DUSK TILL DAWN ~> JUGHEAD JONES (BOOK 1, SEASON 1)

Chapter 37

THE NEARLY scalding hot water fell from the shower head, rolling over my shoulders and burning as it traveled down the length of my body. On any normal day, i would have jumped back and nudged the knob until the water reached the right temperature. But not today. Today i barely felt the stinging pain as my skin reddened at the contact.

The steam clouded up around me, layering the glass with a layer of white mist. I hung my head letting the water flow over my face, blinding me and making it hard to breathe, running my fingers through my ginger hair holding it out of my face as the water ran down to my lips making moisture drop to the tiled floor as i exhaled a slow breath.

Thoughts of my past consumed me as I raised both my hands to the cold tiled wall, letting the scolding water hit the center of my back, closing my eyes I let out another uneven shaky breath.

The sound of shouting followed by a woman's cry, a loud shattering sound almost like a wind chime sounded to the little girls ears.

Fear was all she could feel, she was numb to the pain, the shouting, everything.

The man, also known as her father walked over to her, kneeling down. "It's Time." His voice was deep and dark as the little girl shook her head. "No." She pleaded.

"You can't do this." The woman shouted, running over to cover her daughter from sight, the man look angered as he slapped the woman, she fell to the floor sobbing as he picked up the screaming girl.

He carried her to a unknown room and strapped her to a chair, her screams filled the room, but..he didn't listen to her pleading, cry's for help, Absolutely nothing.

The horror of that night still haunts me, when I close my tired eyes, the illness I got ever since that day, doesn't hurt me anymore, I can say...I got used to it.

I was only young when it happened, I didn't really know what was happening to me, only that I knew it was wrong. Releasing a ragged breath, I clutched my eyes closed as I relived the memories again, the cries of pain, screaming for help, the sound of shattering glass, everything that invaded my dreams.

Reaching up I turned the knob and felt the water stop flowing as I stood up straight and opened my eyes, reaching up I ran a hand over my face and felt the moisture drip down onto the tiled floor.

Grasping a towel, I wrapped it over my fragile body and walked over to the mirror, wiping my hand over it, a girl with ginger hair and green eyes stared back at me.

I looked broken in this moment, my eyes were dull, hair looked darker everything was dull. The hurt and pain was evident on my face as I looked away.

Nobody knows that what happened that night, well it's only Jennifer and I, and my father, I always plastered a fake smile on my face when In reality I'm a mess, my sarcasm is my way of defending myself, it makes me feel more confident.

Jughead made me feel that way without trying, he made me confident, the day he asked asked me to be his was the best day of my life, it made me feel wanted.

I shook my head and got changed into some comfortable pjs, leaving my hair half wet, half dry.

My feet padded across the wooden floor of my bedroom as I opened the door, grabbing my phone on the way.

"How are you?" The voice of Jennifer asked me, I slowly looked up and bit my lip. "I'm fine." My eyes watered slightly as Jen shook her head. "You're not okay."

I shook my head as Jennifer wrapped her arms around me, rocking us back and forth slowly as she whispered kind words into my ear, I squeezed my eyes closed as all I wanted to do was disappear into nothing, not to have these memories anymore.

Jennifer seemed to understand why I was upset, she knew I was broken and couldn't be fixed, with the memories that cover my mind in a weird mist, one I can't get go away, it just stays there.

Jennifer kissed my head before pulling away, wiping my tears with her thumbs. "You're a strong girl, you're beautiful, smart, amazing " she smiled as I looked down, she lifted my chin and smiled "You have the best boyfriend ever, who loves you unconditionally."

"I guess." I laughed slightly, Jughead would be at Archie's by now, as much as I wanted to ring him and make him come over I wouldn't do that, I won't bring him into my drama.

"How about you go and sit down." Jennifer said as she moved over to the kettle, she got out the hot chocolate, I smiled and sat down on the couch, clicking on Netflix as I looked for a movie.

Rose was asleep on the floor, surrounded by toys, I laughed slightly as I looked over at Jennifer "she fell asleep, I didn't have the heart to move her."

I picked a random horror movie and snuggled up in the blankets that I had took from the back of the couch, Jen handed me a cup as she sat next to me.

Warmth covered my whole body as I took a sip, smiling as I took another sip, my phone buzzed as I looked over.

'Goodnight Princess, I love you.'

The text was from Jughead, i smiled as I unlocked my phone and sent him one back, it was 11pm and I wasn't planning on sleeping anytime soon, neither was Jennifer as she pressed play on the movie.

"Why is the moon so lonely?" Jennifer asked suddenly, I looked over at her cuddling further into my blankets.

"Because she used to have a lover." I spoke, remembering the story someone had once told me. "His name was Quekewatzo and they lived in the spirt world."

Jennifer looked interested as she paused the movie and turned towards me.

"And every night they would roam the skies together, but...one of the other spirits was jealous." I paused as I looked over towards the window and looked at the moon " 'Trickster' wanted the moon for himself, so he told 'quekewatzo' that the moon has asked for flowers."

"What did he do?" Jen asked as I bit my lip.

"Trickster told him to come to our world and pick her some wild roses, but Quekewatzo didn't know that once you leave the spirt world, you can never go back." I looked away from the window and back at Jen "and every night he looks up at the sky and sees the moon and howls her name, but..he can never touch her again."

Jennifer sat there as she smiled "Wow, that gave me the chills."

"someone told the story when I was at the orphanage before Alice even adopted me, when I would wake up from a nightmare, they would come in and calm me down by telling the story."

"Well." Jennifer spoke "I'm glad she did, because it's beautiful...even though it's probably from a movie."

"Probably is." I laughed quietly as I looked down at Rose, who sat up from her sleep and looked at me. "But she doesn't have to know that."
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Authors Note,

Well that was kinda depressing, I tried a different style of writing for the shower scene, I wanted you to feel what she was feeling, this chapter was based on the night of the last chapter, so it wasn't a new day.

~Robyn