A/N: I own none of the characters, they all belong to L.J Smith. I only own the one Shadow Man I created.

For anyone curious as to how I wrote this scene it was solely created by one song.

Artist: Sara Bareilles

Song: Breathe Again

Chapter Three: The Beach

A blazing blood red sun had begun its descent from the skies and reflected off the crystal waters of the ocean. Waves washed against the sandy banks and diminished each footprint traced into the sand as Jenny headed toward the water. A lone figure had emerged from its glittering depths. The sharp contours of their back faced her and suddenly flexed as if they had sensed her.

"Julian…"

"I remember once. It was around the time when I first started watching you. You were six, out on your father's pontoon with him trying to fish."

Jenny grimaced at the faint memory that held the touch of coarse and slimy scales.

"You were vacationing up in Lake Superior after your parents bought the cabin. A long deck stretched out into the lake where you'd sit and watch the sunset. As I distinctly recall your time was short for fear of the water turning dark like shadows."

Julian chose that moment to turn as Jenny emerged into the waist deep waters.

Like the waters they stood in his eyes were crystallized and warm. Yet they still beheld an intensity like a hurricane underlying the calm merely waiting to be stirred. His wild hair was a shock of white against the backdrop of the setting sun. The spark ignited in those eyes mirrored the passionate colors of the skies, framed in sooty lashes that hardly flickered. Almost as if he were afraid of missing a single second. He appeared to be soaking in every detail before him like a man starved.

Redemption had accosted him but spared Jenny's life along her friends'. In his last hours during the third game set in the ornate, Joyland amusement Park, Jenny's feelings had taken on a depth that had confused even her in their transcendence. It was in the aftermath of Julian's death that their first reunion had taken place on this very beach. Jenny had consoled him and he'd willingly accepted her comfort. So seeing him now struck a familiar chord; many months had passed since their last dream together. Being in the familiarized spot brought a touch of calm she hadn't felt in awhile.

"It has been... awhile." Julian stepped forward, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes," Jenny nodded, "that it has." The very last dream Julian had visited had happened while Jenny had been passed out in a hospital chair across from Summers bedside. Then, once when she'd been under hypnotism.

"The last time I created this dream it was our first." Before Julian reached her he stopped, keeping a small gap to remain between them, however reluctant.

"Yes…" Jenny watched him, a small smile forming. "Your first dream of light."

"Light." He laughed then, the sound slightly bitter. "This is it." He dipped one slender hand into the sparkling waters before watching it lazily slide down his palm like fallen diamonds. "And now here we are," he murmured after a moment, "together once again in a world I created of my own from yours."

"Yeah..." Jenny replied, her voice unexpectedly hoarse.

"And how is little fragile Goldilocks?"

"Alive... in... love...? Lost..."

"Jenny?"

Jenny looked up to see that Julian had closed the distance between them, unabashed. "Jenny?" she heard him repeat, his voice firm.

Months ago Jenny believed the world was safer without a Julian to roam its surface. But ever since these dreams, of unmasking what laid beneath the predator, the feeling was starting to ebb. "I'm okay," Jenny began, holding up her hands between them, "I mean it, Julian, you don't have to-"

"Jenny," Julian gently interjected. "Look at me."

Warm fingers slid beneath her chin and tilted it up to peer into the eyes that provided a tenderness and concern. It was the same look he'd given her when Jenny had undergone that hypnosis session. After traumatic dreams from the earthquake had nearly left her as an insomniac- coupled with her anxiety-Jennys parents had insisted she try one session. What Jenny hadn't expected while under was Julian to appear in the haunting memories.

In a way, Julian had actually helped her.

He'd taken her to the most gripping memory of them all. The family Jenny had almost lost after an attempt to rescue them from their home. It had been after she'd left the boy she'd found, having been driving back to her home when a block away she'd seen the toddler of the family crying outside. Then, she'd seen it, the caved in home with the roof the only support left while screams echoed from inside. Before she'd even realized it Jenny had bolted from the car on the roof in an instant, while holding one to one of the bloodied hands that reached for her. That opening had been their only escape and means of survival. As she'd held on to remaining relative of the grandmother who begged Jenny to leave her as the roof started to collaspe, firefighters arrived. It was there, in that traumatic memory had Jenny broken, spilling out the whole story and the near losses of Audrey and Summers life she'd hear after.

To Julian.

What she hadn't expected was what Julian did next. He took her to the same park graduation had been set to take place. There he'd had her dressed in her gown and told her of how her life didn't end there that it was only beginning.

"Life doesn't end here. It renews. The strength within you is far more superior than the weakness you feel binds you. There's fire within your spirit that prevails always..."

He'd then take her to the very home that haunted her nightmares and made her understand it wasn't her fault the grandmother didn't make it. He'd take her to the boy she'd rescued to view the life she had saved. Then he would take her back to her grandfather's basement and show her what she had triumphed over. It would become the most unexpected dream Jenny had with Julian. After, Julian's words would help her carry on. Despite her daily struggles and the few nightmares that eventually tapered off, Jenny would never forget that dream. She'd held on to it and after, she'd felt a new evolvement.

Between herself and Julian.

It was that friendship that muddled her thoughts just then as she stared into those eyes that once taunted her. There still remained a small kindle of fear of him in the earthly realm. Maybe it would always be there. The past he would still be a reminder of especially Joyland Park. Jenny and her friends had gone through the amusement park to save Tom and her cousin, Zach, from Julian. In a treasure hunt. In the end they'd encountered the real Shadow Men which Julian had paled in comparison to. In saving her at the end, Julian had been sliced by the Frosted Blade that killed Shadow Men. After dragging Julian through the gang had managed to shut the door off from the Shadow Men.

Stepping out of her grandfathers house later Jenny had felt changed as a person. Though at the time she'd become so sure of everthing, another growth would quickly take place several months later; a second shift in her life that would hit, hard.

The earthquake.

After tonight's events Jenny realized there was something inside of her that had permanently altered. She suspected it had been there for some time, with she, too scared to acknowledge it. Because she was afraiid to see the change. In this moment Jenny was escaping from that reality in this dream. But in the waking world, she was stepping into adulthood. She'd-rather half-heartedly-accepted an engagement which later meant marriage. Career. Kids. This was a choice she had to be ready for.

And she wasn't sure she was.

She needed to talk to Tom about this right away. This wasn't some high school disagreement where she could pick up where she left off without consequence. This was something major. At this thought Jenny sighed and dropped her head unto Julian's chest.

Hot, angry tears surfaced.

"I missed this." Hands softly combed through her hair, Julian's breath warm against the nape of her neck. His touch brought a presence that didn't posses the same demanding attention it once held.

Instead, it soothed her.

Jenny began to slide her hands up his arms in an embrace—when she froze. Tiny little faucets twinkled in the hazy light off her ring finger.

Julian's actions immediately stilled before he sighed. "I already know." he stated, his voice ominous. "Although "Yours Forever" seems a bit binding for someone who hated such an oath before."

"Julian-"

Julian cut her off with a hand and he stepped back from her embrace. His eyes were suddenly as cold as a glacier pool. "Though he'll never measure up to me he does care for you. He can be a part of your future with one I'll never have." He laughed then in a hardened voice and took a strand of golden hair wrapping it once around his finger. "He will get to wake up to you every morning and watch the morning light dance upon you face. She's beautiful and therefore to be wooed. She is a woman, therefore to be won. 1st Henry VI exact quote of a women's beauty in sleep."

Jenny swallowed as Julian reached out and smoothed one finger across her cheek, tracing her lips with the index of his finger. "The question is, Jenny, are you really ready? Do you really want such a commitment? Because from where I am standing that question is screaming in your eyes so prominently."

Jenny couldn't help but stare at him perturbed by the bluntness of it all. Still, this was a private matter she had to deal with on her own. Not with Julian. So she took a half step back shaking her head, "I'm an adult now, Julian. I am not little Jenny Thornton anymore." She sighed, tucking the fallen strand behind her ear. "Given the history even this, this isn't something I can discuss with you." She added this quietly, mentally scolding herself for leaning into his touch. "Dream or not I can't…"

She shook her head unable to go on.

Julian looked at her. His eyes flashed once, dangerous. "Don't worry yourself, Jenny." he spat bitterly. "In time you'll even forget about me and your problems will seem even more minuscule then. The world is always changing, it evolves like your life will with Tom after the honeym.. " Julian's voice abruptly trailed off as his eyes instantly sparked a fiery, blazing blue. He inhaled sharply as his hands clenched, bone white.

Jenny tensed knowing what he was getting at, "Julian-"

"Don't." Julian gritted out in a deadly, quiet voice as those eyes sliced into hers.

It was a warning.

Jenny watched as he closed his eyes and seemed to wait an eternity until he finally spoke. "Dreams can only last so long until they wither."

His voice was barely above a whisper.

Jenny heard him the sympathy evident in her tone as she murmured, "They won't wither with me."

Julian turned away from her. For a moment the silence lingered between them. Then in distant voice he muttered, "I think… you should go."

Jenny's face softened, losing some of its previous fierceness. "Julian," she began.

Julian whirled on her, his eyes set ablaze. "This is all there will be between us now, Jenny!" He snarled. "I saved your life to keep you from horrors you could only dream of and for what?"

Jenny's eyes narrowed. "Stop it, Julian. You did a good thing and saved all of us from the Shadow Men."

Julian shook his head and let out a dark laugh before his teeth gnashed together. "That won't matter once you're dead."

Jenny flinched at the word, scraping a strand out of her face as a gentle tug of wind pulled at her.

Julian continued, "I was wrong, Jenny." He glared. "There will never be enough light here without you in it. And when you die, I will be left to dwell in eternal darkness. Because it will happen, Jenny, and when it does my world will fade. It will be like a plant. Without sunlight it will shrivel until its leaves fold in on itself and becomes nothing more than a part of the ground."

Jenny jutted out her chin, "I don't believe that."

Julian's eyes were piercing. "B—"

But that was as far as he got before a large, gust of wind surged between them cutting off Julian's next words.

Jenny looked around as panic began to crawl its way into her flesh. That was until she realized it was all Julian's doing. His rise in temper was affecting the dream. Her stance stiffened as her brow narrowed. "Is this really necessary?"

Julian looked at her as his eyes slanted, "You think I did that?"

Jenny stared at him, not wanting to recognize the horrible, twisted knot beginning to tighten in her stomach. "Well, didn't you?"

But Jenny never got to hear Julian's response.

The waves around them rose, springing up like monstrous claws as the passionate atmosphere suddenly blinked out of existence, leaving a black, starless night. There was a coldness that hadn't been there a moment ago, Jennys breath became visible as the wind nearly knocked her over. "W-What's happening?"

The winds, they started to howl around them as if a hurricane were just over the horizon. A massive, black wave rushed up to greet them and crashed over. Jenny wasn't ready. While a wave of such size would usually knock them both into the water and Jenny unconscious, this wave completely went through them.

It was so strange.

Nevertheless the wind intensified whipping hair into Jenny's face the force nearly lifting her from the waters. Fighting against the torrent as she yanked the hair out of her face Jenny screamed as loud as she could, "JULIAN!"

Julian jerked his head back in her direction, the winds whistling now. It looked as if their clothes were about to be ripped from their bodies. In that moment their eyes connected and Jenny swore she could feel what seemed like invisible hands physically pulling them apart as the distance between them suddenly expanded.

"JENNY!"

There was a wild look in Julian's eyes now that confirmed to Jenny that Julian had no idea what was happening. Their dreams never turned hostile. And Julian, it was like he was going out of focus. More so than how he appeared to her. Jenny saw the state of both puzzlement and shock register as his entire body began to just, disappear.

Julian looked up at Jenny and for a moment the alarm was there on his face before it shifted into a feral animosity. By the next second he seemed to be fighting against what could only be described as an invisible force holding him back from her. Those eyes blazed like burning coals as he roared, "JENNY WAKE UP NOW!"

Then like a snap of a finger, Julian was gone.

For a moment all Jenny could do was stand there staring dumbstruck at the place where Julian had vanished, left in a state of eerie silence as the winds abruptly died as quick as they'd come. Her mind was screaming, WAKE UP, JENNY C'MON!

As half of herself started to grow detached in the midst of rem sleep, her eyes were like lead. OPEN! Then it was as as if she were yanked back into the dream as a cold, slimy like substance constricted her ankle. Jenny filled her lungs with air, preparing to scream-

When she was plunged into ice, cold water.

Down, down, down. Jenny's back suddenly slammed into the ocean floor as she tried to twist her way out of its bruising hold. The atmosphere changed to so bitingly cold it seemed to seep into her very bones. Everything became a soundless, pitch black. Before the voices started.

Jennys head instantly snapped up, alert, as what sounded like static grew. "F…a…iiiiii…sssss…d…" It was like an old radio being tuned the static grew louder and louder. "F...aaaa...iiii…sss…ddd... FAAAAMMMIIISSSHHHHEEEDDDD!"

The Shadow Men.

Her insides turn to ice, the hunger in their voices sending the hairs on her neck on end. They were back. The Shadow Men. "Come to me, Jenny," A low, eerie voice called in the distance as the chanting of the Shadow Men grew louder. "I'll catch you before you fall."

Moonlight eyes glimmered in the darkness.

Jenny screamed as an unexpected hand touched her.

"Jenny? Jenny? Jenny!"

Jenny gasped, the eyes still dancing in front of her vision before light encompassed the darkness into the clouded wake of her mind. Jenny s vision cleared as a familiar, homey scent pulled into her waking conscious. Bright, blue eyes followed. Blonde tendrils hung around her delicate face which was scrunched in worry.

"Jenny?"

Summer.

"Summer?" Jenny croaked.

The early light of dawn casted a warm glow against the soft, yellow walls of... her bedroom. She was in her own bed. Safe. As Jenny grew more comfortable with this reality she hoisted herself out of the damp sheets she'd enveloped herself in. Her cocktail dress appeared damp with sweat.

"Water…" Jenny whispered after a minute, her throat throbbing as if it were raw from screaming.

Had she screamed aloud?

"You okay?" Summer asked after she came back with a cool, glass cup of water.

Jenny downed it in less than a minute. She licked her lips as she stared at the entangled tanned sheetsvwrapped in her horridly wrinkled dress. The memory of her dream was still fresh in her mind and made her shudder at the voice that sounded like spiders crawling on goose-flesh, replayed.

"Oh you cold?" Summer patted Jenny's lap before sliding off the bed to shut the window.

Jenny didn't bother to object; she felt sick.

The boozy smell off Summer wasn't helping. Summer seemed to sense her unease because she scurried away, the distinct clink of her friends overalls echoing as she trumped down the hallway. In less than a minute she was back with a Happy Bunny bucket from the mint chocolate chip ice cream they'd both finished that week.

Summer tossed it to Jenny just before last night's contents hit the floor boards."I think I'll go call Tom." she suggested after a moment of watching Jenny. Her little nose wrinkled in distaste as Jenny heaved into the bucket again.

"And congrats on the engagement!"

Jenny merely nodded, not in the mood to get into that right now. She didn't even see her friend return. As soon as her stomach settled down Jenny laid back down and reluctantly passed out.

That's right rest Jenny.

"For now." The voice chuckled. They watched the human fall back unto her pillows their upset stomach having ceased. Laughter broke from between their lips, the sound chilling and would raise the hairs on a mortal when their presence was felt. Like a wolf waiting to stake their prey, their chin rested lazily in the creased palm of their hand, ever attentive.

Her chest gently rose and fell with each breath she took as her body relapsed into a deep sleep. They watched as the girls delicate friend re-entered the room, coming alongside the sick girl's bedside to check on her. "Sleep well Jenny." Her tiny voice echoed around the cavernous room from where they watched.

When the door finally closed behind the tiny blonde, their eyes wandered back to the sleeping beauty had they the heart to appreciate such. Only a fool could be deceived into thinking such. A simple bystander? No. This girl was different. He knew the truth and how she'd outsmarted his kind.

What was the saying again? Those must reap what they sow?

Soon she would pay. They were owed. She was the key to undo what was lost to them. As the scene continued to play itself in front of them they licked their lips in interest. The girl's breathing was deepening lost in an unconscious state once more. A slow, cruel smirk grew more pronounced as it stretched across their lips. Easily, they could invade her dreams and play with her mind some more.

But tonight they'd simply watch her while in the quiet of the darkness, lying in wait.