Jenny would be damned if she forgot that day. From the kiss, to waking up, to escaping. Well, escaping felt like a harsh word. She wasn't trapped in the hospital so there was no escaping, but she did leave. Without permission.
She did it when it was very late, while her aunt and uncle were asleep. It wasn't supposed to be a problem. She turned off the monitor before she unhooked herself. She took out the IV carefully, and locked herself in the nearest bathroom. Jenny remembered it all, even now. She remembered using something sharp to carve the door. She remembered she didn't have to cut herself; she just needed lights, which there were. It was an old Egyptian portal, used way back in time to avoid dark spirits. It involved marking of runes, lights, and a door. And so long as you knew where you were going, and so long as that following door was closed, you could go anywhere.
Jenny was going back home. To her grandfather's house, more specifically the basement. She needed to know. Zach clearly wasn't going to listen, and her aunt and uncle knew nothing of what they've been learning about for the past eight years. So Jenny was going to ask Julian.
If she could. She knew she wasn't going to open the door, if it was closed. It could very well be open. But, if it was then Zach would've been taken. So it had to be closed, and if the seal worked, then Julian was still inside. Jenny wasn't completely sure how she would be able to talk to Julian without releasing him-or without going back in-She couldn't-but she planned on going through her grandfather's journals in order to find a way.
Her grandfather. That was another thing Jenny planned on asking him. Once she had her answers, she was going to find him. Now that she was home, now that she was still alive, she was going to find a way. She just prayed her grandfather had something helpful written down to guide her.
Jenny remembered she couldn't go directly to the basement door. She had no idea if it was left open or closed after Zach had gotten her body out of the house. So she connected the portal to the door she always knew was closed-the door that was hardly used because her grandfather hardly ever left the house. The back door.
Back then, it didn't make sense; what had happened. Now, Jenny understood perfectly. Because when she said the runes aloud, summoned the portal to connect, and opened the door, she did not see her grandfather's backyard.
She saw fire.
Flames erupted higher than the doorframe, crawling out against the walls, puffing out in waves of uncontrollable heat. The fire alarm in the hospital went off immediately, sending the sprinklers off everywhere. Jenny remembered being afraid of getting caught, of being blamed for trying to set the hospital on fire, but she didn't understand the fire-she didn't know if that was her grandfather's house at all, she could've done it wrong. But she didn't have time to figure it out.
She took a deep breath and jumped.
The heat had only enveloped her for a second before she hit grass. Jenny remembered scrambling up, running away from the flames that were stabbing at her back. And when she turned around, what she expected to see as the back of her grandfather's house was nothing more than one massive flame.
It was like something out of a movie. Only the faint outline of the house could be seen as a deep charcoal black, hidden behind a curtain of fire. The heat was so intense, Jenny felt her skin aching, sweating even from the distance. It towered over her, roaring, hissing, screaming-
No, that was her.
"No!"
The next thing Jenny remembered was being at the front of the house, she must've ran around the side gate because she remembered staring at it from the street, with the three fire trucks and the hoses and the smoke. She had fought them, she remembered, when they tried to settle her down-No, they were stopping her from running inside. That's right. She had been trying to get inside, or at least to the basement. Everything was in the basement, everything that she knew, that she breathed; the ancient artifacts, the journals, the training supplies, the closet-
But she never made it. Jenny remembered being handed off to an EMT and placed on the back of the ambulance truck. Being in a hospital gown and bandages around her bloody head really didn't help her. It didn't matter anyway because Jenny stopped fighting when one of the EMT's moved, revealing the back of another ambulance, where she saw Zach.
Her cousin had a blanket around him, a burn on his arm and his face, and he was studying her very carefully from across the street. Jenny had stared at him for a long time, studying back, understanding everything very slowly as he eventually tore his gaze away from her. Jenny remembered crying. She remembered sitting there, wondering how she could be so cold when there was so much fire nearby-so warm like the one Julian had given her after she passed out-Julian-The closet-The house-Her grandfather-
The pain she felt that day, she wondered what it could compare to. It resided in her chest, smothering her lungs, making her choke on sobs, as she watched her life-and her connection to the Shadow Man-scorch away with the house that her cousin burned down.
Jenny thought it silly to be so sore about it all. Well, after four years a lot of things had changed. She made more friends in school. She got closer to Tom. Zach was still…Zach. And ever since that day, neither of them had continued with the training.
At least, not like before.
Jenny hadn't given up. She tried to salvage anything from the fire, but the adults, including her parents, had refused to allow a child to go near such wreckage. She was able to grab some things, but it was all gone. Especially her grandfather's journals, her guidebooks, were nothing but ash.
When she got back home all those years ago, she wrote down everything she knew, everything her grandfather had taught her. And she tried to study more into them, she did, but nothing was the same. Nothing ever made perfect sense. It was like trying to draw a perfect circle when every centimeter you drew, the line got bigger, farther apart, never connected, only resulting in endless swirls.
Zach tried to stop her. He refused all of the hunting ways. He said without their grandfather they were going to get killed. Jenny had tried to convince him otherwise, that they could find their grandfather, they could try and save him-But he never listened. He stifled it all. Jenny understood. She knew she should drop it, too, but…being raised on something for seven years was simply hard to just let go of completely.
Not to mention…the dreams she had.
She wondered if somehow Shadow Men could affect her mind while she was asleep. It was possible, she was sure; just another tactic to drive men insane. But still it baffled Jenny because these dreams didn't scare her at all. A part of her always hated herself when she woke up. She even attempted at putting some seals around her pillow before she went to bed, but when those didn't help she really couldn't fight it. But it wasn't like she should be ashamed of dreaming about the Shadow Man, not after what they went through. She dreamed of their scuffles, of their games, of his tricks, his smirk-of where else he would've taken her, what he would've shown her, of what would've happened if Zach hadn't opened the door.
The part of her that hated it, the part that always felt guilty, would surface when she awoke because then her next thought would be of Tom. And that she never dreamt about him.
Even so, Jenny tried to find Julian. She knew where he was, and there was only one way to get there-
-And going there meant never coming back.
But that was…if Julian was still alive.
She had no idea what the fire could've done with Julian still in the closet. It certainly didn't kill him, his name would've had to been erased from the stave, but that didn't mean he was free. He could still be locked up somewhere-trapped-in a place Jenny could only call Limbo, forever.
Thinking about it now, four years later, Jenny had to physically shake the shivers away. She hated thinking about Julian. She noticed it so damn often that it was starting to make her sick. Mostly because when she thought about him now, after everything, all she could remember-all she could feel was the way she did when he saved her-how she pitied him, how vulnerable they were towards each other….
Even now, sitting at the old wooden table, surrounded by all the screams of joy from the rides and buzzers from the park's arcade, she stared at the water bottle in her hands, thinking of the water in the Leviathan's cavern. She knew it was foolish, but she never could help it on this day. Four years exactly from the day she was freed from the closet. She never kept track of it on the calendar or anything like that, but whenever the day came around, she always noticed, and she always wondered.
Although this year was just poor timing. Because today was the only day all of her friends were free, all six including Zach, and they had planned an entire day trip to the Amusement Park. It was supposed to be fun, Jenny had been looking forward to it, but now…
Now she was sitting here at the park's food court, wondering, sulking, waiting. For what, she didn't want to know. Perhaps a chance to get the answers she couldn't find. Although she agreed to Zach to stop with the hunting ways, she still wore the ring on her finger, and she couldn't simply will away all the scars on her hands.
Looking at them now, Jenny could feel each one itch in a way that was almost sadistic. She hadn't used one of the Shadow Men's runes in a long time. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she did-probably when she was playing with Julian. She did, however, use a few Egyptian runes when she could; secretively, of course, for small things. Like a light in the dark, traveling-Well that was always risky.
It's not like it mattered anyway. What was she supposed to do with Dark Magic when her world was so perfect? She had Tom Locke to herself, great friends, good family, food on the table, a roof over her head-
And yet,…
Jenny didn't think much on it when she put her finger on the side of the water bottle and mumbled, "Isa." She hadn't cut herself, didn't use blood to activate the rune. It was merely out of boredom, but it worked. The water slowly turned cloudy as it went from a liquid to a solid, freezing from the inside out. Jenny sat up with a gasp, completely shocked as the plastic crinkled and the condensation quickly formed on the outside.
Before she could even spare a glance around her, the hand snatched the bottle in a flash and threw it in the nearest trash can. Zach came back , with his lengthy legs striding in heated anger, dirty blonde hair hanging in his face just slightly. His voice was hushed but strict when he came to her table. "Are you insane-"
"It worked," she interrupted. "I didn't cut myself, but it worked-"
"Are you trying to cause trouble? What if someone saw you?"
"I-I didn't know-Look, I didn't even-"
"Don't, Jenny," he stopped her before she could even began. "Not here. We're not supposed to be doing that kind of stuff anymore. You said-"
"Oh, stop it." Jenny jumped to her feet, stopping to fix her skirt before she walked around the table to face him directly. "You know we can't just shut this stuff out. Grandfather would-"
Zach had to physically place his hand over her mouth, but before Jenny could slap it away, or bite down, he turned her head to the side where the familiar group was running up. She saw Summer, the small blonde practically sprinting her way over like an excited child, with Dee close behind. Audrey was with Michael who was tagging along like a lost copper-spaniel, while in the back of the group was Tom. Seeing him smile and wave from a distance made Jenny feel like a line was drawn somewhere, forcing her to step onto the other side, to leave this one behind.
"You can't tell, Jenny," Zach said carefully, his voice low. "They won't understand. No one does."
Zach went ahead of her, hands in his pockets, silently nodding to the greetings he received from their friends. Jenny knew as soon as she saw the smiles-so innocent-that her cousin was right. They wouldn't understand. If she told them, that smile wouldn't be there. They wouldn't see it as some kind of good magic, of something wonderful. They'd see it for what it is-Dark Magic-and the things they would say….
But she could convince them. She could show them, try and explain that this was the life she was raised on-It was in her blood. If they just listened to her-
Then she met eyes with Tom.
There was no way she could tell them.
Jenny pretended to be caught off guard when Summer came barreling upon her, small arms wrapped tight around her waist in a fierce hug, much like a small child would do. It was like being woken up by the bright sunlight through the blinds, a warm lovely wake up call. Especially when the blonde started ranting with such delight.
"Oh, I can't wait! Today is going to be so much fun! Can we go on that one first? No I really, really want to go on the Ferris wheel-But they have churros! Can I have one Jenny? Oh please? What if we split a caramel apple instead?"
Dee came up and slung one of her dark, muscled arms around the smaller blonde. "Slow down there, Sun Bunny. We have all day. I'm sure we have time to fit a candy apple in there somewhere."
"But I like the caramel ones better!"
Jenny was hesitating. She knew she shouldn't be, but she still felt it on her tongue-the anticipation-the truth-But it was the look on her cousin's face, so solemn, so strict behind those gray eyes, that finally brought Jenny back. With a deep breath she patted the smaller blonde shoulder and said, "Why not both?"
"Yeah! I want one of everything!"
Audrey was fixing her hair when she said, "Yeah, yeah, you can eat sweets until your teeth rot out later. What ride are we going on first?"
Beside her, Michael was looking at the nearest roller coaster with a look much similar to a dog with its tail between its legs. "Um, how about we play some arcade games first?"
"Oh, that sounds fun!"
"No way," Dee argued. "I want to go on the fastest, tallest ride they have here!"
Jenny was going to say something, suggest maybe a ride then some games, but that was until Tom came up to her. Her thoughts always died when he came up to her like this, with such warmth in his eyes, and that famous Tom Locke smile. Her kissed her once, gently, before putting his arms around her waist and saying so lightly, "Hey, Thorny."
Jenny couldn't even say hi back. She kissed him again. And again. She felt so rooted when she kissed him, coming back down to Earth after her mind had drifted off to the other nine realms-
But Tom pried her off, laughing. "Easy there, tiger," he said. "Save that for later."
Oh, right. Tom wasn't much for heavy PDA. He did show her off, yes; he wasn't afraid to hide her from others, but he was a gentlemen about it. Jenny always admired that about him, but today it just seemed to strike a wrong chord in her-Saying that she didn't want him to pull away, she didn't care about manners.
But of course, she stifled that down when he threw his arm around her. "How was the drive? We hit a bunch of traffic."
Jenny hid her flinch pretty well. Well traveling by an ancient Egyptian light trap was definitely faster than any freeway. "Fine. It was fine."
Something changed in his eyes, something small but noticeable. "What's wrong? You look a little upset."
"What? No, I'm fine, really. I just…."
So easily, Tom cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze-such a gentle, comforting gaze. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
Jenny actually paused, feeling the words on her tongue-how badly she wanted to tell him-to tell someone-but the words sank deep within her chest, carving out such a hollow feeling from the fact that she couldn't tell him everything. She couldn't tell him anything at all.
Thankfully, Michael interrupted with a shout, "I-I can't go on that one!"
"Oh, you're such a wuss!" Dee prodded. "C'mon, Michael, live a little!"
"I'll just hold your girls bags while your on it. That way no one steals them or anything."
"I think we have better chances in the lockers."
Tom, with Jenny under his arm, paraded through the argument, turning and leading their group into the heart of the park. "Come on guys. Let's have some fun!"
Jenny decided to stay quite for a bit after that, but even under the stern gaze of her cousin, she couldn't get the runes out of her head.
…_
It was supposed to be fun. Jenny was having fun. But….something was nagging at her. Something about the park. Had her grandfather written something about a park in his journals? How badly Jenny wanted those journals back.
Oh, her grandfather….
And the rune! How had it worked without a blood indication? Not all Egyptian runes needed blood, but the Dark ones, the ones the Shadow Men used, always needed blood. Always.
It was the sound-so vicious-so abrupt-that made Jenny's gut jump. The first thing that came to her mind was the Amarok, barreling from the side, ready to snap its massive jaws upon whoever was closet. Jenny grabbed the closet person to her-Summer-and yanked the small blonde to the side.
But Summer only spurred in glee, pulling against Jenny's hands to point and scream, "Look, guys! Tigers!"
The cages sat just across the walkway with fences higher than some of the rides there. The seats sloped downward a bit with a rope barrier being the only thing separating the audience from the wide-bars of the cage. Everyone was piled to the left corner where there was a mother teaching her baby to roar. Half of her friends were already merging with the crowd, gazing at the bright orange felines. Tom and Zach were the ones to stay behind with Jenny. Her cousin was looking t her strangely, but it was Tom who asked, "You ok there, Thorny? Did they scare ya?"
His boyish grin settled some of the anxiety in Jenny's throat and she nodded. In turn, Zach headed down the sloped seats and Tom rubbed her arms from behind. "Ah, we'll just stay a bit off the side the. How about that? We won't get to close."
"I'm not afraid," Jenny said, but still Tom led her down the rows of seats, far off to the side of the crowd.
A part of her wanted to argue, that she was merely caught off guard. She knew about all the dangers in the world that most had nightmare about; a mere tiger didn't compare. And yet, she allowed Tom to lead her down and stand at a distance from everyone else. Jenny couldn't see the rest of their friends, and the angle on the tigers was very poor. The mother was protecting her young anyway, snarling and throwing her massive claws through the bars of the cage. The size of her paw alone was the size of someone's head, resulting in five guards standing at the very front of the rope line, making sure no one crossed.
The tiger roared and everyone cheered. How boring.
They thought a tiger was amazing. They think wild animals are scary. They should see a Leviathan. Or any other demon for that matter. But if that happened someone would probably put it in a cage and give it an admission price, tricking everyone into thinking it was nothing more than a harmless water snake-
Jenny had to look away. She was glad she wasn't in the crowd anymore because she didn't feel apart of it. Maybe she wanted to, to be amazed by something so strong and wild, but after spending her entire life learning the truth of things, it was just impossible. Even Tom's warm hands on her shoulders didn't comfort her at that realization.
But Jenny looked up, to the separate cage on the right, and saw another tiger. This one was a white Bengal tiger, a striking contrast to its faux green environment. Surprisingly, it was just standing there, completely parallel to her, facing her directly, staring right at her-And it's eyes. They were blue-so blue that they only reminded Jenny of one thing-of the only being in existence that could ever have that color of eyes.
Jenny stepped closer to the cage, feeling Tom's hands fall from her as she approached the rope string. As if copying her, the tiger drew closer, its shoulder blades shifting in its back magnificently as it came down its little hill, right up to the bars. It moved so gracefully, not even breaking its eye-contact with her by a single blink. Jenny was watching it very carefully, at those sapphire eyes looking right at her, and waited for it to snarl at her, to swipe at her-anything. Instead, the noise it made was much softer, like a low growl, but gentler-
When Jenny realized it was purring, she almost gasped.
She felt the reaction in her face, the widening of her eyes, and she swore the tiger's eyes dilated in return. It then rubbed its face against the bars, like a kitten would to its owner's legs, begging for attention. Jenny could only smile at its docile behavior. The tiger slowly turned after that, as if to walk away, but then lowered itself down and laid against the bars. Bunches of its fur and skin hung through the bars, in Jenny's reach. It looked over its shoulder at her with eyes and blue as ice, like it was asking her to touch him.
To try and touch that tiger was a dumb idea-a really dumb idea. Jenny knew. But the more she thought about it, the more she stared into its eyes, a strange feeling seeped into her blood. A familiar light feeling, that surfaced memories she spent four years trying to force away, and habits too hard to kick, and with it came such delight-
Jenny reached out her hand.
If she touched it, would it claw her? Would it bite her-Was it even real-Would it disappear-Would it stay-Was it him-She had to know-
"Whoa!"
The hands smacked hers down in an instant, turning her away from the mystical beast and to Tom's concerned brown eyes. The tiger was on its feet in the next second, teeth bared and snarling, and it hooked an arm through the cage, swiping at Tom.
Then the guards came running over, pushing the two of them back as someone went to fetch one of the training poles. Yet, by the time they returned, the tiger had ran off into its thrush of bushes. Jenny was still staring after it, feeling the europhia draining from her blood like a fascinating high-
Then Tom was scolding in her face. "What were you doing?"
Zach was there in a heart beat, followed by her train of her friends. "I-I was-I wasn't going to touch it."
"You were leaning over the rope, Jenny. It could've hurt you!" It was Tom's words, but her cousin's punishing gaze that got to her and she had to turn away.
"Ok, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare everyone. I'm fine…"
Her friends accepted that easily, and after a bit more coaxing, the hard, worried lines in Tom's face relaxed and he pulled her into a hug. Jenny allowed him to. She had to. She couldn't exactly explain that if the tiger did swipe at her-That even if it had somehow escaped she would've been able to fight it without batting an eye. Instead she buried her face in Tom's shoulder, as if frightened by the whole incident, and apologized again.
"It's alright. Let's just…go on to something else. Ok? What's next?"
"I'm choosing the ride this time," Audrey snapped. "You've all had your turn and now it's mine."
With that, they followed the redhead across the park, to the section of rides near the back where the arcade and water-themed section laid just around the corner. It wasn't until after they went in circles a few times and looked at all of their options in the entire park that Audrey finally chose one.
"That one."
"Seriously?"
"That's not a ride, Audrey. It's a fun house."
Tom was right. It was called 'The Maze of Darkness' with nothing but a pure black exterior and absolutely no lights inside. They had gone on it before, whenever the last time they had come to this park was. It was literally a maze, with dead ends and confusing turns, but it was made out of slabs of black painted plywood. Once inside, you can't see a damn thing and you have to grope around blindly until you stumble upon the exit or run face-first into a wall.
"Yeah, a fun house," Audrey stressed. "Let's see who can get out the fastest. And the loser buys lunch!"
Summer actually took a step away from the house. "I don't know…"
"It's my turn and I choose this one!"
"Ok, ok. Who wants to give it a try?"
Dee was the one to argue with a roll of her eyes. "Of course, like Daddy's Little Girl isn't used to getting everything she wants-"
"Girls."
"Bite me, Deidre. I bet I can get out faster than you."
"You wish!"
The fighting only stopped with Michael put himself between the girls, soothing the redhead with a forced hug. Dee then worked on convincing Summer that she'd be ok so long as she stayed with her.
But Tom stepped in front of Jenny, blocking her from the ride. "I don't know guys. Jenny doesn't really like small, dark places."
Jenny couldn't help but picture a closet and that color blue flashed before her eyes. It made her shiver, but God that feeling wasn't even close to fear.
As a result, she jumped away from Tom, almost shoving him away from her. "I am not."
"I thought you were claustrophobic, Jenny?" Michael asked.
"No, I'm not. I'm perfectly fine with small, dark places."
Tom didn't seem to understand. He was looking at her strangely. "But then…I mean, last year…"
He didn't need to finish. Jenny remembered. She had forgotten, honestly, about that night a year ago. They were at a party, playing spin the bottle on the living room floor. Jenny had lost to Tom-Well "lost" by Tom purposely stopping the bottle on her-but the dare was to spend seven minutes in the closet.
Jenny had freaked.
She hadn't meant to, but when Tom tried to lead her inside it, with full intent on kissing her like all the times he had before-All Jenny could imagine was the first boy she kissed, inside a closet of nothing but shadows-and she just couldn't.
They didn't really talk about it much after that. She thought that memory had died between them. Now they had all assumed she was afraid of the dark.
In truth, it wasn't so much the dark, but what was inside it.
"Oh, come on!" Audrey argued. "Roller coasters will mess up my hair. At least on this we can all go together."
"That's true."
Michael didn't look too happy about it, but when Audrey fixed her hair and grabbed his arm, he gave no retort. Summer immediately clung to Dee saying, "Just don't leave me. I hate the dark."
Jenny was still trying to sort out the mess inside her head when she realized Tom was staring at her. "Do you want to go?" He asked carefully. "We can stay out here, it's fine. I'll win you something at the arcade-"
"No, no." Jenny didn't want to be the spoiler of all the fun. She wasn't afraid of the dark. A simple fun house would be fine. To reassure them, she grabbed Tom's hand securely and smiled. "Just stay with me. Ok?"
Tom didn't miss a beat. He never did. "I promise."
Jenny finally looked to Zach, but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the funhouse…a little oddly. Then Summer was ripping everyone their share of tickets, and they went inside. The space was so small that it was forced single-file line. Dee was at the front, of course, with Summer in hand. Then Audrey and Michael, Jenny, Tom, then Zach. As soon as they passed the black tarp blocking the entrance, absolutely nothing could be seen.
Summer squealed. Dee laughed. They all had to brace themselves with one hand on the wall in order to guide themselves along. It was so cramped that it was unbearably hot, but you couldn't even see the person in front of you. It was a lot of shuffling, squealing, bumping and shoving around in the dark. A part of Jenny's mind reeled at the sensation, but she only held onto Tom's hand tighter, who secured her quickly with his other hand between her shoulder blades.
There were turns and there steps, making everyone shuffle and talk and joke. Jenny was following Michael blindly with a close hand to his back, but as they ventured in and tumbled around in the dark, soon she was back to holding the wall as her support. It was hard to keep up, after a while. The arguing about who was going to win was starting to stretch farther and farther into the darkness-They were falling behind.
There was a step Jenny missed, unable to see it in the dark, and she tripped a bit forward losing Tom's hand. Jenny groped back blindly, trying to find his hand. She even stopped and waited a moment for Tom to catch up, to bump into her or even trip on the step himself. When she found nothing, she physically turned around-right into the wall. She grabbed her chin in pain as she stepped back, and felt the door with her other hand-But that was impossible. She just came from that way. She couldn't even hear her friends anymore.
Then came the light.
It was very small, very soft, but Jenny still caught it. Well, it was impossible not to see a ray of light when everything around you is pitch black. It came from behind her, casting a small beam. It outlined the edge of a corner, and Jenny's first thought was that she was near the exit. When she neared the light, however, she started to see how the light was moving, how it swirled and expanded. From the around the corner, she could see more of the light dancing off the opposing walls, revealing a very bright, very different hallway.
Jenny turned on it and saw herself.
It actually made her jump to suddenly see another person-but the fear died when she realized it was just her reflection. But that wasn't right. There weren't any mirrors in this maze. At least, there weren't last time. It had been a few years, they could've added a few more elements to confuse the hell out of everyone.
So Jenny turned in hopes of going back the way she came, when she saw herself again. The light got a bit brighter and revealed another mirror. And another. The whole hall was filled with the glass, surrounding her in a circle of her own reflection. It was discombobulating, seeing herself so many times, seeing multiples of the walls and corners and lights-She couldn't tell what was real and what was a reflection anymore. It was worse than the house of mirrors because of the dark, of the stuffy heat. She did a few circles, running her hands across the glass waiting to find the break in reality.
Only, she didn't find it. All the mirrors were connected, trapping her in a small circle of glass. She didn't believe it at first, until she did it again, pressing harder against the glass as if to find a swinging door of some kind. When she didn't find any, confirmed that there was no longer a way out, she didn't panic.
She looked around her. She couldn't tell where the light was coming from. The ceiling and floor were still solid squares of black. She could only see into the mirrors, into the shadows that blended into the glass like it was coming from the mirrors themselves.
She thought about calling out for one of her friends, in hopes of them finding her, but then she turned and saw him.
He was just an outline, a figure in the shadows. He was in her reflection, standing right behind her, so she spun only to see her own shocked expression, green eyes wider than she'd ever seen them. She looked back, and the figure was gone.
The breath she let out was a mix between relief and disappointment. She really needed to calm down. She was thinking too much. She was just tired. Maybe she needed to sit down and eat some food and maybe then she'd stop seeing things-
Then the chuckle echoed around her, as light as a breeze, and as elemental as water over rocks.
Jenny spun immediately and she found him again. His image was fuzzy, covered in shadows. Half of his face was exposed in the light, revealing the edge of a smile, and an eye as blue as a sapphire. At first, Jenny could only stare, waiting for the image to simply disappear as it had done before. She turned around again, and once more there was no one behind her. When she looked back to her reflection, expecting it to be gone again, not only was he still there, he was clearer to see.
He was taller than her, his figure towering over her from behind. She could only see his head and shoulders and one of his arms since the rest she was blocking. The shadows were dancing across him like some kind of black fog, revealing just a bit of skin on his shoulder. Jenny was trying so hard to map him out, to give his face details, to pull away the shadows that cloaked him like a mask. She even waited for him to move or speak, and yet he just stood there, staring at her through the mirror before her.
It couldn't be anyone else. Even if it was fake, Jenny couldn't imagine anything but him trapping her in a shadow-filled enclosure. She tried to think of something, a rune-a seal-something to try and prove it, but her throat was tight-unable to form words even if her mind was fully functional at the moment.
She should leave. She really should because if this was really him-Really a Shadow Man playing tricks on her then she really needed to get out. This could be a trap-a game-She had to-
Then he touched her.
Jenny watched in still shock as the man behind her lifted his hand very slowly and put it on her shoulder. It was like watching some weird movie, but the frightening thing was, Jenny felt his touch. She whipped around, too quickly for comfort and yet there was nothing but the mirrors, reflecting her shock back to her. She turned back to the only mirror he was in, where his hand remained gently on her shoulder. He was looking at her through the reflection, speaking without words. His touch was cold, a soft graze against her skin that sat there with invisible weight. Jenny looked at her own shoulder, seeing no kind of hand there, but still the touch lingered.
She met the man's eyes, questioning everything in silence. He said nothing, nor did anymore of him become clearer. He remained there, a figure of shadows, touching her, watching her. His hand then began to move down her arm, the very tips of his fingers running across her skin, surfacing goose-bumps inch by inch. It tickled in the most delicious way, awakening that feeling Jenny got back at the tiger cage-that dangerous high-
The white tiger. With the same eyes-
Was it him? Was he here? Was she going crazy?
But she felt his fingers, how smooth they ran across her skin, so gently. And when he moved Jenny's hair out of the way in her reflection, she felt something like a gust of wind physically move her hair, exposing her neck. Before she could react, he bent his head and kissed the back of her shoulder.
Jenny shuddered hard.
She felt it. She felt everything. His gentle caresses, the sweet press of his lips against her skin, the heat of his body behind her. It couldn't be real and yet it felt so good, especially when his lips traveled up her skin, to the side of her neck, giving kisses softer than the touch of a butterfly's wing. Jenny couldn't help it. She craned her neck to the side, giving the man in the reflection more room. His hand on her arm tightened and he pulled her back, pressing Jenny flush against a body that wasn't there-firm and-and-
-Dangerous. This was dangerous. He was the definition of danger. She was enjoying this. Pure evil was kissing her neck and she liked it. This unbelievable fantasy-Just like from her dreams-
Oh, but how risky it would be, if this was real-If they were really trapped like this-Back in a room of shadows. If they were back in that closet, as they were now, older, smarter, stuck together-forever with-
"Julian."
She said it more to herself than actually calling for him because she just had to know whether this was real, or if she had fallen and hit her head. After four years of everything being bottled up and to feel something this real, she just needed to know.
She wasn't too sure what she was expecting, watching the man in the mirror as he continued to place such sweet kisses against her neck. Yet, the second she said his name, his head shot up and Jenny saw him as clear as day-Glorious white hair, bright inhumanly blue eyes, and a smirk as vile as the Devil's-
The scream ripped through the whole fun house and Jenny jumped out of her skin. She spun on her heels, actually believing to find the Shadow Man behind her. Instead she was blinded by light to the point of bringing tears, and after a minute her eyes adjusted to reveal the open pieces of black plywood and the very bright spot of grass behind it.
The exit.
Behind her was nothing more than a piece of plywood, although this one was not painted black. It was a pale contrast to the rest of the maze, like a flame in the dark.
Jenny didn't realize she was panting until she had to cough to get her breath back. The adrenaline was still in her blood, that wonderful high spurring fog in her common sense, but Jenny forced her weak legs to stumble forward, into the square of light. She landed outside a bit awkwardly, and the heat from the fun house was ripped away, replaced by cold refreshing air.
Someone stumbled out after her, a couple actually. The girl was laughing and the boy was scowling, saying. "Why'd you have to scream like that? You scared the crap out of me!"
It was while watching the couple walk away that Jenny found her friends just in the distance. Summer saw her first, saying, "There's Jenny!" But Tom was already running up to her, asking her if she was ok, she had pulled away from him-lost him, and he was just so worried-
"I'm fine," Jenny said a bit too quickly. She suddenly felt a bit anxious about his concern, the comfort he was trying to show her. She couldn't accept it so easily, not when the skin of her neck was tingling with delight.
"Ladies, please," Michael was soothing as Dee and Audrey were practically at each other's throat about who had come out first. Summer was upset about their arguing, and Tom was still trying to see if Jenny was ok, but that was when Jenny noticed it.
"Where's Zach?"
There was a pause as everyone looked and realized one was missing from their group.
"He must still be in there."
"Oh well, looks like he's buying us lunch."
"Cause you're a dirty cheater."
"Don't be snobby just because you lost."
"Girls, please."
The high was gone. She turned back to the Maze of Darkness, looked around anxiously in hopes of finding her cousin stumbling about the park looking for them. When she saw no sign of him, she began staring at the black hole of an exit, waiting desperately for her cousin to come out. The girls still argued. Summer was talking about a stuffed animal she saw on a game that she wanted to win. Tom was still talking to her, but Jenny refused to take her eyes off of the exit.
If he was still in there-If Zach was lost-
Did he…see something, too?
"How long was I in there for?" She asked, her voice tight.
Tom shrugged. "A few minutes. Why?"
"He's taking too long."
"He's probably hitting like every dead end in there."
"I'm going back in-"
Tom cut her off by grabbing her arm, stopping her the second she started walking. "Whoa, relax. I'm sure he's fine. Look, he'll be out any second now. Let's just give him a few more minutes. Ok? Everything's fine."
Usually that calm tone would put Jenny at ease, but not today. Not after what she just saw.
Regardless, she waited with him, eyes glued on that exit. A minute passed. Then another. They waited in agonizingly slow minutes and watched as person after person came out of that exit-all people that had gone in after them-none of them being her cousin.
With each minute, the girls arguing died down, Summer's excitement settled, and the slight bit of concern started to grow in the air.
"Maybe he really is lost in there," Summer said in a bit of a whine.
Jenny's corner only heightened, forming into actual fear. "I don't like this. Something's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong. Maybe we missed him."
"Maybe he's in the bathroom."
"Michael, will you go check?"
But when Michael turned to leave, Jenny snapped, "No, we didn't! He was behind me. If he didn't get out before me then-" Two more people stumbled out of the maze, disoriented and laughing. "Look! Those people were way behind us in line. He's still in there."
Once again Jenny moved forward to go back inside, and again Tom stopped her. "Jenny, relax-"
"I can't. I'm sorry, I can't. I have to find him."
"He's fine. Nothing can happen to him in there."
But Jenny was pulling out of his grip, arguing with him because things could happen to him-anyone. Anywhere. Any time. No one knew. No one understood-
"Just let me look for him."
"I don't want you going back in there."
"I need to find him!"
"Jenny-"
"You guys don't understand, he needs to get out!"
"Ok!" Tom's voice hardened, just a bit, in order to catch her spiraling attention. "We'll call him, ok? If he isn't using his phone for a light, he'll answer us and tell us where he is. If he doesn't answer, then we'll go back in. Ok?"
"That's a good idea."
"Yeah, we don't have many tickets left."
Oh Jenny hated it, but they were right. She was panicking over nothing. At least, she hoped so.
So she tried to act normal. Tried to calm down and call her cousin like he couldn't possibly be fighting a Shadow Demon in a park fun house. Even so, with every ring the possibility got higher and more realistic and dear God why wasn't he answering-
Then came the click of the receiver and relief filled Jenny. "Zach! Zach, where are you? We-We're waiting outside the maze. Are you still inside?"
Nothing.
"Zach?"
She couldn't exactly say she heard the noise. It was very soft at first, very distant, like the reception was absolutely terrible. Rather, Jenny felt the noise as it came through the line. It wasn't English. It wasn't even words. It was just a hiss-very supple, very low, but like static it began to grow louder and louder until it crackled and damaged the speaker in the phone, striking pain in Jenny's ears, and spiking her fear to its climax.
She dropped the phone and ran.
"Jenny!"
She ran right passed the line, right through the ticket taker's weak attempt at stopping her, and jumped into the darkness. She went searching in a frantic, not even remembering the way she had just taken. She went bounding off the walls, running into corners, and flying out of dead-ends. She was shouting for him, unable to see as she searched relentlessly in the darkness. Her fear got worse when she didn't run into anyone at all-None of the others that had gone into the maze before she jumped in.
She found herself in a spacious part where there stood no walls and just the slightest bit of light, showing her the nothing around her. But that was the thing-You couldn't see them here on Earth, but they were there-tricking you, driving you insane-Jenny knew; she had been trained and yet here she was, running back and forth in the darkness like a mad woman-
No, she wasn't mad. She wasn't even a normal woman. She was a Shadow Man Hunter.
For the first time in years, Jenny flicked open her ring and cut her finger, not even hissing at the pain. She ripped off her dress jacket and bundled it up around her hand, then with her bloody finger she drew the symbol in the dark, not having to see to know what it looked like. She activated it before she even finished drawing it, "Kenaz."
There was a spark in the dark, then the flame arose, burning at the end of her jacket. She adjusted the flaming cloth carefully so that as the jacket caught fire, it became more like a torch, avoiding burning her hand. She used the light as her guide then, striding more confidentially as she searched the maze relentlessly. If she ran into anyone else, if she got caught like this, they'd probably evict her from the park. They'd call her crazy.
Jenny could care less, because the more she searched the dark halls, the more anxious she got for the safety of her cousin. And yet, the more she searched, the less cramped the walls seemed to be. In fact, there were a lot more turns and dead-ends than she remembered. But she had been running around, she had to be repeating herself-
Oh but she knew better than that.
In fact, the proof went scampering behind her, as fast as a blur, just catching the edge of her vision. Jenny turned after the shadow, trying to reveal it in the light, but there was nothing. She heard it, whatever it was, running through the maze. It was small, with tiny feet that patted against the ground in soft slaps of bare skin. Jenny didn't know what it was, but it couldn't be human. Little kids weren't even allowed on this attraction.
Her senses were going hey-wire. Her instincts were thriving. Nothing was right. This wasn't right.
She followed after the figure, only to feel something brush her legs behind her. She screamed when she jumped, seeing the tiny body go running around a different corner. But Jenny hesitated following it with this-She couldn't, but she did. Then she ran after it, aiming the burning jacket lower as to hopefully find the little bastard-
Then she tripped, just like before. Only this time she collided with something on the ground. When she fell, she lost her burning jacket, landing just beside her. She barely caught herself preventing her face from hitting the ground, but she didn't feel hard plywood under her legs. It was thicker, softer, and cold. Very cold.
Jenny sat up in a flash, snatching for her source of light. However, the cloth was suddenly soaked in something warm-a liquid that had been resting in a puddle on the ground. Lifting the light up, Jenny saw the red footprints leading down the plywood-bloody footprints. She was in a puddle of blood.
The panic made her turn quickly, shining the light over the object under her feet, and she screamed.
"Zach! No-God no-Zach! Zach!"
…-
No one spoke. The five of them sat there in the hospital waiting room in utter silence. Audrey couldn't lift her face from her hands, with Michael beside her. Dee was consoling Summer. Tom was posted in a chair, eyes fixed on Jenny as she paced the room. She couldn't sit down. Not when her mind was racing a mile a minute-Fear eating at her heart the longer she waited, being forced to sit here and do nothing while her cousin was-
She couldn't get the image out of her head; of her cousin lying there in the dark, face still and pliant, with the blood pooling around his head.
Tom had found her in there almost immediately, hearing her scream. Dee had 911 on the phone by the time they carried him outside and now here they were, sitting in the hospital, waiting to hear from anyone if he was ok-if he was dying-how he even got like this-
Someone grabbed her hand, stilling her for a moment, and the old scar on her palm ached in a terrible way. She was going to pull away, until Tom lifted her hand, singling out the bloody finger. He didn't say anything as he put the bandage around it, didn't even look at her. Jenny allowed him to. Honestly, she never did cover those cuts on her fingers because really there was no point. Her grandfather always said there was no shame in hiding battle wounds, and a Shadow Man wasn't going to give you the time to rip off your bandages before attacking you.
Those solemn brown eyes finally met hers when he was done, such a comforting netting for Jenny to catch herself in. It was like a gentle lull, easing away the worry away bit by bit, until she could feel herself again. He even lifted his hand, smiling at her as he began to caress her face, and that's where the fear came back. It whipped at her mind in a vicious fit of shadows, with an impossible blue hue behind them, and Jenny inevitably jerked away.
"Mrs. Thorton?"
Jenny almost fell apart when she saw the doctor step from the hall. He was a tall man with dark hair, but he didn't look too happy. She was before him in an instant, asking, "Is he ok? Is he-"
"He's stable," the doctor confirmed. "For now. We were able to control the bleeding. There was a hemorrhage in his brain that we just caught in time. But….he took a lot of damage."
Summer gasped. Audrey released a tiny whimper. One pair of hands came over Jenny's shoulders-Tom's-the others grasped her left hand securely. It must've been Dee.
"He's unconscious," the doctor continued, "and I'm going to be honest with you, Ms. Thorton; we don't know if he will wake up."
Tom was able to speak where Jenny couldn't. "What happened to him?"
"He took a serious hit to the head. If you found him on the ground, we can only assume he must've fell and hit it on something."
Jenny felt her throat cinch up. "C-Can I see him?"
"Yes. Usually only two people are allowed back here at a time, but I'll let four of you go in right now."
Dee immediately pulled back, slinging her arm around Summer in a silent agreement to stay behind. The rest of them followed Jenny inside, where the doctor led them to the room. When Jenny saw Zach there, lying unconscious in the hospital bed, something churned in her stomach. Something dark.
There was some kind of noise, very weak and pathetic, then Audrey was running out of the room. Everyone understood without an explanation. It had been her who wanted to go inside the Maze in the first place. Michael gave Tom a worried look, who nodded at him, and Michael went after her.
Jenny could only stand there for a moment, unable to see the image before her and call it real. There was a gentle touch on her arm, from Tom, and Jenny felt her feet move. She went to his side, numbly found his hand and gripped it tightly. But he was cold, almost lifeless. And the expression on his sleeping face, it wasn't like her cousin at all. Like a hollow shell that looked like her cousin; a cold, empty vessel here only to torture her with the fear of losing him.
Jenny didn't realize she was zoning out until the strange body approached on the other side of the bed. The nurse only gave her a weary smile, saying, "I'm just checking his vitals."
Tom's touch was warm, so unlike the body of her cousin in her hands. "Jenny," he called gently, but he couldn't get her to turn her gaze away from him. "Jenny…what about your Aunt and Uncle? Have his parents been called?"
He asked that to the nurse, but Jenny didn't catch her answer. She couldn't stop staring at her cousin, picturing his tense expression, how concentrated he looked when he drew, how he squared up against her in practice. Oh God, is this what she looked like four years ago-
Just like that, the world felt like it dropped away from Jenny.
Tom was saying something to her, but all the air had vanished form her lungs. The air was gone, lights too bright. She was so dizzy. She was so stupid.
Tom grabbed her once more, but suddenly Jenny jumped away. She released the frozen hand of her cousin and backed away from the bed quickly-too quickly. Both Tom and the nurse were staring at her strangely. But Jenny didn't care about their concern because the fear was eating at her heart-invading her mind in a split second.
"I have to go…"
"What?"
Jenny didn't explain. She ran out of the room.
….
Jenny burst through the door to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her in a fit of too many emotions to handle.
"Julian!"
She screamed it until her lungs ached, until it left her breathless. She wasn't expecting an answer-No, it didn't work like that. He needed permission to come here, and she couldn't give him that. Ever.
But if she was right-If this fear was real, then he had Zach. And that made her anger stronger than the fear.
So she went right for her closet. She moved aside the old shoes and school projects to the loose wooden floor-board. It was easy to remove, where hidden underneath was a fairly large box. Jenny ripped it out and dumped the box out on her floor without hesitation. Just like that, after four years, Jenny poured the contents of her life onto her bedroom floor.
Charmed knives, sulfuric powder, enchanted ropes, protective charms and figurines-All the things Jenny had either salvaged from the ruins of the basement or recollected over the years. She changed into a good pair of pants and t-shirt, then began on filling her pockets with as many supplies as necessary. She fixed herself a good belt and was able to fit the knives in their loops and attach one of the bags of power by its drawstring to it as well. Then she filled her pockets with the necessities. With her ring secured on her finger, she added a lighter after making sure it was working, and a small canteen of water.
Her plan wasn't solid. She wasn't going there, and he wasn't coming here. But she was going to find him, one way or another. There was no safe way to try and communicate with a demon, but Jenny would be damned if she wasn't going to try.
Jenny knew there was some a ritual that could draw the Shadow Men out, almost like bait in a sense; it was how her grandfather had trapped all of them all those years ago. But he had never showed them how it worked. So for now she was going to have to improvise.
Once she was ready, Jenny tied her hair back with a hair tie and shut her closet door. She didn't even need to think about it. She pulled out one of the knives from her belt and began to carve.
Each one of the Dark Runes, in two equal circles around the doorframe. She carved each one with a determined delicacy, and once she finished she cut her finger without flinching. She stained each one with her blood, completely ignoring the fact that her parents could walk in any minute and catch her-
Her parents.
Her friends. Her family. Tom.
If she messed up-If she lost to the Shadow Men, she'd never see them again.
But Jenny knew she wasn't going to lose. She was going to win. She was going to bring Zach home.
Besides if that vision meant anything, then Jenny knew who she was dealing with. And she knew exactly how that Shadow Man worked. But if it wasn't Julian that was behind all of this-No, don't think like that. It had to be.
If Julian was even strong enough to do it. The fire could've damaged him, but he had four years to recover. Four years to plan this out. Four years without even a single hint that he was still alive.
But Jenny wasn't stupid. She wasn't about to open a portal between dimensions and invite the demon into her bedroom. Once she finished with the Dark Runes, Jenny began to carve the Egyptian ones, in a square around the others. She even marked one in her blood on the carpet. That way the farthest anything from that world could come was the doorway.
She activated the portal by saying each of the runes aloud, ending with Uruz, the rune for piercing the veil between the worlds. The red from her blood began to glow a bright crimson and before she knew it, the carvings began to spin. Like clockwork going hey-wire they began to spin faster and faster, sparking power from the air, cracking like electricity. Jenny had to turn away from it, covering her eyes from the brightness of it-the commotion of it all.
But Jenny wasn't scared. She should be-Purposely opening a portal to the place her grandfather had wished she never had to go to-the place that humans never returned from. But she couldn't be afraid. Her grandfather had told her about this-Trained her for several years. For this. Jenny wasn't stupid. She was prepared. She was strong.
And she was going after the Shadow Man who took Zach with everything she had.
When the circles finally stopped spinning and the chaos settled, Jenny didn't wait. She ripped open the door, revealing not her closet, but pure overpowering shadows. It immediately felt like the box all those years ago; the swirling never-ending black mist came trailing into her room, curling around her feet like hands, She couldn't see anything passed it, but she knew the depth was great. It led to a whole different realm-One that her cousin was lost in, drifting somewhere.
That thought spurred Jenny to call out. "If you think you can just take him from me, you got another thing coming." Her only answer was a chilling breeze.
It was unnerving to stare into nothing but blackness for endless seconds, when anything could jump out or appear. It strained her eyes. It tested her patience.
"Julian, you pig! Answer me!"
She waited once more. She didn't know what she was expecting to see-the figure from the maze, Julian himself-anything at all to take form from the shadows. The last thing she expected was to something to answer her from behind.
It came too quickly, the quietest hiss in the air. She realized it too late-the presence behind her, massive, and strong. She didn't have time to turn around. It struck between her shoulder blades, knocking her right through the threshold, where she fell and never stopped.
….
The pain throbbed in her temples, the beginning of a very terrible migraine. It was all Jenny registered at first, coming to consciousness. She was laying down, on her side, her mind unable to connect the dots. She finally opened her eyes, but all she saw was black.
Jenny ignored the pain in her head and sat up fast-too fast. Her head felt congested, ready to explode-she knew this feeling. The déjà vu was so thick it choked her, threatening to make her sick.
But she wasn't in the closet. She was in the park.
But it couldn't be the park. It was different, in the biggest sense of the word. The land was black, grass dying under her feet, things clearly falling apart. It had everything the park had just hours ago, in all the same places, but everything was…faded. The color was gone from everything, leaving just the faint reminder of what it used to, painting everything a sinister black and white, taking shape only from the grays. It looked like it had been abandoned for centuries, untouched, unwanted.
And it was cold. The heat was gone, the color faded-
"A land of nothing but shadows, like frozen in time; a faded cold wasteland."
The way her grandfather had described this place couldn't be mistaken. Even without his journals, Jenny remembered those words as clear as day.
And now it was staring her in the face.
She scrambled to her feet. At least, she tried to. Her legs didn't seem to want to work and her head just hurt so bad. She had to cradle her head and steady herself on the ground with the other hand, but she got herself kneeling.
Calm down, she told herself. Think. You were just at home. Relax. Think. Where are you?
Well, she knew the answer to that question. But just coming to terms that she landed in the Shadow World was impossible to accept.
Yes it was. She heard him. She saw him-felt him back in the maze-then she fell in. He tricked her, she realized with a terrible spark of anger. He knew what she had planned on doing all along. Jenny didn't know how he had the means to have something push her in, but she was sure of it. She had no proof, but she didn't need any. She clung to that reasoning with all her might because the more she stared into the shadows that made up everything around her, the harder it was to convince herself she was dreaming.
As if on auto-pilot, Jenny ripped off the band-aid on her finger, wincing at the sharp rip from her skin. The wound was even the tiniest bit tender. So she was awake.
But then….
Jenny had to take a long, deep breath as she fully accepted her fate. She was in the Shadow World-the world that Shadow Men were created and thrived. She was in their territory-among their rules-and rights.
She flicked open her ring next, and quickly carved the symbol of protection back into her palm. Cutting through the old scars hurt worse than it ever did, or perhaps Jenny had merely forgotten how to overcome the pain after four yeas. Even so, she swallowed the pain as well as the tiny bit of familiar relief from carving the rune into her hand again after all this time.
But she couldn't let her guard down. Not here. She wasn't in a secure location with one Shadow Man. She had no idea what this place was-Amusement Park replica or not-and she had to accept the fact that any of the Shadow Men-Any of them could attack her. At once. In different ways-
No, don't panic.
But God it was so hard not to. After so long, after concealing away all the facts, all the tactics, the memories, to suddenly be face-to-face with the biggest challenge ever….
No, it was a game. Julian took Zach, then tricked her here. This was the game.
So Jenny swallowed her fear, and actually looked at the world she had only imagined in her nightmares.
She could see the Ferris wheel in the distance to the left, and the sign for the water section and the arcade to the right. Now she had to think of where to go-Where to look for first. She needed to find a door, a good door, and some light, to set up an Egyptian portal. That way, if she really was as limited in power as she thought she was, then the Shadow Men would have no way to interfere with her going home. Right, that sounded good.
As bad as it was, Jenny felt a sliver of comfort settle in her chest. She was thinking like a hunter again. After all these years, she could feel the anxiety in the back of her mind, reminding her of all the games she used to play, the beasts she fought, how exciting they were-
Jenny didn't get the chance to gasp because then it was behind her. Her instincts lit up like the first spark of a fire, telling her that she was no longer alone-that something was lingering behind her-Something deadly.
There was a growl, mutilated and defective, practically at the back of her neck, so Jenny froze. She held her breath, stopped moving, even stopped blinking. She posted herself there, kneeling on the ground of the Shadow World, alone, with the monster lingering behind her, with no idea of what it was, or how to kill it-
And the fear was gone in an instant.
There was a snap of jaws and Jenny felt it move. She dove forward, turning so she landed on her back as she did, and screamed, "Ankh!" She saw the spark of light hit the creature in the face for a split second before she hit the ground. But Jenny rolled on her shoulder, jumping back to her knees, finding the monster before it could recover.
There, off to the side, was a tiger. Yet, as it got back to its feet, Jenny saw its matted fur, the missing patches of skin and-Jesus, she could see the bones of its ribcage. The whole underbelly of the animal was carved out, trailing one of its organ along the ground. When it faced her, half of its face was mangled, torn skin hanging in threads, blood as black as death pouring from its face. It was literally rotting away before her eyes, showing bits of muscle and bone, falling apart as it started to stalk her. Jenny stared at the zombie tiger for a moment before she jumped to her feet.
It roared at her when she moved so quickly, and Jenny felt that spark of fear-No, it was the adrenaline. That light feeling rushing through her blood in an instant, a dangerous mix of fear and amusement. It was what Jenny was raised on-what she knew, and that familiar feeling was what caused her to smile.
"Well," she said aloud to the beast a mere five feet anyway, "I hate to break it to you, but I didn't plan on dying today. And something as ugly as you isn't going to change that."
As if offended, the tiger pounced. Jenny shouted another rune, knocking the beast back, then she ran. She took off in a hard sprint to the left, passed the fun house, passed the moldy concession stand, and into the stretch of land that separated this section of the park from the animal section. The metal fence ran along her side, quickly forming into the entertainment cage, where the chain-link fences form a variety of tunnels, leading from the animals containments to the stage. There were just up ahead, Jenny could see it, but then the pain struck the back of her leg.
She screamed as she stumbled into the fence, but she whipped around in the same motion, swinging her leg in a swift kick. She nailed the tiger in the arm, only causing it to miss her amid its lunge and collide with the fence. She flicked out a knife from her belt in the next second and stabbed it in the back; but the tiger twisted, ripping the knife from her grip as she jumped away.
Her defenses saw that the fence was broken in multiple places, leaving some of the poles of the fence loose or snapped off completely. Jenny snatched one of them before the tiger came at her again, using it to physically smack the tiger away. It's pathetic mewl, like a frightened kitten, almost made Jenny laugh. She shouted another rune instead, making the tiger howl in pain. She used the chance to take off in another run.
She charged away from the animal cages. If this one had escaped, then God knows what else laid in those cages. So she ran for the entrance of the food court, with the Ferris Wheel in the distance as her guide, following the trail that was just a shadow lighter than the black ground. She just reached the first concession stand, heart racing, lungs burning, and she heard the attack before she saw it.
The tiger pounced from the side, coming from around the concession stand. It landed dead-center of Jenny's path, making her skid to a stop. It swiped for her leg, which jenny had to drop to the ground, catching herself on her hands, and was able to kick it in the face. She followed it fluidly with a jab to the side with the sharp end of her pole, seeing the disgusting chunk of rotting muscle tear off when she pulled it back out. Then she flipped up and ran back the other way.
She ran to the tunnels while she had the chance, no time to stop and evaluate what could be in the other cages. But she couldn't see anything in the shadows and the tiger was back behind her, snarling as it chased her right to the tunnel of metal. She had planned on locking herself inside, but as she approached it, she saw there was no door at the end so Jenny went inside, following the turns down the end. There were other cages, where the animals were supposed to be individually held before the show, that now sat as empty, eerie spaces. Jenny charged for the one at the end, the only one with a solid cage door still on its hinges.
Jenny threw herself inside, barely getting the door closed before the tiger was there. It completely pounced on the door, jerking Jenny back, causing her to scream. But she pounced back, throwing her weight into the door, getting it closed before the tiger could jump inside. Just as she locked it, the tiger's arm came swiping through the bars of the cage. Jenny just barely dodged the claws, stumbling away from the door with her pole-and her life. She was alive. She did it. She beat it.
The relief caused a smile on her face, looking at the mutated tiger as it hung on the door, snarling and swiping at her. She almost laughed at it, the cut on her leg didn't even hurt anymore. The beast was pressing its face against the metal, scraping off fat chunks of rotten skin, landing in disgusting clumps against the ground. Jenny was relieved the door was holding up, but then she realized that she was the one inside, trapped, just like four years ago-
"Very sloppy, Jenny."
And just like that, the fear was back.
All the blood drained from Jenny immediately, relinquishing all heat in an instant.
It was like a splash of cold water to the face. No it was more than that. Like electricity tingling through her nerves, spiking up the back of her neck, to her mind-sending her straight back to four years ago-to the box of shadows, trapped with-
Jenny had to spin around, but she wasn't prepared. Just like the very first moment when she fell in the closet, there was no way for her to be prepared for this Shadow Man.
He stepped from the shadows, and there, a mere 5 feet from her was Julian. He was older, just above Jenny's age, still with his hair as white as snow, and impossible blue eyes. Just like in the maze, he was more crafted-Was it possible for him to be even more gorgeous? The one thing different, however, was that smile. It wasn't dangerous or cocky like it was four years ago.
It was worse.
"But I guess four years of hiding yourself will weaken old habits."
Jenny's mind stuttered to a glorious pause. It was him-Right there-His voice-His eyes-And yet her mind couldn't catch up. He wasn't a reflection this time, not a whisper from the shadows. Now she was standing before him, trapped in a tigers cage, her eyes wide, mouth agape. She was dreaming-She was being tricked-Like in the fun house, he was-
But he smiled and Jenny felt it, the haughtiness, the vileness that came from it, and he took a step toward her.
Immediately, she rose the pole she had, lifting it right under his chin, preventing him from coming any closer. But this cage was smaller than the closet, with hardly any elbow room. Julian was in arm's reach, only separated now by the four foot long pole. He was wearing a black leather vest, one that exposed such marvelous muscles that he didn't have four years ago, and black pants that hugged his hips just right-
Jenny was still staring. She couldn't even speak. She couldn't-it was him-but it wasn't-it couldn't be-he couldn't-
This was a trick. She was seeing things-If she was really in the Shadow World, with the other Shadow Men, then she was-he wasn't real-He couldn't be….
He seemed amused by her speechlessness because his smirk only widened. "I'm not a trick," he said carefully, voice filling Jenny's head like water over rocks, drowning her common sense. "If you were being fooled, how do you think you would see me? Hm?"
As much as Jenny hated to admit it, he was right. Shadow Men took things from your memories. If this was a trick, she'd be seeing him as she last saw him, younger, smaller. Not older, not more crafted.
Julian carefully lifted his hand, catching Jenny's wild gaze, and put it on the end of the pole. Jenny could only watch, helplessly, as he slowly lowered the weapon away.
"I'm real, Jenny."
Jenny could only stare for a bit longer. Then she heard metal clinking against cement and the next thing she knew, she had her arms around his neck. She was hugging him so tight so quick. She must've surprised him because his arms were up for a moment before wrapping back around her. And God the way he held her-
He practically lifted her off her feet, such strength in his forearms as they wrapped around her waist. It was firm, dangerous. It was marvelous.
Then Jenny shoved him as hard as she could, pinning him against the metal fence, not even thinking-realizing-what was she DOING?
She started to say an Egyptian rune, but before she got the words out, Julian twisted her arm off of him and with a single hand he had her pinned back against the other wall of their cage. The snarl of the tiger came far too close for Jenny's comfort but she couldn't take her eyes off him.
She attempted a kick, succeeded in making Julian flinch where she next threw a punch. But he caught that too easily and whisked her off the fence. Jenny caught herself and launched her elbow back, nailing some part of him that only resulted in a chuckle. Then he spun her back, causing her to fall against his chest. But Jenny side-stepped him, shouting another rune to get him off her.
They scuffled like this, twisting, punching, fighting until finally Jenny's foot slipped. On what she didn't know, but she was falling before she could catch herself-toward the door-where the tiger was.
But the hand on her lower back stopped her from hitting it. She stopped right before the metal door, leaning on her heels, back arched, neck craned. Julian had her tilted back, holding her up so easily, keeping her lingering like this solely by the grip on her wrist. He was over her, legs tangled, completely blocking her from any movement. And he held her there effortlessly, her head just on the line of danger, dipped back like they were in the middle of some extravagant dance.
Jenny felt her gasp choke in her throat and she jerked instantly, trying to get out of his grip. Then her ponytail was smacked from behind from the quick swipe of claws. The tiger was right behind her, barely in reach. If she moved at all-
But she had no grip on herself whatsoever. If Julian released her the slightest bit, the tiger would take her head clean off. So Jenny stiffened, clinging to the arm that held her up, and met the gaze of the Shadow Man she hadn't seen in four years.
The look on Julian's face was all too pleased, like he saw this coming and was just too satisfied that it went exactly the way it was supposed to.
"I win," Julian said smoothly, so simply, and God, to hear that voice up close again sent something rocking inside Jenny that she had no way of controlling "So I ask you, Jenny, what should my prize be this time?"
His voice was so elemental, so majestic, so alluring. Jenny felt like she was drowning in it, lost in its other-worldly tone. And she had to force herself to jump out, to breathe air again. Especially when Julian was leaning closer, erasing the space between their faces.
She should've said a rune, something sharp to get him off her, but her instincts only resulted in her free hand snapping up, covering his mouth, preventing it from coming any closer than he already was. Those impossible blue eyes never left hers for a second, but she felt him smile under her palm and somehow she felt cheated.
"Let me go," she felt the words leave her lips rather than heard herself say it. But it came out too quiet, too weak.
Then his grip loosened on her, jerking her back. She gasped and grabbed his shoulder, bringing her head up just in time to feel the swipe of claws rip through her hair once more. But now she was even closer to him, face almost tucked into the crook of his neck. Julian looked at her, and it was by the thinnest sliver of air that their lips were separated.
"Ah, I get to choose the prize, remember?" Jenny felt the heat of his breath above her lips when he spoke and immediately she remembered the gentle kisses on her neck and feather-light touches-
She was about to make a punch for his gut when a snarl of the tiger went off behind her, like a warning.
Then Julian stood, bringing Jenny up with him. But their legs were still tangled, still pressed tight against him. He held her there for a minute, staring right through her, forcing Jenny to see him-to feel him-to share each breath. Her head was throbbing. She truly thought she was going to pass out, until the touch came to her cheek, so light it was ticklish, and a part of her grew steadier.
Jenny didn't know how long they were standing like this for because time didn't seem like a factor here, almost like in a dream, or back in the closet. No, the pain came as a reminder in both her bloody palm and her leg, waking her up, bringing her back.
She didn't bother trying to unravel their position-Not now. She was in the game, literally in the Shadow man's grasp. She was going to have to play it now, one way or another.
So instead she smacked his hand away, throwing it off her face, and met those glorious eyes with the strongest glare she could muster at the moment.
"Where's Zach?'
Oh Julian's smile was definitely different, much more wicked. "Did you really come here to talk about him?"
One of his hands moved, gliding down to her lower back, ghosting over the inch of bare skin that was exposed from their scuffle. Jenny had to force herself to ignore it. "I didn't come for a game of twenty questions."
Before he could answer her, she tried a punch to his throat, spitting a rune faster than he could even try and stop her. She felt his reaction, the jerk in his body, but all she managed was to untangle their legs. As soon as she got her footing back, however, Julian twisted her-spinning her too fast for her to try and break free without falling. When they finally broke their struggle, Jenny was still in his grasp, legs free, but they were closer to the door than before. Jenny had to lean up against the Shadow Man instead of being dipped back, and she felt the reminder from the swipe of claws behind her back.
"So you didn't come to talk to me?"
Oh, his face was too close. Jenny couldn't think of the proper response right away-This was worse. So much worse than the closet.
"Shut up-Stop it. I'm not playing your game. Give him back."
"Make me."
Jenny knew he was pushing her, but she couldn't help it. She jerked her elbow, as if she was going for his throat again, but she jerked her knee at the same time, nailing Julian between the legs. Demon or not, he was still a man in the same sense. His surprise was finally enough leverage for Jenny to break free from him.
Well, it was more like she fell away from him. She caught herself on the side wall of the cage before she heard the tiger's growl and jumped off it. She was standing in the center of the cage now, with the door and tiger behind her, and Julian mere inches from her.
Julian recovered, meeting her gaze again with his eyes three shades lighter, glistening like the brightest sapphires compared to the shadows that surrounded him. The thrill in those eyes, the excitement in his smile, didn't falter at all.
It was there that Jenny finally felt something-some part of herself-grow sturdier, finally stabilizing once and for all. Her mind cleared, her reasoning came back. She felt stronger. More herself.
So she straightened her back, met the demon head-on without the slightest hint of weakness. "Where is he, Julian?"
The Shadow Man faced her just the same, shoulders squared with his hands politely behind his back, blackness as his background, reminding Jenny of the very first time she saw him. "That would be telling."
"Don't mess with me," she snapped. "I know you took him-And you tricked me into coming here. Now give him back."
"That's not how the game works." He punctuated himself by advancing closer on her. Jenny stood her ground. With the tiger snarling behind her, she couldn't exactly walk out the door. So she kept her chin high, not breaking her gaze with him as he completely invaded her space once more, trapping her even further than she already was. Once he was above her, towering over her like the spitting image of evil and power, he didn't say anything else. He merely examined her, looking her over like she was a fascinating piece of art work.
"I'm not playing your game."
"You already are." He smirked after that, much like a starving wolf baring its teeth. "But you don't have to play. You can just give up."
"Ankh."
The power was effective immediately, knocking Julian's face to the side as if he had just been slapped. Jenny didn't waste her time. "This isn't funny. What did you do with him?"
Slowly, Julian looked back at her and although his smile was there, a new intensity shone in those cobalt blue eyes. "He played his own game, Jenny. And he 's facing the consequences-"
"You cracked open his head and left him there-"
"I could've done much worse, Jenny."
"You almost killed him!" It was the way she screamed it, the fierceness in her voice, that struck the wrong chord in the air. Something changed in Julian's face, if just slightly, and he took a step back. "I didn't come here to-to catch up with you-You had four years to do that-And to take him away from me-" Something caught in Jenny's throat, something tough that she had to swallow down-quickly. "I'm bringing him home. Now tell me where he is or I'll go find him myself."
There was pause in the air where Julian could only stare at her. He looked her over once again, admiring the aggressiveness radiating off her like it was some kind of other-worldly glow. "You still haven't changed. Your spite, your fierceness. You're gorgeous."
It was that look on his face-the one that he had given her after he saved her-when he promised her the world with a kiss on the back of her hand-that made Jenny's defenses crack, and a bit of reality seeped in.
This was Julian. The Shadow Man she had shared something with. He was from the part of her life that she missed so badly-The reason she was what she was-A Shadow Man Hunter that had gotten trapped with the very thing she was being trained to kill. The thing that had desired her all to himself and got it-the one that saved her more than once-
Saved her.
He swore on his existence to keep her from being harmed. Did that break when she was released? Was it still active now? Even so, Jenny remembered the look in those blue eyes, how pale they had gotten when he spoke of his Ancestors-the other Shadow Man-talking about harming her. He didn't want her harmed.
Jenny had to pray she was right. She knew it was stupid to believe in the words of a demon that lived off of trickery and lies, but if what they had in the closet-if what she had felt was real, then she knew this would work.
Julian reached for her, and Jenny jumped.
Right for the door. She let her back collide with the metal fence, where the tiger was stalking her, and awaited the pain. She held her breath, clenched her eyes shut, expecting the pain to come ripping between her shoulder blades, tearing through her skin, shredding her muscles-
But it never came.
Eventually Jenny opened her eyes to see the tiger where it was, standing right at her heels, bloody yellow teeth bared and growling, but it didn't attack. She looked to Julian who had the slightest smirk at the edge of his lips, with almost a look of veneration on his face.
"Even now you still surprise me."
"And you still don't want me hurt," Jenny said aloud, to confirm it, to hear him say it one more time.
Something crossed over his eyes as he faced her and that smile was back. "Not you."
Her stomach sank at the realization. She jumped off the fence, immediately getting in his face, showing absolutely no fear to this demon of shadows. "If you hurt him, Julian, I swear I'll-"
"You'll what?"
"I'll carve your name out."
It was a stupid thing to say, and Jenny knew the probability of her actually succeeding in such a task was nearly impossible, but she'd be damned if she was going to back down from the challenge-from Julian.
The Shadow man's smile was back in an instantly, beyond amused. "You wouldn't do that."
"Oh, yeah?"
"You wouldn't be able to live without it."
"Without what?"
"The thrill, Jenny." Suddenly he was in her space again, speaking over her lips in a voice that was truly exalted. "The chase, the hunt, the kill. You live off it, Jenny, you know you do-And you've missed it. Hiding it for so long. Trying to close yourself from what you truly are-"
"Stop it."
"But you don't want me to. Admit it; you've missed my games. You've missed me-"
Jenny tried to move away. She really did. She attempted at jumping passed him, anything to put some space between them, but in the next instant she was against the fence-pinned with Julian above her. The tiger was there in a flash, literally leaning up against the fence behind her, the tips of bloody claws threateningly close to Jenny's back, and those rotting, vicious jaws right behind her head. It was growling in one ear, snarling as a warning, making her gut jump in anxiety-But then Julian was whispering in her other ear, holding her arms pinned to the fence, stilling her, forcing her to stop and listen.
When he spoke it was in a voice as soft as velvet. It made everything in Jenny begin to melt. "Come back with me, Jenny. We can go back to what we had. I can still give you everything-"
"No, stop it." She attempted a jerk, but she already knew it was going to fail. Because she was weak where Julian was strong.-Unable to fight back from such bittersweet words being whispered in her ear. Julian even released one of her wrists to grab her face, cupping it urgently, and his voice only intensified in her ear, to the point where her mind felt like it was stuffed with cotton.
"Play with me, Jenny. For eternity. Laugh at the rules. Stoke the fire. Run across the realms-With me by your side. We can have a lifetime of games-"
She jerked her head away when she felt his lips moving across her face, that husky voice ghosting over, toward her lips-But then the tiger was there, giving such a nasty growl that Jenny couldn't help but gasp.
Everything was getting muddled. She couldn't focus-couldn't think straight. Julian's hand moved down her throat, his touch coming as ticklish as a breeze, surfacing goose bumps immediately, just like in the Maze. The reminder of that only made things worse. She was dizzy. She was falling.
"No, I-I can't-"
"You're not happy there. I've seen it. Unable to show what you are. Unable to act as you please. You're not yourself with them Jenny."
Somehow she got her free hand between them where she gave him a shove, but the farthest she got was getting the Shadow Man back enough to see his face. She was still pinned-still falling and desperately reaching for something to catch her-Julian always caught her-
"Of course I cant! They would-"
"They'd shun you. I told you didn't I?" There was something gentle in the words that made the strength in Jenny's arm fail. She couldn't try to push him away again; she couldn't even break his gaze. "They won't ever understand, Jenny…But I do. Remember? What we had, Jenny-the way you shine when you fight, when you play."
Jenny tried to say something, anything really. Her mind searched for an excuse-for a rune to use-to somehow find her reasoning to argue against everything he was saying when he was speaking the truth-
But then she was staring at it-At such an impossible blue, faded so strongly that it resembled an early November sky. There was a shadow behind them, a shadow of weakness that Jenny had seen only once-when she had been ripped away from him.
Suddenly seeing it now made something very tight, very painful grow in her chest. She had no way of stopping Julian when he touched her again; fingers as cool as marble stroking down her cheek in a touch as light as gauze.
"I want you back," he said it so softly-so raw- that Jenny truly believed it was meant for himself, slipped out on accident. "He took you away from me. I wanted to grab you so badly, to keep you there."
Then she remembered, a bit of clarity coming through the cotton in her head-of her cousin-of who she had come to save. "He was protecting me," she finally got out.
"It upset you. I saw it. When you woke up and didn't find me there-"
"You saw?" It wasn't until Jenny saw the change in Julian's eye that she realized how broken that sounded.
Julian was closer, his grip slowly rising up her arms, to her neck, to her face, controlling her focus-her thoughts. "I haven't taken my eyes off of since you left. I've watched you, Jenny. And you looked for me-"
"You're lying." She ripped his hands away, but in one swift motion, Julian had them pinned against the fence once again. He was trying to meet her gaze, but Jenny couldn't-she couldn't or else she'd believe him-A Shadow Man-A demon of lies and trickery. "Y-You couldn't have-You didn't do anything-For four years. You're lying-"
"I couldn't touch you. Not there. Or else I would've, Jenny. But I did reach out to you. In every way I could."
Jenny was ready to scream at him until he said that. Her first thought was the Maze, how he was in the mirror, tricking her. But his smile during her thought process said it was more than that. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, don't play dumb, Jenny. Did you really think some simple markings around your pillow would keep me out of your head?"
Oh God, she had been right. He was in her head, making her dream of him. Then he knew everything-He really had been there for every single fantasy she envisioned at night-
He was moving closer to her, on the verge of pressing his body against hers again, but suddenly there was anger. The realization that he had a slight connection to Earth, to talk to her. That he took her cousin-started a game-instead of simply coming to her first. The realization hurt so bad that Jenny was screaming, and shoved Julian so hard that he was knocked back right into the fence.
"No, you lied to me!" She was snapping, quickly. "You have done nothing but trick and lie to me from day one. You didn't save me-Zach was there that day. He came for me immediately-"
"You were bleeding out," Julian interrupted just as fast. He came off the fence, approaching her fast. "You were injured by a trans-dimensional blast, Jenny. A simple band aid doesn't fix that. By the time those paramedics would've arrived, you would have been dead."
Jenny hesitated, and it was in that pause that she noticed her breathing-erratic, panting. Before she could figure out whether he was truly lying or not, he was saying, "Did your precious cousin also tell you why he burned down the house? To try and kill me? To hide your grandfather's identity from anyone so to not question your sanity? To prevent you from getting back to me?"
Jenny hated it-She really hated it, but she couldn't answer him. She was thinking on it, thinking back to all the questions she asked her cousin that he refused to answer.
"He didn't, did he?"
It was the harshness in Julian's voice that reminded Jenny exactly what he was-what she was dealing with. But that only made the knot in her chest grow tighter, inducing such a sharp pain that it actually threatened tears. Jenny had to choke those back. She wasn't going to cry in front of the enemy. Ever.
Instead she snapped, "And I'm supposed to believe you?"
"Yes."
"Fuck you."
He laughed, and Jenny had to look away. She was stuck. Should she run? Screw that tiger-Julian wouldn't let it hurt her. Should she go home? No, she needed Zach. She needed to stop listening to him. But when he took a step closer, Jenny inevitably looked back at him.
"Would you believe me if I said I loved you?"
Her heart jumped, but Jenny didn't hesitate. "No."
Julian smiled at that, just as plaint and amused from the moment she landed in the closet.
"Of course you wouldn't. Why would a Shadow Man love a human? Why would he fall for the one girl in all the worlds who knows how to kill him? The only one to stop him-"
"To beat you," she said breathlessly, and it wasn't until after she heard herself say it that she was force to accept it. To accept the fact that their relationship-whatever they had-was completely beyond her. No, not just her, passed both of them.
"You do something to me, Jenny. Something even the runes can't control. I didn't ask for it, but I can't stop it. I don't want to. And neither do you." When he approached her this time, it was slow, almost cautious, slowly shrinking Jenny's world until it was just the two of them-alone-again. His voice dropped dangerously low and he spoke over her lips once again, saying, "You've felt it, Jenny. And I know you miss it. I saw it, in all your dreams. I gave you whatever you wanted there. Let me give you the real thing. The rush. The adrenaline, the fear when I put you in the line of danger, forced you to fight impossible things-the thrill-"
Jenny did feel it, the adrenaline coming back to her with a quick snarl of the tiger behind her, but she wouldn't let herself be swept away again. She ripped out one of the knives from her belt, enchanted from the Egyptian carvings on the blade, and she had it against Julian's throat in a flash. He backed off immediately, but Jenny followed him, keeping his neck at the tip of her blade constantly as she advanced on him, spitting, "What about the weakness, huh? When you told me everything, when you promised to never hurt me. You looked torn apart when you talked about your ancestors killing me. Was that a trick, too?"
For once, Julian didn't have an answer. He merely smiled at her as she backed him into the corner of the cage. For a minute they stood there, staring at each other, and Jenny's mind cleared. Whatever spell he had on her finally wore off and Jenny felt herself-the part she really knew-come back stronger than before.
"I can't trust you. I never can. You lied to me. You tricked me. You took my cousin and now I'm here to get him back no matter what you do."
Just like that, Julian's smile was as wicked as ever, sending them right back to the beginning of the argument. Any trace of vulnerability or tenderness was long gone, replaced by the cold cruelty that was a Shadow Man.
"And you plan on just walking out of here?" As a reminder, the tiger let out a low growl, but Jenny wasn't scared.
"Not without Zach."
Julian clicked his tongue at her, as if she was a child that had misbehaved. "Sorry, Jenny. You weren't a player in that game."
"What are you talking about?" When Julian didn't answer, she emphasized her question by pressing the knife closer to his throat, causing him to tilt his head back into the fence. His smile didn't waver. Instead, a new look came into his eyes, one that was undeniably hungry.
"You're marvelous when you take control, you know that?"
Surprisingly, Jenny felt marvelous, but she didn't let his words distract her. "Shut up. What game? What did you do to him?"
"I gave Zachary two choices, and he made one. Nothing you can do about that, Jenny."
Jenny took a minute to process that. "Zach wouldn't choose to stay here."
Julian gave a small shrug. "You'd be surprised what you don't know about your own flesh and blood." As if to clarify, he then asked, "Do you know what was going through your cousin's mind when he attacked you all those years ago?"
And just like that, Jenny's strength faded, and she felt terrible.
She must've made some sort of face because Julian saw it-He always did. "I do. I made him realize that, and he made his choice."
Jenny felt the fear-felt it creeping up her spine, but she gripped the knife harder. "Give him back." She said it tough, no more fooling around. It was the end of the argument, one way or another, and she made that clear.
And Julian knew. It was clear in his eyes, and he responded firmly. "Oh, Jenny, I thought you knew everything about Shadow Men? Nothing's free."
Jenny snapped a rune immediately, but then Julian was knocking her arm away from him. He snatched her wrist with the blade before she could turn it on him. There was a twist, then Jenny's own arm was pinned behind her back. She screamed and tried to pivot away, but Julian was there, standing behind her, his other arm wrapped around her chest. She was trapped-Her arm could break-
"Play a game with me, Jenny." He was whispering in her ear again. "Just like before, with all the same rules. Beat me, and I'll show you where your precious cousin is. If I win, then you stay here. With me."
"No."
"Yes. Or you can give up, right now. Come with me. Be mine, and I'll let you explore the side of you that you were meant to thrive in."
Jenny had to close her eyes, to think.
Calm down, she told herself. Don't panic. Think. Think of another way out-Bargains! Her grandfather always stressed the bargains they made.
But that just brought on a whole new level of panic.
Jenny tried to keep her voice steadier than her pulse. "Give him back, a-and I'll play a game with you."
"Ah, a life is only as valuable as another life, Jenny. I'll return him to Earth if you stay here."
Shit. She couldn't. She couldn't switch places with him-Zach would find out. He would come here-And he wouldn't be dealing with Julian-
"I can't."
"Then play the game."
Jenny struggled, both physically and mentally. How was she supposed to say no to that when he was literally forcing her hand? She didn't stand a chance in this place on her own. If Julian didn't interfere with her attempts at finding Zach, then the other Shadow Man would. And she couldn't face them all at once like that-She never learned how.
So she was forced to make a choice. Did he force Zach's hand, too? He must've. But oddly enough, the more Jenny thought on it, the calmer she became. She had to think clearly, map it out. She was stuck here. Zach was captured somewhere. She could take her chances against the other Shadow Man. Or she could face Julian's trick, just like before, to try and win her cousin back. And she knew how to face Julian.
She wouldn't admit to herself about the sliver of anxiety that made its way into her core, but she couldn't hide it. She forced her hand to relax, dropping the knife to the ground with a clink that echoed too loudly. There was a pause, then Julian released her, spinning her around in the process. He was smiling because he already knew her answer. How could she afford to say no? But God it was hard to say yes. No matter how easily the word came out in the end.
"Fine."
Something glorious shone in those sapphire eyes, making Jenny quickly add, "On all the same rules. You cannot cheat, and you have to be honest-And fair, and you have to give him back-"
Oh, it already was unfair. Because half-way through her rant, Julian got down on one knee-just like four years ago-and bowed to her. And just like before, when he reached for her hand, Jenny couldn't refuse, allowing him to place the kiss on the back of her hand.
It was there that Jenny knew this game would be entirely different from the others. And as much as she cursed herself for it, a part of her was thrilled from it.
Ok WHOOO FINALLY DX Sorry it took so long guys, this was very hard to perfect so please excuse any mistakes. I hope I didn't disappoint any of you with this chapter. Now the plot is solid (how many times will I say that then change it? DX) As of the rest of you who follow my other fics, I will be updating 12 Years Ago very soon. And for those of you who liked Dark to Light, Light to Dark I HAVE made a sequel. It is not up yet because, again, polishing it, working out the kinks in the plot, but keep your eyes open for it. I will post a link to the story when it is up.
So yeah! That's all I got, hope this chapter was good. Please review with any questions or advice so I know how I'm doing :D thanks guys!
Till my next update!
ZVA
