Julie's POV

Caleb grinned wickedly, walking away from Luke who lay on the ground, coughing weakly.

"I thought you'd play the hero in the end," he sneered, walking closer to me. I raised my eyebrows, my curiosity going against my better judgement.

"What do you mean?"

Caleb laughed, walking closer. He was now less than twenty feet away. I shivered as a chill ran up my spine- almost as if I could feel his presence drawing closer.

"The prisoner turned hero. It's a classic story, one that seems to keep repeating itself."

"Julie," Alex whispered, grabbing my hand, "you don't have to do this, he's dangerous-"

"Yes, I do," I whispered back, squeezing his hand.

Alex looked hesitant, but eventually nodded.

"I trust you," he said quietly, releasing my hand and stepping away. I turned back to Caleb.

"Why do you even want me working for you?" I asked. Caleb continued to walk closer. Luke had gotten to his feet, and I winced when I saw blood under his nose.

"Julie," he gasped, breathing heavily. "Julie, don't-"

"Why do I want you working for me?" Caleb asked, his cold eyes boring into mine. "You're too powerful, darling. I need you on my side." I glared at him.

"If you weren't so evil you wouldn't have to worry about more powerful people," I responded.

He was now ten feet away.

"I'm afraid that's not how it works."

I bit my lip as he continued walking towards me. His eyes raked over me like I was his prey.

"Then how does it work?"

Five feet.

"We all work for someone, darling."

"Stop calling me that," I hissed.

Two feet.

Caleb stopped directly in front of me. I looked up at him. He was tall- taller than Luke, Reggie, and even Alex. He was intimidating and made me feel small but there was no way I was going to let him know that. I stood as tall as possible, narrowing my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Julie, but I can't let you go," he said. I crossed my arms.

"Of course you can."

Caleb threw his head back and laughed, his body shaking. When he tilted his head I caught sight of a small cut on the side of his head, just under his ear. There were small drops of blood dripping from it.

Even though it was a tiny cut, I felt great satisfaction in knowing that we did that to him.

"No, I don't think so," Caleb said once he stopped laughing. "If I let you go, I'll have to bring you here again and frankly, that would be an enormous waste of time and energy." He leaned down until we were at eye level with each other.

"Not to mention a difficult explanation to the Archivist."

I scrunched my nose. Who was the Archivist?

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't."

Caleb straightened up and walked in a slow circle around me. I didn't move, following him only with my eyes.

"This world is bigger than you could even imagine," he said from somewhere behind me. I stayed still.

"There are beings even above ghosts. Beings that you can't put to words. There is no explanation for them. They just... exist."

My mind was racing.

"Are you talking about gods?"

Caleb laughed again, and I glared at him as he entered the corner of my peripheral vision.

"No, I am not talking about gods," he said coldly. 

"Then what are you talking about?"

Caleb growled, obviously getting impatient. I smirked.

"I will not take the time to explain it to you, little girl," he snarled, his eyes practically burning holes into my head.

"All you need to know is that you will work for me. You have no choice." I snorted in his face.

"Of course I have a choice."

All of a sudden, Caleb let out a frustrated shout and grabbed me by the throat and lifting me into the air in one swift motion. I heard the guys yell and saw them shoot forward out of the corner of my eye, but they stopped abruptly when Caleb put up his other hand.

I grabbed at his wrist, gasping for air as he squeezed my throat. My windpipe was being crushed beneath his hand, and I kicked at the air, frantically trying to get out of his grasp.

"I will not have you speak to me like that!" Caleb growled.

He threw me to the side and I screamed as my broken knee hit a hard piece of cement. White hot pain shot through my entire body, and I bit down on my tongue to stop the tears from falling.

Caleb rushed over to my and punched me in the face. Hard. My head was hit back and when it hit the cement beneath it stars popped into my vision. 

Caleb hit me again.

And again.

And again.

I could barely hear the guys screaming my name. I squinted, but my vision was blurry. I saw Luke and Alex, half consumed by the purple smoke. I could tell it was holding them back from running towards me. I turned my head slightly to see that Reggie was in the same position.

Caleb grabbed my chin and forced me to look at his rage filled face.

I watched as he grabbed a large piece of drywall that looked extremely heavy. My eyes widened and I realized what he was about to do.

The moment the drywall collided with my knee, I let out a loud scream that shattered my own eardrums. The pain coming from my knee was unexplainable- it was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life.

I was barely awake now, the blood pounding in my ears as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I looked up at Caleb to see his fist reading back again. 

My eyes, half open, darted to the side for less than a second. They found Luke's tear streaked face. I couldn't hear anything at his point. I saw his mouth form my name before my eyes rolled back to Caleb, whose fist was flying towards my face.

I barely felt the impact before everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke's POV

I watched, frozen in fear, as Caleb circled around Julie, stalking her like she was his prey. Shivers ran up my spine when I watched his eyes rake over her like was going to pounce at any second.

I knew they were having some sort of conversation, but I was too far away to actually hear what they were saying.

I was surprised at how calm Julie was being. How was she not shaking to the core? I watched as Caleb finally stood in front of her again. Julie smirked and let out what was probably a witty remark, but unfortunately, Caleb was not having it.

Alex, Reggie and I gasped as Caleb lifted Julie into the air by the throat in one swift motion.

"Julie!" We yelled collectively. I started forward, but was held back by something. I looked down to see the purple smoke wrapped around my torso, keeping me in place. Alex and Reggie were in the same situation.

Caleb threw Julie onto the ground. Tears sprung up into my eyes when I heard her bloodcurdling shriek. Her knee must have hit something.

Caleb stood over her, leaned down, and punched her in the face.

"JULIE!" I screamed, lunging forward- but the smoke held me in place. I struggled as hard as I  could to get out of its hold, but it was useless. I couldn't move.

My mind was racing and I was about two seconds away from an Alex-special panic attack when I saw Caleb bring his fist back again.

"NO!" I screamed when he began to repeatedly punch her, over and over again. I was seeing red. How dare he hit Julie? I let out a strangled yell as I tried harder than ever to break out of the smoke's grasp- and suddenly, I yanked my hand free, but it was immediately pulled back by the smoke.

"JULIE!" I yelled once more as Caleb straightened up. My heart stopped when I saw Caleb pick up a slab of drywall and drop it directly onto her knee.

Tears ran down my face and my body began to shake when I heard her scream. It filled the air and pierced my heart like an arrow. I looked at her face. She looked like she was about to close her eyes. Panic filled my body.

No, don't close your eyes, Jules, I thought. Please, stay awake.

Suddenly, she sluggishly looked over at me, a twinkle of recognition in her tired-looking eyes.

"Julie," I whispered, staring in horror as Caleb brought his fist back once more. Julie's eyes slid away from mine just before Caleb's fist connected with her face.

I took one look at her and my breath caught in my throat.

She wasn't moving.

"NO!" I screamed, and when I lunged forward again, the smoke didn't stop me this time. I burst free and ran towards Caleb. I was seeing red.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alex and Reggie break free as well, running towards Caleb with the same angry look in their eyes.

I got to him first, but before I could do anything, he put his hand, open palmed, on my chest, and suddenly I was flying through the air again. I was so confused. He hadn't even pushed me! I collided with the ground hard, letting out a small oof when the air was knocked out of my lungs.

I saw the same happen to Alex and Reggie as I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the jarring pain in my wrist that appeared when I landed on it.

I ran towards Caleb again, prepared to rip him apart, but all of a sudden, he poofed right in front of me. I barely had time to react when he punched me in the face.

I felt a shooting pain in my jaw as I stumbled backwards, trying to stay upright. I winced, grabbing my jaw. I had never been punched like that before.

Caleb kicked me in the stomach, sending me flying across what used to be the backstage area of the Hollywood Ghost Club.

My head collided with something hard and stars immediately popped into my vision. I tried to get up, but I couldn't. It was like my arms and legs were filled with fifty pounds of lead.

I sluggishly opened and closed my eyes as I watched Alex and Reggie get hit so hard they were on the ground, too.

"No," I murmured, trying once again to stand up. I slipped, off balance, and fell on my face.

I turned my head so my cheek was pressed against the ground. Less than ten feet away lay Julie's body, in the same position mine was in- laying on her stomach, arms outstretched, cheek against the ground. She was facing me, but her eyes were still closed, her mouth slightly bloody and open.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caleb's shoes walking towards me. I used the remainder of my strength to pick my head up and look at him. 

"This job isn't easy, Luke," he said coldly, "so don't take it personally."

"'M not gunn forgive youuu," I said, my words slurring together.

"I don't expect you too," Caleb responded, leaning down. 

"'R you gunn killusss?"

Caleb laughed.

"My dear boy, you're already dying. I don't have to do anything else."

I let out a strangled groan as I put my head down and looked at Julie again.

"What I'm going to do is watch the four of you die. And this time..." I blinked slowly as I saw his feet take a step back.

"And this time, you won't be coming back."

I heard his footsteps retreat, but I didn't turn my head. I didn't even move my eyes. I stared stubbornly at Julie's lifeless body.

"I love you, Jules," I slurred, blinking slowly as the pain continued to spread through my body.

"I love you."

Dang , this was a pretty gruesome chapter. Sorry about that, guys.

I'm posting sooo early today! I literally wrote this entire chapter in twenty minutes, it's like the creativity is flowing through me today. Who knows, I might be able to get another chapter out today!

In other news, this book is almost over!!! What?!? It feels like I started it years ago, but in reality it hasn't even been a month.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you later!