Leila took a bite of the cherry pie, plopping the full fork in her mouth as she watched Caleb closely.
It had been five years since Caleb took her off to his club and it has been great however Leila tended to avoid the man himself, the show was great, she loved singing, dancing and playing music again however she did not like the man at all. He made her uneasy and there was just something off about him although Leila couldn't put her finger on it.
Before it was easy enough to ignore, she simply drowned herself in the music of the club however for some reason it had become nearly impossible.
As Leila shoveled the cherry pie into her mouth, she saw Willie, the skater boy from before and one of her closest ghost friends, walk up to Caleb. He seemed uneasy, nervous, almost scared which was unusual enough for Willie, it was no surprise that Leila was immediately worried.
Willie had become like a brother to her and honestly, he reminded her of Alex in some ways, she could see them getting along.
Some days, Willie and Jasper were the only things keeping Leila going, keeping Leila here in the Hollywood Ghost Club. Other days, she could never imagine leaving.
Her worry for Willie was enough reason to eavesdrop to Leila, the fact that she didn't like nor trust Caleb... well that was just a bonus.
She was lucky she did, if she hadn't, she might have been gone for good.
"Do we have to do this?" Willie asked Caleb nervously as Leila took another bite of her pie, trying her best to drown out the rest of the chaos in the club to focus on their words. She could hardly see them as they were in one of the dark corners Caleb always seemed to drift to.
"We've talked about this. She's too powerful, she must be controlled." Caleb told the boy quietly but sternly, she could tell Caleb was giving Willie no choice in whatever was happening just by his voice.
"I know, I know but she's really nice and she loves it here. She doesn't want to leave." Willie told Caleb, seemingly trying to push him to another option. Caleb wasn't having it.
"She likes music, William. She doesn't care about you, she doesn't trust me. All she cares about is the music." Caleb was angry, his voice sounded like he was spitting out poison, he seemed to straighten himself, reigning in his emotions before he continued. "After all, outside of here she can't sing, she can't dance, she can't do anything."
Leila shivered, she had a bad feeling about this.
Willie sighed, wishing he could help the girl, defend her, but it was no use. "When are you going to do it?" Willie asked softly.
"Do what William?" Caleb asked with a smirk, pushing Willie to utter the words he knew would upset the boy.
Leila paused, her fork in mid-air as she listened closely, her full attention going to them and their words although she kept her gaze away from them, instead staring at one of the dancers who was currently dancing along with the room, moving easily and carelessly.
Leila didn't know.
She didn't know but she had a feeling in her gut. A feeling she would soon learn was right. She was right not to trust Caleb, she was right to feel uneasy around him, she was right about everything.
And Willie's words confirmed it.
"When are you going to put your stamp on Leila?" Willie seemed to force the words out as Caleb stared at him, giving him no choice but to say the words under his cold gaze.
Leila nearly dropped her fork in shock, she caught it just in time, gripping it tightly instead, her knuckles turning white.
Caleb was no good.
Leila had known that since the second she met him. She just never thought he would try to put his stamp on her.
He told her it was the last option, that he hated doing it, that he only did it to the dangerous ghosts, the ghosts that wanted to hurt him.
That paranoid jerk.
It wasn't dangerous ghosts, it was powerful ones.
It wasn't ghosts who wanted to hurt him, it was ghosts who could.
He wanted to control them. He didn't want to protect the other ghosts, he wanted to protect himself.
As Leila mulled this over she came to a decision.
She was getting out of the Hollywood Ghost Club before Caleb killed her for a second time.
She didn't want to leave before, but now Caleb was making her leave. He was giving her no choice in the matter, this was exactly what he was scared of, losing control of her, and yet he was the reason. He was the reason for his own loss. And he didn't even know it.
Leila almost laughed at the thought however she bit her tongue, placing a fork full of pie in her mouth instead as she relaxed into her chair although she never truly relaxed. She was on full alert now.
She didn't know who to trust anymore, she didn't know if she could trust anyone here when she used to trust all of them.
It was that night that she did it. She told Caleb she was going for a walk, telling him she wanted to get some air before their next big show, she said it with a forced grin that might have had Luke, Alex, or Reggie believing it so of course, Caleb believed it. He hardly knew her. He couldn't tell when she was lying, when she was forcing a smile, he couldn't even tell when she didn't want to leave.
Her only regret was not telling Jasper but she couldn't risk it. She knew she could trust Jasper, he would never want to hurt her, however, Caleb had eyes and ears everywhere. Jasper couldn't know. Not yet.
As soon as she was a block or two away, she began to run. She wasn't sure where she was going, where she wanted to go even, all she knew was she had to get away from the Hollywood Ghost Club before it brought her to her doom, before it killed her for a second time, before Caleb killed her.
She wasn't sure how she managed to find her way there exactly however when she saw them inside, she figured it fate. That it was meant to be.
She stopped outside of the studio as she heard the unmistakable voices of her boys.
