I've Had The Time Of My Life

Chapter 10

After the call with Luke, Willie knew he needed to go back to monitor the situation with Caleb and Carlos. He only caught the tail end of a conversation, Caleb telling someone to take the boy's body away. That didn't sound good. Willie was going to follow to see where Carlos was being taken, when he heard another voice in the room. Willie thought he knew, or at least could recognize the majority of the staff. Especially one who would be allowed in Caleb's personal room, but this voice was different. It sent chills down Willie's spine and made him feel like he really shouldn't be listening right now. The voice was gravelly and harsh, and while he couldn't see the man behind the voice, he knew the person looked intimidating.

"Caleb. Why am I here? My time is very precious. And I have neither the energy or desire to spend it with you." The dark voice said.

"I understand Michael, I mean sir." Caleb replied. Sir? Who was this person that Caleb would speak to with so much fear and respect? "I was wondering if we might be able to discuss our arrangement. I believe I have found a viable alternative." Caleb said, with a slight tremble in his voice. Caleb was always one to command a conversation, but this was certainly different.

"You have my attention." Michael said.

Caleb cleared his throat. "I have a young boy with me here, and while he himself does not appear to possess any form of power, his sister does."

"So there is a chance it could be in his DNA." Michael said, with limited interest in his voice.

"Exactly! So I was thinking, sir, perhaps you could try to bind yourself to him. I'm sure with your powers it would be no problem. And then you wouldn't need me to, I mean you wouldn't need to collect souls any longer."

The man, Michael, seemed to contemplate Caleb's words.

"Caleb, I have given you all of this power, and yet, you do not seem to have control over your own people."

"Sir?" Caleb replied.

"Are you not aware that at this moment that our conversation is being listened to by one of your own?"

Willie's heart was in his throat. He was panicking, how had this man known that he had been listening? And what would Caleb do about it?

There was a beat of silence before Caleb replied. "Yes, I was aware. I always keep my associates close by."

Another moment of silence.

"Do not lie to me Caleb."

"I-I," Caleb started to sputter. Whatever he was going to say after that, Willie wasn't sure as he fled from his room. Whatever or whoever this man Michael was, Willie didn't want to meet him. Hoping that Caleb would be distracted for a little while longer, Willie ran down the halls, searching for Carlos.

On the third door he tried, Willie found Carlos. After helping him out of his bondage, Willie led him back into the hallway.

Willie started to lead Carlos to the main ballroom such that they could reach the exit, when Carlos grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" Willie asked him in a whispered yell.

"We need to stop the bad guy." Carlos replied as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Carlos, listen I know you've just officially met me, but trust me, you don't want to get involved with this. Caleb is bad news, and this guy that he's talking to, well I think he's even worse. Caleb almost sounded afraid of him. I think... I think it was the guy that Caleb was talking about meeting in New Orleans."

Carlos looked at Willie through squinted eyes. Willie said to trust him, but now he was trying to lead him away, and how did he know about New Orleans? What else was he not saying?

"How do you know my sister again?" Carlos asked. He needed to know if he really could trust Willie.

"Uh well I met Alex first. I sort of bumped into him, not knowing I wasn't going to pass right through him. He needed some help learning about all of this ghost stuff, so I offered to be his ghostly tutor," Willie said with a small smile playing on his lips. His face quickly turned sour. "I wanted to help them with a problem he and his band had, but... well I ended up making things worse."

"You're the one who took them to the club for the first time, aren't you?"

Willie looked down in shame. "I didn't know Caleb was going to stamp them. If I had known, I would have never brought Alex and the guys to the club."

"Well then, this is your chance to do something right." Carlos said.

Ever since he was a young boy, Ray had instilled the importance of morality. While he may not have necessarily always been the greatest at following the rules, after hearing Caleb talking about capturing souls, Carlos knew if he didn't do something to save people, he would never be able to look his dad in the eyes again.

***

Alex, Reggie, and Luke left Julie's house to explore New York City. They hoped that they would be able to find a ghost who would have heard of the New York City Ghost Club, but so far they had not had any luck. They really didn't know how to find ghosts now that they couldn't walk through lifers. They ended up trying to make eye contact and see who was surprised to be seen. Apparently, eye contact wasn't a thing in New York, because lots of people gave them funny looks for their intense stares.

When that didn't turn up any solid leads, they decided to split up. They all had their phones on them, so they could quickly message each other if they found anything. Reggie went to Times Square, Alex went to Radio City Music Hall, and Luke went to the Empire State building. They texted each other to give the update of no news, and set off again. Alex headed across the square to 30 Rockefeller, Reggie somehow convinced the guys to let him check out the Central Park zoo, and Luke went to the Plaza Hotel.

Alex came up with nothing, but he hadn't heard back from Reggie or Luke. He poofed to the zoo and found Reggie in a deep conversation with weird fox like animal. "Reg – I don't think this," he read the sign in front of him, "Red Panda knows where we need to go." Reggie hung his head and said goodbye to his new friend, who he named Franklin.

They still hadn't heard back from Luke, so they went to find him at The Plaza. They didn't see him, but they did see a long line of people in fancy clothes, waiting beside... a garbage bin in an alleyway beside the hotel? Obviously this was something suspicious. The two started walking closer, trying to figure out what was so fascinating about this garbage bin. Alex's eyes went wide, and gave Reggie a pointed look. Beside the garbage receptacle there was a hidden door. And what made it even more fascinating was the fact that while some people opened the door, others walked right through it.

They had done it! They had found the club. But where was Luke?

Quick a/n

I know there are some things that are contrary to what Reggie said last chapter. That was on purpose. There's a small possibility he was ~*lying*~ for a mysterious reason that will be revealed later.

"Let your smile change the world, but never let the world change your smile" 

I'll be honest, I have no clue who said this.