. As horrible as it sounds, it's the only explanation that makes sense." He glances over at Reggie. "So you met my wife, Rose? At the Orpheum?"

"Briefly. I don't really remember her. It was kind of a crazy night. I think I gave her a T-shirt - or maybe that was Luke."

Ray nods. He looks troubled. "Alright, you guys look exhausted. Is there anything you want before you go to bed? Some food?"

Julie shakes her head. Her stomach is too twisted to hold anything, and her mind is too preoccupied on other matters to send the signal for hunger pains. All she wants right now is the amnesiac peace only sleep can bring.