Don't look behind you...

Fawn's POV

"Happy birthday, baby!"

I said this as I set a plate full of mini pancakes covered in whipped cream before my daughter. The smile on her face was worth more than gold as she clapped happily in her seat.

Her little fist wrapped around her fork, and she stabbed into one, quickly bringing it to her mouth. I watched her with a smile as she ate the birthday breakfast.

"Slow down, dear, you don't want to make yourself sick," came Alastor's voice, followed by the feeling of his hands on my hips from behind.

I hummed and looked over my shoulder at him.

My brows furrowed slightly in question, "did you fix it?" I asked him quietly, and he looked down into my eyes, a soft smile on his face.

Our landline had been acting up. It was ringing nonstop this morning, but whenever we picked up there was no one on the other end. Just a busy signal.

He shrugged, "I believe so, but we'll need to wait a bit...if it goes a few hours without ringing, then we're probably ok," he assured me, and I nodded.

I leaned back into him, looking back towards Julie as she enjoyed her pancakes. She had whipped cream all over her face and on her nose, and I chuckled softly, placing a hand over my mouth.

Alastor chuckled and it vibrated from his chest into my back, then he slipped out from behind me and went over to her, bending down so he could be level with her.

"You silly goose, look at you," Al chided her playfully, "you got whipped cream all over your face, come here," he pulled out a handkerchief, and motioned for her to come closer.

She obeyed, letting him wipe off her face before she smiled and stabbed another pancake. The toddler offered some of her breakfast to Al, and he looked down at it for a moment.

He tried to tell her no, holding his hands up.

"Try, daddy!" She insisted, holding it closer to him, to which he sighed and opened his mouth, letting her feed him the treat.

I chuckled behind my hand at the interaction, and he glared up at me, but he was smiling.

He stood back up and came over to me.

"Very sweet..." he grimaced, and then took me by the waist and spun me, dipping me low before capturing my lips in a deep kiss.

When we parted and he stood me back up, he was smirking and I was blushing.

"But it was damn good," he added to his previous comment, making me blush harder.

I giggled and then there was a little scoff of disgust and we both looked over to see Julie covering her eyes.

"Gwoss daddy!" She complained, and we both laughed as he let me go.

"It's not gross, it's romantic!" I corrected her with a little smile, walking over to her to pick her up from her booster seat.

Once I had her on my hip, she smiled at me and then laid herself onto my shoulder.

"Your daddy takes care of you and I both, and he loves us very much...what so bad about showing that, huh?" I asked her, bouncing her teasingly as she giggled in my arms.

"Gwoss!" She repeated and I snorted softly and rolled my eyes, shrugging as I looked towards Al.

He was cleaning up the table, a soft smile on his face.

"Well, I tried my best," I gave up with a laugh and he snickered, kissing my cheek as he passed me to get to the sink.

"I for one, support her view fully," he commented, "the grosser she thinks it is, the better."

I scoffed and shook my head. Typical protective father comment.

Then I turned towards the stairs and started to head up with her, "ok, now let's get you a bath so you can be ready for a fun day!"

She pulled away from my chest and looked up at me.

"Can we go to the city, mama?"

I froze for a fraction of a second, avoiding her eyes slightly. Those big, pure eyes...she already went out to the city earlier this week but that was just straight to the station and straight home.

She can't see what it's become out there...I won't let her see that tragedy.

"Uh...actually, mommy was thinking that we could play here for your birthday?" I smiled down at her, and she pouted softly, "we could go out in the woods, play hide and seek with daddy...we could play fairy princess, I know that's your favorite, and then we'll have your favorite dinner, how's that sound?"

"But...I wanna see me-me...and aunt nini..."

I sighed softly, and pulled her up on my hip more, rubbing her leg gently with my thumb. She barely ever sees Niff or Edith.

Alastor doesn't like people coming to the house...and there aren't really any exceptions to that. I don't even think Niffty knows where Al lives.

Edith just simply respects his wishes to have his private life be just that...private.

"We'll get to see them soon, baby...I promise..." I gave her a gentle smile and kissed her forehead.

Then before she could find it in her to be even more disappointed, I distracted her with a bright smile, "now, what color bath toys do you want today? I think daddy just got you some new ones, if I'm not mistaken," I sang slightly, tempting her.

Her little eyes lit up, the city being forgotten almost instantly at the promise of bath toys.

"Green!" She said excitedly, and I chuckled.

"Green it is, then..."

**

After a full day of games and quality time with Juliette, Al and I were back in the kitchen and I was cooking dinner.

The recipe I was making was one of my own. Since we've been staying home a lot more, I've been learning how to cook since most days Al is at the station and it's just Julie and I until about 5.

This one is her favorite, and Al has tried it, too, and actually asked for it on multiple occasions.

He was sitting at the kitchen table with Julie, helping her read a small book.

I began to hum softly to myself as I prepared the simple dish. It was vegetables, potatoes and stuffed chicken breast that I'd be baking and basting with spicy honey sauce.

Finally, I finished stuffing the chicken, and everything was ready to go in the oven. I popped in all the trays, and then set the table timer.

Sighing, I blew some hair out of my face and turned around to look at Al and Julie.

"Dinner should be ready in about forty five minutes," I said with a smile and walked over, leaning down to looks at the book they were reading.

"Winnie-The-Pooh?" I hummed, looking over the black and white illustration of a little bear surrounded by words.

The book was nothing like children books from the modern day, it looked like like a novel than anything.

Julie nodded, and pointed to the page, "daddy is helping me wead it! The beaws name is Winnie, and he does fun abventouws with his fwends!"

I nodded, giggling slightly as she tried to use that big word.

"Oh, I know all about Winnie the Pooh! Mommy loved this story when she was little, it's a good one," I said, and she nodded in agreement.

Al chuckled, and reached over to brush some fallen hair from Julie's face. Her brown hair is proving to be a lot like mine, very thick and just a bit curly.

Then he stood up and sighed, walking around the table. I stood up as well and looked up at him curiously, then he leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"I have to go handle something in the cellar really fast..." when I glared at him he held his hands up, "just a minute, and I promise it's not messy! Do you mind helping Julie through this chapter, I'm trying to get her to finish it on her own but she needs a bit of help," his voice was hushed and he stepped closer to me and put one hand on my waist.

Then he reached up and caressed my face sweetly, and I leaned into his touch and sighed.

Of course he's going to go torture someone on our daughters birthday, because why wouldn't he do that...

I nodded, and shrugged him off of me, "yea, whatever, go do what you need to do...I'll be here," I looked up and gave him a weak smile.

His brows furrowed and he opened his mouth, but no words came out. He then sighed slightly and kissed my forehead before slipping past me with a quiet, "I'll be right back..."

Once his steps faded, I turned to Julie and she was looking up at me curiously.

I bent down to help her, trying to keep a smile on my face. It's hard when your husband...or, eventual husband...can't seem to drop a hobby that could very well tear his entire family apart.

My throat felt slightly dry, so I swallowed and then opened my mouth to say something but Julie beat me.

"What is daddy doing?"

I froze, and grit my teeth.

Oh, well, sweetheart your daddy is a violent and dangerous serial killer! Right now, he's going to torture some random soul that happened to do something he didn't like.

"He's just going to check the plumbing, dear," I answered her softly, giving her a smile. She blinked and then shrugged and immediately dropped the topic and moved on ti whatever was in her book with a bright smile.

Thank god for the attention span of a toddler.

My smile slowly faded as she read to me, her fingers pointing out different words and pictures. I would help her occasionally, but my eyes kept shifting to the cellar door.

He always says real fast...and then he takes forever because he just gets caught up in whatever it is he's doing.

I wish he'd just drop it.

But...I know who I'm with, I know who I had a kid with.

I know this man.

There's nothing I have the right to be upset about, because at the end of the day, he's always been this way. Nothing I've done has been able to change him, and I haven't tried.

Part of me just wishes, for Julie's safety, he would at least try.

But...he's a wonderful father, and he loves us very much. That's all that matters to me, really...it's all anyone could ever ask for.

My entire body jolted when there was a sudden, ear splitting ringing noise. I was only startled for a moment before I sighed and cussed under my breath, standing up and looking towards the living room.

"Ugh...stupid phone. Well, maybe it's actually someone this time," I wondered aloud, and then looked at Julie with a sweet smile.

"Keep reading honey, mama will be right back. Make sure you keep track of where you need help!" I reminded her as I rounded the corner, and then huffed when I walked over to the phone.

The ringing was abnormally loud and obnoxious, and I picked it up quickly to make it stop.

"...hello?" I asked, my tone bored.

Nothing. Quiet.

But something was off...it wasn't the busy signal like it normally would be...

It felt like static electricity was prickling my ear, and then I heard very quiet breathing from the other end.

My body felt stiff, and I started to shake just slightly.

"H-hello...? W-who is this? How did you get this number?"

The line stayed quiet aside from the prickly static and unsettling breathing. Then, there was a click followed by the busy signal.

My hand kept the phone up to my ear for a good 20 seconds after they had hung up. I was trembling slightly, and swallowed hard before I put the phone back into the receiver.

I felt cold, and my body didn't want to move...mostly because it feels like there's someone right behind me.

Shutting my eyes, I counted to three and spun around, bracing myself.

But when I opened my eyes...nothing.

The fear dissipated from my chest, and I chuckled as I shook my head.

"Silly..." I muttered, and then began to walk back to the kitchen.

"Alright, Julie-bear, mama is—"

I froze in my tracks.

My eyes were wide as I stared at her empty booster seat.

"J-Juliette?"

The book was on the floor, face down, and there was no sign of her. My breathing became labored and I started shaking all over again.

"O-oh god..." I choked out before I began scrambling around, looking for her.

"Julie! Julie, where are you baby?" My voice was panicked and worried, and Alastor still wasn't back. I didn't want to interrupt him, but if this goes on any longer I might have to.

I checked every room, wondering how she got so far in the short time I'd stepped away...then I heard a thud from upstairs, and my steps halted as I looked up at the ceiling.

How the hell did she get upstairs without me seeing her?!

My brain didn't bother wasting time on that, and I bolted up the stairs with relief and worry simultaneously coursing through me.

But when I reached the top of the stairs, I thought I was going to vomit.

Juliette was sitting directly in front of the door neither of us are allowed to open...

Padlocks on the floor around her...

And it was wide fucking open.

"JULIETTE!" I nearly screamed as I rushed over to her.

She was sitting down, staring up at something. She was sitting directly in front of it, barely still in the hallway, and I fell to my knees, grabbing her and quickly shielding her into my chest.

"Oh, my god! Don't do that, baby, and what did daddy tell you about this door? How'd you even get it open, oh my gosh..." I was rambling, kissing her and checking her for injuries.

But she was silent, her multicolored eyes wide...but she wasn't looking at me...she was looking at something behind me.

My back stiffened as I realized I was now in front of the open door...back facing it, and sitting on my knees.

The trembling in my body was intense and I held Juliette tightly, ready to protect her with my life.

Then I felt something like breath against my neck, but it was ice cold.

My lips trembled, but I didn't even have time to scream before something yanked me along with Julie backwards into the room, and the door slammed shut.