the forsaken (julie and the phantoms)

chapter 6: "you're not crazy. he's a catch"

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After Reggie and Alex showed Julie where Luke's been going, they came back to the garage to actually rehearse for the gig Luke lined up for them. In the middle of a verse in "Finally Free", Luke suddenly poofs in, and it was honestly one of the best birthday gifts he could've asked for.

"Whoa, Julie."

Julie looked at the boy she's grown to become so fond of, "Grab your guitar. We got work to do."

He couldn't believe it. His dream was back on track. He grabbed his guitar and walked up to Julie, "What made you come back?"

"I realized how important music is to all of us. And we've lost so much already. We can't lose this too."

Luke looked deep into her eyes, "Thanks." He quickly averted his eyes when he remembered, "Hey, where's Diana?"

Reggie replied, "She was having those headaches again, so we let her rest in Julie's house."

Diana then appears and she, ironically enough, looks like she's seen a ghost. Her face was flushed and she seemed distant.

Luke quickly rushes up to Diana, grinning, "Julie rejoined the band! We're rehearsing 'Finally Free' right now, and I actually have some ideas for–"

Alex interrupted Luke, noticing Diana's demeanor, "Diana, what happened?" He started to get up and walk towards the girl.

She didn't know what to say. She felt like she was frozen in time, but she needed to tell them. They deserved to know. "I–" Her brain started to feel like it was being eviscerated so much so that she fell to her knees in pain.

All of the guys rushed down to her and Julie quickly shot up. Luke cradled her into his arms, "A-Again? I-It looks like it's getting worse."

"It is." Diana managed to say. Soon enough the pain began to subside so she can open her eyes and try and get up.

"I really think that this has something to do with your eyes. After we saw your eyes turn purple last night, it seems like it's been getting worse," Luke looked at her with worry.

Julie cocked her head in confusion, "Your eyes turned purple?"

Reggie shook his head as he helped lead Diana to a chair, "It's probably just your head injury. You never really got it treated. Like you said, it got worse because of the flashing lights last night. You should probably just rest."

Diana pursed her lips as Reggie helped her sit on the couch, "Yeah, Reggie's probably right. I– I probably should just rest right now since it's probably my head."

Luke looked at her hopefully, "Well... do you think you'll be okay enough to play with us tonight."

Diana felt like a deer in the headlights. After what just happened, she had to lie or the consequences... the consequences could be unimaginable. "I-I don't think it's a good idea. I should probably spend the day resting, and maybe I'll just hang out with Flynn on the sidelines."

Julie responded, "Yeah, we don't want you to hurt yourself even more."

Reggie automatically agreed and Luke did, reluctantly. Alex said that that was probably the best idea, but he knew something was up. Diana was lying. She was really subtle about it, but something was wrong.

"Alright, boss. Where we at?" Luke asked Julie while his eyes drifted over to Diana for a moment.

Julie smiled, "Let's go from the pre-chorus." Luke smiled back at her and Julie mentioned, "Oh, and happy birthday."