The Radiant Rangers

Chapter 31

The sun rose, filling the sky with shades of orange and pink. Peach and magenta, amber and rose, radiating hope, a new beginning. Another chance to live. The start of a brand new day.

The new morning sun poured through the cracks in the blind and entered right into Juliet's eyes. She tossed and turned in Haisley's bed.

She groaned and rolled over to face Danielle. Danielle was sleeping beside her in Haisley's bed. Her eyes were still shut, but the sun was shining on her face. Danielle's skin shined in the sun. Juliet smiled softly and closed her eyes once again to endorse a few more minutes of sleep.

All of a sudden the door swung open with a loud creek. "Guys!" shrieked a high pitched voice. Juliet and Danielle both sat up quickly and their heads turned towards the door. "Cynthia is gone!" said Gwendy. Gwendy was at the bedroom door panting as if she had just ran up a flight of stairs.

"What?" asked Juliet. Juliet slid over top of Danielle and stretched out her arms. "Where did you go last night?" Juliet made sure the word you was louder than the rest. She vividly remembered Gwendy leaving the room in the middle of the night.

Gwendy's cheeks flushed pink. "I went to go grab a snack."

"And you never came back...?" asked Juliet. "You musta had a feast down there,"

Gwendy's face turned even more red and she hinted away from Juliet's gaze. "Haha it's whatever dude." said Juliet. "So what happened to Cynthia?"

"I saw her leave in the middle of the night when I went downstairs." Gwendy said,

"What?" Juliet frowned. "Why didn't you stop her?

"I-I was," Gwendy felt panicked. "Too busy eating!" She quickly snapped back. She didn't want Juliet or Danielle or anyone else to know the truth about her and Crimson. Crimson was still considered a villain after all, even if Gwendy saw the good in him. She also felt too traumatized to tell Juliet the truth about Haisley. The thoughts still sickened her. She didn't want to relive the memories in her head of Cynthia's red icicles stabbing through the little girls body... cold and mercilessly.

"I can't believe she just got up and left man!" Cried Juliet. "I knew something was up with her, but I didn't expect her to run away!"

"Adeline..." said Gwendy in a soft tone.

"What?" asked Juliet. "Is that the orange host who clearly isn't here?"

"No..." said Gwendy. "She's the green host." She looked Juliet in the eyes. "She killed the orange host. Cynthia and I tried to bring her back, but she tried to kill us. Her name is Adeline and she wants the hosts powers, she already killed the orange host...and..." Gwendy lowered her eyes and took in a deep breath. "...Cynthia killed the indigo host."

Juliet was mortified, frozen to the spot. She felt traumatized. She couldn't believe the words that Gwendy had just said. Her best friend Cynthia, a cold blooded killer. Danielle stood up from Haisley's bed and walked over to Gwendy and Juliet.

"There's no way man!" said Juliet with a look of disbelief on her face. "Cynthia would never do that..." Danielle put her hand on Juliet's shoulder.

"Cynthia does have two powers after all..." Danielle said quietly. "I never liked Cynthia anyways..."

"Don't say that!" Juliet turned around and snapped back. "Cynthia is my best friend and she'd never..." the tears that began to form in Juliet's eyes had cut her off. Juliet got angered easily, and something about what Gwendy had said had set her off. Tears rolled down Juliet's cheeks and she felt betrayed. Her best friend had kept this secret from her for her entire life. Juliet's palms were sweaty and the adrenaline was coursing through her system. She wanted to run or beat the living daylights out of Gwendy, either would do.