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It seems like a normal day, considering all the odd happenings you can usually expect from Destiny City. The weather’s great, the people are tolerable, and everything’s going fine. You are out, enjoying the good fortune, when you catch a familiar face in the crowd: yours. They are wearing your clothes, your face, and you see them for only a second but a feeling of dread floods through you. They smirk, like they know they’ve won—and then you lose them in the crowd. No matter how hard you look, you can’t find any sight of them, but a feeling of dread and being watched follows you for the rest of the day.
The last week had been very much… drama tick? Quite the thing, she’d had someone else tell her, and 7 year old Giulia Montgomery was not quite sure how it made her feel. In the last 7 days, she had been scratched, she had been bitten, she had been made sick with fever. She had met with some old friends, and suffered through extra hurty teeth, she had been attacked by spiders, and been attacked by Ugly Laverne, and she had met more senshi. She had followed invisible creatures through the dark and been real scared. Even more, the little blonde had seen people with bright orange skin, heard about monsters living in the water from the rain and being like...black lagoon monsters? But what was prob’ly most important was that she had also begun to understand that sometimes the adults in her life were not just being mean when they told her that she could not do a thing, or hid something from her; sometimes, they just wanted to keep her nice and safe. And sometimes, it was not safe to go out alone at night, even with Boop, no matter how much she wanted to, because there was more in the dark than Jada knew.
Yet even with all of the trouble that she had been getting into lately, the little blonde lived in hope that she would be able to continue living her life beyond the night time and all the bad drama feelings. She wanted to keep making friends at school, and wanted to keep being able to go and play at her friend's’ house once they and their parents had been thoroughly searched for any past badness. But the situation was extra odd right now, and so she didn’t expect that she would have too terribly much freedom as Giulia for a while. She had read almost all the books in the library, the gardens were practically off limits because of the giant spiders, it was too cold to go swimming, she was too small to use the gym, Cookie had nothing to teach her, her homework was all done, the zoo was pretty much in the same condition as the gardens, her ballet classes were at night, she didn't want to check out the candy store again, Aidan was at a birthday party for a friend playing laser tag… The list actually went on and on, and all the bad seemed to be piling up.
It was a long shot, but finally she had no choice except to see if she could go out. The library, she decided; there was a reading nook shaped like a castle, and costumes were allowed if she wanted, and there were lots of places for the grown ups to sit and read while she enjoyed herself. Giulia was actually quite surprised when she was allowed to go! She had almost thought that mama would want to keep her closer to home, since the older woman had been all huggy and clingy and stuff. Look, Giulia loved her family more than she could say, but constant huggles? It was a bit much! Even for her! So when Jada agreed that the library was a good idea, and made plans for Amelie and the Suit Men to escort her and Aidan, Giulia darted out happily into the morning. Freedom was a lovely thing. Being able to stretch her legs and not be cooped up in marble halls was an even better thing, and one day, she would show off the true glory.
Today she was dressed in one of her favorite green outfits, fluffy and covered in short, brightly colored bow-tied ribbons, with a little bit of lace trimming the edges. Her blonde hair was messily done up in a french braid, and there was a little bit of a pink tint on her lips, because she wanted to feel like a grown up. And ahhhh! The outside felt so nice, she could hardly stand it. They had driven to the city house and were walking to the library from there, because walking was healthier than always being chauffeured.. Now, Giulia spun happily, inhaling the cool, fresh, crisp morning air. The breeze floated her skirt as she spun, and she couldn’t stop her bubbling joy. Freedom! Sunshine! Smiling faces, everywhere she looked! People were saying good morning in response when she spoke to them.
Once they got to the library, she raced her wayto the child’s castle, scowling into the silence to see if any of the names were recognized. And when she was ready to leave, a nice old man actually let her skip him in line with her little selection of books. On happy little feet the short blonde girl bounced along, her bright blue eyes considering the selection of books she had picked out to read. Some books were about little girls who rode horses and stuff, and babysat, and threw sleepovers and had fun with their groups of best friends.Other books were about lonely heroes, and in honor of Halloween, some had ooze on the cover. She had them tucked into a bag, but carried one, Esperanza Rising, close to her chest as she made her way out of the library and into the crowd.
She had just bumped into someone else, and smiled, apologizing up to the handsome blonde man with his blue eyes and charming, white-toothed smile. When her eyes caught on someone else moving past, and her breath caught. A green dress, lace and ribbons fluttering in the breeze. A french braid. Rosebud pink lips. A bag full of books. And tucked to her chest, a copy of Esperanza Rising. And then bright blue eyes turned to meet Giulia’s and that sweet little mouth curved in a smile that sent shudders pouring down her spine. No- something wasn’t right here. There wasn’t a mirror anywhere nearby, but that was a perfect replica of a- Where did she go?! Giulia paused, freezing, ignoring the suit man bumping into her,Amelie’s hand on her shoulder. The other Giulia had just vanished. Like the spiders. Was that the spider’s wicked plot? To replace Giulia with a spider? She would not be dinner! She would not be defeated.
Her nod to go home was small, and the feeling of dismay in her bones...lingered.
