The Orpheum should’ve been packed- lights, fans, that crackling buzz of a crowd waiting for the first chord.

But instead? Empty seats. A few workers wiping tables. Your own heartbeat thundering in your ears. One second ago, you’d watched three ghosts tear the house down with their dream set. Your boys. Your band. Sunset Curve reborn in neon light and noise.

Then everything… flickered. Like reality sneezed. And suddenly you were standing alone onstage in full stage gear, breathing like you’d just run a marathon. The room humming with a wrong kind of quiet.

That’s when the backstage door swung open. Laughing. Footsteps. Voices you knew too well- voices that should’ve been twenty five years dead.

Luke walked out first, guitar slung across his shoulder, hazel eyes bright with that familiar “music is everything” spark you’d only ever seen in a ghost. Reggie, Bobby, and Alex followed behind him, mid argument about something stupid and completely alive.

They stepped onto the stage… joking, stretching, getting ready for soundcheck… And then Luke saw you.

He froze so fast he nearly dropped his guitar. You must’ve looked like a lunatic- wide eyed, breath held, staring at him like he was a miracle and a nightmare all at once. Because he was. You’d seen him die. You’d seen him dead. And now he was standing right there, warm and breathing, in 1995.

Reggie nudged Alex. “Uh… is that… part of the show?” Alex shook his head. “Bro, the show hasn’t even started yet.” But Luke didn’t say anything. He took a slow, cautious step forward, confusion written all over him. The kind of confusion that said you were looking at him like he was a ghost- because you were.

“You okay?”

He asked, voice more alive- but exactly how you remembered.

“You look like you’ve seen… a ghost.”

Your throat locked. Because how the hell were you supposed to tell him? I have. You three. Dead. And I’m here because I know what happens after this soundcheck. And I’m not letting you walk out that door.

You swallowed hard, pulse racing. He was alive. All of them were alive. And whatever cosmic glitch dumped you here… you had one chance to save them.