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You’ve got living to do.
After almost two full years of avoiding and escaping Caleb Covington the final stand had come for the boys of Sunset Curve. Surrounded by their lifer allies, they made their play to be rid of him forever. They had a plan, a good one and they had the people they cared about the most at their backs there was no possible way they could lose and yet somehow, they had.
Their final show down at The Hollywood Ghost Club ended in abject failure, Caleb had them trapped and worst of all he had gotten his ghostly hands on Julie, Carlos, Flynn, Carrie and Nick too. Not only had the boys not saved themselves from Caleb, they had practically served their friend up to him on a silver platter.
The boys and their five living friends were trapped in some kind of magical dome that was surrounded by an impassable moat of green and purple flames. Caleb was gloating gleefully while the boys did all they could to protect their friends from the demented forma magician.
Reggie had Carlos resting on his hip as if he were a toddler instead of an eleven nearly twelve-year-old child, the terrified Molina boy clung to his ghostly best friend grateful for any and all protection he could offer.
Alex had Nick and Carrie hidden behind him covering them both as best he could while the two teens fought to contain their anger and hatred of Caleb. Nick glared fiercely at the ghost who had once processed him and Carrie was practically vibrating with impotent frustration, how dare he threaten the boys after they had devoted so much of their afterlives to helping others, herself included. The two humans knew there was nothing they could do against their ghostly captor and doing something that might just make him madder wouldn’t help their situation but that didn’t mean they didn’t want to go after him for all he had done.
Luke had originally positioned himself in front of Julie and Flynn in an effort to protect them but neither girl was having that. Flynn stood close to Luke’s side with her arms folded, the look she shot Caleb was a clear warning, if he so much as tried to harm her boy’s he would have her to deal with. Julie tried to stand between Luke and Caleb but Luke couldn’t allow her to endanger herself like that, so he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her back against his side while sending Caleb a cold glare of his own.
In some pessimistic corner of their minds the boys had known that their plan wasn’t fool proof but they had truly believed they would at least be able to ensure the safety of their friends, apparently, they were wrong and now the lifers were just as trapped as the ghosts.
Caleb was debating what to do with his newest captives when he was interrupted by yet more lifer’s. Ray Molina and his terrified but ever loyal sister in law Victoria had been led to The Hollywood Ghost Club by equally terrified but just as loyal Willie.
“Covington” Ray roared as he raced towards the dome that held the boys, their friends and the ghostly master of ceremonies himself.
“Will I never be rid of you Molina’s?” Caleb sighed glaring at Ray like the man had just tracked a whole field of mud into his classy club.
“I’m here to make a deal that would mean you would never have to see any of us again” Ray said much more calmly as he reached the flaming moat.
Caleb motioned for Ray to go on, he really was fed up with these lifers messing up his plans.
“Let my kids go, I’ll take them home, we will never darken your door again and you will never darken ours” Ray said laying his deal out for Caleb.
“Dad, no” Julie yelled, she refused to leave the guys to their fate at the hands of Covington and she couldn’t believe her Dad would ask her to, she thought they meant something to him.
Caleb completely ignored Julie’s outburst in favour of focusing on Ray and his offer.
“You and your kids, will not come back here, ever” he clarified.
“Never” Ray agreed “But I get to take all of my kids” he said looking over to Flynn, Carrie and Nick “and I want your promise you will stay away from all of us once we leave”
“You have my word” Caleb said with a small bow to seal the deal in leu of shaking the living man’s hand “ok, take your kids and go” he told Ray with a dismissive wave of his hand.
With that the flames in the moat died down and a narrow bridge sprung up allowing the lifers in the dome to exit safely.
“Nick” Ray called out to the boy he had only recently come to know “your first kid” he said waving towards the bridge.
Inside the dome the three separate groups had come together near the bridge Caleb had created. While none of the living occupants of the dome wanted to leave their ghostly friends, some of them would be easier to convince than others and they all knew Nick would be the easiest of them all.
“I’m sorry guy’s, I really thought it would work” he said referring to the plan that he had helped them to come up with.
Nick was not as close to the boys as any of the others but they were still his friends, they had once risked everything to save him from Caleb’s grasp and he hated that he couldn’t repay them in kind.
“We know man” Luke reassured the other boy with the brightest smile he could muster.
Nick sadly clapped each of the boys on the shoulder before he stepped through the dome and walked across the bridge, striate into the waiting arms of Victoria. She was determined not to let her fear stop her from being there for Julie, Carlos and their friends. There might not be much she cold do for them but she would be a comforting present if nothing else.
Watching Nick pass safely through Caleb’s magical barrier should have been a relief for the lifers still held within it but instead they found themselves filled with dread. Now that the boys were sure that they could get out safely they were defiantly going to insist that they all go and leave them behind.
“I’m not going” Carrie said stubbornly, she faced down the boys with a hard look that all but screamed you can’t make me do anything and for the first time in mouths they were reminded of the immovable ice maiden she had been when they first met her.
“Carrie, you have to go” Alex stated just as firmly. He and Carrie had gotten really close over the last year and a half. Even before Carrie could see the guys, she and Alex had begun to bond by passing little notes back and forth between each other, then once he had finally become visabul to her their dance sessions had only cemented their fledgling friendship.
“I can’t” Carrie insisted “I literally owe you my life, if Dad hadn’t have stolen your songs I would have grown up with nothing, my whole life was built on your talents, one Wilson let you guys down already, I won’t be the second” she couldn’t believe that they would ask her to abandon them just like her father had all those years ago.
“You are not responsible for your father actions” Alex had tried to tell her this over and over again but Carrie never seemed to hear him.
“Besides you having a nice life is the only good thing to come out of what Bobby did” Reggie tried to reason with Carrie but she wasn’t hearing him either.
Once they had gotten passed her cool façade and seen the sweet and slightly insecure girl hiding behind it all three of the guys had developed a soft spot for Carrie. They were still beyond mad at Bobby for what he had done but they all agreed they were glad that Carrie at least had benefitted from their misfortune.
“OK Carrie, you feel like you owe us?” Luke asked her urgently, knowing Caleb was not the most patient of people and not wanting to risk his friends losing their chance at freedom.
“Of course, I do” the girl said.
“Well you don’t” Luke told her firmly “but if you really want to do something for us, then take Flynn and get out of here” he said pointing towards the bridge.
“What?” both Carrie and Flynn gasped at Luke’s suggestion.
“I’m not leaving you guys” Flynn stated sounding just as determined as Carrie had before her.
Flynn’s loyally to the boys may have originally stemmed from her friendship with Julie but it had quickly evolved. When Julie’s magic hug (as Reggie called it) had enabled them to become both visible and corporal to those they formed an emotional attachment to everything had changed.
Neither Flynn nor the Phantoms had realised just how close they were until she had turned up the day after their big gig and been able to see them without them even trying to show themselves to her. Them becoming solid to her had taken some work but it had happened much more quickly with her than anyone else.
Over the last two years the three of them had pretty much become big brothers to her, Flynn finally knew what it was like to have a sibling and she now understood the deep love and devotion that Julie and Carlos shared. She knew her ghostly brothers would do anything for her, they would never leave her, so long as they had a choice in the matter and she wouldn’t leave them either.
“Look we all know Caleb doesn’t play games” Luke said seriously “we aren’t getting out of here” he indicated to himself, Reggie and Alex “but you girls can and Julie is going to need both of you once this is over” he insisted. Using Julie against Flynn and Carrie was a low move and Luke knew it but there was nothing he wasn’t willing to do to see them and her safe.
“But I don’t want to lose you” Flynn began to tear up looking at all three of the guys who had come to mean so much to her.
Carrie wrapped a comforting arm around the shorter girl’s shoulder, the fact that she was prepared to offer Flynn support was a testament to just how far their friendship had come since Carrie had mended her bridges with both her and Julie. Less than a year ago Flynn would have shrugged Carrie’s arm off but now she lent into her friend, gladly excepting the comfort she offered.
“You won’t lose us Flynn, neither of you will, not really” Alex rushed to comfort and reassure the girls he saw as little sisters. “No matter where Caleb puts us, we are always going to be with you because we love you, you know that right?” he knew that both of the girls knew how he and the guys felt about them but if these were his last moments with them, he wanted to be sure.
“But if you try to stay here, we will lose you” Reggie sadly cut into Alex’s tender moment with some cold, cruel facts. He might have been the most optimistic of the three ghostly band members but even he didn’t want to think about what Caleb would do to lifers who defied him.
“We need you safe” Luke admitted softly, he wanted to hug the two younger girls so badly but he could bring himself to release his hold on Julie, not yet.
“You have to go, please” Alex all but begged the girls and they both knew they were done for when he turned his puppy dog eyes on them, Caleb was possibly the only being in the universe who could resist those darn eye’s.
“Come on Flynn” Carrie sighed sadly “we’ve got to go” she said gently, she wanted to stay just as much as the other girl did but she knew Caleb would never allow that and if he did anything to harm them the guys would spend the rest of their afterlives blaming themselves, she couldn’t let that happen.
Plus, Luke was right Julie was going to need them if she was ever going to recover from the loss of the boys. Losing them was going to brake Carrie’s heart and she knew it but she didn’t want to think about what it was going to do to Julie.
“I know” Flynn agreed tearfully and Carrie had to wonder if the other girl had come to the same realisation as she had.
Flynn may have accepted that she had to leave but she wasn’t going without saying goodbye. She gave each boy a tight hug, it was difficult to get her arms around Luke and Reggie as neither of them were ready to let go of the Molina that they were holding but it would have to be enough.
Luke hugged her back as best he could, Reggie kissed her forehead softly and Alex almost lifted her off the ground with the force of his bear hug.
Flynn was in tears by the time Carrie led her through the forcefield, it was strange for the on lookers to see the usually strong Flynn breaking down while Carrie, the more openly emotional of the two girls doing all she could to hold herself together for the sake of her friends.
Nick and Victoria quickly guided to two girls to relative safety behind Ray who was still holding his firm stance and had not taken his eyes off of Caleb for so much as a moment.
The two Molina children were the only ones left with the boys now and they knew their time was running out. Reggie heaved a sigh knowing that Carlos had to go next, he didn’t want to imagen how much letting his honorary little brother go was going to hurt and sadly he wouldn’t have to, as he know for sure in just a matter of moments.
“No, no, no,” Carlos began to protest as he felt Reggie lower him down to the ground. “No, I’m not leaving you” the child sobbed, wrapping his arms around the older boy’s waist.
“hey, hey, little dude, it’s going to be okay” Reggie said softly, trying hard to keep his own tears at bay and untangle the boy’s arms, so that he could crouch down to Carlos’s level.
“No, it’s not” Carlos countered “you’re the good guys, you’re not meant to lose” he cried.
“But sometimes you’ve got to lose before you can win” Reggie said, he wasn’t sure where he was getting this stuff from (perhaps he had read too many of Nick’s comic books over the last year) but he just hoped his words would help Carlos to carry on when he and the guys couldn’t be there to support him anymore.
“What do you mean?” Carlos asked and the almost hopeful tone in his voice could have stopped Reggie’s heart if it still beat in his chest.
“Well, look at it this way” Reggie said “I died when I was seventeen, that’s a pretty huge loss if you ask me, but if I had lived I would have been as old as your Dad by now and you and me would never have met, so I won by getting to be friends with the coolest little dude on the planet. See, I lost then I won” he explained as best he could.
“So, today you go home with your Dad and the others while we stay here and that’s us losing big time but maybe tomorrow, we win” Reggie offered Carlos a hopeful grin even as he accepted that he, Luke and Alex were never leaving Caleb’s club again.
“You have an escape plan” Carlos gasped quietly trying to keep his “revelation” to himself. That hopeful tone was back in full force and Reggie couldn’t bare to take Carlos’s hope away no matter how false it was but he didn’t want to lie to the child either. He was beyond grateful when Luke cut in and saved from having to choose the lesser of two evils.
“What do you think Kid?” Luke asked shooting Carlos a subtle wink.
“I think you guys have a big win coming” the child beamed, he hugged both Alex and Luke around the waist before retuning to Reggie and almost tackling him to the ground with the strength of his hug.
“See you soon” Carlos whispered to his Ghostly best friend.
“Bye Buddy” Reggie whispered back just before Carlos ran right through the barrier and across the bridge.
Instead of going to Victoria like the others had upon their release Carlos stayed at his fathers’ side, refusing to move even when both Flynn and Carrie tried to call him over to them.
Julie was the last to leave the dome as they all knew she would be.
“There is no escape plan is there?” she said knowing the boys well enough to know that if such a plan had existed, they would have told everyone a head of time.
“No” Luke admitted “we let Carlos believe what he needed to, to get out of here safely”
That one thoughtful act was enough to destroy the tiny little hold Julie had on her emotions and she couldn’t stop herself from braking down in Luke’s arms.
“I love you guys” she said unintentionally repeating the same line that had helped to save them from their first encounter with Caleb Covington. She hugged Luke tight and he gripped her just as fiercely, soon Reggie and Alex joined them and the band shared what they were sure was going to be their las group hug.
“I know everyone else has said this but I don’t want to leave you” she sobbed.
“You don’t have a choice Julie” Luke told her “you’ve got living to do, remember” he said quoting the very first song he and the boys had ever heard her sing. The song her mother had written to help Julie move on when she couldn’t physically be there anymore.
That song had practically bought Julie back to life and Luke hoped hearing those words would help her move forward without them too.
“How do I live without you guys?” Julie asked them tearfully, she knew she had to go, she had to leave but how did she go on with her life knowing she had left them trapped here? She needed them to tell her how because she really didn’t think she could do it alone.
“You’re not going to be doing it alone” Alex said as if he knew exactly what she was thinking “there are so many people that love you Julie” he told her “they will be there for you” he promised her knowing that her friends and family wouldn’t make a liar out of him.
“And you will be there for them” Reggie added reminding her that she wasn’t going to be the only person suffering the loss of them, the boys were going to be missed by everyone whose life they had touched and they were all going to have to be there for each other or they would never make it through their grief.
“If anyone can do this, it’s you Julie” Luke told her honestly “you got this” he assured her just like he had so many times before.
“We believe in you Julie” Reggie told her as he swiped his own tears away.
“And we love you” Alex added knowing she would need to hear those words from them one last time.
Julie gave a tearful and shaky nod before launching herself at the boys, she gave each of them a bone crushingly tight hug and placed a kiss of both Alex and Reggie’s cheeks.
When she went up on her toes to kiss Luke’s cheek, he turned his head at the very last moment and he kiss landed on his lips instead. Julie could only gape in shock at the mischievous ghost who was giving her the softest smile she had ever seen in return.
“Sorry” he said not sounding the least bit regretful “but I had to know what that would feel like, just once” he was trying to be his usual charming self but it was a hard task given he was also swallowing down his own tears. The reality was finally hitting him, he really was saying goodbye to Julie for the last time and he didn’t know what to do with that knowledge.
Before his overwhelming emotions made him do something stupid or something even more stupid than he already had Luke took Julie by the hand and led her to Caleb’s bridge.
When Luke all but pushed Julie to safety, all three of the boys finally gave into the fear and sorrow they had been trying to hide for the sake of their living friends and let their own tears fall.
As soon as Julie was at her father’s side the magical bridge that had allowed her and the others to exit vanished, taking any hopes the boys had of escaping with it, or so they thought.
Once the last of the lifers were out of his dome Caleb turned his attention to the boys still held captive within it.
“So, boys” he crowed “what shall we do for our opening number tonight” he wondered gleefully, he was so ready to enjoy his victory over them but that lifer, Ray Molina had to go and interrupt him again.
“Sorry Caleb, the boys can’t perform tonight, they have chores to do” he told the crazy magician ghost. “Oh, and they hate you, so, there is that too” Ray added proving that not all of Julie and Carlos’s sass came from their late mother.
“What do you think you are going to achieve lifer” Covington demanded. “You struck your deal; you take your kids home and I keep the boys” he reminded the man.
“Your right I did strike my deal” Ray agreed “but I said nothing about the boys staying here, in fact I specified that I was taking all of my kids home and you agreed” he explained with a smirk.
“What?” Covington asked clearly not understanding what was going on, so Ray decided to give him a demonstration.
“Come on boy’s, get out of there, it’s time to go” he called out to the ghosts still in the dome, he made it sound like they were just hanging out in a neighbour’s pool instead of trapped by a magical forcefield.
“Ray the bridge is gone” Alex pointed out.
“So, poof your way out” Ray said like it was no big deal.
“We tried that already and it ended in a lot of pain” Luke explained.
“It won’t this time” Ray assured them, none of the boys looked particularly thrilled at the idea of retrying an already failed escape rout until Ray added two words in his most sincere tone. “Trust me?” he asked them and the boys knew without question that they did.
Reggie to no one’s surprise was the first to act. One instant he was trapped in Caleb’s dome the next he was stood beside Ray, Julie and Carlos.
“Hey guys it worked” Reggie cheered excitedly, then the implications of what his escape meant dawned on him and he turned to Ray with eye’s full of wonder.
“Wait, we are your kids?” he asked, he knew the man liked them and he could believe that a guy like Ray would come to care about the wellbeing of three ghosts, just like his children had but that he cared enough to claim them as his own was hard for Reggie to get his head around. He wasn’t sure even his own parents had cared about him that much.
“Of course, you are” Ray said honesty practically dripping from every word that he spoke as he pulled the ghost boy into a one-armed hug.
Reggie felt like crying all over again and he was actually glad that Carlos chose that moment to jump up onto his back, giving his little brother a piggy back was a pretty good distraction from his almost tear fest.
“Come on guys” Julie called out to Alex and Luke who looked just as shocked as Reggie felt, neither of them had even tried to move yet.
“Yeah, come on” Carlos yelled over Reggie’s shoulder “we’ve got to go home now”.
Carlos’s words were all Alex needed to make his own move. He disappeared from the dome and reappeared near Carrie and Flynn; he wasn’t surprised when the two girls welcomed him with hugs but Victoria’s came as a shock.
“Well done” she congratulated him on his escape as she hugged him tight, Alex couldn’t resist hugging the warm woman back just as tightly, she was family now after all.
“Alright Luke” Ray shouted “it’s your turn now”.
Just as Luke prepared to join the rest of his family Caleb made one last play at making him stay.
“If you leave Luke, I will not only haunt your footsteps but theirs too” the deranged ghost threatened pointing to the lifers who stood waiting for him.
Caleb’s words made the young phantom freeze in his tracks, he knew full well what the other ghost was capable of. Was his freedom really worth the risk that Julie, her family and friends would be facing if he left.
Ray could see that Caleb’s words were affecting Luke and he was not about to let him get into the boy head.
“No can-do Covington, old boy” Ray called out, he could hear Victoria in the background warning him not to mock the psychotic ghost but right now he was just mad enough at the entity that he didn’t care.
“We made a deal” he told Caleb “I take my kids home, and we leave you and your creepy little club alone” he said reeling off the first part of the deal he had made with Caleb “and you leave us alone” he reminded the ghost with a triumphant smirk.
“What, no” Caleb gasped and made a grab for Luke but as soon as his hand connected with Luke’s the older ghost was thrown backwards by a powerful jolt of energy much like the ones he had once inflicted on the boys.
“Ooooo, that looks sore” Ray hissed his voice full of false sympathy “you might want to be careful” he warned Caleb “I hear those things can be pretty draining”
Ray couldn’t deny that some small, angry part of him actually enjoyed seeing Caleb get a taste of his own medicine, hearing about what the boys had gone through to get out of the deal they had inadvertently made with Caleb had broken his heart and seeing Caleb suffer the same fate seemed almost poetic to Ray.
“Luke” Ray called out to the boy once again “it’s time to go home son” he told the young ghost and a second later Luke teleported himself to safety.
Luke was welcomed with a tight hug around the waist from Julie and an arm thrown affectionately around his shoulder from Ray.
“You are done with me and my family” Ray told Caleb, his tone was firm and final “you will never harm any of us again” he said “and that includes him” he added pointing to a beyond shocked Willie.
He had been stoon on the side lines the whole time. When he had led the two adult lifers to the club it had been in hopes that they could save the living children because he knew that Alex, Luke and Reggie would never forgive themselves if something happened to their lifer friends.
If he was being honest, he wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself either. They were good kids, willing to risk so much to save three guys who were already dead and Willie was determined to keep the five of them safe if there was any possible way that he could.
From the moment Reggie had freed himself and Willie had figured out what Ray Molina had done; he had been strangely torn. He couldn’t have been happier that Alex and his friends were finally free of Caleb but Willie had excepted long ago that he and Caleb had become a package deal. if Alex was ever going to be truly free from Caleb then Willie was going to have to keep his distance from the drummer too. It would be what was best for Alex but that didn’t make Willie’s heart hurt any less.
Willie had just managed to convince himself that he could give Alex up forever if it would ensure his safety and the safety of those, he loved but then Ray Molina went and did something Willie hadn’t believed possible, he offered Willie his freedom too.
The skater ghost was thrilled at the offer but he wasn’t sure it would work. Ray had obviously come to love the other three ghosts over the time he had known them, the bond they had formed was what had enabled him to claim them as his own and offer them protection. Willie had met Ray a few times and they were close enough that the man could see him, that was how Willie had been able to bring him to the club tonight but their bond was nowhere near as strong as the one he shared with the others.
It seemed that Ray knew what Willie was thinking when he everted his eyes from Caleb for the first time since he entered the building to pin the long-haired ghost with his warm gaze.
“You risked your existence to bring me and Victoria here, you did that to protect my kids because you care about them” Ray said to Willie “not to mention that you and Alex clearly have something going on” he added with a meaningful look.
I anyone asked Ray what the two ghosts had going on was love, plain and simple but he wasn’t about to put words in either of their mouths, that was a declaration for them and them alone to make
“In my eyes that makes you as much a member of my family as anyone else here” Ray explained releasing the grip he had on both Luke and Reggie to offer Willie his hand. “What do you say kid, do you want to get out of here?” he asked and Willie didn’t have to think twice before answering.
“I sure do” he said gratefully taking Ray’s hand and moving to join the group of people both living and dead that had amassed behind the Molina patriarch.
Alex quickly left Victoria’s embrace and threw his arms around Willie who let go of Ray to return Alex’s somewhat desperate hug. If Ray heard some mumbled “I love yous” between the two of them he didn’t pass comment. The boys would tell the rest of the family just how deep their feelings for each other ran when they were ready and not a moment before.
“Ok let’s go everyone” Ray announced he took Julie’s hand in his own and wrapped a reassuring arm around Flynn’s shoulders (the usually tough girl was still crying but now it was for a whole different reason than before) and led his newly extended family out of The Hollywood Ghost Club.
Julie still had one of her arms wrapped around Luke’s waist and Carlos had yet to come down from Reggie’s back, Carrie and Nick stayed close to Victoria offering the still slightly freaked out woman just as much comfort as they took from her.
Willie and Alex also stayed close to Victoria, Alex suspected that the woman might give in the anxiety at any moment and he wanted to be there to help if she need it. Willie found it ridiculously funny that the way Victoria coped with said anxiety was by swearing, a lot, in Spanish, she clearly thought that none of the youngsters around her could understand her but Nick’s repressed laughter and the slight quirk of Carrie’s lips told a completely different story.
As the group stepped out of the Hollywood Ghost Club none of the ghosts among them so much as glanced back. They could still hear Caleb ranting and raving from inside but his words didn’t matter to them, he had no power over them anymore, they were free of him forever and once again it was love that had saved them.
Julie’s love and friendship had removed Caleb’s control stamp from Reggie, Alex and Luke wrists and now her father’s love and acceptance had barred him from ever being able to touch them again.
There truly was something special about the Molina family they seemed to have an unending capacity for love. Not one of the people that walked away from the club that morning (alive or dead) could have been happier with or more grateful for the family they had found for themselves. As they stepped into the light of a new day, they all found the words penned by the late Rose Molina resonated with them in a way they never had before.
Regardless of their status, be it alive or dead this family had living to do and they were going to do it together.