Episode Six

Molotov Cocktails

"Julie?" Luke called out, blinking into the dark Barleys parking lot. Surrounding him were at least a dozen cars, probably those of the people waiting inside for Julie and the Phantoms to play their set, some with their back lights on. Luke noticed the only other person outside was Ray under the dim streetlights, and that seemed like the next best thing to Julie, so he walked over.

"Hey, man," Luke said. No reply, of course, "Are you waiting for Julie? I am too," He started to speak. He realized talking to someone who can't hear him nor know he was there was quite silly, but it seemed like Julie was a much more thorough searcher than Luke was. Go figure.

"That yellow suits you," Luke praised, gesturing to Ray's sweater, "Where did you get it?" He said, waiting for a reply fully knowing he wasn't getting one. Luke looked down, pausing for a second before he spoke again.

"Well wherever you got it, you've got to hook me up, man," He said. The two sat there on the bench in silence, the only sound coming from the noisy couples and distorted pop music inside of Barley's. Luke turned around on the bench, arm on the back rest, to look through the window. Through the window, he could only see that the stage was empty, which made Luke frown because he knew he was supposed to be up there. "I'm gonna kick their asses…" Luke sighed, turning back around to slump down into the bench.

"Did you know your daughter is really fucking talented?" Luke paused, covering his mouth, "I mean freaking, sir," Ray just hung his head back, looking up at the few stars you could see in LA due to all the light pollution. Luke just patted Ray on the back, his hand sinking through his mustard colored sweater to the splintery wood where it sat for another minute.

"Being a ghost sucks, y'know?" Luke sighed.

"Show starts in ten minutes, show starts in ten minutes!" Luke heard a feminine voice call from inside Barley's, followed by an explosion of cheers from the crowd inside.

Luke watched as Ray sat up, a little concerned that Julie and the band weren't here yet at the announcement she was supposed to be on in ten minutes. Luke noticed this, sitting up in his seat as well. "Don't worry about it, Ray," He said, "Julie will be back soon, I'm sure. Well, I'm not 100% sure but..." He trailed off.

"You know what, let's just enjoy the night together, huh Ray?" Luke said, trying to poke at Ray but his hand sank through him again, "I don't have any money though, so, drinks are on you," He said, emptying his pockets out onto the bench. A gum wrapper, a couple of guitar picks, and some cigarette butts spilled onto the bench. Luke let them sit on the ground for a moment, until he felt bad for littering so he picked some of the trash back up.

"Did you know you can't ruin your lungs if you don't have any?" Luke said, plucking one of the crumpled cigarette butts off the bench, "Pretty gnarly, right?" He chuckled, throwing the cigarette back on to the ground where it originally resided, smashing it with his foot. After a couple of seconds, Luke got up from the bench, kicked the gum wrapper out of his way, and walked inside of Barley's.

The place was absolutely packed, and the whole place smelled like chips and salsa. Luke wanted so badly to jump onto that stage and sing his woes about Lisa, Bobby, and the band all away, but it wasn't the same without his friends. He walked past the stage, took a shot of someone's drink while they weren't looking from their table, and walked through the backstage door.

"How come the band isn't here yet? I thought you said these guys were professional?" A manager yelled at a teenage boy with a headset on, flecks of spit flying from his mouth.

"They are, sir," He swallowed hard, "I can assure you that. They will be here, okay?" He said, backing away slowly from the angry man so he could get away from the splash zone.

"You better not be fucking joking," He huffed, turning away dramatically towards his office. The teenage boy let out a deep breath, adjusted the microphone on his head set, and slumped down into a chair belonging to the vanity. It looked like Julie's makeup was still there, her purple glitter sprinkled sporadically along the table. Luke walked over to the desk, noticing the wide open closet to the left as he peered past the disgruntled employee. This must be the one Julie was talking about, he thought.

Inside the closet were sparkly dresses and feathered accessories, but on the bottom you could see little black specs on the hardwood floors, proof of Julie's stressful visit to what might as well be the damn chokey. Luke looked around at the backstage area, wondering if they really would be able to perform after all. Julie wasn't here, and there was certainly no sign of her.

"My job sucks..." Luke heard the boy with the headset whisper into his hands, elbows on the vanity. All Luke could do was try to give him a consoling pat, but like always his hand sank through towards the seat of the stool.

"Same here, dude," Luke sighed, picking his hand up from being slack on the vanity chair, "Same here."

"I didn't believe you were as clever as your friends said you were," Caleb sighed, swiveling in a brown leather chair behind his desk, "But I was wrong. I'm assuming someone let you out of that closet, but how did you find me?"

Julie swallowed hard, sitting with her hands in her lap in Caleb's office. "It was really an accident, I swear," She explained, "Well, I was looking for them, but I didn't think I'd find them here. I thought this was like a religious book club or something..." She trailed off.

"So you admit to looking for them?"

Julie nodded. "Yes, sir."

Caleb clicked his tongue, swiveling in the chair once more. "Hmm... and what did you plan to do to me?"

"Nothing, I guess," She said quietly. "I didn't come prepared–"

"I notice that," Caleb interrupted, "So you can leave, or try to fight me with nothing?" He said, one brow raised.

Julie swallowed hard. She couldn't just turn back now knowing her friends were in danger, but Caleb was right. She wasn't prepared, and she was a singer, not a wrestler, so why was she even there? She adjusted herself by pulling the edge of her dress down, and took a deep breath. "You're right, I can't fight. But I also can't sit at home knowing you have my friends," She said, Caleb chuckling loudly, throwing his head back against the chair.

"Bold move, Sleeping Beauty," He laughed, "Just get out now before we have a problem," He said, pointing towards the door.

Julie huffed, crossing her arms angrily. "I was trying to be nice because I thought you were supposed to be all menacing and shit, but you're not," She choked, "What you did to Nick was horrible. He's probably at home wondering what the hell happened this week. He's probably so confused, I…" She trailed off, starting to get angry.

"Maybe you oughta be," He said, brows narrowing, "I was the one trying to play the nice guy but now you've fucked it up," He said, hands in the shape of a pyramid on the mahogany desk, "You can either forget what you saw, or face the consequences. It's an easy decision to make, if you ask me," He threatened her.

Julie furrowed her brows, "I didn't fuck anything up, you did. You are overcompensating for your insecurities and you're upset that my friends are stealing your little gimmick, huh?" She said, standing up to point at him with accusation. Caleb sighed, standing up from his swiveling chair, much taller than Julie.

"You're little, 'hit him where it hurts' scheme isn't going to work on me," He said, picking up his cane from leaning against the desk, "Leave. Now. I'm being generous, so go while I let you," He said calmly.

Julie let out a frustrated sigh. She looked down for a moment, trying to craft a good response to Caleb in her head. When she looked back up however, she couldn't help but get angry when she saw Caleb's face; the face that had destroyed her friends, her crush, her band... So then, in a fit of anger and desperation, she slapped Caleb from across the table. Her own jaw fell slack in shock at herself as she watched him lift a hand to his cheek after the deafening smack, tending to the red spot now forming on it. Julie was surprised at her own malice, but her anger wasn't containable anymore, so she made another impulsive decision to shove him.

"No," She said as she forced him backwards, pushing him again and again, getting out from behind the desk to better access him.

"Listen here, bitch," He said, pushing her back with his cane, catching her wrist, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You can poke fun at me all you want, say I'm cliche, but I won't hesitate the next time you try to make a fucking move like that," He said, forcefully rocking her backwards when he let go of her wrist.

Julie was a little intimidated by him now, but the thought of her friends scared and alone was more motivating than whatever Caleb was trying to get at. "Or what?" She asked him, "You're gonna put a stamp on me? I'm not a ghost, dumbass," She said, straightening her posture.

"I'll slit your throat, you fucking whore," He said suddenly, unexpectedly pulling his cane out to place it around her neck. Her body was then tugged against his, his breath hot on her neck as he heard the rod against her neck.

"LET ME GO!" She said, flailing widely in his grasp, "HELP!" She screamed.

"I would choose your decisions wisely from now on," He said, his voice trembling a bit from Julie's incessant kicking, "This could go either way you want, so do as I say," He said. He continued to hold the cane against Julie, the cold metal stinging her neck.

Julie still wanted to believe she wasn't afraid of him, but now that he was breathing down her throat and his hands were pressed against her stomach tightly, she was definitely afraid. She wanted to say something, get the last word in, but the words couldn't seem to come out of her mouth. So she stayed quiet, the only sound being the rustling of Caleb's peplum jacket as Julie's chest heaved against it in desperation for gasps of air.

"That's what I thought," Caleb sighed, lowering the cane back down to his side, "You're walking in front of me so you don't try to make an escape," He said. Julie, shocked and confused, didn't move at all.

"Now," He said, tapping the cane on the floor. Julie bit her lip, looked around the blank empty room, and had him follow her out of his office down an empty hall lined with photos from The Hollywood Ghost Clubs shows.

Paris, 1948

Manchester, 1963

Montreal, 1932

Istanbul, 1989

Berlin, 2005

Seoul, 1997

"She won't pick up…" Trevor sighed, handing his phone to Linda who stacked the cellphone on top of her clipboard. Linda just curved the side of her mouth downward, not knowing what to say to her client. "What if she really didn't believe me?" He sighed, "Ugh, why is it so hard to be nice?" He screamed in the empty shell of his mansion, his head falling into his calloused hands as his voice echoed off the walls.

"What are you going to do?" Linda said, leaning down towards the coffee table to set down his glass of white wine as well as his phone and her clipboard.

Trevor just shook his head slowly. "I really don't know, Linda," He sighed, "This is all so– confusing..." He trailed off.

Linda sat down next to him, setting down her clipboard, paperwork, and Trevor's cellphone. "Well, didn't you promise me you would fix this no matter what happens?" She asked him, "You know, for Sunset Curve?" She said, picking up the glass of wine to encourage Trevor to drink some. He nodded reluctantly at her question, then took a sip.

"This is Masetto," He said, wiping his face with a horrid look, "You know I don't like Masetto, Linda," He swallowed, handing the glass back to her.

"Sorry..." She trailed off, setting the glass back onto the table, "I'll try to remember that next time," Linda said in a defeated tone.

After Trevor recovered from the sour drink he took his phone off of the coffee table, and dialed Julie's number again. No answer still. Trevor threw the phone carelessly onto the leather couch after the dial tone, letting out a whine and tried to continue his conversation with Linda he didn't get to finish. "I can't do this without her, Linda. The plan won't work," He said, "Thankfully the story has died down a little, but it's not fixed. People are suspicious," Trevor said, taking another drink of the Masetto despite his distaste for it, trying to get himself drunk enough to forget.

"I thought you didn't want the wine?" She questioned him.

Trevors shoulders dropped. "I drink to forget, Linda," He sighed, taking another large swig of the drink, nursing the glass.

Linda slouched in her seat, an annoyed look etched on her face through her glasses. "Trevor, you know this isn't the end of the world," She said, "Be patient, okay? You don't know that she's ignoring you, she could be busy tonight," She reasoned with him.

Trevor kept drinking. "You could be right," He swallowed, "I just really hope this works out."

"And I'm proud of you," She praised him, "I'm glad you've turned your behavior around."

"Gosh, you make me sound like a middle school bully," He said, setting the empty glass down, "I was never that bad, was I?" He asked.

Linda looked away from him in a joking manner. "I didn't want to tell you," She laughed, "Give me the last drop of that," She said, smacking her fingers against her palm, gesturing for Trevor to hand her the almost empty glass.

"Next time, get Ameztoi," He said, handing the glass to Linda. She tilted her head all the way back against the plushy couch, tilting the glass all the way upside down to let the wine drip into her mouth. "Masetto is revolting, Linda," He said.

"I already said I'll try to remember that next time I'm out," She replied, "But this Masetto really isn't that bad," She reasoned, chewing on the rim of the wine glass.

"There's no need to lie to me," He said, getting up from the couch, "I'm going to go meditate. Watch Carrie for me, will you?"

"She isn't ten years old anymore, Trevor. I'm sure she'll be fine by herself," Linda called.

"Whatever," Trevor sighed, walking towards the glass staircase, "Goodnight, Linda."

"Goodnight," Linda hummed back.

Willie screamed loudly in an empty parking lot, throwing his beloved skateboard into the tar with the white painted lines in a fit of anger. He was surprised Caleb had let him free after seeing his friends kidnapped, but Willie was even more surprised Alex had sacrificed himself for him. Willie had only been with Alex for a couple of days, and only knew him for a month or so, so he was grateful… but Willie was also sad. The words of Alex saying he loved Willie echoed through his head, and he couldn't help but scream and yell in anger of what could have been. Willie bent down on to the black tar, picking up his skateboard that now had a huge dent in it.

Willie knew that the only way to keep Alex and Reggie from getting rocked to death by their stamps was to get rid of them. The only person who could do that though, was Caleb. Obviously, he wasn't going to just remove them voluntarily, so Willie was going to have to figure out a way to do it himself. Trying to outsmart Caleb would be a very difficult thing to do, but Willie was too angry to take that into consideration. His only priority at the moment was to fix the dent in his board and save his friend and boyfriend.

It seemed like the only thing that was plausible was to up and kill Caleb, but Willie wasn't a killer, right? Maybe for Alex he could be, for he had sacrificed everything for him. It only made sense to repay the debt, but as he said before, Willie only knew how to remove a ghost with Caleb's stamp or resolving any unfinished business. Considering the circumstances, unfinished business was out of the question.

"UGH!" He screamed, throwing the hunk of metal into the asphalt in frustration again, "Why can't this just be easy?" Willie yelled into the dead of night.

The only ghost that could make themselves seen by lifers was Caleb, so what could that offer? If Caleb can become almost human, could he reciprocate human forms of expelling like electrocution or drowning? Where exactly did his capabilities end? If Willie could somehow catch Caleb in his visible form, maybe he could do an experiment.

Willie unzipped the fanny pack fastened around his torso, digging though all the crystal bracelets, stubby eyeliner pencils, and his tacky shot glass with the four leaf clover on it to a loose box of matches. The only reason Willie had matches in his bag was because when Alex took a smoke break, Willie always lit his cigarettes. It was always funny to him how Alex kept telling him to get an actual lighter instead of holding a match towards his mug, but Willie never listened.

Willie looked around the parking lot as if anyone could see him, just to make sure he was in the clear. He opened the match box, pulled out one of the wooden matches, and stuffed it in the front pocket of his skinny jeans with the red part downward. He closed the box, put it back into his bag, and zipped it up. Willie picked up his dented skateboard and placed it against his knee dent side down, forcing it against his knee until the bump popped back into place.

"This is crazy..." Willie sighed, realizing he was about to light a man and his club on fire. He tossed the board onto the concrete, set himself steady upon it, and with one swift move he pushed off and skated away down Hollywood Boulevard with the stray match in his pocket and his long hair blowing wildly in the wind.

"What did I say about professionalism, huh?" The manager yelled with a thick Boston accent, "You were bullshitting me the whole time! You told me the band would be here in time for the show, but the stage is empty," He spat, specks of saliva flicking on the poor boy's face.

"I'm sorry sir," He pleaded, wiping the drops off his face, "I really thought they were going to make it, they have a good reputation so far."

"Well they're about to get a bad one, damn it," He sighed, placing his forehead in the crevice between his thumb and forefinger anxiously, "This was my last straw... You're fired," He said slowly and under his breath. The boy's eyes widened, and he looked like he was going to cry behind that headset fastened to his face.

"I am so sorry, sir," The boy tried to say through a bit lip, "Please, I promise I won't do it again."

"You've already done it again. Over and over, and I tried to play nice," The man sighed, "Go tell the crowd out there that the show's canceled. Ugh, we're gonna lose a lot of money, you know that?" He said, pointing towards the door that led out to the stage. The boy looked towards the door, disappointed. He walked out abruptly, not saying a word to the manager at all, just hung his head down.

"Uh, hello everyone," The boy started to speak. The crowd elicited excited screams, but died down when he took the microphone a little closer by its base. "Unfortunately, Julie and The Phantoms are not here," He said. The crowd groaned loudly with a couple of 'Come on's!' and 'What's?' being heard over the bustle.

"I'm sorry everybody, again," He said, looking behind him to see his manager's head peeking out behind the velvet curtains, "To compensate, drinks for the rest of the night are on the house," After he said that, a couple of people got up from their seats and left, while some made their way to the bar to fill up. The manager scoffed, disappearing behind the curtains as he turned away.

"I can't believe they flaked," A woman said to her friend down in the crowd, "If the only paycheck I got was from gigs like this, I wouldn't stand them up. I wonder what came up?"She asked.

"I'm not sure. Must be really important, I guess," The other woman replied, taking a sip of her martini with one of those little umbrellas.

"Well, the poor girl has been caught in all that scandal. I don't really blame her if she just needed a break," The girl spoke again, tapping a cigarette's ashes into an ashtray on the table. The other woman nodded, taking another sip of the drink.

"Definitely. That Trevor Wilson is a piece of shit," She agreed, still nursing the alcohol.

The girl with the cigar paused for a second, hesitating to speak. "What?" The other woman asked her, noticing her hesitation.

"The thing I don't understand though, is the girls' technology. I saw on one of those tacky entertainment channels that this kind of thing costs up to $400,000," She explained.

Her friend raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought this band was new?" She asked.

"It is. No one knows where she got the money from," She said ominously, taking a drag of the cigarette.

"Maybe she is just smarter than we are," The lady said, the two starting to laugh, "We are just a couple of idiots, aren't we?" She joked.

The two chuckled. "You're probably right. What do we know about technology anyway?" She said, the two falling silent.

"It's uh– getting late," She continued, pointing at the clock, "Grab another drink from the bar, and let's go."

"Bourbon?" The other one asked, getting up from her chair, pushing it in with a bump of her hip.

"Uh… I'm thinking of whiskey tonight actually," She replied, getting up as well with the cigar poking between her teeth.

Julie sat on the cold, tile floor looking up at Alex and Reggie in their chair with even more wet mascara on her face than she did before, and as much as she tried to wipe it away with her sleeve, it just kept coming back.

"How come we're tied up in these magic, unbreakable, untieable, rope thingies and you get to sit on the floor?" Reggie asked angrily, resisting against the tight twine fastened around him.

"I can't walk through walls like you two can," She said, playing with her tennis shoes and shoelaces, picking at the rubber. The three of them sat in silence for a moment, the only sound being Julie's occasional sniffle.

"How did you even manage to find us?" Alex asked, "and what did Caleb do?"

Julie sighed, straightening her posture to tell her story. "It really was an accident. I came here to try and find the Hollywood Ghost Club and it ended up being it," She explained.

Reggie nodded, a jolt rocking the two. "And about Caleb?"

"He took me to his office, and gave me a talking to," She said, lowering her brows when she said talking to, "He told me if I didn't forget what I had seen, I'd regret it."

"I'm guessing you didn't forget," Alex said, gesturing with his head towards Julie sitting on the ground. She nodded and smiled, but the grin didn't reach her eyes.

"I can't imagine leaving you two here," She said, "If we die, at least we die together," She tried to joke.

"And what about Luke?" Reggie asked, kicking his feet on the chair, "He isn't here."

"He went looking for you two as well," Julie sighed, looking down at the ground, "I hope he's okay," Alex and Reggie nodded in agreement.

"We have to let him know we're safe," Reggie said, "We have to get out of here."

Alex laughed. "First of all, I wouldn't consider stamp round two as safe," He interrupted, "Second of all, we can't get out, Reggie," Reggie just frowned, another jolt rocking the two.

"I gotta agree with Alex," Julie said, gesturing to their bent over bodies from the shocks. Julie thought it was a nice thought to have Luke here, but ultimately it was better that Luke wasn't tied up too. Maybe he had a plan, she thought. Maybe he was on his way there to break them out? Julie just hoped he wasn't going to do something dangerous or stupid.

Reggie sighed. "Can I be correct just once?" He said.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible, Reginald," Alex jeered. Both him and Julie laughed, Reggie not so much, "It's just a joke," Alex commented.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," He said, lunging back forward at another jolt.

Julie looked down, biting her bottom lip so much it left a mark. "I hate seeing you two suffer this way. It was bad enough the first time, but now I've got to endure it again?" She said, trying hard not to show how upset she really was.

"We're okay, Julie," Alex said, sitting back up, "I promise we'll get through this, me and Reggie are strong," He reassured her, his hand pressed hard against the rope as he tried to reach out to her, "Stupid shit won't move," Alex groaned, still trying to pry his hand out of the rope.

"I've already tried for the past hour, Alex," Reggie said, sinking down into his chair, "This rope is invincible, it's so dumb," He sighed. Alex just frowned, relaxing his body after all the straining against the unbreakable rope.

"I hope we are not here much longer," Julie sighed, pressing her forehead into the crook between her thumb and forefinger, "I can't take being trapped in her much longer."

Reggie hunched down, being restricted by the tight twine. "Unfortunately, Julie, I don't think that's happening any time soon." He said, continuing to bury his head into his lap as far as he could against the rope.

"Ugh, I just want to go to sleep," Alex whined, catching a glare from Reggie.

"It doesn't hurt to hope…" She trailed off defeatedly. As much as she wanted to be optimistic about everything, Reggies pessimistic views made more sense than hers. Maybe it was better if she listened to him instead of getting her hopes up for nothing.

"What do you think happened to Willie?" Reggie asked after a minute of silence, Alex lifting his head up at the sound of his boyfriend's name. Julie only shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, god, don't bring him up again," Alex sighed, turning his head away from the two of them, "I don't want to think about this anymore."

"I'm sure he's okay Alex. In fact, he's probably getting help right now," Julie reassured him, her features softening.

"Help from who exactly?" Alex asked, "Cause' it's sure as hell not the LAPD. He's a damn ghost, Julie."

"I know that, I was just trying to calm you down–"

"You think I can calm down while being tied to a chair dying a slow and painful death? Really, Julie–"

"Enough!" Reggie called out, his voice more like a growl than a yell, "Stop bickering," The two obliged and the room stayed silent for the next half an hour.

"Venice," Caleb reminisced, "We've played many good shows there, right Beth?" Caleb said, patting the top of his microphone, the club's speakers letting out feedback at the sudden taps.

Willie peered through the burgundy front door, watching as Caleb packed outfits into cardboard boxes for the next show tomorrow night. Willie had come here ready to execute his plan, but right now he couldn't just go out there and throw a match for two reasons: Caleb could escape, and Caleb was in ghost form. How was Willie supposed to make him be seen, though? It wasn't like he could just go up and ask? Willie fingered the match in his pocket, the woods edges sharp against his fingers. Willie gently shut the door behind him, taking the spare key he had for the front entrance and locked the door.

Caleb continued to stack feather boas and sparkly fans into his cardboard boxes, the brown boxes looking bent with its beige tape, beat up from overuse. Although Caleb had played many, many shows in his afterlifetime, something about the show he was going to play tomorrow night felt different, felt right. He was going to be able to relish in the fact that he exterminated his only competition after their lack of cooperation, despite the fact that he would still have to figure out what to do with Julie. The trivial details didn't matter much to him though, he was just happy things were finally going right for him.

Caleb started to hum the tune to, 'The Other Side of Hollywood' under his breath, every so often pointing his finger out as he danced along to his little tune. "Watch this Beth–" Caleb said, setting down a plastic prop that was in his right hand onto the growing pile of clothes on the stage. Caleb continued to adjust his peplum jacket, straightening his posture before he demonstrated something for Beth the microphone. He stretched his arms out wide, looking a bit like Christ the Redeemer, stepping forward in one long stride towards the edge of the stage. He mindlessly snapped his fingers simultaneously, his silent incantation producing a sudden blink of light. Willie had been under Caleb's control long enough to know what that sudden flash meant: Caleb was in his 'lifer form,' and it was Willie's time to strike.

Willie shakingly shoved his hand into his skinny jeans pocket, pulling out the unlit match he had been saving. In his nervousness, he fumbled the damn thing, causing it to fall onto the ground. Willie bent down anxiously, looking up to see Caleb on the stage doing random, garish moves. Willie just scoffed and picked the match up off the floor, unzipping his fanny pack to get the match box out. Willie didn't know if his plan was even going to work, the only thing Willie had going for him was an inclination and his wavering hope.

Shakily, Willie brought the match up to the edge of the box, striking it against the serrated edge producing a small flame. The small, contained fire really wasn't much, and it certainly was not enough to start a full fledged fire, so Willie had to think of something else. As Willie shoved the hollow matchbox back into his man purse, the clinking of his little shot glass caught his attention. Willie could really use a drink right now, he'd even take a shot of hard liquor if he had to. Besides the fact the thought of alcohol was firing all the signals in his brain, it also gave him an idea. Alcohol was like, so flammable it could practically be considered gasoline.

Flammable.

Willie stayed down on the red carpet littered with crumbs and dust, deciding to crawl ever so slowly towards the club's bar. He knew exactly where the barkeeps kept all the strong alcohol, considering he'd pay the ghost employees in makeout sessions (the result of terrible ghost sex) if they would tell him where they kept all the good stuff. As Willie edged closer, he kept the lit match steady in his hand as he crawled using one palm. Why didn't he light the damn thing after he got over here, he thought.

Caleb, now belting a broadway song loudly, was still in his visible form on the stage. Willie shuffled through the glass bottles of bourbon and whiskey, digging to the very back of the bar's cupboard where the expensive vodkas were at. His arm outstretched into the depths of the cupboard retreated with a bottle of clear Absolut vodka, the glass cold against Willie's hand. Now all he had to do was be brave enough to light the place up, and get his friends out of that hellhole all at the same time. Willie held the vodka steady in one hand, using his teeth to pop its blue cap off, and held the match close to the liquid's meniscus. Willie didn't fully submerge the match, as it would put out the flame, but he held it just close enough so that the drink let out a little ripple.

Caleb's singing grew louder and more wild from the stage, erratically dancing around to cheesy choreography and shaky vocals. Maybe Caleb needed to cool it on all the singing for once, his voice was shot as hell. Willie kept holding the match to the drink, the smoke getting all up in his face as he waited for the vodka to set fire. He inched it closer little by little until he saw a small blue flame appear on top of the liquor.

"Hell yeah..." Willie whispered to himself, discarding the match onto the carpet, catching the red shag on fire. Willie got up from a crawl to a kneeled position, slowly scooching himself under the copious amounts of tables and chairs blocking him from the stage. The glass was starting to turn black as the bottle filled up with smoke, so Willie picked up his pace from a scooch to a shuffle towards the stage. When he was close enough to see Caleb and his intensely gelled hair from where he was hiding, in one heaving throw Willie launched the flaming bottle towards the stage like when he used to be a quarterback for his high school's football team.

"What the hell?" Caleb said, obviously startled by the sound of glass shattering against the platform. It didn't take long for him to realize what was going on as the fire started to spread from the bottle to the cheap acrylic stage, a perfect storm mixed with the red carpet to start an intense fire. Caleb backed up a little, grabbing Beth but leaving her stand on the stage to run down the stairs. In just a matter of moments, the whole stage was ablaze, and the fire was now spreading to the curtains and smoke was filling the room.

Willie got back into his previous crawling position, weaving throughout the labyrinth of chairs and tables towards the left side of the building. He could see the white door, recognizing it as that of which Caleb kicked him out of and his friends were still trapped behind.

"OW," Caleb screamed, tripping over a stray chair that wasn't neatly tucked under its table like the others, "My club! Who set my fucking club on fire!?" He yelled at none but himself, getting up after his embarrassing fall. The fire was now so big you could hear the crackle and whip of each flame, and the furniture surrounding it was now smoldering in cinders. Caleb looked back at the white door where Alex, Reggie and Julie were, narrowly missing Willie on all fours crawling towards the door. Caleb stopped for a moment, deciding if he truly had the empathy to go back for them.

Caleb made it towards the exit without looking back. Willie made it to the door, clipping through the walls to get to the room where the band was. When he approached, however, he realized the bunch were all in the same constraints he was in. The fucking unbreakable ones.

"Willie!" Alex yelled, pushing so forcefully against the ropes that held him back he almost tipped the chair over.

"What? Willie's here?" Julie asked, looking around the room cluelessly, "Please tell me we are getting out," She said, clasping her hands together in a prayer-like fashion.

"Ugh, I missed you so much," Willie exasperated out of breath, immediately walking towards Alex with arms wide open and eyes fluttering closed, "How do you manage to still look so hot even though you're kidnapped?" Willie asked, grabbing the sides of Alex's face and planting a kiss on Alex's lips so passionately, he could have forgotten there was a fire a couple doors down.

"Stop with the cootie fest, guys," Reggie said angrily, starting to strain against his restrictions again, "Willie, come untie this."

"I can't, Reggie," He explained, looking down disappointingly, "And this is really bad because the club is on fire. Julie will burn alive if we don't get her out soon," He said, looking behind him at Julie on the cold tile.

"What's going on?" Julie asked, completely and utterly confused.

Reggie frowned hard. "Willie set the club on fire and he can't get us out."

"Wait, what?" She said, sitting up, "You mean to tell me you set the damn place on fire with no way out?" Julie yelled, standing up to try and look Willie in the eyes, failing miserably because of the fact she had no idea where he was standing.

"Can you tell her to calm down–" Willie tried to ask Alex before being loudly interrupted by Julie with an angry message directed towards him, facing the completely wrong way.

"I'll rearrange your fucking face if I manage to make it out of here," She said, yanking her hoop earrings out of her earlobes, "What the hell was going through that hollow head of yours before you came here?" Julie yelled.

"He's just trying to help," Alex tried to explain, looking at Julie with tear filled eyes, "I promise he is, he could have done nothing at all and let us suffer here instead."
Julie crossed her arms, "That's exactly what he is doing. Maybe not to you two, but to me," She said, "and now I'm going to burn alive– and my dad will have to grieve both my mom and me," She said, her voice trembling as a stray tear slipped through her eye.

"Julie, please don't cry," Willie said, cusping a hand over his jaw to hide his uncontrollable frown, "I will find a way to get you out of this."

"She can't hear you, dude," Reggie said, hanging his head back over the hard metal chair he was tied to. Julie looked up at Reggie when he said that.

"Look, I don't have time to play translator with you, okay?" Willie said, hanging his head into his hands, "I need to focus on finding a way to get her out," He said, fumbling the spare key he had to the front door in his pocket. When he walked over to the door trapping the inside however, slipping the end of the metal into the lock, it wouldn't work. "Damn thing won't budge. This key only works for the main entrance," He said, throwing the key onto the tile so hard it bounced towards Alex's feet. The sound of the metal clinking against the ground wasn't loud enough to cover the screams of Caleb a couple rooms over, though.

Caleb shook the burgundy door, not being able to open it because of the fact that it was locked. Of course being a ghost, Caleb could clip through walls if he would just snap out of lifer-form, but he was so busy flipping through the keys on his metal ringlet, desperately trying to get the door open, he forgot. Caleb wasn't afraid of the fire hurting him, however, because he was already dead, but he was afraid of the fact the only thing he had left of his legacy was currently burning down. Maybe there was a hose around the back of the building, he thought Maybe he could tell someone to contact the fire department? Caleb would do anything but let his precious club burn down in flames, quite literally.

The fire grew closer and closer behind him, which made him slot the keys into the doors lock faster in response to realizing the fire was growing. He still had Beth, the microphone stuffed under his left armpit, squeezed to his torso as he dropped the set of keys due to moving too quickly.

"Shit..." He said, bending down to pick the keys back up, Beth slipping out from underneath his forearm to the carpet, "It's so smoky..." Caleb choked, getting down lower to try and find the keys amidst the growing amount of black smog around him. He didn't know exactly why the smoke was affecting him so much, he didn't even have a respiratory system after all, but he tried to ignore his own loud chokes as he searched for the keys. As he reached out a hand towards a dark blob he assumed was his key ring, Caleb felt faint. He swayed a little, his vision growing fuzzier, causing him to collapse on the carpet, face buried in the red shag caked with dust and crumbs.

If only he didn't forget.

Smoke started to slowly creep under the door in the blank white room, the thick, black vapor rising to the ceiling. Julie looked behind her, shuffling back towards Alex and Reggie panic-stricken, trying to avoid the sudden growth of smoke filling up the room. "Willie..." Julie said, continuing to slowly back up after her scare, "You need to figure out something now," She said, looking terrified.

Willie breathed in shakily, then took his fanny pack off over his head. He set it down on one of the folding tables in the room, unzipped it all the way, and rummaged through the stuff he had in his bag. He had some rainbow bracelets, rusty rings, black nail polish that looked to be all dried out, the match box and the shot glass; But at the very bottom of the bag was a single brown bobby pin.

"Yes…" Willie smiled as he hung his head back, plucking the bobby pin out from the bottom of the bag. He quickly went over to the door, unbothered by the smoke unlike Julie, and stuck the hair pin into the lock. He jiggled it around for a couple seconds, shoving the thing further and further into the keyhole. Behind him, Julie, Alex, and Reggie all watched him as he picked the lock, faces anxious as the smoke got heavier.

Julie coughed, the smog in her face, "Hurry up, Willie," She said with clenched teeth, her tongue seething against her gap.

Willie didn't respond to her calls, continuing to shake the bobby pin in the lock until it elicited a clicking noise, the door finally cracking open with the hinges whining. Willie turned around and lifted his arms up above his head in triumph, leaning down momentarily to swipe the key he had dropped previously.

"I'm gonna get Julie out, okay?" I'll come back for you two," Willie said, blowing Alex a kiss with an open palm.

Alex smiled back at him, kicking his feet delightedly. "Follow down that corridor Julie; Willie will open the back exit for you," Alex said.

"Be careful, will you?" Reggie said, cocking his head to the side.

Julie nodded as she wiped her face, then retreated out the door towards the back of the club, blindly following where she was told Willie was going. As she fanned smoke out of her face as she made her way out of the dusty hallway, she looked to her left to see the entrance towards the main area. Fire was everywhere, and the flames against Julie's skin were hot even though they weren't even touching her.

Caleb, silent and face down, was passed out due to smoke inhalation. Julie had no idea how Willie's little theory had managed to work out perfectly, but nonetheless she was glad it did work out. The flame continued to grow higher and higher, and Julie could see through the flames that Caleb's peplum jacket had caught fire. He was going to die.

Julie winced hard, standing still in the hallway as she realized she was in the presence of a dead dead-man. The only light illuminating the hallway was that of the exit sign fastened to the cheap tile ceilings, so Julie coughed the smoke out of her lungs as much as she could, turned towards the exit, and ran.

She was one of the lucky ones.