[2] Spirit of Hollywood || Julie and the Phantoms ✔

CHAPTER 11: Family Reunions

"Where do you think you're going?" Caleb's voice chills me to the bone.

I freeze on the way to my room, spinning around on my heel. A false smile plays on my lips as I pretend that I wasn't doing something suspicious. After finishing Luke's new song, I had teleported back to the club. Apparently my disappearances have been noticed by more people than I thought.

"To my room," I reply with a sweet smile. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes," Caleb says and my breath is caught in my throat. Not in a good way clearly. "I need you to come with me."

"H-have I done something wrong?" I stammer out, blinking furiously from fear.

Stay calm, Addie, I tell myself. It's probably nothing and if you act weird you'll give yourself away.

"Have you?" Caleb asks, pausing as his crystal blue eyes search mine. After an excruciating few seconds, the magician spins and walks down the hall.

I exhale deeply.

He pauses at the end of the corridor. "Well? Are you coming?"

"Oh," I breathe. "You meant for me to follow you."

Caleb leads me into an area of the club I haven't been often. It's a floor lower than our main dance floor and stage. Goosebumps spread across my body and my hair stands on him as I follow him down into the bowels of building.

"Where are we going?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady and even as we recede deeper into the dark abyss.

Okay, so it's not a dark abyss, it's a room, but I feel like being dramatic.

I'm met with Jean and Willie my friend is sitting on a chair, an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. Fear sets deeper in my body, permeating the organs it hadn't yet touched. My stomach begins cramping with anxiety as I'm led to a chair adjacent to his.

"What's happening?" I whisper to Willie, not bothering to hide my feelings.

"I don't know," he responds, brown eyes wide with panic. "Jean found me and said she wanted to talk. The next thing I know I'm down here and you're entering the room with Caleb."

"I have a bad feeling about all this," I mutter.

"Why are you asking Willie questions?" Caleb says with a frown. "After all, we're the ones with the answers."

The magician gestures between himself and the woman with an old cane.

"Fine," I answer, setting my jaw. "Why are we here?"

"I think it's time that you finally learned your history," Caleb replies with a smirk. "You've been doing research of your own, but the papers never seem to get it right, do they? The media likes to twist everything around. No truth in any of it."

"Why should we trust you?" Willie asks him defiantly. "You'll lie."

"Will I, Willie?" Caleb asks. "Or will I give you a more thorough version of the truth than anything you could have found?"

We're silent.

So he's found the magazines. Great. Maybe there's still a chance that he doesn't know about the excursions to Julie's house.

"It's been interesting watching you sneak away, thinking that no one would ever find out," Caleb tells me with a mocking pout. "Such carelessness...it's not like you, Addie. Then again, love can make you do strange things."

"How would you know?" I blurt.

"I was in love once," Caleb replies, eyes flitting over to the woman. "It was fleeting, unappealing. Love makes you weak Adelaide Claire Cooper. You're blindsided by the person's faults. It's easier to be manipulated."