You Are The Music In Me

Chapter 26

"Uh hey guys?! I think you should come out here! Like NOW!" Reggie yelled from the living room. Alex and Luke ran into the room and Luke was immediately confused.

"So yeah... the other thing I had to tell you..." Alex started to say.

"Caleb has Carlos." Luke finished. His mouth was in a grim line as he balled his hands into fists.

Caleb was standing in the living room with a firm hand on Carlos' shoulder. While Carlos looked physically fine, his eyes were blank and he didn't seem to see Julie or the boys. Luke looked over at Julie. She was trembling, not with fear but with anger.

"Ah good. I see you got my note." Caleb said happily.

"You mean the note that literally said you have my brother? Yeah. We got it." Julie said with a venom laced voice. Luke loved Julie, without a doubt, but man she could be terrifying. Luke was still trying to figure out what was going on, but he knew they needed to make a plan. And fast.

Hoping that Caleb's vanity would prove useful, Luke asked what dumb plan Caleb had in store.

Caleb laughed with fake offense. "Dumb? Come now Luke, we both know that I am not the dumb one here." His eyes flickered to Reggie.

Rude. "I don't know about that, you literally have come here with Carlos, so what's to stop us from taking him. And you know there's no point in stamping us seeing as it didn't work last time." Luke replied.

Caleb pretended to ponder what Luke had said. "Well why don't you try to take him then?"

Julie ran forward. Luke tried to stop her, this obviously had to be some sort of trap. Unfortunately, he was right. Once Julie's fingers reached Carlos, she screamed out in agony, falling to her knees and writhing in pain. Luke growled deep in his chest and ran to Julie's side, accompanied by Reggie and Alex.

"What did you do to her?" Reggie cried.

"Well I obviously wasn't going to let you just take him back. However... I am willing to make a deal with you." A sly smile crossed his face. "I'm not unreasonable, so I will give you three different options. Option 1 – you boys join my band. Option 2 – Julie, you join my band. Option 3 – I keep Carlos."

While the guys and Julie were all about to volunteer, they hesitated when they heard option 3. Julie spoke up, confused "Why... why would you keep Carlos? I can understand taking me or the boys, but... why Carlos? What benefit could you possibly get from keeping him?"

"And how did you even know about him? You obviously were planning on using him for leverage the whole time, but how did you know he was connected to us?" Alex asked. Luke was grateful that they were able to keep Caleb talking. He felt like he almost had a plan, but he needed the extra time.

"Ah yes. Well I can't quite take the credit for that one. I take it that after he discovered you boys were ghosts, that he connected the dots that there must be more. In fact, I believe that was in part your doing Alex – going on and on about trying to find William. And so the young boy set out to find us. Carlos the Ghost Toaster he was calling himself. He eventually found his way to the Hollywood Ghost Club, again, I believe he had been following you in your search. I could sense the presence of a new lifer in the club, and so I went to greet my new guest. Well, as you can imagine, he was quite impressed with me and my abilities. In fact, he ended up bearing his soul, and how he missed he dear mommy." Julie tensed up at hearing the mention of her mother.

"Young Carlos mentioned how his sister seemed to have quite the connection with her ghost band, and it was quite simple to figure out who he was after that. And while I had initially planned to just use him as a pawn, I began to think of something else. What made Miss Molina here special? Was it possible that her brother possessed some sort of the same power? And unlike your little band, Carlos was eager to talk to me. When I explained that with a little bit of training that he would be able to see his departed mother, he was eager to become an apprentice of sorts. He wanted to be there. So you see, I would actually be quite content with keeping Carlos."

This was not what anyone had expected to hear from Caleb. As he looked around the room, he gave a sigh. "Well, I suppose you will need to discuss what you wish to do from here. As I said, I'm not unreasonable. I will give you the night to say goodbye and decide who will be joining me tomorrow. And I wouldn't bother trying to come up with any clever plans, there will be no point." He made direct eye contact with Luke. Luke had hoped that Caleb would do the classic villain thing and reveal a plot hole or something that they could use to their advantage. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything that could save them from this mess.

"Wait!" Julie yelled. Caleb turned to face her. "Please, please can my brother stay. I want him to know why I won't be here tomorrow." Julie tried to keep her voice strong, but it cracked due to the tears coming down her cheeks.

"Jules you're not going with him!" Luke said while Reggie and Alex nodded. "C'mon Caleb. Let the kid stay." He knew Julie was going to need someone to lean on once he and the guys were gone. Plus, who knew if Caleb would actually keep his word and let Carlos go free tomorrow.

"Very well. I will expect you at the club tomorrow by noon sharp. If you fail to show up... well I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, so make sure you are not late."

With that, Caleb blew some powder at Carlos before poofing out of the room. Carlos crumpled into a heap on the floor, and they rushed towards him. Julie once again reached out to touch Carlos, though she was more hesitant this time.

"Julie – wait!" Reggie said. "Let me. Just in case, you know." Reggie gingerly put his hand on Carlos' arm. When no shocks or pain came, they all huddled around Carlos. Though groggy, Carlos began to rouse. They moved him onto the couch and helped him sit up.

"Ju-Julie?" Carlos said.

With tears in her eyes, though happy ones this time, she replied. "Hey buddy. I'm right here. You're okay. You're safe now."

"What do you mean?" Carlos seemed more alert now. He was looking around the room, trying to figure out what had happened.

"The bad man is gone now. You're back home. And he's never going to get you again."

Carlos' eyes went wide. And then, to the rest of the group's surprise, he got angry. "Why?! Julie why would you do that! He was going to let me see Mom!"

Julie was speechless. Reggie shrank back, not wanting to be confrontational. Alex was trying to regulate his breathing. This left Luke.

"Hey little man, trust me, this is for the better. You can't believe anything Caleb says. He's the one who almost got us killed... or gone... I don't really know how to explain it." Luke's words were met with a cold glare from Carlos.

"That wasn't your decision to make!" He turned back to face Julie. "It's not fair! Caleb told me I was special like you. Maybe even more special. And now, because of you, I won't be able to see Mom again. I hate you!" Carlos jumped off of the couch, and ran to his room, slamming the door.

"Luke," Julie said. "Wha-what are we going to do?"