Disclaimer: If you have not yet realized that I STILL own nothing, you just might need some counseling.
Author's Note: Last chapter was… strange, to say the least. If you didn't get it, you aren't the only one, 'cause I certainly had NO idea what the hell I was writing about.
Thanks again Shadow! Your reviews are great!
NOTE: THE FORMATTING IS MESSED BECAUSE IT WILL NOT POST THE WHOLE THING IF IT ISN'T!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
And off we go, into the wild blue fanfic….!
The darkness consumed her. It ripped into her, struck through her soul and wrapped her mind in sickening violation. It tore every piece of knowledge, ever shred of emotion and every single thought straight from her head and her heart. It knew her now, her weaknesses and her strengths, her betrayals and dignities, and yet it still sought something. It wanted to find something within the deeps of her mind.
She couldn't tell what this darkness wanted, but she could feel it. Feel its need, its hunger, and its danger. It felt almost familiar…
The darkness tried to settle and take root, but something separate fought it back. Something akin to Jenny, knowing her without this heinous violation. A something that the darkness had once called its own, but tried to fight it back with a desperate poignancy. A something so very familiar.
Jenny was too lost and entrapped by the darkness to care.
- - -
Julian heard her scream. He felt her slip into a void from which no one could escape. So, being the lovesick demon prince that he was, he leapt in after her. Foolish yes, but incredibly brave. Rarely any Shadow Men have ever entered this void, and then they never delved deep into anyone's mind, but Julian leapt straight into the deep as a knight in shining armor to battle for his maiden in distress. More or less.
What he found made his blood boil. Jenny had given up. She had let herself be consumed, allowed the darkness to rip through her. He had always thought that she was stronger then that, but then again, he had been worrying at her heels, an invisible presence, always looking over her shoulder, and might, just might, have been the cause of her weakened state.
One thing was for sure; he couldn't stand by and watch while the darkness possessed her.
Ahh, but Julian, are you sure that its worth it? You gave your life for her, and she repays you by shrinking in fear of the very weight of your gaze. Ask yourself: is she really worth the risk? The sense of reason chimed in.
If anything in the world, she is worth any risk, any price, or any life. Jenny is my light, I cannot live without her!
But Julian, you forget. You don't have a life.
If this is an attempt to persuade me to give up, you are failing miserably. And with that, he flung himself against the darkness, his desperateness lending him strength unparalleled by the voice starting to grow in presence in his mind.
- - -
While Julian was occupied with a heated discussion with the voice in his head, Jenny was sinking deeper into the all-consuming blackness. It clawed at her, and she let it tear right through her, a pain greater than anything she had ever known, with maybe the exception of a summer morning three years ago. She felt the incredible pain of loss all over again, but instead of it being the loss of another, it was the loss of self, and then the pain faded into an incredible numbness
The endless shadow began to retreat against the barrage of the other being that seemed to have invaded her mind. A glimmer of recognition managed to penetrate through the black fog that seemed to have clouded over her consciousness. The haze began to lift, and with the return of thought came the return of pain. But a part of the haze stayed with her, in the deeps of her mind, settling into her subconscious.
The pain was reminiscent of the burning spark of life in a cave in an amusement park in a whole other world. But in a sense, it was a good pain; it was the restoration of senses, but not the restoration of self. That seemed to have retreated with the fog. Now she was reduced to a purpose with feelings.
Vaguely she heard someone calling her name, drawing her back into consciousness, past the void that had consumed her mere moments before. She didn't want to go back to light and sound and touch, she wanted to stay within the numbing darkness, away from the pain and fear, away from the responsibility and worry of life stretching out ahead of her like a narrow unpaved path.
The voice persisted, drawing her from the darkness and back into the light, and back into the all-consuming fire of pain that comes upon the brink of ecstasy.
Unsteadily and slowly, she pulled herself from the void, to find herself alone in her car, her hand bleeding slightly at the knuckles, and a headache that would rival the explosion of an atomic bomb.
Moving slowly, anything but would cause the pain in her skull to triple, she opened the car door, steadying herself on the low roof, and pulled herself out.
Being completely vertical brought a wave of nausea and dizziness down on her. Her knuckles were white on the door; sweat beading her brow, her breathing labored. Beneath the pain was a curious emptiness, and a tiny part of her reveled in it.
The sudden wave passed, and a steady, throbbing weakness took its place. She tried to take a step away from her clutch on her car door, but she promptly toppled to the ground, her knees refusing to bear her weight, as well as co-operate with her brain. Shaking, she lay sprawled on the pavement, waiting for the sky to return to its proper place, and for the ground to stay suitably beneath her. The pain in her hand came back in full as the shock of impact on the pavement wore away.
She attempted to sit up, but it only flung her back into the deeps of unconsciousness. Just before her mind shut down completely, she felt strong but gentle hands lifting her away from the asphalt and a musical voice chiming her name desperately. Then, the faint whirling of a siren, and all went black.