Cinderblock Garden // Julie and the Phantoms (Luke Patterson)

12

[The Other Side of Hollywood]

The three stood while they waited for Willie.

"I don't know about this," Reggie said.

Alex glanced at him. "Well, if you get scared, you can hide behind me. I'll be hiding behind Luke." He moved to do so.

Luke glanced at his bandmates. "You two need to grow up if we're gonna get back at Bobby. He needs to pay for what he did to us."

"I'm still gonna hide behind him," Alex whispered.

"We're all good," Willie told them.

"Oh, cool. We have an hour, 'cause we have a gig with Julie and Cassie," Alex said.

Willie nodded. "Oh yeah, no worries! Let's go."

As they walked through the club, Willie said, "Normally, I'd have my deck and I'd backboard this heavy 20 set, but tonight we have company! Hope you guys are ready for this!" Willie told them as he slid down the staircase railing. "Whoo!" He gestured to the club.

"Wow!" Alex said. "Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?"

Luke pulled at his over shirt before saying, "I think we're a little overdressed."

"Hmm," Reggie hummed.

The three walked down the stairs and looked at people.

"It it terrific," a woman said as she and a man walked through the ghosts.

Reggie frowned as a couple walked through them and said, "Whoa. I thought all these people were all gonna be ghosts."

"These are all lifers," Willie explained.

"Oh, uh, lifers are actually..." Alex began.

Reggie cut the drummer off with a finger. "Alive people. I was listening."

Willie continued. "But this is a very exclusive crowd. Everybody here has, uh, paid a lot to get a sneak peek at the afterlife."

"I always knew rich people did weird stuff like this."

A waiter walked up to them. "Gentlemen, I have a table for you. Right this way."

The waiter brought them to a table and they all sat and looked around.

"William," the waiter said, removing the name card.

"Oh yeah," Willie replied. "Thanks, man." The waiter walked away.

"Okay, so who's gonna make us visible so we can confront our old bandmate?" Luke asked.

"Oh, no. None of these lifers have the power to do that," Willie replied as the lights dimmed. "Oh, but here comes the ghost who does."

A man said, "Ladies and gentlemen, back by popular demand, please welcome Caleb Covington!"

A purple dust, followed by a floating man, appeared.

The crowd cheered as the man asked, "Did you miss me?"

"Yeah!" the crowed exclaimed.

"I did too!" Caleb said. "Welcome to the party of your dreams!"

"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" Willie cheered.

"From the Egyptians to the druids, to the person sitting next to you, we've all wondered, "Where do we go when our final light is snuffed out?" Allow me to show you."

The boys shared a look.

Caleb began singing as he floated closer to the audience.

The three bandmates sat in their seat as they watched Caleb's performance.

Multiple people in costumes, feathers, glitter, and other props appeared and the crowd gasped. A band played as people danced.

Men in pink suits circled Caleb as Luke looked at the cake in awe. The three looked at everyone dancing, completely engrossed in the sights before their eyes.

Caleb pulled up their table cover to reveal a woman in a short performance skirt. Reggie grinned. The woman stepped off the table.

A woman appeared on a hoop and hung. Reggie stood and Luke and Alex pulled him down.

They watched the dancers spinning chairs.

Caleb continued singing as a black sheet was lifted in front of him.

The women on either side of him waved at the audience and dropped the sheet as Caleb disappeared. The audience stood and cheered. Reggie sat in his chair with dropped jaws. Luke and Alex pulled him up as they clapped.