Chapter 4- What's Wrong With Nick?

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Warning: Creepy nightmare ahead. If this triggers you, I will put a warning before the nightmare part of this chapter. 

Enjoy!


Julie's POV

I was frozen on the couch as my dad looked between the guys and I, trying to make sense of everything. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Luckily, Reggie was thinking quick on his feet.

"Hi, Ray- er, Mr. Molina," he said, getting off the couch. "We decided to surprise Julie by flying here- you know, as a celebration for playing at the Orpheum last week." Reggie nervously stood in front of my dad, who seemed to have recovered from the shock of walking in on three teenage boys in his studio.

My dad reached out and shook Reggie's hand. "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you..."

"Reggie," my fellow band mate said with a grin. Luke and Alex walked forward to introduce themselves.

"Hi, I'm Alex."

"I'm Luke."

Alex and Luke took turns shaking my dad's hand. I took a deep breath, realizing that my dad wasn't going to freak out, and jumped off the couch.

"Julie, why didn't you tell me they were here?" My dad said as I stepped in between Luke and Alex. I bit my lip.

"Well, they only just got here a few minutes ago, right after Mr. Wilson left," I said nervously. "We were just talking about our next gig." My dad nodded and smiled at the boys.

"Well, I'd like to thank you," he said, "for bringing music back into Julie's life."

"Oh, there's no need to thank us, sir," Luke said, rubbing the back of his head. "Music was always in her life, we just encouraged her to do something with it." My dad smiled warmly at Luke.

"Still, I'm very grateful," he said. "Are you going to be staying here?"

"Well, that's what we were planning on, if you'd allow it," Alex said. Of course, they would stay in the studio even if my dad said no, but at least they were being polite. The last thing I needed would be for my dad to not like my band.

"Of course you can stay!" Dad said, gesturing around the room. "I'll bring some air mattresses and pillows and blankets, and you three can make yourselves at home!" Reggie grinned.

"Thanks, Ray! So, do you by any chance like to barbecue? I'm really in the mood for ribs," he said, throwing an arm around my dad's shoulders and walking him out of the studio. Once they were gone, I let out a long breath and slumped back on the couch.

"Why didn't you tell us we were still visible?" Luke asked, plopping down next to me. I glared at him as Alex facepalmed.

"I can always see you, how was I supposed to know?" Luke let out a nervous chuckle.

"Right. Sorry," he said. Alex groaned.

"Sometimes I wonder about you, Luke," he mumbled, yawning and stretching his arms. "Geez, I'm super tired. What time is it?" I glanced at my watch.

"Eight o'clock," I said. Alex yawned again.

"That means I'm checking out for today." I raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? You guys have been going to bed around eight every night and waking up at one p.m. the next day," I said. "How tired are you?"

"Well, if you hadn't slept in 25 years, how do you think you'd feel?" Luke asked, adjusting his beanie. I shrugged and stood up.

"Fair point," I said. "Well, I'll go help my dad with the mattresses. We can tell him you've got jet lag from the flight, or something."

"What about Reggie?" Alex asked, taking off his hat and putting it on his drum set.

"I dunno, I'm just worried he'll talk my dad's ear off," I said, walking towards the studio doors. "I'll be right back, you guys."

I walked out of the studio and into the house, where I found Reggie and my dad laughing about something in the living room.

"Hey dad, where are the mattresses?" I asked, interrupting their conversation.

"In the office, but don't worry about it, Julie," Dad said, getting up off the couch. "I already said I'd get them."

"Uh, okay," I said. "Could you get them now? Alex and Luke are super tired. Jet lag, you know." My dad nodded and walked down the hallway towards the office. I sighed and turned to Reggie.

"You having fun?" I asked, crossing my arms. Reggie grinned sheepishly.

"You can't blame me, I've been having one-sided conversations with him for a month," he said. I shook my head.

"Just don't annoy him too much." Reggie rolled his eyes.

"When have I ever been annoying?" He asked. I raised and eyebrow.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Reggie shook his head and walked past me and down the hallway my dad had walked down.

"Hey, Ray, let me help you with that!" I sighed and walked out the door, intending to go back to the studio, but when I opened the door, I was met with Nick standing on my porch, obviously waiting for me. I jumped a little as I felt my heart start to pound in fear. Nick grinned with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"N-Nick, what are you doing here?" I asked. I had been careful to avoid him at school all week, but I never expected him to show up at my house again.

"I came to see how you're doing," he said in a cold voice as he walked towards me. I shuddered but refused to back away this time.

"Well, I'm fine, so you can go now, bye!" I said hurriedly, intending to push by him, but he grabbed my arm.

"Where are they, Julie?" He hissed into my ear. 

"L-let me go!" I yelled, struggling to breath free.

"I will if you tell me where the ghosts are. So, I'll ask again. Where are they?"

Without answering, I yanked my arm out of his grip and ran around the side of the house. I could hear his footsteps on the pavement behind me. When I got to the back of my house, I dove under the deck and sat with my hand against the brick wall behind me. A few moments later I saw Nick's feet from under the deck.

"Come on, Julie, tell me where they are!" He said in a haunting voice. I pressed my hand against my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut. I heard him walk up the steps and across the deck. Dust and dirt rained down on me as my body shook. 

After a few seconds, Nick walked down the steps and around the house again. I waited under that deck for ten more minutes to make sure he was gone. I slowly crawled out on my hands and knees, gravel digging into my skin. I cautiously stood up and walked around the house to the front.

After I was sure Nick was gone, I went back inside the house to get ready for bed. It was 8:15, so it was dark outside and I didn't want to be out for longer than I had to. 

After I brushed my teeth and put on my pajamas, I wrote down my encounter with Nick. The more I wrote, the less my hand shook. Once I had written down every detail and locked them away in my dream box, I felt a lot better. I climbed into bed, deciding I would go to bed early...




I couldn't sleep.

I looked at my clock. 11:14. I  sighed and turned over in bed. The memories of what happened with Nick kept coming back. Every time I managed to drift off all I saw was his face sporting that creepy grin.

After what felt like hours, my eyelids finally- finally started getting heavy. I closed my eyes and drifted off...




~Nightmare Warning~

I was running down a dark hallway, tears streaming from my cheeks. I heard footsteps behind me and began to run faster.

All of a sudden, I ran into a wall. It was a dead end. I spun around as the footsteps drew closer. I flailed my arms around blindly- trying to find a door handle, a latch something- but it was too dark. 

All of a sudden, a light flew on and someone grabbed my shoulder. I turned and saw Nick, smiling creepily again. He opened his mouth to reveal razor sharp teeth and said,

"Come with me. Come with me, and I won't hurt your boys." 

He sounded... different. Older, like a grown man. Shivers traveled down my spine. I had to go with him. I couldn't let him hurt them. I opened my mouth, but stopped when I saw Nick's face change. He looked like he was in pain. A tear trickled down his cheek as he said, in his normal voice this time-

"Help me."

All of a sudden, light purple smoke began pouring out of his nose, ears, eyes, and mouth. I opened my mouth to scream but I couldn't- I felt like I was being suffocated by an invisible force. I tried to breathe, but I couldn't. My eyes rolled back into my head as I felt my legs collapse...

~Nightmare Over~




I sat up quickly and let out a scream. Panting, I frantically looked around the room. I curled up into a ball on my bed and put my head between my knees, rocking back and forth.

It was a dream, I told myself. Just a stupid dream...

All of a sudden, my door burst open and I screamed again.



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Luke's POV

I woke up around 2:30 in the morning. I looked over at Alex and Reggie, who were sleeping soundly on their mattresses. My stomach rumbled.

Grunting, I threw my blanket off of me and stood up, poofing out of the studio and into the kitchen. I had barely even opened the fridge when I heard a bloodcurdling scream coming from upstairs.

Julie.

I slammed the fridge door shut and sprinted up the stairs. I swung open the door to Julie's as I heard her scream again. What I saw when I entered her room almost made me freeze in place. Julie was sitting on her bed, her head buried in her knees.

Without a second thought, I rushed to her side and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Julie, what happened? What's wrong?" I asked, placing my hand on her back. When she lifted her head to look at me, my heart shattered into pieces when I saw her tear filled eyes. She shook her head.

"Nothing," she sniffed. "I'm fine." She was obviously not  fine.

"Jules, you can talk to me," I said, rubbing circles on her back. She sighed and wiped her tears.

"It was nothing, I'm serious. Just a bad dream," she said, giving me a half-smile. I grabbed her arms and brought her into a tight, comforting hug. She laid her head on my chest and my heart broke again when I felt her shaking against me.

We stayed in that position for a while, just sitting on her bed hugging. Eventually, I felt the shaking die down. When Julie's breath evened out, I decided to ask again.

"You sure you don't want to tell me?" I asked. Julie sighed.

"It... it was Nick."

My body tensed up for a moment. Nick? After their encounter last week, and she still liked Nick? I held her tighter, grateful that she couldn't see my scowl.

"Well, if you ever want to talk, I'm here," I said. Julie pulled away from the hug, but I kept my hands on her waist. I smiled up at me.

"Thanks, Luke, that means a lot to me," she said.  Her smile made my heart flutter. Unable to help myself, I smirked.

"No problem, your highness. Your knight will always be here to protect you," I said. Julie laughed, a light blush covering her cheeks. Huh. Wonder what that was about?

"Thanks again," she said, biting her lip. My brain went blank as she stared into my eyes. Unable to move, I stared back into those beautiful, dark eyes. My eyes flickered down to her lips and it was only then I realized just how close we were. All I needed to do was lean in and-

"Luke?" Julie's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Oh, I- I'm sorry," I said, taking my hands off of her waist and sliding off the bed. She looked down.

"No, it's okay, I- I just..." I immediately understood.

"You want me to stay?" I asked. She nodded, blushing again. I grinned and sat down on the bed, leaning back against the pillows. She climbed back under the covers and took a deep breath before looking over at me.

"Thank you," she said. I felt my face get hot as she shut her eyes.

"No problem," was what I whispered before I felt my eyelids droop closed.



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I yawned and opened my eyes when I felt sunlight streaming onto my face. I turned my head to the side and yawned, blinking a few times when I realized that I was staring right at Julie's sleeping face.

I looked down and saw that my arms were wrapped around her waist, and her hands were clutching my shirt as her head laid on my chest.

My heart started to beat faster than it ever had before, but before I could move, I heard a whooshing sound behind me, followed by a shout of surprise.

"Luke?"

Oh, crap.



Hi! This chapter was a little difficult to write, but I don't think it turned out too awful.

I'm gonna try to keep writing a chapter every day, but we'll have to see if I have time.

See y'all next time!



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