𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬

𝟑𝟕 | 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲

"So, the different 'eras' are the different albums?"

It was after the show, and it had gotten dark out. Julie and Flynn had gone inside for celebratory pizza. Luke, Alex and Reggie had started playing basketball. I sat on the steps and watched. Luke had brought up the question of what we were talking about before. Alex and I started to explain all we learned about the one and only Taylor Swift.

"And you guys think I'm Lover which is," Luke dropped the basketball and observed my phone, which Julie lent me and taught me how to use - I was getting pretty good at the future. "The one with the pink rainbow unicorn music video and the one with the asshole dude who ends up being Taylor Swift in disguise?"

Alex and I nodded.

"What the hell, guys," Luke countered. "I'm clearly the cool one with the yacht and the ginger guy."

"Reputation," Alex corrected him. "And no, you're not."

"Here, just listen," I opened up Spotify and played the song Lover. "See? You're so Lover."

"Wait," Luke turned to me. "If she's singing about her lover, and you think I'm Lover, doesn't that actually make you Lover."

I stood up in shock. "Luke!"

"You did not just say that!" Alex made his way over to me.

"What did I do now?!"

"We are not locals, we are so beyond that!" Alex explained. "See? I'm Folklore and Ruth is Evermore."

"Wait, which one am I again?" Reggie asked.

"Debut!"

"With a sprinkle of Fearless!"

"Alright, alright," Luke picked up the basketball again. "I take it back, you two are Fairylore and Nevermore and Reggie is the country one and I'm Lover."

"It's okay, Luke," I patted him on the shoulder. "One day you'll be on our level."

"Feels like we should be celebrating or something," Reggie said, changing the subject. "What do you guys wanna do?"

At that moment, I felt like I was dying all over again as sparks shot from my core. It happened to the guys too. We all coughed and spluttered in pain. When did this start happening to them? I thought it was just me - they never mentioned it.

"Not that," Alex answered.

Luke turned his gaze to me. "You too?"

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. I felt the concern in his eyes.

"That wasn't like the other ones," Luke said, turning to face the guys. "It's getting worse."

"Why is this happening to us?" Reggie asked.

Willie appeared out of nowhere. "It's because you guys are in serious trouble."

"Willie?" Alex questioned.

"We need to talk," Willie frowned.

———

Willie brought us for a walk down the streets of Hollywood and explained everything - that the stamps Caleb had given us were causing the jolts and that we had no choice but to go and work for him.

"Wait," Luke turned to me. "When did he give you one?"

I buried my face in my hands. "After you left that night, he offered me a job as one of his dancers. I wasn't actually going to take it, but I was upset with you guys and I said I'd consider it - he said the stamp was so I could get back into the club."

"Hey," Luke removed my hands from my face. "It's okay, we'll figure this out."

Luke casually slipped my hand in his as we continued to walk.

"Yeah, he offered us spots in his band," Alex informed me.

It all made sense - we never had a choice. Caleb wanted us as part of his club so he could have control over us. There was no way he was going to let us go with our abilities - to be seen by lifers that easily. As I came to this conclusion, Willie explained it to the guys. It was even worse hearing it out loud.

"You're the only ghosts that can be visible to lifers without his help," Willie explained.

"And you let him do this to us?" Alex asked, betrayed.

"I can't stop him!" Willie reasoned. "He owns my soul, alright? He owns everyone's soul in that club."

A shiver went down my spine - I thought that only happened when a ghost walked through you. Another childhood myth busted. Luke squeezed my hand and pulled me closer.

"If he even knew I was here talking to you," Willie stuttered. "He would destroy me."

"So, if we don't join his club," Reggie began. "The weird power outage thing continues until there's no power left at all?"

"Yes," Willie confirmed.

"What exactly happens when the power goes out?" Reggie asked, the only one still able to speak.

"That's ... " Willie paused. "That's it. You're done."

"Uh-huh, yeah," Reggie nodded. "And what exactly do you mean by 'we're done'?"

Willie explained that we would cease to exist if we did not accept Caleb's offer. We had no choice. We would have to say goodbye to Julie and the band would fall apart ... again. We should've let the hot dogs take us.

"That's some club you guys got going on," Luke scoffed.

"But there is another option," Willie claimed. "That's why I'm here."

Willie explained that we needed to figure out what our 'unfinished business' was. We needed to figure out what we didn't get to do when we were alive - something that we really wanted to do - and that narrowed it down to just about everything. If we figured out what this unfinished business was, we would be able to 'crossover,' whatever that meant.

I scoffed. "What kind of Ghostbusters shit is this?"

"What's our unfinished business?" Luke asked.

"I don't know," Willie admitted. "But since you all died at the same time, you know, it might be something you need to do together."

I blinked in disbelief. "You mean successfully eat hot dogs?"

"Maybe?"

"Why should we listen to a word you say?" Alex asked.

"Because I care about you, Alex!"

"Aww!" I exclaimed, to which everyone turned to face me. "Sorry, not the time."

"And I hate that I brought you and your friends into this mess," Willie continued.

We all stood in shock as Willie apologised profusely. None of us knew what to think. Explaining that he had to get back to the club, Willie vanished into the night.

"This is all my fault," Alex said. "I met Willie, Willie introduced us to Caleb, and now ... now we're screwed."

"Stop thinging," I gave a small smile. "It's not your fault."

"Yeah, we all wanted to go see Caleb," Luke agreed.

"We have to tell Julie," Reggie said.

"Oh my god," I let go of Luke's hand to bring my hands to my temples.

"No, we can't do that," Luke shook his head, grabbing my hand again. "This just means more loss in her life. But if we don't want Caleb to own our souls, we have to figure out what our unfinished business is."

"Yeah, man, and how are we supposed to do that, alright?" Alex questioned. "There was so much we wanted to do."

"But," I interrupted as I came to a realisation. "There was one thing we all had in common when we first met."

"Oh yeah?" Alex asked. "And what's that?"

We came to a stop right outside where it all began.

"Play the Orpheum."