Julie's POV

I close my eyes and sway my body back and forth, the music washing over me. I smile widely as I listen to the melody coming from the piano, swinging my feet as they dangle off of the piano bench.

The beautiful melody stopped, and I open my eyes, watching my mother take her hands off the keys.

"I like that one the best, Mommy," I say as she smiles down at me.

"Me too, JuJu," she says, ruffling my curly hair, making me giggle.

"Will you teach me how to play?" I ask, giving  her my best baby doll eyes. She laughs, the sunlight lighting up her hair and face from the window behind us.

"Of course I will," she says, lifting me up and placing me on her lap. She takes my hand, which is tiny in comparison to hers, and places it gently on the keys.

"And you put your pinky finger there... good..." she says, adjusting my little fingers to rest on the right keys. I press down, creating a loud clashing sound on the keys.

"It doesn't sound like your song, Mommy!" I pout, furrowing my brow and sticking out my bottom lip. She laughs. 

"It takes a lot of practice to learn a song, honey," she says, kissing the top of my head. "You can't just sit down and play it on your first try."

"But I want to play it on my first try, Mommy," I protest, pressing down on the keys again. The piano still makes that awful sound.

"That's not how it works," my mother says, gently taking my hand away from the keys. "You have to practice every day for a long time. But when you learn how to play the beautiful song in the end, it'll all be worth it."

I scrunch up my nose. It seems like too much work to me. But if I can play like my mother in the end, then it must be worth it.

"Okay, Mommy," I say, smiling up at her. "When do we start?"

She looks out the windows. The sun is getting low.

"How about tomorrow? It's almost dinner time, Daddy is picking up your baby brother from Grandma's house," she says, lifting me off her lap and placing me on the ground. I pout for a moment, but soon my face lights up.

"Can we go to the garden before dinner?" I ask. My mother nods and I let out a squeal of delight as I jump up and down. She laughs.

"Come on, let's go," she says, taking my hand. We walk out of the studio, my tiny little legs trying to keep up with my mother's long, graceful ones. 

I skip the entire way down the path to our house. But instead of going inside, we walk around it, and my smile grows wide when I see the garden.

Besides the studio, it is my second favorite place to be. The sun shines off the petals of all the different flowers, making them seem to be glowing. The bees and the butterflies dance around, landing peacefully on the flowers. Birds fly overhead, chirping merrily as the take off from the peach blossom trees. There is a warm breeze and I sigh, taking in the beautiful sight before me.

"The garden is getting big!" I say, letting go of my mother's hand and skipping through the garden, my fingertips brushing the petals of the flowers as I go by.

"It is, Daddy planted another section yesterday, remember?" She says, following me down the narrow path between the magnolias and the lilies. When I skip through the rose section, I point at them excitedly.

"Look, Mommy! Rose! That's you're name!" I exclaimed. My mother laughs again.

"It certainly is," she says giving me a tight hug.

"Are roses your favorite flower?" I ask. My mother shakes her head. I tilt my head in confusion.

"Then... what is?"

My mother takes my hand and walks towards the back of the garden. I gasp in amazement when I see a bunch of beautiful dark pink flowers. They are shaped like a circle and look rough to the touch, but when I feel them, they are as soft and fluffy as a cloud.

"These are so pretty, Mommy! What are they?" I ask excitedly. My mother bends down to touch one, a twinkle in her eye.

"These are called Dahlias," she says dreamily. 

"Why do you like them?" I ask, still mesmerized by the softness of the petals.

"They grow differently from other flowers," she says. "While most flowers bloom in the spring, Dahlias bloom in mid-summer and last all the way to the first snowfall." I smiled and continued petting the Dahlia.

"Are they only pink?" I ask. My mother shakes her head.

"They can be any color, except for blue," she says. I pull my hand away from the flower and look at her in confusion.

"Why can't they be blue?" 

"No one knows," she says, the twinkle still in her eye. "But I especially like these round Dahlias because they're different. They stand out, and they are beautiful in their own way."

I look back at the flower. She was right, they did look different. But they were in fact beautiful. I touch the flowers once more before my mother takes my hand.

"Come on, Julie," she says. "It's time to go." I look back at the flower, mesmerized.

"Can I come back tomorrow?" I ask as we walk out of the garden. My mother looks down at me and smiles.

"Of course you can," she says. "You can come back to this garden any time you want."

"Really?" I ask, my face shining with excitement. She grins as we exit the garden and walk back to the house.

"Really," she says. "This garden will alway be here for you...

"And so will I."

My eyes shot open and I gasped, sucking air into my lungs. It felt like my chest was on fire as I breathed oxygen as if I never had before.

My eyes raked around the ruins of the Hollywood Ghost Club wildly until they landed on Luke. He was staring at me, a surprised look on his face. I tore my eyes away from his and looked the other way. Caleb was sitting on a pile of rubble, looking at me curiously.

I looked back to Luke. There was relief and terror written on his face at the same time. I realized why once Caleb stood up, still staring at me.

"How did you open your eyes?" He snarled from a distance. I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. My jaw was locked shut.

Caleb walked closer to me, stopping only a few feet away.

"You've got more fight in you than I thought," he said. "Let me make your death quicker for you." I heard the tell-tale sound of the smoke whooshing through the air.

But instead of shutting my eyes and waiting for the sweet release of death, I slowly shook my head. I thought back to the dream I just had- or, the memory, is more accurate.

I remembered that day. The day I decided I wanted to learn the piano. The day my mother told me about the Dahlias. The day she told me she would always be there for me.

I was only six years old, but I remember it like it was yesterday. The blissful tune from the piano washing over me, the happy and safe atmosphere in the studio, the sunlight shining on my face, the soft touch of the Dahlia's petals...

Usually whenever I thought of memories with my mom, it would usually lead me to the last time I saw her, in the hospital bed- but not this time. All I could think about now was how the sunlight reflected off her hair, how she threw her head back and let out her beautiful, genuine laugh...

And then I realized.

I realized that she wasn't wrong.

She would always be there for me. She was there for me in life. And now she's there for me in death. She never truly left me when she died. She's been with me the whole time- when I stopped singing and shut everyone out. When I got kicked out of the music program. When I met the guys. When we first played together. When I fell in love with Luke...

She was there, right there, with me the whole time. She always had been and she always will be.

And that's why, when I heard the rush of Caleb's purple smoke, I didn't wait. I didn't close my eyes, I didn't give up.

Gritting my teeth, I curled my hands into fists. I shoved them into the ground and pushed myself up, my arms shaking. Next came my legs. I pulled my knee to my chest and pressed it into the ground, too. Suddenly, it didn't hurt anymore.

 My whole body was shaking but I didn't give up. I shakily put my foot on the ground and pushed. I straightened up. Something was running through my veins. Some type of... power.

I stared directly into Caleb's shocked eyes as the smoke drew closer. It was zooming at a record breaking speed towards me. I didn't run. I didn't hide.

I smiled.

I held out my hand in front of me as the smoke zoomed past Caleb's shoulder and straight for my head.

In a tiny fraction of a second, I felt the ends of my hair lift. An energy surged through my body, covering me in a blanket of warmth. I shut my eyes. A bright light appeared, I could see it through my eyelids. There was a whooshing noise, and then silence.

I opened my eyes.

The smoke was hovering inches in front of me. There was a golden light emitting from the palm of my hand, somehow keeping the smoke in place.

I watched in astonishment as the golden light swirled around the smoke, slowly changing its color from purple to gold. 

Once the smoke had turned completely gold, it seemed to become solid for a moment before falling to the ground and shattering into pieces.

I stared at my hand in shock before turning to the boys. They had managed to lift their heads off the ground and their expressions as the stared at me mirrored mine. 

"How are you doing this?!?"

I turned back to Caleb, who had a terrified expression on his face. I glared at him, determined to finish this.

I began to walk towards Caleb, who backpedalled in fear. He shot many more pillars of purple smoke at me, but every time they turned to gold and smashed to the ground. 

I continued walking forward as he continued walking backwards. My hair was now lifted completely off my shoulders. I couldn't see it, but it was probably swirling around my head now. My skin was glowing, like Luke, Alex, and Reggie had been the night we played the Orpheum and broke Caleb's curse.

I no longer had to hold up my hands to destroy the smoke. Whenever it got within five feet of me it immediately turned to gold.

I had backed Caleb up into a small part of the wall. Although Caleb was a lot taller than me, I clearly had the upper hand here. He looked around frantically, but there was nothing he could do. I had him trapped.

"W-wait!" He shouted fearfully. "You're making a mistake!"

"I don't think I am," I said calmly, raising my hand.

"Don't do this!" He begged. "I told you that you were special! If you do this, you'll be a killer! You'll be just like everyone else!"

I faltered for a moment, narrowing my eyes. He was just trying to get into my head. I was tired of being told I was special. Tired of being told I was different. I just wanted to live my life. I just wanted to be me.

"First of all," I growled, "you're already dead. I'm not a killer. And second of all..."

I walked closer and pressed my hand to Caleb's chest. I watched his eyes widen as a small part of his chest turned to gold, which was rapidly spreading. I looked into his fearful eyes one more time.

"What's so wrong with being like everybody else?"

Caleb's mouth opened slightly right before he was turned completely to gold. I stepped back as his frozen body tipped forward and fell to the ground, smashing into a hundred pieces.

I stood still for a moment, looking down at a piece of Caleb's face. His eye was still open wide in fear.

All of a sudden, I started shaking and it was hard to breath. I gasped for air and crouched down, my hands on the ground. Tears rolled down my face as I trembled.

Did that just happen?

I felt like I was falling, falling down a deep, dark hole, never to see the light again. I was trapped in the darkness. I could barely see anything-

And suddenly, I was pulled back.

Three pairs of arms wrapped around me. I immediately stopped shaking. I opened my eyes to see the guys holding me in their arms, squeezing me tightly.

I slowly brought my arms up to wrap around theirs. My breathing became more even. I looked at Luke's face. He was grinning, tears shining in his eyes.

"You did it," he whispered, hugging me tighter. He, Alex, Reggie and I put our foreheads together in a circle. I let out a small laugh, sniffling as I squeezed my eyes shut. I never wanted to let go.

"It's over."

Woohoo! Caleb has finally been defeated!

I hope this was a good enough final battle for you guys. No, this is not the last chapter- yes, this is the last we'll see from Caleb. If you were hoping for something different, I'm sorry. This is my first fic and all I know how to write is cliche endings. 😂

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! With all the dark ones I've written, I think this fit in nicely. I can't wait to start writing the next one! See you guys later!