CHAPTER 1
Julian stared around himself in a daze. He was surrounded by white walls, gray ceiling, gray floors. A fluorescent light bulb hummed over his head and a toilet and accessories sat neatly in a corner. A metal bed was bolted to the floor, covered with a bare mattress, which he was sitting on. The walls were soft- just soft enough to keep you from hurting yourself if you ran into them. He was locked in a little white box in the human world and he had no power over anything in it.
When his name had been cut off of the runestave, Julian had been sure that he would slip away and die quietly and never be heard from again. Instead, after he blacked out, he'd awakened to find himself naked in a dark alley in the rain. He had tried desperately to get back to his realm, but his powers wouldn't work. He was stuck, stuck in the wet and cold. And he felt pain. Every part of him ached as though he'd been beaten.
A man had asked him if he needed help with worried eyes after Julian had staggered out of the alley and into the street. Julian had tried to control his mind but the man only hurried away when he muttered the dark power words. He had tried to throw the policemen who confronted him into a wall with his telepathy, only to have them wrestle him to the ground, where they held him until an ambulance arrived. Then he was strapped onto a stretcher and sedated- sedated? He laughed out loud at the very thought. But yes, they had sedated him and he had woken up here, having absolutely no clue what was going on.
After a few hours alone in the white room he began to realize the cruel joke the other Shadow Men had played on him. They hadn't stopped him from existing. They had just changed his state of existence to one that was intolerable to him. He was mortal, alone, with nothing but the white robe he was wearing and the little white room in his name. He was in an insane asylum. The Shadow Men were probably laughing their heads off right about now. They had always told him those cut off the runestave died immediately. The real fate that resulted from such an action was much, much worse.
He tried to think about Jenny- about finding some way to escape so he could find her and explain things. When a man came in and tried to talk to him he stared at the white wall in front of him, picturing Jenny's honey blonde hair and green eyes. He could hear the doctor talking but he didn't listen to anything he said. Then the doctor left and he was alone again. So utterly alone. He realized that even having Tom in the room with him would have been slightly better than this obscure solitude. How could he ever make it in the real world?
The hours ran together and Julian sat on the bed and stared at the wall, reliving his experiences with Jenny over and over again in his head, until a large commotion outside his door brought him to his senses. Having nothing else to do, he shuffled over to the small window in his big metal door and peered into the hallway.
At least four orderlies were trying to drag a girl of about fifteen down the hallway. She was screaming and flailing with all of her might, and Julian couldn't help but smile when she managed to pop one of the men in the face. She suddenly glared at him with wild eyes, and just managed to give him the finger before one orderly got hold of her wrists and two more her ankles and they carried her up the hall like some animal roasting over a fire. She continued to scream and curse so loudly that he could hear her clearly through the metal door, until they finally managed to pull her into her own little white box, from which much booming and muffled shouting came, until things suddenly went quiet. They must have given her a shot.
Another nut being stowed away safely in her little cage, where she couldn't be a nuisance to society. Julian walked slowly back to his bed and laid down, staring at the cold, gray ceiling. He wondered who was paying for him to stay here. He knew it cost an awful lot to keep a person locked up. Maybe the Shadow Men were somehow footing the bill, just to get a good laugh, or maybe it was one of those free places for the especially crazy. Maybe they'd taken a court order out on him in the few hours he'd been asleep. He *had* managed to break a man's arm and another man's leg before the policemen got him on the ground.
Julian started laughing again. "Fear me, mortals!" he shouted, hoping someone outside would hear between his hysterical giggles. "Bow before me and tremble!" The laughter was coming so hard now, he was rolling back and forth. Tears fell out of his eyes and he continued laughing until he fell out of the bed and hit his head on the metal leg. His laughter was immediately cut short and he resumed his position on the white bed, the tears still falling from his eyes.
Julian stared around himself in a daze. He was surrounded by white walls, gray ceiling, gray floors. A fluorescent light bulb hummed over his head and a toilet and accessories sat neatly in a corner. A metal bed was bolted to the floor, covered with a bare mattress, which he was sitting on. The walls were soft- just soft enough to keep you from hurting yourself if you ran into them. He was locked in a little white box in the human world and he had no power over anything in it.
When his name had been cut off of the runestave, Julian had been sure that he would slip away and die quietly and never be heard from again. Instead, after he blacked out, he'd awakened to find himself naked in a dark alley in the rain. He had tried desperately to get back to his realm, but his powers wouldn't work. He was stuck, stuck in the wet and cold. And he felt pain. Every part of him ached as though he'd been beaten.
A man had asked him if he needed help with worried eyes after Julian had staggered out of the alley and into the street. Julian had tried to control his mind but the man only hurried away when he muttered the dark power words. He had tried to throw the policemen who confronted him into a wall with his telepathy, only to have them wrestle him to the ground, where they held him until an ambulance arrived. Then he was strapped onto a stretcher and sedated- sedated? He laughed out loud at the very thought. But yes, they had sedated him and he had woken up here, having absolutely no clue what was going on.
After a few hours alone in the white room he began to realize the cruel joke the other Shadow Men had played on him. They hadn't stopped him from existing. They had just changed his state of existence to one that was intolerable to him. He was mortal, alone, with nothing but the white robe he was wearing and the little white room in his name. He was in an insane asylum. The Shadow Men were probably laughing their heads off right about now. They had always told him those cut off the runestave died immediately. The real fate that resulted from such an action was much, much worse.
He tried to think about Jenny- about finding some way to escape so he could find her and explain things. When a man came in and tried to talk to him he stared at the white wall in front of him, picturing Jenny's honey blonde hair and green eyes. He could hear the doctor talking but he didn't listen to anything he said. Then the doctor left and he was alone again. So utterly alone. He realized that even having Tom in the room with him would have been slightly better than this obscure solitude. How could he ever make it in the real world?
The hours ran together and Julian sat on the bed and stared at the wall, reliving his experiences with Jenny over and over again in his head, until a large commotion outside his door brought him to his senses. Having nothing else to do, he shuffled over to the small window in his big metal door and peered into the hallway.
At least four orderlies were trying to drag a girl of about fifteen down the hallway. She was screaming and flailing with all of her might, and Julian couldn't help but smile when she managed to pop one of the men in the face. She suddenly glared at him with wild eyes, and just managed to give him the finger before one orderly got hold of her wrists and two more her ankles and they carried her up the hall like some animal roasting over a fire. She continued to scream and curse so loudly that he could hear her clearly through the metal door, until they finally managed to pull her into her own little white box, from which much booming and muffled shouting came, until things suddenly went quiet. They must have given her a shot.
Another nut being stowed away safely in her little cage, where she couldn't be a nuisance to society. Julian walked slowly back to his bed and laid down, staring at the cold, gray ceiling. He wondered who was paying for him to stay here. He knew it cost an awful lot to keep a person locked up. Maybe the Shadow Men were somehow footing the bill, just to get a good laugh, or maybe it was one of those free places for the especially crazy. Maybe they'd taken a court order out on him in the few hours he'd been asleep. He *had* managed to break a man's arm and another man's leg before the policemen got him on the ground.
Julian started laughing again. "Fear me, mortals!" he shouted, hoping someone outside would hear between his hysterical giggles. "Bow before me and tremble!" The laughter was coming so hard now, he was rolling back and forth. Tears fell out of his eyes and he continued laughing until he fell out of the bed and hit his head on the metal leg. His laughter was immediately cut short and he resumed his position on the white bed, the tears still falling from his eyes.