Alex tried not to get his hopes too high before he 'poofed' himself out of the studio and into the museum. It had been two days since they almost died - again - and he had not been able to find Willie anywhere. Not on the Boulevard, not around Santa Monica Pier and certainly not inside Justin Bieber's swimming pool; this favourite skating spot was currently filled up with water. It was as if the skater had vanished off the face of the earth. And the idea that Willie might be gone for good made Alex's anxiety skyrocket.
Of all the locations they had visited together, Alex had checked the Santa Monica Museum of contemporary arts the most. It had also been the first place he went two nights ago, once Julie went to sleep and the boys returned to their usual past-times. Luke was writing a song and Reggie checked up on Ray before making use of Carlos' sound sleep to use his laptop. Back then, he was still riding the high of being able to be touched by Julie, now he was just frustrated. And worried. It had never been hard for him to find the brown-haired ghost before. Although, to be fair, until two days ago it had mostly been Willie who found him. But he could not rely on that anymore. After all, as far as Willie was concerned, the band wasn't supposed to exist on this plane anymore.
Taking a turn and walking up the stairs to the first floor, he wondered about where to check next. He had already spent an hour on Sunset Boulevard this morning. Maybe the Pier or - no, he could not go there. Ever since Caleb forced him behind his drum set - the first time in his life anyone had forced him to play - that place gave him the creeps. And even if he could find the courage, Luke and Reggie would be furious. As would Julie.
He passed a group of museum staff who were carrying one of the exhibits. Right, there was something about a new exhibition coming this Saturday, Alex remembered, took another right and finally reached his destination. The bench had been moved back to where it stood before the two ghosts intervened and the massive white cube had been replaced with a piece made from wire that resembled intertwined female bodies. Admittedly, it was an interesting artwork, but Alex could not have cared less for it. After all, the one thing he had come to see, was not here.
"The pier it is then", he muttered to himself, circled around the artwork and back to where he had come from. Or he would have, if there had not been a certain brown-haired shape passing through the two staff members and heading straight for him. The ghost's eyes were fixated on the floor and he would probably not have noticed him, if Alex hadn't called out his name.
"Willie!"
"Alex?" A strange combination of surprise, worry and a huge grin appeared on the skater's expression and made him look somewhat comical. But Alex could not have cared less. As he finally stood in front of the ghost, he had been wishing to see for two days straight, a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. Although he knew it was unlikely, there had been a small part of him that constantly questioned, whether the changes that had come with whatever Julie did to save them, somehow left him unable to see other ghosts anymore. But now he had the living – dead - proof that this was not the case.
"What? How are you here? I thought you crossed over. Caleb -", Willie muttered while his eyes scanned the blonde ghost from top to bottom, trying to fathom how this was not an illusion, but Alex interrupted him.
"I have no idea. It turned out, playing at the Orpheum wasn't our unfinished business after all. We were sure that this was it but then Julie came around and hugged us and-"
"Wait what? You hugged?!"
"Yes! And then Caleb's stamps came off and-", he continued but stopped as Willie ran a hand over his face and then through his hair. "You need to slow down Hotdog, all your blabbing is giving me a headache."
Alex smiled and uttered an apology before following the other ghost to 'their place', where Willie sat down on the bench. Alex was too restless to sit, so he continued to stride around in front of his friend, retelling everything that happened after they had parted in front of the Orpheum.
"So, one minute we're somehow playing for Caleb at the HGC. Then suddenly there is this pull and - swoosh - we're on stage in the Orpheum with Julie. And it felt amazing! But the jolts didn't stop, even after we were done. Failure on the unfinished business side of things, I guess."
Willie pulled his legs to his chest and hugged them with his arms. He was still listening but something about him made Alex stop. There was something different about the ghost, however he could not really pinpoint what it was.
"But that means you couldn't cross over. You should be gone", the brunet brought him pack on topic.
"Yes, and we nearly were. The jolts were getting really bad but then Julie showed up. I don't really understand what happened. She was begging us to accept Caleb's offer so we could stay here, and then suddenly she was hugging Luke. Like hugging hugging. They could feel each other. Reggie and I joined in and suddenly all the pain was gone and there was this warmth inside. And then Caleb's stamps just disappeared."
Willie shook his head in disbelief. "You can touch her and she you? No passing through, no shivers?" Alex nodded.
"That's impossible... Even Caleb can't do that. He can make us visible but giving someone a physical body, no chance."
Alex, feeling a lot calmer now, finally sat down next to the skater. "I know right? And it scares the hell out of me. But I'm also really glad we're still here." He looked up at the other ghost, hoping that Willie felt the same way. And he did, the soft look in his eyes and gentle smile on his lips gave him away.
However, before Alex could say anything more, the gentle expression on the other boy's face was covered by a shadow and Willie moved away from him. "I'm glad you're not gone too, Alex. But we can't keep seeing each other."
Now it was Willie, who started pacing in front of a dumbfounded Alex.
"Caleb probably already knows you're not gone. And he really doesn't like it if people defy him. He'll come up with some kind of plan to get back at you and the guys. I don't want to get involved in that", the brunet explained, and the drummer could feel the sadness weighing down his shoulders - again. Willie was right, if they kept seeing each other, Caleb would probably use that against them. Plus, it had been him who led his bandmates to Willie and from there to Caleb and the HGC. He could not risk endangering them again. And still, the idea of not seeing Willie anymore hurt.
His blue eyes shifted to the ghost in front of him who had an equally pained expression on his face. And now that he stood in front of him, Alex finally realised what was 'wrong' about him. There were dark shadows under his eyes, and he was pale. It felt like Alex was almost able to see through him. However, most strikingly, he was missing his skateboard and helmet.
"Willie, where's your board?", he blurted out, not able to hold the question back.
The skater flinched but quickly tried to gloss his reaction over. "Don't worry about me, you need to warn your bandmates. And Julie. Caleb will come after her too." Alex felt a knot in his stomach as he watched a familiar teary-eyed expression appear on his friends face. Willie looked just as he had a few days ago, when he told him, that he cared about him.
"I'm sorry Alex, I never should have brought you to him." The brown-haired ghost's voice cracked and before Alex could offer any consolation, he had already turned and ran away, leaving the drummer feeling even more anxious than before.
xxx
"Hey, isn't that Willie over there?"
After an hour watching TV with Julies father, Luke and Reggie had decided to get some fresh air and teleported themselves to the beach. They had spent some time walking around and joking about the people around them before Reggie suggested checking out the street performers in the city centre, which was exactly where they were headed when the black-haired bassist suddenly pointed out their fellow spectre.
Luke followed Reggie's pointed finger and recognized the brown-haired skater on the other hand of the street. He was walking fast and didn't even bother evading the Lifers, passing mindlessly straight through them. It seemed like he was in a hurry, which of course could not be true. If he had somewhere urgent to be this, he would just have teleported himself.
"Let's go talk to him! Alex has been looking for him all over the town", the guitarist suggested and with a 'poof' they disappeared from their spot only to reappear a few hundred meters further down and on the other side of the street. No one noticed, except for the skater who would have run into them, if Reggie had not called out his name as soon as they reappeared.
"Hey guys", Willie greeted but the gesture lacked his usual optimism and cheeky smile.
"Hey alone", Luke held out his hand for their handshake, but the other boy ignored it. Another reaction that felt odd.
"Alex is looking for you all over the place", Reggie started while Luke retreated his hands into his pockets, feeling let down.
"Judging from your lack of surprise over us still being here, I guess he already found you?"
The long-haired ghost nodded slightly, then stepped to the left and passed them. "Yeah, I just saw him. Sorry, I don't really have time to talk now, see you around", he muttered and moved to continue down the street. But Luke could not let him do that. Something was wrong and since Alex was completely and utterly smitten with the boy, this probably was going to become an issue for the whole band. Thus, he quickly stretched out his hand and - passed right through Willie's shoulder.
"What the hell?!", he exclaimed and dumbfoundedly turned towards his band mate while Willie quickly hurried away from them. "Did you see that? I couldn't touch him."
Reggie seemed just as perplexed as him. "Do you think I can't either?"
"Let's go find out." And with this they started running after the other ghost and reached him just before he was about to turn the corner. This time, it was Reggie who held out his hand and passed through the other boy's arm.
"I can't touch him either", he stated, perplexedly looking at his hand and then sticking it right into Luke's face. "But I can still touch you."
"Yes, I know Reg. Get your hand away from my face!" Luke blinked twice and looked down the sidewalk, where Willie was still walking determinedly away from them. Something very strange was going on here. And if neither Reggie nor him could touch Willie, Alex probably could not either. Was that the reason for the skater ghost's odd behaviour? Did this have something to do with what happened the other night? Did they gain the ability to touch Julie but at the same time lost any physical connection to other ghosts? They had to find out. And oddly enough, Willie was the only other ghost they knew who didn't have some dark sinister plan to enslave them for eternity.
"Come on, Reggie", he announced and grabbed the bassists hand before teleporting them both three hundred meters down the street in front of Willie.
"Willie, we can't touch you anymore!", Reggie started as soon as the brunet was within hearing distance. However, he did not react as Luke would have expected him too.
His face didn't move a muscle. "I really can't do this right now", he simply stated and tried to evade them again, but this time Luke was faster and stepped in front of him. But rather than stopping this childish manoeuvre and talking to them, Willie flickered for a moment and then 'poofed' out.
The guitarist rolled his eyes. "Great, what the hell did Alex say to him to-", he immediately stopped when he saw Willie reappear for a split-second in the middle of the street and then twice on the other side of the road before manifesting completely again and turning into a small backroad.
He elbowed his bandmate into the side. "Did you see that?"
"He's flickering. Like you were on the stage in the Orpheum!"
Luke nodded thoughtfully. "Let's go find Alex. Something is wrong here."
xxx
When they returned to the garage, Alex was already laying outstretched on the couch. His arm was flung over his face and one could immediately tell that he didn't have the greatest afternoon. Not that this surprised Luke after what they just witnessed.
"Somethings wrong with Willie."
Alex moved and let his arm now fall down the side of the couch. "Yeah, he doesn't think it's a good idea for us to be friends with the whole Caleb situation."
Luke let himself fall on the chair next to his friend and sighed. "That was a statement not a question. Something is wrong with Willie."
This finally brought some movement into his bandmate and Alex sat up, making space for Reggie. "Are you saying you met him too?"
"You might say we 'passed right through him'", Reggie offered and wiggled with his eyebrows, leaving both Luke and Alex to roll their eyes.
"Very tactful, Reginald. But he's not wrong. Wille was behaving very odd and when we tried to stop him from walking away, we couldn't touch him. Our hands passed right through, like with Lifers."
"Except for Julie, of course", Reggie added.
"What's this about me?" A voice now interrupted them from the door of the garage and Luke could not keep himself from smiling as Julie entered their studio. Reggie lit up in the same way as he did, only Alex stayed a bit reserved, obviously worried by what the other guys had just told him.
Reggie held his hand out for a high five. "We can touch you, of course."
Julie greeted him and then Luke as well, before setting her backpack down and taking a seat on the couch's armrest next to the bassist. "Yeah, still getting used to that. But I think it's an improvement."
While Reggie agreed and continued to ask her about her school day, Luke returned his attention to the drummer. He knew that Alex already cared a lot about the other ghost, and he had been thoroughly happy to see them getting along. After spending most of his human life in the closet only to come out and die a few months later, Alex deserved some happiness in this after life.
"You really couldn't touch him anymore?", Alex uttered.
"Yes. And his teleportation was off as well. He was flickering in and out of existence when he tried to get away from us. Plus, he behaved very oddly... Did something happen between you two?"
Alex shook his head. "Despite the fact that he basically told me not to meet him ever again. Do you really think something is wrong with him? Couldn't it be us?"
"Who are you two talking about?", Julie entered the discussion and Reggie turned his head towards them as well.
"Willie, he was very strange when we met him today."
"Isn't that your ghost friend, Alex?", the singer asked and he nodded silently. Luke could see his fingers clasp the ends of his hoodie. All this after life stuff really wasn't the best for his anxiety.
"We couldn't touch him anymore. It was as if he was a Lifer, which he definitely isn't", the guitarist explained for Julie, his eyes quickly shifting to her before reverting to Alex.
Julie gasped. "Do you think it has something to do with the fact that I can touch you now?"
"That's what we wanted to find out", Reggie offered. "But he wouldn't let us. Was all about not having time for -", he stopped as Alex got to his feet.
Alex blue eyes were fixated on his bandmates, especially their guitarist. "D-do you think this could be Caleb's doing? What if he got angry about us leaving and he-"
Luke could tell that the blonde wasn't far from a panic attack now and quickly grabbed Alex's arm. "I don't know, but you freaking out certainly isn't going to help him."
To his relief, the drummer retook his seat. However only for a few seconds, before he was on his feet again.
"I need some air, you guys can start without me." And with these words Alex had disappeared once more from the band room.
xxx
Willie sat on top of a parked car and watched the traffic go by. He usually did not visit this place often, but this was already the second time during the last week that his feet had brought him to the spot. His eyes were fixated on the dark pavement in front of him. The whole street had been remodelled twice and the concrete, that had once been covered in his blood, was long gone. And still, he knew exactly where it had been. Where the car had picked him up, where he flew against the side of one of the parked cars, and where he finally had died, hearing the ambulance's sirens approach in the distance.
He felt his stomach twist. Two days ago, he had sat here thinking about what life would be on the other side. After having crossed over. And now he sat here, thinking how it would feel to vanish. Be erased from existence. Or whatever one wanted to call what happened if your soul was obliterated.
A dimmed 'poof' made him finally lift his gaze from the pavement. Expecting the arrival to be Caleb, he did however not bother to turn around. But the cold shiver that ran through his shoulder and the voice that followed it, taught him otherwise. "It's true then. We can't touch you anymore."
Willie sighed and turned around to find Alex standing next to the car. "Didn't we agree that it's not wise for us to be friends right now?"
The drummer shook his head. "I agreed to nothing. Especially not, if something is wrong with you."
Willie rolled his eyes but eventually jumped down from the car. "I also told you not to worry about me."
Alex stretched out his hand but let it fall with a sombre expression when it just passed through the other ghost's arm. "But I do worry. Because I care about you too, Willie."
The skater sighed. It was not fair of Alex to use his own words against him. But he also could not muster the courage and strength to tell him off again. So instead, he just walked past him and towards the beach. Slow enough for the other boy to follow him. And Alex did.
"You don't have your board anymore, don't you?", he asked after a few steps. Willie nodded.
"Caleb took it away?" Another nod.
"Because of us?"
"Because of what I did."
They passed through a group of tourists and crossed the street.
"I'm sorry, Willie. If we hadn't asked for your help with Bobby- ", Alex continued but the skater cut him off with a quick wave of his hand.
"I knew what I was getting myself into. You guys had no idea. This whole mess is clearly my fault. I should never have introduced you to him."
Alex stayed silent.
"Caleb warned me that he would take away my ability to skate down the Boulevard if I kept checking up on you without his consent. But I did it anyway. I didn't think he'd-", Willie couldn't finish his sentence. His hesitance made Alex stop and look at the shorter ghost with deep concern in his blue eyes. "You didn't think he'd do what?"
Willie felt tears build up in the corner of his eyes and looked up at the sky while swallowing dryly. "Break it."
xxx
Alex had felt helpless a lot of times in his life. And these situations had always made him anxious. However, it was no comparison to how he felt sitting in the sand on the beach in Santa Monica, listening to Willie's version of the last two days. All around them, Lifers were playing, joking, and laughing, but in their very own ghostly version of the universe, dark clouds were hanging in the sky.
Willie was obviously distraught by what had happened, and he had to pause multiple times. Alex was sure, some of them were because he was fighting back tears, but he did not mention it. And sitting next to him, unable to put a hand on the other boy's arm, hug him or comfort him in any way might as well have been torture.
"I should have known something was wrong. Caleb was furious at first, but he calmed down way too quickly. That's how I know he has something planned", Willie said and let some sand flow from his one hand into the next. Alex watched the process with a sour taste in his mouth. It was so unfair how these cold grains of sediment were able to touch him when the drummer couldn't.
"I thought it would be best if I got out of the HGC for a while until he truly cooled off but he caught me at the exit. That's when he... took my board."
Alex had to hold back another 'I'm sorry', realizing that it would not help in any way.
"Do you remember how you told me about you guys being able to summon your instruments wherever you might need them?"
The blond ghost nodded. "Yes, you said it was because they're attached to our souls."
"Yeah. My board's like that for me. Or at least it was... Look, Caleb leeches power off the souls he owns. That's how he's able to pull off all these neat little tricks. Usually, it's just a tiny amount, you hardly notice it - unless he wants you too. But when he broke my board, it was like a part of me died with it. Complete power outage."
Alex couldn't help but reach for Willie's hand, but he fell right through and into the sand. He just could not get over the fact that he couldn't longer touch him. Hug him, like he had in front of the Orpheum only two days ago. The only things he had left were words. But he could not find the right ones. There was one question blocking his mind and he just couldn't get around it.
"Did it hurt?"
Willie chuckled and turned towards him, his eyes no longer as sad as they had been just a few seconds before. "I'm not going to answer that question, Alex."
The blonde sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Getting extremely nervous about the fact that he had no idea what the other boy was going through. "Are you at least going to tell me if it hurts now?"
This time Willie just shook his head. "I'm just very tired."
Alex sighed again, this time in relief. However, pain was not all the skater was dealing with at the moment. Luke had mentioned that his teleportation was off, and Alex had himself already confirmed that he could no longer touch him.
"Do you think what happened caused this?", he asked, again trying to hold Willie's hand but his fingers just passed right through the brownish skin and ended up touching the sand.
Willie raised his hand and held it towards Alex, as if he was expecting a high five. However, the tone of their conversation was much too sombre for a gesture like that. Thus, Alex just aligned his hand with the skaters. This was the closest they could get to 'touching'. It did not feel anything like when Willie took his hand at the museum a few weeks ago but at least the appearance of skin contact was almost able to trick his brain.
"I've seen it before. Not as extreme as this but… There was this one-time Caleb was showing a movie and he had this grand trick planned. And then suddenly all the waiters weren't able to hold their trays anymore, no matter how much they concentrated. It took a few hours but once their power was regenerated, all was back to normal."
Alex lifted his eyes from their hands to look into the other ghost's eyes. "So, you think in a few days, you will go back to normal?"
"I guess so", Willie shrugged his shoulders. "Despite what you might belief, I'm not an expert on all things ghosts. But I hope that rest will solve this because it sucks." He pushed his hand forward and through Alex's.
The blond nodded and pulled his hand back. "It really does… You know, if you need a place to relax, we have a pretty comfy couch in the garage." Plus, the garage also has a very anxious drummer who would be a lot calmer if he knew you were save, he added in his thoughts.
However, despite hiding a smile beneath the long brown strands of his hair, Willie shook his head. "Don't you remember what I said earlier? We can't hang out anymore. Caleb will find a way to use that against you. I don't want to be the reason you and your friends get hurt. Not again."
Alex pulled his legs in, hugging them with his arms. He was right, it was reckless and dangerous. But imagining not seeing the skater anymore hurt. Wouldn't Caleb find a way to hurt them anyway? He doubted that the magician needed Willie's help to do that.
"I know and thinking about it scares the hell out of me. But - I spent my whole human life scared of basically everything. And look at me now: I'm dead and still scared. I don't want this anymore. I'm sick and tired of being anxious all the time", Alex finally blurted out and ran a hand through his hair. "You help me calm down. So, can you please, please, don't quit on me right now."
His breath had quickened, and he could feel the anxiety making his stomach cramp. God, this whole afterlife existence really sucked sometimes. They got fancy teleportation skills, the ability to move through objects and Lifers, could summon their instruments and become visible if they played - but somehow wishing that his anxiety had died with him was too much to ask for.
"Fine." Willie's voice made Alex's head turn once more and he found himself looking straight into the other boys' eyes. The skater was smiling. "I meant it, when I said that I'd do anything for you, Hotdog."
Alex returned his smile. "Still not very keen on that nickname. How would you feel if I started calling you 'car crash'?"
This comment finally elicited one of his infectious laughs from the ghost. "I'm sure you can come up with something better."
"I promise, I'll try."