Descendants of Darkness

Chapter 14.

As soon as Juliet and Electra arrived back at the house, Juliet had emotionally shut off. When they entered the house, they saw Betty and Jughead snuggled on the couch with a blanket around them. Jughead had his arm around his wife and Betty leaned into his side as they watched a movie.

"Hey girls!" Betty greeted, looking up from her position.

"Hi Betty, hi Jughead." Electra greeted.

"What were you two up to today?" Jughead asked.

"Library. Then we went for a drive. I'm gonna go to bed, I'm really tired." Juliet declared and went upstairs without another word.

Electra swallowed, really Juliet? You had to leave me alone with your parents?

"Goodnight, nice talking to you, Jules." Jughead attempted to make Juliet smile but failed at the sound of her door closing. At least Juliet had the decency not to slam it. Electra hoped she hadn't pissed her off that much.

"How was she today?" Betty asked gently.

"She seemed a little distant, but I think she's just trying to hide it from everyone." Electra said as she stood awkwardly off to the side of the couch.

Betty sighed, "Electra, can you sit over here for a minute please?"

Electra obeyed and sat on the end of the couch, "did Daphne tell you something this morning?" Electra recalled this morning at breakfast.

"She did." Betty sat up on the couch, "she told me that she found Juliet sleeping on the roof using half a blanket."

"What? Why would she..."

"I don't know. All I know is that I know Eden has something to do with it." Jughead stayed silent as his wife spoke.

"She acted kind of strange at the library when we left. She kind froze on the stairs and stared at the street corner. It was like she saw someone or something, I don't know what it was though. I didn't ask."

"Why are you guys at the library so much?" Jughead asked.

Electra remembered they didn't know that the kids were trying to solve this case, same as they were. "It's one of her favorite places, it's easy to spend hours there. We can talk, read and get food downtown." Electra didn't lie per say, she just didn't specify what exactly they were reading.

Betty and Jughead exchanged looks like they could communicate telepathically. This freaked Electra out, it was like they knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. Did all parents have this unspoken language between them? She recalled times when her own parents had done this, she never understood it back then, and she certainly didn't now.

"We would spend hours there too when we were younger. But, I believe we were there for different reasons." Betty had that tone in her voice that made Electra's skin crawl. Betty knew she was lying but she chose not to call her out on it.

Jesus, Juliet's parents scared her.

"Anyways." Jughead nudged Betty, "we did want to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?" Electra asked incredulously.

"Juliet actually seems happier than we've seen her in years. I mean sure, it's hard to see that around this time of the year but before this, she's almost returned to the person she used to be. You've done something to her, I don't know what, but don't stop because she's got that spark in her eyes again. Our whole family is in debt to you for helping her." Jughead thanked her affectionately.

Electra was flabbergasted, feeling a sense of pride pull her upward and make her stomach flutter. Resisting the urge to grin like a loon, she also felt a wave of remorse drag her back into the shadows where she'd come from.