Across the Realms (SEQUEL TO JENNY THE SHADOW MAN HUNTER)

by ZombieVampireAuthor

Jenny continues to hunt beyond Shadow Men while spending her nights with the Prince of Shadows himself. Yet when a hunt goes wrong and sends Jenny in a spiral, she has to get back on her feet and handle a new enemy that threatens not just Earth, but all the realms. When Julian can't help her, Jenny must do what she has to, and wonders if she really is the only hunter out there.

Jenny came sliding to a stop behind one of the large oak trees which had moss hanging from its branches like vines. She knew she wasn't hiding from them-They knew where she was, and that's exactly what she wanted. She held purple vile between her teeth as she carved the runes into the dirt, skillfully, without missing a beat. The pounding steps of the beast came just in the distance, too close for comfort, right as Jenny finished. She jumped out, right out in the clearing, and ran like she was trying to escape. She heard their growls, their shouts after her, and she had to force her smile away.

They were like dark dwarves from German folklore, only they were animals. With the torso of an ox, but the legs of a man, the Yulics were quite large and incredibly strong beasts. They were fast and sharp and most definitely carnivores-Which was why Jenny had tracked down their hideout. They hadn't been too happy about a human coming in and telling them what to do.

So Jenny had led them out, forced them to spread out from their large numbers, making them easier to fight one on one. There were currently five just behind her, carrying large pairs of metal chains and wooden clubs.

Jenny tossed the vile as she turned, shouting a rune just as it shattered against the forest floor. The liquid activated the consecutive runes that she had marked not just around one tree, but three others, connecting them in a circle of dark magic. The power was like lightening, erupting from the ground, shocking the beasts that were in the line of fire. Four of them went down in an instant, but the fifth had passed the line-Too close-

Jenny whipped out the staff that was strapped to her back. It was made of white oak, carved with every rune that needed a blood indication. The ends were sharper than blades, which was why the old wood was stained a rusty red, smeared down its length. Jenny turned back on the creature as she quickly ran her hand over the top, slicing open her palm. In the same motion, she slipped the staff through her hands, skillfully, quickly, smearing the blood over the appropriate rune, then activated the rune aloud just as the end collided with the Yulic's massive fist. The attack overpowered his instantly, knocking him back.

Jenny had her blade in the next second, where she made a slice for his belly. There was blood and fur, then the beast's fists were coming down-She dove out of the way, using the end of her staff to propel herself right back on her feet, where she kicked the beast in the back. It stumbled forward, then hit the ground completely after a Celtic rune.

Jenny stabbed the end of her staff into the creature's leg, with another rune, and stopped once she felt bone. The creature gave a yell, but another spell and the magic had him burning when he tried to stand.

Jenny walked around the creature, unable to kill her smile now as she faced the snout of the drooling, bleeding beast. It squirmed and growled and thrashed its fat head, but the magic that spread across its back like a net only burned worse, searing its fur, increasing the pain. Jenny knelt to its level.

"Care to listen to me now?"

The beast only howled at her.

Jenny glanced back at her other trap, where the four creatures were now sitting still in their circle of lightening, not daring to get too close to be shocked again. They all had their ears down, tails between their legs. It almost made Jenny laugh.

"I know you can speak English. Don't make me kill you all."

The creature suffering on the floor finally made eye contact with her, breathing so hard that his body was lifting and rising with his pants. Its eyes were dark compared to its brown fur, but the blood coming from its jaws was bright blue.

"A human can't kill us," it finally snapped at her and judging by its deep tone and slight accent, it was a male leader.

"Try me," Jenny snapped darkly right back.

The Yulic Leader only glared at her sharper. So, Jenny stood, grabbed one of the powders from her belt. She was about to activate another spell, one that very well could have killed all four of his creatures in her trap just in the distance; but then her instincts kicked her in the gut-Alerting her of something behind her, too fast-

She turned too late, ducking for the ground with her blade raised, where the massive wooden club was just above her. And it would have hit her across the back of the head if it weren't for the Creeper right beside her. The shadows in the shape of a giant snake had the club in its mouth, glowing red eyes staring right through the stupid Yulic that had tried to sneak up behind her. The rest of its body was coiled around Jenny in a protective stance, making Jenny heave a quick breath of relief.

There was a jerk, then the Yulic was tossed far back into the trees, creating a tremble in the Earth as it landed. Then the Creeper dove right into the grass, disappearing through the ground into the darkness that it came from.

"Cheater!" The Leader behind her hissed.

Jenny turned on him, laughing, "Like you are one to talk!"

"You use the aid of a demon!"

"I never said I was working alone," Jenny countered with a shrug.

There was a roar and another Yulic came charging from the trees. Jenny immediately ripped her staff out from the Leader's leg, breaking the spell on him. She charged at him and once more slid to the ground. She swiped at the creature's ankles with a rune, then was back up, ducking under its swinging club. A stab to its wrist and the club dropped. A jab to its knee, a chant, and the creature's joint exploded with a cry.

Still the creature tried to grab her, to tear her to pieces, to shove her in its massive jaws. Jenny evaded it with a precision only a true Hunter could have.

"I said you couldn't touch me," Jenny said haughtily in the same moment as she swung her staff right into the creature's face. The following rune was the last straw, making the creature fall back onto the Leader, dead-limp. The weight seemed too much for the weakened Leader for he laid there, defeated and pissed off.

Jenny said another chain of spells as she ran her hand down her staff again, using the blood to activate it. There was a noise in the distance, then the explosion trembled through the Earth. The smoke was visible from where they stood, burning from the trees in the direction they had come from.

"The base!"

"No!"

The Leader began to curse at her, spitting such harsh words and threats. That was until Jenny faced him square, and the danger immediately fell from his face. She knew the Creeper was behind her again, hovering over her back ominously, to help prove her point.

"Stop stealing children for your meals and I'll stop killing your men."

"We'll skin you!"

"Ankh."

The power went right through the Leader's head, causing a physical gash right up the middle of his skull. Judging by the way his eyes rolled after the power passed, it must have gone deeper than Jenny anticipated, but she didn't care.

"I'm asking for a deal, or believe me I will hunt every last one of your kind down. Eat rabbits or something else instead."

It took a minute for the creature to meet her gaze again and once he had, the submission was obvious. She carved the rune into his forearm too easily, the mark of a deal, on Pethro, and once he swore aloud to stop hunting children, it burned like a scar through his fur, to his skin.

When the Leader tried to look away, jenny snagged him by the ear like an adult to a child, forcing him to meet her gaze. "If you break this, you won't be dealing with me next time."

The threat was clear, echoed by the hiss of the Creeper behind her. She saw the fear flash through the Leader's gaze, which he covered by glaring back at her. Jenny held him there a minute longer, making sure her point was made, before she released him.

Satisfied, Jenny came to a stand and strapped her staff back to the case that wrapped around her torso. Only when she turned, she found the line of Yulics waiting, about a dozen, all furious and ready to create a stampede.

"You should have sworn for your own protection," the Leader laughed through the pain behind her.

But Jenny's smile didn't fade. "Don't have to."

She tossed the powder at their feet and watched the yellow sulfur make their eyes bleed, blinding them. Then she ran.

This time when she dove behind the oak tree, she actually meant to hide from them. She had only stopped to catch her breath for a moment before she was pulling out her blade, to carve a portal into the trunk to take her back home. Yet, when she lifted the knife up, the vines of moss were on her, physically stretching out and grabbing her hand as if they were alive. In the next second, they had her by the biceps, chest, legs-

She didn't get the chance to fight them. In one yank, they pulled her into the shadows, through the darkness. Jenny was blinded, being dragged through dimensions and time, until she was finally whipped around, and the first thing she saw was blue.

Julian stood before her like a splash of color against the new monochrome background. Like the forest she was just in, only darker, the trees black and lifeless from the shadows that built the ground. Julian wore those shadows like a cloak, chest exposed just enough to show off that smooth collarbone; tight enough to squeeze the muscles of his crossed arms. And that smug smile, chorused by the undeniable look of admiration in his eyes, had Jenny smiling back at him.

Jenny was now bounded to one of these dead trees, held down no longer by vines of moss but the thin branches of this tree. They had her hoisted off the ground, arms stretched to the sides-Her blade gone.

"I believe," Julian said smoothly, tauntingly, "that is the third time I've saved you this week."

"Is not," Jenny said right back.

She was restrained slightly higher than Julian's height, so when he stepped closer to her, he had to tilt his head up to maintain her eye-contact. Jenny met the challenge in his eyes with a hint of anxiety thrumming in her blood like a high.

"Is so," Julian teased back, then his gaze dropped. His eyes roamed down her body like his hands had done days before, wrapping her in a layer of heat in a world that was so cold. "And I do say I deserve a reward by now- "

Jenny kicked him in the shoulder. She had traced the rune with her bloody finger, breaking the twigs that held her. She snapped another rune as she dropped, but Julian was there the moment she was on her feet. He caught her attempt of a punch, easily dodged the following kick. With a twist he turned her, but Jenny was spinning with his momentum, throwing her elbow back fast enough to get him in the shoulder. Yet, Jenny didn't see him place his foot between hers, breaking her footing.

She tumbled backwards, but Jenny prevented Julian from catching her with a quick rune. She caught herself on the tree which she quickly pushed off of in order to face the Shadow Man again. However, she was pulled back in the same instant, the bark of the tree encased round her hand enough to trap her-Really, she should've seen it coming.

Julian was on her, but Jenny was kicking him, snapping a rune which he deflected. She tried to pivot against him, but then her foot was stuck-The roots of the tree coming out of the ground to trap her foot there. Jenny was able to block Julian once more, before the roots had her other foot and her waist. She quickly grabbed her blade before the branches could restrain that hand again-

But Jenny knew she had lost before she even had it raised. With a twist, Julian had the blade out of her hand in the same instant he had her pinned against the tree. Jenny didn't resist at that point, didn't even try to say a rune to push him off, because then she was laughing. Giggling, amused at their playful bantering. Julian was laughing with her, small and so damn pleased with her-Them-Together.

He kissed her then, deeply, cupping her face to bring it up to his own. Jenny wrapped her arms around his neck the moment she felt the tree release her, drowning in the white-hot sparks of his kiss. And soon, when it would melt her strength and make her collapse-give in to him-she knew Julian would catch her; as always.

_...

The sunlight shone through the small window, making the crystals in the vile glisten a sensual violet color. Jenny was holding the vile up, measuring out the proper proportions for the magical smokescreen solution. The table before her was covered in the powders, liquids, and crystals amongst jars and towels and knives, that to any sane person would look like a witch conjuring up potions. Which was true, in a sense.

Jenny was in her living room, where she always was when her parents has gone out to work. Seated at the couch with the TV across from her playing the news, which she currently wasn't paying much attention to. She had her cell phone pressed between her shoulder and her ear, listening to the ringing as she mixed and stirred the vile in her hands until finally the receiver picked up.

"You didn't call me back," she said before her cousin could even answer.

As a result, Zach sighed on the other end. "Ok, Ms. Hypocrite. What, you can't call when you're jumping between dimensions?"

Jenny laughed and switched the completed vile for a new one. "I told you I was fixing that Yulic problem."

"How did that go?"

"Fine. Got them to swear to stop hunting children down and destroyed their base in the process."

"They didn't hurt you, right?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "No, Julian did his job."

"Figured he would."

Jenny heard an odd noise in the background, like a hiss of some sort through the phone. She stopped mixing the solution. "What are you doing?"

"I'm actually taking some pictures. At the river downtown."

Jenny had to sit back to take that in considering her cousin hadn't touched a camera in the past six months. "Oh, Zach, that's great."

"Yeah. It feels…good. Stable."

Five months ago, Zach wasn't anywhere near stable. But after everything had calmed down, they did talk as they swore to, and it wasn't until a few more weeks that he agreed to see a therapist. It was slow and steady, but hearing him say that now, Jenny believed him. The comfort that settled in her chest was so warm that she set down the ingredients in her hand.

"Dr. Kolter recommended it," he added. "I just finished a session with her, which is why my phone was on silent all day."

Jenny picked the solution back up, adding just a dash of sulfur and a teaspoon of water, while she joked, "I guess I forgive you then."

"Whatever," he chided back, followed by the comforting shutter of his camera.

Jenny bottled the final solution before she asked, "How are they? The sessions, I mean."

She expected the pause on the other line, and she waited patiently until Zach found the right words to say. "They're…ok. I… I guess I like talking to her."

"Have you told her about, like, everything?"

"No."

Well, that was expected, too.

Jenny was trying to think of something to change the subject to not push her cousin on the topic, but then he was continuing, "I don't think I want to. It's just…I don't want them locking me up."

"I would never let that happen," Jenny snapped, then leveled her tone so she was speaking firmly, collectedly. "You know that, Zach. It's just- "

"I know-I'm not getting proper advice without telling her. It's-" His voice broke for a second, causing him to pause. Then he sighed, "It's just hard."

Jenny replied softly, "I know."

There came a moment were neither of them spoke, but Jenny felt him there, still coherent, still Zach. So she smiled, hoping he could hear it in her words. "We'll just take it one step at a time. Ok?"

"Yeah. Ok."

There. It was a small notion, probably unnoticeable to anyone else except Jenny, but she heard it all the same. The slight hitch of breath in his voice. Jenny noticed it after Zach started the sessions. Whenever he talked, when he really talked and was able to stay there, without losing himself, his control, he always gave this small breath, almost like a gasp. Which meant that he cut his finger.

Jenny had confided in him about how the technique always worked for her, but with Zach she wasn't so sure. The little knick was comforting to Jenny, but pain to Zach was different. He always handled the pain different. Jenny only hoped it was a good kind.

Jenny was so distracted by it that she missed Zach's question. "What?"

"I said, are you staying home for a while?" The question was asked calmly, before Zach added in a blunter tone, "Or is he dragging you into a game?"

Jenny held back her laugh. "No, I just got back last night. I'm currently refilling some potions for next- "

"Holy-Jenny, hold on- "

His voice cut off as quick as he interrupted her and judging by the rushed footsteps and furious snaps of his camera he found something worthy of taking pictures of.

It warmed something in Jenny, making her smile as she bottled the next vile and set it down. She glanced up when she reached for the next one, and her eyes caught the TV.

She immediately grabbed the remote and turned up the volume, bringing in the newscaster's voice over the title: "Several missing in Pittsburg."

"-were all girls between ages fifteen and twenty. Reports had them all last seen around the Peak Woods just on the edge of town. Similarities in the girls' appearance make detectives believe this is the work of a serial kidnapper…."

Jenny watched as the images of the missing girls were flashed across the screen, before it changed to the location they were last seen-Peak Woods. The woods her Grandfather had used to train them in, just a few miles from their house-

"Jenny, are you there?"

Jenny didn't mean to flinch. She quickly muted the TV, saying, "Uh, sorry, what'd you find?"

"A buck-Gorgeous. It was right in the sunlight, backlit and everything. It turned out great."

"Good thing it didn't charge at you."

"Like I couldn't stop it."

Jenny would've laughed if the image of the woods wasn't still staring at her from across the room.

"So are you taking a break or what?"

Jenny opened her mouth to finish what she had been earlier, but she hesitated. Her eyes drifted back to the TV.

"Actually…I think I'll check out those traps I placed at the amusement park."

"Oh."

And the tension was back.

Jenny tried to brush it off. Perhaps it wasn't the best place to talk about with her cousin, especially involving Shadow Men, but Zach interrupted her with, "Need some help?"

Jenny froze.

Not that she didn't want him to join her; running around hunting and investigating with him by her side again sounded more than alright; but Zach hadn't jumped through dimensions since he brought her back from the dead. And judging by how uneasy he sounded just from the mention of it, to try and bring him back to that place-Jenny wouldn't risk what that would do to his mind.

"No," she answered calmly, "I'm just going to take a peek, maybe set a few more. Thanks though."

"Yeah. Well make sure to go at night- "

"I know, Zach- "

"And watch for security cameras this time!"

Jenny laughed whole-heartedly this time. "I'll call you when I get back."

"Promise you'll answer this time?"

"On Pethro."

There was no goodbye. Zach hung up first after a huff of a laugh, so Jenny did the same. Inevitably, Jenny took one more look at the TV and although the news and moved onto another topic, the image of the woods still burned in Jenny's mind. She didn't like the feeling that arose in her gut because of it. She couldn't tell if it was sickening déjà vu or if her instincts were trying to tell her something.

The possibility of a serial killer was very likely; Earth had its own monsters. But it just struck too close to home to brush it off so easily. It could have been a result of the Yulics, if there was a portal open nearby. But woods seemed more likely to be closer to the Fae realms where Netherlings snatched kids. But they never took from the same place so often.

Either way, Jenny turned off the TV. She would look into it later. If the detectives found anything relating it to a normal mass of kidnappings then she'd leave it alone, but if it worsened then she'd do her part. Just like she did with the Yulics.

In the meantime, Jenny cleaned up her mess and took it all back to her room. She organized her closet of madness, refilled her belt, and assured her straps with her staff were all in working order. When it was finally late enough, she changed into some jeans and a tight shirt, and threw her hair up in a ponytail.

She heard her parents watching a movie downstairs, which gave her about two hours before they'd check on her to say goodnight. Plenty of time.

Jenny activated the Egyptian runes carved around her closet door and watched the light consume the frame. It shone through the crack in illuminating streaks before it dimmed back to her normal door. Jenny was confident enough to charge right through, but her grandfather didn't raise a hunter who took shortcuts.

She cracked the door open slowly, hand on her belt, ready to whip out anything she needed just in case. It was definitely darker over there, but not so dark that everyone would have gone home yet. She could see the ice cream stand off to the left and the beginning of the water park. The door she had marked was one of the abandoned closets behind the women's bathroom.

Jenny went to peek out more, but the door stopped. The jerk of metal made her throw her head back. Someone had padlocked it. Jenny only sighed. Her first thought was to use Gebo, and rid the darn thing. But that meant that someone was here, probably saw her markings as graffiti and locked it from the rebellious teenagers behind it. So she dug through her dresser for a bobby pin and after a few minutes of twisting and jerking, the lock popped open. She made sure to keep the lock by the door before she slipped out. She'd have to put it back and mark a new door, more hidden this time.

Immediately Jenny ducked behind the closed ice cream stand, kicking the door closed behind her in the same motion. She peeked around the wood and saw what she was hoping for; the last guard. A bulky man in the black uniform walking with a flashlight down the main path. Jenny knew he was about to close by the ring of keys he swung around his finger. She had mapped this place better than any average thief could. He'd make this pass last, checking the food court before heading for the main gate. Which meant as soon as he walked around the corner and disappeared around the food court, that Jenny was in the clear.

Jenny moved carefully, spotting each camera by their blinking red dots in the corners. She'd wait until the camera swiveled, then she'd dive behind its blind spot, jumping from booth to booth, ride to ride with ease.

The first thing she checked was the Maze of Darkness. She had a trap set right on the entrance, which was tricky with the cameras, but with her timing, she had exactly 45 seconds to check it before she had to dive back around the corner. Seeing the dark looming building always gave her a mix of feelings; anger, angst, regret, but Jenny never dwelled in it for long. If it hadn't been for that game, she wouldn't be here, hunting as diligently as she was.

The markings on the bottom of the doorway were as Jenny had last seen them, four runes carved diligently in the corners, so small that they go unseen. If it had been activated, not only would Jenny had felt the presence of the demons, but the rune in the center, Nautheiz, would be glowing a dark crimson.

Afterwards, she checked the second one behind that crazy spaceship ride, then the one in the second food court on the opposite side of the park, both untouched.

The fourth was over by the arcade. For some reason, Jenny didn't like that area so much. It was like a small burn between her lungs, telling her that the building was just bad news. She couldn't explain it and she didn't need to. She placed a trap there, the strongest one, in hopes of capturing a stupid Shadow Man trying to grab one of the numerous children that played there.

She moved swiftly to the other end of the park, but about halfway through the park lights shut down with a loud shunk! Jenny didn't flinch when she was suddenly cloaked in darkness. In fact, they came right on time, shutting off automatically ten minutes after the guard locks the front gate. Yet, standing in the middle of the park in complete darkness made Jenny feel like she was thrown back into the Shadow Park all over again. She hadn't been there since her game with Julian. The Shadow Men was very strict about her going anywhere near the Shadow World without him. They've had numerous arguments about it, that always ended the same.

As Jenny made her way through the outskirts of the food court, passing stand after stand, her thoughts inevitably drifted back to the last argument they had; how it ended in a physically fight that didn't stop until Jenny had the Shadow Man pinned which immediately led to white-hot kisses and dominating touches-

"Jenny."

Jenny turned on the voice in an instant, blade in hand as she got in a protective stance, but it happened too fast. She knew that voice, but she didn't-It wasn't right-

Yet when she turned, Julian was behind her, dressed in all black with those shocking blue eyes-No, that wasn't right. Jenny could tell immediately that the Shadow Man before her wasn't hers. He looked like him, in every detail, but Jenny's instincts never failed her. She's heard that voice too much, kissed those lips too often to be fooled so easily.

So she snapped a rune, and watched the power strike him across the face. When he faced her again, the shadows took form, destroying the mirage of Julian's face and turning into that of something much uglier, like a face of tar with glowing yellow pits for eyes.

Jenny turned and tried to dive out of the way, to put distance between them because how was he even here-No, it had to be a trick-He couldn't touch her-

But Jenny ran face first into a stand that hadn't been there before. When she went to catch her balance, the ground was gone and she fell.

Jenny cursed herself the whole way down, and when she landed on the cold, black ground, she forced herself to roll off her shoulder and into a run. She jumped over a broken fence and around a frozen turntable before she recognized where she was.

The Shadow Park.

Everything was the same as last time-Colorless, cold, devastated. Jenny had only come here once after fighting Julian to save Zach's life, despite her Shadow Man's concern. And it hadn't taken long for Julian to yank her out. He had made it clear, he didn't want her in the Shadow World alone.

That's why Jenny didn't panic. Even if she knew somehow that Julian wouldn't come for her, that she'd be fine. She was Jenny Thorton, the only demon hunter in all the nine realms. And she be damned if she was going to be shaken up by a demon that was trying to scare her.

So she rounded the next corner with a smile, snapping a rune to ward off anything within a ten feet radius. She recognized where she was, just outside the water park, next to the arcade. She ran diligently, had the Egyptian rune carved into her palm before she even reached the end of the path.

She saw the figure in the corner of her eye just in time. She dove to the ground, rolled off her shoulder, as the creature passed right over her. She landed back on her feet in time to find a bear made entirely of shadows, with paws larger than her head and eyes like red hot burning coals.

Her staff was out the second it pounced. A slice of the hand, a snap of a rune, and she was able to knock the bear right out of the air. She followed it with a chant, pinning the beast down in a trap made of light. Yet, it faded into the ground before she could finish, evaporating in a split second. It formed back into the shadows that made up the ground, but then they bent, became solid again-

Jenny had to brace herself as the shadows lurched up, taking form of the Shadow Man that was hunting her. Tall, with elongated, disfigured limbs, replaced with animal parts. With a skull for a head, and skin like black leather stretched taut over bone. The soulless eyes, glowing a hideous yellow, burned through Jenny like acid.

Jenny felt the shock rock through her, but it took everything in her to keep it from showing on her face. Julian had shown her what they really looked like, what they all turned into, but Jenny had yet to face one directly-They never showed their face-

It laughed at her, and it seeped into Jenny's blood like ice. She snapped a rune instantly, and she watched, stupidly, as it deflected it with a wave of its hand. Behind her, she could tell, was the Shadow Bear. Thus, she ripped one of the vials from her belt and threw it at the Shadow man directly. She expected him to simply disappear like he did, so she ran forward, through the smoke tendril that his presence had left behind.

The arcade was dead ahead of her, so Jenny cut to the right. The trap was obvious, she knew by the echoing laughter around her, in a voice so chilling that it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand.

Yet, the Shadow Bear cut her off. She squared with it, ready to fight it. That was, until the attack came from behind. She ducked in time to see the massive paw swing over her. She didn't bother to analyze what creature was now over her. She stabbed the sharp end of her staff into its gut instantly, smearing her blood down to the bottom of the wood to snap the Celtic rune. There was a disgusting rip somewhere and the monster howled.

Jenny rolled out from under it, dragging the sharp end of her staff into the dirt too fast for even a Shadow man to catch. By the time the Shadow bear had materialized before her, she had the chant done. The power ricocheted from her like a shock wave. The monster she stabbed and the Shadow Bear both evaporated into thin air.

Jenny took a breath of relief.

Then she heard the screaming. From a voice she knew, a frantic and terrible scream that she heard before, making her spin on her heels.

"Zach- "

Her cousin was there, under one of the walkway lights that wasn't on earlier, wrapped up in the same Shadow Snake that had helped her yesterday-No, its red eyes were now glowing blue-a blue that only one creature in the world had. Jenny could only watch as the monster snake quickly sunk its teeth straight through her cousin's chest, cutting off his scream-It was horrible. It was-

A trap.

She knew-There was no way. She was hallucinating.

Quickly she cut the rune on the back of her hand, breaking the spell she hadn't even realized she walked into. And sure enough, the image of Zach and the snake disappeared like smoke to a gust of wind, as did the light. Only the light shifted from down the road to right next to her, revealing the Shadow Bear on its hind legs-right next to her-

Jenny didn't get the chance to brace herself. The Bear slammed into her side, knocking into her so hard that it tossed her right off her feet. She was airborne for a good few seconds before she hit the dirt, crossed some threshold, and hit cold broken tile. Jenny had to stab her knife blindly into the ground just to slow herself down, but the force still ripped it from her hand. She finally stopped by colliding with a hunk of metal.

The crash was immediately followed by a loud jarring chorus of dings and alarms and bells. Jenny had to cover her ears from the ground as the arcade game started going haywire above her, spitting out oil as black as death and sparks of power. She rolled away, but then the one next to her started going off; a puppet show going off all on its own, showing a blonde doll being torn apart by a black bear-

Jenny ignored it and got to her feet. She ignored the cacophony of sounds around her. She wasn't stupid enough to run for the front entrance which she had just crashed through. She made a run for the back. If this one was a replica of the real arcade, then there were two more exits, one of the south side of the building and another on the west. But she knew the probability of those exits being clear was incredibly low, thus she was going to have to make her own way out.

Jenny rounded the corner, where she saw the black blur out of the corner of her eye, and immediately dove for the ground. The Shadow Bear was again on its hind legs, too large for the small space of arcade, large head pressed up against the ceiling. It roared at her, spurring the adrenaline in Jenny's blood like a high. She jumped up, and kicked off a machine beside it. She stabbed it in the shoulder and let her weight drag herself down, slicing all the way down the beast. The Scandinavian runes on the blade made the shadows instantly burn away, power recoiling in on itself until its stomach was nothing but a gaping hole. The Bear stumbled back, roaring in pain, and Jenny took her chance. She stabbed into its arm, carving the rune before it could thrash.

"Gebo," she snapped as she jumped back and watched the bear disappear into nothing.

And revealed a corridor filled with a raging blizzard.

The black ice and shadows came hurling at Jenny so fast that she felt the cold suck the air right from her lungs. She dove the other way, charging down the next corridor as the ice immediately froze everything it touched, machines, the ground, even the lights.

Jenny knew there would be another Shadow Bear, if not another creature, when she turned the next corner. This time she was ready, jumping up to kick off the nearest machine, only this time the machine grabbed back.

It was another stupid puppet show stand. The strings lashed out from behind the black velvet curtain and wrapped around Jenny's leg tight enough to draw blood. Jenny screamed as she dropped to the ground, at the Shadow Bear's feet-How stupid could she be. She gave it permission, she kicked the last machine with that leg and now it had her.

The Bear came crashing down, and Jenny just barely rolled out of the way, chin bouncing off the ground from the ricochet of the bear landing right beside her. Then the strings tightened, slicing through her skin in agonizing crosses, and pulled.

Jenny tried to fight against the force, scrambling to her free leg the best she could as she was dragged back toward the stand, but then the Bear was getting up. Jenny snapped a rune and watched the bear fall back down before she was hauled up onto the stand. The strings withdrew completely behind the curtain, pulling Jenny's leg with it, where something grabbed Jenny's foot.

Whether it was claws or teeth, Jenny couldn't see, and she knew she wasn't going to because that was more frightening. Either way she felt the sharp edges begin tearing through her shoe. Another pull, and it dug into her ankle.

Jenny quickly sliced her palms open, just two quick cuts enough to bleed before putting her hands together. The Bear was getting back up. She said the three runes once. The strings pulled her deeper, slicing into her calf more.

Jenny said the runes again, but backwards and felt the magic pool between her hands. The energy formed of flames, in the shape of a spear. The magic fueled off Jenny's blood, using that as a physical form to become alive, searing hot, flames licking off every edge between her hands. This form of sorcery was dangerous, but Jenny was casting it anyway. She tossed the spear just above her leg, feeling the flames burn her open wounds. She pierced something, she felt, so she twisted and dragged the spear back. The Bear was behind her, roaring, and Jenny had to throw herself back over the counter, pulling something in her back.

The Bear's massive paw came crashing through the stand, shattering through the wood like tissue paper-That's it.

Jenny was still caught in the strings, she felt it. So she twisted the spear of flames back towards her, pulling the strings on her legs. It hurt, cinched the strings tighter around her leg, adding to the pain, but Jenny pulled until the strings were back out from the curtain. The Bear was lifting its paw again. The stand began to collapse, but Jenny twisted at the last second. The Bear sliced right through the strings.

Jenny kicked off the bear's arm the second she hit the ground, rolled off her shoulder to land on her feet. She didn't bother killing the beasts. She could see the blizzard behind it, raging at her just as the last one did.

Jenny had no choice but to run back the way she came, which was hard when her leg was bleeding from the calf down. She tried to dive between two machines, but the ice ruptured from the shadows, blocking her. When she tried to cut through another path, the same happened. They popped up everywhere, making her turn back, to run the other way, back to the front.

They were leading her to something, Jenny knew. A trap most likely. This Shadow Man was craftier than most. Forget the exits. She needed a surface-some time to carve a portal.

Jenny cursed herself, long before she hit the ground, when she tripped. She did her best to roll of her shoulder, but she landed awkwardly because of her leg, stuck between two machines among the endless row. She didn't hesitate and fit herself between them on a spot where the rotten carpet was torn, revealing cold black stone underneath. Jenny crouched there in an attempt to catch her breath. There was not enough space to carve here, even though the machine next to her was tall, half of it was glass-Not enough for her to even crawl through. Still she had her knife ready, out, and she waited.

It didn't take long. She couldn't hear the stomping steps of the Shadow Bear that was after her, but she also caught the laughter. This laugh came in long, slow. It was drawn out, specifically increasing in its cruelty; getting louder as it grew deeper. It was a very mocking laugh, quite different from the taunting chuckles Jenny was used to. No, this one knew something…

Jenny's instincts were on fire. She didn't let her guard down. She was ready to sprint, to jump up and trap the Bear down, then make a portal right there in the corridor before it could recover. She would have to seal it back closed immediately before she brought anything home with her-But Jenny was beginning to lose her focus. The cuts on her leg spiraled down her calf in a painful slice, leaving shreds of her skin dangling, soaking her entire leg in blood so much that it was pooling into her shoe.

She was done with this game.

She leaned around the pinball machine that sat on her right, looking down the deserted isle of the arcade. She could see the cold breeze moving those purple curtains of the entrance behind a group of machines in the distance-the way she had come in. Down the other way was the blizzard, ice and shadows crowding her only other exit. They wanted her to come out, to make a run for the entrance for whatever trap was there. They were waiting, laughing.

Jenny was ready to jump back out and get this game over with when the loud ding! rang into her ear. She turned to her left immediately, still kneeling on the arcade floor, where she saw it. The machine next to her was made of very old wood, marred and scratched like someone had taken a knife to it repetitively. The tiny piece of paper was sticking out the front, parallel to Jenny's face. It was probably one of those stupid fortune-teller games with a wooden gypsy inside that this Shadow Man was using to scare her; to warn her of her "imminent doom."

Jenny didn't take the piece of paper, but she saw the words so clearly-read them without even realizing. "Rule 1" was all it said.

At first Jenny didn't get it, but the laughter came again, mocking, knowing, and somehow it just clicked. Jenny grabbed it, hesitated-The number one rule was not to hesitate-

She was on her feet, in front of the machine with no regards for the demons that had chased her in here or the Shadow Man that was most likely watching her. This game wasn't a gypsy at all, but a magician. A very elderly male magician, made out of jaggedly cut wood, with receding white hair and the same warm eyes and the scar above his left eye-

Jenny felt-not heard-the strangled cry rip painfully from her throat. It was her grandfather, she knew. In this pathetic, worn out body of wood. He had a sharp neck and shoulders, painted in fading blue for a cloak with white stars. His jaw was that of a puppet, a wooden block that snapped open and closed. One hand was permanently stuck on a leather-bound book, while the other held a broken wand, that his arm mechanically rose and tapped the board under him like an old machine with a horrible lag.

Seeing him, recognizing the old lines in his long face, made something tear inside Jenny. She had to look at him, to see him in those painted eyes that couldn't blink, and understand everything-But-No-She couldn't. He was dead-But Shadow Men liked to play with their catches. They hadn't killed him. They had kept him here, in the arcade, for years, to sit here and watch himself wither away. Realizing it-Forcing herself to accept it, was the worst feeling Jenny ever felt.

She was grabbing the wooden frame of his glass prison, searching and gasping and crying, "No-No! No! No-You were-You weren't supposed to-to-Oh, God."

The wooden mask of her Grandfather's face did not change, but Jenny could feel the sympathy radiating from the solemn faded brown eyes. He was talking to her, she knew, although all he managed was a single tap from his broken wand. There was a jerk, a whirring, then a ding! as another piece of paper slipped out from the front of the machine.

"Don't lose."

Oh, it hurt. Jenny felt all of the nine worlds pulling on her heart, striking such a hot pain-A pain that threatened to destroy her, that very well was going to bring her to her knees-A pain she couldn't prevent. It burned into her mind, to her thoughts-memories of all his training, all his lessons, rules, and tactics. She knew he was messaging her with the taps of his wand, how he was tap it twice, pause, tap it twice again. His head gave a jerk to the side, before twisting back to face her, and tapped twice more.

Rule 2: Be smart. Jenny knew that's what he was saying. Access the game, the rules, and find a loophole. He wanted to her to leave, to get out of here before they trapped her too. But she couldn't. As much as she knew she should, as useless as she knew staying was, she couldn't move. She was glued there to the machine-her grandfather-that she missed the attack behind her.

The Bear slammed into her side, but Jenny was jumping right back up. The pain-the anger-fueled her to jump right back at the bear, diving under its arm to stab it with her knife. She started to carve the slanted X, to kill the beast like the one before, but the rotten fur and skin moved away from her blade. It latched onto her wrist too fast for Jenny to catch-She blinked, and it was no longer the fur of a beast, but a hand-long and mutated as black as death-

The Shadow Man lurched above her, taller than the Bear, taller than the arcade, physically stretching the world around her like a trick of the eye-trick-It was a trick-

But the grip on her hand was too real-too painful-Those soulless eyes were too frightening. It was a trick alright. They tricked her into getting permission, so they could kill her grandfather's only successor right before his eyes.

Jenny knew she was in shock, because she couldn't move-couldn't think of a single rune or move to do-to win-All she heard was the furious tapping of the wand against the fake book beside her-

Yet, the icicle ruptured through the ground of the arcade too fast for either of them to react. It broke through the stone ground, erupting inches from Jenny's face. Her mind was in shambles. She felt the Shadow Man release her with a hiss. She jerked back just in time for the icicle to miss her, where she found the ground missing under heels. She didn't get to scream before she fell back into the endless black hole.

A part of her wished she had passed out. Unfortunately, Jenny was wide awake for her fall. She felt how fast it passed by her, light, time, shadows, until it finally caught up with her. She hit the slope of something tough, and went rolling down its decline. There was no way for her to catch herself. The pain was still boiling through her blood, filling it with lead, dragging her down, melting all her thoughts-plans-feelings. By the time she stopped rolling, she barely understood the fact that she was on grass, in a completely different environment, time and place, while her grandfather was still there-still being tortured-still trapped-

"No!" Jenny stumbled to her feet, blinded by her own tears. She fumbled right into a tree, her mind not even realizing it as she pushed off it, to her feet. She knew that she was in the woods-the mass of trees-but all she could picture was the arcade-her grandfather-still at the Shadow World. She didn't even understand her screaming, the unfathomable words-runes-chants-spilling from her numb lips amid the sobs, but she didn't care. She was looking for her blade, turning constantly as she looked for her staff, powders-anything.

Yet she turned and found Julian.

It was her Shadow Man, she knew right away. He was parallel to her, standing stiffly with his hands at his sides. He was dressed in all black, plainly, and his expression-he looked...mad.

The realization came slowly to Jenny, then the emotions hit her all at once. "No...No."

She whipped away immediately, the anger colliding with her confusion, sending her charging through the woods without looking back, but she knew Julian was there.

"Jenny."

"No!" She screamed louder, then stopped and came back at him, exploding. "You-You can't do that! You knew-Take me back!"

"Jenny-"

"Right now!"

She turned away, storming off again, as she rambled and cursed. Yet in the middle of it all, Julian snagged her by the wrist. The second he tried to turn her back, she broke his grip. He countered, swifter than a large feline which Jenny fought against recklessly. She continued to scream at him before her mind registered to shout a rune that knocked Julian back.

"You knew!" She was shouting, "Didn't you? How dare you-"

"Enough." His tone-It was the strictest Jenny ever heard it. "You don't understand what you-"

"You swore not to interfere wit-with my hunting-"

"UNLESS it was to save you. And you swore not to put yourself in a game that would get you killed," Julian snapped at her. "You are lucky I was able to pull you out in time-Jenny!"

Jenny turned away again, but Julian was there. He grabbed at her. Jenny thrashed.

"How long?" She asked once she broke free. Her momentum carried her three large stumbling steps away from the Shadow Man where she faced him, broken. "How long have you known? From the beginning, right?"

Julian didn't answer.

"You told me he was dead!"

"I said he was just as trapped as we were-Jenny, you can't save him."

The sheer and utter honesty in his voice-coming from a being that was only supposed to spin lies-made everything inside Jenny tear. This feeling was worse than when her head wound finally ruptured, like every dimension, every world and power and force was pushing against her chest, suffocating her, constricting her without killing her-torturing her just like Shadow Men do.

Jenny found her arms wrapped around herself, trying to cradle this ache in her chest, desperately trying to deal with it. The reality of her situation was so hard to fathom. Her thoughts were bouncing around back and forth, she didn't know what to do-what to say.

But seeing Julian counter her, among her anger and pain and confusion, brought her back to the instincts she took much pride in.

"Take me home," she said surprisingly clear. "Now."

"Swear."

The shock hit jenny for just a moment before the pain swallowed it. "What?"

"Swear to me that you won't go after him and I'll let you go."

The shock didn't settle quick enough. Jenny was speaking before she could even fully take in his words. "I'm not leaving him there."

"How do you intend to save him?" He asked her, harshly. "A life for a life, Jenny."

"I'll find a loophole."

"You'll lose."

"I won't."

There was something in her tone. Sharp but small, with tears still lingering in her eyes, that changed something in the atmosphere. Julian felt it, and the repercussions came through his eyes; through a fierce rage-No, a direct power that Jenny had never seen before.

He spoke as if they were walking on glass. "Don't push me, Jenny."

"No, this isn't your call. He doesn't deserve that. I'm going to save him-"

"You're mine." He snapped it viciously, and he was inches away from her in the next second. Jenny reflexively braced her arm across his chest, but then Julian had it in the air away from him, grip tighter than a vice. "And I will not watch you walk right into your death."

"Let go-"

"Swear to me."

Jenny snapped a rune, but Julian had it deflected in the next second. She jerked her leg up without even properly analyzing her own attack, not even realizing she had used her bloody torn leg, and Julian had it blocked without so much as blinking an eye. He snagged her by the arm, then, making her thrash again.

"You can't keep me here," she argued as she tried to jerk away. "Let me go. Now."

But Julian's grip was unyielding, far stronger than any other time they had fought. And his expression-the cruelty in his eyes- it made the strictness of his tone that much worse. "I'm afraid you haven't won the game yet. And I guarantee you will not win until you swear to me."

Jenny could only glare at him with the tears still lining her eyes. She jerked her arm, attempting to pull away. And for the first time in 10 years, Julian was holding onto her so tight, with a strength so inhuman, that Jenny didn't even budge an inch. She could feel it, the tension in his grip, the fierceness in his eyes and she knew already that she wasn't going to win this fight.

Still, she fought him. She squirmed. She tried a chant, a spell. And both Julian diffused almost instantly. She tried hitting him again, aiming for his throat, his gut, and again she failed.

"Stop it!" She shouted.

"I'm waiting."

But Jenny kept fighting, kicking, thrashing until she finally got her arm free. Julian was twisting her, skillfully, trying to deflect her next attack. But Jenny's hand moved so fast that she even missed it herself.

She slapped him. Right across the face, so hard, so simply, that it froze both of them in their place. When Julian finally returned her gaze, the fact that he wasn't a fuming raging mess but instead just as stern as before-just from the fact that she hit him so intimately, humanly without magic-made jenny's heart sink to her toes.

Then she was running-How she got away from him she didn't know. Where she was going didn't matter. She found herself diving through this makeshift forest blindly, recklessly until finally the arms snatched her by the waist. He yanked her off her feet, trapped her arms under his grip. She screamed. She thrashed, but Julian fought back, pinning her, stopping her until the feelings- the pain, the confusion-caught back up to her and she was sobbing and still screaming and trying to run away from it all-

"Give up, Jenny," Julian was shouting at her.

"Let go!"

"Not until you swear."

There. She nailed him in the jaw with her elbow, followed by the proper chant that knocked him back. She immediately dove for the ground, reached for her blade-right. Gone. She searched for a rock and instantly carved the markings into the dirt. To make her own portal home.

But the rock flew from her hand before she could finish. Then something grabbed her wrist. At first, she thought it was the ground, the grass of this forest floor physically stretching up and grasping her, but after a good second look jenny saw it wasn't the ground at all. It was a shadow. The darkness in the grass from the trees above. It had her in a deathly strong 2-dimensional hold. She was so shocked that she didn't realize her other hand was caught as well until the shadows pulled on her.

Jenny couldn't hold back the cry of surprise when the shadows forced her back. They outstretched her arms to the side, so strongly that the joints in her shoulders ached. Just when she started thrashing, they had her ankles. Her waist. Her chest, constructing her air flow-even over her mouth, filling her throat. She couldn't even scream.

So easily. Jenny found herself in the air, bound by shadows, painfully being pulled at every limb so much that she couldn't even struggle. Her neck was braced back at an awkward angle, tweaking something in her back. How USELESS she was. She couldn't say a chant. She couldn't mark a rune. She-A hunter that could capture the king of nightmares-was utterly stuck by something that could be destroyed by a flicker of light.

It was only when the shadows allowed Jenny to bend her head down that she saw her environment had changed. She was longer in a forest but a manifestation of darkness-a place with no walls, no ground, no ceiling. The sickening feeling of deja vu and nausea washed over her in waves at the realization that she was bound in the air-No in the shadows themselves. She was consumed by them, choking on them.

The other thing she saw was Julian.

He was parallel to her, somehow close and yet so far from her, standing among the shadows like it's master. He was the shadows, blending in, soul, body and all.

He wasn't even saying anything. He was just hovering there, staring at her with such an expression-like stone. Cold, unforgiving.

Jenny couldn't do anything more than look away like a stubborn child.

That's when the shadows dissipated from her mouth, relieving her with air. She coughed away the odd way the sensation itched her throat, breathing in air as cold as death.

She knew what it meant. She knew what he was waiting for. She clenched her jaw shut.

"Do you know how much energy it takes to hold you like this?" Julian asked in such a shrill, sharp voice, like the thin slice of a blade against skin. "You will tire before me. I guarantee that."

Jenny couldn't think of a comeback, of anything to say to convince him to release her. Thus she struggled. She tried anything, to thrash, to kick, to even try and bite her restraints, which was as pitiful as it was useless. In the end she couldn't even squirm and she remained there like a fool.

"Swear to me Jenny. Don't make me keep you like this."

There was just the slightest change in his voice, so small that Jenny almost missed it. It caused her fighting to stop, to look at him.

Julian wasn't happy. He wasn't enjoying the sight before him at all. In fact he was almost pouting, unimpressed at the image he had created, of the girl he chased for years, the hunter he fell for, restrained and helpless at his mercy.

"You don't understand," he stressed at her.

It was the way he said it somehow, as weak as it sounded, that sparked a bit of fear in Jenny. Not fear of being hurt, not of Julian. But the fear of losing this game, because she knew immediately that the chance of her never attempting to save her grandfather was growing steadily, approaching rapidly and it couldn't-she couldn't-

So she fought again, harder. She said runes this time, anything to make the shadows disappear. All she managed was a flicker where they loosened for just a second before they returned, tighter than before.

"Do you get it now, Jenny?" Julian was asking while Jenny inevitably continued to squirm "This is nothing compared to my Ancestors. Compared to them I am a mere child. You will not win against them."

He approached her now, slow enough to threaten her with his presence alone, and his tone, so cold, was stirring up a whole new level of fear in jenny. "They will use him as bait. Make you think you have a chance, then they will trap you, no matter how many Egyptian indications you use. And they will skin you. Throw you to the other Shadow Men you've captured, mar you down to the bones-"

She choked, "Stop-"

"-and still keep you alive to suffer, to watch them torture him, to replay your worst nightmare over and over-"

"I know what they do!" Jenny finally screamed, and it was in that scream that the tears finally broke free again.

Surprisingly, Julian shouted back. "No, you don't! You will never understand their strength-I won't let you!"

"You're the one that doesn't understand," she was sobbing, with rage in her trembling voice. "How could you possibly understand? You don't have a family! You'll never understand what a family is because you will never be able to have one!"

Jenny saw the sting in his gaze, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, but she couldn't bask in it. She tore her gaze away, still screaming, "He's my everything-He taught me everything-"

"Swear to me."

"God damn you!"

But Julian didn't budge. He remained there, parallel to her, watching her cry. Jenny tried to summon the strength to fight him-she did. Yet she finally dropped her head, unable to look at him anymore.

"It's not fair," she gasped. She heard Julian scoff, so she snapped, "He always dealt with your ancestors. He always took on that burden before us and we never got the chance to help-"

"Exactly," Julian scolded. "If your amazing grandfather couldn't beat them what makes you think you can?"

And just like that, it all finally made sense.

And Jenny wanted nothing more than to die.

Because she couldn't save him. Of course she couldn't, but to hear him say it, to clarify that there was literally nothing-NOTHING-she could do to save him, was just unbearable. It was impossible.

Jenny had been wrong before. This was the worse pain she ever felt.

She felt her reaction in her eyes, how they widened, how her entire body went slack. Julian was still watching her, thus she looked away, but there wasn't any denying it anymore. There wasn't any strength left in her, physically or mentally. She was left hanging there, relying solely on the shadows that strapped her to nothing, as the pain finally shifted to a never-ending numbness.

At some point, Jenny felt the shadows tighten around her bloody leg, and with the following burning sensation that followed she knew Julian was healing the wound. Yet, it only added to the numbness, as if hollowing her out more than she already was, because even while they were fighting he still healed her-still cared for her.

Julian didn't say anything. He didn't have to. It was still left in the air-the game, the words he was waiting for Jenny to say, were the only thing left in this moment in time. But Jenny couldn't say them, not at first. She had to make herself stop sobbing, to catch her breath and gather her pride like the hunter her grandfather trained her to be-who was stuck in a living hell-

But she couldn't stop. As much as she tried the tears kept coming. All she managed was to get her breath back enough to mumble, "Let me go."

"Jenny-"

"I swear not to go after him!" the cry ripped from her, followed by a stuttering gasp of, "On Pethro."

Her gaze was still casted aside as the tears still stained her cheeks and how humiliating it was to be hung there like a doll, useless, to have to give in to this-this bastard of a game.

There was a long moment where the two of them remained like this, hunter and demon, and somehow, they both seemed defeated.

Then the shadows released Jenny, and she dropped to a hardwood floor. Jenny didn't even wait. She stood and turned, knowing there would be a door behind her and she charged through it without a single rune. She wasn't surprised when it led her straight to her bedroom, arriving from the closet, the same place she had entered from earlier. Was it earlier? Last night?

Didn't matter. Because the second she closed that door behind her, she was on the ground, her hands and knees, just wailing. All the emotions, all the pain the confusion the anger it all poured out into one terrible scream. Jenny didn't know what time it was. It could wake the neighbors, terrify her parents but she didn't care. She sat there and screamed and shouted and cried until the knife of guilt would ease out of her chest.

... _

The silence between them was so palpable that it was choking.

Jenny was seated beside her cousin on the lumpy green couch in his garage/studio. Zach had been working on a very large mural that covered the back wall, which left the room and himself covered in many colors of paint. Now that Jenny explained, the two of them were left to sit there in silence and listen to the paint dry.

Zach's stormy gray eyes were wide, staring off ahead of him as he sat rigid and stiff with shock. Jenny was hunched over, her gaze on the floor.

It was still for a very very long time.

Zach tried to say something, but then it died. He ended up sighing and running his hands over his face, smearing the blue from his hands over his cheek. Then he looked to his cousin, almost desperately.

"How did you get-never mind."

"Julian pulled me out," Jenny answered him. Her voice was quiet, raw.

They sat like that for another minute, silence deafening.

"We can't go after him," he finally said, and it was as loud and abrupt as shattering glass. "W-We can't-He wouldn't want us-"

"Julian already made me swear."

Zach had to physically turn and face her, but Jenny remained where she was. "He did...?"

Oh it was hard for jenny to respond when her throat felt constricted tighter than Julian had her earlier- "he said we would lose. Because it's the elders who have Grandfather. We wouldn't stand a chance."

Jenny let her face fall into her hands. "I was right there," she was saying without thinking. "I was right there and he was-and-and I couldn't-"

Zach yanked her hands from her face so hard that she was forced to look him in the eyes as he snapped at her, "Stop that. What were you supposed to do? A life for a life-He never would have wanted you to trade for him-"

"But he's still there," Jenny stressed and she felt the threat of the tears returning. God was she sick of crying already. She choked them down, pulled herself out of her cousin's grip. "He's stuck in that horrible trap forever and we can't even-"

"'Never go back'." Zach quoted, and Jenny knew.

Of course she knew that. She knew the rules. She knew what happened when you lose a game. This was reality. She couldn't save him without sacrificing a life. Hers was already sworn to Julian, and there was no way she could get a soul to trade for him-Like they would want to trade an ordinary life for one of a Hunter. She knew that. She knew all of that.

It just wasn't fair.

Jenny said none of this aloud. Zach already knew it all. Thus she clenched her hands into fists so tight that it made her scars ache.

After another long minute Zach sighed. "Look why don't you...get out tonight? Go shopping with Audrey or watch a movie with Dee or something. I have to...work with Mom and Dad on fixing the door hinges in the bathroom so..."

Jenny knew there was comfort in her words, but it didn't actually hit her until Zach put his hand on her knee and squeezed. She felt his trembles, felt the same pain radiating from his heart to her own. Jenny immediately grabbed his hand and squeezed it back.

"Just don't be alone," he added. "Please."

Jenny didn't want to agree to that, she really didn't, but she nodded to her cousin anyway. Before he could make her swear to it, she asked, "You gonna be ok?"

Zach just shrugged. "For now. Will you... Promise to take a break and talk with me tomorrow?"

Jenny felt the corner of her mouth pull up in just a slight smile. "On Pethro," she practically whispered, then pulled him into a hug.

Jenny was glad he didn't make her swear to see her friends because she knew she wasn't going to do it. She went home, alone, passed her normal happy parents and straight to her room. She didn't eat dinner. She didn't answer the phone. She just laid there on her bed and watched the time go by.

The entire time she went over every option, every way she could think of to rescue him. The traps she could lay, the tricks she could pull. She went over every scenario, even attempted at writing some down.

All of them were useless.

Of course she gave up halfway through, threatening to turn herself into a sobbing mess on her bed-which she refused. Crying wasn't going to help him. Moping about him wasn't going to change the fact that he was still stuck there-tortured-forever-

And as much as it hurt, she knew her Grandfather wouldn't want her to either. They knew what they were signing up for. They knew the risk, the consequences-He more than her and Zach. That's why he didn't ask her to save him. He didn't beg for help, no matter how much pain he must've been in. He told her what he always told her-to keep fighting.

But Jenny didn't want to fight. Not another Shadow Man, not any other demon. Right now, the only thing she wanted to fight was the pain swelling in her core.

So she got up. With a cut, she stained the runes with a fresh coat of blood around her door and said them quietly, weakly. Once the magic calmed, she opened the door and crossed the threshold of darkness.

Jenny walked into the darkness, knowing full well of where it would lead her. It was like a light coming on. One moment it was blackness-Blink-She was back in the woods.

The threat was immediate; her instincts flaring that there was danger right behind her, right on her heels. Jenny was surprised she didn't react at all, not even a thought of countering the oncoming attack. She felt it rush up behind her, but all she did was brace herself, stiffen, and await to be tackled.

And yet the enemy stopped. She heard the growls, the fearsome snapping of jaws. When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by a pack of wolves, all as black as death, with eyes as red as blood. They all snarled at her, viciously coming too close, to push her, to make her defend herself.

But Jenny didn't. She just stood there, her arms around herself, just looking at them, knowing full well they could rip her skin from its bones, but they wouldn't.

She didn't wait long before the wolves finally backed down. They didn't leave but they did seem to settle and sit down in the circle around her, keeping her trapped, no longer snapping at her. They all looked behind her then and that was her cue.

Jenny turned where Julian was waiting, just outside the circle of dogs. He was shirtless, with his pale chest covered in some markings painted in red, like some tribal warrior. His pants were black and shredded at the bottom, and a streak of red paint was smeared across his eyes, making those azure blue pools twice as bright. He said nothing when Jenny faced him for there was really nothing to say.

Jenny was in her pajamas. With no weapons. No potions. She was just standing there, arms around herself, staring.

They stood like that, one being looking at another, for a long minute.

When Jenny finally spoke, it was hushed, and raw. "I didn't come here to bargain with you," she began. "I... I know you don't understand family. I know you don't care and I'm not asking you to." She had to swallow something tough. Then, "He was your enemy. He's the one who locked you up-Of course you hate him, but I don't. He was everything to me. He made me who I am, and I should've known that's where he was-I should've be able to accept that, but I can't."

She saw the change in Julian's eyes, the immediate look of defiance, and the rest spilled from her lips in a rushed stutter. "And-And I'm not going after him-That's not what I'm saying. I-He taught us not to. I know, I get it. Ok? But-"

She choked on her own words. She felt it, the tears fighting her, the grief and spite rising in her throat. She fought it, the best she could, as she stood there helpless in front of the demon that was created to harm her kind-She wasn't weak. She wasn't.

The rest came out forced, broken among choked sobs and gasps for breath. "But I don't know what to do. I know you can accept death so easily but I can't-Not to him so I'm sorry. I'm sorry-I'm so sorry I can't-I can't play games today-I can't-"

Her voice broke because she was crying-Tears broken loose, staining her cheeks. Her knees even threatened to buckle under her as she gasped for breath and stuttered and sobbed.

Julian was on her in two determined strides. In the next second she was off the ground, in his arms, carried like a bride. Her face was buried in his chest, with his hand on the back of her head. He held her securely, so easily, that Jenny couldn't have fought him even if she wanted to. She collapsed in his arms, letting the pain out in cries and wails. She clung to him-a demon that was supposed to increase the fear in her-not nourish it-not comfort her.

The wolves disappeared. The woods faded away. Jenny didn't need to open her eyes to know where Julian had taken her. She knew by the atmosphere, by the sweet suckle smell of pine and the smoke from the fire crackling across the room. Before she knew it, she was cradled in his arms, back on that bed where it all began, where Julian held her tightly as she cried.

…._

Jenny hadn't hunted in weeks.

Four weeks and three days to be exact. Not a single rune, or spell or cut to the finger-Nothing. She hadn't shoved it away like before. No, everything still lay about; the journals promptly on her desk, staff behind the door, but her belt and weapons lay hidden in her closet as usual. She hadn't touched one since Julian returned her, which wasn't for a few days.

Jenny hadn't played a game in weeks either. Not a real one, like they were before. Julian would come gently, offering a door to come through unless Jenny made one herself, or he'd come in her dreams. Either way, he always took her somewhere exotic-like a land made entirely of gold, or even a place that Jenny could only call Atlantis-where they stayed for hours, sometimes days. They barely talked. Sometimes they explored a bit. Sometimes Julian would show her a new trick, just to get her to smile. But mostly they just sat in each other's presence, laying in each other's arms, just there. Breathing. Existing. Jenny lost herself in the otherworldly calm. It distracted her from the pain, from the inevitable thoughts of trying to save him. She would linger in those moments between the two of them until she fell asleep in Julian's arms. Sometimes she'd wake up home. But usually, she woke up in the cabin, with him.

Jenny woke up in Julian's arms again today. Only this time it was in a place similar to the Realms Forest with massive branches twisting throughout the sky. Jenny currently laid in a hammock strung of vines and flowers hanging between two of such large branches. How high they were was impossible to tell. All Jenny cared about was the warmth from Julian's chest, the sweet smell of honeysuckle and starlight. She let herself swing there, lulled by the gentle sway of the hammock and the strokes of Julian's fingers through her hair as always.

Jenny had lost count of how many nights had been spent like this, swinging, breathing.

"I won't be around for a while."

Jenny wasn't really surprised by the comment. She didn't always know when Julian went off on his own games, but she had only guessed it had been a while since his last. She didn't think he expected a response from her until she felt his fingers under her chin, spurring it up, thumb brushing her cheekbones. So she opened her eyes to look at him, at the slight concern hiding in those glorious blue pools.

"How long?" She asked calmly.

"Several days. I'm joining a game…. with my Ancestors."

Jenny didn't let that get to her. She had come to accept many new things lately. Anything involving Julian's Ancestors, the Elder Shadow Men, was completely out of Jenny's grasp. Julian may be different, but he was still a Shadow Man all the same. He still lived off fear and pain and torture. He had been doing it with his Ancestors since he was created.

So Jenny tucked her head back into the crook of his neck, settling back into her comfortable position. Julian allowed her to, but his fingers followed her face, playing with her bangs, brushing down her jawline.

"Swear to me," he said it gently, hushed, almost in a hiss. "Promise you'll behave yourself while I'm away."

"Why would I?"

"You tend to let your instincts get the better of you."

Jenny opened her eyes again to sneer at him, finding that teasing smile on his lips. She went to smack him, where he caught her wrist easily. Before the scuffle could turn serious, he placed the gentlest of kisses on her knuckles, melting any tension in her arm instantly.

"Whatever trouble you get yourself into, I only ask you stay where my shadows can get you." He gazed at over her knuckles, lips still on her fingers, eyeing her down so dangerously. "You are still mine."

Although the words had been said countless times before, Jenny's gut still fluttered all the same. Instead of responding, she launched him off the edge of the hammock with a swift kick. But Julian still had her wrist, thus inevitably she fell with him, landing into a thrush of leaves from a below branch. Jenny made sure that they rolled perfectly so she landed on his lap, hovering over him with so much dominance without a single weapon.

"Maybe I will run around recklessly," she teased, playing with the undone buttons of his black shirt as leaves rained from above. "If I can distract you enough, you won't be able to help them."

Julian smiled wickedly at her. He didn't have to throw her off to prove his point. All he had to do was grab her hips, pulling her body completely against him, and the heat that flashed up Jenny's spine was enough to destroy the tease in her words.

"I'd steal you away then," he chided smugly, followed by a hand running up her side. Jenny inevitably leaned into the touch, lowering herself until they were chest-to-touch. As a result, Julian's hand glided up her neck to her cheek, fingers crawling back into her mess of hair. It was there, feeling Julian's finger land on the back of her head-where her wound had been-that she understood why he was so anxious-why those glorious blue eyes were so shaded.

Thus Jenny grabbed his hand and pressed it tighter to her face. "I swear to stay where you can get me," she said seriously. She jumped to her feet then and stepped over him. But she dropped back down in the same instant, catching herself with both hands on either side of his face, hovering her face directly over his like a predator to its prey. "But you better hurry up and win so you can lose to me."

Julian matched her smirk with a vile smile of his own, any glimpse of concern now replaced with a beautiful done of admiration. Yet, before Jenny could pull away, she felt the atmosphere change on her. Instincts came too late, warning her of the abrupt change, and the pressure literally flipped her upside down. It was odd to watch, as the sky behind her now became solid, and the pile of leaves behind Julian quickly scattered into the air. He literally flipped the world around them, gravity knocking Jenny's arms down so that she now lay flat on her back, and Julian was the one posted above her, hands on either side of her face. It was his turn to smile wickedly down at her.

"Don't push me, Jenny."

Jenny could only giggle and brought the Shadow Man's head down for a delighted kiss. She lost how long it lasted, too focused on the way he nibbled on her lips, sending shivers down her spine, and his hand snaking up her shirt, covering her in goosebumps from head to toe-That was, until Julian finally pulled away. He clearly didn't approve of his own move by the way his eyes were clenched shut, lips pursed as he groaned.

"I have to go."

Jenny could only smile at her Shadow Man, especially when he turned such a childish pout down to her. It was always difficult for Julian to let her go home. That's why Jenny always had to fight him when she had to go, to win her way back home, otherwise the Prince of Darkness would keep her for days. Yet this was the first time in a long time that Julian was forced to let her leave on his own. Thus, Jenny allowed him to pull her to her feet, not allowing her smile to falter.

There was a door carved into the nearest tree trunk that Jenny inevitably headed for. Julian was right behind her, leaving a trail of kisses down the nape of her neck the entire time. And when she faced him to say goodbye, he kissed her once, then again-deeper-

Then he had her pinned against the door, kissing her more wistfully than before. When he finally relieved her of air, his lips continued down her jaw, to her neck, to her collar.

"Julian," she laughed as she forced his head up, but he cut her off with another kiss; this one stealing the very breath from her the bottom of her lungs. She had to push his head away with one hand and reached for the doorknob behind her with the other, laughing, "You were the one who said you had to go."

The door opened inwards behind her, making her step backwards to cross the threshold. Yet, Julian didn't let her look away from him, kissing down her arm as she stepped away until he had her by the knuckles, giving each one a tender kiss and the last one a daring bite.

Jenny couldn't deny the rush of excitement that coursed through her. He always did, making her feel like she was walking on air when she left, making her incredibly exhilarated so that she was looking forward to his return-to the next game. Even now she was stuck there, staring at the demon with the mystical forest as his background, separated only by a very thin doorway; and Julian gazed at her like she was the most fascinating thing to ever exist in all the realms.

"I'll return to you as soon as the game is over," he said smoothly.

As Jenny stood there, about to close the door, she couldn't help but feel like a real teenager, sneaking away from her secret lover, until they returned to each other's side once more. In a way, she guessed they were forbidden lovers, but Jenny didn't let herself get swept away any longer. She began to shut the door, saying, "Promise?"

Julian didn't answer her, but merely traced the rune in the air with his finger. Yet, just as he finished the rune, he snagged her by the shirt, yanking her back into his arms to kiss her one last time. Jenny should've seen it coming, really, but she didn't fight it. She kissed him deeply, beautifully, then shoved him back and kicked him in the chest.

The surprise on his face as he fell was the last thing Jenny saw before she jumped back and slammed the door closed.

Then it fell to ashes.

Jenny jumped back with a gasp, smug smile disappearing as the door disintegrated immediately, falling into a large pile at her feet-No, the ash was everywhere.

Jenny was in Pennsylvania, she could tell by the woods that stretched on ahead of her. She could see the mark in the oak tree that she made when quarreling with Zach during practice. She knew where she was, she knew, but to suddenly land here, she didn't want to look at it-she didn't-

For a minute Jenny had to stand there, cursing the Shadow Man that distracted her from even realizing where he dropped her-Why would he even drop her here of all places?

Well…. Jenny knew why.

Thus, after a deep breath, Jenny turned and found herself in the middle of her Grandfather's brunt down house. A lot of it had been cleaned up over the years, but the wreckage still remained, unclaimed by the city, untouched by any human hands. Perhaps the people of the city had suspected her grandfather's intentions, or were shocked by the tragedy that no one dared to come near it.

As a result, large chunks of dry wall and wood created the shell of what used to be a house. Black, scorched shambles of various materials were clustered around the dirt, some decomposing into the dirt, others still sitting in piles of washed away ashes. To the naked eye, it looked horrible, like someone had just burned a massive pile of junk here and there, unrecognizable as a house.

But Jenny could see it so clearly, she was by the back yard. The false door she had come through would have been the back door, the same one she jumped through all those years ago when it was still burning. She took a step forward, where she could see the dining room practically untouched besides the overloaded sink. The living room would have been to her left, where the TV always played the news and the coffee table was covered in ingredients and weapons. To the right was the entry room and the stairs, which led to the two bedrooms that her and her cousin had to share. Although all that remained now was the first step of the stairs, as black as death, ready to fall to ashes if touched by even the faintest breeze.

Jenny walked around it, and found what she didn't want to see; the basement. Now a sunken hole in the dirt, filled with ash and burnt wood and remains of her childhood.

It hurt. To see the place she spent so long in, where she was made into what she was now, now nothing but a pile of wreckage. She could see where the stairs had led down, where the bookcases that held so much knowledge and tools had stood, where the desk that she practiced cutting her hands had sat, where she practiced her footwork, where she learned the Celtic runes-heard all the tales of Shadow Men-of the realms-of everything-

Jenny lowered herself to the ground, and swung her legs over the edge. She was almost tempted to jump into the pit, but she sat there instead, staring down into it.

To sit here, to recall every bittersweet memory with her Grandfather, only to know that he was suffering somewhere she couldn't reach, it hurt like hell.

And yet, it was also…comforting.

Because as she remembered each teaching, each lesson and trick and memory, she was faced with the reality of where she was today, older, wider, stronger. Yes, she was strong. Stronger than any Shadow Man. But she was still human, just like her grandfather was. He hadn't made a mistake in over fifty years, and the one he made cost him his life. That was the harshness of reality. It came in all forms, not just the hunting life. Her grandfather didn't bring her into this lifestyle because he was forced to. No, he trained them for a reason, for a purpose that was darker than the normal life, harsher than humanity. He did it because it was necessary, because he knew they could handle it.

Shadow Men stole away life, ruined lives with their darkness, and as a Hunter it was inevitable to avoid that in some shape or form. Every time, every game was going to be cruel and harsh, that's what he taught them. And facing it, facing death and loss, was the only way to bring the light back into the world, to regain life.

As harsh as it was, Jenny couldn't help but smile down into the remainder of the basement. The tears stung her eyes, but they weren't of pain anymore. No, Jenny wiped them away with a huff of a laugh and stood up.

She searched for a sign of life and found it in a white flower growing off the side. She plucked it, and gently returned to the ledge. She gave the petals a soft kiss, muttering a chant to give the little flower some strength, so that it wouldn't die so soon. Then, she dropped it into the basement.

"Thanks, Grandfather…"

Before Jenny walked away, she made a promise not to herself, but to all the realms, that she would be the hunter he had trained her to be; to do good in the world, to defeat demons that threatened any form of life. And when she had to face the darkness, the death, she would handle it better, stronger.

As much as she hated it, she knew she was going to thank Julian when he returned. His cunning tricks always slipped by her when she wasn't looking. She was going to have to fix that.

"Jennifer?"

The voice shocked Jenny, making her realize she had been spacing out among the wreckage for quite some time. Her instincts alerted her then of someone behind her, but it was clear by their weak voice that they weren't a threat.

So Jenny turned and found the woman on the sidewalk just a few feet away. She didn't recognize her at first, but there was something familiar about her. She was older, had to be around her own mother's age with dirty blonde hair that currently sat as a rat's nest on her small head, and old gray eyes that were bloodshot and surrounded in such harsh bags-and her clothes were a wreck, a pair of mismatched pajamas that clearly haven't been washed in quite some time. The woman had a shawl wrapped loosely around her that she barely clung to.

Dear Lord the woman was barely holding herself together.

The woman stared at Jenny like she hadn't seen another human being in years. Well Jenny didn't blame her. She was standing in the leftovers of a house; she probably looked quite odd.

"I'm sorry," Jenny finally spoke politely, "do I know you?"

The woman blinked then, as if realizing they were having a conversation. "You're…Jennifer, right? Jennifer Thorton-Gerald's granddaughter?"

Oh Jenny's instincts stabbed at her then, telling her that this conversation was going to lead her somewhere she didn't like, but she swallowed it down. "Yes," she answered flatly.

A light came into her face then, to the point where she gasped and stumbled toward Jenny. "Th-Then you can help me-You can find them-Can't you? Can't you?"

Jenny braced herself when the woman almost tripped over a burnt piece of wood, making Jenny catch her by the arms. Immediately she had to still the woman who was trying to talk a mile a minute, spitting gibberish to Jenny.

"Ma'am-Ma'am, I don't know what you're talking about. Are you alright? Is there someone I can call to help- "

"Help, yes! You can help me!"

The woman grabbed Jenny back, and Jenny was ready to fight the woman if she did something reckless, but the woman seemed so helpless, like she needed Jenny's grip in order to stand. She kept spouting nonsense, making Jenny's mind race to catch up.

"Ok, ok, help you how? How can I help you?"

The woman stopped then, and blinked up at Jenny like she didn't understand the question, like Jenny should have already known the answer. "You can, can't you?"

"Can what?" Jenny stressed, to which the woman finally smiled, and it was there that Jenny's instincts flared in the back of her mind, warning her one last time.

"You can use magic…"

_... ….. …

Jenny watched as the woman's hand shook terribly while pouring Jenny a cup of tea. Jenny also noticed the fact that the cup of hot water was missing the actual tea bag, leaving it as plain steaming water. Yet, the woman didn't even notice as she handed the cup over, so Jenny thanked her anyway. She watched the woman try and sit herself down, but she clearly unsettled by picking one spot, then changing it, crossing her legs, then uncrossing them. She tried to fix her hair, went to take a sip of her own cup which she had forgotten to pour anything into.

The entire time she stared at Jenny like she was a ghost. It didn't take Jenny's hunting instincts to know that something was terribly wrong with the woman.

"S-So, Jennifer, how-W-What brings you back to town?" Her voice trailed off after the question in a way that was desperate.

Jenny didn't know what the woman wanted to hear, but she gave her a small smile regardless. "Just visiting."

The silence was maddening. The staring was creepy.

After Jenny had tried to play dumb to the woman in the street, the woman had proved to know much more than Jenny had liked. She had been her grandfather's neighbor for years, no wonder Jenny thought she looked familiar. Her name was Mrs. Serrani. Jenny remembered seeing her with her daughter walking by the streets when she would be outside practicing with Zach. She had seen them fighting, seen their grandfather teaching them strange things every summer.

The woman wouldn't calm down until Jenny agreed to come with her, to hear her out, to help her. Jenny didn't refuse partially because the woman was so damn pathetic, begging Jenny on the streets, but also because it provided Jenny with a solid door to go home.

Now they sat there, in the woman's once nice living room now scattered with food scraps, tissues and dirty clothes. She paid no mind though and continued to stare at Jenny over the coffee table, desperately, eagerly.

Jenny had to set her cup down on the cluttered coffee table, moving a dirty plate out of the way to do so. "Look, I'm sorry to pry Mrs. Serrani but, are you ok?"

The answer was obvious in the way she couldn't stop shaking, how the fear raked through her whole face with just a sliver of light in her eyes-a desperate light, looking for hope. She dropped her cup, not caring that it rolled empty on the carpet, and leaned forward to Jenny to whisper, like afraid someone would hear.

"You do magic, don't you?"

Jenny felt her stomach leap into her chest at the question again, but she remained unmoving.

Mrs. Serrani's face still lit up like Jenny had confirmed it. She jumped up, ran over to Jenny's side in a frantic manner. "I know-I knew Gerald was different-We all did-But-But he passed it onto you-Didn't he? Didn't he-"

Jenny had to catch the woman's grasping hands, trying to keep her mind from unraveling any further. "Mrs. Serrani-"

"Something took them."

To that, Jenny let her face fall, surprised.

"I know it did-Wasn't human. I know it isn't. It took my boy-My P.C, and his friend James-They called him Slug. Horrible nickname. I always told him to change it. They disappeared, then my Angela-You have to find them."

She grabbed Jenny by the shoulders now, like Jenny was the crazy one who wasn't listening. "Please, Jennifer. I know she's out there. You have to bring them back-You can, can't you?"

Jenny jumped up, smacking the woman's hands off her harshly. Her human side wanted to be gentle, to comfort the grieving woman, but her other side was on the defensive, instincts flaring wildly. "Mrs. Serrani, I don't understand what you're talking about."

"It was in the woods." She stood up, desperately wrapping her hands in her shawl again and again. "They went there to-to-to-And my Angela didn't come back. The boys said-said it was like she vanished. One minute there, then gone-Poof! Hahaha." Her pathetic laugh easily broke into a sob that Jenny couldn't have ignored even if she wanted to. She made the woman sit back down, carefully wrapped the shawl back around her. She looked so lost, that thousand-mile stare drilling right to the floor. Jenny knew that look. Remembering such a look on her cousin's face made something soften in her defenses, even though she knew it was useless.

She took a deep breath. "Where?"

It took a moment for Mrs. Serrani to respond. "The woods…."

Jenny had to force the woman to lift her head, to look her in the eyes. "Mrs. Serrani, where in the woods?"

It was a while before the woman actually processed the words, and once she did, the light returned in her eyes. "Off Meekly Trail, just beyond your Grandfather's house. Oh, please bring them back-"

"I can't promise that, Mrs. Serrani," Jenny spoke sternly, tone firm and level. "People don't just disappear. I will let you know what I find, but I can't guarantee that I will find Angela-"

"But-!" She stood when Jenny did, desperately grabbing her arms again. "Yo-You know magic-"

"It's not that simple," Jenny tried to explain, calmly. "I can't snap my fingers and bring her back. There are rules, and...and there are demons, Mrs. Serrani."

Oh, that brought the reaction Jenny was hoping to avoid-the fading of the light-the fear taking over every line in her face. "A demon?" she gasped breathless. "A demon took my babies-"

"No, listen to me. I don't know what happened. I'm saying I will look for you, alright? I will look and tell you what I find and that's it. Understand?"

Even though Jenny spoke harshly, seriously, the woman still grabbed at Jenny with the light in her eyes, hope in her face. "Thank you-oh thank you, Jennifer, thank you!"

Jenny couldn't get the look of her face out of her head. The entire time Jenny walked back down the block towards her grandfather's house, she couldn't stop seeing the hope in her face, the sheer and utter desperation that was in every line in her face and the exhaustion-Jenny could only imagine how she felt.

Well she knew pretty well how she felt, to lose someone so suddenly, so mystically. Only Jenny knew where her lost one was, and she couldn't get to him. She didn't know which was worse.

When Jenny reached the house, she went to the back where the cement turned to grass, and grass turned to bushes and trees. She stood at the mouth of the forest for a very long moment, studying it carefully.

No one was supposed to know about their hunting. Jenny was never supposed to tell.

But her face…

Jenny had to sigh away the knot forming in her chest. She hated to say that the woman was probably delirious, going to supernatural solutions since the police most likely weren't making any progress. If the woman tried to turn this around on her, Jenny knew she wouldn't have to put up much of a defense. The woman was clearly in shambles, to call Jenny a crazy magician, she'd look like the crazy one.

Jenny didn't like the probability of that being the only outcome here. The woman just lost her kids, that's all. She didn't deserve to be tortured by her own mind along with it.

Her hunter side knew it was going to be pointless, but the human side of her, the one that pitied the woman, is what made Jenny walk into the woods.

There was nothing visibly wrong with the woods. They were clearly visited often by the human made trails and post signs for hiking. But Jenny went off the trails, until the signs, the city itself, were long out of sight. That's where she'd find anything, if there was anything to find.

She expected to find some police tape or anything sort, but there was nothing. Nothing but animal droppings and leaves covering the ground.

And yet….

Jenny knelt down and swiped some of the leaves away. She couldn't deny the odd tingle of alarm in the back of her mind, instincts telling her that there was something more here. Maybe it was from watching the news before, or really, she could have just been over thinking it since she hadn't hunted in several weeks. Still, when Jenny cleared a good portion of the dirt away, she found some footsteps.

Nothing to be too concerned about; people go off trail all the time. But for a dozen people to just suddenly disappear in these woods, it had to lead her somewhere.

"Pirul," Jenny snapped the rune and watched as the magic rolled away from her, blowing the leaves away perfectly. The footprints in the soft soil were not only continuing off to the north, but there were two. Two sets of different sized shoes, walking together, in the same direction.

Jenny followed the prints for quite a while, having to use the rune twice more to clear the leaves again until finally the sea of leaves had died down. She could make out the footprints in the soil pretty well, walking down this hill, through the trees.

It wasn't until Jenny reached a clearing that the footprints ended.

So abruptly, they just stopped. The dirt was clear here, not a single leaf or mushroom-Hell, the dirt wasn't even damp here like the rest. It was odd. Too odd.

Jenny walked to the middle of the clearing, looking around very carefully. If this was the end of the trail, she expected to find some sort of evidence from police or any human life at all. But there was nothing. Just the five looming trees circled around her and the rest of the woods stretching on.

If Jenny hadn't been studying all the new runes from her grandfather's journal that she had to bargain back from Julian a while ago, she probably would have missed the strange symbol. She knew any other human would have easily overlooked the thing as just a strange knot in the tree. Yet, when Jenny saw the marking in the corner of her eye, she immediately approached the tree.

The symbol was definitely strange, looking like two deer antlers sprouting from a slanted rhombus shape. It didn't look carved into the bark at all; that's what made it so strange, so oblivious. It was as if the tree grew around the shape, the bark naturally twisting to bring the rune to the surface.

Jenny knew this rune. It was from the journals, she knew, but the name escaped her. She had to think hard-Definitely not Celtic, or Italian. What were the new ones she was studying last month?

Jenny turned as she pondered this, wracking her memory for the details, the answer, and she saw another. On the next closest tree, another rune, naturally grown into the tree, similar to the first-and another one on the next tree-

When it hit her, when she finally realized where the rune was from, it was too late. Jenny tried to dive away, out of the circle of runes-of the trap magically grown into the trees around her-That's why the footprints disappeared-That's why it was so different-

It was a portal.

But Jenny didn't make a single step before the trap had her. It wasn't like the Norse traps that Shadow Men use, where it feels like the floor disappears and you drop. No, this one hurt.

Jenny felt like she was ripped into the air, the pressure coming around her from all angles, squeezing her so intensely that she couldn't even scream. She couldn't even thrash as the energy consumed her. All she could do was watch as the rune on each tree started to burn, growing a fierce red, hissing from the tree until the heat reached her-burning through her skin-muscles-to her soul. Jenny tried to fight it, she really did, as it burned her right out of this dimension.

Jenny felt herself leave the nine realms, because as she passed through the magic she remembered where the rune was from. Ar-Tyrion, a dimension outside her own, the only one humans aren't meant to live in.

Alright, whoo! Finally! This was originally just supposed to be an extra chapter for Jenny the Shadow Man Hunter. I had only written the part where Jenny found her grandfather and her reaction/grieving with Julian. But it has slowly morphed into this! It probably won't be very many chapters considering this one was already 36 pages on its own, but I promise it'll be another butt-kicking journey for Jenny with some love and protection from Julian. Let me know what you guys think and I'll update as soon as I can! As always, I appreciate the criticism and opinions because I am not perfect, but I strive to be! I struggled with the pacing of this story for a while so please let me know if you think anything has gone too fast or too slow. Thanks!

Also, I'm fixing the last chapter of JTSMH and I wanted to fix that before I posted this, but I know its going to take me a while longer and I wanted to give this to you guys first. So, keep your eye out for that as well!

Till my next story!

ZVA