Jenny woke up to a cold chill creeping down her spine. It must've been the fear of the shadows that had jolted her awake, or maybe it was the anxiety she felt as she was being pulled out of it in such a rush-Julian touching her, whispering in her ear, kissing her-
Jenny sat up and shook it off. She found Summer asleep next to her and Dee at the end of the bed on a spare mattress. That's right, she remembered. They were in the guest bedroom. They had agreed to use the Buddy System in case anything like before happened again. She glanced to the clock and was surprised she was so awake at three in the morning, considering she had been sucked into Limbo and back out and made a deal with a Shadow Man she shouldn't trust all in just a few hours ago-
-or was it yesterday? God, time really had escaped her.
Silently, Jenny climbed out of bed. She was too anxious to sleep. Her head was still spinning and she was constantly shivering-from the cold or excitement, she didn't know. She grabbed a jacket over the shirt she was wearing and the sweats she had put on earlier, and snuck into the hall.
Michael and Audrey were asleep in the other room. Zach was asleep on the couch while Tom was up against the chair, flipping through static on the TV. She didn't saw anything and tried not to be seen as she made her way to the basement. She had approached the door without thinking. Maybe she was going down there just to see if last night had really happened or if the Ancestors had stolen her mind for a moment to make her hallucinate. Yet, before she could turn the handle, there was something stuck to the door. Some kind of paper with something very familiar written in red.
Jenny recognized it almost immediately. It was Nauthiz, a slanted X; the rune that kept whatever demon was inside to stay inside forever. Or until the rune was broken. Half furious and half asleep, jenny ripped the paper away. She didn't know if the rune was even working since last time they had to carve them into the door, but other times simply saying them and drawing them with your finger was enough. Still, jenny felt the throb of power break as she opened the door.
She was halfway down the stairs when she heard it. "Couldn't stay away, could you?"
Jenny stopped mid-way on the stairs and found the Shadow man leaning against the third bookcase, the one that held the door he had been trapped in for years because of her grandfather. He looked very nonchalant, dressed entirely in dull black clothes that made his sapphire eyes gleam dangerously. He was smiling, but it wasn't as cocky as it was earlier.
"It's mesmerizing, you know. How you wake up looking so marvelous. Like a sleeping lioness, in disarray but so prevailing. Such natural beauty."
Jenny looked away before she could get captured, although her cheeks were starting to feel warm. She wasn't used to compliments like that. "I didn't come to play," she said flatly. "I-remembered something about my grandfather's journals." She got down the stairs and went straight to the desk with the leather journals. "He mentioned your Ancestors….somewhere." She hesitated, then picked one up, opened it, and skimmed.
Julian's voice flowed from behind as smooth as water over rocks. "Hmm… And why not take the book-" Suddenly his voice was right behind her and it took everything in Jenny not to jump, "-back to the safety of your friends?"
Jenny didn't even look away from the harsh handwriting. "If you're going to help, I need to ask you some questions. Like, how did my grandfather capture them in the first place?"
"Do you plan on tricking us back into captivity?"
Before Jenny could argue, he was touching her. She flinched at the abrupt cold touch on her bicep, his fingertips ever so slowly running down her skin-very similar to spider-legs walking on the very tips of goose bumps-very light, very ticklish. It was unnerving how she got goose bumps almost immediately, but she didn't let it show on her face. She silently watched his hand move down her arm, around her wrist and to the back of her hand, barely brushing her skin with his fingertips.
His voice was softer than gauze when he spoke, as if mumbling to himself. "I can touch you here…."
He meant on Earth, without her permission. Unlike the Shadow World where he had to trick her into getting permission. However, Jenny didn't think he'd stop messing with her now.
She pulled away from him, trying to act bold enough to not be fooled. "You didn't answer my question."
"Why did you save me?"
Jenny hesitated upon meeting those eyes. Well, she hadn't technically brought him here on purpose, but she wasn't locking him up either. "We need your help. Whether we like it or not."
His glimmering blue eyes only pressed into her harder. They sparkled a deep blue, like the color of the ocean right as the sun was disappearing. "Then why not question me there? I would've answered you thinking you weren't real-"
"Or you could've tricked me into staying there with you forever if you found out I was real."
To that, Julian only smiled-that same unnerving wolf-hungry smile he had always given her before. Usually it sent Jenny into a completely other world, one where she was the prey resting in the predator's paws. Yet, all Jenny could see was how terrified he had looked when her mirror image was being burned alive-
Suddenly she thought back to the day in the cave-such honesty and passion- and the lighthouse where he saved her, gave his soul for her-
"I couldn't just leave you there…"
Surprise struck Julian's eyes, and Jenny didn't even know why or how she said such a thing-but as the silence dwelled on it she knew it was true.
To shake it off, she quickly added, "Besides, I could've gotten stuck in their without your help. I'm sure they would've liked that."
In a rush, she took the book and tried to leave, but Julian slapped it closed back onto the desk swifter than a large feline. He was facing her now, but Jenny didn't how he had trapped her in the corner of the room so quickly. His midnight blue gaze was staring her down. One hand was on the wall behind her, the other on the desk, and the rest of his body before her. She was entirely trapped, mind the bookcase beside her where there was enough room for her to push away if she wanted to-
Yet, she was staring right back at him, as if accepting his silent challenge half-heartedly.
"That was the only reason?" he asked smoothly.
"Yes," she tried to respond quickly, so she wouldn't over think her answer and expose the things she had pushed away far back in her mind that day in the cave.
But Julian saw right through her. "You trusted me, didn't you? You didn't want me trapped in there forever-"
"You're different, Julian, and you know it," she snapped. "You…." While she tried to find the words, something dark crossed Julian's face and he pulled away from her.
In the next second, Jenny heard the female voice from upstairs. "Jenny?"
Without looking at Julian, she took the journals from the desk and headed for the stairs where Dee quickly approached. Her shirt was a wreck and her half-closed eyes showed signs of just waking up. "Jesus, I freaked when you weren't in bed. What are you doing down here?"
"I needed the journals," she said as easily as she could without seeming flustered. "Interrogating the Shadow Man." She tried to sound playful, like Dee always was, to not seem so suspicious.
Dee smiled, gave the Prince of Darkness a glance, then turned away. "Well, food's on it's way so come back up.
Jenny waited till Dee disappeared before looking back to the Shadow Man. Surprisingly, he hadn't disappeared like he usually did. He stood away from her, gazing passed the hidden door at something she probably would never see.
She was halfway across the room when the question popped into her head. It was completely unorthodox for the current situation, but as she spotted Julian across the room, her curiosity got the best of her. "Julian," she said a little quietly. He was standing by one of the bookcases, his fingers dancing around a strange golden figure of a half naked person holding a spear. He just barely glanced over his shoulder at her with cold, intrigued eyes. Jenny danced with the thought in her head for a moment before she asked, "Do.. Do you eat? Like…food?"
She saw the corner of his mouth just curl up slightly before he looked back to the shelves of protective figures. "You could say that."
Grabbing the rest of the journals and any other loose papers, Jenny walked back to the stairs, asking as she passed him. "Well, what do you eat?"
"Would you care to take a guess?"
Jenny looked back at him and his simple smile suddenly gave her the chills-the kind of chills you get when you climb out of bed the first thing on a cold morning. Unexpected and cruel. That's when she thought of it-The Shadow Men were after her soul. They took souls- The thought frightened Jenny so bad that she looked away, back up to the stairs, and started to leave. "N-Not human food, I'm assuming."
She heard him laugh behind her then say, "Although, it's very similar to that."
Confusion swept over her and made her turn back towards him. Yet, the room was suddenly empty. It had already happened once, so she really should have seen it coming.
His lips were suddenly in her ear, whispering very firmly, very viciously, very lasciviously-so much so that it made her stomach flip in surprise. He wasn't touching her, but he was so close that Jenny felt trapped by his body, especially since he was blocking the door.
"Danger," he hissed slowly. "Fear. Temptation. Lust. Desire. All the little things….that humans would die without."
The room was a hundred degrees hotter now, and Jenny got flashes of when they were in Limbo, back when he was touching her, when he was whispering in her ear like he was now-the thrill-the excitement-
Jenny didn't know whether she should move away, scold him, or do anything at all. Before she could decide, he was walking past her, slowly, and with those devilish eyes looking back at her over his shoulder. "Let me know when you're hungry."
It was said with such an alluring tone that the threatening goose bumps made Jenny quickly leave the room. For some reason, she wasn't so hungry anymore.
She walked into the bedroom where Audrey sat with a half-asleep Michael, trying to work the TV. "Does this even work?"
Jenny dropped the books on the coffee table, saying, "No one's lived here for years. I doubt it." She took a glance around the room, spotted Summer's lights on, and the empty hallway. "Well since you guys are up, can you help me find something-"
Darkness flashed before them, and made Michael jump awake. The lights snapped back and flickered all throughout the house. Jenny looked back and saw the bulbs about to burn out, and finding Summer's room completely black.
"Where's Tom?" Jenny asked quickly.
"Uh, him and Zach just left to get some food… Is the generator going out?"
Jenny hesitated because somehow she just knew it wasn't right. She started to walk away, to wake Dee and Summer when she felt it. The sudden chill on her chest, running down her arms and numbing her core. It suddenly got tighter, and her breath became visible, and she just knew.
Before she could shout, the shadows whipped before her, hitting her right in the chest. It was such a sudden burst of power that it knocked her right off her feet. She hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of her, and her only breath sucked in was filled with ice. She felt the cold penetrate her lungs through her skin. She could feel it hardening in her chest so hard that it made her heart feel frozen. She tried to breathe, but couldn't. All she felt was ice digging deeper into her chest, blocking her lungs, and freezing her very soul.
The pain instantly brought tears, but she couldn't move. It was as if there was a frozen hand digging into her chest, deep between her ribs, and surrounding her heart with ice.
As she choked, the ground trembled and the lights flickered out. She heard Audrey scream somewhere behind her before it was drowned out with a terrible cracking. The ground threatened to split open as large black tendrils started to grow around the room, breaking through the old wooden walls, the floors, the ceiling.
Michael had to grab Audrey and move her out of the way of three large icicles shooting out one by one behind them, about to hit them. Dee came charging out with Summer and ran for Jenny, but before she could reach her, a black swirl of ice swooped up in front of her. She immediately punched the forming subject, but the ice ripped through her skin and forced her back.
Summer was crying. Audrey was shouting. Jenny felt herself slipping away, the world getting very hazy and cold. The shaking of the house took over her whole body, and she felt her suffocating coming to an end.
The black mist was about to cover the whole house before the place pulsed with some kind of mystical power. The atmosphere throbbed and the ice was suddenly retracted. The icicles shattered, the lights burned out, and the cold seeped through the cracks. The black tendrils were pulled out of the air and contracted until it faded in the palm of a hand.
The trembling came to a stop and the remaining lights fought to stay on. Julian closed his fist, cutting off the attack, standing powerfully over Dee and Summer. "Grab whatever you need to stay alive," he said firmly, "and get out. Now." Dee gave Jenny a quick glance before she dragged Summer away quickly, forcing Audrey and Michael to do the same.
Julian quickly turned on Jenny and scooped her up in his arms. With the walls promptly getting covered in frost, Julian didn't waste any time. Time flickered and they appeared outside. The early morning barely let in any light, but Julian could already see Jenny's problem. He laid her down in the dirt and made her look him in the eyes. "Come on, Jenny. Breathe."
He placed a hand solidly on her chest where his fingers suddenly dug deep into her skin. Jenny felt something escape into her from his touch, something that touched the cold and made the ice around her heart tighten. She writhed, suffering as the pain constricted tighter, until Julian kissed her. His lips barely touched hers, but they were warm enough to distract Jenny for a moment. It was then that Jenny felt the new power get a hold of the ice, striking a new sense of pain through her very core before it rose up in her throat. His kiss was suddenly forceful, making the ice shards that had started to grow in her lungs detach and fly out. The same with the rest of the cold inside her. With Julian's kiss, it all rose up in a frozen mist to her throat and running like water out of her mouth.
As soon as he pulled away, a burst of air came to Jenny and she gasped so deeply that her lungs burned. She tried to sit up, breathing frantically, but Julian kept her at a certain angle. He shushed her and checked her face until the color came back to her. "Shh, shh. You're all right." It wasn't said in a soothing tone; no, because it was Julian who said it, because he said it so firmly that Jenny felt ordered to be okay. But strangely, she felt better. A lot better.
However, she couldn't focus right at first. She heard a rumbling somewhere, then Audrey shouting as all of her friends came rushing from the house; Even though it was very hard to see in the early morning light. Summer was still crying, Michael was on the phone, and they each were carrying an armful of stuff. "Oh my God, Jenny!"
Dee immediately came to her side, although she was clutching her own arm, and Julian stepped back. "Are you okay?"
Jenny could only nod, since she was still trying to breathe right, and looked at Dee's arm. The skin was ghost white, surrounding with a harsh red, and her whole forearm was swollen. Yet, she only shrugged it off. "Frostbite. No big deal." Her normal smile gave Jenny enough strength to sit up. It was amazing how fast everything almost collapsed and she could still smile like that.
Julian's voice surprised them all. "I cut them off before they could do any real damage. I'm the only danger left."
Jenny looked to him, but his head was turned away, looking into the blackness of the forest around them. For a second, Jenny was confused on how his hair was such a golden yellow, and why he seemed to be glowing before she noticed the sudden lights that had appeared on him. Jenny recognized the rumbling as the old pick-up truck came speeding up.
Having rushed back since Michael called, Tom didn't even turn off the engine, and dove out of the car. He came charging straight up to the group, but his glare was straight at the staring Shadow Man. Jenny could already seeing him blowing up, so she tried to get up. Yet, she hadn't seen coming was the gun coming out from the back of Tom's belt.
He had started to shout something, but Zach was grabbing him, fighting him back. Everyone started shouting as Tom tried to get at Julian. Jenny forced herself up, stumbling and almost falling if it weren't for Dee. She was shouting, too, but she wasn't heard until she shoved Tom back. "Enough!" she choked out before coughing. Audrey had to keep her up, but she kept herself between Julian and Tom.
"He was just-"
"He was helping!" Jenny snapped.
Tom held up the gun, not aiming, but making his point perfectly clear. "This is all his fault. It's his fault you're even in danger. Why are you even standing up for-"
"At least he was here!" Jenny screamed so bad that the tears came back up. "He saved my life, damn it… And if I hadn't have taken that curse off the door-the one that you put on, I would've probably died, Tom." It was clear by just the look in her eyes that she was talking about previous terms and not just his breakfast run.
The tension slowly pierced the group till the only noise in the silence was Jenny's sobs. "God, just stop," she said and shoved passed him.
Zach had to help her to the car and that was the sign that they had to leave. It was an awkward moment since in Julian's presence everyone felt sort of…frozen. Yet, one by one they followed in silence, bringing the small amount of clothes and food they had brought with them. Audrey ran back in for the journals and Michael also grabbed a few objects from the bookcases downstairs. Everyone was moving for the cars, getting ready to leave at such an early hour, all except Tom. He stood there firmly for a minute, staring down the Shadow Man who held no smiles or jokes. They both glared for a hard minute, sharing the same kind of hatred and the type of understanding. Yet, Julian smiled, making it clear that he had won, before he suddenly vanished.
There was a flash of something under Jenny's eyes and she jolted awake. Another nightmare that she couldn't remember. It was one of those dreams where she simply woke up with only this horrific, terrified feeling. She never knew what it was, although she could guess, but the darkness always snatched it away. She had it numerous times a while back, before she remembered her grandfather's sacrifice.
Yet, there was nothing she could do now, no matter how hard she wanted to remember. All she could do was rest for a moment as the anxiety and fear settled back inside the back part of her mind.
"You okay?"
When she opened her eyes again, she found Zach beside her. He looked pretty beaten up with bags under his eyes and hard lines of exhaustion on his face. His hair was down, surprisingly, the blonde hair seeming coarse against the smooth green blurs of the world passing by through the window behind him. For a moment he looked like he did a year ago, back in Julian's game when he was facing his nightmare; the nightmare of himself…
They were in Tom's truck where Dee was driving.
Jenny forced herself awake, but when she started to sit up, a deep ache hit her in the chest. She tried not to show it, but allowed herself to look around. "Where's…"
"Behind us," Dee answered without taking her eyes off the road. "The rest of them fit in Audrey's car. We figured it would be better if Tom…"
"Yeah," Jenny mumbled. She rubbed her eyes, then her face, but as soon as she touched her lips a shiver passed over her.
Julian.
Jenny sat up now, but even when she looked into the car behind them, all she could see was the small doll-like head of Summer in the passenger seat and the hard face of Tom driving. She doubted Julian was in the backseat with Audrey and Michael. Silently she swallowed the question because she just knew. Wherever he was, he was watching her right now.
She slowly turned back and looked at the nearest sign. "Where are we?"
Zach sat up for the map. "Uh…"
"Wait," Jenny rephrased, "I mean, where are we going?"
Dee could only give her a blank glimpse. "We started to head back toward home."
Jenny shook her head. "We can't go home. They'll…get our parents or Summer's brother."
"Well, where else are we supposed to go? We talked about this before we hit the road while you were out. There's nowhere else to turn!"
Zach sighed and quietly mumbled, "Running in circles."
Jenny gave him a worried glance then reached over and honked the horn.
"What are you-"
"Pull over. We all need to talk."
They both turned into a Denny's parking lot where the afternoon was as cold as ice. Seeing Tom was a bit unsettling for Jenny, but she was right. Julian was nowhere to be found. They started to huddle together and argue before Michael suggested they go inside.
They got two booths since one wasn't big enough and Jenny stuck with Dee and realized she was avoiding Tom. Although hot food and shelter from the bitter weather outside was comforting, the conversation quickly got out of hand.
It was mostly Audrey and Tom, arguing on the concepts of equal trading.
"Age, gender, and relations don't matter," Audrey was saying. "In most folklores, the trading of a soul was based primarily on concept. A life for a life."
"So what if they killed Julian? And this is just some sort of trick?"
"It doesn't work that way."
"You don't know! Either way, we're playing right into their hands!"
Jenny was the one to finally snap. "What do you expect us to do then?" Finally meeting his gaze again was a little unsettling but Jenny bared through it. "We can't hurt them. We can't even see them. So I say Julian's our only weapon. That's the end of it." There was an awkward silence that didn't disappear until after the waiter came and refilled their drinks.
Michael was the first to speak again. "So where do we go?"
"We can't keep running forever," Audrey said.
Dee spoke next, "Well I'm down to stand and fight."
Jenny wanted to argue against it, but instead drank some of the coffee. She was never a fan of it, but she needed to stay awake and focus. Also she needed to get rid of the cold stone resting in the deep pit of her chest.
"How are we supposed to fight them?"
"We can use their runes. Use those against 'em." Dee said.
"But it's not that simple," Audrey clarified. "Their runes are very old, very dark type of magic."
"But Jenny used it."
All eyes looked to her to which she shook her head and kept her eyes on the swirling steam coming from her cup. "Yeah, and I dropped myself right into Limbo."
There was an disconcerting silence that moved through all of them, a very disappointing, very doubtful emotion that hit everyone of them one by one.
The argument continued, but after a while Jenny couldn't take it. For most of the conversation she completely zoned out, drinking her coffee even though it burned. She kept her head turned away for a while, staring off at the rest of restaurant. The waiters and waitresses were calmly doing their jobs. Local citizens were minding their own business, even a couple was flirting over in the corner, keeping warm over a few lattes.
Instead of calming down the sight made Jenny a little depressed. She wished she could go back to those days where her and Tom were so open, so loving, so carefree, without having to worry about school or fights or Ancient Shadow Men chasing them across the globe-
A girl passed by her and something about her caught Jenny's eye. It was her jacket she realized. A very cute, but very expensive style. A light army green with bedazzled shoulders, thick lining on the inside. Cute and warm. Jenny wished she could go out shopping just for the hell of it like she used to with Audrey. Shopping even without buying anything made her feel better. It didn't matter now though. All she felt was tired and cold. Remembering it, she took another sip of her coffee only to have it form in a pit of disgust in her stomach.
She came back to the argument only to hear Dee and Audrey screaming at each other with Tom and Michael interrupting here and there. Zach and Summer sat like silent dolls in the corners of the booths. Now tired, cold, and sick, Jenny got up and shuffled out of the booth, but not without Tom coming to a stand with her. "Where are you going?"
Jenny hesitated, realizing his concern was completely understandable, but seeing as they weren't on such great terms it was a little gauche. "To the bathroom? I'll be fine, Tom-"
"You said that last time and you were-"
"We're in public."
"We were right there-"
"Because they had the right," Jenny stressed. "Not here." She didn't bother to leave him with a claming, "I'll be really quick" or even ask one of the girls to come with her. She didn't want to. If she did get attacked or taken, it was better if it was only her and her alone.
Instead of going to the bathroom, however, she went to the back of the restaurant where the bathrooms were and snuck out a side door. She knew it was actions like this that got the stupid girl killed in horror movies, but she knew she wasn't going to hurt. At least, not by the older Shadow Men anyway.
She crept along the back wall until it was nothing but a secluded lot lined with a few dumpsters, a fence and part of a forest. She leaned against the wall, shivering slightly at the cold nipping at her bare arms and ankles. She didn't have to wait long for the voice to appear.
"You're not so foolish as to wander off on your own," Julian practically purred, "so you must be looking for me."
Jenny took a deep breath, preparing herself for this. She looked at him and found him leaning against the wall on his shoulder so he was facing her. He looked like the boy back in the More Games store a year ago. He wore black ripped jeans and some thick leather jacket with no shirt underneath, exposing his hard chest and smooth navel. With his hair brushed over his eyes like that, making his eyes glisten even brighter at her, he looked like the perfect irresistible bad boy out of the movies. And Jenny had to admit, for just a second, he was….well, hot.
Jenny moved the hair out of her face and returned to keeping her arms crossed to shield her from the cold. "We need to know how to stop them-"
"I don't suggest playing your own games with them," he cut her off. He stood up right and looked at something in his hand, but kept it closed. "We're the Kings of games and tricks."
"I know," Jenny persisted. She went to continue before a sudden smile overtook her at the memory of catching Julian off guard twice. "Maybe, but it doesn't mean you're not gullible," she said it with enough tease for Julian to get the hint. His smile faded for a moment before slowly rising back up.
"Blame the fool for taking the course of the heart," he said like some scholar. "But remember Jenny. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice-"
"Shame on me."
Julian's smirk widened. "For Shadow Men, it's shame on you."
Jenny got the hint with the next chilling breeze. Shadow Men have rights, which mean they will get back at you, no matter what. The realization made Jenny get back on topic. "So how can I stop them? Or.. At least to get them off my friends?"
"You'd sacrifice yourself for your friends?"
"I did it once, didn't I?"
Julian's smile didn't falter. "Ah, but that was a trick indeed, wasn't it?"
"Yes." Jenny said firmly. "You don't threaten my friends."
"Well…."
Jenny didn't get it. "Well, what?" Before Julian could answer she swept by the wind again, receiving far too many goose bumps for her to handle, so she turned away and shivered. She was trying to rub her arms to get warmer when something suddenly touched her. The cloth felt like a heater compared to how cold she seemed with the chilling air and ice in her chest. There was an admirable pause as Julian slipped the jacket on her without once touching her directly. It was the jacket she saw earlier, the one that girl was wearing. And Jenny was right, the inner lining shielded her perfectly from the cold. She tucked herself into it, something very bad and very familiar going on in the back of her head. Yet, the subtle look on Julian's face made her ignore it just slightly.
"Thank you," she said cautiously. "But I still don't get what you're saying."
"It's what you've been saying all along, Jenny." His voice was suddenly very soothing and Jenny realized he didn't step away from her. He stayed very closer with her pressed against the wall.
Jenny tried to connect the dots. Why was a normal conversation so hard with this Shadow Man? "Games? You told me not to play games-"
"I said not to play your games with us. We're not so stupid."
That's when Jenny got it. Whenever she tricked Julian it was during one of his games. He was about to pull a trick on her when she turned the tables. The element of surprise, she could hear Dee say in her mind. So he wasn't denying that Shadow Men could be tricked, it was which trick that was the problem.
"So," Jenny hesitate, "wait for their move?'
Julia playfully shrugged, crossed his arms and turned away as if to leave her there alone. "Or make your own. Whichever you think is best."
Jenny caught on. "I don't want what's best. I want what's smartest." Julian looked back at her over his shoulder, eyebrow lifted teasingly. "You're not stupid. Just gullible." Julian just smiled with a "Hm," and turned away again. Jenny thought she had an answer, but for some reason she didn't let him leave. "Wait," she stopped him and waited for him to turn back to her completely. It was another odd moment where she was speaking without thinking. "Where do you go?" She asked gently. "When we're just….doing everything. Where do you go?"
Julian actually found it amusing and gave her a soft chuckle. He returned to her and held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. She paused, giving him a skeptical look, but in the end put her hand in his own. He pulled her closer, of course, until her face was inches from his own and their chests were touching. If she tilted her head up at all, they would be kissing. Being so close so suddenly made Jenny feel far too hot in the new jacket. He turned her hand up then placed his other hand in it. Jenny felt something slip into her fingers, but Julian refused to let her see it just yet.
"I am everywhere you want me to be," he said in a very hushed tone, his breath tickling her face. "If you want anything, to be anywhere, just think of it and I will be there to give it to you." He closed her hand over the small, cool object, then lifted her hand so he could kiss the back of her fingers. Jenny finally lifted her gaze, being thankful for her own hand to separate their faces. "I am the shadows at your command," he whispered onto her hand before completely releasing her.
Something shuddered through Jenny, making her silently lose her breath.
Jenny opened her hand to find a small black stone resting in her palm. It seemed like ebony, but for some mundane reason she knew it was anything but. Yet, it shined nicely in the light and seemed to catch her attention very well. She looked up to question him, only to find herself staring at the empty lot.
Really, she should've seen that coming.
Tired of his games, she put the stone in her jacket pocket then strolled back inside. It was feeling the cool touch of the jacket's material and the blush on her cheeks that she remembered Julian's original trick. When he gave her the silver rose back in his first game, he used it as a guise to touch her. This jacket gave him permission to touch her entire upper body. Yet, all he touched were her hands. And he had permission to touch her here, didn't he?
Her thoughts were muddled on the subject so much that her dazed state made her run right into Summer coming around the corner.
"Oh, Jenny! I was coming to check on you."
A pinch of doubt made Jenny flinch. "Oh, Summer, don't ever go alone, okay? I-If I was in trouble-"
"That's why I followed her," Tom interrupted as he came around the corner behind her. He went to say something else, but his eyes caught something strange and he looked her over. "Where did you get that jacket?"
Jenny hesitated, looking at the jacket, then back at Tom. She didn't have to say anything because Tom already knew the answer. "So he just followed you to the bathroom?"
Jenny didn't wait for his argument. She took Summer's hand and brought her back to the table. "We needed to talk, Tom-"
"About what? You're new…taste in clothes?"
Jenny gave him a glare, stopping in front of the table of their friends. "If you actually care at all, he gave me a hint of how to stop them."
Tom laughed sarcastically. "Oh, just a hint? What a big help."
Jenny tried not to scowl. She hated when he got like this. If they ever got in an argument or something, usually in front of his other friends, he acted like this. Too hot-heated. Too stubborn.
"Bigger than what we got," Dee mentioned. "What did he say?"
"Shadow Men are just tricks. It's what they're all about. The dreams, the ice. It's their way of scaring me. When Julian tried to scare us, he was playing tricks. Whenever we tricked him back, it was during his own game."
"So…trick the Shadow Men?" Michael said.
"With their own game," Jenny said, a slight smile rising up on her lips. Her stomach didn't hurt anymore and now that she was warm she seemed to be thinking a lot clearer now. "It's like you said, Dee. We can use their runes. But it's all about timing. The element of surprise. If we can catch them in that right moment, we can shake them off of us."
Her confident tone must've waken up the hope in them because everyone at the table smiled. Even Michael with a mouthful of hash browns gave a childish grin. Jenny smiled back and stood up firmly until Audrey asked, her inner shopper coming out, "Where did you get that jacket?"
Jenny finally cringed. "Julian, while we were talking…."
Thankfully and surprisingly Zach saved her from the awkward realization that passed over everyone. "So how are we supposed to trick them, exactly?"
"When they make the next move, we…just have to counter it the best we could."
"But last time they almost took you," Summer protested. "We couldn't do anything."
Jenny hesitated, then got it. "That's why we set it up. Make it so they can only attack us in one way, in one place, at one time. That way we can counter it."
Tom's voice came coldly from behind her. "So we dangle you out for bait then hope we can pull you back in?"
"Do you want me to run for the rest of my life?" Jenny turned on him. "Or just let them take us all like they want-"
"I just want you to be safe," Tom pressed tightly, the desperation obviously showing.
"Then trust me!" Jenny said firmly. She looked at everyone saying, "Let's head into town. Get some supplies and set up camp. Once we have everything, let's set it up and end this."
She got a few nods from the group, but Tom however was pouting like a kid. He looked at her, or moreover her jacket, then looked away. "Take it off," he mumbled. "And we'll…try this."
Jenny hesitated, but complied. They wouldn't be able to get passed this if there wasn't some kind of compromise. She began to slip off the jacket before the weight in the pocket stopped her. Without Tom seeing, she slipped the rock into her back pants pocket. Then she slipped the jacket off and handed it to him to which, in turn, he gave her his own jacket. It wasn't as warm as the one Julian gave to her, but it felt more comfortable somehow, more…safe.
"Well, that's it then," Tom said clearly as he threw the jacket onto another booth. "Let's get to it."