My Mother's Shadow

Chapter Four: Rose and The Shadow

Christmas Eve was arguably the best part of Christmas. At least in the James family. Rosemary woke to the sound of Christmas music playing. She knew that her grandmother had woken up extra early to make their Christmas dinner. Even though Rose would love to help, she knew Cecile would smack her hands if she tried.

Rose turned in her bed to see her younger brother standing at her door with the monocle he'd fixed yesterday against his eye. His gaze shifted from her to the room around her. She watched as he flinched at something behind her before leaving her room without a word. She went after him, a new fear rising in her chest.

"Apollo!" She yelled.

"Leave me alone."

"Tell me what you saw."

"Nothing." He said, never turning to face her as he moved to join their grandmother in the kitchen. Rose knew she wouldn't accept any talk of demons; he knew it, too. Rather than entering the kitchen, she opted to revisit the photo albums. She picked up one labeled 00-10. The first picture she saw was of her parents and her. She was a baby, sleeping in her car seat.

Christmas was around the time their mother left them with their grandparents. Rose was ten and Apollo was five.

"Isn't she the sweetest thing?" Rose heard her grandmother ask. As she glanced up from the photo album, she noticed the room had transformed. It was Christmas Eve in this memory. The Christmas tree looked familiar, but the lights were shining brighter. Her grandmother looked younger than she'd ever seen her. She smiled brightly at a baby in a carriage.

"She is!" A man exclaimed.

Everyone laughed. Rosemary's mother, grandmother and grandfather. When she looked behind her father, she saw his demon was still far away. It still stood in the doorway.

"That's what every man says about his daughter." Daniel said, placing a hand on Jude's shoulder.

"Yes, but it's only true about mine." Jude said.

"Oh, I think you'll agree it's true about my daughter as well."

"Damn, you got me."

"Watch your language!" Cecile said.

Rose laughed, tears in her eyes. She wished she could have grown up with this family.

She avoided looking at her mother. She expected it to be even closer this time. Was it her birth that allowed the demon to get closer to her mother, or was it inevitable? She decided to look into the carriage. She'd seen herself as a baby in pictures and she always seemed to smile, but pictures never told the full story.

Before she could see herself, her mother stood up from where she was sitting and rolled her shoulders back. Behind her, the demon's hands fell off her shoulders before it swiftly reattached them. This time, its talons sank into Sage's shoulders. She screamed in pain and fell to her knees.

Daniel and Jude were at each of her sides, asking her what happened, but Sage couldn't answer. She didn't know. She said, "It hurts. My shoulder." But when Jude pulled her shirt down from her shoulder, there was no sign of anything wrong. Daniel looked to his wife.

"Maybe it's an old injury." Cecile said, "You played all those sports in high school. You're growing up now, you got to be careful."

"It's not-" Daniel started. Rose wondered if he knew. He'd spoken about them on his last days. Had he seen them?

"Enough of that now," Cecile said sternly. "Let's get you some ice, baby."

Rose followed her grandfather, who walked behind his wife and daughter to the kitchen.