Naturally, her plea fell on deaf ears. Julian just smiled and disappeared again, leaving her alone in her plush cell. Choking back the screams that were desperate to come out of her, Jenny decided to investigate instead. Pushing the ignored breakfast away, she stood up, finally removing her wedgie, and wandered over to the window. The sun felt warm and comforting against her skin as she sat on the loveseat and curled her legs underneath her. The glass of the window was slightly warped in places, like old bottles, giving the garden a twisted appearance here and there. For a second she considered trying to smash through it so she could escape but that was stupid; where was she going to go? She couldn't go home. Just like at the beginning of the first game, when Jenny had been left alone in the parlour of the paper house, she found it difficult to truly comprehend that she couldn't just escape and run home, back to her family, back to Tom.
'Please be ok,' she whispered to herself, praying that Julian let them go, that they weren't trapped, or worse. Mindlessly reaching for a cushion, she curled herself around it and let herself ache with guilt and sadness, fear and self-loathing. She failed them. They'd all tried so hard, been so brave in their own ways but it hadn't mattered. Beat the Shadow Man once, ok, but twice? Apparently not. Jenny tried to soothe herself by laughing at the stupid Shadow Man name Julian had given himself but it's hard to laugh at something that has frightened you so much; shadows terrified her now.
As she shifted to press her cheek against the warm glass, something golden glinted out of the corner of her eye. The ring. The stupid fucking ring that wouldn't come off, that had divided her and Tom so badly. Well, it wasn't really the ring, she knew that, but what it represented; Jenny, the Devil's bride or whatever Tom had thought as he'd receded into himself, pulled away from her. Tugging at it again just to be sure, Jenny sighed and flipped it off with her other hand instead.
'I could get you a different ring, if you would prefer.'
Jenny gave a little shriek that shamed her greatly and her cheeks blazed as she scowled and resolutely refused to look at Julian. Bastarding bastard, arrogant arsehole she chanted in her head, her hands taking her anger out on the cushion she was still clutching to her chest. It was so quiet that she could hear Julian padding over to her and she ground her teeth in frustration. The cushioning of the loveseat sank a little under his weight as he sat beside her, not close enough that he was touching her but way closer than she wanted him.
'Jenny…' he said, patiently, trying to coax her into conversation, 'Jenny, this doesn't have to be so hard.' Jenny snorted and turned her face further away from him, pressing her forehead against the glass, wishing as hard as she could that she was really looking out of her bedroom window at her backyard at home. Cool strong fingers curled under her jaw and clasped her chin, gently but firmly tugging her face back to him. She resisted but found herself inches from his face anyway, pinned like a butterfly under the watchful gaze of those deep blue eyes. His other hand came up to trace her eyebrow and she squeezed her eyes shut, flinching away from his touch, ignoring the tingle his stroke had left in her skin. Julian sighed and let go of her face, letting her move away from him, still holding onto her cushion like a little girl grasping at her teddy bear. It made her look weak, she knew, behaving this way, but it was instinctual; she needed something to hold onto.
When Julian didn't move or say anything else, Jenny opened her eyes and looked around the room. On the opposite side, there were two doors which hadn't been there before, both ornately carved and rustic looking with an ebony dressing table placed between them. On it lay an assortment of hairbrushes, perfumes, nail varnishes, lipsticks. Beneath it there were small drawers and Jenny wondered what was in them. The idea that Julian should've at least let her pack a suitcase crossed her mind and she huffed out a laugh.
'What? What's funny, Jenny?' He was looking at her again with that soft open look she'd seen from him in her grandfather's basement, before she tricked him into getting locked in that closet. With that memory rose others, kisses and butterfly soft touches that had awakened new desires in her, desires that Tom had never stirred. The guilt of that admission made her blush again and she wanted to slap herself. Instead she blew out a breath and met Julian's gaze.
'What's through the doors? I'm guessing not an exit,' Jenny asked, coldly, letting her eyes finish saying the rest of her sentence; you kidnapping bastard.
A look of relief crossed Julian's features as she spoke and he smiled again though his eyes were guarded and his head tilted. Standing up in one languid, graceful movement, he crossed the room and opened the door on the right, teasing it open with a flourish and a smile that made her want to punch him in the face; he looked so fucking smug.
'This is your walk in closet,' Julian said, eyes intense as they watched her face for a reaction, trying to see if Jenny got the joke. Of course she did; it just wasn't that funny. Not unless she trapped him in it, that'd be hilarious. Jenny kept quiet, her face resolutely impassive and unimpressed, as Julian tugged on a cord and the inside lit up. He motioned for her to come and look but she didn't move.
'I can see fine from here.'
'Jenny…'
'I'm not blind or near sighted, Julian, I can see. There are clothes in there. How exciting.' Jenny imagined Dee's scornful snort at Julian trying to tempt Jenny with clothes (and imagined Audrey's probable delight at the chance to dress Jenny up in strange clothing) and the guilt punched her in the gut again. Julian was riffling through the rack Jenny could see from her seat, looking from one dress to Jenny then back again. Despite what she'd said, Jenny couldn't really distinguish the length or cut of each dress he was considering but the colours were shocking. Emerald greens in silks, satins and velvets, sapphire blue that shimmered as it fell through his fingers, blazing oranges, blood reds and an alarming amount of pure white.
Jenny felt her lips twist and ducked her head so he wouldn't see; all the virginal white. How nice of Julian to pick a colour that would soak up the evidence of his defilement. And she knew where this was heading, of course she knew. Jenny may be a virgin but she wasn't an idiot; she'd seen it in his eyes ever since that first moment in the More Games store. The primal hunger of him as he kissed her until her knees failed, the gentle but desperate way he moved his hands over her skin. It was no surprise that he chose when he did to suck them into the first game. Jenny and Tom had been getting closer to sleeping together, both finally feeling like they were really ready. Grimly, Jenny wondered if Julian had ever watched while she and Tom had done… other things. The thought made her feel sick and violated.
'I think this one will do for today,' Julian murmured, holding an alarmingly short red dress in his hands, turning to show it to Jenny who scowled back.
'Where's the rest of it?'
Julian laughed, an unpleasant sound, scornful as much as it was genuine, as he laid the dress out on the bed for Jenny to consider. 'After all those ankle-length skirts your Tommy made you wear, I would've thought you'd be grateful for something a little less…' his eyelids dropped for a second as he smirked, 'Victorian.'
Yup, Jenny thought, that was a virginity dig, trying to ignore the lump in her throat from the sound of her pet name for Tom. Her first instinct was to throw the dress right back in Julian's face and scream at him until her throat bled but a little sadistic inspiration struck as she unfolded her legs and stood up. Julian's eyes widened in happy surprise and, for a second, she saw the heart buried underneath that cold, psychopathic exterior. He rarely looked human, of course he wasn't, but in these moments, like when he'd given her the silver rose or asked her if she was sure she wanted to stay with him, Jenny saw a hint of what could've been if Julian was human. Then it was gone and he was smirking again, slowly running his fingers down the length of the dress, daring her to put it on.
Emboldened by the slip of his mask and her own rage at the way he'd twisted Tom's name into sounding like a repugnant expletive, Jenny decided to give Julian what he wanted and more than he bargained for. She carelessly dropped the cushion to the floor and then tugged the top she was wearing over her head and dropped that onto the floor too. The bra she was wearing wasn't lacy or exciting, thank fuck, but Julian looked at her like she'd just grown another head, his eyebrows getting lost in his hair as she slowly walked towards him.
Ok, so, ok, that worked, that flustered him, Jenny thought to herself as she tried to remain composed, while feeling completely naked, and considering her next move. Thanking whatever might be listening that she was wearing boring old regular underwear instead of a thong or those frilly things Tom liked, Jenny unzipped the side of her skirt and let it drop to her feet, Julian's jaw dropping along with it. There, you bastard, that shocked you, didn't it.
As nonchalant as she could managed, Jenny picked up the dress, considered it for a moment (it was actually quite nice; longer than it had looked, not too cleavage-y and it felt soft in her hands, like some mixture of cotton, silk and fleece without being woolly or slithery, the sleeves short and the skirt kind of floaty rather than tight) and then popped it over her head and pulled it into place.
Julian just stared.