Disclaimers: I still own less than squat. Anything by LJS belongs to her and a giant publishing monster that's coming to eat my soul as soon as it finds out where I live. In this case, I will be hiding under my bed clutching a teddy bear as they slowly take my ideas and turn them into a book that it claims as its own and will not give me any royalties money!
Authors Note: Please ignore whatever I said up there about the giant publishing monster. A bit of my worst nightmare crept into it. Sorry about the lack of recent update, my brother only just now reinstalled Word on my computer, and in the depressing downtime, I was unable to start this chapter.
Remember, you are welcome to give me ideas via review forum! I crave them! Besides, I need to know how horrible a job I'm doing, considering I have no idea what I'm writing about until I actually start writing.
On with the story…
Smiling in relief behind his concealing newspaper, Julian hoped sincerely that Jenny would tire of waiting and just head home. At which point, he would smooth away the fog and calm the turbulence, causing the flight to board. Without Jenny.
He really hoped it would work.
Sighing, she finished her now cold coffee, and shut her book. Checking her watch, noticing she still had another nine hours to wait. Maybe I should just drive to Pennsylvania, it might be faster, Jenny mused half-heartedly. California was not a nine-hour drive to Pennsylvania.
She did not waste her parents' money and her own going to a community college like Tom had wanted her to; she had applied, and gotten into, Stanford. (A/N: All the courses I have Jenny in, I am in serious doubt that Stanford actually offers, as well as the tuition cost from the previous chapter is doubted. Why Stanford, you ask? Because I want to go there, that's why!)
As the next hour crawled by, she seriously considered leaving. Why wait around? The plane isn't leaving for another eight hours, so why not go home and pack better clothes than two sets of pj's and no shampoo? she mused silently. Besides, this place is becoming rather nerve-wracking.
Sighing in part from frustration, she got up, threw her coffee cup away, shoved her book in the top of her messily packed duffel bag, and got up to leave. She glanced hopefully one last time at the departures board, and went to return her ticket.
Julian smiled.
He folded up the newspaper he had been pretending to read and tossed it carelessly on the seat he had just occupied. He was dressed in a black business suit with a black leather briefcase and a small shoulder bag, trying to blend in with the airport crowd. But then again, Julian never blended in. He more or less couldn't with his frost white hair, shocking blue eyes, and body of a Grecian god. He had gotten approving stares from many women loitering around for the flight to Pennsylvania, as well as those walking past from a recently arrived flight. These stares drove him to hide in the sanctuary of a concealing newspaper. To anyone who couldn't see him, namely Jenny, it would appear that these appreciative glances were directed at the rather stout, balding man with three children sitting next to Julian. Thankfully, Jenny hadn't noticed this. And neither had the bald man.
Walking quickly towards the men's room, he slipped inside a stall and made a convenient portal and stepped through into Jenny's college dorm room. After, of course, clearing the fog and smoothing the turbulence, in effect removing the delay.
"Oi vey… this is getting rather frustrating. Why can't I go stop the end of the world in peace…? I mean, Superman has never had any problems about flight delays and being stalked by something he couldn't see," Jenny complained to no one in particular. "At least I got my money back. I'm glad I returned my ticket. I'm surprised they let me return my ticket. Oh well. Guess I must be special…"
After rambling to herself, she dug out her room key from a pocket in her jeans. Opening the door, she tried not to let the watched feeling get to her again. Head held high, she strode into her room, determined to ignore it. It didn't work very well. Her movements were skittish and she trembled almost imperceptibly.
Not feeling silly in the slightest, she called out to the seemingly empty room. "Where are you? Show yourself!"
Nothing answered or appeared.
"Fine! If that's the way you play it, so be it! If you won't show yourself, then I will find you myself!" she called, heedless of the open door and any happening passersby. Deciding that if the door were closed, the something in her room would have one less escape route, she strode purposefully toward it, slamming it with a decisive thump and turned once again to face the room.
She angrily crossed the room to the window, and immediately locked it. Whatever was in here was staying in, including Jenny herself. The watched feeling had not abated.
Oh crap.
Once, he would have enjoyed the turmoil he caused in her. But that was before he saw truly what was hidden behind those Nile-green eyes. Before he saw how much a person could change. Before he knew what real pain was. It was real pain that made him offer himself in her stead at the end of the third Game. It was real pain that the elders were forcing upon him when they poured life back into his rune stave. It was also real pain that Jenny had gone through because of him.
Because of me, she was driven to this. Driven to depression and fear. Because of me, so much has happened that I did not intend, Julian thought bitterly. He really was the personification of Dagaz, the catalyst.
No time to wallow in self pity Julian! he rebuked himself silently. Now is the time to make her forget about you. Maybe then I can start over.
Jenny's words from the first game rang inside his head, "What if you simply asked me? Came to my door, no games no tricks, and just asked me?" (A/N: I'm too lazy to check and see if that's what she really said, besides, my friend has my books, so no references…)
Despite his hopes, he knew in his heart that he could not make her forget. Too much was intertwined with it, too many things wrapped up in the games. Besides, it was too long ago. Secretly, he wanted her to remember and love him in spite of the things he had done to her and her companions. He couldn't bring himself to call them friends, especially after what they had done to her. They had pushed her away, denied her choices, trying to bend her back to the way she was before, submissive and ignorant. Because of Julian, he awoke in Jenny the drive to prove herself and a sleeping strength that he did not expect. He gloried in his ability to inadvertently push Tom away from Jenny. Her newfound strength had repelled Tom, simply because he was a controlling bastard. Serves him right, Julian thought rather smugly.
Turning his attention back to the situation at hand, he tried to figure out a way to contact her.
Jenny felt a tiny shift in the intensity of the watched feeling. Not a lessening or increase, but a shift in the focus, as if it was drawing within itself. Brooding, or plotting most likely, she thought to herself. Readying herself for whatever might come her way, she breathed deeply and deposited her things on her bed and breathed deeply, trying to shake the feeling of recognition that haunted the half-forgotten places in her mind that only one person had ever touched, which now lay dormant and slowly fading into a sweet dream from a long-forgotten child-hood, which indeed it had been. Horrifying, but sweet, in a twisted sort of way.
Jenny whirled when the door slammed open. Kris stood there, wreathed in the harsh light of the track lighting illuminating the hallway.
"Hey there Sunshine! I thought you were leaving! Aren't you?"
Somewhat startled by her roommate's sudden appearance, she answered rather awkwardly. "I was going to, but my flight got cancelled. I'll either drive or reschedule."
"Where was that you were going?"
"Oh, Pennsylvania. To- to... visit my grandfather," she stuttered.
"Well, then it's a pity your flight got cancelled. I hope you can make it there soon," Kris continued conversationally. Jenny felt unnerved; talking so amiably while the watched feeling seemed to increase in intensity. She could feel invisible eyes boring smoldering holes into her back, as if they were trying to look beyond her flesh, straight into her soul, to read her mind and her intentions. She wouldn't be surprised if it had worked.
She wasn't disappointed. It did.