Categories > Cartoons > Delilah and Julius > Lurking in the Shadows

Losing Sleep

by panda_1418 2 reviews

"No. It's night, right? I'll just fix it in the morning." If I survive.

Category: Delilah and Julius - Rating: PG-13 - Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Horror - Published: 2006-10-14 - Updated: 2006-10-15 - 958 words

2Moving
I have no idea what possessed me to go see that movie. The fact that the last one scared me AND that I'm seeing glowing red eyes at night should have stopped me. But no, I had to go. Why, you ask? That is a very good question. Let me get back to you on that.

Now I'm in my room. Julius has just dropped me off. The lights are on. I'm too scared to turn them off now. I used to just be able to crawl under the covers and try and ignore the presence I could feel. I can feel their attention when the lights go out. I stare at my closet, the place the eyes most often appear. For a second, I think I see them, but I blink and it's gone. It must be my imagination - I hope.

Normally, I'm really annoyed by wasting electricity, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I take a spare blanket out of a drawer and stuff it under the door. That way, no one will see that I haven't turn the lights off. I close the closet doors and run to my bed. I used to always feel safe in my room, my bed, but I haven't felt safe for weeks.

As I lie in my bed, covers pulled over my head, I feel guilty. I should have told someone about this a while ago. But I was scared they'd send me to a councillor, like they did to Julius when his parents died. He told me it was the worst thing of his life, being asked "How does that make you feel?" or "Do you feel guilty?" or "Do you feel angry?"

All of a sudden, the light bulb explodes. I hold back a terrified scream - barely. There's a delicate tinkling as the pieces of glass fall to the floor. Suddenly, there's a loud pounding on my door. This time I have to cover my mouth to suppress my shriek.

"Delilah?"

Thank God, it's Julius! "Yeah?" I squeak. Oh, that's charming.

"Are you okay?" he asks, opening the door. I nod, but he can't see in the dark. "De?"

"Yeah," I say again, clearing my throat.

"What happened?" His voice is so close to me I flinch.

I grope around until I find the light above my headboard. I flick it on and blink. "The light ... exploded."

Julius looks up at what remains of the light. "Huh. That's weird. Do you have a spare?"

"No."

"Do you need one?"

Yes! I want to scream, but I don't. Probably for the same reason I went to the movie. I don't want to seem like a scaredy-cat in front of him, so I shake my head. "No. It's night, right? I'll just fix it in the morning." If I survive.

He looks at me. He knows I'm holding something back, but can't figure out what it is. Oh, how I yearn to tell him about the eyes, but I won't. I can't. He leaves my room, closing the door as he goes. Just before the tiny stream of light is shut away, I hear him whisper, "Good night."

"Night," I whisper back, but he probably can't hear me. My head is under the covers and tucked into my chest.

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[Later the next day]

We're standing in Al's office as he informs us of our new mission. Both he and Julius keep glancing my way. I know why - I didn't sleep a wink last night. That's three nights in a row I've undergone without sleep.

"Did you get that, Delilah?"

"Huh?" I blurt before thinking. I blush as I realize I wasn't paying attention to anything Al was saying. Usually it's Julius who does that.

Al sighs. "You can, like, tell her on the way, man." he says to Julius.

We walk out the door and Julius begins babbling to me about how we're just going into Halifax. Apparently Wednesday Kerstfield is holding a grudge against the mall, and is threatening to blow it up for banning her for a week. I shake my head, laughing.

"So trivial," I mutter.

In a few minutes, we are in Halifax, driving to the mall. It's not hard to spot Wednesday, seeing as she's standing in front of the building, twirling her Poison Pink lipstick in her hand. Julius pulls into an alley and gets out of the car.

"We'll take the rooftops," he explains, "catch her off guard. Okay?"

I nod. "Sure."

We climb up the fire escape. Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling of dizziness comes over me. Everything blurs, and one of my hands slip. Just quickly as it came, the feeling is gone. I shake my head, trying to shake off the side effects.

"You okay, De?" Julius shouts up from below me.

"Fine!" I yell back, and continue climbing.

After a few minutes of jumping rooftops, we are on the top of the mall. Wednesday has her back to us, and doesn't see as we silently climb down behind her. We creep up behind her, ready to grab her. She doesn't hear us. This will be easy -

As soon as I think that, I accidentally kick a small pebble. It shoots away and clatters against a garbage bin. Wednesday whirls around, surprised. She recovers quickly and blots. Julius is after her in a second. I follow, but the dizziness is back, worse than before.

I stop and clutch my head. It's pounding like someone was beating it was a club. Everything becomes blurry and I feel my knees begin to wobble.

"Julius ..." I try to shout, but more whisper.

He doesn't hear me, and rounds a corner after Wednesday. I moan as my knees give way. Everything goes black ...
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