Witches Beware

Chapter Seven: Three Days Ago...

Darkness... I stood there, in the middle of a room surrounded by darkness or at think it's a room. I know there's a door, a mysterious light shining down on a light brown door with an oval gold knob. I recognize the structure, it's the same design in North Carolina. Shadows formed under the crack, there were people, from the sound of it there were two of them. 'Hello?' My voice was loud and echoed all around me, proving I was alone.

My feet carried me to it, with hesitation I grabbed onto the cool nod and slowly turned until the door opened. The room was painted orange, toys of all kind scattered along the floor, drawings of stick figures plastered along the walls, and a twin size bed made for a little girl in the middle of the room. There she sat, her back pressed to the foot of the bed, legs crossed in front of her, hair in her face- no matter how many times she push it back, it would keep falling, and her bottom lip tucked in between her teeth. She was drawing another horrible picture of stick figures, she knew it was terrible but every time she drew it made her mother proud.

I dropped to my knees in front of her, waving my hand in her face; not once did she flinch. The little girl couldn't see me, she just kept drawing and humming that lovely tone her mother would sing every time she cooks breakfast. It warmed her heart, calmed her down and actually put a smile upon her face. That was until a loud crash from the kitchen distracted her, yelling filled the air to the point where humming couldn't even block it out.

The little girl pushed her art to the side and ran to the door, her hair flying in the wind and bare feet patting on the hard wood. I followed her, practically running down that long hall to the steps, there she could hear the screams clearly and see the shadow of her parents dancing along the white wall. They screamed, cursed, damned each other to hell with so much emotion in their voice; they didn't know which to to grab onto. The little girl sat on the top of the steps, knees to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs as if using them as a shield; not once flinching from dishes being drown and her father's disrespectful tongue.

'That's it, I'm done!" The four words shocked the little girl. Her father caused the room to turn silent, her mother shocked and utterly disappointed.

'What?' The women could many believe, the desperation and fear in her voice finally caused the little girl to flinch. 'You can't, after everything. You are supposed to be here! You're supposed to protect us!'

'How can I if you're killing yourself?! Drinking god knows what, drugging yourself. You can barely get up in the morning.'

The little girl didn't want to hear any of it anymore, she covered her ears and hummed, the shadows danced to the music- back and forth they went. The shadows disappeared from the wall, the performance over as their owners stepped out of hiding. Her father looked up, guilt waved over him instantly, his lips opened but closed; not once thinking of anything to say to the little girl. Her mother, in the other hand, has not yet seen the little girl. On she yelled and jabbed her finger into his chest, called him names, cried, hit, scream; all in which pushed him out the door. Then, at that moment, she noticed the little girl sitting at the top of the steps- she too looked guilty.

'Jupiter.' She said her name breathless, causing the girl to remove her hands from her ears and stare down at her mother. Not once shedding a tear or asking any questions, her hope of her father coming back was still high; naive. 'Do you have another picture for me sweetie?" Her mother asked, hoping the little girl would get distracted, but it didn't work.

The little girl continues to sit there, staring at the door, praying her father would walk back inside and make amends. But he never did, and he never will...