･ﾟ☆ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞:
" 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 "

   TWO LARGE WHITE DOORS STARED back at a nervous Julie Molina.

   She was dreading opening them, not having gone inside the garage-turned-studio since her mother's passing a year before.

   When she finally gathered the courage to pull the doors open, it was like a blast of warm energy hit her. The memories of her and her mother playing and writing music together suddenly flooded her mind. And although they made her sad to think about, there was still that feeling of fondness that the studio held inside.

   Julie turned to her right, switching on the dim lights that hadn't been on for a year. The room was still decorated instruments and little trinkets on shelves and plants that desperately needed to be watered.

   The black leather couch was still on the side, accompanied by two other chairs and a small table in the middle. The old instruments that had been there since the family moved in all those years ago were still up in the loft, just like her dad had mentioned.

   But the most significant part of the room, was the grand piano in the back, covered by a white sheet.

   Julie made her way there first, hesitantly pulling the sheet to reveal the shiny, dark brown wood.

   On the other side was a bench, and on it was a stack of papers, bars of music notes all over them with lyrics written underneath. Julie didn't bother to examine them, the sight familiar to what she'd seen growing up, and just moved them to the top of the piano.

   She sat down on the bench, letting her fingers softly rest over the fall board. "I'm so sorry, mom." She sighed, looking up. "That I haven't been in here."

   Feeling the emotions become too strong, Julie got up from the piano, deciding to look around the room and trying to figure out where she should start cleaning.

   Her eyes caught the piles of different items up in the loft, climbing the ladder to get up there.

   Even more instruments were laying around, but what grabbed her attention was a small, plastic CD case on the floor. The little booklet inside was black, with the words Sunset Curve on the logo.

   Julie made her way back down, remembering the old CD player sitting in the corner of the room. She slid the disc into the drive, pressing play and going to sit on the couch.

   As she sits down, a guitar riff starts playing, a voice counting down before a guys voice begins singing.

   "Take off, last stop,
   count down 'till we
   blast open the top."

   Julie bobs her head, smiling lightly at the pleasant sounds coming from the stereo. As the song continues, multiple voices yelling begins to take over the lyrics and she stops, placing her hands over her ears and the yelling becomes louder.

   Suddenly a rift of sorts opens in mid air, four bodies falling from no where. Three boys and a girl lay on the floor, writhing and groaning in pain. The four of them stand up with difficulty, panting and coughing as they straightened themselves out.

   The boy in the middle looks around, eyes widened slightly. "Woah. How did we get back here?"

   A terrified scream startled the four new people. Upon seeing the unfamiliar girl who was still screaming, the three boys started to as well, all grabbing onto the girl who was also scared but instead of screaming just stared fearfully.

   The screaming girl flailed her arms wildly, running out of the room quickly.

   The boys had stopped their own yells, slowly letting go of Ellie as they all caught their breaths.

   "Who was that?" Ellie exclaimed after a pause. "What is going on?" At her words, the boys all started to look around with confused faces, trying to remember the events that lead them to this point.

   "Oh! U-um, we were eating hot dogs! Right?" Luke recalled, earning a nod from Reggie.

   "Yeah! And then Alex said something about them tasting funny-"

   "And then we all started vomiting." Alex added, staring into space in horror as he remembered the night before.

   Ellie nodded as the memories started to resurface. "All those people were yelling and I heard the ambulance-"

   "And we died." Luke finished, a stunned silence falling upon them. They could all recall the black room they had been stuck in up until they fell back into the studio. But the time spent in there was hardly long enough to process that they were indeed dead. All because of some spoiled hot dogs.

   "But that doesn't explain how we-" Ellie was cut off by the sound of footsteps approaching the studio. The ghosts all looked at each other with wide eyes and suddenly they were being poofed into the small bathroom.

   "Woah!" Reggie whispered loudly, receiving shushes from the other three.

   The four were cloaked by the darkness of the bathroom, watching as the girl from before walked back in, this time with a wooden cross clutched in her hands and held out in front of her. She walked in slowly, holding up the cross at the loft and around the room, breathing heavily

   "Are you still here?" The girl asked out loud, spinning around slowly. "Whatever you are."

   She turned back to face the piano, letting her arms fall defeatedly. "I know I saw something. I'm not crazy."

   Ellie didn't have time to blink before she felt a hand grab her arm and they were were appearing behind the teenage girl.

   "Well, we're all a little crazy."

   At the sound of Luke's voice, the girl spun around quickly, holding up her cross again and screamed. The ghosts all flinched and took a step back.

   "Oh my god! Please stop screaming!" Alex yelled back, holding a hand to his ear.

   The girl did as told, staring at the four of them in fear. She held out the cross further as if it was supposed to intimidate them. "Wh-who are you, and what are you doing in my mom's studio?" She stuttered.

   Ellie looked over at Reggie and Alex, all of them sharing confused looks.

   "You're mom's studio?" Luke flinched again when she thrusted the cross at him. "This is our studio. Trust me the grand piano is new-" He just up onto the piano, sliding across to get away from the girl. The other three ghosts stepped closer together as they watched. "A-and...my couch!" Luke gasped happily, launching himself onto it.

   Luke let out a breath, turning around and looking weirdly at the red guitar hanging from the wall near him.

   "But that is definitely not my six string." He said, looking around confusedly. Realizing that many of the items in the room were not there the last time the band had been in there, Luke sprung up from the couch.

   He stepped over the small coffee table, staring wearily at the girl and her cross. "Can you give me just one second? Just–" He flinched when she once again threatened him with the cross. "Give me a second. Thank you."

   "Guys." Luke whispered loudly, gesturing for the other ghosts to huddle. "What is going on? How did she get her stuff in here so fast?"

   "Maybe–maybe she's a witch." Reggie suggested. Ellie pinched the bridge of her nose. "There's chairs floating on the ceiling."

   Alex looked just as done with the conversation as Ellie did. "Okay, there is no such thing as witches."

   "Yeah and the chairs aren't floating, Reg, they're hung up." Ellie told him.

   Reggie raised his eyebrows at them challengingly. "You sure? Because I used to think there was no such thing as ghosts."

   Luke and Alex both nodded. "That's fair."

   "Oh my god." Ellie mumbled under her breath, rubbing her temples.

   "Okay, so we're going with witch?" Luke asked, glancing between his friends.

   Ellie threw her hands up in exasperation. "No, we're not going with witch!" She whispered harshly.

   Alex lightly hit Luke on the arm. "She's not a witch. Okay, look. She's just scared, okay? Let someone," He placed a hand on his chest. "With a softer touch handle this." He turned back to the girl, ignoring Reggie's comment that he was pretty sure that would be Ellie.

   Alex slowly approached the girl. "Why are you in our studio?" He asked loudly.

   Ellie smiled sarcastically at the back of his head. "Oh yeah, Alex, that was really soft."

   The girl looked confused for a second before her face became stern and she shoved her cross at Alex, her hand going right through his chest.

   She looked back at her hand in shock. "Oh my gosh!" She gasped. "How did you do that?"

   "Okay, well, clearly you're not understan-" Alex turned back to his friends and shrugged, "Cleary she doesn't get it." Ellie raised an eyebrow at him. What was clear was that the girl was terrified and Alex wasn't making the situation any better.

   He turned back to the girl. "Okay, look. We're ghosts," He gestures to himself and his fellow spirits. "We're just four ghosts, and we're really happy to be home. So, thank you for the flowers, they really brighten up the room." Alex smiled, pointing to the multiple plants in the back of the room.

   Luke, Reggie and Ellie stepped up next to Alex. "We're actually in a band called Sunset Curve." Luke informed her.

   "Tell your friends." Reggie chirped.

   Ellie lifted her elbow onto Reggie's shoulder, leaning against him and raising her hand. "Except for me."

   "Last night was supposed to be a really big night for us. It was gonna change our lives." Luke continued in a low voice, trying to seem as friendly as possible to the girl who was still staring at them with wide eyes. As Ellie examined her, she realized she looked a bit familiar, but couldn't place how.

   Alex leaned his head toward Luke. "I'm, uh..I'm pretty sure it did." He whispered.

   The girl let her arm fall, shaking her head. "This is freaking me out." She said, pulling a hand held device out of her pocket, quickly holding up the cross to them again.

   The ghosts all peered curiously at the thing in her hands. Luke pointed to it and cocked his head to the side. "What is that? What are you doing?"

   The girl narrowed her eyes at Luke. "It's my phone." She smiled sarcastically and looked away from them. "Nope! Stop talking to them. They aren't real. There's no such thing as cute ghosts." She tried convincing herself.

   Reggie smiled smugly. "Oh, think we're cute?" He smirked.

   Ellie gave him a look and lightly tugged on his ear. She turned to attention back to the girl, stretching her neck in attempt to get a better look at her phone. "That's your phone? Where are all the buttons?"

   The girl just looked more frightened at their questions, tightening her grip on her cross.

   Alex repeated Ellie's movements, leaning to look at the phone. "Who you calling?" He grinned. Ellie was too preoccupied trying to figure out where the tapping noises were coming from if the phone had no buttons.

   The girl sent him a glare. "I'm googling Sunset Swerve."

   "Sunset Curve!" The four ghosts corrected.

   The small brunette smiled nervously. She looked down at her phone, "Woah." then looked back up at them. "There is a Sunset Curve." She admitted, glancing at the screen once more. "You did die. But not last night."

   The ghosts all gave her confused looks. Ellie chuckled lightly, assuming the girl was joking. "What do you mean?"

   The yellow clad girl looked away in thought. "Twenty-five years ago?"

   "What?" Reggie asked, Alex scoffing at the same time. Ellie and Luke both stayed silent, taking in the information. "No. No, no, no. Th-th-that's impossible." He shook his head. "After we floated out of the ambulance all we did was go to that weird dark room where Alex cried."

   "Well..." The aforementioned boy said in a high pitched voice. "I don't think–I think we were all pretty upset, okay..." He trailed off, laughing awkwardly. Ellie reached behind Reggie to pat his shoulder comfortingly.

   "But that was just for like an hour." Luke spoke up. "We just showed up here."

   The girl held her phone up for the ghosts to see. "Look. I'm just telling you what my phone says."

   Sure enough, an article was displayed on the screen, the headline reading Sunset Curve: A Hollywood Tragedy. Within the article was a picture of the band taken from one of the few photoshoots they had done for their demo. Under it was a yearbook picture of Ellie.

   "See?" The girl said. "You died in 1995. When you were seventeen. It's now 2020."

   Ellie subconsciously gripped tight onto Reggie's shoulder in an attempt to keep her knees from buckling. How on earth could it have been twenty five years since they died?

   "So this is the future?" Reggie whispered, reaching back to grab Ellie's arm that was holding onto him, knowing her silence meant she was probably freaking out internally.

   "Wait, so...so it has been twenty five years?" Alex asked, looking at the girl for confirmation. "I have been crying for twenty five years? How is that possible?" He yelled, the other three ghosts looking away uncomfortably.

   "Well you're a very emotional person." Ellie spoke softly, hoping to grant him some sort of peace.

   "I am not." He cried. Evidently, she was unsuccessful.

   A new voice suddenly spoke. "Thought you were afraid to come out here." The spirits turned around, spotting a preteen boy walk into the garage, oblivious to their presence. "You talking to your ghost friend? How does he look? Is he hideous?" The boy teased.

   Alex lightly snorted. "He can see you." He said to Reggie.

   "No, he can't." The girl replied, glaring over at Alex.

   The younger boy looked around, confused as to who she was talking to. "What?"

   "Uh.." She stuttered. "What do you want?"

   "A normal sister for starters." The boy sassed. "Stop being weird and come eat."

   Ellie chuckled as she watched the adorable boy leave. "I've always wanted a sibling."

   "He couldn't see you." The girl realized, ignoring the female ghosts comment.

   Alex shrugged. "Yeah, I mean...that's happy how ghosts work." He told her, the others nodding in agreement."

   The girl huffed frustratedly, walking past them and turning around to speak to them. "Look, I'm very sorry for what happened to you guys, but this isn't your studio anymore. You have to leave."

   The ghosts looked at each other worriedly. Where else could they go?

   "But wait, we-" Luke stepped forward, freezing when she turned abruptly. "We didn't get your name."

   "It's Julie." She replied, flatly.

   "Cool." Luke grinned. "I-I'm Luke," He went to shake her hand but stopped when she held up her cross again. "by..by the way. And this is–"

   "Reggie!" He raised his hand. "I'm Reggie. Hey."

   "Alex. How's it going?"

   Ellie smiled warmly at the girl. "I'm Ellie."

   Luke awkwardly held his hands out as if presenting his friends "Ba-da..."

   Julie looked at them, still just as annoyed as before their introductions. "Okay?"

   Once her footsteps had receded, Reggie grinned. "Julie seems nice."

   Alex quietly groaned. "Did you miss the part where she kicked us out, or...?" Reggie cocked his head in thought. "Yeah, okay." The blonde boy said, walking away from them. Luke gave him a pat on the back, also stepping away.

   "It's okay, Reg." Ellie let out a breath, absentmindedly grabbing his hand and pulling him around the room. "Let's go look around, huh?" Reggie nodded, distracted by the softness of her hand.

   "Ooh, look! They have little succulents!"

𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬:
𝘐'𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺'𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺'𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳!