"I have a question," Julian said. They sat outside on the porch swing, a gentle breeze blowing, stars shining and a full moon glowing, as if smiling down on approval that they belonged together. "Why did you bring me back?"
Jenny hadn't told him anything of the past week yet, not wanting to spoil the romantic, dreamy atmosphere of the night. But there had been a reason, a purpose for her bringing Julian back, and it looked like now was the time to tell. So she did. She told him everything, the strange deaths of all her friends.
Julian listened, his face unreadable, he didn't make any comments at the mention of Tom's death, and Jenny didn't know why, but she felt glad about that. "Who's doing this?" he asked. "That's why you brought me back, isn't it?"
Jenny nodded. "Her name is Shavone. She's the Shadow Mistress."
He snorted. "You guys have got your work cut out for you."
Jenny was annoyed. "Why the hell'd you think I brought you back? She's pissed at me for taking you away from her, and we figure she'll listen to you if you tell her to go away and leave us alone."
Julian sighed, all traces of humour faded. "I don't think it's that easy. Shavone...well, she's not used to not getting her own way. She's the only woman within the Shadow World and the guys there all worship her like goddess. I thought she was fun at first..." He trailed off.
"She turned out to be a bitch?" Jenny offered.
"Something like that."
The problem was now, getting Shavone banished. Killing her seemed to be damn close to impossible. How did you kill a goddess? That was Julian's job. That was why she'd brought him here. But what would happen when he did that? Don't think about it now, she told herself. He's back for now, make use of him while he's there. She'd made plenty of use of him already.
"How do you think we should dispose of her?" Jenny asked.
Julian shrugged.
Jenny rolled her eyes. "You're a lot of help."
"Gimme a break. I've only been back for what...four, five hours? I'm still fuzzy." He didn't seem much like the type to get fuzzy. She'd never even imagined Julian using such a word. He'd be fluffy next. God, she hoped not.
"Why didn't you just carve her name off the runestave?" he asked.
"I couldn't find the symbol," she admitted. "All I could find was Shavone isn't exactly a typical Shadow Creature. She's something called a Glittawitch, and she got stuck in the Shadow World, and has seemed to taken over and made the most of it."
"Cause she's powerful and hot," Julian said.
Jenny stared, but didn't comment. Men, she thought, disgusted. Did they ever look for any qualities in a woman other than "hot"?
"How do you kill a Glittawitch?" she asked.
"You can't," Julian answered. "That's all I know. They're supposed to be immortal."
"Great, so we've got an enemy we can't kill, but she seems to be doing a fine job of killing us."
That couldn't be true. There must be *some* way to dispose of Shavone.
They didn't have long to think of something...
* * *
Something was wrong. Shavone wasn't exactly sure what, but she knew deep within herself that something was very, very wrong.
She glanced around, feeling uncomfortable. She was back at the little overlook where it had all started, where she'd first killed Tom. Too bad he'd been one of them. He'd been kind of fun. A wimp, maybe, but she'd been able to make him do whatever she wanted.
She had been able to control him. But the one person she wanted, she hadn't been able to control. She tugged a strand of orange hair, a very human gesture. God, this was so frustrating!
She was clearly winning, all the little bitch's friends were getting very dead, very fast. Most of dying horribly, like they all deserved. So why didn't she feel happier?
She sighed. She didn't know why she'd thought this would work. Killing them wasn't going to bring Julian back to her. He was out the picture for good. And if she carved his name back on the runestave, the Shadow Council would go bezerk. He'd broken all the rules. He'd fallen for a mortal. Not allowed.
But still...she was the Shadow Queen, should she really take any crap from them about who she could bring back and who she couldn't? She was the Queen, she ran the show.
But why did she feel so hollow inside? The ice around her was still as solid as it had ever been, and the victory was doing nothing to warm her to melt it.
Was she doomed to remain frozen forever?
Surely there must be someone else out there for her...
But who? And could she find him? Would it matter if she did?
Shavone sighed. Did anything matter anymore?
* * *
The tension in the room was noticeable, both Dee and Michael were clearly uncomfortable around Julian, who seemed more annoyed if anything. Jenny sighed heavily. Conversation was noticeably lacking. Even Michael wasn't making any jokes to ease the uncomfortable tension.
The idea that all of them together would lure Shavone to them, in hopes that she could finish them off, and then Julian could force her to go away. Shavone's attention had noticeably been lacking recently. Almost a week had gone by, and no one had died, nothing had happened.
Whenever Jenny saw her around school, she seemed distant, lost in another world, as if her mind was anywhere but her. It almost made her feel sorry for Shavone, but then she remembered what the vindictive little bitch had done to all her friends.
But it seemed as if Shavone wasn't enjoying it as much as she'd have thought, maybe she was getting the idea that revenge wasn't everything. She'd just have to deal and move on.
She wasn't dealing well.
The group had decided there was nothing to do but live normal life. But what did you do with the ex-Shadow Man you brought back to fight another one? Julian was probably getting pretty sick of being shoved in Jenny's closet during the day.
A gust of cold wind blew through the room. Everyone remained where they were, trying not to show how it affected them; Jenny tried to keep her fear hidden deep inside her.
"You called, I'm here, what?" Shavone sounded completely stressed out. Could a Shadow Queen get stressed? Apparently so.
"Hi Shavone," Julian said casually from his seat beside Jenny.
Jenny hoped she wasn't giving the impression she was hiding behind him. The shock on Shavone's face would have been funny in another situation.
"You...what....I..." Shavone was stuttering. Jenny was surprised. She'd seemed so mean, so cruel and vicious, and now, loo at her. She was nothing. She'd been reduced to stuttering, for God's sake. How pathetic could you get? She'd completely lost her motive, the fight seemed to have gone out of her.
Shavone was looking around, seeming to gather herself, realising how foolish she must look. "You're dead, why are you here?"
"Who said I was dead?" Jenny had to admire him, Julian was so casual. Did he not fear Shavone at all? The thing Jenny feared now, was Shavone's rapidly dwindling sanity. Her mood changes were frightening, the way she went to pathetic to cool and collected so quickly. Okay, maybe Shavone's sanity had never been there in the first place, but she was still...
Still what?
Jenny didn't know.
"Why are you here?" Shavone asked.
Julian turned and met her eyes. "Why do you think?"
"Don't answer my questions with questions," Shavone snapped.
"Temper, temper," Julian said, amused.
Shavone's impossibly blue eyes were glittering with rage. She looked furious, and as if there was nothing she could do.
Dee was grinning. "Way to go Julian. If you tell her to kill herself, will she do it?"
"Dee!" Jenny was shocked. She'd been trying to stay out of the argument as much as possible.
Shavone turned, her expression furious. Her eyes were still glittering insanely, and she started to wave her hand...
"Did it ever occur to you to pick on someone of your own species?" Julian asked, stepping in to save Dee.
"Like you?" Shavone snarled. The hand she had been about to use to attack Dee with, was actually glowing. A sort of swirling red was beginning to glow around it, magic fire. She hurled the blast of magic at Julian, who sighed tiredly, as if bored with playing with a pet. He held his hand up in the air, and when Shavone's magic was about two feet from him, it dispersed into thin air.
Another gust of cold air blew suddenly. They were all gathered in Michael's living room. Books and papers and knickknacks were suddenly flying around in a sort of magic whirlwind, glittering colours flashing brightly. Thunder boomed and lightning clasped.
"What's going on?" Jenny screamed, clutching Julian's arm.
"Just someone I called to get rid of Shavone," Julian answered, still with annoying casualness. Did nothing affect him? Now Jenny was beginning to remember why he'd bugged her.
A flash of lightning struck, taking out the electricity, and the room was plunged into blackness. Jenny screamed, and someone else did too, and for some reason, Jenny kind of got the impression it might have been Michael. Dee wouldn't scream, and Shavone didn't seem like the screaming type.
A strange blue glow was beginning to rise from the carpet on the floor. Slow at first, and slowly gathering into the shape of a person. The man who stood there was huge, and looked like an Aztec God, dressed in dark robes with a strange jewelled mask on his face. The masked face was turned towards Shavone.
Shavone was riveted to the spot, her eyes were wide with fear. She was *shaking.* Jenny decided she liked this new guy.
He looked at Shavone. "You've been a bad girl."
"It was her fault!" Shavone shrieked like a child being reprimanded. She pointed a trembling arm at Jenny "She stepped into my territory!"
"It's not even your territory," the god said. He sounded as tired and bored as Julian. "You're not a Shadow Person. You're a glittawitch, you don't belong here."
"What's a glittawitch?" Michael asked no one in particular.
"I'll tell you later," Jenny said. And then, "I thought they can't be killed."
"Sure they can," the god said casually. He looked at Shavone, and Jenny guessed he was smiling under his mask. Shavone looked terrified. She turned towards Julian, her eyes pleading.
"I don't want to die," she whispered. "How could you do this to me? I loved you. You never understood that."
He looked back at her, his eyes and expression blank and unreadable. "You didn't. You just wanted me, because I was something new you hadn't tried before."
Shavone was actually on her knees now. Her orange head was hanging, her hair a disbelieved mess. She clutched at the god's robes. "I don' want to die," she said again. "I can be good..."
"You had your chance," the god said. He waved a hand, and the whirlwind started up again, the cold air blowing a mass of chaos and magic, covering Shavone. Her screams echoed and she reached out, her eyes pleading for someone to save her.
But no one did.
"Is she dead now?" Dee asked.
The god sighed. "No. I guess I feel a little bit of pity for the poor brat. She's just been banished. She won't bother you anymore." A final flash of lightning boomed, and again, the room blacked out.
When Jenny could see again, it was as if nothing had ever happened. But that wasn't true. Tom was dead. So were Summer, Audrey and Zach.
"Who was that?" Dee asked.
Julian shrugged. "Shaltoc, Glitta Lord of Death. The Glittawitch god. I pulled a few strings and managed to get some of them to get him to come and deal with Shavone."
"I kind of felt sorry for her at the end," Jenny admitted.
Dee stared. "Jenny, she was a murderous bitch who got what she deserved."
Okay, so maybe she was. Shavone was gone. But still something good had come out of it, Julian had come back. Finals were over with, and there was a whole future to look ahead to.
"So what now?" Michael asked. "And what's a glittawitch?"
"They're an immortal creature of Ireland, sort of like a fae," Julian answered. "As for what next..." He looked over at Jenny and smiled. "I can think of a few things to do."
Jenny grinned. "Like what?"
"How 'bout I show you?"
"Show what?" Michael asked.
"I don't think we want to see," Dee answered, taking his arm and leading him out, while Julian showed Jenny what he was thinking they could do.
THE END.
Jenny hadn't told him anything of the past week yet, not wanting to spoil the romantic, dreamy atmosphere of the night. But there had been a reason, a purpose for her bringing Julian back, and it looked like now was the time to tell. So she did. She told him everything, the strange deaths of all her friends.
Julian listened, his face unreadable, he didn't make any comments at the mention of Tom's death, and Jenny didn't know why, but she felt glad about that. "Who's doing this?" he asked. "That's why you brought me back, isn't it?"
Jenny nodded. "Her name is Shavone. She's the Shadow Mistress."
He snorted. "You guys have got your work cut out for you."
Jenny was annoyed. "Why the hell'd you think I brought you back? She's pissed at me for taking you away from her, and we figure she'll listen to you if you tell her to go away and leave us alone."
Julian sighed, all traces of humour faded. "I don't think it's that easy. Shavone...well, she's not used to not getting her own way. She's the only woman within the Shadow World and the guys there all worship her like goddess. I thought she was fun at first..." He trailed off.
"She turned out to be a bitch?" Jenny offered.
"Something like that."
The problem was now, getting Shavone banished. Killing her seemed to be damn close to impossible. How did you kill a goddess? That was Julian's job. That was why she'd brought him here. But what would happen when he did that? Don't think about it now, she told herself. He's back for now, make use of him while he's there. She'd made plenty of use of him already.
"How do you think we should dispose of her?" Jenny asked.
Julian shrugged.
Jenny rolled her eyes. "You're a lot of help."
"Gimme a break. I've only been back for what...four, five hours? I'm still fuzzy." He didn't seem much like the type to get fuzzy. She'd never even imagined Julian using such a word. He'd be fluffy next. God, she hoped not.
"Why didn't you just carve her name off the runestave?" he asked.
"I couldn't find the symbol," she admitted. "All I could find was Shavone isn't exactly a typical Shadow Creature. She's something called a Glittawitch, and she got stuck in the Shadow World, and has seemed to taken over and made the most of it."
"Cause she's powerful and hot," Julian said.
Jenny stared, but didn't comment. Men, she thought, disgusted. Did they ever look for any qualities in a woman other than "hot"?
"How do you kill a Glittawitch?" she asked.
"You can't," Julian answered. "That's all I know. They're supposed to be immortal."
"Great, so we've got an enemy we can't kill, but she seems to be doing a fine job of killing us."
That couldn't be true. There must be *some* way to dispose of Shavone.
They didn't have long to think of something...
* * *
Something was wrong. Shavone wasn't exactly sure what, but she knew deep within herself that something was very, very wrong.
She glanced around, feeling uncomfortable. She was back at the little overlook where it had all started, where she'd first killed Tom. Too bad he'd been one of them. He'd been kind of fun. A wimp, maybe, but she'd been able to make him do whatever she wanted.
She had been able to control him. But the one person she wanted, she hadn't been able to control. She tugged a strand of orange hair, a very human gesture. God, this was so frustrating!
She was clearly winning, all the little bitch's friends were getting very dead, very fast. Most of dying horribly, like they all deserved. So why didn't she feel happier?
She sighed. She didn't know why she'd thought this would work. Killing them wasn't going to bring Julian back to her. He was out the picture for good. And if she carved his name back on the runestave, the Shadow Council would go bezerk. He'd broken all the rules. He'd fallen for a mortal. Not allowed.
But still...she was the Shadow Queen, should she really take any crap from them about who she could bring back and who she couldn't? She was the Queen, she ran the show.
But why did she feel so hollow inside? The ice around her was still as solid as it had ever been, and the victory was doing nothing to warm her to melt it.
Was she doomed to remain frozen forever?
Surely there must be someone else out there for her...
But who? And could she find him? Would it matter if she did?
Shavone sighed. Did anything matter anymore?
* * *
The tension in the room was noticeable, both Dee and Michael were clearly uncomfortable around Julian, who seemed more annoyed if anything. Jenny sighed heavily. Conversation was noticeably lacking. Even Michael wasn't making any jokes to ease the uncomfortable tension.
The idea that all of them together would lure Shavone to them, in hopes that she could finish them off, and then Julian could force her to go away. Shavone's attention had noticeably been lacking recently. Almost a week had gone by, and no one had died, nothing had happened.
Whenever Jenny saw her around school, she seemed distant, lost in another world, as if her mind was anywhere but her. It almost made her feel sorry for Shavone, but then she remembered what the vindictive little bitch had done to all her friends.
But it seemed as if Shavone wasn't enjoying it as much as she'd have thought, maybe she was getting the idea that revenge wasn't everything. She'd just have to deal and move on.
She wasn't dealing well.
The group had decided there was nothing to do but live normal life. But what did you do with the ex-Shadow Man you brought back to fight another one? Julian was probably getting pretty sick of being shoved in Jenny's closet during the day.
A gust of cold wind blew through the room. Everyone remained where they were, trying not to show how it affected them; Jenny tried to keep her fear hidden deep inside her.
"You called, I'm here, what?" Shavone sounded completely stressed out. Could a Shadow Queen get stressed? Apparently so.
"Hi Shavone," Julian said casually from his seat beside Jenny.
Jenny hoped she wasn't giving the impression she was hiding behind him. The shock on Shavone's face would have been funny in another situation.
"You...what....I..." Shavone was stuttering. Jenny was surprised. She'd seemed so mean, so cruel and vicious, and now, loo at her. She was nothing. She'd been reduced to stuttering, for God's sake. How pathetic could you get? She'd completely lost her motive, the fight seemed to have gone out of her.
Shavone was looking around, seeming to gather herself, realising how foolish she must look. "You're dead, why are you here?"
"Who said I was dead?" Jenny had to admire him, Julian was so casual. Did he not fear Shavone at all? The thing Jenny feared now, was Shavone's rapidly dwindling sanity. Her mood changes were frightening, the way she went to pathetic to cool and collected so quickly. Okay, maybe Shavone's sanity had never been there in the first place, but she was still...
Still what?
Jenny didn't know.
"Why are you here?" Shavone asked.
Julian turned and met her eyes. "Why do you think?"
"Don't answer my questions with questions," Shavone snapped.
"Temper, temper," Julian said, amused.
Shavone's impossibly blue eyes were glittering with rage. She looked furious, and as if there was nothing she could do.
Dee was grinning. "Way to go Julian. If you tell her to kill herself, will she do it?"
"Dee!" Jenny was shocked. She'd been trying to stay out of the argument as much as possible.
Shavone turned, her expression furious. Her eyes were still glittering insanely, and she started to wave her hand...
"Did it ever occur to you to pick on someone of your own species?" Julian asked, stepping in to save Dee.
"Like you?" Shavone snarled. The hand she had been about to use to attack Dee with, was actually glowing. A sort of swirling red was beginning to glow around it, magic fire. She hurled the blast of magic at Julian, who sighed tiredly, as if bored with playing with a pet. He held his hand up in the air, and when Shavone's magic was about two feet from him, it dispersed into thin air.
Another gust of cold air blew suddenly. They were all gathered in Michael's living room. Books and papers and knickknacks were suddenly flying around in a sort of magic whirlwind, glittering colours flashing brightly. Thunder boomed and lightning clasped.
"What's going on?" Jenny screamed, clutching Julian's arm.
"Just someone I called to get rid of Shavone," Julian answered, still with annoying casualness. Did nothing affect him? Now Jenny was beginning to remember why he'd bugged her.
A flash of lightning struck, taking out the electricity, and the room was plunged into blackness. Jenny screamed, and someone else did too, and for some reason, Jenny kind of got the impression it might have been Michael. Dee wouldn't scream, and Shavone didn't seem like the screaming type.
A strange blue glow was beginning to rise from the carpet on the floor. Slow at first, and slowly gathering into the shape of a person. The man who stood there was huge, and looked like an Aztec God, dressed in dark robes with a strange jewelled mask on his face. The masked face was turned towards Shavone.
Shavone was riveted to the spot, her eyes were wide with fear. She was *shaking.* Jenny decided she liked this new guy.
He looked at Shavone. "You've been a bad girl."
"It was her fault!" Shavone shrieked like a child being reprimanded. She pointed a trembling arm at Jenny "She stepped into my territory!"
"It's not even your territory," the god said. He sounded as tired and bored as Julian. "You're not a Shadow Person. You're a glittawitch, you don't belong here."
"What's a glittawitch?" Michael asked no one in particular.
"I'll tell you later," Jenny said. And then, "I thought they can't be killed."
"Sure they can," the god said casually. He looked at Shavone, and Jenny guessed he was smiling under his mask. Shavone looked terrified. She turned towards Julian, her eyes pleading.
"I don't want to die," she whispered. "How could you do this to me? I loved you. You never understood that."
He looked back at her, his eyes and expression blank and unreadable. "You didn't. You just wanted me, because I was something new you hadn't tried before."
Shavone was actually on her knees now. Her orange head was hanging, her hair a disbelieved mess. She clutched at the god's robes. "I don' want to die," she said again. "I can be good..."
"You had your chance," the god said. He waved a hand, and the whirlwind started up again, the cold air blowing a mass of chaos and magic, covering Shavone. Her screams echoed and she reached out, her eyes pleading for someone to save her.
But no one did.
"Is she dead now?" Dee asked.
The god sighed. "No. I guess I feel a little bit of pity for the poor brat. She's just been banished. She won't bother you anymore." A final flash of lightning boomed, and again, the room blacked out.
When Jenny could see again, it was as if nothing had ever happened. But that wasn't true. Tom was dead. So were Summer, Audrey and Zach.
"Who was that?" Dee asked.
Julian shrugged. "Shaltoc, Glitta Lord of Death. The Glittawitch god. I pulled a few strings and managed to get some of them to get him to come and deal with Shavone."
"I kind of felt sorry for her at the end," Jenny admitted.
Dee stared. "Jenny, she was a murderous bitch who got what she deserved."
Okay, so maybe she was. Shavone was gone. But still something good had come out of it, Julian had come back. Finals were over with, and there was a whole future to look ahead to.
"So what now?" Michael asked. "And what's a glittawitch?"
"They're an immortal creature of Ireland, sort of like a fae," Julian answered. "As for what next..." He looked over at Jenny and smiled. "I can think of a few things to do."
Jenny grinned. "Like what?"
"How 'bout I show you?"
"Show what?" Michael asked.
"I don't think we want to see," Dee answered, taking his arm and leading him out, while Julian showed Jenny what he was thinking they could do.
THE END.