When they laid down to sleep, Jason couldn't get comfortable even though his body sunk into the bed. He felt like someone was watching him, watching his moves and his thoughts and his actions. It was hard to sleep thinking that every move you made was somehow wrong in the eyes of someone else.
Piper slept well beside him, her soft breathing tickling the skin on his neck. She didn't seem fazed in the least by the weird energy, or she was exhausted from watching the girls all day. Either way, Jason was alone in his fear all night.
At one point, in his half-asleep daze of reality, he thought he saw someone in the doorway staring at him. The figure didn't move, didn't speak, and didn't last long. In seconds it was gone. He eventually fell asleep, but he couldn't get that figure out of his mind. It haunted his dreams until Piper woke him up in the morning.
"Are you okay?" her face loomed over his, her hair fell onto him. "You didn't look like you were having a good dream."
"I'm okay." Jason gave her a fake smile. "New house, you know."
"Yeah..." Piper beamed as she got off the bed. "A new house...all ours... We've got a house, Jase. A house we can raise our kids in."
Jason smiled at her hope, at the sight of her dream finally coming true. "It's amazing, isn't it?"
She nodded. "I can unpack more when you're at work. So get ready and I'll have breakfast ready. When you get home I might go hang out with Leo..."
"That's fine." Jason dragged himself to his feet. "Is there something I can make them for dinner?"
Piper shrugged. "You're the one that got everything here, not me."
"Right." Jason rubbed at his face. "I have to go to the store after work. Um... For breakfast, there's some dry cereal... I don't think there's any milk or anything like that."
"Of course there isn't." Piper wrapped a robe around herself. "I'll go wake the kids. Don't forget to get food."
"I won't," Jason promised, going to his closet in search of clothes. "Text me to remind me if you want."
"Oh, I will," Piper promised. "That isn't something I can risk you forgetting. That town's too far to keep going back and forth. And you know how hungry Maddie gets."
Jason started to get dressed, his blue eyes focused on the wall in front of him. What had he seen last night?
Piper leaned against the doorframe with her arms wrapped around herself. "Jason...You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, Pipes," he assured. "Why do you ask?"
"You've got a thousand yard stare going on." she joked before her tone became suddenly serious. "Are you okay? I know...I know it's only been five years. If you need to talk..."
"I'm fine." Jason began to put his tie on. "I told you before, Pipes. I'm fine. We don't need to talk about it."
"Then why won't you look at me?" she asked. "The wall isn't that interesting, you know."
"I know." Jason looked back at her with emotionless eyes. "I'm fine. I'm just tired."
"Right..." Piper glanced away. "I'm going to go get the kids up."
"Okay." Jason cleared his throat. "Go do that, then."
Piper rolled her eyes before leaving the room, her hair still having braids it in from the day before. Hair stuck up around them, falling into her face in a mess that only sleep could cause. As she looked for her daughters' bedroom, she felt a chill go through her, causing her to stop in her tracks.
The carpet beneath her bare feet still felt comfortable, the hallway still looked fancier than she ever imagined she could own. But deep down, underneath the goosebumps and the hair-raising on end, she knew that something was off. She knew that something was there with her.
Something not remotely human.
