No, this is not an April Fool's joke. I'm actually uploading a new chapter! Over a week and a half late, I know, but it's here.

I had exam week last week, which absorbed a lot of my time while also plummeting my writing confidence to the ground... so that was a lot of fun. Once I realised that was the case I decided to take a short break and do other things until I felt better about my writing... but I'm here now! :)

Someone else is also here now: Caleb! *dramatic music* Not gonna lie, I struggled a bit with his characterization - especially balancing his personality with the overall more fluffy tone of this story. I might've exaggerated his pompous side a little, but I hope it still feels accurate.

Kandra K: Ahhhh muchisimas gracias! ! ! Leer el capítulo anterior ha sido tú favorito hasta ahora... me hace muy feliz! :D Y escribes historias de JATP también? Qué divertido! Pronto tengo que leer ellas! De nuevo, gracias por el comentario!

Alright, let's get into it, shall we?

Caleb is evil

Reggie had never been a huge fan of the dark.

Honestly, who was? You couldn't see anything in the dark, which meant you had no sense of the room you were in, every sound seemed ten times creepier and… and you felt so isolated. So alone. Like a single rock floating in the blackness of space.

Caleb probably liked the dark though, he thought, leaning back against the wall. He seemed to have a very twisted sense of enjoyment. Heck, he probably spent his free time stealing candy from children. Or maybe he was too busy running the ghost club and laughing evilly and locking semi-ghost bands in his un-poof-outable basement to do that.

Had Caleb forgotten about them? It sure seemed that way, seeing as they'd been trapped in here for hours now. Or had it only been a few minutes? Or weeks? No, it couldn't have been weeks, because then Julie would've starved to death.

The shiver that went through him wasn't only because of the cold.

That was weird though. The cold. Sure, Reggie and the boys could still feel different temperatures as ghosts, but they were usually a bit more... muted. Like Alex had described it that night at the bonfire - as if what they felt was more a memory of hot and cold rather than actual feeling.

A small smile curved his lips as he thought back to the day Ray had come up with the brilliant idea to celebrate Julie and Carlos' first day of school break with a bonfire night at the beach. And even better: he'd asked, insisted even, that he, Luke and Alex came along.

It had been way after nightfall when they'd arrived, but for once Reggie hadn't minded the dark. With the flames chasing away the shadows and the smell of Ray's barbecue filling the air and everyone he cared for surrounding him, how could he feel anything other than happy and safe and... and warm?

All in all, pretty much the opposite to what he was feeling right now.

Couldn't Caleb have given them a flashlight? Or, preferably, not locked them up at all?

Shivering again, he reached out, fumbling until he caught hold of Luke's arm. Luke, who was of course still sitting right next to him, with Julie and Alex on his other side. Reggie could hear them - hear the beat Alex was nervously tapping out, hear the quiet shudder every time Julie breathed out.

Even if he couldn't see them, they were there. He wasn't alone. He wasn't.

As if he could hear his thoughts, Luke moved his arm to loop it around Reggie's shoulders, squeezing him gently.

Julie sniffled - and man, if the sound didn't make Reggie want to cry too. "I'm sorry, you guys."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Alex's voice held more conviction than Reggie had ever heard. "Okay, being trapped in a dark basement was not how I planned to spend the day, but it's not your fault."

"But if I hadn't poofed you here-"

"We would've come anyway," Luke cut her off. Julie's hair tickled against Reggie's arm as Luke pulled her close too. "No one messes with you and gets away with it."

Smiling despite himself, Reggie nudged her side (at least, he hoped it was her side. Stupid darkness). "You better believe it. Luke was in full-on Captain America mode when we realised you were missing."

"We all were, honestly," Alex said. The sound of shifting echoed through the air, then Reggie felt Alex's hand take his, effectually hugging Luke and Julie between them. "So don't you dare blame yourself, Jules."

Reggie nodded, before he realised she couldn't see him. "Yeah," he amended. "If anyone, blame Caleb!"

"And hey," Luke said brightly, "at least we didn't make a pancake out of you this time."

As Julie huffed out a laugh, Reggie felt the corners of his lips quirk up. Julie just had one of those laughs, you know? That no matter how crappy you were feeling it made your day ten times better. Like sunshine. Or puppies. Or pizza.

… Damn, now he wanted pizza.

"But how did you poof us here?" Alex asked. "I thought it'd stopped working."

"I thought so too, but Caleb explained the whole thing to me. Mostly to brag about his plan, I think."

"The classic bad guy speech," Reggie murmured to himself. Well, that made sense - with his evil laugh, generally black wardrobe (not counting the admittedly awesome sparkly purple suit jacket) and theatrics, Caleb really seemed to lean into the villain clichés. Honestly, the only things missing were a moustache to twirl and a cat. He couldn't picture Caleb with a cat though - he'd probably forget to feed it.

But what about a ghost cat? They had to exist, right?

Caleb didn't deserve something as rad as a ghost cat though. If it turned out he had one, Reggie decided, he'd steal it from him and adopt it. Now that would be some sweet revenge!

"Basically," Julie continued, cutting through his thoughts, "I can only poof you guys when I feel strong emotions, like when I'm sad or scared o-or…" She cleared her throat. "That's why it didn't work most of the time. Because I wasn't feeling it strongly enough."

"Whoa..." Luke let out a breath. "I guess that makes sense."

Alex's hand pulled at Reggie's as he shifted. "But… why did it work that time in the studio then?"

"I've been thinking about that too. I… I think it's because the nightmare, and how I felt during it, was still so fresh in my mind. Fresh enough that I could… that I could bring those feelings back."

As they all lapsed into contemplative silence, the dark started to press in on Reggie again. Not as badly as before, his bandmates being so close and all, but…

"Could we keep talking? It doesn't have to be about anything, or even real words, just..." I want to be sure you guys are still here.

"Yes please," came Alex's voice, sounding just as urgent. "I'd rather not think about how anxious this creepy room is making me."

"Okay. Okay, things to talk about… maybe-? No. Um..." A pause. Then Luke sighed. "Yeah, I got nothing."

"Well, that's a first," Alex responded snarkily.

"I might have an idea," Julie said.

Oh? Curiously, Reggie leaned closer to her (and Luke in turn), feeling the other boys do the same thing - their hug was now more a cuddle pile than anything. Not that Reggie minded. Not at all.

Julie cleared her throat again. Then, quietly:

"Don't blink, no, I don't wanna miss it…"

:::

They were still singing when the basement door burst open and blinding light flooded inside. For a while, blinking and wiping away reflexive tears was all Reggie could do until his eyes finally adjusted. And when they did… Reggie did a double take.

Because in the doorway stood Flynn, Carlos and Willie, looking like the most badass rescue troop he'd ever seen.

Before either of them had time to react Flynn flew across the room and bowled right into Julie. "You have no idea how glad I am you're okay, like so, so, so glad," they said all in one breath as they pulled back, "but we need to leave like, yesterday. Are the guys here too?"

"Yeah, they are," Carlos responded unexpectedly. Looking up, Reggie noticed the notebook Carlos was holding, along with the pen in Willie's hand.

Okay, it was official: Carlos was a genius. Or all three of them, really, as they probably came up with the whole thing together. And that must've been how Willie led them to the club too!

Once again, geniuses.

"Yesterday? Why, what's happening?" Julie asked while Flynn pulled her to her feet.

"Your dad's distracting that creepy ghost dude, that's what's happening!"

"What?"

That got them all going. Reggie barely registered Willie's "Alright, hotdog?" and Alex's breathy reply before he took off after Julie and Carlos, heart hammering in his chest. Because oh man, if Caleb had done something to Ray...

They came into the Ghost Club's main room, hurtling up the stairs just in time to see Ray take a step forward, growl "Stay away from my kids!"… and punch Caleb in the face.

Well, try to anyway. With Caleb being a ghost, Ray's hand went right through, but still… Reggie couldn't help the gasp that escaped him as he tried to process what he'd just seen.

Ray just punched Caleb. Ray. Just punched. Caleb.

Caleb himself simply stared at Ray, mouth hanging slightly open. "Did you just…?"

"Dad!"

Shoulders slumping in relief at his daughter's voice, Ray hurried over to them.

"Do you have any… any idea…" Caleb spluttered.

"Go, go, go!" Ray called, pushing Julie, Carlos and Flynn towards the exit. Then, over his shoulder, "Boys, poof out right now!"

"... who I am?!"

Eyes wide, Alex nodded. "Don't need to tell me twice."

Caleb was still standing there, gaping at Ray in shock and indignance, as the four ghosts poofed away.

:::

"Can we adopt a ghost cat?"

Five hours had passed since they'd left the Ghost Club; five hours without even the slightest sign of Caleb, much to everyone's relief. Could Ray really have managed to scare him off? Either way, maybe this meant he'd actually leave them alone from now on.

… Yeah, probably not. Caleb was like a bad smell - the second you thought it was gone, nope, there it was again. But with the club to run and new plans to hatch, Reggie (and the others) knew it was unlikely Caleb would bother them for some time to come.

After everything that had happened today however, everyone seemed just as reluctant to leave each other as he did… which led to where they were now, curled up together in the pillow and blanket fort they'd built in the Molina lounge room.

"Reggie, why- What-" Alex heaved a sigh, curling up closer to Willie. "Okay, I'm too tired for this."

Willie didn't seem to share the sentiment, as he hoisted himself up on one elbow and frowned over at Reg. "Wait, ghost cats are a thing?"

"I mean, if there are ghost humans, why not ghost cats?"

"You got me there." They grinned at him, before letting Alex pull them back down beside him.

Luke let out a gasp. "We could have one as our band mascot - that would be so cute!"

"Oh my gosh, yes." Excitement thrummed through him and rolled over to repeatedly slap Luke's arm. "Ooh, ooh, ooh, we could call it-"

"Hey," Julie said, voice muffled by her pillow, "some people are trying to sleep here."

"What's that, mija?" Ray asked, looking down at her from the couch above them. Another reason why Ray was the coolest dad ever: he hadn't even hesitated (after Julie asked) to sleep in the pillow fort with them. No other dad Reggie knew of would've ever done that.

Julie waved a hand, careful not to jostle Carlos and Flynn fast asleep next to her. "Nothing. Just the guys talking. But they're gonna shut up now."

"Yes, ma'am," Reggie quickly said.

But the talking wasn't actually his fault. Not really. With his friends surrounding him, a soft blanket over him (that didn't phase through) and Ray watching over them all like a guardian angel, he just felt so relaxed and happy and… and safe, you know?

"Alright." Ray brushed a hand against Julie's forehead, before adding a fond, "Good night, everyone."

All currently (semi) awake murmured in response. True, Ray might only hear half of the replies, but, well, it was the thought that counted. Reggie smiled and snuggled down further under the blanket, feeling his eyes start to drift shut by their own accord.

But he couldn't sleep. Not yet.

Glancing at Julie (she had her back turned now), he quietly shuffled over until he was right next to Luke's ear. "We could call it Kenobi."

"Ohh, because he's a force ghost! That's gen-"

A pillow came flying at them from Julie's side, followed by Alex's tired groan, "Oh my gosh, go to sleeeeep!"

Willie just laughed.

Ray: *tries to punch Caleb*

Caleb: *gasp* the AUDACITY- how dare you puny lifer