Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Willie felt it happen before he realized what it was.

Just seconds ago he’d been on his board, floating along like a dancer, feeling the flow and singing along to the tune blaring from the beat-up Walkman he couldn’t bring himself to abandon.

Now he found himself on the ground, the air sucked out of his lungs and the music he’d loved just seconds ago shredding his ears. An overwhelming sense of dread overcame him as he pushed himself up off the concrete and an image began to form in his mind.

No.

He stood, paced, shook his head and felt tears come to his eyes, not wanting to believe it.  He rubbed his eyes as though to force away the picture he was seeing, now more clearly than ever. 

Alex. Reggie. Luke. Julie, the girl he’d never met, but always heard good about. All there together, until they weren’t and Julie was collapsed on the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks like rivers. 

No, no, no, he’d helped them. He’d fixed it. This couldn’t be happening.

“Alex,” Willie pleaded, his voice breaking. He felt himself crumple to the ground, hands hitting cold concrete once again. “come on, man. You can’t be gone. Luke, Reg, Alex, please. You’re not gone, you can’t be gone. Please.”

For just one second he thought Alex would materialize in front of him just as he had before, as real as ever and as alive as he could be. 

For one wild second, Willie hoped.

……

It was hours before he was aware of anything happening around him again, hours before he felt a lifer pass through him and hours before he could heave a sigh and lean up against the nearest wall with his head in his hands. 

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Alex was supposed to be off in whatever afterlife he was actually meant to go to, doing whatever he felt like with Luke and Reggie! Not even thinking about any of this! But none of them were, and it was all because of him, him and the stupid Club.

The Club.

This wasn’t Willie’s fault, not by a long shot.

He thought back to the night before and how he’d returned to the Club late at night after the band’s show would surely be over, expecting all of Caleb’s wrath to rain down upon him. But it hadn’t. The show went on, the Club proceeded as usual, and Willie hadn’t been able to decipher any reason his small form of betrayal had slipped through the cracks.

Not that he’d wanted the wrath, of course. But at least it would’ve told him the plan worked, that Alex was safe. 

Realization and rage dawned on him simultaneously and before he realized he’d done it, Willie was standing backstage at the Hollywood Ghost Club, staring Caleb Covington in the face.

Caleb raised an eyebrow, perhaps a bit perplexed. “William. What are you doing here?” He gestured to the other person—ghost, lifer, Willie couldn’t tell—sitting across from him. “I’m in a meeting.”

Shaking, Willie opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. When he did manage to get a few words out, they were choked with emotion. “What did you do?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” 

“Alex,” he said. “And Luke. Reggie. You know.”

“Willie.” The nickname fell off his tongue smoothly, a charming smile pasted over it, easily hiding the malice Willie knew was there. “I truly don’t know what you think I’ve done, but would you allow me to finish—”

“No.” Willie cut him off, surprised at his own boldness.

Caleb stared for a long moment, waiting and watching for Willie to break. No such luck. Finally he relented with a sigh and turned back to his guest. “Perhaps we can continue this tomorrow?”

The guest nodded and left, looking wildly uncomfortable, and Caleb turned back to Willie. “Scaring our patrons off, William? Not good for business, now is it?”

“Tell me what you did.”

“Simply the stamp doing its job. Everything went to plan, didn’t it?” A threatening undercurrent entered his voice. “Or did something go differently?”

Again Willie opened his mouth to speak, but this time opted to keep it closed. It was a mistake. Caleb’s smile grew bigger and darker. “You didn’t think I didn’t know about your little excursion, did you?”

“I—“

“No, you thought you were untouchable. Didn’t you, William? You thought you were clean and clear. And you were wrong.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Willie burst out. “I know I disobeyed an order. But—“he paused, hesitating, but then pushed forward in a rush—“you had no right. You don’t get to do that to people when they don’t even know it’s happening. It’s not right and it’s not fair. To anybody.”

“I didn’t see you arguing when your fellow dancers were brought in.”

Caleb was right. Willie hadn’t argued, and now he felt a little sick at the thought. “It wasn’t fair then either. I just…I didn’t know it. But you don’t care anyway.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “And my…removal, shall we call it? Of Alex and his friends changed your mind?”

Willie began to shake harder than ever at the confirmation, and he plunked unceremoniously into the chair Caleb’s guest had occupied. Caleb watched, the smug look never leaving his face. “It was quick and painless, William. Simply fading away until nothing was left.”

Willie looked up furiously. “You’re a liar.”

A severe look crossed Caleb’s face. “Would you like to find out?”

A searing pain suddenly took over Willie’s arm, and when he looked down to see the stamp that had been there for near ten years glowing bright purple, he almost shrieked out loud.

“No,” he whispered. “No, you can’t do this!”

“Can’t I?”

“I won’t let you,” Willie got out through the pain rippling through his arm. His hands felt paralyzed, his fingers stiff as wood. Was this what they’d felt when it happened? Is this what they’d suffered through while Julie begged them to save themselves? He met Caleb’s eyes once more. “I don’t belong to you. You hurt them enough and I’m not gonna let you hurt me anymore.”

Suddenly the pain eased. At Caleb’s look of horror, Willie looked down at his arm again to find the stamp somehow floating above his wrist, dissipating into a purple mist that faded just as quickly as it had appeared.

When he looked up, the scenery that surrounded him wasn’t the Club, but a bustling street peppered with familiar landmarks - the Getty Art Museum that had the best paths for skating, the hot dog stand he’d steal pickles from on occasion, the Marilyn Monroe impersonator posing with passersby every building with its sign lit up to garner customers through the evening.

Was he…free? He rubbed the spot on his wrist where he should have felt the stamp, but found nothing. Did he dare say it?

He did. “I did it,” he said under his breath. “I’m free!” Then shouting, pure glee lacing every word as he threw his arms up: “Los Angeles, I’m free!”

With a happy sigh he sat down on the nearest bench and looked up at the sky. The stars weren’t particularly visible, but it’d been far too long since he could see any one of them - just one was enough.

He spent a long time on the bench, staring up at the sky and listening to the sounds of the city, re-realizing over and over that he was wonderfully, beautifully free. He would never have to see Caleb Covington’s face again, or have to walk on eggshells in the Club when the lifers were around. He wanted to scream it from the rooftops, to tell everyone he knew that his afterlife had changed forever.

Oh.

His good mood came tumbling down yet again as another realization hit him - he had nowhere to go. He didn’t know a soul outside of the club, and the ones he had known…well. Tears formed in his eyes again as the thought forced its way to the front of his brain: Alex was gone, and Willie couldn’t bring him back.

He finally let the tears flow, unable to keep them in any longer and not seeing a reason why he should. When he’d let go of all he could, he sat up and looked around once more, watching every passerby in the hopes of maybe seeing someone he could remember.

But as hard as he tried, he didn’t see anyone, not even an old HGC friend who probably wouldn’t want anything to do with him anymore. And with it being so late by then, it wasn’t likely anyone would let him stay. Even the lifers at the club were less than eager to let a ghost stay with them.

Wait. The lifers.

Julie.

From the first day Willie had met them, the guys had never stopped singing the praises of the girl who found them. Luke, he’d gathered, had practically worshipped her. If she’d been willing to take in three ghosts, what would one more be? He could at least try for the one night, right?

……

It took him a minute to estimate where Julie’s house might be. He only had the stories from Alex, who lived there when he was alive, Reggie, who liked to fill the silence between conversations with anecdotes, and his own iffy memory from “checking on” the group before the Orpheum show. But soon enough he arrived and his hand was hovering in front of Julie’s door and oh god he was having second thoughts. What if the guys had never mentioned him, if she didn’t know who he was? What if she hated him for how he led them to the Club and Caleb? Considering it was about 2 am, what if she just turned him away?

He took a step back and shook his hands around, loosening his fingers and wrists as though he was about to try and stitch them together. “C’mon, Ortega, you got this,” he told himself. Before he could stop himself again, he stepped forward and tapped 3 quick knocks in the center of the door.

Having done it, it didn’t seem so bad.

He didn’t expect anyone to answer, but just a minute later, the door opened to reveal a girl Willie knew had to be Julie. Her curly hair was tied back into a ponytail, and while he hadn’t remembered her wearing glasses, a dark blue pair sat at the bridge of her nose. She looked exhausted, and her eyes were red. “Hi, can I help you?”

“Hi,” Willie managed. He hadn’t exactly rehearsed what to say when (if, really) anyone answered the door, and wow, he was regretting it. He decided to start over. “Hi. Uh, I was a…a friend of—“

“Julie, who’s there?” a voice interrupted from the other side of the door. The person it belonged to, a tall man with kind eyes and somewhat greying hair, appeared in the doorway next to Julie a moment later.

“I don’t know, Dad,” Julie said. She stepped aside a little so the bewildered-looking man could join her. He frowned and peered outside, taking in the entirety of the porch and passing right over Willie in the process. Sigh.

“Honey, there’s nobody out here,” he said. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

Now it was Julie’s turn to frown. “But he’s right there, I…” Suddenly a look of understanding crossed her face. “Actually, never mind, Dad. Sorry to worry you. You can go lay down again.”

The man looked concerned, but did exactly that, and Julie turned back to Willie with both concern and a little hope in her eyes. “You’re a ghost.”

Willie nodded. “I-I was friends with Alex. And Luke and Reggie. I tried to…to help. At the end.”

Julie’s eyes grew wide, and when she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. “Willie?”

Willie nodded, and he could see Julie holding back tears. If he was honest, he wasn’t sure he could hold back his own, despite all the tears he’d shed that day. Julie stepped onto the porch in front of him and met his eyes carefully. “Thank you. For everything. They were really glad to have you.”

“They were glad to have you too,” Willie said. “And really lucky. I wanted to help more, way more than I got to.”

“You did. More than you know.” An awkward silence passed, and Julie glanced at the still-open front door. “So, uh, what did you come for?” A pause. “There’s no chance they came back, right?”

Willie shook his head. “I wish they had. But, um, I actually came because I…I need a place to stay. For now. Not forever, but maybe tonight?”

Julie hesitated. “Why here?”

“I know the guys stayed because of your music, but they really loved you,” Willie said. “They were always excited to talk about you or tell me about something they wanted to do with you. I guess it feels like it’ll be…safe here?”

Another silence. Julie’s face went through a range of emotions - sadness, confusion, a hint of happiness, and finally determination. “It will be,” she said with a nod. “It is. Follow me.”

Willie followed her down a set of stone steps until they arrived at a garage. The garage where he’d told Alex they were through, and later where he’d told him that there might be a way to be saved. His heart hurt at the thought as Julie swung the doors open and beckoned him in.

The space was still littered with the boys’ belongings. Luke’s orange beanie hung off the arm of a chair, Reggie’s flannel was thrown over the back of the couch, and Alex’s hoodie sat neatly folded on top of the piano, a spot of color against the black paint.

    Without thinking about it Willie crossed the room and picked the hoodie up, pressing his fingers into the soft fabric. Julie appeared next to him after a second and leaned on the piano. “He cared about you a lot, Willie. Since the day he met you.”

Willie nodded in acknowledgement, but didn’t dare try and speak again. They stood in silence for a few minutes, staring down at the hoodie, before Julie straightened up and turned. “I’ll let you be, I guess. I’m glad we got to meet.”

“You too,” Willie responded absently. He heard her leave and shut the doors quietly, but didn’t look up. Finally he went over to the couch and laid down, the hoodie still folded up in his arms, and closed his eyes.

Just because ghosts didn’t need to sleep didn’t mean he couldn’t still dream.

Chapter Text

It feels like it’ll be safe here.

Julie fell onto her bed and replayed the line in her head over and over. Willie had sounded almost desperate when he said it, not like the guys had when they first showed up in the studio, but like he was running from something.

Considering everything she’d been told about him, it was probably Caleb he was running from. She felt a pang of both guilt and anger at the thought of Caleb, who she’d never met but had caused her boys such pain, and who’d clearly done the same to Willie.

She sighed and closed her eyes. This was a morning problem.

When Julie woke up the next morning, the first thing she thought to do was text Flynn.

Her phone was in her hand and a message was half typed before she realized how ridiculous it sounded. This was the same problem she’d originally had with the guys: no one could possibly believe her.

Then again, though…Flynn knew the guys. She knew how much they’d helped Julie, and apparently how much she’d helped them. They’d believe her, right?

She retyped her message, hovered her finger over the SEND button, and took a deep breath before she pressed it. What would you say if I told you there was another ghost living in the studio?

The sudden realization of what was going on hit her all at once as the “delivered” check mark showed up below the message, and her phone slipped out of her hand onto the bed. This was happening again. What did she do to have an entire haunted house’s worth of ghosts arrive at her house and decide she was their favorite person?

As she climbed out of bed and thought about it more, she had to admit it was the most interesting thing that had ever happened to her. After all, who else could say they befriended the ghosts that haunted them?

……

Packed and ready for school, Julie bid her farewells to Ray and Carlos and went not to school, but to the garage. She could hear soft piano coming through the doors, and paused to listen before she opened them. It sounded like Wake Up, if perhaps a bit halting, and it made her heart smile to know she wasn’t the only one it had helped.

Willie looked up when she entered and immediately stopped playing, an embarrassed look coming onto his face. “Sorry, I didn’t really ask before I did that—“

Julie held up a hand to stop him. “Hey, I don’t mind at all. How was it in here last night? I know it gets kind of cold sometimes.”

“It was good,” Willie said, the embarrassment fading. “Great couch. I can see why Luke liked it so much.”

Julie laughed, remembering how Luke had practically broken the thing jumping onto it when he first got back to the studio. “It’s pretty nice. Uh, do you need anything? Food or something? The guys couldn’t eat, but I don’t really know enough about you yet.”

“Nah, I’m alright,” Willie said. “I’m not big on food anymore anyway, not after this many years as a ghost.”

“Fair enough.” Julie glanced around the room, feeling like she needed to say more, and finally motioned to the piano and the sheets Willie had spread out over the top. “You’re pretty good. On the piano.”

“I mean, I’m pretty new to it,” Willie said, a smile forming on his face seemingly against his will. “I was only just starting to learn on the piano at the Club before…” He stopped again and folded his hands in his lap, the smile slipping off. “A lot happened lately.”

Julie carefully crossed to the chair next to the piano and sat with her own hands folded in her lap. “What…what exactly happened? At the Club? I know it’s…it’s what took the guys. Luke. But I thought it was just them that were in real danger.”

Willie hesitated. “It’s a lot, Julie. Like, 10-years-worth a lot. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything.”

“Well,” Julie replied after a moment of silence, “maybe not everything that happened. But if it helps me understand what happened to the boys and you better, and you’re okay telling it, I think I want to hear it.”

With that confirmation, Willie nodded and began the story. He skipped around quite a bit, leaving out some things Julie figured were more personal, and slowed down when he arrived at the point where the boys came in. “They didn’t know what they were getting into,” he said. “And I didn’t either, really. They just wanted to get back at somebody and I thought Caleb would help. Not do…what he did. Obviously I was wrong about that.”

“You didn’t know,” Julie said.

“That’s the thing though,” Willie said, obvious distress in his voice. “I kind of did know. He’d spent years, both before and after he first found me, gathering other ghosts with powers. Like Alex and Luke and Reggie, but mostly with different powers. And I knew, but it never hit me how messed up it was until I saw them get jolted away when they refused. And it feels like it was my fault. I got away, and they didn’t.”

Tears began to form in his eyes, and Julie had never wanted to hug someone more. She reached out and put her hand next to his, hoping it would bring some comfort. She didn’t say anything, and neither did Willie until suddenly he looked up with a great sigh and wiped the tears off his face. “Well, that really brought the mood down, didn’t it?” he said with a lot more lightness in his voice than there’d been a minute ago.

Julie smiled. “Guess that’s what happens when we lose our emotional support ghosts.” She looked down at her phone, hoping maybe Flynn had responded, but no notifications popped up. Instead, she saw the time and her eyes widened. “Oh my god, I’m gonna be late! Uh, you’re good to leave if you want? Or stay here, either one. I’ll be back this afternoon.”

Willie gave her a thumbs up as she headed out, glancing one more time at her phone. God, her dad was going to kill her.

……

Funnily enough, it wasn’t her dad Julie had to fear. She hadn’t been on the Los Feliz High campus more than 30 seconds before Flynn was rushing across the lawn, waving their arms and screaming her name. “Julie! Molina! Get over here!”

“You couldn’t just respond to my text?”

Flynn gave her a look and grabbed her arm to pull her along. “This is not a texting situation. This calls for a real live in-person conversation and you know it! Now come on!”

Julie let herself be dragged into the building, past a number of weird looks from classmates and teachers, and toward the nearest empty classroom with an exasperated smile. Flynn wasn’t wrong, per se, but this might be overkill.

The pair arrived at Miss Harrison’s classroom and Flynn locked the door before turning to Julie, eyebrows practically in her hair. “Another ghost, Jules? Are you gonna become Julie’s Home for Wayward Ghosts or something?”

Julie gave a weak laugh. “I guess. It’s Willie. He was Alex’s…something? His friend? That I told you helped us get the Orpheum show. I think…I think he broke free from Caleb. The guy that took the guys away.” Taking them away didn’t feel right, but she didn’t want to say Caleb killed them. It felt too heavy, too strong, too final.

If Flynn’s eyebrows were hidden before, they were entirely gone now. “Alex’s friend? The guys didn’t figure out how to come back somehow, right?”

“If only,” Julie sighed. “But I think he just needed a place to stay. He sounded scared.”

Flynn frowned and plunked into a chair. “Wow.” 

“Yeah.” The bell rang to pull Julie out of the haze the conversation had brought her back into, and she stood to go. 

The morning was a whirlwind of classes, but she couldn’t pay attention to anything. Even her return to Miss Harrison’s classroom later that day only brought her mind back to her conversations with Flynn and Willie and to her feelings about the boys.

The whole ordeal had all happened after the show the night before, and she hadn’t even gotten the chance to process anything yet. She couldn’t even tell her family, who still thought the boys were holograms streaming in from Sweden. What was she thinking with that one? She covered her head with her hands and took a few deep breaths to calm herself and keep any tears at bay. 

It hadn’t even been the boys’ fault that this was how it went down. They’d just wanted to have a moment of life, to get the revenge they really did deserve after everything she now knew Trevor (Bobby, she amended mentally) had done, and if she was honest?

She couldn’t say she didn’t understand.

1.5 years ago

Julie stared out the car window during the drive to the hospital, watching people and buildings alike pass by and wishing to be anywhere else. Flynn and Carrie sat next to her, laughing at some video Flynn had playing. Julie laughed too when they showed it to her, but it was quiet, short-lived, and insincere.

She hated this.

Her friends had no idea how she felt, and they couldn’t. It wasn’t like she could explain it either; neither of them had the relationship with their moms that Julie did, not even Flynn, who went on once-a-month “dates” with hers to talk about life, and it hurt that she couldn’t explain how she felt. She just wanted Rose to be okay, for her and her dad to not have to do this three times a week.

A rush of cold air suddenly blew in and she found her car door open, her dad on the other side. “Time to go, Julie.”

Julie sighed and climbed out. Carrie and Flynn had gone noticeably quiet, but came up and took her hands, one on each side. “You got this, Jules,” Flynn told her, and Carrie nodded in agreement.

Her smile was a little less forced this time.

She wrote her name on the visitor slip the front desk issued to her and stuck it onto the front of her t-shirt, carefully keeping the dahlias embroidered on the pocket visible, and steeled herself.

Up in the elevator the group went, and as they passed rooms 431, 432, and 433, Julie felt more and more anxious. At 434, she paused and squeezed her friends’ hands. “Do you want to go in alone?” her dad asked.

Julie swallowed. “Can we go together?”

“Of course, honey.”

With that, they entered.

Rose was sitting up reading a book and looked up with a smile when the group came in. Her hair was tied back behind a bandana, her eyes tired. “Hi, guys,” she said softly.

The girls waved and Flynn and Carrie went to sit in the chairs lining the edge of the room, while Julie and her dad went to the edge of the bed to hug Rose. She seemed smaller than Julie remembered every visit, but she still laid her head on her chest and let her wrap her arms around her tightly. “How are you doing, baby? Did you pass your test?”

“Mhm,” Julie said. “Got a B. Tia helped me study.”

She felt her mother laugh, the vibrations moving her just a bit. “Bless my sister and her teaching instincts. I couldn’t manage if I tried.”

“Don’t put yourself down, my love,” Ray said. “You always were better with Carlos’s lessons. He still asks for you sometimes.”

“Where is Carlos? It’s been a few days.”

“He’s staying over at Monica’s tonight. A birthday party, I think. But—“Ray reached into the bag he’d brought with him to pull out a drawing—“he asked me to pass this along to you when we came today.”

Rose took the picture, detail and love apparent in every pencil stroke, and a tear came to her eye as she looked it over and placed it on the table next to her. “He’s going to go far, isn’t he?”

“And you’ll be there to see it,” Ray said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Rose smiled and laid her head back against the pillow while her eyes wandered around the room and finally landed on Carrie and Flynn. “How are you girls doing?”

Carrie looked up. “I’m good, Mrs. Molina. I’m doing a show with my group next Saturday if you think you guys can make it. I know my dad would be glad to see you.”

“Hey, me and Julie are gonna be part of that too!” Flynn added, elbowing Carrie. “And my mom asked about you, Rose. If you want to have her come visit she said she’ll be free Tuesday.”

“That sounds perfect, Flynn,” Rose said. “And another show, Carrie? You’ll be at the top in no time!”

Carrie practically preened, and Julie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She got like this every time her group came up - her group, she always said, because it was her dad and her songs that got them going. Julie and Flynn might as well not even be there as far as she was concerned, even though their official name was Triple Threat and all the rest of them were just as important as Carrie was.

Julie wasn’t even sure why she bothered anymore.

  The rest of the visit was more pleasant - the girls sang the song they’d be playing on Saturday, Ray showed them his most recent portrait series (starring a stray cat Carlos had found a few days before and named Venus), and Rose gave Julie a set of colorful beaded bracelets she’d crafted during her time there.

“Mamí, these are beautiful,” Julie breathed. “You made all of them?”

“Every one,” Rose said proudly. “All for you. Well, one for me.” She pulled one with her own name spaced between the beads from the pile and slid it on. “There, now they’re all for you.”

Julie put them on one by one, still marveling. They had every color bead and every type of thread among them, intricately made. She shook her head and slid one off of each wrist. “You guys want one? This is too many for me.”

Flynn’s eyes lit up and she picked the one with a pink-and-grey chevron pattern and white beads dangling from one end. “Jules, you’re the best!” they said. “Thank you too, Rose. It’s gorgeous.”

That left the purple and white braided one, which Carrie stared at with barely-concealed disdain. Rather than taking it, she pointed to a different one about halfway up Julie’s arm. “Any chance I could get that one instead? Better patterns, you know?”

Julie frowned and almost said a few words she shouldn’t. Instead, she looked straight at Carrie, extended the purple and white one again, and said: “This one or nothing, Carrie.”

Carrie’s jaw dropped just a tiny bit. Julie kept staring, and the room was loudly, painfully, uncomfortably silent until Rose extended a hand and spoke softly.

“Girls, let’s cut this off here, yeah? Carrie, Julie’s being very generous here. I’d be happy to make you a different one, but for now, is this one alright?”

Carrie finally broke the eye contact to look down at the bracelet again, snatch it out of Julie’s hand, and give a curt, wordless nod. That wasn’t so hard, now was it? Julie wanted to say.

A knock at the door broke the tension and Trevor poked his head in, pulling his sunglasses off as he entered. “Hello, hello? Pickup for one Carrie Wilson here?”

“Trevor!” Rose said, clearly glad for the interruption. “Yep, she’s right here. How’ve you been? It’s so good to see you!”

Julie heard the conversation pass over her head, but didn’t listen, only watched as Carrie left the room with Trevor and flopped over the bed as soon as they were gone. Her parents tried to talk to her, but she just rolled over and turned her phone on, determined to ignore the reprimands.

“Julie!”

A voice brought Julie back to reality and she looked up to find a person she didn’t recognize waving a hand in her face, looking horribly concerned. “Hon, are you alright?” he asked. “You’ve been staring into space for about 30 minutes. I was about to call the nurse for you.”

Julie blinked. More conscious now, she identified the person as the janitor, Mr. Wilkins. “Uh, yeah, yeah, I’m good. Sorry.” She rubbed her eyes and looked around at the empty classroom. “What time is it?”

“It’s getting close to 1:30,” Mr. Wilkins said. No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the sound of the bell split the air and Julie was on her feet, grabbing her bag and swearing to herself.

She stumbled into her final class with barely a minute to spare, and Flynn looked up with just as much concern as Mr. Wilkins had had before. “Where were you? I had to eat lunch on my own!”

“I’m sorry!” Julie plunked her books into her desk and turned to face her friend. “I was just thinking about a bunch of stuff. Willie and the boys made me think about us and Carrie. I didn’t mean to miss lunch.”

Flynn made a face. “Why would you choose to think about Carrie? We told her we were done years ago.”

As Julie opened her mouth to respond, the teacher clapped her hands and announced the start of class. But even as the class began talking about the history of textiles and machinery in America, Julie wasn’t listening.

What Flynn had just said made something click in Julie’s brain, and as she took out her pencil to feign attention, she had a feeling she’d hit something big.

Chapter Text

Despite wanting to go out and skate through the city like he did on a normal day, Willie had opted to stay in the garage and await Julie’s return. It meant he encountered a wild-haired young boy he had to assume was her brother and a cat that somehow, even after death, his allergies couldn’t evade, but he didn’t mind.

Besides, he reasoned, this wasn’t a normal day. He’d made it out from under Caleb’s thumb - he could go out any day and any time, and he would’ve danced with glee if he weren’t so tired of dancing.

He was contemplating this thought on the couch when Julie and another person - dark skin, long braids, and a blue dress - came in, talking over each other and motioning wildly with their hands. “He might not have stayed during the day, I told him he could leave, so—oh! Willie! Hi!” Julie seemed to suddenly realize that she and the other person weren’t alone in the room. “Uh, this is Flynn. Flynn, Willie. Even though you can’t see him.”

The other person—Flynn—waved, and Willie waved back. “Hi yourself,” he said.

“So, Willie, we had a question,” Julie said.

“Fire away,” Willie replied.

“You told me you got away from Caleb, right?”

Willie’s mood dropped immediately. He’d already had to relive the whole thing once; he didn’t want to have to do it again. But regardless, he nodded.

“What was it specifically that you said you did to get away from Caleb?” Julie said, choosing her words carefully, but quickly. “Like, the words you used?”

“It’s really important,” Flynn said, facing the wrong direction.

“Flynn!” Julie elbowed her friend with a sharp glare. “I think he knows that. And he’s over there, you dork.”

Willie frowned and let the conversation fade into the background as he forced himself to remember. You don’t own me. 

You hurt them enough and I’m not gonna let you hurt me anymore.

They were strong words for him, especially spoken to Caleb, but they’d been true. He’d seen enough, done enough, experienced enough because of him over the course of his afterlife and he was done.

 “I said he didn’t own me,” he said. The girls went quiet. “And that I was done with him. I didn’t want to keep being a part of…everything.”

“Those were the exact words?” Julie said. She looked solemn, but something was shining bright in her eyes. Willie nodded, and the solemnity disappeared. “Then that’s it! That’s how we do it!”

“…do what?” Flynn asked, bewildered. “What did he say?”

“He told Caleb he didn’t own him, and that he was done,” Julie said, then made a face. “Wow, that got dark fast. Remind me not to think about Caleb ever again. But the point is, that’s how we save them.”

Willie’s heart leapt at the words—was it the guys they were saving?—then dropped again. There was no way she could mean that. “What do you mean?”

Julie sat at the piano bench and opened her mouth to speak, then frowned and shook her head. “Hang on a sec. I’ll be right back.”

Willie watched as she disappeared into a large closet and returned wheeling a large whiteboard with various doodles, scribbles, and lyrics behind her. He figured the lyrics were mostly Luke and Julie’s, and the doodles Reggie’s. That left the scribbles and slightly sarcastic self-care reminders he hadn’t noticed before to Alex, and it made him smile.

For a bunch of dead dudes, Willie found himself thinking, there’d been a whole lot of life in this room before he came around. 

He suddenly felt all the guilt of before come rushing back—they’d still be here if not for him, maybe working on a song or something instead of a rescue mission—and he wrapped his arms around himself tightly. “Not now, man,” he mumbled.

Julie finished wheeling the board into place and handed him a marker. “You can move stuff, right? Can you write on there?”

Willie took the marker and tested it on the board. Yep 😃, he wrote. Flynn went from curious to excited and waved at the board as though it was what could see her, and Willie had to wave back before laying back down on the couch to listen to Julie.

With that settled, Julie sat again and turned to face both Willie and Flynn. “So, the guys told me and Willie confirmed before they got…jolted out, I guess, that Caleb’s stamp basically gives him you—if you have the stamp, he owns your soul. But you got free, Willie, because you said he didn’t own you. It’s like breaking a deal. The boys never got to say that,” she explained in a rush.

Willie felt his heart jump again at the mention of the guys, even if he knew it was probably far-fetched. If he had any hope, he would have to let it show. “So,” Julie continued, “if we were able to find out where they are now and get them to say basically the same thing, I think we could free them. And… right before the guys disappeared, Luke…” Julie trailed off mid-sentence and shook her head. Willie let it be.

He repositioned himself to be upright on the couch and laced his fingers together, brow furrowed, and thought it over. There was logic there, at least, but it didn’t sound like enough. “The jolts erased them though,” he said, standing up to write for Flynn. “That’s what Caleb always told us they did. Obviously it didn’t happen to me, but I…I had friends he did it to. And I haven’t even been able to find them ever since, let alone get to them.”

“I mean, it’s Caleb,” Flynn said. “How trustworthy can he really be?”

“Plus,” Julie added, “the first day the guys showed up, they said they were in a dark room. Caleb can’t have tested the stamps on himself, so maybe they’re just there again?” It sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself than anything, but rather than fight it, Willie decided to cling to the shred of hope Julie was presenting him with and run with it.

“You know what?” he said. “I’m down. How do we do it?”

Julie faltered a bit. “I was kinda hoping you’d have an answer to that. I only know what I’ve been told.”

Oh. 

Willie dropped back onto the couch and twisted a piece of his hair around his finger, going tighter and tighter until his fingertip began to go pale. He didn’t want to say no, to say that he didn’t know how to do that or even fathom how to begin. And now that he knew there might be even a shadow of a chance of anything going right, every emotion from the last few days was bubbling back up and threatening to overwhelm him again.

But what else was he supposed to tell her? Yeah, I can totally do it. Lemme just write it all down. No, of course not.

It was a good minute before he spoke again, slow and quiet. “Can you just give me a bit? I…I need to think.”

Julie nodded, immediately understanding. “Of course. Take your time.” She motioned to Flynn and within moments Willie was alone in the garage.

It felt like he’d exhausted his tears recently, and though he wanted to let the emotions take over, his eyes remained dry. Finally he sighed. Might as well do that skating now.

Weirdly, when he poofed in, his usual street didn’t seem as busy as it typically was, and as he sailed along the sidewalks of the city, the feelings fell to the back of his mind and he felt truly free for the first time in a while. 

8 years ago

When Willie had watched the sun rise that morning, he'd expected it to be like any other day in his afterlife. The orange of the sky had reflected on the ocean, the seagulls had screeched just as much as ever, and when he'd entered the streets, the tourists had been as prevalent as always.

He hadn't expected to find a new ghost while he was out skating, one he hadn't met yet. He wore a purple suit (Willie almost envied it, but the glitter wasn't his thing) and well-gelled hair, and his voice was smooth as silk. "Caleb Covington at your service," he’d said. The name sounded familiar, Willie thought, but he couldn’t place it. 

"Willie," Willie responded. The man frowned a bit at the nickname, and Willie hadn't thought much of it. After all, not everyone was a nickname person.

"I saw your skating yesterday," Caleb said, an eyebrow raised. "Very impressive work you were pulling off there. I've known a few skaters in my time, but none quite so skilled as you.”

Willie couldn’t keep the grin from forming on his face. “Thanks,” he said. “It’s been a while since I could pull that one off. Usually I have to get the cars to—“

He cut himself off, suddenly realizing what he’d just admitted to. But Caleb leaned forward, clearly interested, and Willie decided to continue with a wave of his hand toward a pair of police cars across the street. “…well, I have to get them to kind of move out of the way. Makes a great ramp if you do it right.”

He looked back up to see Caleb’s eyes practically bugging out of his head. “Electricity manipulation? Is that what you’re describing?”

“I guess?” Willie frowned and thought about it. “It doesn’t seem to work on everything. But I mostly use it to mess with the  lifers when they’re getting to be too much.”

Caleb furrowed his brow. “Lifers?” he asked. “As in the living?”

Willie felt his face heat up. It had been a while since he’d met a ghost that didn’t know the term he’d coined, even if all the rest rolled their eyes when they heard it. “Yeah, the living. I hang on this street a lot and kind of stalk the tourists. They’re kind of dicks to each other sometimes.”

Caleb’s eyes grew hard for a split second, and Willie was afraid he’d said something wrong. But the hardness disappeared before he could even react and was quickly replaced with a smile. “Well, William,” he said, putting a hand on Willie’s shoulder, “you’ve got a lot of talent. I’d like to invite you to be a guest at my club tonight if you’re interested. Maybe join us for a quick performance?”

Whoa. Now it was Willie’s turn to be surprised. “Uh, wow, totally! Yeah!”

“Wonderful!” Caleb said. “I’ll see you tonight at 8 then, yes? Head over to the old hotel on Central and ask the ghost outside for the Hollywood Ghost Club.”

“Wait, the Hollywood Ghost Club?” Willie practically shouted in shock. This was that Caleb Covington? The one other ghosts only spoke about in whispers and maybe with a little fear in their voices? “The Hollywood Ghost Club?”

“The very same!” Caleb called as he left Willie alone on the sidewalk. Willie sat abruptly onto a bench and gulped.

He was honored, of course—how many other ghosts could say they’d been invited to perform at the Hollywood Ghost Club?—but all the same, he had a feeling that this was not going to end well.

Now, sitting on the same bench he’d contemplated his future on once, Willie realized that he had been right, and he hated it. 

He looked up at the sky, which was beginning to turn orange with the sunset, and sighed. If only he hadn’t taken the offer that day.

Suddenly someone sat next to him on the bench, and he turned expecting to see a store mascot on a meal break, or maybe a tourist sitting down to enjoy the view.

His expectation was wrong. Instead he saw a person around the same age as he appeared, blond and soft-eyed, and they were looking right at him. “Willie?”

Willie gasped as recognition came over him. He’d known this person at the HGC—they were one of his fellow dancers, and one of his only confidantes, one of his only true friends before Alex. “Kaia? How did…how did you get here?”

Kaia looked around fearfully before they answered. “I’m out on orders. When you left, a bunch of people tried to do the same thing. So Caleb sent out the people who…didn’t to try and find them and bring them back. They still have the stamp so technically we can still detect them. I’m looking for Carol, but I had to stop when I saw you.”

His heart sank. “Oh, god, Kaia, I’m so sorry—“

Kaia put up a hand to stop him. “No, Wills, don’t apologize. You practically started a revolution. Caleb’s been pissed all day. Honestly, if you have anything I can do for you without hurting somebody, I’m down.”

“Thanks, K,” Willie replied with a faint smile and a bit more lightness in his heart. “I’ll let you know if—“

Willie went silent, and Kaia put their hand on his knee, concerned. “Willie? Are you okay?”

After a second, the faint smile on his face grew, and he looked up to meet Kaia’s eyes with a spark in his own. “Actually, I think I do have something you can do for me.”

Willie poofed into Julie’s garage and practically tossed his board aside as he ran up to the piano where Julie sat. 

“Well, you’re in better spirits,” Julie said, sounding amused.

“I figured out what we can do.”

Julie’s eyes grew wide and she reached for her phone. “I’ll get Flynn.”

Once Julie had gotten ahold of Flynn on FaceTime and Willie had pulled the whiteboard out from where Julie had re-stashed it, he began to explain.

With Kaia’s help, he told them, the three of them—Willie, Julie, and Flynn—could make a way into the Club posing as lifers and figure out how to access the dark room in order to find the boys. At least one of them would stay back to make sure they could make it back out safely, and once they’d successfully grabbed the boys, they’d get out undetected and never step foot in the Club again.

He thought it was perfect, but as he wrote the last few words of his plan on the whiteboard, Julie was frowning. “I don’t know, Willie,” she said. “It sounds dangerous.”

“I don’t disagree,” Willie said and wrote, “but it’s the best we’ve got right now. We can take a few days to figure it out more, but I think the sooner we do it, the better.”

“I think he’s right, Jules,” Flynn chimed in from Julie’s phone. “We don’t know what Caleb’s going to do with them if we’re right about the dark room and he can still get to them. If we get to them first, at least they’ll be less hurt.”

The frown didn’t leave Julie’s face, but she conceded. “Okay. But not today, okay? Let’s figure it out first.”

With that settled, Willie returned to the street to find Kaia again. They were sitting in an alley, anxiously watching for whichever happened first: Willie’s return or Carol’s passing by. Willie came first, and Kaia stood up quickly. “How’d it go?”

“Julie’s not super excited, but they both said they’ll do it.” He paused, unsure. “Are you sure you won’t get hurt helping us with this?”

Some of the anxiety faded from Kaia’s face. “Anything to help a friend.”

Chapter Text

Julie sat at the piano and stared down at the keys as if she’d never seen them before. The sheets spread on the top of it, ones she’d started working on for Luke just a few hours before their final night, might as well be written in Chinese for all she could understand them just then. She sighed and looked up at the chairs dangling from the ceiling, swaying back and forth just a tiny bit.

The plan was made. She’d collected an outfit, which Willie told her would probably need to be semi-formal, and told her dad about…something. Definitely not what she and Flynn would actually be doing when they put the plan into action, which she felt like she might regret. But then, if it brought her boys back, it would be worth it, right? She finally moved from the piano to the couch, giving up on music for the time being. 

She’d expected not to have them anymore after the Orpheum show. They were supposed to cross over. So why did it hurt so much now?

She felt a weight appear on the couch next to her as Willie poofed in and jumped away as he noticed her. “Julie! Hi! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were out here. I’ll go if—”

“It’s okay,” Julie said quickly. “I’m kinda glad you’re here, actually. Flynn’s busy, and it’s not like my family understands all the ghost stuff, so…”

“Gotcha,” Willie said quietly. He sat back down and folded his hands in his lap. “Music troubles?”

Julie laughed wanly. “When aren’t I having music troubles, honestly? First I lose Mom and can’t sing for a year, then as soon as I get that love back, there goes my band. My inspiration. Everything.” Her voice began to choke up, and she looked over to Willie with desperation in her eyes. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do if this doesn’t work, Willie.”

Willie sat in silence for a moment before he responded, his words forming slowly and carefully. “You know, all the time I was at the Club, I was alone. There were other ghosts, obviously, and Caleb, but no one cared to get to know me or to see how I was doing other than Kaia. And they didn’t even get to do it often. I spent 8 or 10 years there under Caleb’s thumb, not even getting to do the thing I loved when I wanted to do it, and for some reason I barely even thought about it. Maybe something to do with the stamp.” He paused and swallowed as his eyes grew shiny with tears. “When Alex came around that changed. I was questioning everything within a couple of days. He let me know that Caleb was wrong, that I was worth something, that I should be able to live how I want. His little bit of love gave me so much. And I know it did the same for you.

“I hate that we lost them, Julie, but they came to us for a reason. We needed that little push to get out of the holes we were stuck in, and now we’re out and we can’t fall back in. We can’t. We’re gonna put everything into this plan, all the love they gave us, and we’re gonna get them back, yeah? And if it doesn’t work we’ve got to hold that love again and move forward. For them.”

Willie finished his speech with a firm nod and brushed off the tears that had begun to fall down his cheeks once again. Julie laughed, a real one this time, as she wiped away her own. “Did Flynn tell you to say all that? Because that’s exactly what she told me when I found out about the stamp.”

“Nah, that’s all me,” Willie said, a bashful grin coming over his face. “Did it work?”

“I think it did,” Julie said. It really had helped, she realized. She’d needed the perspective. “Thank you, Willie. I know I already said this, but Alex was so lucky to have you.”

“Good,” Willie said, now stumbling over his words, “because I’ve been thinking about it for days now. I got hit with this giant wave of emotions when I first came to you and I really couldn’t deal so I kind of wrote that whole big speech in my head for myself and oh no I’m rambling now, aren’t I?”

Julie laughed softly. “It’s not a bad thing that you are. Kind of reminds me of Reggie.”

“Please, nobody can ramble like Reggie better than the man himself. I could never even come close.” Willie stood up and stretched, one arm over the other. “So, uh, anything else I can do for you? Pep talk 2.0, ride on the board? Actually, I’m not sure I can do that one...”

Julie pulled out a notebook and went over to the piano, where she looked down at the keys with a new vigor. “Any chance you can remember everything you said in that speech?”

With Willie’s help, Julie scrapped her original song and started anew. Where her first song was sad, her new song was hopeful. Where the original had worries and doubts in every line, the new verses were optimistic and full of heart. As she scribbled down the last notes and touched up the final lyrics, Julie Molina and Willie Ortega’s Hold That Love was born.

And Julie knew no matter what happened, she’d move forward with grace, power, and all the faith she could muster.

“Sooo, Jules,” Flynn said, pulling on the jacket of the suit she’d brought, “what happened to ‘let’s figure it out first’?”

Julie, dressed in a gauzy blue dress that reached just past her knees, smiled faintly. “I had a friend help me along.”

Willie laughed and drew a giant smiley face on the whiteboard for Flynn’s benefit as they finished buttoning the suit jacket.

“Well, I’m glad about the change of heart,” she said, crossing to the whiteboard to draw a smaller smiley face in the middle of Willie’s. “I can’t wait to hear your song when you play it with the guys. And see the look on Caleb’s face when we tear him down.”

Willie, who’d been slowly adding more detail to the smiley face, faltered and frowned. He switched to an empty part of the board and began to write as he spoke. “I don’t know if we’re going to tear him down,” he said slowly. “We might not even be able to do what we’re going for.”

“Hey, hey, no talking down now!” Flynn said with a clap of their hands. “We’re gonna go and rescue our boys and then we’re going to celebrate never having to see Caleb Covington or think about a dark scary room ever again. Alright?”

Willie took a deep breath. “You’re right. Just needed to hear it one more time, I think.”

“Well, I can’t blame you there,” Julie said. “We all ready now?”

“As ready as we can be,” Willie said, a hesitant smile forming. “Let’s go tear down an empire, yeah?”

Julie and Flynn cheered, and with that they were off.

Julie looked around at Sunset Boulevard as she, Flynn, and Willie made the trek to the Club to meet Kaia. It was a street she’d walked down plenty of times—her heart ached when they passed the Orpheum, its marquee lit bright to advertise the evening’s show—but she’d never paid attention to the smaller details of it or even her fellow passersby.

There were people just like her walking down the street right then, hopes and dreams all tied up in something that nowhere else could provide for them. Sonder, Julie remembered. The feeling that each person passing by has a life just as vivid and complex as one’s own. It would make a great song concept, one she would have to pitch it to Luke later when they had the time to write again.

And we will, she told herself silently. We have to. 

“Turn here,” Willie said, pulling her out of her thoughts. The trio had arrived at a large, run-down looking brick building Julie had never seen before, and she frowned as she looked up at it.”

“This is it?”

Willie still looked as anxious as was reasonable under the circumstances, but as he turned to face Julie, a sparkle came to his eye and he grinned. “Nope. This is the cover the Club’s been using for decades to keep out any lifers that get close enough. Usually that would be you and Flynn, but today, we’ve got help. This is Kaia.”

A blond, slight figure emerged from the shadows and waved, the nerves and sparkle in their eyes the same as Willie’s. “You must be Julie and Flynn.”

Julie waved back, and Flynn frowned. “What’s happening?” she whispered.

“Willie’s friend is here,” Julie whispered back. “Sorry, I forgot you couldn’t see what we’re doing.”

“That problem will actually be solved in just a minute,” Willie said, seeming lighter by the second. “Once we’re inside, the barrier between lifer and ghost gets much weaker under Caleb’s magic. It’s a blessing and a curse, really, but Flynn will be able to see and hear everything that us ghosts say while we’re here.”

“Perfect,” Julie said slowly, feeling much worse at the mere mention of Caleb. It felt like all Willie’s heaviness had transferred to her without warning. She shuddered and turned to Kaia. “So how are we doing this then?”

Kaia handed Julie a notepad with a bullet pointed list on it. “This is for Flynn. It’s easier to explain when I’m not talking at the same time, you know?” Julie gave a thumbs up, Flynn began reading through the list, and Kaia pushed forward. 

“This is going to feel very weird,” they began, “but you’re going to need to trust me, grab each other’s hands, and close your eyes when I say so that I can get you both inside. We’ll be in the back of the Club near the dressing rooms—this is the time of evening when rehearsal should be finishing up, but the rooms are empty. That should give us a few minutes. Then I and the two of you will make our way to the ballroom, where you’ll pose as guests until Willie gives you the signal that they’ve found what you’re looking for. Everything understood?”

Julie nodded. “Got it.”

“Seems simple enough,” Flynn said hesitantly. “We’re sure this’ll work?”

“It’s as foolproof as we could get it on short notice,” Kaia admitted. “I can’t make any guarantees. But I think we’ll be okay.”

“I was hoping we’d be able to come up with something better, but it feels like time is running out,” Willie added. “So, uh, fingers crossed?”

Julie gulped. It didn’t sound promising. But if it would help her get the boys back, she was pretty sure she would do anything. So with a deep breath, she and Flynn took each other’s hands.

Hold that love.

They closed their eyes.

Move forward.

Julie felt someone’s hand on her shoulder (Willie’s? Kaia’s? A ghost she hadn’t met?), and a rush of air surrounded her.

For them.

The air stilled, and she opened her eyes to find herself and Flynn in a brown wood hallway, doors lining both sides and each with a different colored nameplate. Julie stepped closer and read the nearest one, a messily scribbled one on a simple piece of cardboard: Phantoms. Her heart dropped into her stomach as her suspicion was confirmed—time was running out.

Flynn, oblivious, spun in every direction, eyes wide and taking in every bit of her new surroundings. “What just happened?” Their eyes grew even wider as they realized who was now standing in front of them, clear as day. “Oh my god, Willie, I can see you now!”

Willie laughed softly. “Nice, isn’t it? Kaia too?”

Flynn did a weird cross between nodding and shaking her head, barely processing a single thing she was seeing. “Jules, you could see both of them all this time and weren’t in total awe? You—“she cut herself off mid-sentence, noticing Julie’s look of mounting fear. “Jules?”

It wasn’t long before long their face shared the same expression of worry, and Willie and Kaia joined them in looking solemnly at the pitiful nameplate that represented everything they feared could happen.

“I don’t think we have a lot of time left, guys,” Julie whispered.

“Me neither,” Willie said with a nervous sigh. “Let’s get going. Remember the signal?” Julie and Flynn nodded. “Best of luck out there. And don’t hesitate to run if you have to, okay? I know we’re here for them, but we can’t help if we’re down too.”

“You too, Willie,” Julie said, meeting his eyes and reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. It didn’t occur to her that it had actually worked until Kaia was herding them away and Willie was heading toward his own mission, seemingly none the wiser.

She let the thought go for the moment as they entered the ballroom, a huge, high-ceilinged room with silver walls and tables spread throughout the room. Gathered behind a divider was a group of elegantly dressed people that Kaia moved them into the middle of, while onstage was a group of women wearing flapper outfits and a man in purple that Julie knew had to be Caleb.

She felt a burst of white-hot rage at the sight of him. The smile on his face made her more mad than she realized she could be, and she clasped Flynn’s hand tightly, hoping for a bit of grounding. Flynn squeezed her hand back. “You good, Jules?”

Julie nodded. She wasn’t telling the truth, but she wasn’t entirely lying either.

The group onstage disappeared behind the curtains, and a burly ghost in a suit began to file guests into the ballroom. Julie and Flynn drew closer and closer to the front of the line until finally they were being stared down skeptically. “Never seen you two in here before,” he said. “And ya look a little young to be here. How’d you get here anyway?”

Julie froze. They hadn’t prepared for that question. But Flynn just smiled, leaning forward just a tiny bit to peek down at the list in the ghost’s hand. “I’m Giselle, sir. This is Rose. We’re guests of Natalie O’Dell?”

The ghost looked down at his list, then squinted back at Julie and Flynn. He stared long enough to make Julie uncomfortable, glancing back and forth between her and Flynn, before finally stepping to the side and pulling the divider open. “Fine. Have a nice night, ladies.”

“Actually, I’m not entirely a lady, but—“Julie pulled a disgruntled Flynn forward abruptly and stepped through the divider as she nodded to the ghost. 

“Hey!” Flynn protested. “What was that for? I won’t stand for misgendering even if it’s a ghost!”

“And I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself,” Julie had to concede with a smile, “I’m sorry for stopping you. We just don’t have a lot of time.”

Flynn patted Julie’s hand and plunked down at the nearest table, one draped with a silver cloth that matched the walls. “I know, I know. There’s not much we can really do right now, though, is there?”

Julie sat next to her friend and frowned as she smoothed her dress. “I guess you’re right. But I’m gonna figure something out. I have to.”

Flynn gave her a look. “Don’t risk your life for ghosts, Jules. I love them as much as you do, but I’m not losing my best friend over guys I can’t even see.”

Julie stared off at the stage again and felt her anger boil up again. The dressing room nameplate flashed in her mind again, and she shook her head. “No guarantees.”

Chapter Text

Willie hated how much lighter he’d begun to feel the second he stepped foot on Club premises.

He hated that he still felt like this place was home.

And most of all, he hated that with every step he took into the depths of the Club, he grew a little less sure of his mission.

Alex, he reminded himself. The spot on his wrist where the stamp used to be tingled. You’re here for Alex.

It spurred him on a bit, but not much. He passed the room that used to have his nameplate nailed to the door and paused. One nail was still stuck in the door; it looked like the plate had been ripped off hastily. Had Caleb done it after he left? Had he sent someone else to do it after the other ghosts revolted? He couldn’t imagine Caleb would let him could disappear that easily. He might’ve left, but if the Club itself was having this effect on him…the magic wasn’t letting him go quickly. You’re here for Alex, he told himself again.

Kaia appeared next to him. “They’re in. They gave fake names to hide any kind of connection to the ghosts. Everything should be fine.”

“Good.” Willie looked back at the long maze of hallways he’d already passed through and shook his head. The place really did steal time, no matter how hard he tried to get around it. “You wanna split up? You check this side, I’ll check the other?”

Kaia nodded, then paused. “What am I looking for exactly?”

Willie frowned. “Well, the place they’re in is a dark room. But that’s not…”

“Not what?” Kaia pressed. 

“Not a room here,” Willie said after a moment, eyes growing wider by the second. “But it is a room here, isn’t it? That’s how he does it.” The time warp, the stamp, everything suddenly fell together like pieces of a puzzle.

Kaia’s eyebrows went up. “He trapped them here?”

“Them and everyone else he’s jolted away,” Willie said. “Alex said it felt like he and the guys were only trapped in the room for an hour or two, but when they came back, they’d been gone for 25 years. How long has Caleb been doing this stuff with the jolts?”

Kaia nodded again, the theory making more and more sense. “All the ghosts he jolted away to scare us into behaving, everyone he got mad at, they’ve all been right here in the Club with us the whole time.”

“Exactly. So that means if we’re looking for the room, it’s somewhere none of us go. Any ideas?”

Both ghosts went silent. Willie thought he knew the whole place inside and out after all his time there, but if even Kaia didn’t know, maybe Caleb had done a better job of hiding it than he thought. 

The chatter of other ghosts and thumping of footsteps slowly began to grow louder, and Willie checked over his shoulder and felt his heart beat a little faster. He couldn’t get caught here, not now. “What about the office?” Kaia finally suggested.

Willie thought. It was risky. The ghosts were growing closer by the second. “I think—“

He suddenly found himself with Kaia’s hand on his shoulder, somewhere else entirely. Caleb’s office, he realized as he got his bearings. The two of them were crouched behind the desk, and Kaia was glancing around carefully. “What are we doing here?” he asked.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Kaia said. “But when he brought me in here to send me out on the search missions I saw a door. I’m willing to bet money that’s it.”

“Okay,” Willie agreed. “Where?”

Kaia pointed to a shelf on the other side of the room. “There.”

They scrambled out from behind the desk and toward the shelf. It was heavy, and the pair nearly dropped it on themselves as they struggled to get it toward the center of the room with all its objects intact.

Finally, finally they managed, just as the chattering of ghosts outside reached the office door and Kaia yanked the door open. “Quick, quick, go!”

Kaia jumped into the room as keys began jingling outside. Willie was close behind, one foot in the door and a hand on the knob to pull it shut behind him when the office door swung open and he froze.

“Wills, what are you doing?” Kaia whispered desperately. Willie gave them a pleading look and shook his head. I’m sorry. 

Kaia barely had a second to process before the door was being slammed in their face not by Willie, but by the dark robed figure of Caleb Covington. Willie felt his hands start shaking involuntarily as he turned to face the ghost he’d hoped he would never see again.

“Well, well,” Caleb said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Look who we have here.”

Willie said nothing. He couldn’t even bring himself to meet Caleb’s eyes. Every ounce of bravado he’d had when he broke free had disappeared. Please, he wanted to say. This wasn’t supposed to happen, this was supposed to be easy, this was supposed to be in and out. Please, just let me go. 

“After all this,” Caleb said, stepping closer, “after everything you said, you’ve returned.”

“I didn’t come back for you,” Willie said quietly, haltingly.

Another step forward. “Oh? But yet here you stand. In my office. And you’re not alone?” One more step, and Caleb was practically nose to nose with Willie. “Have you been planning, William, in your absence? Conspiring against me?”

Why had he ever felt relieved to be back in this place? “Why would I do that?”

Caleb laughed ruefully and shook his head. “Willie, Willie, Willie. I’m not as dumb as you seem to think I am. And evidently neither are you. Roping others in, getting them into the Club, that was smart.” Caleb crossed to the desk and casually picked up a sheet of paper, looking over the notes with a furrowed brow. “But you couldn’t quite keep your ship steady enough to sail away, and soon, William, it will crash.”

A horrible feeling suddenly came over Willie. “What?”

“You know, if you’d been just a bit more careful, you could’ve pulled it off. But if ten years didn’t teach you what happens when you cross lines…”

He didn’t need to go on. Willie did know. Just then, though, he couldn’t be his own first priority anymore; he had to get Julie and Flynn out immediately. As much as he hated to say it, Kaia would have to find their own way out. He glanced toward the office door, then back at Caleb. Could he make it?

He could not. Even if he’d tried to dart out right then, Caleb was already stepping toward him again and grabbing his arm tightly. “No more escapes for you, William. I think you know what happens after this, yes?” Willie’s heart sped up, and he looked down in horror as he felt the spot on his wrist where the stamp had been begin to burn. “No,” he whispered. “No, no, no—“

“Ah, ah, be quiet now,” Caleb said, tightening his grip. Willie couldn’t take his eyes off his arm as the purple mark reformed, searing his skin and creating a red ring around the circle of the stamp. “It’ll be done soon enough. But first, we’re going to put on a little show.”

Chapter Text

It had been an hour since Flynn and Julie arrived at the Club. The room was slowly filling up with ghosts and lifers alike, and Flynn couldn’t sit still.

“Jules, wasn’t this supposed to be fast?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” Julie said, foot tapping at a worrying rate. “He said he’d give a signal, right? When he found them? And so did Kaia.” She glanced around the room before leaning back in her chair, arms folded. “Where are they?”

Flynn shook her head and was about to speak when the lights in the room shut off abruptly and everything went silent. Julie sat straight up, eyes trained on the stage, and Flynn’s heart sank. If Julie had a plan here, there would be no stopping her.

But hey, if Flynn could spend 2 years wearing her down on the Double Trouble brand, she certainly had the power to keep her from doing…whatever she had planned then.

A spotlight appeared on the stage and a figure stepped forward, their face obscured. “Ladies, gentlemen, others, everyone in this room tonight. Welcome to the Hollywood Ghost Club, and thank you for your patience. Please welcome to the stage our own Caleb Covington.”

“Friends! Thank you all for coming!” the man said. Flynn felt Julie stiffen next to her, and she extended a hand to her friend. “As some of you know, we’ve been having some trouble with our performers in the last couple of days, so we had to take a little time to get that situation squared away.

“But!” The man raised his arms, and the lights on the stage came on all at once, illuminating a long line of performers behind him. Each one was mirroring his position. “Now it’s time for a show!”

Flynn felt a bump on her shoulder and turned to see Julie on the edge of her seat and pointing at one of the dancers, eyes wide as saucers. “Flynn, that’s Willie.”

What? Flynn followed Julie’s finger to the stage and to a dancer right in the middle of the line. The smile on their face was strained, their movements forced. “Oh, shit,” she whispered. “Caleb caught them?”

“He must’ve,” Julie said. Her voice was shaking - with tears or anger, Flynn couldn’t tell. “That must be why he couldn’t signal to us.” Her expression, so impassioned before, grew fearful as she met Flynn’s eyes. “And if he caught Willie, then…that means we can’t be much further behind.”

Flynn felt her own heart speed up, and she glanced frantically back and forth between Willie and Julie. “You’re right. We have to figure out a way to get all of us out, and fast.”

“No, you have to find a way to get you out,” Julie said slowly, grabbing Flynn’s hand. “I have to go help them.”

“What?” Flynn exclaimed. “Julie, we’re in this together, I’m not just going to leave you—“

“Flynn, it’s my fault we’re here at all,” Julie pressed, voice shaking. “I can’t let you get caught because I dragged you into this. Please, you have to go.”

“Jules—“

“Go.” Julie pushed her hand away, and Flynn could see tears forming in her friend’s eyes, begging her to save herself. Finally she nodded and turned to leave, mind made up.

“You better make it out.”

Flynn had told Julie she was leaving. She’d left the room the same way the two of them had entered, gotten a look from the same ghost as before, even looked at the same nameplate with the boys’ names on it.

But that was where the similarities ended.

As soon as Flynn reached the first turn in the maze of dressing rooms, she stopped. “What am I doing?” she said aloud, not even thinking about it. I can’t just leave her. Or even Willie and Kaia.

There was no way she was stopping there.

She turned and looked at the sheet of cardboard with the boys’ names on it again, brow furrowed. Guess this is where I start.

The room was mostly empty, which Flynn found wholly unsurprising with all she knew about how the boys had been brought back to the Club. The table had a few pages of sheet music on it—surprisingly complex ones, she noticed as she glanced over them—and a set of drumsticks tied together with a purple ribbon, while the walls bore nothing except a large calendar and a clock that seemed to move faster than any other clock Flynn had seen. The Phantoms had clearly never stepped foot in the room.

She frowned and left, moving onto the next room, one with no nameplate at all. It was more of the same: a table with sheet music, a calendar and clock, and an instrument. The next room was the same, and so was the next, and the next. Where does it end?

Finally she arrived at one with a nameplate and paused with her hand on the knob. What if someone was in there? What if they yelled for help and got her caught? What if that tipped Caleb off to Julie being there? What if—

“No!” she said aloud, surprising even herself with the sudden exclamation. “You’re gonna go and you’re gonna help your friends. And you’re gonna make it out. Now go.”

With that, she turned the knob and stepped forward.

The room was empty, and she let out a breath as she looked around. This room was definitely lived in, the walls covered with posters and glittery costumes draped over every surface. Flynn practically seethed as her eyes landed on a pink diary with large, messy handwriting on each page. This was a kid, she realized as she flipped through it. A kid who couldn’t be more than ten years old. And Caleb had her practically imprisoned here? Who the hell did he think he was?

She put the diary down and took a deep breath to calm herself before moving on. But as she turned to leave, she was met with the bright, dangerous eyes of the ghost who’d let her and Julie in and froze. “What are you doing in here?” he asked simply.

Flynn couldn’t respond. She just shook her head, unable to take her eyes off his. “I—“

“I know you’re not a ghost, and neither is your friend. And now you’re in a room you shouldn’t be able to access, and you’re all alone.”

“How do you know I’m alive? Who’s to say this isn’t my room?”

“Think I don’t know who we have here?”

Ugh. Scratch that. “Okay. Supposing I am alive, what reason do I have to be here?”

“Considering I already asked you, I’d say neither of us knows.” The ghost leaned against the doorframe, looser now, but didn’t take his eyes off Flynn. “So what’s to stop me from kicking you out right now?”

“I…” Flynn paused. “Nothing. There’s nothing stopping you. But…I need you to let me stay. Please.” Off the ghost’s skeptical look, she pressed on. “You know who lives in this room, right? She’s just a kid. She doesn’t deserve to be stuck here for eternity, and you know it, and that’s why you haven’t kicked me out yet. You know what Caleb’s doing is wrong. So please, please let me save my friends. And I promise I’ll try and help the rest of you too.”

The ghost’s eyes had gone from cold to concerned to afraid over the course of Flynn’s speech, and as she finished, they had a sense of finality. He stared at her for a second longer, then nodded. “Follow me.”

Phew. Flynn breathed a sigh of relief and let herself relax. She’d made it! He was helping her! Only a little more work to find the boys, right? Then she could find Julie, figure out how to get Willie and Kaia back, and get out of this place forever.

She followed the ghost up the hallway, away from the rooms she’d already looked in and back toward the ballroom she’d originally been in. The chatter of ghosts from the nearby backstage area grew steadily louder, and she felt her heart speed up just a bit as they got closer. “What are we doing then?” she whispered.

“Just follow,” the ghost said, his voice a little sharper.  “We’re almost there.”

“Fine, sheesh,” Flynn replied under her breath. “Touchy.”

Finally the pair arrived at a door, ducking behind the wall just as a large group of ghosts passed by. Flynn held her breath and shut her eyes, practically praying, willing her heartbeat to slow down until she was sure they were gone before finally daring to look up at the door.

CALEB COVINGTON, the nameplate read. What?

“This is his office?” she nearly screeched at the ghost. “Are you crazy? Do you want me to get caught?”

The ghost said nothing, just pushed the door open easily and strolled in, and despite every instinct telling her not to, Flynn followed him in. “I am so gonna regret this, aren’t I?”

The ghost crossed to a bookshelf on the other side of the room and pulled it out to reveal a door. “You wanted to help your friends,” he said. “Good chance they’re in here.”

Flynn frowned and went over to examine the door. “In a closet in the office? Sure, dude. Where are they really?”

“What’d I say? They’re in here. Open the door, you’ll probably find ‘em right there.”

Okay. Flynn took a step back. “You know what? I was willing to come this far. You seemed reasonable before. But I don’t trust a word of this. Either you open it and let them out, or tell me where they really are, or I…I…”

“Or you what?” the ghost said, sounding slightly amused. Flynn took another step back, heart speeding up again and eyes locked on his. “You gonna find Caleb and tell him I’m a snitch? That won’t work great for you, you know. So either you open it for yourself…or you’re on your own.”

Flynn gulped, finally able to take her eyes off the ghost’s, and forced herself to step toward the door. You got this, Anderson, she thought. If they’re in here, you’re home free.

She put her hand out, twisted the knob, and had barely cracked the door open when she felt a pressure on her shoulder, pushing her toward the darkness behind the door and knocking her off her feet. “Hey, stop it! Stop!”

Before Flynn could reach back to push the ghost off, she felt the ground disappear form beneath her feet as darkness enveloped her. She screamed as she fell, but there didn’t seem to be an end to the darkness or a ground for her to land on. All there was was endless nothingness, deafening silence, and the scream she couldn’t keep inside.

Chapter Text

It felt like the show had gone on forever, and Julie was itching to get up and help Willie, to find the Phantoms, to help Kaia. But how could she when Caleb was right there in front of her, keeping a tight grip on Willie’s freedom and a close eye on his audience?

“I know it feels like it’s been forever, ladies and gents,” Caleb announced, as though he could read her thoughts, “but I promise we’re nearly finished. We’ve got just one more little number for you before we take our leave for the night, and this is a special one.”

Julie suppressed a groan and leaned back in her seat as the band started the next song. But it wasn’t long before her attention was pulled back by Caleb’s voice and a snappy beat. She hated to admit that this did sound like a special one, and unfortunately it looked like that was about to be proved right as all the dancers left the stage except Willie and Caleb.

Oh, no.

Caleb bounced down to the bottom of the staircase, clicking his heels with each step. Willie, moving as though he was being puppeted from above and remaining silent until his mouth seemed to be forced open, took center stage. Julie couldn’t take her eyes off him, searching for any sign, any hint, anything that could tell her what to do. Finally, like it was taking all his strength just to do it, Willie raised one arm, looked deep into the room and whistled three discordant, oddly random notes—A, G, D#—before snapping back to his original position and launching into a smooth dance routine while the band kicked in behind him.

Amid the baffled whispers that had risen up around her, Julie frowned before suddenly realizing: that was the signal.

He’d found the boys! They must be safe!

But…Willie wasn’t, clearly. There was no way for him to communicate to her what she should be doing, or where the boys were, or anything.

Frustration rose in her chest for the millionth time that night, and it took all her willpower not to stomp up onto the stage and rip Caleb a new one, despite all the evidence that that was the worst thing she could do right then.

Before she realized she was doing it, Julie found herself standing up and walking to the back of the room, trying to retrace her own steps back into the hallway full of dressing rooms. A dull grey door in the farthest corner led her there, and she glanced over her shoulder at the crowd, whose every eye was glued to the stage. She slipped through the door and found herself once again in the hall.

She wasn’t completely sure what she was planning on doing, she realized now that she was there. Where was she even going? Back to the Phantoms’ dressing room? To the place Willie had poofed them to when they all arrived? She couldn’t say.

But she pushed back any uncertainty as she headed quietly up the hallway, hearing the rustle of afterlife behind each door. Maybe she could enlist their help, she thought fleetingly before dismissing the idea. No, as much as she wanted to trust them, she didn’t know them, and putting her faith in these ghosts while trying to save her own felt like it could only end badly.

Suddenly she heard a door swing open behind her and stopped in her tracks. Oh, no.

“Hey!” A voice said brightly. Julie didn’t turn. Maybe they were talking to someone else?

No such luck. The voice came closer. “Are you new here?” it said, a little suspicion entering it. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”

Another door opened, this time to her right, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a head poke out in confusion. “What’s happening?”

There was no way she was going to make it out of this unscathed if she didn’t do something. As even more doors opened and more ghosts began to fill the hallway around her, she pasted a smile onto her face and tried to act nonchalant.

“Oh, hi!” she said, turning to address the first ghost. Julie knew she wasn’t selling it, but the skepticism on his face was really killing any confidence she had left. “Yeah, I’m…new in town. Just sort of stumbled across this place today. Anyway, I’m looking for a friend of mine? Do you know where he could be?”

“Who?” A different ghost asked, scrutinizing her up and down. Julie resisted the urge to glance down at herself.

“Uh,” she faltered, trying to find a plausible answer. “Sam, his name’s Sam. He’s a ghost too, just like me! And you! And everybody, I guess.” She chuckled unconvincingly and gestured up the hallway. “Anyway, I better keep looking, you know?”

“Why don’t we help you look?” The first ghost suggested, extending a hand. A purple stamp lived on the inside of his wrist, Julie noticed with a shudder. “We all know this place like the backs of our hands. We can help you find him easy.”

No, no, no. Julie wanted to scream and run away like her parents had always advised her to when she was little and first learning about Stranger Danger, to somehow get away from these ghosts and their deeply worrying auras. But instead she forced her already fake smile to grow just a little wider and nodded. “Sure, why not?”

“Great!” the ghost said. “I’m Enrique. And you are?”

“Rose,” Julie said immediately, hoping to move on quickly. “So where to first?”

“Well,” Enrique started, turning to some of the other ghosts surrounding him in the hallway. “Where to, gang?”

Several answers overlapped as the ghosts chimed in, and while Julie couldn’t pick anything clear out, Enrique seemed happy enough and started forward. “This way!”

As uneasy as ever, Julie followed him while the rest of the ghosts shuffled along in silence. Despite recognizing each nameplate-labeled door the hallway felt twice as long as the first time, almost as though Enrique was leading her around in circles.

“So where are we going then?” she finally asked.

Enrique stopped and sighed, shaking his head as he turned to face Julie. “Rose, Rose, Rose. If that is your name after all.” He leaned a little closer to meet her eyes, and Julie’s heart sped up just a bit. “One of my lovely colleagues was wondering who you were. So I’ve been looking around for your nameplate, looking for Rose, Rose, Rose. But I’m not seeing you anywhere.”

So they had been going in circles. “Well, I did say I was new here,” Julie said carefully. “Maybe they just don’t have a sign up for me yet.”

Enrique shook his head. “I don’t know about that. I think maybe you’re lying, Rose. What do you think, guys?”

A murmur of agreement went up, and Julie’s heart sank. She’d gotten herself completely trapped, hadn’t she? What was she supposed to do now?

As Enrique began to take another step forward, the only answer Julie’s brain would supply was run. And so she did, crashing through the entire crowd of ghosts and their grabbing hands and the emerging uproar behind her. She ran past all the doors she recognized until she found one she didn’t and shoved it open, hoping no one would see her duck into what she thought might be a closet, or maybe an empty office.

But she had no such luck. Instead of an office or a pile of cleaning supplies, Julie found herself stumbling onto a stage and staring out at the wide-eyed audience she’d been a part of just ten minutes before.

Instead of something to hide behind, maybe a desk or a large box to squeeze into, she found only empty air around her. 

And instead of safety and security, Julie discovered that she was now standing just inches from Caleb Covington, who looked somehow bewildered, furious, and thrilled all at once. Shit.

She froze. Caleb stared. Willie, suspended in mid-air on the other side of the stage, was slowly lowered to the ground, looking utterly terrified.

“Who are you?” Caleb finally asked, voice echoing out through the now-silent room. “And how did you get up here?”

Julie didn’t move, and recognition seemed to suddenly dawn on Caleb as a smile formed on his face and wheels turned behind his eyes. “Wait, don’t tell me. Don’t tell me.” He practically hopped as he looked out at the crowd and then back at Julie. “Julie Molina. The girl herself. Am I right?”

Julie still didn’t respond, but that only seemed to convince him it was true. “Just incredible. What an incredible evening. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the presence of a truly magical performer tonight! Give her a hand! Julie, give us a bow, will you?”

Almost without thinking, entirely against her will, Julie bowed, and the crowd dutifully clapped. As she returned to her upright position, she met Willie’s eyes. Are they safe?

Willie only shook their head the tiniest bit, their eyes full of fear, and Julie felt the last trace of hope she had fade away.

She had no idea what to do.

As the applause died down, Caleb turned to face Julie, a devious smile still plastered across his face. “Julie,” he started, voice no longer booming through the room. “I think we both know what you’re here for. And we both know you won’t be getting that, don’t we?”

“I…” Julie tried to retort, but she couldn’t get the words to come out.

“Oh, Julie. You thought you were going to win this battle, didn’t you?” Caleb shook his head slowly, practically pityingly. “I think that’s very admirable. But you didn’t stand a chance. But!” Just as Enrique had before, he extended a hand. “I want to offer you a deal.”

“No,” Julie said immediately. At least that word had come out.

“Oh, but hear me out! I promise it’s a good one. I’d like to have you and your Phantoms join us here at the Club together, strictly on a part-time basis—maybe a few performances a week, three at most. Perhaps that would grow to be full time later, but that’s a conversation for another day. At the end of the night, of course, you’d all be free to leave, always together and only obligated to return for your next performance.” He turned and gestured dramatically to the band behind them on the stage, then to the crowd of spectators. “And in return you would have the Club’s full ensemble at your disposal, as well as my own assistance, to grow as a band. Promotion, extra musicians, maybe some nudges to any higher ups standing in your way. You could be charting in months, even weeks. And it would just be a few little shows per week.”

Despite the fear that had only been growing since finding herself on the stage, Julie almost felt more angry than afraid as Caleb spoke. “Why do you think I would choose that? That I would trust you with any of us?”

“Well, to put it very simply—“Caleb’s smile and extended hand both dropped just a bit as his eyes slid over to Willie—“because if you didn’t choose it…I think I’d have to take away the choice.”

Julie glanced over at Willie, who shook his head wildly, before turning back to Caleb. “I don’t think there ever was a choice.”

Caleb almost chuckled. “I guess your choice is made, then?”

“I think it is.” To run away, to find her boys, to never have to look Caleb Covington in the face again.

“Excellent! On with the show, then.”

Before Julie could process what was happening or even the words Caleb had said, he was striking the band back up and his hand was gripping her wrist tightly, so tightly, and she couldn’t break free.

“Hey! What—“

…and on top of everything, her voice was stuck, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t do anything.

What was he doing to her?

Suddenly notes began to rise in her throat before bursting out, echoing through the room, and Caleb’s smile returned as he lifted her arm up.

“Ladies and gents, our newest performer!” he shouted as the crowd began to cheer.

No. No. NO. FIGHT HIM.

Julie tried to stop herself from singing, to yank her arm away and run, but all she managed was a small waver in the tune. How was she supposed to get away?

Finally, finally she managed to get her arm free as Caleb laughed heartily and she felt a patch of her wrist begin to burn. “No!” she cried. The purple stamp she recognized from the wrist of each ghost she’d known began to form, burning more every second, until just as quickly as it began, it stopped and Julie caught her breath.

The stamp, still glowing like it was before, was only a pale purple and suspended just above her wrist. She squinted and tried to run her finger over it, but it only floated straight through. “Huh?” she whispered.

“What?” Caleb whispered almost simultaneously, clearly outraged. “No, that’s not how it works.” He looked from the stamp to Julie’s amazed face, then back to the stamp, then back to Julie again. “What did you do?”

Julie shook her head, answerless. Caleb looked like he was about to explode and reached for her arm again, but just as he reached it, the stamp became blindingly bright, pushing him back and almost into Willie.

Julie covered her eyes with her other hand to block the light, hoping it would stop the light, but it didn’t—if anything, it got brighter and she was finally forced to squeeze her eyes shut.

The crowd began to shout, and Julie could hear people beginning to run and even a few cheers before suddenly everything went quiet.

She opened one eye again, confused, but what she saw now wasn’t the stage at the Club, or the big crowd, or Caleb or Willie watching her with completely different emotions on their faces.

What she saw was a grand piano with four sheets of music spread across the top, a couch loved to the point of being threadbare, a red flannel thrown across the back of a chair.

Was she…home? Back in the studio?

She dared to open her other eye and look around the room. The pink hoodie Willie hadn’t moved from its spot at the end of the piano, the patterned rug Rose had bought years before Julie was even born, the whiteboard she and Flynn had been using to communicate with Willie…she was home.

It was almost too much, and she sat down on the couch in tears.

Her feelings were going in every direction—she was away from Caleb, but she hadn’t done what she went for. She was home, but she was alone, without her boys. She was safe, but she didn’t know if—

Flynn.

Her hands flew to her phone and within seconds she had Flynn dialed and the phone at her ear. Come on, Flynn, pick up. Please.

The other end rang and rang, and Julie’s heart slowly began to sink. Where was she? Had she made it out? Was she safe?

What if Julie had abandoned them there and now she couldn’t make her way back to help them?

She put her face in her hands and let the tears fall. This was the worst possible outcome they could have had! But…

She took a deep, shaky breath—in, out, in, out, hold that love—and stood up as she wiped the tears away.

This was really the last thing she wanted to do, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Before she could chicken out, she left the studio

Julie stared up at the massive set of gates in front of her, and the giant house behind them. She hadn’t been here for more than a few minutes in years.

“Deep breath, Julie,” she whispered to herself, and pressed the buzzer on the gate.

A click sounded on the other end. “Yeah? Who is it?”

“Hi, Carrie,” Julie said slowly. “It’s Julie. I need to talk to you.”

Chapter Text

“So, you’ve decided to take up writing?”

“What? No, I’m telling you the truth—“

“It’s really well done, Jules,” Carrie said, feigning applause and standing to stretch her arms. “Really incredible plot. Super characters. I’m charmed, really.”

Julie looked up from the couch in dismay. “Carrie, I’m not lying. Everything I just told you is true.”

Everything she just told her, Carrie thought, was total BS. Ghosts? An evil magician who could control people with a snap of his fingers? And Julie was caught up in the middle of it? Clearly she was being pranked for laughs, or lied to, or something even worse. She finished stretching and turned back to Julie seriously as she picked up her dance bag. “Look, Julie. It’s a great story. But I don’t appreciate being lied to. And if you think I’m going to believe any of that, then you don’t know me.”

Julie stood up to look her in the eye. “I swear up and down, on Hannah Montana’s wig, I’m not making it up.”

“I haven’t cared about Hannah Montana since we were 11, Julie.”

“Carrie.”

“Julie.”

“Would you just listen to me?”

Fine. Let’s play that game. “Prove it then. Prove you’re not making it up.”

“Okay,” Julie said immediately. “Remember when that kid caught me talking to empty air in the hallway after the assembly last month? And the whole school knew within a day? That was me talking to them. When I couldn’t play the dance because ‘the projector wasn’t working’, that was because they were stuck at the Club. Caleb time warped them, kept them from seeing the time until it was way too late.”

 “Or you were just chickening out of playing,” Carrie retorted. “That’s not evidence. That’s you being a flake.”

At that, Julie looked genuinely hurt, and Carrie almost felt bad. “How about when I came here, then? Just a few weeks ago?” Julie said, voice harder now. “I came here for the first time since Mom died because they’d gone missing and I was looking for them. Ask your dad, he’ll tell you.”

“My dad?” Carrie asked. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“A lot. But I need you to listen, Carrie. Please. I need you to help me because I don’t know what to do and I don’t think I can figure it out alone. And I left Flynn there all alone, and the boys are still stuck, and I…”

Julie’s voice trailed off as she kept rambling, growing more distraught with every word until she finally collapsed back onto the couch, head in her hands, leaving Carrie standing awkwardly in front of her.

God, maybe she was telling the truth. But how could she be?

She sat down across from Julie, avoiding meeting her eyes. “You’re really telling the truth?”

Julie looked up. “Yes. That’s what I’ve been telling you the whole time.”

“What do you want my help for then?”

Julie sighed. “I know we don’t talk anymore, and the band broke up and whatever. But back when we were friends, this is the kind of thing you would’ve jumped into headfirst with me, even if it sounded ridiculous. And I know that’s still somewhere in you, even if you don’t want to show it. So I just need you to come with me one more time, help me save Flynn and the Phantoms, and then we can go our separate ways. You won’t ever have to talk to me again.”

As much as Carrie hated to admit it, Julie was right. When they were younger, back when Triple Threat was thriving and they were all practically attached at the hip, Carrie would have gone to the ends of the earth for either Julie or Flynn. She would’ve charged into their evil magician’s club and knocked him out with her words, and they would’ve both done the same for her.

But this was today, and Carrie wasn’t 12 anymore, and all this just sounded unbelievable. “Jules,” she said, actual emotion creeping into her voice, “I would love to help you. But unless you figure out a way to make this sound believable, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

Julie’s eyes had grown hopeful as she spoke, but that hope shattered the second she finished. She looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she stood up slowly and left, leaving Carrie alone in the room, staring at the now-empty space on the couch across from her.

Had she been wrong to do that? She wasn’t sure.

She had felt bad, after all, when she saw Julie’s dismay. But after those lies, and after what Julie had done? There was no chance she was getting Carrie back on her side.

1.5 years ago

“Dad, I’m fine,” Carrie whined as she climbed into the car. “I’ve done shows before. What’s 50 more people?”

“Performance is a job, Carrie,” Trevor said. “You’ve got to give it your all.” He motioned to Carrie’s unkempt outfit, bedazzled jacket tied around her waist, and half-filled bag slung over one shoulder. “And it doesn’t look like you’re giving it your all right now. Where’s your speaker? Did you learn your choreography?”

“Yes, Dad, I know how this works. I’m just waiting on the other girls to tell me they know.” She glanced down at her phone for the 3rd time in ten minutes—still nothing from Julie or Flynn. Where were they? Kayla and Tina had responded right away. She tapped out a message and hit send before shoving her phone into the bag.

CARRIE WILSON

Julieeee we have 2 hours left where are you??

This was going to be their third show together as Triple Threat, along with Carrie’s friends Kayla and Tina as additional dancers. They’d spent weeks rehearsing and even wrote a new song for this one, and Carrie felt like this was it—this was going to be their big breakout show, at least locally. Maybe they could get a manager out of it, or even a few hours at a studio without her dad’s help getting them there.

But if Julie and Flynn didn’t get their acts together…that whole plan was screwed. She resisted the urge to send another message and stared out the window at the passing city scenery instead.

Before she knew it she was staring anxiously into the mirror backstage at the venue and putting on her makeup, Tina and Kayla standing on either side of her as they fixed their own hair and makeup. “They’ll be here, Carrie,” Tina assured her. “When has Julie ever let you down?”

Carrie just sighed and nodded. She knew Tina was right, but there was hardly half an hour left until they were scheduled on, and neither Flynn nor Julie had even looked at the messages. Were they mad at her? Was something wrong? Why weren’t they there yet?

As the clock kept ticking and their set drew ever closer without a word from the pair, Carrie began to grow angry. Who were they to cut things this close without even a warning? They couldn’t have let her know in advance they were going to flake like this? At this rate she might as well—

“Five minute warning, ladies,” a stagehand said as they passed the dressing room, and Carrie stopped pacing to groan loudly and turn to Kayla and Tina.

“Neither of you have heard from them?”

Both girls shook their heads.

Carrie swore under her breath. “Okay.” She looked at the clock, then at the door, allowing one more split second chance for Flynn and Julie to come bursting in apologetically, hurrying into their outfits and ready to go on, but it didn’t happen. And that was that. “We’ll just have to go on without them.”

Kayla looked immediately afraid. “Carrie, are you sure? There’s still—“

“There’s not enough time,” Carrie interrupted. “They had their chance. They lost it. So now it’s just got to be us. Kayla, you take Flynn’s part. Tina, Julie’s.”

Tina and Kayla glanced at each other briefly, unsure, but finally stood up and nodded. 

They headed out and took the stage. As the announcer introduced them, Carrie took a deep, deep breath, pasted a glittering smile on her face, and adjusted her jacket. 

The lights were blinding, but as they danced and sang their hearts out, Carrie and the others were just as bright. We don’t need them, she thought. We never did. 

After what Carrie felt was a nearly perfect hour-long performance, she, Kayla, and Tina left the stage laughing and cheering to the point that the band performing after them had almost looked weirded out. But Carrie didn’t care—she’d done it! This was it! The sky was the limit now.

“So what now?” Tina asked, collapsing onto the couch.

“Well,” Carrie said, following suit and picking up her phone, “I think we tell Julie and Flynn they’re out. We’re Triple Threat now, yeah?”

Kayla and Tina looked uncomfortable again, but seemed to shake it off quickly, much to Carrie’s relief. “Yeah!”

“Great! What do we tell them then?”

Carrie turned her phone back on to open Messenger and quickly skim her messages. One from her dad congratulating them on the performance, a few from kids from school asking for videos of the show, and as she scrolled through chat after chat, one coming in from—

Julie.

She felt herself grow almost incandescent with anger. Now she responded? After all that time? She swiped the message away; there was no way she was getting a response now.

She felt a small pang of worry at the thought that something might have been wrong to keep her from being there. But it was quickly shoved back by the reminder that Julie and Flynn had almost destroyed their chances of being a successful group by skipping out on them, and that meant they’d lost all Carrie’s sympathy.

She tuned back into her new band’s conversation and put the old one out of her mind for the time being.

“So I saw Julie stopped by earlier,” Trevor said from the driver’s seat of the car. “What was that about? Studio doing a ‘bring a friend’ day or something?”

“We’re not friends,” Carrie reminded him, fiddling with the zipper of her dance bag. “She just came to ask for help with something. That was it.”

“Oh?” Trevor ignored her first point entirely, honing in on the second one instead. “What with?”

Carrie almost laughed. “I don’t think I could even try to explain it. She said you would know about it! So, you know, obviously she’s just trying to get back in my good graces or whatever. I don’t know.”

Trevor raised an eyebrow. “That I’d know about it? Well, now you’ve got me intrigued.”

“She was talking about…ghosts, and evil magicians, and clearly making things up, Dad,” Carrie groaned, looking out the window. “Why would you know about that?”

Trevor didn’t respond, and Carrie turned back to look at him only to discover that he’d gone white as a sheet and the car was slowly coming to a stop…in the middle of traffic. “Dad? What’s happening?”

He came back to long enough to realize what he was doing and move the car onto the side of the road before shaking his head in utter shock. “How could this be happening?”

“How could what be happening, Dad?”

“Ghosts,” he whispered, still shaking his head. “She’s right.”

Carrie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “She’s right? Julie? About what?”

Trevor ignored the question, seemingly disappearing farther into his own head with each second that passed, and instead posed one of his own. “Remind me what Julie’s address is.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, Care, but you’re missing dance class today. I need to understand all this.”

Chapter Text

What just happened?

That was the question on the face and lips of every person, be they lifer or ghost, that stood frozen with shock in the ballroom.

Caleb, shaking with rage, got back to his feet and made his way over to Willie agonizingly slowly. “You had something to do with this, didn’t you?” he asked him, voice barely above a whisper.

Willie, who hadn’t dared move after the blast broke them free of Caleb’s control, shook their head so fast they practically gave themself whiplash. “No, no, I swear I didn’t, I didn’t know anything, I—”

Just as he had Julie’s moments before, Caleb grabbed Willie’s wrist, and Willie prepared himself for the reformed stamp to begin burning at the touch. But…nothing happened. Nothing except Caleb pulling Willie to his feet and turning him out toward the crowd, who were waiting in rapt silence for something to clarify everything they’d just seen.

And of course, that was what Caleb gave them, faux smile still spread across his face and levity in his voice. “Patrons, thank you all for coming tonight. I’m very proud to announce that you all have been the first and only audience to have seen this particular version of our nightly performances. I trust you all enjoyed the show?”

The crowd burst into cheers, and Willie couldn’t stop the thought from crossing their mind: what a performer.

“Thank you and goodnight!” Caleb shouted, then immediately turned back toward the exit door, pushing Willie along in front of him and shutting the door behind him.

“Caleb, please, I promise I don’t know what happened out there,” Willie began to plead the second the door was shut, jumping away from Caleb’s touch.

“The issue here, William, is that I don’t believe you.” Caleb, who’d been walking down the hallway, stopped walking briefly to meet Willie’s eyes again. He almost seemed…happy? “But in any case, the issue is solved. Julie is gone, you’ve returned, everything is back as it was. It’s a happy day for us all, isn’t it?”

“What? No!” Willie burst out without thinking. “What about the Phantoms? What did you do with them?”

“Ah, the Phantoms!” Caleb’s eyes darkened for just a second before the cheerfulness returned. “No wonder you were searching my office. But didn’t you see the sign on their dressing room?”

“They weren’t in there,” Willie said flatly. “We all knew it.”

“Hmm. Unfortunately you’re right.” Caleb turned to walk away again. “Why don’t you follow me?”

Willie hesitated. “Where?”

“To the Phantoms, of course. Where else?”

“I…I don’t believe you,” Willie said haltingly. What if Caleb was telling the truth and they were throwing away their only shot at getting the boys back?

Suddenly they felt a pressure behind them, like a wind blowing them forward, and whether they wanted to or not, they were moving. “Come along, William,” Caleb said, the levity leaving his voice. “Do you want to see them again or not?”

Willie stayed silent this time, both out of fear and refusal to give away anything. Down the hallway they went, around corners Willie had passed a million times over the years until suddenly the pressure stopped and they were standing in front of Caleb’s office door.

Caleb went in. Willie hesitated once again before he followed him in and found Caleb standing in front of a door, the same door Kaia had been about to enter when they’d first gotten there.

Had they been right?

“Oh! Wrong door,” Caleb said, replacing the shelf he’d just moved and spinning around to face the other wall. This time he moved a different shelf to reveal a different door—more of a panel, really—that he pulled open slowly, then gestured to Willie. “Here you are.”

Willie gulped and stepped forward, squinting into the space. It was pitch black. “What is this?”

“This is it! What you’ve been looking for, the thing you gave up your freedom to come and fight me for, William,” Caleb said, more menace entering his voice with every word. “Aren’t you ready?”

They didn’t really seem to have a choice, unfortunately. They knew if they ran, they’d be caught in minutes, whether by Caleb himself or by some of the ghosts Caleb had kept steadfastly on his side over the years. And they also knew now that they were right—the dark room Alex and the others had spoken of was without a doubt real, and they were standing right in front of it, staring it down.

Could they maybe rush it, jump in for just a second and jump back out having found them? No, they had no idea what was going on in there, or even how big this room was. There was no chance that would work.

He’d just have to take a risk. He stepped forward, peering in to get a glimpse at the inside. God, it really did look like an abyss. “Alex?” he ventured. “Luke?”

Behind him, Caleb chuckled lightly. “No one can hear you from here, Willie. If you want them to hear you you’ll have to go inside. The door will still be open, you’ll just have to do a bit of walking.”

Willie considered. If the door was staying open they could try and track their pace, and if they could manage that then they could find the boys, retrace their steps, and make their way back out. They looked back at Caleb. “The door stays open?”

Caleb lifted both hands in surrender. “Like it was never closed. You have my word.”

Willie took a deep breath, hoping against hope he was making the right decision, and took a final step forward into the darkness.

“Well, it’s a start,” he said quietly. They looked around at the blackness surrounding him and saw nothing, not even a reflection or a hint of light. They jumped up and down and didn’t hear their feet hitting the ground, or their necklace hitting their chest as it landed. What the hell was this place? 

He turned back around, briefly contemplating going back, but just like before, he saw nothing, not even—

The door. Where was the door?

“Caleb!” he yelled, panic rising quickly. “Caleb, open the door! Caleb!”

His voice didn’t even echo back, and he felt his breath disappear from his lungs as he melted to the ground in a desperate attempt to regain control over himself. What was he thinking, trusting him? Why had he thought this was a good idea, that it would ever work?

Finally, as they managed to get their breathing back under control, a thought came to mind. What if there was another door somewhere? What if they could find the boys and then get them out through somewhere other than the Club? 

It was a real shot in the dark, but they got to their feet and starting walking—they had to try.

Minutes turned to hours of walking, and Willie began to lose hope. He’d failed them, hadn’t he? He’d been wrong about where they were and now he was stuck forever in this abyss, walking and searching like Sisyphus pushing his rock up a hill, leaving Julie to wonder forever what had happened to the boys and why he’d never come back to help her.

He stopped and sat, head in hands, to take a breath. Don’t lose hope, he told himself. Hold that love, move forward.

Suddenly they heard something and their head snapped up, looking in all directions. They’d heard something in here?

Off in the distance, a speck of color floated along the horizon. Willie got to their feet and squinted. A…pink speck of color?

Alex.

They took off running, their exhaustion forgotten, all the hope they’d left behind returning to the front of their mind. 

The speck drew closer and closer, and before long he could see a red speck too, and maybe even a blue one blending into the black that surrounded everything. Please, please, please…

“Alex!” he shouted, putting all his energy into his voice. “Reggie! Guys!”

The specks froze, and so did Willie, fearing that he’d made it all up and now he’d scared off his own imagination, but just seconds later a whisper-faint sound floated through the air and the specks began to move closer.

“Alex!” they shouted as they took off again. “Guys, I’m here! I’m here!”

The specks grew bigger and clearer and their voices grew louder and louder until suddenly, against all odds, Willie was standing in front of Alex, Luke, and Reggie, unable to believe his eyes.

“Alex—“he started, but before he could get another word out Alex was enveloping him in the tightest hug he’d ever felt and his own tears were beginning to fall.

“I thought I would never see you again,” Alex whispered.

“Me too,” Willie said.

When Alex finally let go, Willie was pulled into another hug by Luke and Reggie, this one full of laughter and absolute disbelief. “How did you find us?” they practically crowed.

Willie’s heart, which had risen so much at the sight of them, fell again. “I…I had help. Julie and Flynn were actually the ones who said we needed to go looking.”

Luke’s eyes grew huge and hopeful. “Julie’s here?”

Willie’s heart sank once again. “I don’t know where Julie is anymore. Caleb did something and then she did something back and then she sort of…disappeared? But I think she’s okay.”

“God, I can’t stand him,” Reggie said quietly, and both Luke and Alex nodded in agreement.

“So, wait, what are you doing here?” Alex asked, fear entering his voice. “He didn’t jolt you, did he?”

“No, no, he didn’t jolt me,” Willie reassured him. “But…I don’t know how to get out. We found out this place is a room inside the Club in Caleb’s office and he has basically complete control over it. He’s probably been putting ghosts in here for decades.”

The Phantoms grew solemn again before Luke spoke up. “We’ve got to find a way out.”

“Yeah, but how?” Reggie said. “Last time we only got out because Julie played the CD, and if that works again she might as well be a magician.”

“There has to be another way though!” Luke said, and was about to continue when a faint scream began to grow louder and louder from above them.

“What is that?” Reggie shouted over the noise. He looked up and his eyes grew wide as he pointed to a figure quickly descending from the sky. “Holy crap, is that Flynn?”

Everyone’s eyes flew to the sky. Sure enough, it was, and before anyone knew it she was crashing down on top of Luke as he made a failed attempt at catching her.

“Oh my god, what is happening?” Flynn shouted before she’d even caught her breath. Suddenly she realized who she was looking at and jumped to her feet. “Luke! Alex, Reggie, guys! We found you!”

“Flynn, how did you get in here?” Willie asked as Flynn embraced the Phantoms one by one. “I thought you were still at the Club!”

“Well, I was at the Club, and I was back looking through the dressing rooms for you guys—“they gestured to the Phantoms—“when a bouncer figured me out and tossed me in here. And I’ve been falling for hours. I thought I’d never feel the ground again. How did you get in here?”

“I…made the mistake of trusting Caleb,” Willie admitted. “But it led me here and now we’ve found you too, so—“

“So now we really need to find a way out of here,” Luke interrupted. “Julie’s probably worried sick.”

“Well, together we’ll probably be able to figure something out,” Flynn said. “So let’s get on it.”

Chapter Text

Julie stared up at the ceiling from her bed, exhausted both physically and mentally. She’d lost everyone, even Carrie, who she didn’t realize how much she’d missed.

And what could she do about it anymore?

A soft knock at the door shook her out of her thoughts, and her dad poked his head in. “You’ve got visitors, honey.”

Visitors?

She sat up to see an incensed Carrie and Trevor, looking more baffled than anything, coming in behind Ray. “Uh, hi?” she said, trying to hide her surprise.

“Hey, Julie,” Trevor said, still managing a smile. “Long time no see.”

Carrie didn’t even bother to hide her ire. Julie tried to ignore it and directed her question to Trevor instead. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Well, I heard about your band,” Trevor started somewhat hesitantly. His smile faltered. “I—we—just wanted to come congratulate you on your Orpheum show the other night.”

“Weren’t they great?” Ray said, still grinning from the doorway. “Those holograms are next level. You’ll have to get them to show you the tech sometime.”

“Yeah. Great job,” Carrie said shortly, and immediately turned back to Trevor. “Can we go now, please?”

“Actually, I was hoping you might be willing to show us that tech now,” Trevor said, ignoring Carrie completely. He looked stressed, Julie couldn’t help but notice, like he’d just gotten bad news. “It was such a great show I thought maybe I’d try and get it worked out to use it myself later.”

Julie’s heart sped up slightly. God, what had Carrie told him? “Uh…” she started. “Well, the thing is—“

“It doesn’t have to be in depth,” Trevor interrupted. “Just the model of the projector, anything basic you’d be willing to show me. I’d really appreciate it.”

Julie looked back and forth between Trevor and Carrie, then at her dad, watching with expectant curiosity, and finally stood up. Maybe she could get an answer out of Carrie outside her dad’s earshot. “Okay, I guess. Everything’s out in the studio.”

Relief crossed Trevor’s face, rage crossed Carrie’s, and Julie almost shuddered as she headed down the stairs. Behind her, Carrie and Trevor whispered furiously to each other. 

She knew it had been a mistake to go to Carrie. She knew it would probably get her nowhere considering how their relationship had been for the last year. And she knew if it backfired it could ruin their chances of ever repairing that relationship, but god, it had been her only hope!

And now she’d dragged Trevor, who had almost just as much of a stake in the whole situation as she did, into it. This conversation was going to be one for the ages.

As they reached the studio, Julie tried to compose herself and hide the bubbling anxiety as she pretended to look for the projector that she knew had been left behind at the Orpheum after the show. She was scanning the room, hoping she didn’t look suspicious, when suddenly a spot of red on the couch caught her eye and she froze. Reggie’s flannel, Alex’s hoodie, Luke’s beanie—everything was still there. She was screwed. 

She couldn’t come back to herself and tear her eyes away before Trevor’s gaze followed hers and he was walking toward it. “What’s this?”

“Oh, that old thing?” Julie blurted out, far too loudly, far too quickly. “That’s just some…some fabric I thought about turning into a pillow once. Nothing important.”

The lie wasn’t working. Trevor was already picking the flannel up and scrutinizing it closely, looking more pale every second. Carrie watched on, the skepticism in her eyes slowly turning to concern. Yep, definitely screwed.

“Dad?” Carrie ventured.

Trevor didn’t respond, but sat down hard on the couch, still staring down at the flannel like he’d seen a ghost because, well, he had. “Julie,” he finally said quietly. “Where did you get this?”

Julie tried impossibly hard to keep her eyes from wandering to the other items the boys had left. She did not succeed. “Just the attic, I think,” she mumbled.

Trevor stayed quiet, and Julie turned to Carrie, trying to keep her voice to a stage whisper. “What did you say to him?”

“I didn’t say anything!” Carrie said defensively. “I just told him you came by to ask for help and then it became ghosts and magicians and crazy talk! I didn’t know it would do this to him!”

“You knew about this, Carrie?” Trevor interjected, looking up from the flannel at last.

“I mean, no,” Carrie said. “But I guess kind of? I thought she was lying, Dad! Ghosts aren’t real!”

“So you did tell him?” Julie asked, ready to tear her own hair out.

“It’s not like I meant to!”

“Hey!” Julie was opening her mouth to retort when Trevor’s voice rang through the air, sharp but firm, and both she and Carrie were shocked into silence. “I’m going to need somebody to explain to me exactly what’s going on here. Right now.”

“What’s happening is Julie thought it would be funny to tell us—“

“Calmly, Carrie.”

Carrie rolled her eyes aggressively, but took a breath and started more calmly. “What’s happening is that Julie rolled up to our house this afternoon, and told me that the guys in her band aren’t holograms—“

“Carrie—“ Julie tried to interrupt, but Carrie pushed on.

“—they’re actually the ghosts of some band called Sunset Curve. And a magician has them trapped in some infinite void that we can’t access because we’re living. Oh, and Flynn’s there, did I mention that? And she wanted me to help her find them, and she was obviously lying, but now we’re here, so maybe I’m the crazy one, huh?”

She finished her spiel and sat down in the nearest chair, leaving Julie open mouthed, barely able to get a word out. Trevor was no better off as he looked back and forth between his daughter and Julie. “Julie?”

“Well, it’s…it’s true,” Julie said slowly. “Nobody was supposed to know. That was why I told everybody they were holograms. The Orpheum show was supposed to let them cross over, to finish their unfinished business, but that…didn’t work, for some reason.” She sighed. “I know this sounds ridiculous, and like Carrie’s right and I’m lying, but I swear I’m telling you the truth. Both of you.”

Trevor let his eyes wander the room, finding the beanie and the hoodie and then landing back on the flannel.“Sunset Curve?”

Julie nodded, then realized he wasn’t looking at her and said it out loud. “Sunset Curve.”

Trevor looked back up, sighed, and spoke again with a sense of finality in his voice. “A few weeks ago….something happened to me too. And I thought I was going crazy. But if this is true, then that means I’m not crazy. And neither are you.”

As hope rose in Julie’s chest once again, Carrie stood and took a step forward. “Dad, don’t tell me you’re actually buying this,” she said in disbelief. “This is insane!”

“It’s also pretty insane to see your own bandmates on stage looking just as alive as the day they died 25 years after the fact,” Trevor said, almost like he could barely believe it himself. “Or to see your name written in the fog on the mirror in handwriting you haven’t seen since then either. So, yeah. If that’s insane, I’ve lost my mind.”

Carrie threw her hands in the air and plopped back into her seat. “Fine. Fine! Ghosts are real, magic is real, Julie’s been playing music with a bunch of dead guys for months, everything is fine. Welcome to Carrie’s life, everybody.”

“So can you guys help at all?“ Julie asked.

“I have a few questions before we try and get into any of that,” Trevor said. “I don’t know any of the logistics of this or anything. To start, what did you do to find them in the first place?” He looked down at the flannel he was still holding. “Was it…this? Or something of theirs?”

“Well, I wasn’t entirely lying when I said stuff came from the attic.” Julie closed the studio door, then moved over to the CD player and popped it open. “I found this CD up there when I came to…clean the studio out. I thought maybe it was somebody my mom knew, so I played it and suddenly they were here. Out of the blue.”

“And you don’t know why?” Trevor’s brow was furrowed as he came to get a better look at the CD. He took it and looked at it closely, then placed it back in the player and hit PLAY.

The music began to blare through the studio, just as it had the first night Julie met the Phantoms, a different song this time. Luke had showed her this one on his own later—it was called In Your Starlight, and they’d talking about making it a Julie and the Phantoms song not long before the whole Caleb thing went down. It had been one of her favorites, but right now Trevor looked like he was going to cry, as much as he tried to hide it.

Carrie came closer, frowning. “Dad, isn’t this your song?”

Trevor shook his head and was about to speak when the music seemed to fade down and another sound entered the air: a long, high pitched yell. Julie looked around, but didn’t see anything—was it just deja vu? No, Trevor and Carrie were looking too, and Carrie had her hands over her ears…just as Julie had that first night.

What was happening?

Suddenly, as the yell reached its height, five people landed on the floor in front of them: Flynn, Willie, Reggie, Alex, Luke.

Julie gasped. No way was this happening again.

Carrie jumped back and screamed, hand covering her mouth. “Flynn!” She managed to get out. “What—how…how did you do that? Where did you come from?”

Trevor’s eyes widened as he took in the group, looking from Luke to Reggie to Alex and growing paler every second. “What….” he started, but couldn’t manage to speak as he processed what was happening. “How?”

The group got to their feet one by one, some easier than others, all just as surprised as the lifers they were seeing. “Julie!” Flynn cried, running like her feet had wings and hugging Julie so tight she could barely breathe. “What happened to you? How did we get back here? What’s going on?” She looked around, saw Carrie and Trevor, and her eyebrows went up. “What are you guys doing here? Oh my god, I missed so much!”

Luke was the next to find his way to her, immediately followed by Alex and Reggie, each wrapping their arms around Julie each other and unable to keep from laughing. “Julie, how did you do this? What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Julie said, wiping away a tear. “I don’t know but whatever it was, I’m so glad it did. Oh my god, are you guys okay? Did Caleb hurt you?”

“We’re okay,” Luke said. “We’re all okay, but are you okay? Did you get hurt? Willie said Caleb poofed you out or something and they couldn’t tell what happened.”

Willie. They were still hanging back, looking unsure whether they could join the celebration, nonchalantly tying their hair back and watching on. Julie motioned for him to join. “Get in here.”

A smile bloomed on his face as Alex pulled him in and everybody reconfigured their hug. “I’m okay, guys,” Julie said. “And I’m so glad you’re all okay too.”

Suddenly a voice spoke up, both petrified and annoyed. “Um, what is going on?” Carrie was standing in the middle of the crowded space, looking in every direction and waving her hands wildly. “What are you guys all looking at? Who are you talking to?”

Trevor spoke again for the first time since the Phantoms had arrived. “You can’t see them?”

Everyone went quiet as the Phantoms became aware of him.

“Bobby,” Luke said. “You can see us?”

“I…can see you,” Trevor said, voice full of uncertainty and eyes focused on Luke. “What the hell is happening?”

“Hello? Can someone answer me?” Carrie begged.

“Wait, hang on a sec,” Flynn said, looking around. “Why can’t Carrie see them? I can still see everybody. And I’m alive…right?” She pulled out her phone and turned the camera toward herself, then breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew, yep, still alive.”

“Did you just check to see if you could still see your own reflection?” Carrie asked.

“Yeah?”

“That’s vampires, you dork.”

“Uh, we don’t know how being a ghost works. You thought they didn’t exist until five minutes ago.”

Carrie’s face reddened as she grumbled something unintelligible under her breath and turned away. 

Suddenly Reggie snapped his fingers. “You were in the dark room with us, right?” he said. “I don’t think lifers can usually go in there. So maybe being in there gave you some kind of freaky ghost magic that lets you see us?”

Willie shrugged. “Even if he’s using his own magic to keep the dark room there, there’s no way Caleb has complete control over it, so I guess that’s as close to an explanation as we can get.”

“Hang on, let me get the board out,” Julie said. “We can work things out from there.”

She did just that, and from there the Phantoms introduced themselves to a still disbelieving Carrie, brought Trevor up to speed, and heard the rest of the wild story of their rescue from Willie and Julie.

It wasn’t the end of the mess, and Julie knew it. They still had questions to answer, an evil magician to take down, even songs to write. But as she watched the Phantoms and her best friends both past and present laugh together, plan together and revel in their fresh starts, she felt a little more hope than she had in a minute.