"The game

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"The game?" Jenny asked slowly, her mind reeling with what was happening. It had really been enough for her that Julian was back. She would have been able to handle that if everything else had seemed to make sense. But, it hadn't. She had wanted to know why Julian was back. After all, the Shadow Men had been too happy to see him taken out of existence at the time. His sudden return just did not make sense to her. When people died- or in Julian's case, were taken out of existence- they did not simply come back. They never just simply come back without a reason, Jenny's mind taunted her. Even Shadow Men didn't just come back without one.

And then the truth of the matter had been revealed and the sickening feeling in her stomach had grown. The only reason that Julian was back was because the Shadow Men wanted to play a game- apparently with her. The new person in her room had said that much. But, who was he?

Jenny had never seen this guy before, but she would bet that he was another Shadow Man. She looked at him closely, watching as a smile curved on his lips. He was different than Julian in so many ways. When she had first seen Julian all that time ago, her first impression had been one of power and perhaps danger. But, he had been somewhat suave about showing it, making sure to stay in control of whatever was happening around him. Yet, Jenny got the distinct impression that the new Shadow Man before her was nothing like that. He seemed as if he could lose his temper at the drop of a hat. And although her impression of him was danger, it was a more serious danger than Julian had been. She feared this person before her. Jenny could tell without any words whatsoever that he was simply downright evil.

"Ah, the beautiful Jenny," Ezra said and he took one step forward. And it did not escape his attention as Julian tensed suddenly at his movement. But, Ezra ignored him for a minute as his every sense was focused on Jenny. He reveled in the fact that her fear stepped up a notch with his one step. It made him happy to know that he had such an effect on a mere mortal. And the fear in her face was perfect. Such a beautiful thing, indeed. He wanted to memorize the fear, scorch it into his mind so that he would always remember this moment of power.

He glanced towards Julian and was met with an icy stare.

"What do you want?" Julian said coldly. His voice was quiet as if he did not want to alarm Jenny. Ezra almost laughed. The girl looked as if she might faint to the floor at any minute anyway. And he bet that she was as alarmed as she could be. Yet, it was interesting to see Julian act so protective towards the mortal. It meant that she was his weakness.

"Well, I want to play the game, of course," Ezra said with a casual laugh. He looked back at Jenny and smiled. "And now that you have found her, we can get started."

Jenny's heart dropped. She wished that it were all a bad dream. She wished that she would wake up in her bed to find that all of it: Tom's death, Julian and this new Shadow Men, to be a dream.

When she had first seen Julian in her room, she had been surprised at how unafraid she had been. It had almost been a sense of relief to see him there, knowing that he would protect her. And he had looked so different from the cocky boy who had taken her into his world years ago. No, Julian had looked like he had in the last few moments that he had been alive before, right before his fellow Shadow Men cut his name out of the runestave. She had realized that she had wanted him to be there in her room with her, watching over her as he had done before. She had wanted him to protect her because, frankly, she was in dire need of protection from the nightmare that reality had become for her.

But, Jenny thought as she swallowed hard, it had all been a ruse. A show put on in order to make me trust him all over again. He was like a snake; he waited for the right time to strike. It seemed as if he had tried to win her trust before throwing her back into another Shadow Men game. And it had almost worked. She had been so ready to trust him. Yet, now, all she wanted to do was make it all just go away.

Julian could feel the hatred emitting from Jenny's mind. And it killed him. He didn't have to read her thoughts to know that she despised him. She thought he was there to use her in another Shadow Men game. But, she was so wrong. He had never intended to use her in any game. He had just wanted to see her again. But, now Ezra was here and there was no telling what his mind was up to. What was he planning, Julian wondered. He was so tired of playing Ezra's little game and going on this little quest for his enemy. All he wanted to do was keep Jenny safe. Was it really too much to ask for? Why did he have to be punished like this by Ezra?

He turned slowly, to face Jenny. It was hard to do because he knew how she would look. He had seen the hatred in her eyes before when they had played the first game. But, that had been different to him them. At the time, he had just shrugged it off, thinking that she was not in the right mind to look at him in such a way. He had thought that she would come around to see his point of view. But, she had not because she was human and he had been heartless. He had treated her heartlessly. Now, though, it was different. Now, he truly cared about her. And he did not want to see the hatred in her eyes. A part of him wished that he could be taken out of existence right then and there so that he would not have to see the look in her eyes. The look in her eyes cut him deeply.

She stared at Julian, allowing her eyes to meet his own. She could feel the tears already starting to fill up her eyes and it bothered her to no end. She hated herself for letting him get to her again, for letting him hurt her all over again. And she hated him for it all. For all the time that she had spent over the years trying not to think about him. And now. She hated him for standing in her room, staring at her with such pain in his eyes that she almost forgot all about the fact that he had come to drag her into another one of his fearsome games.

She gritted her teeth and stared back at him defiantly. Jenny refused to let him get to her. She had been strong the last time they had played the game. And even though she was not as strong as she had been, she would still try. She had to.

"How could you?" She asked, through gritted teeth. A tear slipped down her cheek and she started to shake.

Ezra watched all of this with vast amounts of satisfaction running through his veins. Wasn't it just wonderful to see the pathetic girl try so hard to keep control? She was falling apart, he knew. Soon, she would be a total wreck. After all, she was already shaking and crying like a child.

And then there was Julian. Ezra stole a glance at the young Shadow Man. He looked so tired, staring at Jenny. The pain on his face was so evident that Ezra again almost laughed. It was just too simple! They were too easy to play with. Pawns, Ezra thought. They are all pawns in my little game.

Oh, how the Shadow Men would cheer for him. He was winning the game; that much was evident enough. Julian was slowly dying all over again. And this time, he was sure to know how much Jenny hated him. To Ezra, it was all just too perfect.

"Ah, so, shall we get on with the game?" Ezra asked, drawing Julian's attention back to him.

Julian fixed his icy blue eyes on his enemy and stared at him with as much hatred as he could muster. It was hard to remember that he was not the one hurting Jenny this time. Ezra was at fault this time. Everything would have been fine if Ezra had not showed up and started speaking of 'a game'. Ezra is the one at fault, Julian told himself. And I will make him pay for every tear that falls down Jenny's cheek.

He narrowed his eyes at Ezra's devilish smile. "There is no game," he said coldly.

Ezra only smiled even larger. How wrong you are, he thought silently. There was always a game to play. And this one was the biggest one of all. Oh, there was a game all right. And Ezra intended on winning it. Whatever it takes, he thought, I will do it. I will win this game.

"Ah, but there is a game," Ezra said. "You see, Julian, you and I were playing a game just fine. And then along came a distraction." Ezra pointed at Jenny and looked at her disgustedly.

A distraction? Jenny thought. What was this person talking about? She was a distraction? To whom? And what was all this talk about them already playing a game? She had thought that the game had not begun yet. After all, hadn't the other Shadow Man said something about using her in the game?

"So, now the game has changed," Ezra said, looking back to Julian. "We are playing a new game now. New rules. No distractions."

Julian's blood ran cold at Ezra's words. A new game? When would it end? And more importantly, what did he mean by no distractions?

A little voice in the back of Jenny's head screamed for mercy as she looked from one Shadow Man to the other. The whole situation was very confusing to her. What was the game? Was she a part of it? The other Shadow Man's words rang in her head, his voice echoing over and over again. All of her thoughts were a jumble, rolling over each other without care. It seemed as if she could not get a hold on any one thought at all. There was only one thing that Jenny was absolutely sure of. She was in danger, more so than ever before.

Black dots appeared before her eyes and she thought that perhaps she was going into shock. Was she going to pass out, she wondered. Jenny had fainted numerous times over the years, but she had never felt quite like this before. Her head felt too heavy, as if it was holding way too many thoughts. And yet, her body felt as light as air. It was all so confusing to her. She was not sure what was real and what was not.

The blackness around her vision grew and deepened. Jenny was almost sure that she was going to pass out now and for a brief second, she thought that perhaps she would welcome whatever darkness would come to her. Dizziness washed over her and she swayed a bit.

Jenny reached out quickly with her right hand to steady herself on the dresser next to her. But, when her hand was supposed to touch the dark solid wood of the dresser, something else happened that got rid of any control that Jenny had left. Her hand passed through the wood. It was as if her hand had never been there at all. And as Jenny pulled her arm back and stared down, she realized that her hand, in fact, was not there. It was gone. Simply gone.

She looked over at the two Shadow Men quickly, wondering what was happening to her. The darkness around her eyes was quite large now and she knew that it would not be long before she would be gone totally.

"Julian!" A voice called, but it was just a faint echo. He had barely heard it, but he had heard it enough to know the voice. He would have known that voice anywhere. And he turned quickly to where she had been standing by the wall.

A part of him was not surprised to see that she was not there. But, another part of him still felt the pain and fear of not seeing her standing there. She was gone. Ezra had taken her away. A new game, indeed.

He turned back to Ezra, his fists clenching at his sides. His blood was like ice, but he was ready for a fight anyway. And he wanted one badly. He wanted to kill Ezra; to make him feel the pain that Julian was feeling at that exact moment.

"See?" Ezra said with a carefree laugh. "No more distractions."

Julian clenched his teeth and willed the panic that was rising so quickly in his chest to go away. He could feel control rapidly slipping away from him as he stared at Ezra. Julian clenched his fists again and wished that he could truly hurt Ezra. But, that was out of the question, he knew. Especially now that Ezra had taken Jenny somewhere.

"Bring her back," Julian said as he watched Ezra smile smugly. Julian knew that this was exactly what Ezra had wanted. He had played right into his foe's hand quite nicely. Ezra had known that Julian would do anything-anything- to get Jenny back. And that, of course, meant playing one of Ezra's games.

Ezra chuckled as if the whole situation were a bit amusing. Of course, it was funny to him. He had Julian exactly where he wanted him. I could make him beg for her if I wanted, he thought happily.

"Bring her back now," Julian repeated, a red-hot feeling burning in the pit of his stomach. He wanted so badly to lash out at the Shadow Man before him. He wanted to make Ezra pay for everything he had done. But, Julian was no fool. If he made any move towards Ezra, then Ezra would simply make a move towards Jenny-wherever she was. And he would most likely hurt her. Julian could not even bear the thought of her being hurt anymore than she already was.

In his mind, Julian saw her all over again, huddling in fear near the wall behind him. He could see the obvious fear in her eyes, but there was something else there as well; something that perhaps she had tried to hide with a quick smile when out in public. But, when Julian had found her crying in her room, it had been simply too evident to hide. Pain. A pain that seemed to have scarred her eyes for life.

The red anger in Julian's stomach cooled a bit at the mental picture of the new Jenny. Not for the first time, he wondered what had put such a deep look of pain in her eyes. Why was she hurting so badly? What had happened to her?

"Yes," Ezra said, nodding in agreement as if he had read Julian's thoughts. Perhaps he had. "She is not the same girl that she had been before. Of course, a brush with death will do that to a mortal."

Julian looked up suddenly and stared hard at Ezra. What was he talking about, Julian wondered. Jenny had not come close to death while he had been gone, had she? A part of him felt shame and regret that he had not been there to watch over her and protect her as he had for so many years. If I had been there, he thought, placing the blame for Jenny's pain on himself, maybe she would not have needed to hurt as badly as she does. Julian felt as if he had somehow failed Jenny by not being there to protect her when she had obviously needed him the most. But, there was something else weighing on Julian's mind just as heavily as the blame he felt was owed to him. The thought had been simply a passing one before, but now he truly wondered about it. Where was Tom?

Julian had lost Jenny to the other boy all those years ago. And, although Julian had wanted Jenny for himself, he had disappeared from existence with the comforting notion that Tom would take care of her. That Tom would always be with her. And that had comforted Julian because if he could not be with her, he wanted Tom to be. He knew the mortal boy was as strong as he could be. And that was strong enough for both he and Jenny. Julian had known that Jenny would be well taken care of.

And yet, when Julian had come back to the mortal world, he had found Jenny alone and suffering. Her pain was not on the outside and so it was hard to tell what the exact problem was. She was a shell of her former self. The fire that had once raged so brightly within her was gone. And as Julian took this all in, coupled with the fact that Ezra had now sent Jenny somewhere in order to keep Julian at his whim, all Julian could think of was one question. Where was Tom?

"Tom was weak. You and I both know that," Ezra said, as he seemed to read Julian's thoughts again. "He tried to protect your precious Jenny, but he failed. And he died because he was weak."

A sick feeling ran through Julian's gut as Ezra's words sunk into his mind. Tom was…..dead? It seemed rather impossible to Julian that something like that had happened. No, Julian though. He can't be dead. He is supposed to watch over Jenny. To keep her safe. Tom is supposed to be there for her. But, as Julian remembered the look of pain in Jenny's eyes, he knew the truth. But, there was something else about Ezra's words that bothered him deeply.

"Did you….did you…….kill him?" He asked the other Shadow Man incredulously. Of course, Julian would not put it past Ezra to kill someone, especially when it came to mortals. But, it just seemed so…….evil, even for Ezra.

Ezra chuckled and shook his head as if Julian were a child just learning how to put a puzzle together for the first time. "I did not kill him directly, no." Ezra cocked his head to one side and thought for a minute. And then he added, "but perhaps I did have a hand in his untimely demise by helping his car to veer off the road."

Julian shut his eyes and tried to block out the sound of Ezra's laughter. It was all just a game to Ezra still. And that sickened Julian to no end. He remembered when he had felt the same way about mortals. They had been just pawns in a game for the Shadow Men's enjoyment. But, now Julian felt oh so differently about everything.

"Jenny cried. A lot," Ezra commented and watched with enjoyment as Julian's jaw clenched.

"But, enough about her. Let's talk about you and me for a moment, shall we?" Ezra smiled at Julian and ignored the cold look of pure fury that was given in return.

"You still have the same quest that you were on before, but let us up the stakes a bit."

Julian raised his eyebrow and waited for Ezra to continue.

"You bring Alyx to the Shadow World and I will return your precious Jenny to the mortal world. We will trade one for the other. If you do not bring Alyx to the Shadow World within 12 hours, then Jenny becomes my property to do as I please."

It pained Julian to think that he would have to drag Alyx down to the Shadow World. But, it was necessary, wasn't it? There was no way that Julian would be able to get Jenny out of the Shadow World any other way. All of the Shadow Men were on Ezra's side and if they thought for any reason that Julian was working against their game, then they would simply take him out of existence as they had before. And then Jenny would be lost forever. No, Julian thought. Better to play along for now and take Alyx down to the Shadow World. And then, he added in his mind, hopefully, I will be able to get both Jenny and Alyx out before it is too late.

He looked up at Ezra and smiled. "I'll do it," he said grimly, hoping that time would be on his side and go slowly.

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