A/N: No copy infringement intended on Forbidden Game series. All quotes were taken out of the following:
#1 The Forbidden Game: The Hunter
#2 The Forbidden Game: The Chase
#3 The Forbidden Game: The Kill
-by L. J Smith
More will be explained in time you just have to trust me.
See you next time in: Dark Reality
This chapter was made in suspense with this song:
Artist: Within Temptation
Song: What Have You Done
Chapter Twelve: Stranded
It seemed almost like an eternity had passed before Jenny finally moved. Small movements. Fingers. Hands. Head. Eventually, herself. Although dazed it was clear to Jenny that her head, her heart, and her emotions were being toyed with. Pieces like that of a jigsaw puzzle were slowing being snapped into place. So was it Julian or Jadan rewinding time and forcing Jenny to relive the first night of her life in horrorville? Is that was this was? The dollhouse had been destroyed. Julians promise had been broken the moment the games had ended.
This can't be real. This is a trick which means…
Summer wasn't, no. Summer couldn't be real. Slowly Jenny's gaze rose to her curly haired friend. A friend who didn't house the same euphoric energy like the sun bunny she knew. Certain traits familiarized with her friend were missing.
"It's just you and me… you and me…" Julian's words echoed in her head.
"Jenny?" Summer's eyes appeared too bright to be shining, probing.
Very slowly, Jenny drew back.
As if a clock were ticking down the seconds, this 'Summer' was, changing. It was like watching a rubber band expand and contract. The skin stretched tighter over the skeletal bones of her face as dark, bruised shadows cut out the sockets of the eyes. The liquid gold tendrils that hung lifeless started to fall in clumps from the roots of their skull.
Alarm bells sounded in Jenny's head. Jenny get out now!
It was too late. The eyes before her began to liquefy and supplanted. Two, slick pools burned an oily, grotesque black that seemed to penetrate the core of Jenny's soul like a clap of thunder. Jenny screamed. In horror she watched as all color drained from the things face becoming a sickly, chalk white as their cracked lips opened in a silent scream—
Before it was hovering above her, clothes rippling in an unseen breeze…
"You will never experience death until now as I am about to drain every last drop of your soul..."
The voice titillated from a child-like lilt to a disturbing deep and grating tone like that of a demon. Jenny's mind reeled back to a Halloween night that had taken place many years ago. It would traumatize her for years of trick-or-treating to come.
She'd been twelve dressed in pink ruffles and a crown atop her curly head as the Princess Peach. Invited into a strangers home ready to attain more candy. The old woman on the corner street had been giving out caramel apples that night.
Back when it had been allowed.
Jenny, had walked in to pick up the bright, red apple much like a storybook princess entranced by a fruits vibrancy. Right then she'd gotten a glimpse of the horror behind. A voice, a horrible, unhallowed voice had sent the hairs on the back of her neck straight up. But it was their eyes, eyes lit like a fiery fiendish creature that had sent Jenny tumbling back. Back to the day when the shadow creatures had taken away her grandfather.
Jennys bloodcurdling scream had sent other children running for their lives that night. Her candy pumpkin bucket had collapsed to the floor, the candies tumbling over but long forgotten as she'd fled. It wouldn't be until years later Jenny would learn of the ancient, 70's movie that had left her candy-less that night.
The Exorcist.
Now, at this very moment she was facing her twelve year old nightmare. The fear was palpable. Every limb in her body locked like a vice as the things bony fingertips grazed her neck. It's scent was that of death and decay . It's breath drew inches from her ears as if it fed off her air.
Her breathing grew shallow and labored. This is it isn't it?
This was the way Julian and Jadan wanted her to go. The game itself had been a trick. And if the game was a trick had Julian simply been a mirage? No. Jenny was quick to dismiss that thought. His touch had left actual bruises along her neck. It hadn't been a molded dream. Julians resurrection had been a reality and now he was back to finish Jenny off for the final time and without reprieve.
He had played his part well.
He'd once told her to never underestimate him. He truly was the devil in sheep clothing and Jadan had been his advocate. The ultimate game had been played against her . Jenny's pride had blinded her from seeing past the 'smoke' screens.
I lost... Jenny closed her eyes as a single tear trickled down her cheek.
Michael had once told her about having his entire life flash before his eyes. He'd been in the midst of a drunk driving accident with his father when their truck had rolled. Jenny had once thought the whole ordeal had been over dramatized. Now, Jenny understood. It was as if a film reel were being rolled before her eyes.
Memories of her past unraveled before her...
Her first birthday. Her grandfathers peppermint and pipe tobacco smell. Zach's shy smile as he showed her the sandcastle at their family reunion. A bright, red tricycle presented for her sixth birthday. The taste of the fluffy, sweet cotton candy at her first fair. Her parents bright, beaming faces when she'd passed kindergarten. Dee's colorful, chalk drawing that featured of both her and Jenny against the backdrop of a blazing sun. Audrey applying a tube of red lipstick to Jenny's lips at their first dance together. Summer's blushing cheeks the first time she'd walked in a swimsuit to Jenny's pool party. Tom's dancing green and gold-flecked eyes the first day of elementary. And Julian… his dark, cobalt eyes boring into hers, "I can mold dreams into reality…"
Reality.
"Wait... reality." Jenny whispered.
Slowly, Jenny opened her eyes to find-
The creature, gone.
I'm... alive.
Jenny sucked in a deep breath, black spots dancing in her vision as she fought to stay conscious. In. Out. As she counted down she brought her shaking hands to her face. Deep breaths. Her mind was going to drive her to the brink of insanity before the Shadow Men did.
"Just breathe Jenny." She swallowed once, twice, before she managed to remove her trembling form from the bed. A sickening feeling began to churn in her stomach. Bile began to rise again in her throat. Jenny forced it down. Now was not the time to get sick.
Still, she had to steady herself against the bedpost.
Across sat a full body length mirror tacked to the wall. It revealed to Jenny what scant clothing she had on- before the garments disappeared. The tank top and shorts she'd begun with reappeared on her body. She hugged her arms to herself. It was the one piece of home she had. She double checked to make sure the riddle was still there. Surprisingly, it was still nestled there in the sewn pocket.
Still safe and tucked away.
Jenny let out her first sigh of relief since the start of the game. Julian had said she would need the riddle for the end when the game was actually over. It was her only shot of winning, hopefully before insanity. The horrors Jenny had just witnessed had her practically bolting for the door. She reached the crystal knob and tugged.
Only to walk into a dark, closet sized room.
A small, rumpled cot was pushed in one corner. A sink was set against the opposite wall with a pipe jutting out of the cement structure. Aside a moldy toilet rested, the sides stained as if it hadn't been cleaned in decades.
What is this?
Jenny whirled around, preparing to go back—
Only to see a solid, cement wall where the door had been.
Jenny thought she'd seen the worst of it until something in her gut caused her to look down. At once her eyes widened.
White.
"Jenny Elizabeth Thornton?"
Jenny's head snapped up at the gruff voice. Her eyes squinted through the darkness to see two shadows casted across the floor. Thats when she noticed the hard, iron bars not even a foot ahead. It clicked in her mind just before the doors opened with a jarring click.
A cell.
Then she saw them. Two thick, burly men dressed in uniforms stepped into the cell. Their faces remained stone-like and bore slit eyes a sickening shade of orange and yellow. Other Shadow Men. Their thin lips curled at the corner in a gesture of cruelty as if they'd read her mind. Before Jenny had time to react they grabbed her arms in a vise grip and pulled the limbs tightly behind her back.
Ice, cold metal sliced into her skin.
Snikt.
Handcuffs. Jenny realized. Jenny had always thought the people she'd watched with her dad on the show COPS were found guilty of breaking laws hence their arrests and jail time. She realized this had to be far worse. Judging by the white NOT orange uniform she wasn't just being held captive in jail but, "Prison?" she whispered.
This was the next game?
"Shut up!" Gruff voice replied, jerking her arm.
Jenny yelped in pain.
"Hold on." she started.
Both men ignored her as they shoved her out of the cell.
Jenny's feet slid against the ground as they dragged her down the hallway. There was no knowing what was coming next. She sensed the reality of the situation was going to be bad, very bad. In past games she'd been let in on clues as to what the next game would entail. This, this she was walking into with pure blindness. She never knew what was coming next and it unsettled her deeply.
"Rough one." Gruff voice grumbled.
They shoved upon the door ahead, the thick steel falling against the wall with a loud BANG! Bright lights shined overhead. Jenny didn't like this. She needed to create some type of distraction. Any. "Your nails are digging into my arm!" she exclaimed, trying her best to dig both heels into the floor, hoping to elicit a reaction.
It worked.
"Shut up murderer!" the deeper voice shouted. Unable to get a good look at him he whipped his hand across her face.
SMACK!
Tears stung Jenny's eyes, her cheek instantly aflame. Though it was the last words of those words that echoed in her mind with a new, alarming clarity. MURDERER? "Wait, what? No! There has to be a mistake!" Jenny couldn't even kill a fly. Obviously she'd never killed anyone. So what were they talking about? Were these disguised Shadow Men trying to get a rise out of her?
"Pick her up or I will break her legs and eat them." Gruff voice replied.
"No!" Jenny screamed, suddenly overcome with a sense of dread as her back met a cement-like chest, nearly knocking the wind from her. This was not good. She tried moving her legs but they had been chained making it impossible to move. Gruff man was holding her so tight that any more pressure and Jenny was sure he'd crush her entire innards.
As they came to another set of doors they were greeted by a man dressed in a white lab coat. "So this is Jenny Thornton?" Their dark blue eyes gave her a once over behind thick spectacles. Beneath the rectangular lights they looked lighter like silver. They shook their head in what looked like disappointment. "A shame, such a pretty one."
"A pain too." Deeper voice replied.
Who is he?
But her thoughts vanished as Jenny saw where they were carrying her over to. A white, cushioned chair was propped in the center adorned with thick, heavy set straps. A series of tubes ran from the chair to a large piece of machinery placed against the far back wall. The horror was almost too great. Having watched many criminal case shows with her father, Jenny knew what this was.
A death sentence.
"No, no, no!" Jenny could feel herself begin to shake as she tried to wiggle herself free. She'd sworn to never give them her fear but this, this was a whole new story. The two burley men were far stronger and hoisted her into the chair.
Oh, God.
In the florescent lighting she could make out their reptile skin just barely hidden behind the flesh they still possessed as fake humans. Oh. This was greater than the aliens that had probed her and Dee in The Dollhouse. This was far worse than when she'd almost frozen to death in the cavern in Joyland Park. This was more terrifying than when Julian had set bees on every inch of her body to in the beginning.
"Jenny Elizabeth Thornton, age nineteen. Height 5"6 and weighs 120. Daughter to Jon and Marjorie Thornton. Younger brother named Joey. Boyfriend was a quarterback for Vista Grande. Known for hair like honey in the sunshine and eyes as green as the Nile…"
Jenny looked up in horror as the men began strapping her down none too gently. Their rough skin rubbed against hers like sandpaper. Leaving fresh, bloodied abrasions across her arms and legs.
The thick spectacle mans image before her began to… shift. Their light, sandy hair began to deepen, taking on a red hue as their face sharpened. It was their eyes she instantly recognized as they grew brighter, like gunmetal.
They shined beneath the florescent lighting above.
"Hold on!" Jenny was trying to stall as long as possible. She dove in to bite Gruffs voice hand as he secured her wrist.
"You little witch!"
SMACK!
Black spots danced in her vision. Jenny was sure of a few busted vessels within her cheek but shook it off. Through tears riddled from pain she saw Jadan shaking his head at her as he flipped the clipboard he held in one hand.
"On all charges," he began in what sounded amusement, "you have been found guilty of the murder of Summer Jean Parker-Pearson after her disappearance fourteen months ago… tsk tsk… naughty naughty."
He flung off the glasses, the lens shattering as they hit the floor.
He smiled cruelly. "So what do you have to say for yourself, Ms. Thornton?"
Jenny felt the tremors course through her body. Again they were placing fragments of the past and molding them into realities to try and scare her. She was sure of it now. And if thats what their intention was she was slowly figuring out the game itself.
Summer had disappeared because of the nightmare in The Dollhouse. She couldn't overcome it. But we retrieved her in Joyland Park. She's alive back in California. She's happily in love. So filled with life. Not dead. Not murdered. This time frame is all wrong.
Jenny fought to keep this in mind. She couldn't let them twist her reality. It was what they wanted. No matter what they were playing at their foolery would be their end. At this a strange sense of peace overcame her. This she used as an inner strength as she looked up into the eyes of the monster before her.
"I'd say… go to hell."
Jadan shook his head as the burley men at Jenny's side disappeared into a fine mist of sadistic laughter.
Jadan took a few steps towards her. His black, polished shoes gleamed in the light. "Such a sharp tongue, Little Red." He snapped his fingers together as his eyes remained fixated upon hers. "For someone so close to the edge of death."
Out of the corner of her eye, Jenny saw a strange-like substance begin to course through the tubes attached to her.
Don't panic. Don't panic.
Jenny closed her eyes and swallowed before opening them again.
Jadan rolled his eyes, cocking his head to the side. "Oh, alright." He dug into his pocket and produced strange like dice, the numbers seemingly etched with an eerie -like glow against the black cubics.
Jenny could see the liquid emerging closer.
"Six you live, five you die, let us see with a roll of the dice."
Closer… closer.
Don't believe him.
Jenny inhaled sharply as Jadan dropped the dice, the cubes rolled across the floor.
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
Jenny closed her eyes as the liquid snaked up over the tubes around her wrist.
"One..." she whispered.
"Did you get lucky? I guess we will see in one, two three-"
It was the last thing she heard before everything flashed into a world of white.
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