Julian and Aiden didn't waste time on useless words. They knew what snake had just entered their garden and they would not have it. He was going to ruin everything! He was going to call the whole Shadow World down upon them and then their game would be for naught! They blasted past all the humans that had suddenly appeared all across the pavement, going for the Elder Shadowman's throat.

With a mere wave of the Crocodile Eyed Shadowman's hand, Aiden and Julian slammed face first into the ground, reforming as mere pools of shadows upon the ancient cement. Yig narrowed his eyes at the two insubordinate children before him as if wondering if they'd thought that would really work.

Then his eyes flicked to Jenny.

"I hardly believed them when your friends told me you were in another game." He said toothily, "I had to see it for myself."

Jenny… couldn't meet those eyes again. Not after what she'd gone through last time at the shadow park. Not after what she'd seen. Instead, she looked up at the group of people standing around the Elder Shadowman and let out a moan.

"What are you doing here?!" She whimpered.

Dee's nose wrinkled, "What do you think? Saving you!"

"Shouldn't you be happy about that?" Michael quipped nervously, eyeing Erik and Tariq who were in turn watching him with interest. Tariq slowly licked his lips and Jenny had to withhold her cringe.

"You guys were safe! You were free!" She argued instead.

On the ground, Julian and Aiden were slowly managing to reform. Claws and sharp teeth were emerging from the violently squirming puddles of shadows.

"But you were still here!" Tom shouted at Jenny.

"I am not much interested for how things came to be the way they are," Yig rasped, looking at Jenny, "I want to know about the game that it obviously occuring."

"You weren't invited." Erik croaked, not certain that he really wanted to be crossing his Elder, but certain that he didn't want the creature to be joining them, "The game is invite only."

"Erik!" Tariq hissed from beside him. He'd certainly made up his mind on where he stood.

Yig looked at them for a long moment. His face was so mutilated and deformed that Jenny couldn't tell what sort of emotion was on his face - she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

Erik took an involuntary step back. His eyes were wide and his face was set into a deep frown. Tariq had moved to put Erik between him and his elder. Presumably hoping that if Yig attacked them, slaying Erik would take enough time that Tariq could get away. Jenny had to grimace at how disloyal these demons were, even if she had always known that Erik and Tariq were itching to feed on her the first chance they got.

Julian and Aiden were finally managing to pull themselves free from their shadowy forms. They were sprawled across the ground, heads down and breathing hard from the effort. Jenny wanted nothing more but to run to Julian and hide her face in his shirt, but she knew that couldn't happen now.

She had a very ancient demon between her and him for one thing.

"I will be playing." Yig said as he leveled Jenny with a hungry look, "I must: for the sake of the deal I've made. Be so kind as to tell me the rules~"

"Deal-!" Aiden looked up.

"Deal?!" Erik looked at Jenny as if she knew what Yig was talking about.

"What deal?" Julian had his eyes firmly set on Tom when he managed to stand. The look on his face was hardly human… And it spoke to how much he wanted to tear the boy's throat out. Jenny wasn't sure how he knew this was Tom's fault until she caught the look on her ex's face.

Oh shit.

"Tom!"

"We couldn't abandon you." Tom hissed at her, "And from the looks of things, we were right." He gestured at Aiden, Julian, Erik and Tariq in turn, growing angrier with each wave. He also noted 'Tom' standing there with a mystified expression, and that seemed to make him the angriest of all. "What have you done, Jenny?"

"What have you done, Tommy?" Julian snarled.

"It was me." Audrey stepped between the two, although she looked like she really didn't want to. Jenny could see her shaking from where she stood a good distance off.

"What's-" 'Tom', the stranger to the situation, started.

Audrey looked at Jenny with tear filled eyes, "I thought I could make a deal with him. I thought I could give-give Yig something important-" She broke off to let out a sob, "-in exchange for - but Tom…"

There was a moment of silence. None of Jenny's friends would meet her searching gaze, but Yig would - and he was grinning. 'Tom' was looking between the demon and Jenny, obviously not understanding what was going on. She didn't blame him. Aiden, Erik, and Tariq were staring at him hard, obviously not happy with the direction this conversation was heading. And Julian… he was staring at Tom with such an intensity - oh God, what did he do?

"Tom…" Jenny started. She didn't go any farther.

"He sold his soul to Yig." Dee murmured almost too quiet for Jenny to hear, "In exchange for bringing you back to the Human World alive."

Julian put his head in his hands.

"He…" Jenny took a step back. She couldn't process this. Couldn't understand what her friends had done. How could they-? Why would they-? Oh fuck.

"That's good, right?" 'Tom' asked, "That means they can't continue this game, right?"

"No," Yig said, narrowing his eyes at 'Tom', "I don't have the right to take her. The game comes first." Then the demon turned to eye Aiden, "And I will be happy to join~"

"No." Aiden snarled, much to the chagrin of the other Shadowmen, "This is my game and my prize to be won!"

"You're not even going to win, you little-" Tariq started.

"I am your elder." Yig said, nonplussed, "I dare you to defy me."

"Tom." Jenny sobbed, drawing everyone's attention. She had finally processed what had happened and she was devastated. She sank to her knees, causing Julian to take a few fast steps in her direction. He drew back, though, at the sight of her tears. Something ugly curled in his gut at the sight of them. He wanted them to stop but he didn't know what to do.

"You didn't." Jenny screamed.

Julian shot forward at that. He hefted her up and pushed her face into his chest to muffle her sobs, but she was screaming now and his shirt didn't do much to cover that up. His spine was prickling in his agitation. Sure, he'd seen humans scream and cry many times before, but he'd never had to try and stop them before! The looks the other Shadowmen were giving Jenny were what really set his nerves on ice.

Aiden had a mix of emotions on his face that Julian couldn't quite decide on. From the confusion in his features, neither could Aiden. Erik and Tariq both had looks of annoyance and disdain. Sure, they were playing for Jenny, but that didn't mean they were sympathetic towards her... Julian had heard what they said, he knew the reason they had sworn themselves to Jenny.

It was Yig that sent Julian's teeth on edge. Those disgusting crocodile eyes were filled with hunger and delight, and it did not sit well with Julian. He knew it would be nie impossible, but he couldn't let Yig win. He'd wanted Jenny for himself… But this was more important right now.

Tom's shame had apparently reached a boiling point, "What did you want me to do, Jenny? We couldn't let you die here! We didn't know what was happening to you!"

"We were afraid you were getting tortured!" Summer added tearfully.

"I am getting tortured!" Jenny turned to scream at them. Julian tried to gently grab her hair to calm her, but she shook off the advance. He still had her by the waist. "By you guys! How could you?!"

"It was the only choice we had!" Tom shouted at her.

Yig grinned, "Yes, girl. Did you want them to leave you in the evil clutches of the Shadowmen?" He thought that was absolutely hilarious, judging by the cackle he let out.

"She was in better hands before-" Aiden started.

"What are the exact terms of your deal?" Julian asked with narrowed eyes. He didn't know what he could do - didn't want to do anything for these pathetic creatures… But he couldn't stand watching the crying wreck in his arms. He had to do something to stem the tide of tears.

"In return for bringing the girl back to the Human World unharmed, the boy will offer his life up to me." Yig said, "And I have to leave them unscathed as well. They are not to be part of the game." He sort of gestured at Jenny's friends.

"So if she goes home, Tom dies?" 'Tom' clarified with growing horror. He looked at Julian and Jenny in wonderment at what they were possibly planning to do.

Julian took a deep breath. The boy had hit the nail on the head and he remarkably did not savor that.

Jenny looked at Tom tearfully, "So you banished me to the Shadow World? That's what you did?"

Tom's nostrils flared, "No, I'm going to-"

Jenny was holding Julian's shirt as if she'd die if she let go, "I'm not going to let you die!" She screamed at him, "I'm not! You-You-I can't believe you!"

"That's not-" Dee broke off as she realized what was going to happen. Oh God, she hadn't realized- Jenny wasn't going to let Tom die for her! They hadn't meant to trap her here!

"Jenny-" Michael tried.

"I want Jenny to win." 'Tom' said firmly. "Let me tag her." He said to Julian.

The blue eyed demon sneered, "That's not how this game works, foolish-"

"Let me talk with Jenny a second." Zach suddenly piped up.

Everyone looked at him, including Jenny. After a second, she glanced at Julian with a sort of mystified look. The Shadowman released her, although he didn't look happy about it. At least it had stemmed her tears for now.

Yig was snarling at Jenny, "Don't you dare, human. I will not stand for such stupid distractions-"

"You're not playing yet." Aiden hissed, more coming to Jenny's rescue to spit in Yig's face than for the sake of her feelings, "You get no say." He even came over to meet Jenny and walk with her to where Zach was, which was pretty alarming to the human girl.

"Jenny…" 'Tom' started as she passed.

"I'll be right back." She assured him, "Don't let anyone but Erik or Tariq touch you, okay? I don't know who counts as playing anymore…"

'Tom' didn't seem sure how he felt about that. After a second, he looked at Erik and Tariq in turn, as if assuring himself that he knew which Shadowmen they were. Jenny had to agree with him. This was getting complicated.

Zach took both of Jenny's hands in his own when she reached him. Aiden walked with them just a little bit farther (out of earshot of the humans, at least), as if he was still afraid Yig would make a move on Jenny. The silver eyed demon glanced at Jenny with a deep frown one last time, then he stepped away from them to allow them 'privacy'.

"Zach," Jenny fell on her cousin with a sob. "Zach… God, you have no idea."

"I know." He said even though he knew he didn't. "Jenny, I'm so sorry."

For a moment he let her cry on him before he finally pulled back to give her a stern look, "Jenny, I know that you're going to have to finish the game. What's-Ugh, I don't really want to know… What's the prize?"

Jenny looked up at him tearfully, "Me."

"You?" He shut his eyes hard, "Who's winning?"

"Aiden."

Zach sighed, "Jenny… I want to help, but I-I know I can't. They're going to sideline us when Yig joins."

"I know." Jenny breathed, as if she was glad for that fact.

"I want to help you." Zach said again, this time more firmly. From his back pocket, he pulled out a rusty garden trowel. He was looking at her with such sparkling grey eyes, "I don't know how much it will help you, but it's something. Maybe you can somehow-" He broke that thought off, knowing it was useless to hope that Jenny could ever come back to the Human World. Their friends were still holding out that hope, sure, but he knew and she knew how this would end.

Jenny didn't question the item. She understood it could be an effective weapon, she could see the edge on it. Instead, she took it from him and put it in her own back pocket. "Thank you." She murmured to him with lowered eyes.

Zach put his hands on her jawline so he could push her face up to look at him, "You have to be strong, Jenny. They're going to try to break you- you know that- but you can't let them. Prove your strength to them, Jenny."

She nodded tearfully. "Thank you, Zach." Then she looked back at where the demons were impatiently waiting, "Let's go. I have a game to win."

As soon as they were reasonably close, 'Tom' made a break for Jenny. Apparently in her absence, his nerves had been fraying badly and he'd been too scared to see if touching Erik or Tariq would actually count as a win for Jenny. Maybe it had been the fact that he didn't want to actually touch a Shadowman. The various humans let out shouts of dismay, but the Shadowmen were ready to seize their chance. They'd all smelled his growing fear, they'd known what he was about to do.

'Tom' managed to dodge the cloud of shadows that was Aiden, and duck under the reaching hand of Julian, but he hadn't expected Yig to show up directly after them. He crashed into the demon's front the fraction of a second before Tariq came toppling into his back. Both the black haired demon and the human boy flailed and toppled backwards and over eachother, but Yig stood firm. He was looking at Aiden with the most depraved grin Jenny had ever seen.

Her heart dropped.

"It would seem," Yig said with no small hint of satisfaction, "That I am playing the game now." Then he reached down and pulled 'Tom' up by the wrist, "Thank you, child, for this victory."

'Tom' cowered.

It was the last thing he did.

Yig didn't eat him in front of everyone like Julian and Aiden had. Instead, 'Tom' simply disappeared. But Jenny knew she was dead. Deep down, she knew Yig wasn't keeping him around just out of sight or anything like that. She didn't know what had happened to 'Tom', and frankly didn't want to, but she knew he was dead.

She grabbed onto Zach's hand and squeezed in an effort to hide her tears. She didn't want to cry again, didn't want to show weakness in front of these demons again. Her friends were already reacting enough for her. Summer and Audrey were screaming, Michael stuttering uncontrollably. The looks on Tom and Dee's faces were hard to read. It was as if they had realized this would be a necessary sacrifice to get Jenny back, on top of Tom's life, and Jenny hated them for that.

She couldn't help but notice the almost tortured look Julian was casting her way.

But Jenny couldn't focus on that right now. She knew she had to win the last round… Not only to save the girl posing as Dee from the same sad fate as 'Tom', but because as it stood, Aiden was still winning. She quivered to think of what Aiden would do to her if he got her to himself…

But, even if she won the next round, she'd be… Oh shit, she'd be tied with Aiden! There was no way to actually win against him, now that Yig had won a round! Oh- did that mean she was doomed? Had her friends just doomed her?! She'd had this in the bag until-!

No, she couldn't think like that.

She had to be smart about this. She had to look at her options. As it stood, even if Julian or Yig won either, they would also only tie with Aiden, so they needed to somehow add another round. They needed another player. Someone who wasn't her friends - they were under an oath of safety with Yig, thankfully. But who else…?

Jenny swallowed hard.

Then she let go of Zach's hands and walked right up to the Elder Shadowman. "I want to be a round in the game. Make me a target."

Here's another chapter! Let me know what you guys think!