Episode Five

I Love You, Dude

Julie sat in the corner of the small closet, knees propped up with her head buried in the caps silently weeping. Where was Alex and Reggie, she thought; what could have been the reasoning behind this? Was Nick planning to sabotage the show? Just wanted to see Julie suffer more than she already was? Working with Trevor Wilson? All these thoughts and more flashed through Julie's mind at one point or another as she sat in that damn closet waiting for someone to come looking for her; it seemed like all she could do.

She sat all alone with a snotty mess between her knees, her smeared makeup even more smeared all over her thighs from her sobbing. It was dark and silent, and Julie had no idea what time it was. What if she was gonna be late for her show tonight? How much longer would Julie have to be trapped in there alone? It had been about an hour now if she had to guess until she heard the sound of footsteps.

"Julie?" She heard a familiar voice call from beyond the door, a voice that sounded sorrowful and comforting. Her father.

"Oh my gosh! HELLO?! Is anyone out there?!" She yelled, pushing herself off of the ground to bang on the door, "Hello?"

"Julie?" She heard her father say, his voice frantic at the sound of his daughter's voice, "Where are you?" He called.

"I'm stuck in the closet," She called back, her voice muffled behind the door, "Nick locked me in here! Help!" She called out again, shaking the door by its handle to signify she was inside. Ray turned around at the sound of her voice, pushing past the employee's only sign to find his daughter. She continued to bang on the wooden cage until her father found the source of the sound, twisted the lock, freeing her from a glittery hell. As soon as the door opened however, she collapsed in Ray's arms in a heap of panic and confusion.

"Ugh," She groaned, her arms tangled in Ray's as her black makeup soaked into his mustard yellow sweater, "Daddy…" She sobbed, her words hardly translatable because of her sobbing.

"Woah, woah, woah, what happened?" He said, cradling his daughter's head of curly hair into his shoulder blade, his chin on top of her head. He looked down at his clearly distressed daughter, her hair wild and messy and her knees covered in black ink. "Are you alright?" He added.

"Nick locked me in the closet," She said, muffled because of the argyle, "I don't know why he did that," Is all she could choke out between sobs.

"What?" Is all he could say, pulling back from her embrace to wipe her streaky black tears from her cheeks, "What the hell is wrong with that boy?" He said. Julie just shook her head, her cheek falling back on her fathers chest. The news that his daughter had been gone all morning because she was locked in some closet by a teenage moron was something he never expected to hear. He only knew a little about Nick, just that he dated Julie's old friend Carrie and had been the object of her desire for a while.

"I am so glad you're here," She cried, "I want to go home."

Ray looked down at his daughter, his face not being able to keep itself from contorting into an empathetic expression. "Listen, Julie. I came here to say I am sorry," He said, kissing the top of Julie's head.

"Daddy, you don't have to apologize," She said, "I know you don't understand–"

"Let me finish," Ray said, holding a crooked finger up, "I am sorry that I yelled at you and I didn't believe you. I do now," He said.

Julie looked up at him. "What?" She asked.

"Your brother helped me figure it out," His face softened, "Turns out, he's not a liar," He said, chuckling a bit.

"So… you believe me?" She said in a small voice, a smile almost creeping onto her face.

"Well, why wouldn't I? You showed me after all, didn't you?" He said, Julie nodding with a smile.

Although Julie tried hard not to show it, she was absolutely ecstatic her father came around. If she was being honest, she wasn't confident that her father was going to believe her. Rightfully so; she was claiming that her boy band was made up entirely of ghosts and her father was somehow expected to believe that. Deep down, however, Julie didn't give up on him during the night; her father was the only thing on her mind for all eight hours she stayed awake on the garage couch. She hadn't had a chance at decent sleep since her room was… occupied. I guess there was no point in trying to be with Luke anymore, Julie thought.

"What matters right now is finding that Nick kid and finding out why he thought it was a good idea to lock you in a damn closet?" He said.

"Okay," She sighed, "But first, I need to find out where Alex and Reggie are," She said, stepping back from the hug with a sniffle.
"I'd say sure if I knew who that was," He said, watching Julie walk away from him to lean down towards the vanity to wipe away the mascara.

"My bandmates," She said, "They're not really Swedish," She continued to say as she fixed her makeup in the mirror.

Ray chuckled, turning towards Julie. "I figured…" He said. "But that doesn't really matter now. I'll come with you, hopefully we will run into that son of a bitch–"

"Dad?" She said, interrupting his rant.

"Yes, honey?" He said, "What is it?"

"I am sorry too. I didn't mean to lie to you, I just…" She trailed off, getting up from the small vanity, "I didn't know what to do. I should have told you before it got to this point," She said.

Ray shook his head slowly, opening his arms to take Julie into another long hug. She hugged him back, smiling a little harder when they made contact. "I think we can call it even, right Julie?" He asked, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"I love you, dad," She said, clutching him a little tighter.

He squeezed her back. "I love you too, Jules. Now come on," He finished, turning the hug into a sling around the shoulder as they walked out of the dressing room.

"Promise you won't kill him?" She said, saying the sarcastic sentence in a serious tone.

"I don't know if I can promise that, dear," He said to his daughter, trying to get her to smile.

"Promise," She said, her face looking annoyed, "As much as I'd like to see that, I don't want a murder on my hands."

Ray paused for a moment, studying her grumpy face. "Fine, I Promise..." He finally agreed, slinging an arm around Julie's shoulder as they exited Barley's.

Lisa turned over in the bed, the sun still shining outside through the window as it faded into sunset. The whole ordeal between her and Luke didn't last that long, but Luke was sleeping like a baby next to her, his hand on her chest as he slept peacefully. She played with his fingertips as he laid there, his chipped black nail polish leaving specs of black on Julie's bed. Lisa didn't know if she should wake him up, as the day was coming closer and closer to sunset, and he had a show he needed to get to. Or, she could let him sleep there next to her for the rest of the night, forcing him to tell everybody the reason he was late was because he fucked Lisa.

The latter seemed like a good choice.

However, Luke had woken up before Lisa was able to go through with that plan. He was quiet as he turned over towards Lisa, his face neutral. "Hey," He said, rubbing his eyes with closed fists. Lisa smiled at him, her version of a, 'hello.' The two stared at each other for a second, the night growing nearer and nearer until the silence was interrupted by Luke's voice.

"I have a question," He said, propping his head up with the palm of his hand as he looked at her. She nodded, furrowing her brows at him.

"Did you feel anything?" He said, biting his lip. For the last half an hour both had been too afraid to say anything about their feelings, or lack thereof, during their rendezvous, but it was the elephant in the room.

Lisa laughed, hunching over her stomach hysterically. "I was thinking the same thing," She said, "I didn't feel a damn thing."

Luke let out a breath he didn't know a ghost could hold. "Good. I thought I had erectile dysfunction or some shit," He sighed

Lisa let out a loud laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. "I would hope not," The two giggled, Luke stroking Lisa's face as he smiled at her, "I guess ghost sex isn't exactly possible," She chuckled. "I still had fun though," She finished. Luke nodded, continuing to stroke the sides of Lisa's face.

"What?" She said, grabbing his hand playfully to put it away from her face.

He resisted her pulling, continuing to try and grab her face as he kept smiling. "I hope you know just how pretty you are," He said, looking her up and down. Lisa just stared at him blankly.

"Shut up," She said, "You're prettier."

Luke chuckled a bit, pulled his hand back, and brushed it through his hair. "Why thank you," He said.

"Listen…" Lisa sighed, taking a moment to catch her breath. She was hoping to be able to talk to Luke about what exactly they were after such a situation; it was definitely an odd order of affairs. Their first kiss led to a night together, however, Lisa wanted to make their strange relationship work. "What does this mean?" She said point blank.

Luke bit his lip, sighing hard as he thought about what he was gonna say next. He knew that he felt like things were much less tense around Lisa than with Julie, his words more fluid and his chest less heavy around her. So Luke was ready to take whatever next step Lisa wanted to, so he said, "Look, I told you it was just sex before we did anything," He sighed, "But I don't know if it's 'just sex' anymore. What do you think?" He asked her.

Lisa bit her bottom lip just like Luke did. "I don't want it to be just sex. I like being around you, and to be honest..." She trailed off, hanging on her sentence.

"The sex is bad," He finished for her, laughing. She nodded in agreement.

"Exactly," She finished. "So… does this mean we are dating now?" Lisa said, looking down at the sheets as she picked at her red nail polish nervously.

"I would assume so, yes," He said, bending his head down to match his eyes with Lisa's, "You're my girlfriend now," He said. He was happy to be there with Lisa, but when he said, 'girlfriend,' it felt rough against his tongue, like her title was sandpaper. He chalked it up to nervousness in the moment, a side effect of commitment, and continued to stare at her with narrowed eyes.

"SO dignified," Lisa jeered, poking his bare shoulder with her pointer finger, "It's truly an honor, Mr. Patterson, to be with such a fine specimen," She said.

"You were the one who wanted this so bad, so don't be teasing me Lisa," He said, grabbing at her poking finger playfully, shoving it back at her. This catalyst caused a full on play-fight at that very moment, the two giggling like children when Lisa would shove Luke, him grabbing her wrist in retaliation.

"Stop–" Luke strained, grabbing at Lisa, "–moving," He said.

"Stop!" She said, grabbing his face to get his attention as she laughed.

"Why?" He whispered, his face softening.

"Because…" She mouthed again, their hyperness settling down. Then their stillness turned into a kiss. The kiss lasted for a minute, golden hour shifting into sunset through Julie's bedroom window. As Lisa grabbed at Luke's hair desperately and started pushing him down on the bed again, she was interrupted.

"SHIT!" Luke said, breaking away from their spit exchange, "The show," He exasperated, crawling towards the edge of the bed, tripping over the sheets to get off of it.

"What?" Lisa said, taken aback by the sudden jolt from Lukes rough pull back.

"Hold on–" Luke said as he hurriedly threw on his blue tank top, snatching his pants with the underwear still inside, belt clinking as he shuffled them on. "I gotta go," He said, out of breath as he fastened the button on his ripped jeans, "I will see you later though, okay?" He exasperated as he puckered his lip, blowing a kiss with his pointer and middle finger towards Lisa.

"Wait, what?" She said, watching as Luke shuffled out of Julie's room without a word, leaving Lisa at the house alone with the only memory of her and Luke's rendezvous being the messed up sheets, the marks on her neck, and her clothes strewn along the floor. She came out from under the quilt frantically, shuffling out of the bed as she scanned the hardwood floor, her white dress carelessly tossed on it. Apparently Luke was gone for the night, but she didn't want him to leave just yet, she thought, Technically, she wasn't obligated to stay waiting on him.

And ghosts get in free, right?

She picked up the dress, slipped it on, and before blinking out of the room, she looked back at Julie's closet. Shoes would probably be a good idea, she thought, after being barefoot for over a decade. She walked over to the small room and opened the door, scanning the heaps of clothes in front of her before landing on a pair of pink flats, the soles lightly sparkled. Pink was not really Lisas color, but she figured it would do so she snagged the pair nonetheless. She bent down to put them on, pulling the shoe by its rim over her heel, and then blinked out.

"What are you going to do to us?" Reggie said, his hand interlocked with Alex's under the table, "And why do you have an interrogation room at your disposal?" He added, looking around the dark bleak room as Caleb looked down at the pair. Alex looked at him annoyingly, pinching his fingers as he held them. Reggie felt really stupid at the moment; he had managed to get himself and his friend locked in a room without someone they knew was trouble. Go figure.

"Ow!" He exclaimed, snatching his hand away from Alex's hastily.

"Look boys, I can tell you two aren't the brightest crayons in the box," He sighed, brows narrowed, "However, I do know that you can tell me where Luke is," He swallowed, pointing his cane in accusation at the boys, "So tell me," He said.

"You said you were gonna take us to Julie," Reggie spat, standing up out of the metal chair, its feet screeching against the floor. "Why should I trust you with any information of value if you lied to me,." He said, pointing a crooked finger at him.

"I did," He admitted, "and frankly you should have seen that coming, but it was the only way to get you here," He said.

Alex stared up at Reggie. "He's right," He huffed, "if you weren't dumb enough to follow an enemy blindly, we wouldn't be trapped inside a goddamn ghost club!" He tried to reason, pointing out Reggies obvious fault.

"You agreed," Reggie spat back, hands on his hips.

"Boys, boys!" Caleb interrupted, clicking his tongue, "There is no need to fight about how you got here, the fact is you are here," He said, "I need you to tell me where Luke is," He finished, lowering the cane calmly. Reggie and Alex looked at each other, and Reggie sat back down.

"Or what?" Alex sighed, sounding tired, "You're gonna put another stamp on us?" Alex choked.

Caleb sighed, placing the cane back on the ground. "I've learned to observe my mistakes, Alex–" He said.

"That surprises me greatly," Alex interrupted him.

Caleb sighed. "Look, I know you don't truly believe Julie is in my control, but there is someone I can show you," He said, finger on his chin. He opened the door to a closet behind him to reveal Willie, shackled down in a chair, hands and feet bound by rope with a gag in his mouth. As Willie let out a muffled cry, Caleb snagged his wrist, holding it up to show Alex and Reggie. "See this? This is the same little stamp I put on you. Except this time, Willie doesn't know his unfinished business."

"WHAT THE HELL?" Alex screamed, getting up from the chair after seeing Willie's vulnerable position. Before he could make it to him, however, Reggie grabbed his arm, pulling him back.

"Let me go!" Alex screamed, trying to release himself from Reggie's grasp by prying his arm out of his clutch.

"Sit down," Reggie warned, tightening his grip. All the while Willie whined, his groans muffled by the gag.

"No, let go of me!" He spat back, not backing down.

Reggie grunted as he pulled harder. "Stop, man! This is exactly what Calebs wants you to do," He bit, "don't feed into it."

Caleb snickered, letting go of Willie's wrist adorned with his club's stamp so that it felt slack with his other on his lap. "How clever," Caleb mocked, frowning sarcastically, "and I thought you were getting smarter. Listen, Alex, Willie can't blink out anymore, he's too weak," He explained, "So if you want to save poor Willie, it would be wise to do as I say. I'm sure you can manage that, correct?" He said, toying with the metal cane again. Alex had stopped his fit by this time, looking Willie directly in the eye behind Caleb.

"You are one sick motherfucker," He turned to Caleb, adjusting the straps on his hoodie like he always did. Alex looked back at Reggie upsettingly, biting his lip, a moment away from tears.

"We have to get Luke," He said, salty liquid bleeding through his eyelids.

"What?" Reggie said, his face utterly shocked, "We can't do that, Alex."

"What, you don't want to save Willie?" Alex accused him, pointing a finger at him.

"I know how much you love Willie, Alex. Don't get that twisted," He said, eyes scanning Willie bound to a chair, "But he is not more important than Julie. We can't give Caleb luke."

"And I can't abandon Willie. I love him," Alex growled, gesturing a hand out towards Willie, a tear escaping his brown eyes. "I..." Alex said, turning towards Caleb.

"What is it, boy?" Caleb said, putting his weight on his cane.

"Take me instead," He said, offering up his wrist, "Just give me the stamp and get it over with."

"Alex, NO!" Reggie said, stepping in between Alex and Caleb, "That's what you're not gonna do," He told him.

"Since when were you in charge of me?" Alex spat, "I can't just let him rot away in here, he won't exist if time runs out. Reggie, please just move–" He said, before he found himself collapsing into the arms of Reggie as he heaved big sobs into his graphic T-Shirt.

Reggie held Alex, looking up at Caleb whose face had no expression. "Why…?" Reggie squeaked, trying to keep Alex from falling on the ground in a puddle of tears.

Caleb sighed, thinking of an answer to Reggie's question. "I don't do this for sport, Reginald," He said.

"Then why?"

"I do it because it will get me what I want. I want you to glorify me, boys. I want you to realize that you're not doing anything wrong by coming with me," He explained, "My club is an ending where you know exactly what will happen, not a step into the unknown like crossing over is."

"I do not care if I am stepping into the unknown," He barked, "I want to make music with Julie, and if that can't happen I'd rather not make music at all," Reggie said in response, still clutching Alex as he cried.

Caleb studied Reggies face for a moment, sensing that he wasn't bluffing. Although he had tried to remain calm during their argument, he couldn't hold it in anymore. "Listen to me you fucking imbecile, you don't know what you're getting yourself into," Caleb started to shout, getting up in the ghost's face, "I hope you know that whether you want to join my club or not, you will be a part of it. I allowed you the chance to accept on your own, but you two decided to be foolish."

"What the hell are you going on about–"

"Silence! My necromancy runs circles around your little circus act, so whether you like it or not you're coming with me!" He said, snapping the two into the same outfits they adorned last time they were at the club.

"Get. Me. Luke." He said, opening the door to let the two onto the club stage pushing them out.

Julie walked outside with her dad, stopping as soon as she got out the door. The phone she had found lying on her vanity that she had safely confiscated back into her pocket was now buzzing rapidly, her ringtone of Trevor Wilsons, 'My Name Is Luke,' echoing throughout the parking lot.

"Hold on, dad," Julie said, plucking her purple phone case out of her back pocket, looking at the cellphone. Unknown Number, it read. Julie wasn't usually the type to pick up random phone numbers, especially because she hated spam calls, but ever since the band started to bud into a prospering talent, unknown calls meant managers nowadays. She pressed the button, and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?" She said, asking the unknown caller if they were there.

"Hey, Julie," She heard a gravelly voice say. It was Trevor. "I was really hoping you would pick up," He said.

Julie looked over at her dad, brows knitted together. "Uh... hi? Why are you calling me exactly?" She asked, turning away from her father to get closer to the phone.

"Look Julie, I know I am the last person you want to talk to, but I just wanted to say... I'm sorry," He said, swallowing hard enough for it to pick up on Julie's speaker, "I really want to fix this, but I need your help."

Julie was a little dumbfounded by his words; why in the world would he expect her to help him, she thought. "You make a story about me, almost ruining my life and career, and now you need my help to fix it? What the hell is wrong with you?" She said in a hushed whisper, trying not to let her father know she was in the middle of a heated conversation.

"And I realize that, Julie, but..." He started to explain, "I want to fix this, truly."

Julie huffed. "Why?" She said, point blank.

"What do you mean why, I–"

"Why?" She said again.

Trevor breathed into the phone, the sound reverberating into the speaker. "I am doing this because I realized what I was doing was… wrong," He huffed, "It took me a while and a little help to figure that out, yes, but I think my friends mean a lot to you," He said.

Julie looked down at the concrete, tapping her tennis shoe against the tar. "They do. I love them very much," She said.

"Andddd I realize that now. So please, Just listen to me for a second. I want to help," He pleaded with her.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, her curiosity peaking.

"I have a plan, okay, just tell me you understand that I am trying to help?" He asked her, hoping she would respond positively.

Julie thought about it for a second. It really depended on the plan itself; was it too risky? Just plain stupid? She did believe he was sincere, yes, despite all he had done, so she was willing to humor him just this once if it meant all this drama on the news would be shut down. She swallowed hard, then whispered into the phone, "I understand."

Trevor let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good," He said into the phone, "Thank you for listening to me."

Julie bit her lip. "This is really weird, you know that?"

"Yeah…" He trailed off. "I figured," Julie then hung up the phone, shoving it back in her pocket.

"Everything okay?" Ray asked, Julie turning around at the sound of his voice.

"Oh, yeah… totally okay," She said, walking over to her father. The two stood there awkwardly for a second until she heard a whoosh behind her, causing her to turn around.

"Julie!" Luke said, blinking next to her, "I'm sorry I'm late I–"

"Geez!" She called out, "You scared me, you need to stop showing up like that," She said, hand on her chest in exasperation.

"Sorry."

"Is… one of the ghosts here?" Ray asked, looking around wildly to whoever Julie was talking to. He still needed to adjust to this whole ghost thing.

"Yes, dad. Can you maybe... give us a minute?" She said, tilting her head to the side two times as a gesture to leave.

"Oh yeah, sure," He said, backing away slowly towards a park bench outside of Barley's.

Julie turned back towards Luke. "I have a LOT to tell you," She said, exasperating, "First of all—"

"What happened to you?" He interrupted her, his brows narrowed at her disheveled looking face.

"Long story," She replied, trying to wipe some more makeup off her face with two swipes of her fingers.

"Okay, but I have important information too," He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "so who goes first?"

"It doesn't matter, Luke," She said, "Listen, I just got off the phone with Trevor and he wants to fix all this shit."

Luke laughed, bending over to put his palms on his knees hysterically. "Okay, and you really believe him?"

"I don't know Luke, he sounded pretty sincere to me."

Luke got back up, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Julie, you are not that gullible. Why would he want to fix this?" He asked her.

Julie looked down at the yellow painted line in the parking lot nervously, grabbing Luke's hand to remove it from her shoulder blade. She was hesitant to tell him exactly why she believed him, but it was inevitable that if she didn't spill, Luke would pester her for the rest of the night. "Well, that's the thing," She swallowed. "He said he wants to fix everything because he cares about you."

Luke raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side a little. "You mean like, Reggie, Alex and me?" He said, hand on his hip.

"Yeah," Julie nodded.

"Geez…" He trailed off, sticking his forehead in the crevice between his thumb and forefinger.

"I don't think he's kidding," Julie tried to explain, "You guys were friends for a very long time and I—"

"No. What he did to me, to us was wrong. I don't care about his reasoning behind it," He said.

"And I'm not disputing that, Luke," She sighed, her hands now on her hips, "But you didn't hear the phone call either. I think he's telling the truth."

Luke just looked down. He wanted to believe Julie, he really did, but every time he thought about his former bandmates mansion the size of a yacht club, his helicopter that read 'Trevor Wilson,' and the platinum records in his living room of songs that Luke wrote, he felt pure anger. He looked back up. "What else?" He said.

"Well... Nick locked me in a closet," She said, coming off more calmly than she intended it to.

"What?"

"Yep. A closet. For two hours," She said, gesturing towards the black streaks on her face and knees. Luke looked her up and down, making a cringing face.

"What was the point of that? Did I miss fucking April Fools Day or something?" He said, clicking his tongue. Julie just shrugged lazily.

"I don't know," She said, "Andddd I can't find Alex and Reggie. I was hoping they were with you," She added.

"With me? I thought they were with you?" Luke said, biting his bottom lip.

"Shit," The two spat at the same time.

"What could they have gotten into while we were gone?" Julie asked, looking a little worried as she started to pace back and forth on one of the parking spot lines, "This is very bad."

"Literally anything," He cringed, "Those two are wild together," Luke said, putting both hands on his hips now just as Julie was.

Julie nodded. She knew just how… unpredictable the two could be, especially when put together, so who knows what could have happened to them, she thought. Hopefully they were practicing at home or just visiting Willie or something, but the garage was rickety and Willie was the one to bring them to the ghost club.

"Okay, listen. Me and my dad were going to find Nick, but our main priority now is collecting the band before the show," She said, "We have to split up."

"Okay?" Luke said, his face softening.

Julie nodded at him. "You go check the garage first; that's where they're most likely to be."

"And what about you?" Luke asked her, his brows stitching together.

"I– guess I'll have to check…" she trailed off, hanging on her sentence.

"What?"

"I'm going to go check the Hollywood Ghost Club," She stated.

Caleb stepped onto the stage in front of Reggie and Alex, accompanied by dancers in bright feathery outfits. The crowd roared, and Alex just let his tear drops fall on his drum set as he was forcefully made to play.

"You've got the clothes, you've got the woes, you've even got the h—" Caleb started to sing, being interrupted by Reggie's straining as he tried to lift his hands off the bass guitar.

"I am getting severe deja vu," He yelled out to Reggie, still playing along with the tune as he strained.

"So tell me what could be so wrong?" Caleb belted, "It's just a club, a hang out hub, get a drink down at the pub, and throw out all your fears with this song!" He sang louder, grabbing the shoulders of the two backup dancers to perform some tacky choreography.

Alex and Reggie continued to play against their will to the jazzy showtime music as Caleb continued to sing loudly into his head mic, Alex trying so hard to break away from the constant drumming. "Everything you want is here! Your Willie dear," He sang as he looked at Alex, "and you'll appear, guaranteeing a successful career, and if you don't you'll disappear," He continued to sing.

Alex wanted to believe that Julie was going to come and save them, but the Hollywood Ghost Club was sectioned off and underground; he didn't know if she'd be able to find it due to its secrecy. All she knew was the name of the place, nothing else, so although Alex was the most likely to be a Debbie Downer out of the whole band, he couldn't help but hold out hope that Julie would be able to find them. Right now however, he was still stuck drumming along to Caleb's tacky showtunes for what looked like the rest of the night.

"The price you'll pay ain't that severe, happiness is your frontier, and so you've got nothing to fear! The choice is yours, and it's so clear!" Caleb scatted, gesturing towards Reggie as he started to shred on the bass. The crowd all clapped in unison as Reggie swung the bass, looking visibly uncomfortable in his face as his hand scaled down the guitar's strings.

Caleb's magic hurt. It felt like Alex's insides were all twisted up when he moved, his chest so heavy when he turned even the slightest bit that it felt like a boulder on his shoulders. Alex figured it was probably affecting Reggie too by that sour look on his face when he played, so he allowed himself to audibly groan in pain.

"You'll get applause, you'll drop their jaws, they'll never see your flaws, so tell me what is stopping you?" He continued, "You'll get the lassie, she'll be classy, and she'll let you do the na–"

"I'm not really into girls!" Alex groaned, hitting the drum pedal rapidly as he tapped the symbols.

"Well, our waiters make a fine man too!" Caleb responded, gesturing towards Alex now, making him do a drum solo, "Nice, Alex," He hissed. Alex just frowned at him, letting his eyes flutter closed. "Everything you want is here, your Willie dear, and you'll appear, guaranteed a successful career! And if you don't you'll disappear," Caleb continued with the chorus, closing the song with wild jazz hands that mimicked the feathered dancers' jazz hands, "The price you pay ain't that severe, happiness is your frontier, and so you have nothing to fear; the choice is clear!"

The crowd erupted into applause, not knowing that Alex and Reggie were pushed onto that stage against their will and just a door down one of their very own was tied up to a metal chair and gagged. Now that the performance was over thought, what was going to happen to Alex and Reggie? The whole point of being sent out there was in the hopes that Luke would blink in, but that didn't happen. Caleb was a dangerous man, Alex knew that, and so he just clenched his teeth anxiously as he soaked up the applause.

"Thank you, thank you everyone! It has been, truly, a lovely night at the Hollywood Ghost Club yet again!" He yelled, into a microphone held by one of the feathered girls, his arms wide open above his head. The crowd cheered in exhilaration, some people whistling at their seats. "That wraps our show up for the night, so give a big round of applause to our beautiful back up dancers," The crowd cheered again, "and our bassist and drummer, Alexander and Reginald!" More whooping and hollering.

"Tomorrow, we'll be in Venice; make sure to come." He said, finally backing away from the microphone, blinking Alex and Reggie out, and walking from center stage to behind the brassy colored curtains as he said various goodbyes. Before they knew it, all three of them were back in the very room they started in, this time, Alex and Reggie tied up just like Willie was, Caleb pacing around the room still in his performance outfit.

"Wonderful show boys, I must say. Just another taste of life at the club, right?" He snickered, "Oh, but if only Luke were out there to really wrap up the night!" He jeered, leaning down towards Reggie as he spoke to him.

"It's not our fault he didn't show up. Only Julie can do that, not us," Reggie said quietly, trying not to poke the sleeping bear, "Can't you just do that, though?" He asked.

"Even my powers have limits, Reginald. I needed to know where he was a performance ago, but you two didn't seem to know…" He trailed off, circling around the two to walk towards Alex.

"So, the worst thing that could happen if I don't tell you where he is, is performing one of your corny songs?" Alex asked, looking up at Caleb.

"Forever. With a stamp too, if you can't figure out where that son of a bitch is," He said as he twisted his cane like always, "Oh, I almost forgot... no Willie either," He added, looking over at Willie who had gone quiet after all his straining.

"You do realize you talk like a fucking Disney villian, right?" Reggie stated, mocking him a bit under his breath. Alex laughed a little, looking away from Caleb who was still towering over him.

Caleb did not look amused in the slightest."So you want to play that fucking game, eh?" Caleb said, pushing his cane into Reggie's chest, "Because I can play that fucking game," He said, lowering his cane to walk over to Willie, still tied up to his chair. He adjusted his gag much to his dismay, more muffles exhausting from him. Then he snapped, and Willie's stamp jolted him.

"What are you doing?" Alex whined, looking at Willie's furrowed brow as the sudden electrocution rocked him. Then Caleb snapped again. Another jolt. "Hey, wait, stop!" Alex cried, wriggling around in his chair to try and free himself.

"Stop!" Reggie called out over Willie's cries of pain, but he said it in an almost hushed tone, fearing he could be next.

Caleb turned around to Alex and Reggie, cane still twisting into the ground. "Boys, just wait your turn. You'll be soon, I promise," He chuckled, snapping his fingers another time, causing Willie to lunge forward again in agony. More muffled yelling.

"NO, please. You can't do that to us, to Julie!" Alex pleaded with the ghost, hoping it would somehow change his mind, "If you make us join your house band, you are gonna leave an innocent sixteen year old girl heartbroken. Julie needs us."

"And I need you," Caleb answered. "At the end of the day, this isn't about ethics, nor either of us," He said.

"We don't know where Luke is, so what do you expect us to do?" Reggie said, straining against the rough friction of the rope around him.

"I'll just have to make do with you two, I suppose. And if your little friend Julie manages to find you guys, I won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to get rid of her."

"You're still talking like a Disney villain, dude," Reggie seethed.

Alex looked over at Reggie with an annoyed look on his face. "Are you kidding me? He just threatened to kidnap us and kill our friend and you're still going on that tangent?"

"Yes…?" Reggie said with a, 'duh' look on his face. Alex just scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned back towards Caleb.

"Just get this over with already. I don't want to see Willie suffer any longer," He said, accepting the inevitable. Alex knew that he wasn't gonna be able to talk himself out of this, and as much as he needed a set of drums to soothe his anxiety right now, that wasn't going to happen. So Alex knew the last resort was facing the music and taking whatever Caleb was gonna throw at him with a brave face. Actually, probably a terrified face knowing him. Reggie just nodded sadly.

"Eager now, aren't we?" Caleb sighed, cocking his head to the side, "Alright…" He trailed off, adjusting the collar on his purple peplum jacket. Then, just like always, he snapped his fingers together, resulting in a swipe of glitter. This time, when Alex looked over at Willie, his hands were free and his mouth was ungagged, stamp gone, but now it was all on him and Reggie.

"I must say, I am proud of your bravery. Now William can be back to work, so I am going to say thank you," He nodded, motioning for Willie to follow him out of the room.

"Wait, Caleb–" Willie started to say, but when he saw Caleb turn towards him with a sinister face, he shut up. He turned towards Alex and Reggie, both now as helpless as he was merely minutes before, and all he could manage to do was mouth a pitiful, "I'm sorry."

Now that Alex and Reggie were left all alone in a room waiting for their souls to burn out, there was nothing left to say. Although Caleb was lucky enough to spare them from the mouth gags, despite being granted the privilege of talking they sat in the room without saying a word.

And it stayed like that.

"Trust me dad, I'll be fine looking for them on my own," Julie tried to explain to her father over the phone, standing on a busy sidewalk in the heart of LA.

"And you promise to check your phone every 20 minutes to make sure you haven't missed a text or call from me?"

"Yes, I promise…" She said, shoulders dropping as she sighed. Julie looked up at the Hollywood sign peeking over the small businesses neatly placed in a row alongside the street,the moon filling settled in for night time about the city.

"Okay," Ray sighed, his breath seeming to reverberate through Julie's phone, "I love you."

"I love you too dad," She hummed into the phone, ending the call promptly and stuffing her cell back into her pocket. She had not planned on walking around LA at night by herself before the show that morning, but here she was. She didn't exactly have any idea where The Hollywood Ghost club was, so she didn't know where to start.

She started her search by parading down the sidewalk, stopping to look up above her when she realized she was standing in front of the Orpheum in all its glory. The lights on the sign were on, illuminating the street corner, the R on the sign buffering ever so slightly. Julie knew that this area of Los Angeles was not as familiar to her as she would have liked it to be, and she was pretty well acquainted with the staff at the Orpheum, so in an impulsive decision, she went in.

"Oh hey, Julie," One of the bartenders quipped, looking up at her as they scrubbed the inside of a glass cup with a pale blue rag.

"Hi," She said softly, "I just wanted to pop in for a second," Julie explained, biting her bottom lip.

They nodded at her. "Any particular reason? I heard you were playing again tonight, shouldn't you be getting ready?" The worker asked her.

Julie sighed, brushing a hand swiftly through her curls. "I see you've been keeping tabs on me," She chuckled, "I actually wanted to ask a question," She replied.

"Ask away."

"I was looking for, uh, the Hollywood Ghost Club? I was wondering since you're down here all the time if you had any idea where it was at?" Julie asked, leaning her elbows down onto the bar tabletop.

This elicited a laugh from the bartender."I never pegged you for the party type," They said, cocking their head to the side, "Unfortunately, I've never heard of a 'Hollywood Ghost Club.'" They said, placing the sweaty cup onto a drying rack next to them.

Julie just shook her head, eyeing the wet glass. She wasn't getting anywhere just asking around, but it felt like the only option because the damn place seemed to be wiped from the internet. Maybe if she had just gotten a little more information out of Luke before he blinked away, she could have already been getting ready, and not sitting inside of the Orpheum which was about to close for the night. Julie couldn't help but have a bad feeling about the whole situation; Luke and Reggie weren't the type to miss an important show after that little stunt they pulled at her dance. Julie swallowed hard, and got up from the bar. "That's too bad," She sighed. "I guess I'll see you around. I'd love to play here again some time soon," She smiled

"Totally. I'll see you around, Jules," The bartender answered. Julie just waved.

As Julie turned around towards the front entrance, something caught her eye. Before she could exit the club, the neon open sign barely illuminating the window shone on a piece of paper that started to flap wildly when she opened the door. It seemed to grab her attention for some reason, a pale yellow sheet of paper, displaying a QR code that took up most of the page. Above it, written in Courier New font, read the words, 'Visit The Heaven's Gate Community Today' with a smaller heading underneath that said, 'A Glimpse Into The Afterlife'

Julie didn't know much about spiritual groups despite her own family's religious affiliation, but she knew enough to know that these people knew a thing or two about the afterlife. What better way to find a couple of pesky ghosts than a community whose main goal is studying what happens after death? Julie whipped out her phone, opened the camera app, and pressed down on the QR code on her screen, causing a hyperlink to open that only displayed an address: 4072 Hollywood Boulevard, 90049.

That was like, right around the corner, Julie thought. She looked back at the bartender one more time before leaving the Orpheum, looking up at the flickering sign once more before she tried to hunt down the address. It wasn't like Julie to commit trespassing, nor walk into a dark alleyway alone, but Julie was feeling rebellious that night. And desperate.

So she peered around the corner of the building anyway, however, she only saw an empty alleyway with copious amounts of trash and fly swarmed dumpsters near the end. The only sign of life in the dark alley was the illumination coming from a small window that was a part of a burgundy door. Julie was hesitant to descend down the empty walkway, after all, she did promise her dad she would remain safe, and this certainly was not that. However, if she wanted to make her gig on time, she would have to take a couple risks. She closed the Orpheum doors behind her, and slowly walked towards the small beam of light.

Beside the unlabeled door to the left were some dingy metal numbers that labeled an address: 4072. Julie was right about the place being close, but she didn't assume that close; the door was quite literally connected to the Orpheum. Julie placed her hand on the handle, pausing for a moment to think about what she was about to do. She had no idea what this place was, just that it was run by some religious group that could very well be a cult for all she knew. She pushed down on the door knob, cracked the door open, and peered in. The place seemed empty, so Julie entered.

As she looked around, the place looked very vintage, like it hadn't been updated since the 1920's. There was an old bar in one corner with red leather swivel chairs, a stage in another. Above the platform in the back of the room bright neon letters read, 'The Hollywood Ghost Club'

Son of a bitch, Julie thought.

She walked towards the stage, looking up at the dimly lit podium that looked like it had recently been performed on. There were stray earrings littering the stage, fresh roses strewn about, and the tables surrounding it still had bits of trash on their tablecloths.

Julie looked over towards the bar, another illuminated door behind the pub that was also painted a dark red. It had a small window at the top, as well as a sign that said, 'Employees Only,' but Julie was already trespassing, so what was another intrusion to her? She walked across the large room, dodging tables with their chairs pulled out to make her way to the door. When she tried to open the door, however, the thing wouldn't budge. Julie's short stature prohibited her from seeing through the window, but with the platform sneakers she was wearing, if she stood on her tiptoes all the way, she could boost herself up just enough to look over the sill. With one last push of her feet to get her just high enough to see through the window, she could see a blank white room with two chairs, and to people in them, backs towards her.

Shit, she thought, someone was here. She didn't know if they were employees or performers, until she squinted at them, noticing matching Sunset Curve tattoos on both of their necks. Alex and Reggie.

"What the hell–" Julie tried to exclaim at her finding, but before she could get anything out, a hand was clasped around her face. She squirmed around at the sudden contact, her screams muffled by the palm over her jaw.

"Up for a second date, huh?" Caleb said with a breathy voice against Julies kicking. His sickly voice, the one that sounded like nails against a chalkboard, wasn't hard for Julie to recognize. What he said, though, caught her off guard. She couldn't tell if Caleb was just trying to be off putting or pedophile-y, or if he was speaking in some sort of code? The only person Julie had been on a date with recently was Nick, and Caleb wasn't Nick...

Fuck.

Luke blinked into the garage like Julie had told him to, the stuffy room as dark as pitch now that the sun had gone down. Luke assumed Lisa would be waiting for him on the ripped loveseat, but she wasn't there. The only thing on the couch was Luke's snake ring that had slipped off during their little "tussle" a few hours ago, the snake turned upwards towards him. The garage appeared to be empty as far as he could tell, nothing but the peonies Nick brought that were starting to wilt on the piano top. As Luke continued to look around though, a familiar voice startled him.

"Luke, there you are!" Lisa exclaimed, "I've been blinking all over for you, I thought you were getting ready at Barley's?" Lisa questioned, immediately grabbing Lukes wrists when he turned around towards her.

"Oh–" Luke said, taken aback by Lisa's sudden appearance, "I was, but Alex and Reggie weren't there. I came here to look for them, then you showed up," He said, pulling his wrists away from Lisas grasp.

"Oh, sorry," She said quietly, "I can help you look if you'd like?" Lisa said, returning her hands back to her sides.

Luke shook his head. "No– I don't need any help, okay? You should really get some sleep," He told her, placing a hand on her shoulder to lead her towards the door.

"Wait, Luke," She said, brushing his palm off of her, "Why don't you..." She paused, hoping what she was about to say wouldn't come off as opportunistic or scheming, but her mouth had already caught up with her mind. "Why don't you call the concert off. Y'know, stay with me for tonight? Wouldn't it be so nice to spend a night by ourselves?" Lisa explained, grabbing Lukes hands again.

"What? I can't cancel the show?" Luke said, furrowing his brows at Lisa, "I'm worried about Alex and Reggie, okay?"

"And so am I," Lisa said. This already wasn't going too well, but Lisa wasn't the type to backtrack after she already started something, and she was already in too deep. "But I'm sure they're fine, darling. Please, just–"

"What if they aren't?" Luke spat.

Lisa sighed, letting go of Luke's hands this time. "Babe, you've got to stop being so paranoid. Resorting to the worst case scenario all the time can not be good for you, you know that?"

"Stop calling me that," Luke said.

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Darling, babe, whatever; I'm tired of it! This whole thing was a big mistake," He said angrily. As soon as the words came out of his mouth however, his face turned sour in instant regret. He didn't mean for it to come out so harsh, but at least now she knew the truth.

"W- what?" Is all she could choke out, "What the fuck?"

"I didn't mean for it to come out like that, Lisa. I–"

"Then what did you mean?" She said, "Because that sounded a lot like you don't want to be with me anymore after one damn day."

Luke tried to reach out a hand, but it was promptly swatted away. "Let me explain, Lisa," He sighed, "That was really shitty of me to say, so let me rephrase–"

"Stop," She interrupted calmly. Lisa huffed, trying to keep in tears she knew were inevitable. "I– don't want to hear anything else you have to say," She said coldly, turning back around to clip through the garage door. Now Luke was all by himself, without his friends nor his "girlfriend" and he couldn't do anything about it. How had he managed to screw things up that badly that quick, he didn't know.

"Shit..." Is all he could manage to say, "That's two times in a row I've made a girl cry and storm out of this damn garage," He sighed, wondering if maybe there was something in the air that was giving him all that bad luck. Or maybe, he just needed to think about what he was saying before it came out of his mouth. That seemed like something he had trouble doing.

"I know this is a terrible time to tell you this, but I used your drumsticks to itch my feet..." Reggie said, pouting at Alex embarrassingly.

"Okay, first of all, ew," Alex said, looking a tad horrified, "second of all, why are you telling me this?" Alex said, hunching over in the chair because of the bailing twine.

"Dude, because we're gonna die here," He said, a shock jolting both of them. "See?" He groaned, trying to sit up straight in the chair.

Alex sighed. He was usually the anxious one, but for some reason he felt kind of calm in the moment, like his imminent demise wasn't right in front of him. Alex was having a really hard time adjusting to the ghost life, so maybe ceasing to exist wouldn't be so bad. There was nothing to worry about then, but at the same time it begs the question of whether or not it would just be… black.

"It's alright, okay? Even if we do keep getting rocked by these jolts–"

"And Julie and Willie don't save us," Reggie interrupted.

Alex sighed, "Anddd Julie and Willie don't save us, nonexistence would be… kinda nice."

Reggies jaw fell slack, narrowing his brows at him. "You've got to be kidding me Mr. Anxiety-McGee," He teased him, "There's no pizza, no music, and definitely no girls when you don't exist anymore. Why would you ever want that?"

"I don't think that last example really applies to me," Alex joked, "You wouldn't even be aware though, would you?"

"You don't know that," Reggie replied. Another jolt.

"You don't know either, do you?" Alex said, sitting back up after the shock, "Why am I the calm one all of the sudden?"

"I don't know why," He whined, "It's kind of freaking me out," Reggie said, biting his bottom lip.

Alex only sighed. "Whatever," He said, "The fact is that it looks like no ones coming so we might as well be content, right?"

Reggie laughed. "Who turned you into such a prophet and shit?" He jeered, being jolted again.

Alex groaned at the sudden electricity, fluttering his eyelashes closed at the pain. It was kinda bothering Alex how Reggie kept pointing out the sudden anomaly of his calmness, because it was making him less and less tranquil the more he thought about it. "Can you just be quiet for the rest of our ghost lives?" Alex said, staring at Reggie with an annoyed face.

"I can't stay quiet," Reggie said with a toothy smile, his hair in his face.

"You won't even have to wait that long, dumbass," He spat back, "Just shut up for a second," Reggie let his torso fall slack into his lap in defeat, letting out a muffled scream into his leather pants. "I think that's even worse, dude," Alex nipped. Reggie lifted his head up, looking serious all of the sudden.

"Alex?" Reggie said softly.

"Uh, what is it?" Alex said, chewing the inside of his cheek, jolting forward again.

Reggie inhaled a deep breath, sitting back up straight. "I know this whole time we have been joking and shit..."

"Yeah?"

"But– I really want you to know I love you. And I'm really gonna miss you if we, y'know..." Reggie said, gesturing with his head towards the ground.

Alex's features softened. "I love you too, Reggie," He said, frowning, "This really fucking sucks, you know?" He said, eyes starting to get glossy. Reggie only nodded as they both jolted forward again, rocked by another shock.

'Yeah. It does suck," He said, sniffling hard as he started to cry, "I'm really gonna miss the band… and pizza."

Alex chuckled hard, a slow transition into sobbing. "And pizza," He said. The two sat there silently, sobbing as they kept taking the jolts, wishing they could do something about the situation. It seemed hopeless for them however, so Reggie tried to listen to Alex's sudden tranquility and let himself silently heave sobs into his lap and accept his inevitable fate.