Rose's Journal

Chapter 38: The Jolt

Alex awoke in a dark room, unsure of where he was. He tried to get up but felt a shock as soon as he moved to get up which made him fall back down. He didn't know how long it had been, or if he was alone. He hated being alone.

"Are you okay?" a familiar voice yelled out across from him. It was Willie. Alex smiled just to know he was there but felt a knot form in his stomach, just like when Luke and Reggie came into the dark room. It was his fault that Willie was there. Maybe if they had gone to their friends for backup, they could have helped. Or they would all be there, trapped in a room that they had no recollection of even going into. All he knew was that the second the jolts came, he could feel himself getting weaker, similarly to when Caleb stamped them, but it only happened when he tried to get up, so he decided that it was best to stay sitting.

"I see you are awake," another familiar voice said. This time it wasn't a friendly one. Out of the shadows emerged Caleb Covington.

"Caleb, what the hell did you do this time?" Willie shouted as he attempted to get up before Caleb blasted him back to the ground.

"Sit, and I will tell you. So, according to my sources, it seems that you guys have figured some things out. Some things you should have left alone."

"Yeah, like how Bobby killed us, and you trapped us for 25 years," Alex shouted angrily, mustering up as much confidence as he could.

"Yes," Caleb responded with a deviant smile, "Those. It what I was supposed to do, boys. Couldn't have you becoming stronger. I wasn't sure what would happen to a group of three sacrificed, so I decided it was best to leave you trapped. Then Rose freed you. You know, Julie's precious mom. Now, she will suffer the same fate the three of you should have the night you played the Orpheum. But don't worry, it's only a matter of time until you three meet your demise as well."

"What do you mean?" Willie asked, shifting nervously as he stared over at Alex, who was already ringing his hands.

"You know how you hugged Julie, and the stamps just magically disappeared when you were able to touch her? Well, it wasn't 'the power of love' or whatever you spewed to justify it. Your lifelines became attached to hers, which means if Julie dies, bye-bye boys." Caleb chuckled evilly.

"So, the fact that she can touch us now is because we all share a lifeline because she was the only one of us alive?" Alex asked.

"Well, the ability to touch someone is because you are attached to their soul, but, in this scenario, it also allows a person to attach their lifeline to yours," Caleb responded.

"We've told Julie what you look like, and she has people around her. There's no way you could get closer to her," Willie remarked.

"Maybe I can't," Caleb said, then a puff of purple smoke surrounded him, making Nick appear in his place. "But I can," Nick said, his voice containing an echo of Caleb's.

"You made yourself look like Nick?" Alex asked, growing angrier. Nick was someone Julie trusted, and he hated that Caleb was trying to capitalize on that trust.

"No, I possessed Nick. The possession of someone gives you more abilities as that person than simply just looking like them. If you feed off their hurt and anger, you can truly do a lot of powerful things," Nick and Caleb's voices said.

"Why are you telling us all of this?" Willie asked, staring down Nick.

"Well, why not tell you when you're doomed anyways? I figured you should know exactly what happened to Julie as you watch Alex fade out of existence only," he paused and looked down at his watch "Ah, five hours from now. I'm going to meet her as Nick at the pizza café. I'll pretend to be him until the end of the date when I walk her home. As we walk through the trees in front of her house, that's when I strike. Sounds like a good plan, huh?"