The Garden of Evil

Chapter Four: Enter the Shadow-Men

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Aniah

AniaHope@aol.com

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I know; it's been almost a year since I last updated, and almost two since I started. Time for some closure, yeah!

This work's dedicated to Kayla, who introduced me to L.J. Smith initially.

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                The Shadow-men were amused. "The pup's taken a bride," they laughed, "let's wager on how long she'll last." Needless to say, the spirits of hell and darkness had long ago lost the icy beauty that had so captivated Jenny and her friends. They watched the youngest of their kith as he consummated his vow with the human; there hadn't been such sport in limbo for almost an eon.

                "What shall we send them for a wedding present?" The eldest asked. "I could contract a delightful little version of the bubonic plague to smite her down!" He cackled, sending chills through every one of his cohorts.

                "That's too medieval, Adonis," the second sneered. "We're in the 1990s; get with the times. I say we put the two lovebirds in a Game of our own!" This one might have been a woman, but she shape-shifted whenever someone glanced at her.

                "He's too smart for that, after all, I trained him," Adonis reasoned, fashioning a throne out of the abyss. We don't want to anger him; he'll just find some rune or other that will vanquish us. It's the bride we need to focus on, and I know just how to do it. He grinned in a rather feral fashion, and leaned forward to tell his cronies the plan.

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                Jenny was floating. It was a soothing, calming sensation, and she could hear the distant songs of birds from some trees nearby. She sighed; it seemed very, very perfect. Stretching her pale arms out wide, she sat up.  I was right, she mused thoughtfully, we're floating. They were on some sort of house-boat, in an evidently temperate climate.

                "Hey, did you move us places while I was sleeping again?" She asked, looking around for Julian. It was then that she realized that there were two legs outside of her own. Dreading what she would find, she twisted around, only to see that she had been sleeping on the youngest Shadowman. This is not cool, she gnashed her teeth as he flashed a smirk at her.

                "It's not that I transported us anywhere; we both did it, Beautiful. I personally think that this type of place is a bit too much like the Elysian  Fields, but I've never actually been there." She shrugged, and pulled a sheet around her chest. It was even obvious to herself that Jenny was in denial about what had previously occurred between the two of them at the castle in the Alps.

                "I have this strong sense of doubt that tells me you'd never be allowed into the Elysian Fields," she pointed out, getting up to pull a soft sheet over her body. She looked around; the river wasn't very wide, maybe half a mile or so in width, with banks that alternated between rocky and tree-lined shores. Now and then they'd pass under a natural bridge that suggested that the region had remained untouched by human hands.

                "Where do we go from here?" she asked, pacing to one end of the vessel and back.

                "What do you mean?" He asked lazily, trailing a hand in the cool water, glacial eyes never leaving his love.

                "There's nothing for me to do. No school to study for, no shopping at the mall with my friends…I can't call my family. I'm guessing there's no way for me to get a job without you having a hissy fit; not that they'd hire me without a high school diploma. What kind of life am I supposed to live with you, Julian?" Her voice quivered; realization was finally hitting Jenny.

                "Is it so terrible, to want you to live a life of luxury? You'll want for nothing, Jen, I promise.."

                "But what about your Shadow Man schemes, and all of that? Do you just expect me to go along for the ride? What if someone else starts playing The Game; am I supposed to sit back and watch you make their lives miserable too?"

                Julian paused for a moment, letting flames play in his eyes. With a swirling motion, he shape-shifted into the Erl-king. "Quite frankly, Gorgeous, you are." He tucked the self-same red rose back into Jenny's hair, and pulled her back down beside him.

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                Adonis chuckled, watching the spectacle from his lair. Azazel and Belial had draped themselves on either side of his demonic throne, the former in vaporous form, the latter reclining as a distorted lioness, jaws dripping with toxic saliva. "Let's give the pup a taste of his own medicine. As soon as he sleeps, bring her to me," he motioned to Azazel, who solidified and grinned; a smile as cavernous as the abyss they relaxed in.

                "It shall be done," the second-in-command made a half-assed bow, and flowed silently into the picture in Adonis' vision. He watched as Julian visibly perked and tensed, his Erl-king image fading away quickly.

                "Get into the house, Jen," he warned, in a voice that booked no argument. She fled accordingly, and Julian turned to face the devil's minion. "Well, what a surprise," he smiled wolfishly. "Wait," his grin waned a bit,  "I don't see any wedding gift. My wife'll be ever so disappointed." Azazel bared his teeth.

                "You do something stupid like this, boy," he snorted contemptuously, "and you know that you'll get on Adonis' bad side. I knew you were never one to think before he acts," he admonished, before whirling down to follow Jenny.

                "Dammit," Julian breathed, knowing he was incapable to match his elder Shadow-man in a world that wasn't normally his own. As the vapor streamed away, Jenny in tow, the youngest Shadow-man began to formulate a course of action.

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I know, took me long enough, ne?