Can you feel me? - Julie And The Phantoms

Chapter 6

<Alex? Can you see anything?> Reggie tries to reach out of the trapdoor, and Luke is forced to hold him up by his shirt to keep him from falling.

The blond still has his head stuck, his hands resting on either side of the trapdoor lid.

He slaps the floor, getting back up with a disappointed expression.
<No, I can't see anything. It's just...I thought I heard a noise.. I thought he was here..>

<But there must be something! Why would you put a trap door in a place like this and then not hide anything?>

<Luke, man, you've seen this place. It's deserted. Caleb must have taken everything. Including Willie..>

Alex is running his hands over his jeans, despite the fact that there's no dust really capable of soiling him.

Reggie and Luke are crouched on either side of the hatch, still staring into the void.

<What did you hear?> Reggie asks, looking up at him.

<It was like... like a cough. There! You heard it!>

Indeed, a noise had come from the bottom of the hatch; a small noise, which could be caused by anything.

Yet none of the three boys thought for a moment that it was anything other than a person.
They could feel it, the strange power emanating from the bottom of the trapdoor.

Luke was the first to jump into the void, followed shortly by Alex and then Reggie. They discovered that the hatch was not deep. Alex even had to duck to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.

What surprised them was the size. The basement seemed to cover the whole club, creating a perfectly identical underground passage.

As soon as they hit the ground, a row of lights flashed above their heads. They could hear them sizzle, flickering a little before they lit up completely.

<What is this place?>

Luke looked at the wooden walls, which matched those of the dressing room perfectly.

They were in a room identical to the one they had just come from.

A perfect mirror.

The Hollywood Ghost Club had a second, identical space that ran umder the surface.

The three boys looked into each other's eyes, then began to shout loudly:

<Willie! Willie!>

The union of their three voices reached every corner of the secret basement, up to the point where the stage is.

There, on an old wooden chair, with his hands tied behind his back, sat Willie.

The boy was not fully conscious, tired by the desperate attempts to poof outside.

Caleb had blocked the use of magic there, unless it was his own.
Willie didn't have a chance to escape, no matter how hard he fought.

As a ghost, he couldn't die. The only thing he could do was wait, hoping that, somehow, Alex would find him.

He didn't know that he had found him, didn't know that they were only a few feet away from each other, unable to see or hear each other.

Alex was screaming Willie's name, running down the corridor.

Finally, it was Reggie who found him.

<Alex!> he shouted <I found him! He's here! Willie is... > he couldn't finish the farce.

Willie's hair covered half his face, leaving only one closed eye uncovered. For one crazy moment, Reggie was afraid he was dead, forgetting that, technically, he already was.

He didn't have the strength to watch Alex lose someone, and before he got there, he wanted to make sure Willie was okay.

He caught up with him, walking slowly and breathing heavily from the run.

From a distance, he could hear the sound of Alex and Luke's footsteps approaching.

Willie continued to remain still, his spread legs splaying out on either side of the chair.
<Hey..> Reggie tried to touch his shoulder, but a scream forced him to stop halfway.

He turned around, just in time to see Alex run towards him and Luke nod him off.

Reggie stepped back, putting a hand in front of his mouth as Alex's hands touched Willie's face.

Luke joined him and positioned himself beside. Together, they watched Alex fight back the fear as he tried to pull Willie back from unconsciousness.

It wasn't long before the warmth of Alex's hands awakened the spark of life that had been hiding inside Willie.

Finally he sighed, opening his eyes slightly.
<Hey, stranger..> Alex greeted him, smiling weakly.

<Luke, help me untie him and let's get him up>

The boy obeyed, and Willie was soon free. He was weak and his legs gave out as he tried to stand up.

<Calm down, not so fast> Alex caught him before he could fall.

<Thanks, hotdog>