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.
Betty looked at Daphne from across the island table. "Daph, what happened?" She whispered.
Daphne glanced around the table, if Cylus hadn't been there, she would've said where she'd found Juliet. But as soon as she saw his joyful face fall, she knew she couldn't dampen his mood.
"Nothing, just having a day."
Betty and Jughead both made eye contact and then met Daphne's gaze. A silent signal that they'd discuss this privately later.
"Daph." She turned to Electra. "Don't worry about her. I'll be with her all day, I promise."
Daphne nodded but was unable to say thank you. "I know, and you're welcome." Electra took Daphne's hand and Daphne smiled sadly at her.
"Morning." Juliet's groggy voice made the entire room jump.
"Morning Jules." Betty greeted cheerfully.
"Is there any coffee left?" Juliet yawned and cracked her neck.
"That's so gross Jules, don't crack your neck." Cylus teased and she shot him a teasing look.
"It feels good, you should do it." Juliet plopped down beside him with her cup of coffee.
"Pass." Cylus grabbed her coffee cup and drank it.
"Hey!" Juliet snatched it back and cracked her knuckles next to his ear and Cylus visibly cringed.
"Oh my god, stop that's so disgusting!"
"Jules, don't crack anything." Jughead looked over the paper and smirked.
"Come on, I haven't even cracked my back yet." Juliet said as she twisted in her chair and the sound of her stiff bones cracking up and down her spine made everyone cringe.
"That's so nasty." Electra shuddered.
"Really Jules?" Betty sighed.
"Happy Halloween to you all." She cackled then sipped her coffee.
"I can take Daph to school, Jug, can you take Cy? I've got to run into town for a short story." Betty changed the subject abruptly.
"Sure, you ready to go, son?" Jughead grabbed his keys for his bike and Cylus grinned.
"Hell yes!"
"Cylus!" Betty scolded.
The rest of the girls are cracked up and Jughead tried hard to mask his amusement for his youngest. "Cylus, don't say that." He said with a smile tugging at his lips.
Cylus hung his head down. "How come everyone can swear except me?"
Jughead hurried him out the door but Juliet heard him whisper to Cylus, "you can swear, just not around mom."
Juliet snickered again as the back door shut. "We should get going too Daphne, you don't want to be late for school." Betty stood up and ushered Daphne along.
"See you after school Daph. See you later mom." Juliet waved.
"See you Daphne, bye Mrs. Jones." Electra added.
"See you girls later." Betty and Daphne left the house leaving Juliet and Electra alone.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Electra asked as she finished her cereal.
"Library again? We should probably try and find matches to the rest of the quote." Juliet replied.
"Okay." Electra answered simply and the two girls finished breakfast in silence.
—-
They sat on the floor of the library, sifting through more unsolved cases but nothing jumped out for either of them.
"Juliet, we should just call it quits for the day. We've been here since eleven and it's almost eight. We should go." Electra yawned.
Juliet kept staring at the case about a five year old girl who'd vanished into Foxwood Forest nearly four years ago. But she couldn't seem to comprehend any of the words on the page. They meshed and blended together into nothingness and she knew that even though she didn't want to stop, she had to.
Juliet nodded and they both put the files back into the boxes on the shelves. They walked down the stairs and through the first floor to the front doors.
Electra walked down the outside steps of the library a few paces in front of Juliet who was slowly sinking deep into her mind. She kept thinking about Eden and her promise. Juliet longed to see her again, she'd missed her so much; and she didn't want to think about what might happen to her if Eden didn't come and see her tonight.
Shoving her hands into her pockets, she followed Electra to her bike parked in the same spot as always—under the streetlight right in front of the library. As Juliet stepped down the last stair, she glanced up at the intersection at the end of the parking lot.
There, a misty white figure with auburn hair ran across the street with her back to Juliet and vanished behind the lamppost.
Juliet froze and rubbed her eyes. That's impossible.
Shaking her head and avoiding Electra's puzzled gaze, she clambered on to her bike and started the engine.
Electra wrapped her arms around Juliet's torso and squeezed it gently. For that one moment, Juliet felt herself being yanked from her mind and into the present. She felt her heart race at her touch and they both drove off into the frigid Halloween night.
As Juliet took a left out of the library, she forced herself not to look at the lamppost where the girl had disappeared behind. She didn't need Electra to suspect anything was up with her today.
They stopped at the light and this time, unlike they normally did, neither spoke a word. Juliet wondered if Electra was trying to dissect her mood or if she was thinking about how close they both were.
Juliet had allowed herself to think about Electra a few times. Well, more than a few times.
Juliet had grown fond of Electra, she was drawn to her and her mysterious allure like a moth to a light. Juliet also could not deny that Electra was absolutely gorgeous. Juliet loved her long curled brown hair with platinum highlights. She loved the tint of her skin and how it naturally looked good with any background. She'd often wondered what it would feel like to touch her and what it felt like to kiss her lips.
"Juliet, the light's green." Electra pointed, once again jerking Juliet from her mind.
"Oh shit." Juliet pushed on the throttle more aggressively than she should've, and they both lurched forward before they settled into a comfortable pace down the street.
Juliet heard the tiny sound of Electra's laughter in her ear and she smiled to herself. She liked the sound of Electra's laugh. Juliet wondered if Electra laughed this much around other people.
With her mind hatching a plan, she decided to drive up the road instead of turning onto the street to lead them home. She wanted to take Electra to one of her favorite places.
Her father had taken her here many times when she was young and Juliet had always liked it.
"Where are we going Juliet?" Electra yelled.
"You'll see!" Juliet laughed and said nothing more.
Electra spread her arms out wide and whooped as they flew down the straight a-ways and she gripped onto Juliet's waist as they wove through the roads through the trees as they climbed higher up the hill.
When they reached the clearing, Juliet parked the bike near the lone, old wood guard rail overlooking the valley beneath them.
"Where are we?" Electra whispered, afraid that if she spoke loudly, it would ruin the peace of this place.
"My favorite spot in town." Juliet whispered back, setting her helmet on the handlebars and walking towards the wood rail as if she were in a trance.
Resting her elbows on the top beam, she sighed and gazed at the sight.
Electra stood beside her and mimicked Juliet's stance. "Wow." She gasped.
"Yeah, pretty cool isn't it?" Juliet agreed.
"You can see everything." Electra said in awe, her mouth slightly agape.
Juliet nodded, "I think best when I'm up high. Gives me a new perspective," she paused and closed her eyes, trying to force away a memory. "It reminds me that the world isn't as big as we think it is."
Electra turned her head to stare at Juliet's side profile. Electra couldn't deny that she looked beautiful from this angle. She'd never felt this way about anyone before and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Electra kept people far away from her because it was easier to avoid getting hurt. But with Juliet, as much as she liked cracking jokes and making witty comments, she couldn't help but desire something more with her.
"How'd you find this place?" She asked, trying to keep the mood light.
"Dad took me here. When mom and I first came here when I was four, this was the first place he took me to. He's taken mom here on dates a few times too. But he said that he likes this place because he says it's one of those few places where it's okay to be alone at. You can think about anything you want here and there's no one here to tell you it's right or wrong. He said that a place like this should only be shared with someone you think is special enough to appreciate it." Juliet didn't try to take back the last statement, Electra was worthy in every sense of the word to appreciate this place.
Juliet had only taken one other person here besides Electra.
"Special enough? I'm honored." Electra teased, making Juliet shake her head and laugh softly.
"Maybe I shouldn't have brought you here for that comment." Juliet's eyes glinted with their usual teasing light.
"You know I can't be serious for very long."
"That is true." Juliet smiled.
"No seriously though, thanks for bringing me here. I'm assuming that you needed to think about something here?" Electra asked warily.
Juliet nodded.
Electra put her hand on top of Juliet's and they both sucked in a breath but didn't remove their hands. "You can talk about it if you want, but I also understand if you just want to be here in silence." Electra kept her eyes on Juliet's.
Juliet could feel the turmoil inside herself. One half of her wanted to spew everything out. Wanted to break down and cry about how stupid she'd been on this night three years ago. She wanted to tell Electra about last night and how she'd seen Eden and what they'd talked about and how lost Juliet had felt all day without Eden.
But the other half of her told her to keep it inside. After all, everything she was feeling was a mind game. It was all in her imagination and her problems shouldn't have to burden anyone else. She had enough emotional baggage to deal with and she needed to deal with this alone. It was better to keep it locked away and overcome it alone, that would make her a stronger person.
Juliet sighed and shook her head, "I just need to escape this day. I hate this holiday." She turned her head and felt her eyes fall on the flickering lights of the town below.
Electra concealed a sigh, she could see Juliet fighting something inside herself and she knew that Juliet needed to let it out. She'd feel better, she wouldn't have to feel so alone.
Electra squeezed her hand and spoke, "I get it too. Halloween isn't exactly my favorite day either."
"Why?" Juliet questioned with curiosity.
"It was my mom's favorite holiday. She loved to scare people, and she was damn good at it too." Electra laughed as she remembered when she was seven and her mom had scared the pants off her dad by jumping out wearing a bloody clown mask.
"We used to have so much fun around Halloween. Mom, dad and I wouldn't go trick or treating, that wasn't our tradition. The three of us would go out and scare people, we'd jump out of bushes and make kids scream and cry. We'd even scare adults too," Electra laughed again, "looking back I can't believe we did that every year."
Juliet giggled, "you'd actually scare little kids? Well, weren't you the devil as a child."
Electra nudged her, "I know, I guess that's why terrorizing people doesn't faze me. My parents used to be so fun." She sighed and gazed back out towards the valley. "Mom died when I was ten, when we lost her, dad and I were never the same. She was the energy in our house and was the one with a stable head on her shoulders. Dad and I were cut from the same block, both stubborn as hell and we can't think before we speak. Mom was never like that. Ever since she died, dad and I have had this strange business kind of relationship. We don't really acknowledge each other unless we've got jobs for one another. Mostly he just gives me orders and I obey them because I don't really have a choice." Electra sighed and glanced at the ground then back towards the valley.
"He started drinking a lot after mom died, he never hit me, it's mostly yelling. But sometimes I wish he would just...talk to me. I miss him and I know the dad I grew up with is still in there, he's just lost because he never felt like himself unless mom was there." Electra explained, blinking more than normal to push back the tears building up inside.
Juliet leaned her head on Electra's shoulder, "I know what that looks like. My mom got pregnant with me before she started college. She tried to tell dad but before she could tell him, he broke her heart. He gave some stupid reason because he didn't want to do long distance and claimed he didn't love her. God, he was such an idiot." Juliet muttered. "Anyways, for four years, mom and I lived in New York and although mom seemed happy, I knew there was something she was missing. I never had a clue what it was until we came here because she had to solve some case and she had to work with dad. Once we got here, and the more she saw dad, I knew he was the missing piece. She wasn't fully herself until she found the person who accepted and allowed her to be that way." Juliet squeezed Electra's hand.
"I'm sorry about your mom, I can't imagine how hard that must've been on your dad and on you. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have my mom or dad." Juliet apologized.
Electra sighed, "thanks. I wish I could say something to him."
"I think you should talk to your dad, it'll be hard but at least you will have laid all the cards out on the table. It's better to say things and have them out there than it is to lose the person and never be able to say what you wanted to say. Trust me, that's the worst feeling in the world." Juliet felt her voice change and she gulped the tears back down.
Electra looked at Juliet, "I'm sorry about Eden."
Juliet made a horrible coughing sound and removed her head from Electra's shoulder and wiped her nose with her sleeve. "It's okay, it's okay really."
Electra knew it wasn't. "I know you're not okay Juliet."
Electra could see the tears in Juliet's eyes but she wouldn't let them fall. "It's okay to be sad and miss her." Electra said softly.
Juliet wiped her eyes and nose quickly, she took a deep breath to collect herself and stood up tall. "It's just this stupid day, every other day of the year I'm perfectly fine." She then checked her phone. "God, it's already 10:00? We should probably get back home, the sooner we go to sleep, the sooner this stupid day is over." Juliet walked away from the wood rail towards her bike and Electra sighed.
Why couldn't she just get it out? She had to feel even more broken on the inside than she looked on the outside. Electra thought as she stood by the rail with her feet planted to the ground.
Electra had never wanted to help someone more than Juliet before in her entire life.
She also knew that she couldn't go through with her father's plan anymore.
A/N: ok, I apologize again for such a late update. I keep thinking I've gotten out of my writer's block but I just haven't been motivated. Ugh, I hate being like this! I promise I will update again within the next two weeks at the latest. I really appreciate your patience with me!