Disclaimer: JER/NBC own characters

Overwhelming thanks to Courtaney, who serves as co-writer for this chapter!

"No...this can't be happening," Eve whispered, terrified at the vision before her. The giant smiled even more widely, fascinated by his beautiful little captive.

"I am not a figment of your imagination my lady," he told her, rather enjoying her discomfiture. "Nor am I some apparition. " His deep voice made her shiver with a fear she had never known before. Eve sat up, ignoring the pain in her head and limbs, and began to back away from the giant, when his laughter once again caused the cage to shake. She placed her hands again over her ears, but she could still hear him, and it only served to heighten the fear that threatened to overtake her.

"I can assure you, you will not be able to escape me. You would do well to reserve your strength--I saw the fall you took. " He leaned closer to the cage, his gaze upon her clothing. Eve looked down and saw that her dress was torn, exposing her stockinged legs, and tried to cover them.

"Please," she began in a halting voice,"please release me. I don't want to be here, I have to return to my home." She searched for some sign of kindness in his face, but all she could find was amusement. "I want to go home, I have people I have to look after," she pleaded.

"A breathtaking creature such as yourself, yes, perhaps you have a family. However, I see that you wear no band of marriage on your finger, so it is not a husband that you are so desperate to return to. And if there is no husband, then there are no children to take care of. Therefore, you will remain with me." His eyes were moving up and down her body, causing Eve to pale at his expression. "Why do you look so frightened? I have not harmed you, my lady." Eve huddled as far away from him as she possibly could have, which proved to be futile, as he simply rotated the cage so that she was close to his face once more.

"I have done nothing to you, sir. What possible reason would you want to keep me here?" Eve screamed as his finger came through the bars and touched her hair, caressing the gleaming strands.

"I have been alone too long," the giant whispered, as Eve fell into a dead faint. He sighed in frustration, as he viewed her limp form. Turning away from her, he cursed once again the events that had led him to his current state.

Flashback

Lord Julian Crane had always enjoyed wine, women, and song, but at this very moment, it was women who were catching his fancy. He was holding a ball on his estate, and of course, had had his valet make certain that every lady within a hundred miles was in attendance.

"One must have a variety of confections to partake of," he had reasoned. And of course, he had already managed to seduce several of them this evening alone...what woman could resist the Crane charm? Tall, with chesnut brown hair and hazel eyes that could make even a married woman consider a tryst with him. And of course, the Crane fortune simply enhanced his physical attributes.

All the delicious dancing he had partaken in made Julian suddenly feel warm...perhaps from the nearness of the beautiful ladies as from the activity itself. Stepping outside for some air, Julian surveyed the night sky, and began to feel a bit lonely about his size in the vastness of the world. He breathed deeply, and sighed.

"Is this what you want for yourself, Lord Crane?" he asked himself. "Is this all you see for yourself in the world...being surrounded by lovely ladies, but never having anything truly meaningful in your life?" Suddenly he was startled from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps rustling in the leaves behind him. He turned to see the town hag,Tabitha Lenox, walking toward his home, wearing a ghastly attempt at a ballroom dress and baubles that were just as hideous.

"Bit odd to be talking to yourself, isn't it?" she cackled.

"Whatever are you doing on the grounds of my estate?" asked Julian, totally shocked at the witch's boldness, as well as her insults.

"Why, I've come to attend the ball, like all the other townspeople. Surely you'll allow a lonely old woman to come in for a cup of tea and some company?"

Julian shook his head at the hag's forwardness, and remembered a warning his father had given him before he died...that whatever he did, he wasn't to associate with Miss Lenox...no matter what. "I am sorry, 'Miss' Lenox, but I do not believe you have an invitation to my ball, so if you'll kindly..."

"Why the nerve..." she exclaimed, her face turning as red as an apple ready for the harvest.

"All right, I tried to be polite, Miss Lenox, but I see that has not gotten me anywhere, so..." he grabbed her arm rather roughly. "I would appreciate if you leave the grounds of my estate immediately, before I have you thrown off. There is no way a woman the likes of you..." he stopped and let his eyes roam her dress, " a hag, and one so hideously outfitted at that...there is no way someone like you will ever set foot in my house...ball or not." Suddenly Tabitha's eyes began to glow eerily, and Julian found that he could not move at all!

"What have you done to me, old woman! Stop this nonsense at once, or I will have my men run you through!" he threatened, through gritted teeth. Tabitha only laughed, as she began to levitate in the air.

"So you will not invite me to dine in polite society, Julian Crane? Then you will suffer the same fate, only far more than I ever will!" she told him, as lightning began to flash about them.

"Julian Crane...I curse you to be an outcast in your world! You will live alone, a creature to be not respected, but feared...doomed to never know the joy of hearth and home!" She then thought a moment. "But I suppose I should give you a chance at redemption, to be sporting...even though you were not sporting with me! If a good woman can look beyond your appearance, then the spell will be broken...but that will never happen!"

Julian's eyes widened, as he felt his limbs being pulled in different directions. "Dear Lord, what is happening to me?" he screamed, as he began to grow in size, dwarfing the top of his estate. Soon he was nearly three times that size, and he kept growing until he was several hundred feet high. He looked at Tabitha, who was levitating in front of his face, terror in his eyes. "What did you do to me?"

"I merely made your height equal to your cruel treatment of me," she cackled. "At least I was genteel enough to keep your clothing intact upon you--imagine if I hadn't, even I would not wish that upon Harmony!" She looked him up and down, and cackled again. "Now if I were you, I would leave here posthaste! Everyone inside is unaware of you at the moment, but that is only because I cast another spell so I can finish the job at hand! I am going to remove it now, so your life is in mortal danger!"

"Where can I go? How will I live like this? Please transform me back to my former self, I did not mean to disrespect you!" Julian pleaded. "No woman could look beyond this monstrousity of a form that I have now!"

Tabitha grinned at him, delighted at her handiwork. "That is not my concern, Lord Crane--it is yours! Begone, or face the wrath of the villagers!" Seeing her raise her hand, Julian ran towards Mount Harmony, the ground quaking beneath his weight, Tabitha's laughter haunting him every step of the way.
End Flashback

Julian held his head in his hands as he remembered the events of that day. Ever since then, he had been forced to seek food at night, so as to not run into and terrorize any of the townspeople. His journeys had not gone unnoticed, as over time, the townfolk had decided that some unworldly creature was pilfering their livestock and gardens. Supersitious as they were--some still left plates of crumbled bread out for fairy folk-- they soon did not go out after dark, fearing the "mountain monster", as he came to be known, would murder them. And so the years had passed, without any human contact, no matter how he desperately yearned for it.

Turning back to the unconscious Eve, he felt a pang of remorse for having placed her in the cage. He knew how it felt to be trapped, yet he could not bear the thought of freeing her...she was the first person he had spoken to in so many years. And she was so lovely...he had never seen anyone as beautiful as this woman. He could not let her go...he would not let her go.

His finger once again reached inside the bars, touching the softness of her cheek as gently as he could. "You're mine, little one, and you will remain mine." On impulse, he unlocked the cage, and lifted Eve out of it. He held her in the palm of his hand, his breath catching at the sight of her beauty.

It was at that moment that Eve opened her eyes, and found herself lying in his hand, staring directly at her captor's face.

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