Ghosted - Luke | Julie and the Phantoms

Chapter Twelve

I was sat in mom's studio watching Luke, Reggie and Julie rehearse for their performance tonight at the school dance when Alex walked through the garage door. "Oh. Hey, Alex." Reggie smiled.

"Where have you been, man? We need to start practicing." Luke said.

"Yeah? For what?" Alex questioned as Flynn walked into the garage.

"I forgot to tell you earlier." I said as Flynn began talking. "Flynn booked you in for the school dance tonight."

"A school dance." Alex complained.

"Of course, dude." Luke told him. "That's how we get a following nowadays."

"Yeah, get with the program, Alex." Julie smiled.

"What?" Flynn questioned. "The guys are here? Hey, guys." Flynn then waved in the opposite direction to where the boys were standing.

"Other way, sweetie." Julie said. Flynn nodded and waved the other way before Luke, Reggie and Alex waved back at her.

"Okay, well, now that Alex has graced us with his presence, can we start working?" Luke asked.

"Yes!" Julie exclaimed before turning back to Flynn. "We're gonna rehearse. You wanna stick around?" She asked her.

"I'm supposed to blow up 500 balloons for the school dance, but this sounds way better." Flynn grinned as Carlos entered the garage and walked straight through Alex.

"Hey, Julie." He said. "Remember those orbs in dad's pictures?" He asked as he showed the girl the photo of the garage. "I think they're ghosts. But don't worry. This room is... is.... this room is clean. I'm not getting the ghost tinglies."

"Wrong again, little dude." Reggie said, making me laugh before I looked at the photo from over Julie's shoulder.

"Have no fear. If they come back, I will protect you, because I am the man of the house." Carlos claimed.

"Isn't dad supposed to be the man of the house?" Julie asked him.

"There can be two." Carlos said quietly before speaking up. "And dad needs all the help he can get, right?" Julie nodded and Carlos reached into his pocket. "According to the internet, salt burns their souls out." All of our faces then grew frowns as Carlos opened the top of the salt can in his hand. "A little sprinkle will keep them from ever in here." The boy said before throwing some salt around the room and directly onto Alex.

"No!" Alex screamed as we all watched him with panic in our eyes. "No. God, I'm...." The boy cried before stopping and looking up. "I'm fine." He smiled. I shook my head and fell back into the seat beside Julie who then cleared her throat at Flynn and gave her a signal.

"Carlos, you know who's hungry?" She asked the boy. "So, um, salt me a path to the kitchen." Carlos nodded and grabbed the picture he had given to Julie on his way out of the garage, followed by Flynn.

"That's doesn't make sense." Julie frowned.

"What doesn't make sense?" Alex asked.

"Those orbs on dad's photos. If they were you, there should be three."

"How many were there?" Luke questioned as he looked over at me.

"There were four."

"Maybe they're not us." Reggie said, quickly. "Maybe it's just bad quality."

"That might have been the smartest thing I've heard you say." I smiled.

"Yeah." Julie sighed as she looked down at her piano.