Ghosted

Chapter 19: The Hollywood Ghost Club

Julie had no plan, but she was determined. Will her determination be enough? One can only hope.

She remembers the guys saying the Hollywood Ghost Club being in an old hotel, so she google maps old run down hotels and only finds one that's completely abandoned.

She heads there, praying a plan will spontaneously come to her in the way there. Surely there has to be something she can do.

She makes it to the old hotel, walking in there was old furniture covered with white tarp, cobwebs everywhere. It was an old, abandoned hotel. Not a magical ghost club.

Maybe I got the wrong place? She thought. But where else could Caleb's club be? Maybe there's some secret way in, she just needs to find it.

Suddenly, the floor beneath her caves, and she feels herself falling but suddenly something grabs her arms before she falls through the hole in the floor. She looks down as she dangles, the hand tightly holding on to her almost making her wrist hurt. It's a long way down.

**
Alex looks to his left and right. Luke and Reggie were no where to be seen. No one was playing in front of him. The only thing he could see was a bright light, shinning on him like a spotlight. He felt like his nerves were eating him alive as the crowd cheered as he drummed away to a jazzy beat, uncontrollably like in Nothing to Lose.

He's never played on stage by himself before. He never wanted to. He liked being set up in the back, as if to hide behind his bandmates from the crowd. Now all the eyes were on him, and it made Alex's skin crawl.

And playing on that stage just wasn't right without his bandmates. It wasn't right without Luke or Reggie, or Julie. Now he's wondering if they'll ever play together again at all, or if this is Caleb's plan. To separate all of them for eternity.

Wasn't one of his points the first time around was that they'd all be there together? Alex remembers Caleb saying it vividly, looking at Reggie. He remembered how the next thing Caleb said was about Willie, and he said that while staring into Alex's eyes.

Each one of his points, was a direct hit at each of them. Maybe now Caleb is going back on that. But either way, Alex is forming a plan. It's all he can do other than let anxiety take him away. Forming a plan will help distract his mind.

Maybe there's a chance he can still find Willie. He'll know what to do. He can help them escape.

And what if he can't? Then what?

Alex feels his breath start to get heavier and heavier, each breath is like a whole workout. His chest gets tight and he starts to feel sweaty and clammy. He just wanted to get off that stage, but it was like he was a puppet and Caleb was the puppet master controlling him.

**
Reggie realized right away Luke and Alex weren't with him on that stage. He didn't feel the comfort of their presence, the electrifying music of Luke's guitar and the warm and comforting beat of Alex's drum.

It was just him and his bass on that stage playing a jazzy, swing, song Reggie didn't even know, but his hands plucked the strings like they've played this song thousands of times. It felt like the song would never end. Reggie figured Caleb was controlling him again, and wondered if Alex and Luke were sharing the same fate, all alone on a cold dark stage like he was.

Sure there were people in the audience, but none of those people mattered to Reggie. The only people that ever mattered to him were the ones he was on stage with. And Steve when he was in the audience, but it was rare for him to be at one of his shows because their parents never let him.

Right now, their was no one in the audience he cared about and he was alone in stage. He was alone, the thing he hated the most.

Was this Caleb's plan? To separate them?

Reggie wondered if he'd ever see his friends again. They thought of not seeing them again left a sick feeling in his stomach and a long for them even more.

He felt a little stupid for feeling like this, but to him a world without his bandmates, his best friends, his family, was an empty one. He wasn't sure he was supposed to have such strong feelings for people who were his friends, but he didn't see how he couldn't have those feelings for them. He didn't see how he couldn't love them as much as he does.

All he could think about was how he just wanted to be with them again, even if it was in that awful shag-carpeted room.

And as if he willed it to happen, the song stopped. He stopped playing and the audience disappeared as if they were a figment of his wild imagination. More likely they were an illusion from Caleb.

He wiggles his fingers, he was in control again. He sets his bass down and runs off the stage to search for his friends, and then a way out.

**
Luke was up stage too, but instead of a roaring audience, there was just two people there. His mom and dad. His heart was a rock of ice upon seeing them. They've never come to one of his performances before, except his fourth grade talent show where he and his friends played the first song Luke ever wrote.

To his parents it was a silly talent show kids did for fun. They thought music would just be a phase of his. Like how little girls say they want to be a mermaid when they grow up or how Reggie said he wanted to be a dragon when he grew up. (He still says it sometimes, except now he says he wants to be a dragon rider.)

But to Luke, it was the start of everything. On that talent show stage, playing his original song he wrote for him and his friends to play, the feeling of the music in his veins and heart, the vibration of the music under is feet, the beat of Alex's drum and the strum of Reggie's bass, the cheers and smiles of the audience. It was that moment he knew that's what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

There was silence. Not even music was playing and Luke stood on the stage motionless, unsure if it was really his parents or just a trick from Caleb.

"What...what are you guys doing here?" Luke says hopping off the stage.

"What are we doing here? What are you doing here?!" Emily snaps.

"Let's all just try and remain calm and civil." Mitch says putting a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Luke, you did good up there."

"Thanks." Luke says, but it didn't mean anything to him. Sure he valued his dad's support, but he was only saying good job to remain neutral. He agrees with his mom about him quitting the band and music as a career.

"We told you you couldn't go out tonight, you're still grounded." Emily says. "You said you'd quit the band."

"I lied." Luke shrugs, reliving the memory of this night now. He forgot all about Caleb and being at the club, he was back in 1994 in his mind. The night after the bands first real gig. The guys had already left and so did the rest of the audience, leaving him alone with his parents who he thought didn't believe in him. "We got our first real gig!"

"And look how long it took you to get there." Emily says. "Ever since you started this band, you've been falling behind in school. And you're going out late on school nights."

"It's not like I'm out late doing drugs or setting forest fires like other teenagers." Luke says. "I'm going after something I really want, and I think we can get there. So what, it took us a year of playing on the streets, the beach, and book clubs, we didn't give up! And it got us here. And one day we are gonna be legends! Musical legends! Don't you believe in us? Don't you believe in me?"

"Of course we do." Mitch says. "I think what your mom is trying to say is...you know a career of music is uncertain. Do you even have a back up plan? And you can't do music and put your education at risk, your mom's right. You gotta keep your grades up."

"School doesn't teach us anything useful anyways. When am I ever gonna need algebra? Is algebra gonna make a difference in someone's day, make them smile and feel something like music does?"

"You need to listen to us! We are your parents Lukas." Emily says.

"Yeah well you kinda suck at it." Luke says pushing past them and leaving the theatre.