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It was a Dark and Stormy Night. In fact it was Very Dark and Very Stormy and in Sunny California those weren’t very common. Julie had been sleeping peacefully until she was abruptly awoken by what had to be the loudest clap of thunder she’d ever heard. She bolted upright, panic beginning to grip at her as she noticed the room was completely pitch black. The last time they’d had a blackout was years ago when Julie had been nine and Carlos had only been Four, Carlos had woken up crying and Julie had Woken up Afraid calling for her mother. Ray and Rose carried Carlos and Julie to their bedroom where they huddled together and waited for the storm to end. Julie could still hear her mother’s voice in her head saying “Ninos Did you know that thunder is really just The sound of Angels playing their Music? Listen Sounds like drums doesn’t it?” Julie smiles at the memory and Thinks about How Ironic it is that she now has an actual Ghost drummer in her band.
Julie Blindly reaches for her phone and turns on her flashlight before getting out of bed and making her way down the hallway. As she makes her way down the hallway The bright light of a flashlight shines on her face, she shields her eyes and shines her flashlight back to reveal Carlos in his pajamas, wearing one of those Flashlight headbands Gripping one of his metal baseball bats with both hands as if he were getting ready hit a home run. “Carlos? What are you doing?” Julie whispers “I heard noises downstairs.” he said, the rasp of sleep still evident in his voice. “Wait here I’ll go check it out” Julie says turning to make her way downstairs “Okay If anyone’s down there yell and I’ll knock ‘em unconscious!” Carlos quietly shouts after her as Julie makes her way to the top of the stairs she could hear familiar voices whispering “Ow! Dude!” “Sorry It’s kinda hard to see where I’m Going!” “I told you to bring a Flashlight but Nooo you had to prove you’re a Tough Guy” Julie shines her Flashlight at the bottom of the stairs, Stopping the Phantoms in their tracks. “Hey Julie” Luke says sheepishly “What are you guys doing!?” Julie whispers as she carefully descends the stairs “We just wanted to. . Check on you guys” Luke lies before another loud clap of thunder Echoes through the night Making Reggie Violently Flinch, His eyes Squeeze shut and his hands instinctively fly up to cover his ears. “Okay look We know how you feel about us going in your room but The Dark doesn’t exactly bring back very good memories for us and Reggie. . Well he’s having a rough night ” Alex says Hesitantly as he tightly Holds on to Reggie. “The Dark Room” Julie says as the pieces begin to click into place. “Look, We’re really sorry if we woke you up Jules we just didn’t know what else to do.”
“No” Julie says, shaking her head “You guys don’t have to apologize. I get it.” Julie Then Slowly makes her way over to Reggie grabbing his hands, gently pulling them away from his ears “and you know what? as far as I’m concerned I think I can make an exception to the “No ghosts in my bedroom” rule Just this once” Julie says with a soft smile “I-it’s okay Julie, we can go back to the studio” Reggie Mumbles so softly it almost didn’t even sound like Reggie at all. “Reggie, I’m not letting you guys go back to the Studio. . In the dark to suffer alone I really don’t mind ""Really?” “Of course Anything for my favorite guitarist” Julie teases “HEY! What am I? A guitar with broken strings?” Luke shouts in Mock offense “Okay That is not even close to how that saying goes” “So? Maybe I just created a new one “ “No one’s gonna. . Okay” Alex says giving up “Okay Guys? Can we please focus on Helping Reggie?” Julie asked in slight annoyance “Right Sorry How ya holding up, Reg?” Luke asks suddenly feeling guilty “I’m Okay” Reggie murmurs arms crossed protectively over his chest, thumbs softly rubbing his arms in an attempt to soothe his anxiety. Julie protectively wraps an arm around Reggie’s back slowly leading him upstairs towards her bedroom. Once they’ve made it to the top of the stairs Carlos Jumps out of the darkness, yelling "Baseball bat Raised “CARLOS! CARLOS! It’s just me! The guys were the ones stumbling around downstairs you can put the weapon down!” Carlos Lowers The Bat “You can’t just Disappear downstairs in the middle of a Blackout and not expect me to think you were kidnapped or something!” Julie rolls her eyes fondly “Sorry, You’d just better hope you didn’t wake up. .” “Carlos?” Ray called from his now open bedroom door “Dad” Julie finishes “It looks like the storm cut the power, everyone okay? I heard yelling.""Sorry Dad, False Alarm it was just the guys.” Carlos says nodding over to the phantoms “We’re okay Papi, but would it be okay if the guys stayed in my room tonight? This is the guy’s first storm in a while and Reggie’s having a bad night.”
Ray Takes one look at Reggie Seeing how scared the boy looked, violently flinching at every thunder clap, looking like he was seconds away from “Poofing Out” as Julie liked to say. Ray would be an absolute Jerk of a father if he let those boys stay out in the Cold, Dark studio all by themselves “Of course Mija, you know the boys are welcome here Whenever they want but Let me do you boys one better How about we all sleep in the living room tonight? That way if the storm gets worse or if you kids need me I’ll be right there.” Ray didn’t say it out loud but it would also be easier to keep an eye on Julie and Luke, Luke was a good kid but Ray wasn’t Stupid he saw the way the guitarist looked at his daughter and as much as he supported them there were a few boundaries he was not willing to let them break. “Oh! I Vote Yes! I don’t wanna go to bed yet” Carlos said enthusiastically “Noted. But just so you know Mijo this is not going to be a regular occurrence. ""Eh I’ll take it. ""Gracias Papi!” Julie says Gratefully, giving Ray a big hug
It’s no problem Mija now let’s get you boys downstairs.” Ray says putting a gentle hand on Reggie’s shoulder guiding him down stairs to the living room.
Once the kids had gotten settled, Ray went to grab as many blankets and pillows he could find. When he got back he quickly noticed that both Carlos and Julie had passed out asleep, Carlos sprawled out on the floor in front of the couch Julie with her head resting gently on Luke’s shoulder. Ray smiled softly at the sight, before gently draping a blanket over them “Thanks, Mr Molina” Luke whispers gratefully “It’s no problem Mijo, and you don’t need to call me Mr Molina, call me Ray” “Cool Thanks. . Ray” Ray nods in response then heads over to Alex and Reggie handing a Blanket to Alex before gently draping one around Reggie’s shoulders, the boy now seeming a little less tense. “How are you doing Mijo?” Ray asks, getting down to Reggie’s level, Reggie shrugs “Okay I guess? I’m sorry we woke you guys so late, I know you probably have work tomorrow. "
"You don’t have anything to be sorry for Mijo, I would be a Jerk of a dad if I made you boys go back to the dark Studio to deal with this by yourselves. And you don’t have to worry about my work, My clients will probably end up canceling because of the rain anyway but regardless I would gladly prioritize you kids' health and safety over my job Any day.” “Still, I know it’s stupid to still be afraid of thunderstorms” “It’s not Stupid Mijo, You boys have been through a lot, and this is your first Thunderstorm in over a Decade it is totally normal and understandable that you’d be scared. This is actually our first Thunderstorm since my wife, Rose passed, the last one we had was when Julie was Nine and Carlos was only four so believe me this is just as hard for Julie and Carlos as it is for you guys. Hey you want to know A little trick My wife taught the kids to help them through the storm?” “Reggie nodded “After Every lightning strike count as far as you can until the next thunder strike. The further you count the farther the storm gets. Want to try?” Reggie nods.
They wait for the next Lightning Strike and Reggie tenses waiting for the Thunder Strike “Start counting, Mijo One, Two. . “ “Three, Four” Reggie says counting along, he still flinches at the thunder but feels a little better now that he can somewhat predict when the thunder will hit. They do this a few more times, the gaps between each one getting bigger each time before Reggie is able to relax enough to fall asleep. Alex breathes a sigh of relief “I wish We’d known that trick back in the nineties' ' Alex jokes “Thanks Ray, Thunderstorms have always been really hard for Reggie. ""Of course Alex, I'm glad I could help. You boys have clearly been though a lot.”
“ Yeah I mean after we died we ended up in this Dark room. We didn't know where we were. It wasn't Heaven but it wasn’t you know the other place either it was terrifying and we were in there for Twenty Five years! So yeah the dark is kinda like a reminder that we died you know? A reminder of everything we’ve missed. For Reggie though it’s. . Worse.”

“ I understand Mijo, Well okay I don’t exactly understand, I’m still coming to terms with the whole ghost thing but I understand that that can bring up a lot of feelings and memories and I want you to know Mijo that you boys are family now, and that you can come to me for anything, If you ever need to talk, or vent or Anything okay?”

Alex nods “Good, Now you said For Reggie Thunderstorms are worse. Why is that?” Alex hesitates for a moment before looking at Reggie, making sure he’s asleep before saying “It’s not really My place to say but I’ll just say that none of us had the best home lives When we were alive but Reggie’s parents would fight. . It would get really bad sometimes. He acted like it didn’t bother him but we could always tell because loud noises would always make him Jumpy and on edge. “ “We don’t have many rules in the Band” Luke says quietly he had been asleep up until this point “But the one unspoken rule we do have is No Fighting or yelling in front of Reggie, We’ll bicker from time to time but we never fight because we know how badly it can affect him.”
Ray sighs “Thank you boys for letting me know, Reggie’s lucky to have friends like you and I promise you boys that I will do everything in my power to make you all feel comfortable and safe in this house, you boys have done so much for Julie and Carlos so as far as I’m concerned you boys are family.” The boys smile In response “Thanks Ray, That means a lot.” “Of course Now I’m going to attempt to go back to sleep before the sun comes up.” Ray says trying to get comfortable in the arm chair “ You boys should get some rest too it’s Well past the time you kids should be getting to sleep.” “Luke opens his mouth to protest before Ray cuts him off “I know you’re ghosts but it still applies, Goodnight boys.” Ray says before he closes his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

As Luke is getting comfortable again he hears a sniffle and looks over at Alex to see the blonde wiping his eyes “Alex? What’s wrong?” Luke asks in concern “Great Now he’s got me crying. I love that guy” Alex says through his tears Luke smiles fondly and chuckles “Me too, Goodnight Alex” “Night, Luke.”