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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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