Chapter Eleven
Zoe blinked at the plan. "But… what if it goes wrong?" She said and shook her head slightly.
Jenny sighed. "Either way, he'll pull you into this, by the sounds of things…" Her mother said and shook her head. "It'll be fine, so long as you go along with the plan, you know that I'll help in any way I can…"
Zoe nodded and sighed slightly, looking down at herself as she thought about it. "You're right… what other choice do I have…?" She said softly before she moved.
"I'd best get prepared for what is to come…" Zoe said, looking and sounding older than her years as she looked at her mother with harder eyes than any sixteen year old should have. "Wish… me luck…"
"No… I'll wish us luck…" Jenny said softly, suddenly looking much older also, looking much more like her actual age than usual.
Zoe smiled slightly at that and nodded before she moved away to pack her things for the upcoming danger she was about to face.
…
Some hours later, Zoe was done packing her things and was dressed the part. She wore combat boots, bought for when her family would walk across the long rolling hills that occupied England's countryside, and some fashionably baggy cameo's along with a simple white shirt that hugged her small waist. She looked ready for action, simply put.
Zoe looked in the mirror as she put on some chapstick and sighed before running her fingers through thick tussled hair. She looked ready for a photo-shoot, advertising some fashion label or outdoor wear, rather than a girl waiting for her potential doom!
She shook her head and closed her eyes briefly before she moved down the stairs. "Okay mom… I'm ready…" Zoe said in an odd tone of voice before she sat down to eat her dinner, one of her hands clutching at her backpack strap as the other, very gracefully (not!) shovelled the cheesy macaroni into her open gob.
"Don't eat with one hand…" Jenny said with a sigh and shook her head. "It's not polite…" She added as she heard Zoe begin to protest.
"I'm about to try and trick a Shadow Man… like I'm going to care about my manners!" Zoe mumbled with a perfectly plucked eyebrow raised as she spoke.
Jenny frowned. "It doesn't make any difference, really, Zoe… we'll be fine… I know we will…"
Zoe bit her lip and nodded, hot tears suddenly clouding her eyes as she looked down at her half eaten meal. "I-I just… don't want it to end this way… I wanted to set Julian free… that's all I ever wanted…" She mumbled sadly.
Jenny sighed and got up, moving to her daughter's side and hugging her gently to herself. "There there, Zoe… it's alright… I know… it's my fault for telling you about Julian in the first place…" Jenny said and started to tear up as well. "I just… couldn't think of another fairy tale… and once I started, you pushed for more and I caved… God… I'm such a bad mother…"
Zoe blinked and looked up at Jenny, her face filled with even greater sadness now. "No… you're a great mom… you tell me things other parents never would… you're honest and you're my best friend…" She said and sighed, hugging her mother gently and closely to herself.
"It's all my fault… and I have to sort it out… it's my responsibility to do so…" Zoe said her face determined and no longer afraid.
Jenny began to laugh slightly. "My daughter… you're sounding like a true Brit!" She said and tightened her arms around her daughter's slim frame. "I'm proud of you, honey…" She said softly before kissing Zoe's forehead and letting her go. "Never give in…"
Zoe looked up at her mother and smiled yet again. "I won't… I'm too much like you to ever give in without a heck of a fight…"
…
As soon as the clock truck 7pm, Zoe was on full alert mode as she sat on her bed, her face and eyes strained as she waited for the creature of shadows to come and whisk her away.
Zoe frowned slightly and looked around. "He's not… coming…?" She said softly and closed her eyes. All this preparation… for nothing? All this stress? "That jerk-"
"Excuse me…?" Said a beautiful voice from somewhere behind Zoe, from near the window that opened up onto the roof.
Zoe whirled around and gasped slightly at the sight of the Shadow Man.
He was just so… beautiful…
More beautiful than if Ian Somerhalder and Jensen Ackles could have a child; and those are two mega hot men!
Zoe hardened her face and her heart, though could not seem to dampen her hormones down. "Well… you said 24 hours… and I didn't think you'd be late, is all…" She said, standing up and folding her arms over her chest protectively.
The Shadow Man laughed at that, it sounded like a beautiful tinkling noise like small bells ringing at different pitches. "I've come for your decision, Zoe…" The man said after his laughing died down naturally, leaving a beautiful imprint in the air around them.
Zoe gulped slightly as she looked at him, her face worried and pale.
"So… tell me… are we doing this the easy way… or the hard way…?" The Shadow Man said as he moved close to her, a hand pausing, hovering, over her cheek, unable to touch her without permission. Last time, she'd agreed to dance with him, agreed to be in his arms.
Zoe turned slightly red and stepped back.
"The easy way…" She whispered. "I'll help you defeat the other Shadow Men…"
