~CHAPTER 2~

THUMP! Jenny opened her eyes, her head half covered by her comforter as she awakened on her room floor. An alarm blared blatantly at her on her bedside vanity, flashing its red lights at her. It reminded her of something... Jenny couldn't quite remember. She felt that she should.

Looking around, her head still topped with the blanket, she saw black dots dancing across her vision. Jenny groggily tried to figure out why she was now on the floor. The blanket was suddenly ripped from over her head and she was momentarily blinded. Spinning around, she saw a figure standing over her.

Jenny swung her head up and looked at Cara with an open mouth, and the coppery headed girl shook her head at Jenny furiously.

"Don't give me that look, Thornton. We're almost late!"

Jenny whipped around to look at her alarm clock again, scarlet numbers flashing at her mockingly. It was half past eight o'clock. Her first class began at nine. Jenny gasped and flung herself up, running to the bathroom hurriedly. After a quick shower and a bit of makeup, she glanced at her reflection and nodded. Good enough. She emerged from the bathroom, glowing. Cara, copper ringlets bouncing, grabbed her and dragged her out of the dorm.

"I can't believe we both overslept!" Cara said loudly. Her auburn hair shimmered in the morning sunlight as the two quickly made their way across campus. Batting her heavily mascara'd eyelashes at Jenny, she looked beautiful, with her flawless makeup and perfectly curled hair. Jenny wondered how she could look like that if they had both woken up late, but the thing with Cara was, no matter what, she looked fabulous. It was as natural as breathing to the eighteen-year-old. Jenny at first had mistaken it for pure vanity when they had first met, but as she got to know Cara, she saw it was something deeper than that.

Jenny shook her own golden hair out from a messy ponytail, hoping she at least looked presentable. She was painfully wary of her appearance as she walked next to her friend, though there was no need to. Together they crossed the courtyard of the great oak tree, Jenny's favorite place on the whole college campus. Its great branches stretched across the morning sky, and the grass was wet with dew. The sun was rising in the sky, creating a beautiful sea of colors above their heads. It reminded Jenny of the one time she had stayed up to watch the precise moment of dawn. It reminded her of eyes.

Cara, cut off on her babbling as she had been doing-as usual- while Jenny drifted off, and snapped her fingers in front of her friend's face.

"What's wrong, Thornton? You seem out of it." She sounded concerned, though there was a playful note in her tone.

"Just a rough night's sleep," Jenny replied. Which wasn't a lie; she had been having her nightmares for weeks now. It had been on and off for a while. Sometimes she would sleep well and dreamlessly. And other times, the memories would become too much, and haunt her in her dreams. The night had always seemed dangerous to Jenny, but now it was just a pain. Yet for some reason, even in the morning sunlight, Jenny felt a knot forming in her stomach. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Nevertheless, she tried, and after a moment it was pushed to the back of her mind as the two rushed across campus to class.

Mind wandering, Jenny looked at Cara as she began talking again. Her short auburn hair was curled into little ringlets around her heart-shaped face, falling neatly above her dynamic hazel eyes. The sun fell on her just right, making her hair shine.

Jenny had always thought her friend cared too much about her appearance with her smoky eye shadow and heavily mascara-covered lashes. Her short skirts, tiny spaghetti strap tops, excessive jewelry, it all seemed too much. But then, that was Cara. Always loud, happy, and flashy as ever. And Jenny loved her for it. Sometimes it hurt her though, how painfully similar Cara was to Audrey. Jenny's heart gave a little squeeze.

Cara flipped her hair giddily, unaware of her friend's deep thoughts beside her.

"... And, well, I thought you could bring that hot boy toy of yours, Julian." Cara looked at her then.

Jenny snapped back into focus. "I'm sorry?" She asked, blushing a little for not paying closer attention.

Cara rolled her eyes playfully. "Honestly honey, you're nothing without your sleep." She stopped to catch her breath as she clacked her heels quickly, a little behind Jenny's fast pace.

She began again somewhat condescendingly, "I was saying that there's this great party at Eric's frat this Saturday night and I thought it'd be great if you could invite Julian for me. He'd be quite the crowd pleaser, don't you think?" She asked good naturedly, yet there was a hint of deviousness in her voice as she looked sideways at Jenny.

Jenny's stomach tightened in a small knot. Something about hearing Julian like some sort of toy made her uncomfortable. But then, she thought with a smile, Julian was far too dangerous to be thought of as a toy. If only Cara knew...

"Listen...," she began, "Julian and I... are just friends, and I don't know if-"

"If what?" Cara interrupted. "I'm sure we can find a girl more than willing to have a piece of that, if you're not." Her eyes glinted as she bit her lip. "I mean, MMM! That boy is fiiine. If it weren't for Eric, I'd take a shot at him myself. It's a shame he lives off campus... I wonder where he goes all the time." Cara's eyes darkened with curiosity. Then she blinked, already moving on. "Besides, I wouldn't mind seeing what kinda moves he's got. And there's no question any other girl would feel the same way."

Jenny's stomach tightened again. The arguing voices started up in her mind again. Don't be silly, Thornton. There's nothing to be upset ABOUT. But even with her reasonings, she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she felt inside.

Cara looked at her mischievously. "Unless... That makes you uncomfortable."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Not this again.."

"Face it Jenny Thornton you're jealous!" The redhead squeaked happily, giggling.

Jenny just laughed and shook her head as they headed through the doorway into IB French to start class. There was no way Jenny felt anything for the young shadow man. With a small smile to herself she thought about what Cara would do if she found out what Julian really was. But for a moment she truly thought to herself about it. Was she jealous? After all, the thought of Julian, smiling that smile of his, holding in her arms, just sent butterflies through Jenny. And the thought of him smiling that smile, surrounded by beautiful girls fawning over him just... Hit something in Jenny.

Sitting down, she pushed it to the back of her mind as her professor entered into her lecture.

"Bonjour, classe. Aujourd'hui , si vous pouviez prendre vos livres et tourner à la page 256, nous allons commencer ..."

Jenny went through the rest of her classes that day, preoccupying her mind. Her favorite class, animal treatment had gone greatly as always. She and her friends had talked endlessly, giving their own little stories about the animals they'd saved or taken in as kids.

Elizabeth, a bright, quiet girl with long black hair and chilling blue eyes spoke about two little baby swallows she had taken in when she was seven. There was a warmth in her face that few got to see.

Elliot, one of the few boys in the class, talked excitedly about a puppy he had found when he was twelve. His chocolatey brown eyes had lit up, his bright red hair bouncing on top of his head as he gestured widely and his freckles seeming brighter over his wide grin.

Even Sasha, the cool, tan-skinned girl with her hair pulled back in a stylish ponytail had mentioned a snake she had found in her mother's garden once. Her mother had screamed and nearly fainted at the sight of it, Sasha had added with a wicked smile.

Jenny watched her friends with a soft smile on her face as they each told their stories. She herself had spoken about the mangy cat she had taken in a couple months ago. Several smiles broke out among the class as she told them about the dirty old grump she had adopted. Afterwards, Jenny left class feeling rejuvenated.

Elliot beamed at her as the group departed, shouting to her, "Hey! You should come to Eric's party. I'll be there so you know it'll be a blast!" He added with a playful wink before turning back to leave. Jenny stopped and faced him, chuckling lightly at him. The boy walked closer to Sasha, putting his arm around her. She looked at him coolly with a look that said, "I don't think so." and he quickly pulled his arms back, held up in joking surrender. Jenny laughed, shaking her head at her friends before turning as well to her next two classes.

"... And that, class, marked the end of the eighteenth century brigades." Drawing a deep, rasping breath, the professor readied himself to continue.

Oh no. I don't know how much more of this I can take. Jenny rubbed her temples. She looked at the clock impatiently, tapping her foot in time with its ticking. Putting a hand to her abdomen, her lips twitched down in a grimace as her stomach grumbled angrily at her. Glancing at the teacher, she watched him pull out a handkerchief and cough roughly into it, before putting it away and beginning his lecture again. Jenny groaned.

The bell clanged shrilly and she nearly flew up from her seat. Walking hastily, she put her books away in her bag and crossed the campus to the oak tree. As soon as Jenny stepped into the warm sunlight she felt several times better. Tilting her head up and closing her eyes, she stopped to bask in the soft heat. She inhaled deeply, breathing in the summer air, and sighed. Opening her shining eyes, she strolled over to the great oak tree. As she approached the monolithic landmark, a bobbing copper head caught her eye.

Turning in her direction, Cara smiled and waved Jenny over. "Jenny! Hey! Over here!" She quickened her pace to reach the two huddled beneath the stretching branches of the tree.

Sitting down, Jenny looked at the black haired boy sprawled out beside her friend. "Hey Eric," she greeted him. "How's Bio?"

The twenty-year-old's dark eyes lit up with natural warmth at her question. "Great! We're at crustacean biodiversity now. Professor Ingram told us about the harmful residue left of the oil spill on the smaller species in the gulf today and the domino effects that-"

Cara laughed, shaking her fiery mane of hair behind her, touching his arm lightly. She batted her eyes at him. "Eric, you're doing it again." She faced Jenny and pointed her thumb at her boyfriend. "Amity's star quarterback and all he can talk about is fish. I wonder what the team would say!"

Jenny shrugged. "At least he's passionate."

Eric's face turned pink in a blush as Cara giggled. She kissed him on the cheek and turned back to Jenny.

"So, tonight I'm gonna go with Eric and help him get ready for his party. I thought you might wanna know just in case you need anything." Cara paused for a moment to fix her already perfect hair. She then quirked her mouth into an odd smile and looked sideways at Jenny. "And... Speaking of the party... Any word from Julian yet?"

Jenny let out a heavy breath, trying not to laugh, and shook her head at her friend.

"Nope. I haven't seen him around in almost three days now." Cara twisted her face into a pout. Jenny put up her hands to signal that it wasn't her fault. "Hey! Don't blame me. You know him, he comes and goes as he pleases. As far as I know, he only has a few classes, if any."

Cara crossed her arms and slumped against the tree. "Dang it! Why does he have to live off campus?" She sighed dramatically. "Alright, well, if you see him, let him know, alright?"

Jenny nodded. She didn't know if she would invite him or not, but based on his recent disappearance, she might not even get the chance. A small part of her hoped so. And yet another part of her hoped she'd see him soon.

Cara's head snapped to the side and her face broke into an excited grin. "Hey! Elliot, Sasha, over here!" Jenny looked off toward her friends and smiled, waving them over.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, and when she returned to her dorm she was reminded of the fact that Cara was out with Eric. Her eyes swept over the dark, empty room before she made her way out the French doors to the veranda.

The beautiful girl walked out to the balcony and leaned against the rail, her hair blowing in the light breeze.

As she gazed up at the large moon floating in the sky, she felt a surging, pulsing feeling like electricity coursing through her. Narrowing her eyes, Jenny deliberated it. Glancing down at her ring shining in the moonlight, she took it off her finger to examine. When Julian had first given it to her, the inscription had said 'All I Refuse & Thee I Chuse', words binding her to him. The ring had changed since then. All that time ago, when the shadow men had threatened Jenny and her friends, and Julian, eyes like the flashing blue center of a flame, had stood up against his elders to save them. When he lay dying in Jenny's arms, and he had given her the ring once again, it had changed. Now it read 'I Am My Only Master'. Jenny, standing beneath the starlit sky, thought about those words. She thought about how helpless she had felt while she watched Julian fade away. It was a feeling she never wanted to feel again.

Jenny closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Suddenly she opened them, her decision made.

She wanted to make sure she never felt that helpless again, not of she were to save her friends. Jenny whispered the words under her breath.

"I am my only master."

It was time to get some practice in.