just friends • luke (julie and the phantoms)

ain't it something

About a week after Amber died, she stopped following Alex everywhere because it hurt her far too much.

But what she didn't know was that the man she bumped into soon after would change her life- or rather, her afterlife- forever.

Caleb Covington was a king. He had everything he had ever wanted and more... or that was how it seemed. The man would never complete his unfinished business because the opportunity for that was long gone, so why not create a shining illusion of perfection and happiness as a beacon for ghosts all over the world?

But all that glitters isn't gold.

He came across as charismatic and charming, but he was rotten inside. Instead of helping his fellow ghosts, he gained enough power to trap their souls to do his bidding. Most of them didn't mind, but those who did... received the consequences. He wasn't sadistic, no... he preferred the term "opportunistic."

But when he bumped into Amber Mercer on Sunset Boulevard, his first thought wasn't "I want her soul," but rather "she looks so much like Ophelia."

And so he took her under his wing, finding that she was lost and new to the life that he had learned to love. Amber became his princess, not a replacement, but a reminder of the one he had lost all those years ago.

"Tell me more about Ophelia," Amber asked him one morning. "All I know is that she was your daughter and that I remind you of her, but you've never said how."

Caleb paused, knowing that if he let himself feel again, it would be nearly impossible to stop. But, in the end, he realized he wanted to tell Amber the truth. "Ophelia was my ray of light throughout my life... my wife too. The two of them supported my career as a performer all throughout my life, and when I died, I left both of them on bad terms... Sandra, my wife, had just been diagnosed with the Spanish Flu, and to keep Ophelia safe, I took her away. I didn't even say goodbye to my wife... I thought it was too dangerous. Little did I know that as soon as I dropped Ophelia off at the hotel where we perform now, I would be hit by an automobile and die. And so I left the world without saying goodbye to the love of my life and with a daughter who hated me for trying to keep her safe... she was around your age. You both are so similar in many ways, with your mannerisms and your physical appearance... but also in your personalities," Caleb trailed off, wiping a stray tear from his eye.

"How so?" Amber asked, softly, her heart shattering for the man who had been nothing but kind to her.

"Ophelia never cared about anyone else's opinion, and she always put others before herself. It was so like her to debate with the best of them, and she was protesting in the streets for women's suffrage with her mother when she was just ten years old. In this short time, I've realized how similar you are. And... I can't help but wonder if this is my second chance to be the paternal figure I never got to be."

"If it helps, I never had a shining example..." Amber replied. "My parents disowned me and kicked me out of their house when my twin came out of the closet and after I supported him."

Caleb merely nodded and opened his arms. Amber found herself in them without a second thought, holding on tight.

From that day forward, Amber learned all the tricks of Caleb's trade... or at least all the ones he wanted her to see. She lived blindly to the fact that he was still signing contracts that made him the owner of people's souls, and it was his intention that she would never find out. Instead, he taught her how to harness her power, showing her things he had never taught another ghost before.

And for five years, Amber danced with Caleb nightly and helped herself to food that she had never even heard of in a different city each night.

But in 2000, a young boy died in a skating accident. That, coincidentally, Amber witnessed.

The boy's name was Willie, and to say that he freaked out when he realized he was dead was an understatement. But Amber was there to help him along, holding him as he cried. She even brought him back to her home at the hotel to meet Caleb, who she was sure could help him.

But Caleb did not feel the same paternal instinct towards Willie and eventually told him that he would give him the power to skate around Los Angeles for the rest of his life... if he signed his soul over to the performer.

And Willie, not knowing any better, did.

Things were good, for a while, but Willie began to see that if he didn't want to do Caleb's bidding, he would get hurt. The boy started to realize the full extent of the contract and was horrified by it all.

But all of that paled in comparison to the fact that Amber didn't know.

When Willie pulled her aside and told her for the first time, Amber was in denial. She couldn't believe that the man she had grown to love as a father could do such a thing to not only her best friend but to countless other spirits.

But the more she looked, the more she saw. Her shining paradise wasn't so perfect after all.

And we all know that Eden was never the same after eating the apple.

But instead of confronting Caleb about it, because she knew that he would only question her loyalties towards him (which were waning by the second), she decided that she would take matters into her own hands. Amber starting going to libraries around the world when they traveled, looking for something that could help break the contract that bound so many to a man with no sympathy towards them at all.

And that is how it went for years, with Amber even traveling on her own to learn more and more. Caleb thought nothing of it, for she had only told him that she wanted to further his education. But Willie knew, and he had hope for a better future because of Amber.

(AN: just wanted to give a little background hehe i'm excited to finally get into the luke/amber parts of this... should i do flashbacks? also please don't be silent readers! let me know what you thought!)