Descendants of Darkness

Chapter 13.

The start to Daphne's day was not as festive as she wanted it to be.

When she walked past Juliet's room to go downstairs and get ready for school, she felt the temperature in the hallway drop at least five degrees.

Knocking gently on her door, she whispered, "Jules? Are you awake?"

There was no response and Daphne's heart began to pound. Halloween was supposed to be the scariest day of the year, metaphorically speaking. The jokes of ghosts walking the Earth on this night and being scared by kids in costumes was what made the night fun. The whole day was like a game, a light hearted day to dress up and eat your weight in candy.

But for the Jones', Halloween felt like waking through the woods alone at night feeling like something was going to jump out and attack. You'd run and escape narrowly but your life would never be the same after that night.

On every Halloween for the last three years, they'd almost lost Juliet. Daphne knew she wouldn't be able to function without her older sister. She'd had nightmares since she was twelve when Juliet first left the house that night. She'd gone into Juliet's room that night cause she hadn't been able to sleep and discovered that she wasn't there. Daphne had gone into her parents room and told them that Juliet wasn't there.

They had searched the house and could not find her, Daphne looked out Juliet's window and saw her sitting on the ledge. "Juliet!" Daphne had screamed and opened the window.

Daphne crawled out onto the roof when she saw that Juliet hadn't reacted to her cries. When Daphne made it to her sister, she saw that her wrists were bloody. Juliet looked pale as a sheet and felt cold as ice. But the worst sight was the haunted, dead look in Juliet's eyes.

Daphne shook her head, she couldn't unearth that memory again this early in the day.

She opened the door and saw that Juliet wasn't in her bed. Daphne immediately felt her heart pound in her chest. Panic possessed her and she felt uncontrollably hysteric.

"Juliet?" Her voice half shouted. She threw back the covers on Juliet's bed and violently threw open Juliet's closet door.

Nothing.

Then she saw the window barely cracked and she felt like that scared twelve year old girl again.

She tore it open and saw Juliet asleep with a blanket half on her body. The other half stretched across the space another person could've used.

"Juliet." Daphne let out a sigh of relief.

"Hmm?" Juliet yawned and looked around their area. Daphne watched Juliet's face change from drowsiness to alertness then to realization. Whether that meant she'd acknowledged Daphne's presence or it was something else, Daphne didn't know.

"Jules, what are you doing sleeping on the roof?" Daphne took Juliet's frozen hand in hers and lead her back through the window.

"I was stargazing and fell asleep." Juliet lied.

Daphne didn't believe that for a second but she didn't want to fight. Today she had to be as complacent as possible. Everyone was fragile today, but with one mishap, Juliet would detonate and take everyone down with her.

"Ok, you should join us downstairs. You know Cylus is gonna want to talk about his trick-or-treat plans." Daphne tried to lighten Juliet's mood.

Juliet nodded but didn't smile. "Yeah, I'll be down in a bit."

Daphne nodded but said nothing more. She walked downstairs, escaping the memories she did not want to think about for today.

When she joined her family and Electra at the breakfast table, they all noticed that she looked a fright.