Chapter Ten
Thar ain't no sense in gettin' riled!
-Bret Harte
"I do care about you. I always have. Come on, Jen. Please. Just talk to me."
They were wandering onto dangerous territory. Jenny's shaking had little to do with the cold anymore. Nick reached out and placed a gentle hand on her arm, providing light pressure without pulling. His palm was warm. Everything in Jenny's body was telling her to lean in to him, and it terrified her. Every instinct she had, every coherent thought, was telling her to run. But she couldn't move; some inexplicable force was binding her to him. Even if she ran, it would follow her. He would follow her. She could never escape that which had always entangled them.
"I have something to tell you," he said.
Rain was falling down around them, splashing in little puddles in a silent but beautiful dance. It didn't touch him. He was looking at her with a light behind his eyes, clear and brown and honest. He didn't look like a medieval thief in his costume, but a prince.
"I have something to tell you," he repeated.
Jenny shook her head. She felt light, as if she was floating inches above the ground. "I can't trust you. You'll hurt me again."
"Only one way to find out," he said.
Somehow she was in his arms, and he was kissing her. Joy. Ebullience. That was what Jenny felt. The feeling she had gotten as a child after stumbling down the stairs on Christmas morning to be confronted with mountains of gifts, reflecting the twinkling red, blue, and green lights of the Christmas tree. The surge of euphoria she experienced every time she finished a painting, viewing her accomplishment for the first time in its completion. Or the way she had felt every time she opened the door as a child to see Nick standing on her porch, his little face flushed with the excitement of some new game he had devised for them.
She was ecstatic, she was peaceful, she was complete…best of all, she wasn't thinking. Passion washed away the protests her brain would have made in any other state.
The scene changed, but not the company. Her back was pressed against cold stone. His arms were still around her. Surrounding them were the sounds of conversation and laughter, as well as music lingering in the air, sweeter and stranger than she had ever heard it before. Other couples were present and close by, but they paid no attention to them as they stood in the shadows. His lips were on her throat.
"You came back to me," she said. She was trembling, clinging to the front of his shirt, as if to convince herself that he was real, that he was there.
"I will never leave you again," he said. His lips moved from the underside of her chin to her cheek; his breath warmed her skin. His hand on her arm, by contrast, was cold – cold as if it had just been pulled from a freezing lake. She wanted to concentrate on his mouth and the movement of his chest against hers as they breathed in unison, but the cold was overpowering all her other senses. It seeped into her skin, within it and beneath it, a devouring infection…
Jenny woke suddenly from the dream. Her heart was running a mad and solitary race. The darkness in the room was an inky cloud. Not a hint of light from the outside world was leaking in through the window. The dream, a ghost of a memory from times past, had faded, but not the touch. She could still feel it, icy cold and traveling down her arm. Fingers were lightly brushing her skin, making goosebumps pop up on her flesh. Jenny lay very still. A paralyzing wave of terror rushed over her as the touch shivered through her body. It moved to her cheek, light and circling. Her hair was pushed off her forehead in damp locks, and icy lips pressed down on her skin. She felt the soft beat of a whisper against her ear. The words were indiscernible…but she recognized the voice.
Jenny screamed. The sound released her, and she lifted her arms to beat off the thing that was leaning over her. As her arms flailed wildly through the air, new horror crashed into her. There was nothing there. The icy kiss still lingered on her forehead, but she felt only open air. The thought of the invisible being touching her was making her nauseous. Jenny rolled herself into a sitting position and yelled, "Get out!" Abruptly, the touch left her, and a shadow rushed away from her towards the window. The feathery curtains fluttered once and were still.
"Jenny?" Light burst into the room. Usagi was sitting up in bed, her fingers resting on the cord of a rabbit lamp on her bedside table. Her eyes were puffy, and her skin was flushed pink. Jenny looked over at her, breathing heavily. The thin layer of sweat covering her skin was starting to cool. She shivered.
"What's wrong?" Usagi insisted, looking worried. Jenny just looked at her, unable to speak. What a loaded question. She didn't know where to start. Absurdly, a bubble of laughter rose in her throat. Usagi was staring at her wide-eyed, as if unsure whether to rush over and comfort her or get Surya from Shingo's room to deal with it. Jenny took a deep breath to calm herself, and tried to smile nonchalantly. Her muscles worked, but the expression felt false.
"Nothing," she said heavily. "It was just a dream."
0 0 0
"It was in my room. It was in my bloody room."
Kelly had been carving the peel off an orange with a pocketknife, but at that she froze. She was sitting on the back of a bench, her sneakers resting on the seat next to Jenny. She hesitated, tapping the side of the knife against the orange rind as she looked at Jenny's bowed blonde head. Jenny didn't return the look. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap. Her lunchbox rested beside her untouched.
"You've been hanging around Alyson too much" was all Kelly said.
Jenny glanced up at her, astonished. "Didn't you hear me? That thing was in my room. It just – I don't know – floated in when I was sleeping. When Usagi was sleeping. What am I supposed to do when Sailormoon can't even protect me?"
Kelly sighed and tossed her orange aside. She closed the knife and slipped it back into her pocket before gracefully sliding down the back of the bench to land beside Jenny. She frowned and drummed her fingers against her thigh before blurting, "How can you be sure?"
"How can I be sure that thing came into my bedroom like an incubus? You're kidding, right?"
Kelly's eyes were slit as she watched the soccer team across the field kick the ball around during their lunchtime practice. One of the most popular and handsome boys made a goal, and the legions of watching fangirls cheered. Slowly, she said, "Maybe you were dreaming. Wait, don't look at me like that. Just listen. It's been a stressful couple weeks for all of us. You've had a lot on your mind, and maybe it just felt real. You said Usagi didn't see or feel anything. I know how real it felt to you, but it could have been a dream."
"It wasn't," Jenny insisted, annoyed. She had held off on telling Usagi what had happened that night and chose to wait for Kelly, sure that she if anyone would understand. She felt a little betrayed at Kelly's lack of faith. "I told you. At first I thought the touch was a part of my dream, but then it was so horrible that it woke me up. I was awake. I didn't imagine it."
"What were you dreaming about?"
Jenny opened her mouth and then shut it. Kelly looked at her quickly sideways and then added, "As if I even need to ask."
"It's not like that," Jenny said quickly, distracted. "I can't control when the memories come back. I hate when it happens. It's like having someone else take over my body." She didn't mention that the first part of her dream had been decidedly fantasy, not reality.
"I'm glad to hear it. I thought he was scum then, and in my opinion ten thousand years have done little to improve him." Kelly's voice was animated for the first time during their conversation, and her green eyes were hard when she looked at Jenny.
Jenny shrugged. "Yeah, well, in a way I'm relieved to know. It explains a lot. Like why I could never truly hate him even after everything he did to me or made his friends do. God, I used to think about him constantly, so much that I was making myself crazy. I put so much energy into him, thinking about him, plotting against him. I never got why I couldn't let it go. Or how even though I thought I hated him, every time he was around, some part of me just wanted to touch him…" Jenny trailed off at the look on Kelly's face and grinned.
"But it wasn't me, not really," she amended. "It was Bryn. And now that I understand where it's coming from, I think I can let it go and go back to being me. But we're getting completely off the point. Shadow demon in my bedroom. Inappropriate touching at night. Cast a spell or something to keep it away from me. That's your job, right?"
Kelly smiled. "I'll look into it. But I really don't think you need to worry. He wouldn't have risked coming into your room with Usagi so close. It was probably a dream."
0 0 0
"He was in your room. He was in your f--king room."
Usagi's mouth had been gleefully open to receive a load of udon that she had ready on her chopsticks, but at the blazing fury in Kelly's eyes, she hunched her shoulders and lowered the noodles back into the soup. From the look on Kelly's face, she felt she had done something wrong, but she had no idea what.
"Who?" she asked meekly.
"Who do you think? Who else would sneak around at night and climb into Jenny's bed?"
"Oh. That's why she screamed." Suddenly it all made sense. Usagi took a sip of her tea, eyes guiltily scanning the room. She had wanted to think when Kelly asked her out to an udon shop after school that it had been for another reason, but it was just business as usual.
"Yes, that's why she screamed. And where were you?"
Usagi didn't think that was meant to be a question, so she simply ducked her head and took the moment to have some more noodles. When she lifted her head, Kelly was staring out the window onto the busy Tokyo street. A group of colorful punk rock college students were passing by, but her eyes were unseeing.
"I promised her," Kelly said desperately. "I promised her nothing would happen to her, that we were protecting her, and then this?"
"It's not your fault…" Usagi started and then broke off, realizing her words might incriminate herself, but Kelly was clearly not listening.
"I don't like it. What is he waiting for? I don't understand why he doesn't just take her if he has the ability to get into your room at night."
The words had a chilling effect on Usagi. She put down her chopsticks sadly. It was one thing to always make sure Jenny had protection when they were out during the daytime, but to think that she could wake up some morning, and her sister would simply not be there…
"We need to wake the others," Kelly was saying. Her fists were clenched in front of her on the table. "I've thought about it, and it's the only way. Clearly we need someone to always be watching the house at night. The more people the better."
"You know we'll help you however we can."
"We've relied on your people too much already. Anyway, it's time. I've put it off long enough. They have a right to know."
Usagi blinked at her. "They who?"
0 0 0
Jenny had participated in many awkward silences over the years, but this one was the most cringe-worthy. Eyes were fixed on her, staring unabashedly. Some were incredulous, some pitying, some bored. Mostly the newcomers were disbelieving. Kelly had just finished speaking, her cool voice crisp and authoritative as she briefly recounted the story that had already been told so many times among the senshi. When she finished, she looked at her audience expectantly, but they were starting at Jenny as if they had never seen anything like her before. Adiel Austin, shaking slightly as she sat with knees drawn up to her chest, looking every bit like a trapped doe cornered by hunters. Naru's cousin Christine, her grey eyes peaceful and a little sad as she looked around the room at the senshi and the various others gathered there. Dalila and Lyyli, sitting still, their faces equally blank as they looked at Jenny. The silence was almost a tangible pressure on Jenny's nerves.
It didn't help that one of the pairs of eyes belonged to Nick. He had scarcely taken his eyes off her since she had stepped into the temple. Upon seeing him, an unsettled Jenny had pulled Usagi aside and whispered fiercely, "What's he doing here?" But Usagi had merely shrugged. Nick had as much a right as she to be there. It was his story too, much as Jenny hated to be reminded of it.
The silence was suddenly broken by a loud snort of Lyyli's. Jenny looked over at her quickly. "You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking," Lyyli said giggling.
"I thought we were here to get our fortunes read," Dalila added accusingly, but she was smiling, as if the game they were playing made a much better afternoon than she had planned for.
Kelly's eyes were narrow slits. "It's not a joke. You shouldn't be laughing." But it was useless. Both Lyyli and Dalila were giggling. Christine smiled a little, politely, but with the expression of someone waiting for the punchline. Only Adiel appeared to have taken them seriously, and she looked terrified.
"It was a nice try. We have to give them 'A' for effort," Dalila conceded, her laughter calming.
"I don't know. If they were going to pull out some space princess on us, they should have at least gone for Alyson," Lyyli said skeptically. She caught the look on Jenny's face, and quickly added, "Sorry, Jen. Not that you're not, um…" She trailed off, apparently unable to come up with something comforting to say.
"Thanks," Jenny said dryly. She caught Nick's eye and couldn't help responding to the smile and wink he gave her before remembering her position on him and looking away quickly.
"This isn't going to work," Makoto said, sighing.
"I guess we're going to have to show them," agreed Minako. Her lips curved into a smile.
"Show us what?" Dalila asked, lazily flicking her dark hair over her shoulder.
Simultaneously, everyone in the room, including Kai, Alexei, and Mamoru, changed into their alter egos. When the dust and starlight cleared, only Jenny and Nick were left sitting there unchanged with the four girls who sat stunned in the midst of a sea of superhero figures.
Lyyli wasn't laughing anymore.
"You see," Sailorpluto said pleasantly to the four girls. "This is your destiny. You can't deny it any longer. You have a duty."
There wasn't even the remotest hint of a smile on either Dalila or Lyyli's faces. Lyyli's eyes were wide, showing a perfect sphere of white around her irises blue as glacier ice. Dalila was breathing abnormally quickly and heavily; on her normally composed expression, it was almost like hyperventilating. Jenny bit the inside of her lip with a smile. It was nice to see someone else panicking for once. She was enjoying herself – especially remembering the way Dalila's fingers had toyed with Nick's hair at the club on Halloween.
"You…all of you…" Lyyli stuttered, looking at Jupiter and Venus, and then around the room in amazement. Several people nodded, including Sailorhestia, who smirked slightly at her roommates.
It was Christine who managed the most composure. Fingers playing with the silver cross around her neck, she said, "All of us, you mean." Her voice was quiet. Her lips were set in a little frown, and her eyes, so wise for a fourteen year old, were sad.
On cue, Sailoranteros opened her closed fist, revealing four transforming rings with green, light blue, dark blue, and brown gems. She tossed them at the four new girls. Only Christine reached out to catch her ring with the emerald-like gem, but the others clattered to the floor near their owners. Christine examined her silver ring carefully, her eyes moving from cautious to curious. After a moment, Dalila and Lyyli reached out and took their rings, which were dark blue and light blue respectively. Adiel didn't move to take hers, but her wide brown eyes were fixed on her ring. It was facing her, and her gem, the rich color of polished dark wood, glittered at her invitingly.
"I don't believe this," Dalila said flatly. She slipped her ring on her right ring finger, and delicately touched it with the other hand. The gem was the exact color of her eyes, the deep stormy blue of the ocean.
"Go ahead, transform," Jenny urged them, her voice amused. Lyyli looked over at her with narrowed eyes fixed on the ruby-colored ring that Jenny wore on the middle finger of her right hand.
"Why doesn't she have to do it?"
"She can't. It's part of the story which we'll tell you after you try it out yourselves."
"Do it," Sailorpandia said sharply and crossed her arms. "We don't have all day."
"I don't know how," Adiel whispered, the first words she'd spoken since the meeting started.
"You'll know," Uranus said mysteriously. She also looked like she was enjoying herself, and nudged Neptune with her elbow.
After a long pause, the four new girls looked at one another. Adiel was shaking like a leaf. Christine decided to take the lead and raised her hand into the air.
"Power of Metis," she started, her voice slow and wondering, as if she couldn't figure out where the words were coming from. "Transform me!"
In response, the other girls raised their hands.
"Power of Astraea, transform me!" Dalila called.
"Power of Urania, transform me!" Lyyli yelled.
"Power of Demeter, transform me!" Adiel squeaked.
Flashes of light came along with the distant sound of ringing bells as the transformation took place. Before long, the four newest senshi stood before the others, their faces twisted in disbelief.
"Welcome to the team," Mercury said cheerfully.
The four whitened.
"This is a dream. It has to be a dream," the girl who used to be Lyyli whispered, her face pale. The newly woken Sailorurania stretched out her hands and looked at them with surprise. Her skirt was a pale blue, almost the same shade as her hair, and the long bows sweeping around her were a darker blue.
Sailorastraea, on the other hand, had a dark blue skirt and green bows. She looked around the room in horror, her cool confidence vanished for the first time in her life.
Nick grinned. "Breathe, Lila," he said mischievously, and she glared at him.
"Watch it," she warned. "I'm assuming I have powers now. I could fry you in a second."
"We can't use our powers for evil," Sailormetis cut in, as wise as always. Her skirt was a bright green and the bows were an cool, icy blue. She looked at Sailordemeter and smiled, her grey eyes bright.
"Ady, what do you think?"
Sailordemeter shrugged, her brown eyes troubled. She looked very much like she wanted to run away. With her brown skirt and green bows, she could easily have run into the woods and stayed there hidden for a very long while, but she couldn't move, like a doe caught in the middle of the road, hypnotized by headlights.
"I think," Astraea said finally, her voice serious, "that you'd better explain again."
Everyone detransformed, and Kelly began the story again.
0 0 0
Nearly two hours later, after the story had been driven into the minds of the newcomers, Jenny once again found herself to be the center of attention.
"You don't have to treat me like a two year old," she groaned. "I'm not completely useless." The subject had once again turned to her safety. The senshi were discussing protecting her in shifts so that there was never a moment, day or night, when she wasn't being watched by at least two of them. It exhausted Jenny to think of them being that committed to her, as well as unsettled her to think that she might never have a moment to herself again. No more wandering through Tokyo on her own, sketching the passing people or the unusual sculptures she unexpectedly came across in the streets. No more sleeping, eating, breathing, creating on her own. She was going to be more carefully watched than the President of the United States.
"We can't risk losing you," Haruka explained coolly, clearly impatient with how lightly Jenny was treating her dangerous situation.
"I get that, but you can't be there all the time. I will need to shower and dress occasionally. And there are places I'll be where it will just be weird to have an entourage trailing behind me. Like when I'm over at Max's. What am I supposed to tell him?"
Nick suddenly looked quite cheerful. "Well, you'll just have to explain that you won't be visiting him anymore. Tell him you joined the Chess Club."
"No," Jenny said. Nick wasn't the only person who looked surprised at the passion in Jenny's voice as she spoke. She shook her head stubbornly.
"I'm not leaving him. That's non-negotiable. Being with him is the only time I feel…"
"Alive?" Brenna asked teasingly, her eyes twinkling as she grinned at Jenny.
"Not like a freak who needs to be watched 24/7," Jenny amended, even though Brenna's joking suggestion worked just as well. She could feel the warmth in her cheeks. Suddenly unable to meet anyone's eyes, she looked down and started playing with her silver ring. She knew some of them were misinterpreting the blush. They wouldn't be able to understand the solace she got from Max, the feeling of normalcy. He was her one link to a reasonable world, and she was not willing to lose him
"He's my friend," she said seriously, meeting the eyes of those around her, trying to make them understand. Dalila and Michiru smiled at her with sympathy, but Nick's eyes didn't lose their coldness.
"We wouldn't try to take him away from you," Mamoru assured her. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, and then turned to Nick. "Nick is still interning for him. Can you arrange it so that you two are always over there at the same time?"
Nick looked slightly surprised, but he nodded. "Sure, I think we could arrange that. He's always been flexible with my schedule. I think if we both told him there was no other time we could meet, that would work. I could keep an eye on her, and call you if there's any trouble."
Jenny was not thrilled with this suggestion, but if it allowed her to keep seeing Max, she wasn't going to argue. "Fine," she said shortly. She'd work out the details later so that she and Max could keep Nick out of their way. Perhaps Max could send Nick on various errands that took him all over Tokyo. She knew he'd be amused and play along if she suggested such a scheme to him.
"This is assuming that Mr. Gordon isn't the one we're trying to keep her away from," Nick said darkly. He didn't look at Jenny as he spoke; rightly so, because the wave of indignation that rose within her at his suggestion would have flared from her eyes and scalded him.
"How can you suggest that?" she demanded. "It's Max. You know him."
"Yeah, I know him. That's the problem." Nick still wouldn't look at her. "There's something strange about his interest in you. It isn't normal. You have to admit that."
"Wait a minute, hold on. You're suggesting that this Max Gordon is actually Lord Ahriman?" Makoto asked in astonishment. She exchanged a worried look with her boyfriend Kai, who shrugged slightly.
"Alexei and I would be able to tell if we could meet him. If Nick's right, however, it could be dangerous for us to confront him. It could startle him into an attack if he thought we suspected him."
"No, no. He wouldn't, because it's not him. I've been alone with him plenty of times, and he's never done anything to hurt me. Wouldn't he have tried if he was Lord Ahriman?" Jenny asked exasperatedly. She knew her cheeks were flushed to a deep red by that time, brought on from irritation. Nick's suggestion was ridiculous. Lord Ahriman had no problem with sneaking into her bedroom at night; surely if he had her alone in his house, he would have done worse, and so much sooner.
"She's right" said Kelly unexpectedly. "It's not him. I checked him out right after she made friends with him. He's clean."
"You used your powers to scan him?" Ami looked at Kelly with interest. Rei, however, frowned. She seemed threatened by the strength of Kelly's psychic abilities compared to her own.
Kelly looked slightly abashed. "Not exactly. I Googled him. His family has been in business in Japan for generations. He's the real deal. Besides, I think I would have felt it by now if there was anything unusual about him."
"See?" Jenny looked at Nick triumphantly. Her smug smile faltered a little as she saw the look on his face. His brown eyes were concerned. He was genuinely worried about her and her involvement with Max, Lord Ahriman or not. The strength of his conviction shone in his expression. He felt he was right, and it was clear that he was going to do everything in his power to keep her safe.
"Either way, I'll be there," Nick said quietly. There was both warmth and sadness in his expression as he looked at her. Jenny met his gaze, and the rest of the room dropped away.
Jenny was still watching Nick with confusion, long after he looked away, while Kelly and Usagi started planning shifts for the senshi to start watching Jenny. She watched him as the conversation turned from business to social affairs, while Dalila, Lyyli, Christine, and Adiel were formally introduced to those they hadn't already met. She continued looking at him as various members of the group started drifting away, putting on their heavy coats and hats for the trip home through the cool November weather. She watched him as Nick finally got up to leave with Dalila, Lyyli, and Brenna, Dalila teasing him about the game of Apples to Apples he owed them. But he never looked back at Jenny as he put on his shoes and stepped down the steps of the temple with them, throwing a careless wave over his shoulder. Not once.
