The room was silent. Dee was organizing the tools they had. Audrey was fixing her hair. Michael was finishing off the wings. Summer was curled up next to Zach, who was sitting very slouched and stationary, like still water. His eyes were still very distant, even if he responded to anyone or acted like he was still here; his eyes showed that he was somewhere far beyond reach. Beside him, sitting on the edge of the couch, was Tom, and he had his eyes firmly set on Jenny.
Jenny was across the room, isolated from her friends. She sat on one of the side tables with her injured leg stretched out to the Prince of Darkness. Julian sat in the chair before her, not facing her but the others in the room so that her legs were sprawled out before him. He was tending to the wound on her leg since it had started to brow a nasty frostbite from the inside-out. But what was worse than the fact that he was touching Jenny was that he was parallel to Tom.
No one spoke. It was hectic at first when they came back all battered and bruised and bleeding, but now there were only a few rare mumbles here and there. The situation was obvious. It was inevitable.
Jenny hadn't said a word since they had returned. Even when the others had rushed her, asking her to explain, asking if they were all right, asking what the hell happened, she never answered. She didn't even accept any of their help. She had passed them all with a very numb sensation overcoming her. She didn't do anything. She hadn't even refused Julian when he appeared in the center of the room and pulled her onto the table.
Maybe that was why Tom wouldn't stop staring.
Julian had some queer yellow paste in a black bowl that Jenny had no idea what it was or where he got it from. He was placing it very carefully on her though, very gentle with a single middle finger. He lined the wound with it, then brought up a white paste that was runnier than the first, and let it run down the center of the wound. It burned like acid.
Jenny winced and hissed in pain. Julian paused and watched until her pained expression faded. When Jenny met his eyes, he merely bounced his eyebrows in the slightest way, with the smallest smirk.
Something in Jenny shuddered, but she hid it the best she could. To have him gently holding her bare legs like this, below her knee and above her shin, and have him smile like that while his touches were softer than a brush from a moth's wings, was too much.
When Julian finished with whatever medicine he had put on her leg, he put the bowl down and brought up a glass of something light blue.
"Drink this."
Jenny hesitated, but didn't think on it too much. She was too tired-too numb to think. It was sickly sweet and made her throat dry when she finished it. She gave it back amid some coughs.
Tom immediately stood up. "What was that?"
"Something you wouldn't comprehend." Julian said smoothly without even looking in his direction. "Your leg will heal in all good time, but the more pressure you apply to the muscle the longer it will hurt."
Jenny took a deep breath and nodded. Odd, hearing doctor advice from the Prince of Darkness, but Jenny didn't think about that either. All she could think about was Zach, and Summer-
How could she let them get hurt so easily? How could she be so stupid?
Even though Julian released her, letting his fingers trail down to the last inch of her leg, he made no move of disappearing or helping Jenny move away from him. He merely sat back in the chair and crossed his legs with Jenny's before resting before him. And he smiled right at Tom.
A bit furious, Tom looked to Jenny. "Jen-"
"Dee," she said abruptly. Everyone seemed to tune back in at the sound of Jenny's slightly hoarse voice. "We're going to have to do a lot of carving into this stuff. It worked."
Dee jumped up. "You hurt one of them?"
"No. A wolf, or dog, or something. A shadow wolf." She finally took off the brass knuckles, the skin red and raw underneath from the harsh metal. "I hit it with this."
Michaels' cocker-spaniel eyes lit up, and she could easily see a pair of dog ears lifting up with glee. "All right!"
Audrey sat forward. "Wait, you hit it?"
"Yes," Jenny answered plainly.
"You punched it?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"In the face."
Jenny didn't want to explain anymore. She was going to toss it to Dee before the foreign hand grabbed hers. Julian didn't touch the object, but used Jenny's wrist to turn it at different angles to examine it. "Hmm. From the Egyptian's old mummification process. Very, very ancient." His tone changed on the last word for some reason, sounding very insinuating.
Jenny hesitated, then chucked the thing across the room. Michael barely caught it from hitting the floor. "Do you think it's stronger than the runes? Like, stronger than the runes."
Surprisingly, Audrey was the one to laugh. "Of course not. If there was a list on the most powerful ancient myths, the Egyptians weren't even recognized."
"Why not?" Dee asked.
"Well, you read it, too. They did a lot of rituals and sacrifices to the sun. So their power was…intangible. It was like….um…"
"Light."
It was like hearing a sudden noise in the silence. Julian's voice surprised them all. "Their powers were very light."
There was no room for discussion on it. "Light to dark," Jenny said a little quietly. "That's how it works."
Something changed in Julian's eyes, only something Jenny would notice after the countless hours she had stared into them over the year since she first met him. It was a slight change, but his smirk remained.
"So that's it then," Dee said with a hint of excitement in her voice. She gathered the rest of the artifacts from the table and tried to compare any markings with the knuckles. "We just carve these markings into all kinds of stuff-if they don't already have it."
"Then what?" Michael asked.
"We build a trap," Tom suddenly came into the discussion. Jenny finally looked to him for the first time since they returned, and his eyes were hard on her. "That was our plan to begin with, right? Build a trap-"
"Then what?" Michael asked again. "We can't trap 'em. Can't kill 'em."
"No, but we can hurt them. We can keep them from killing us for the mean time." Dee answered.
Audrey argued, "Yeah, but that's just a temporary solution. Hurting them will only piss them off. It won't stop them from chasing us-"
"Oh, well! It's better than what we got." Dee countered.
"But it's pointless."
"Your logic is pointless."
"At least I'm smart enough to-"
"Girl, girls!" Michael stood between them. "One step at a time. That's how our generation goes. Try to act any different and the world will come out of balance."
Audrey sat back and scoffed. "The day we become friends is the when the world will come out of balance."
"Your world comes out of balance when you have a bad hair day, Ms. Prissy."
"Okay, guys? Back on topic?"
As they debated, Jenny zoned out of the conversation. Despite the fighting, they were right. So what if Jenny hurt one? They couldn't just keep punching away Shadow Dogs for the rest of their lives. The Shadow Men wanted a life. They weren't going to stop until they had one, Jenny's preferably. If her friends came with her, that was a bonus for them. You can't just ask the Shadow Men to take someone else.
"You know," Julian's voice was an elemental shock to Jenny as was his cool touch on her chin. He was speaking quietly, as he turned her head toward him. "The people of Egypt firmly believed that only those purest and strongest were noble enough to yield the power of the sun. Only…the goddesses of light."
An unknown shiver raced up Jenny's spine. Julian had said she was his light. He had said he wanted to treat her like a queen, or a goddess-
"Michael, go in the basement and see if there's anything useful. Like rope or chains or something."
Jenny flinched, tearing herself away from those impossible blue eyes, as Michael was standing.
"Wha-No way! I'm not going down there!"
"Oh, stop being such a baby." Dee said.
"But-" he stopped when Audrey shoved him forward.
"Do it for me."
He hesitated, then complied with a bow. "I'll go get that rope that we used before. When we had to, uh, you know, drag Jenny out of hell." He smiled weakly at her, but Jenny was far from smiling back.
"Oh, no." She immediately slipped off the table, but a strange twinge echoed through her leg and she stumbled. Julian hardly moved and only used one hand to catch her. He gripped her left shoulder, all her weight falling onto his forearm, and her hands caught herself half on the wall and half on the table. Still, she flushed while she hovered over him. He simply pushed her back onto her feet with that same playful smirk and odd look of….admiration?
"I-I don't want anyone going anywhere alone," She said quickly to refrain from anyone saying anything on what just happened. "Not even the buddy system. A-And especially the basement."
"It's no problem, Sunshine." Dee said as she stood up with Michael. "I'll take these." The brass knuckles should've helped, but Jenny was still anxious as she watched them walk off. She instantly turned to Tom, but he was already approaching her. "Please go with them."
"Sit down first." He slung her arm over his shoulder and helped her limp towards the couch. Yet, Jenny didn't get far before she planted her one good foot firmly on the ground.
"No, I'm fine. At least give Dee the gun-"
"That didn't work remember? Besides, she has that thing. She'll be fine." He was pulling her forward gently by the arm with a hand on her back, urging her to walk more. "Come on. You shouldn't be on your leg."
His concern used to comfort Jenny. Knowing he cared, that he would be there for her, used to make Jenny give in to him, allow him to do as he said because he was right and she knew it. Because he cared about her, he loved her. But Jenny hadn't seen that concern in a long time. She couldn't remember the last she had felt his comfort. Seeing it now was….odd.
Jenny squinted at him. Something wasn't right. Even though he sounded so sincere, it wasn't right. Nothing was ever right anymore. "But they-"
Tom was shushing her before she could even begin. He grabbed her face with both hands and spoke calmly, as if dealing with a child. "Jenny, nothing like that is ever going to happen, ok? We're getting ready. Stop worrying before your head explodes and just sit down." His gaze flickered passed her, then back. "Over here."
That's when Jenny got it. He was pulling her toward Zach and Audrey, away from Julian. The fact that Tom was talking to her moreover touching her after he had avoided her for so long, made Jenny glance back at Julian. The Shadow Man's expression hadn't changed.
Somehow, she felt used.
Jenny refused his help. "No. I don't want to. I want to make sure they're ok."
"Jenny, please-"
He grabbed her arm when she turned away and just like he had done to her, Jenny smacked him away. It was the same as before, only the roles were reversed. Jenny didn't like it, but she also didn't like Tom suddenly being her boyfriend again only in front of Julian.
She faced the new tension in the room with fire in her eyes. She gave Tom a stern look and said, "I won't let them get hurt."
But Jenny hardly got anywhere before her leg gave out from under her. She winced and grabbed the wall. She couldn't tell if she was trembling or if the wall was shaking.
"Jenny-"
"Don't." She wanted to sound tough but her voice was trembling. Her core felt cold, but surprisingly her mind was hot with anger.
How could he do that? Avoid her for so long, be so cold toward her, but keep her away from someone else? Even though it was Julian he was keeping her from, he had no right. Not after everything that's happened.
She knew he was behind her, waiting for her to turn around like she always did, apologizing and kissing and forgetting. But Jenny couldn't. She really couldn't. Not with Julian and everyone else staring.
She didn't care if it hurt. She limped her way to the basement where Tom passed by heatedly. He went into a different room, a separate room, alone. God, was he an idiot? Or doing that just to piss her off? Going off on his own like that. She was already worried enough.
Luckily Dee and Michael came back up sooner than she'd figured. Michael had the rope and oddly a broom, while Dee was looking over some kind of rock. As soon as she saw Jenny, something flickered in her eyes. Some type of intellect that only girls could decipher. She had noticed it before, same with Audrey, when Jenny first fought with Tom.
Before she could question it, Jenny pointed down the hall. "Go after him. God knows what he's doing." Sheesh, she sounded so bitter. She was practically biting Dee's head off.
Dee looked Jenny over, then nodded. "I'll talk to him. Make him do all the hard work." She gave Jenny a pat on the shoulder, but didn't leave without, "What are you gonna do?"
Despitefully, Jenny looked at the basement door. She didn't want to sound like a bitch, but she really couldn't shake this anger. There were too many things to be frustrated about.
She didn't have time to be worried anymore. She was going to get answers.
"To interrogate the Shadow Men," she said hardly. "I'll be fine."
She shut the door behind her, stomping down the steps with an awkward limp, using the railing to take the pain off of her leg. By the time she got to the end, it was a mindless burning at the bone. She didn't even get half-way across the room before he was speaking to her.
"I love it when you're feisty." His voice was different; he sounded exalted with discovery.
"Stop it."
"You're like a true flame, burning anything and everything close to you-"
Jenny turned on him fast, spitting, "I said stop it."
"Stop what?"
"You're games," she sneered. "You swore not to play any games and I've had it." She felt herself boiling inside when he simply smirked at her, his cool blue eyes shining so majestically evil. She turned away again, doing her best to move away when her leg gave a twinge. She had to stop near the desk for leverage, keeping her back to him, when she knew he was following her.
"Oh, and I'm so cruel."
"You're a tease. A stupid, insensitive tease."
"You know the first time you insulted me, you called me a pig. Do you remember?"
"No."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I-"
"You really should look back-"
"I don't want to, alright?"
She had practically screamed it. She faced him like she had never faced him before, hot and frustrated, burning with too many emotions to even form the right words. She was acting like a flame, completely numb from the heat and working off of it-like walking through walls of fire.
Last time she had been this angry, facing Julian, she had stormed away and he had followed her. This time, Jenny was facing him as if he had just said the most offensive thing in the world, and here she was shouting at him.
"I don't want to. I don't want to think of anything but this stupid game. I don't want to-I-I want your ancestors gone and I want it now. I won't let them kill my friends-and you swore to help-"
Jenny had to turn away amid her shout and groan. She was just so angry. She really couldn't control it. "God, I'm just sick of it! I'm tired of the tricks and games a-and Tom and being selfish and your ancestors. And you! Saying stuff l-like that when we're working. Ju-Just stop! You can't just-"
His touch came as a cool shock, gently upon her cheek. She had turned back and he was touching her, his hand perfectly cupping her cheek. It was such a shock that the whickering flame inside Jenny subsided just a little.
For a second she was back in Scotland, where he looked so earnest, touching her like this, wanting nothing more than her and her alone. Such desperation. Such….admiration.
But they weren't in Scotland anymore. She was already his. She just had to save her friends. And he wasn't helping. In fact, he was toying with her again. Here he was, distracting her again.
God, was everyone using her?
Jenny quickly pulled away and turned to leave. Yet, the second she turned she was face to face with-herself.
She didn't know where the mirror came from, but it was right in front of her, showing her surprised reflection, and such heavy, tired green eyes. Her hair was a mess; there was a scratch on her cheek-She didn't even recognize herself.
In the next second she did. She saw herself back before she had become like this. Back when she was still in school and could go out to eat with her friends without having to worry about their lives. She saw herself with her hair up in a ponytail, wearing some jeans and a pink blouse, and even some make-up. She was sitting at a bench with Audrey and Summer, eating some ice cream.
Then she blinked and she was at Zach's house, talking with him about his new painting before Dee stopped by to pick her up. She couldn't hear them, and she was never good at reading lips. They said something, then they all laughed.
Then it was her with her family, having dinner. Her going to the movies. Swimming, at school, reading, everything. How happy she looked while doing it all…
Until she saw herself frowning. She was sitting outside. She could see Audrey and Zach closest to her, and they were staring at she had herself curled up and on the verge of tears. She could hear them now. The voices practically shocked her back to reality.
"You've changed, Jenny," Audrey's voice echoed to her ghostly. "You are different."
Something tight snagged in Jenny's chest. She remembered that. She remembered all of this. Looking back at it now….
"Infuriating, isn't it?" Julian's voice moved behind her; he was walking around her. "When people tell you that you're different. That you've changed. You should know who you are, shouldn't you?"
Jenny didn't respond at first. What trick was he pulling now? "You were the one who changed me, you know."
His voice came in a hiss. "Precisely. I'm the only one who can….touch you." His hand grazed the back of her shoulders, moving across her back as he walked around her. "I'm the only one who can tease you." His fingers disappeared, and he came around to face her. "I'm the only one who can change you…. Not my ancestors."
Oh. That was just unfair. As Jenny realized what was happening, she let out a deep sigh and felt all the hot anger melt away. As if it was nothing more than an extra layer of clothes-now peeled off, she felt much better, much relaxed. "Okay," she said tiredly. "I get it."
"Do you?"
"Yes. They're trying to get to me. To make me… and I…. I mean, I don't…."
How can she admit to something like this without thanking him? He won't take a thank you. But she couldn't just…. Not with everything….
She was completely muddle when his hand just ever so gently stroked her cheek. It was a moment of weakness, one too exposed to go unnoticed. By the time Jenny noticed, Julian was rebottling.
"Do you remember this?" He turned and the mirror changed, showing Jenny alone in the parlor. It was the first game, right at beginning when Jenny was walking up the first flight of stairs. Jenny remembered how uncertain, even how scared she felt in that moment. Looking at her from this angle, however, she looked so heroic and beautiful on her own.
"What was the first thing I did?"
Jenny finally looked at him-really looked at him. Not out of anger or entrancement. She finally looked at him as if they were back in the first game. "So what? I don't want to talk about-"
"You said you wanted my help." He interrupted her firmly. He motioned his head for the mirror. "What was the first thing I did?"
Tiredly, Jenny shrugged. "Sicked invisible rats on Tom?"
Julian only smiled-a smile only the devil could wear. "After that. The very beginning of the game."
Confused, Jenny looked back to the mirror, to the moving image of her. "You…I went on my own."
"I separated you." Julian stepped beside her, facing the mirror, and with a simple wave of his hand, the image changed.
Jenny didn't recognize this as any kind of memory. It was like looking at some kind of map, with harsh dark lines moving around in flexible boxes. In certain spots there was a lighter color. Jenny didn't understand until everything seemed to clear up.
It was the house. As if looking at a flattened version of the paper house, she could see every room with each of her friends separated in front of them. She was looking at Julian's point of view from the whole game-from everything, she realized. She was seeing how the Shadow Man worked.
"I made you all vulnerable. I bring out your worst fears and weaknesses." Jenny finally looked up at him beside her. His warmth was surprisingly comforting. He met her gaze and his voice softened. "If you're going to defeat my ancestors, you need to see how they're going to attack you. They've already weakened you. Upsetting you, making you abandon all hope, even your friends."
"I haven't abandoned them. They're…."
Just like that, the fear struck Jenny like no other. She knew it wasn't a set-up either because the surprise even registered on Julian's face-something that shocked Jenny even further.
Jenny hadn't abounded her friends. She had left them upstairs where they had separated. They were all weak and vulnerable up there. In separate rooms. Separated from each other. From her.
Before Jenny could run, Julian grabbed her by the arms and the entire world seemed to whip around them. She was only confused for a moment before Julian released her. They were in the living room. She jumped out of his grip instantly, running down the hall instantly to the rooms, stumbling into the walls at least three times from being so discombobulated.
"Tom! TOM!"
She never thought she'd be so grateful to see his panicked face appear from the last doorway even after they just fought. "What-What?"
"Where's Dee? And-" Thankfully, the other two appeared from the same room. Dee had the knuckles up and ready, while Michael was holding the rope and Tom's knife. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"What is it? What happened?'
"I'm sorry," Jenny breathed. She could feel her heart racing under her hand. "I'm sorry. I just… I'm sorry. Where's-"
The lights snapped out.
There was a scream. A girly scream.
Audrey.
Jenny dove down the hall, not noticing the pain until she stopped where the archway of the living room began. She couldn't see anything, but the second she started to scream, the lights flickered back on, making her gasp.
Zach was there, sitting on the couch where Jenny had left him. His eyes were wide as he searched the room. Summer was beside him, covering her face with her knees tucked in. When she looked up, tears lined the bright blue eyes.
"Oh, Jenny!"
Jenny caught the smaller girl as she dove into Jenny's arms, but she couldn't focus. She was still searching the room for Audrey. "Where's Audrey? What happened?'
"Jenny, it was terrible. The lights went off, just like in the car, I heard them-again-"
"Summer, it's okay. I'm sorry. It's okay."
Tom appeared beside her with Dee close behind. The second Michael spotted it, he dove down the rest of the hall, screaming, "Audrey? Audrey!"
"Where is she?" Tom asked.
Jenny couldn't answer. She looked to Zach, who Tom immediately ran over to.
Summer, even for a short one, had her arms wrapped tight around Jenny's neck, making Jenny bend lower just to comfort her. She was trying to stroke her long blonde curls or rub her back, but her hands felt numb. "I'm sorry," she kept saying. "It's all right now. We'll find Audrey and-"
"Don't leave me!" Her grip tightened.
"I won't. I promise. It's okay, Summer. I won't let anything hurt you."
"But you left me! You made me leave and I got attacked! And Zach, too!"
Her sobs stabbed Jenny with guilt. She was trying to calm her down, trying to comfort her, but now her grip started to hurt. Plus, with the awkward angle and the pain in her leg, Jenny couldn't stand up anymore. She tried to push Summer off, just gently, enough to pull her into her arms and move her so they could sit down. Summer didn't budge. She kept crying, "You left! You let us get hurt!"
"Summer-"
"How could you?!"
Jenny didn't understand. Everything was getting muddled now. Michael was screaming something about Audrey. Dee was trying to calm him down. Tom was over by Zach, who was still sitting down. And Summer's grip was tighter-tighter than Summer could ever squeeze.
Jenny was scared. She grabbed Summer's arms. "S-Summer, you're hurting me."
"You left us!"
"Summer, let me go-"
"You left us to die!"
"No, I didn't! Let me go!"
In the same instant, there was a cry from Tom. Looking over Summer's shoulder, she spotted her boyfriend on the ground, holding his face. Zach was on his feet now with a dark, twisted look on his face. "You're lying!" He all but screamed at Tom. "You're lying! You lied to all of us!" Jenny didn't understand. There was something wrong with his eyes. She didn't get it when he jumped on Tom and punched him in the face again.
That's when Summer jerked, dragging Jenny with her. They were stumbling, Summer squeezing so hard Jenny's neck was kinked awkwardly. She was trying to turn sharply, trying to twist Jenny-or her neck. Summer was trying to snap her neck.
Jenny snatched her wrists behind her head and tried to pry her off. She was still screaming. "You left us! You left us to die!"
Jenny tried thrashing, but Summer's grip was too tight. She had her bent down too much, her head completely in her grip. She tried screaming at her, but it somehow hit her that whoever had her-whatever had her, wasn't Summer.
Jenny tugged at the blonde hair, and barely had any effect. Suddenly pain ricocheted through her leg as the heel of a shoe jammed into it. Jenny screamed the same time she shoved her fist in Summer's face. Summer released her at the same time, causing Jenny to fall flat on her back. She only got a glimpse of Tom wrestling with Zach before Summer was on her chest. As if her weight wasn't enough, the tiny hands were around her throat, cutting off the circulation.
"You left us!" She was screaming. "You made us leave! We walked right into it! It's all your fault! They have us and it's all your fault!"
Jenny couldn't believe it. She really couldn't. There she was, lying on her grandfather's living room floor with one of her friends sitting on top of her trying to kill her. What was worse of it all was the dark, soulless look in her eyes. The black irises that proved that she was not Summer, but a puppet of the Shadow Men. Which meant they had the real Summer. Jenny had let them steal her friends-again. She had failed them again.
She really was stupid.
Jenny couldn't get Summer's hands off. She was unbelievably strong. Jenny couldn't breathe. She couldn't even fight. She couldn't believe it. The darkness started to creep in on the corners of her vision.
Then there was a jerk and Summer toppled off of her. Dee had the blonde on the ground, pinned face down with the knuckles. Summer thrashed and was strong enough to make Dee struggle.
Jenny gasped for breath, sitting up fast with wide, terrified eyes. Michael was behind her, shouting, "Get up! Get up!"
But she saw Tom against the wall with Zach above him. He was holding the knife up, ready to stab Tom if it weren't for Tom's shaking hand. "You don't deserve her!" He was screaming. "You couldn't even protect her! You lied! You lied to everyone! Now, die!"
Jenny started to get up, but Michael beat her to it, wrapping the painted rope around Zach's hand with the knife and yanking it back. The charms on the rope started to burn, making smoke arise from Zach's hand. It gave Tom enough leverage to punch Zach away.
There was a smack and Dee was on the ground. But she jumped up, faster than Summer could and lifted the knuckles to punch her away. Yet, even Dee hesitated. She looked like Summer, mind the eyes. She couldn't just-
But there were shadows forming around the small blonde. Dark shadows, from something very dark and very evil. They started to swallow Dee before the fighter could react.
But Jenny saw it and Jenny understood everything. It was what happened to Audrey. They must've took her like that. And now they were taking Dee.
Jenny instantly smacked her own leg, wiping some of the blood off as she traced the rune in the air. "Kenaz!" She screamed. There was a flicker of firelight and Summer recoiled, covering her face. The shadows withdrew.
Jenny grabbed Dee and shoved her back. But Michael was shouting. The shadows from Zach were wrapping around his hands. He was panicking, thrashing, and screaming. Dee jumped over as Tom broke free of Zach's grip and wrestled for the knife.
But before Jenny could move, Summer was up again, blocking her from her friends. The shadows radiated off of her body like dangerous smoke. "You can't protect us." It wasn't Summer's voice. She could hear the tiny voice somewhere, but it was buried by the hundreds of different voices. Cruel, cold voices, all speaking at once. "You couldn't even protect me, Jenny. You let everyone around you down. Now they're going to die." Jenny felt her core rip apart when the voice changed to solely Audrey's, saying, "We're all going to die."
Summer started to stalk towards Jenny, making her stumble back. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't do anything-
There was an odd noise, one that broke the sound barrier and made Jenny's ears pop. The body of Summer recoiled a little, as if she had been hit in the stomach. The confused eyes turned up to Jenny-no, not to her. Behind her.
Jenny had seen the creature before, but she couldn't say she remembered it in full detail. The thing was basically a 3D shadow, moving so fluidly, so darkly that it was hard to see all of it at once. But Jenny knew those eyes, and she knew her friends knew them, too, because they had once stalked them. It had taken Zach before. And here it was again to get him back.
The Creeper was only perched for a second before it struck, faster than lightening. Summer looked unfazed as the shadows around her made some invisible counter-attack on the Shadow Snake, making the Creeper pull its head back.
The voices didn't sound happy. "You will die with them! Foolish boy-"
The Creeper all but pounced on Summer's body, wrapping her in a shadowy mess right in front of Jenny. Behind the moving shadows were the boys, where Michael was thrown to the ground amid the massive attack of shadows. Before he could react, the shadows melded together at his feet, coming back up as something Jenny was very familiar with. The Shadow wolf's face was parallel to Michael's snarling and ready to snap its jaws right on his skull-
Dee leapt over the shadows, landed almost top of Michael, and round-house kicked the wolf before it could bite. It jumped back and Dee hit it again, this time with the knuckles, laughing as she did.
There was the click of metal and Jenny's heart sank. Tom was cornered against Zach-who had the gun. He must've wrestled it from Michael and knocked him down because now he had it-had it pointed at Tom-ready to-
"No!" Jenny jumped up, but the shadows whipped around him, preventing her from coming any closer. She panicked. "Zach, don't!"
It was Jenny who screamed, but Tom he responded to. "Yes, it was always you! We should've sacrificed you! Not Jenny! You!"
He cocked the gun. Dee jumped up, but then Summer was on her, making Michael jump up and pry the blonde off. Tom was holding his hands up very cautiously, looking back and forth between Jenny and what was supposed to be her cousin.
Jenny was trying to get closer, but every step she took only made her leg hurt worse, and the shadows viciously struck at her like cracking whips. "Zach, please. You don't want to do this. I know this isn't you…"
"Put the gun down," Tom said slowly.
The fury raging inside Zach's soulless eyes only seemed to increased. "Yes. Yes! Of everything you put her through! It was always you!"
"Please, don't do this! Please, Zach, listen to me…" There was a still moment in the icy air, but relentlessly, Zach's finger moved to the trigger. Jenny screamed, "No! It's me, you want, right?!"
"Jenny!"
"Shoot me!" Jenny all but jumped into the shadows. "Let them go and you can have me!"
"Jenny, no!"
"You can have me, I swear! Let them go-Shoot me-"
Zach whirled around in an instant, and Jenny couldn't believe she was staring down the barrel of a gun. Before she could even react, there was a terrible scream behind her.
"No!"
Jenny figured it was Tom who screamed again, but Julian appeared before her, holding his hand out toward Zach. The power wasn't visible, but Jenny could definitely feel the force that was holding Zach in place. The struggle showed in the tension on his face, and his hand with the gun began to tremble. Shadows instantly surrounded the room, making everything dark and hazy. A fierce, cold echoed around the room; Jenny started to see her breath.
There was an inhuman shriek coming from the doll that looked like Summer. She joined with the shadows and lunged at Julian. The shadow prince only glanced in her direction and Summer was smacked back against the wall. There was a horrible crack as the shadows dropped her and her limp body hit the ground.
Somebody screamed.
Zach's hand was shaking so bad it was causing his whole arm to tremble. He was staring straight at Julian, whose chest was starting to bounce from his heavy breathing. That's when Jenny saw the blood on Zach's hand. His skin was open-no, opening. His skin was being ripped open. Not just his hand, but his face, too. The blood was starting to pour and Zach's face turned to pain.
"Stop it!" Jenny jumped up and grabbed Julian's shoulder. But there was a terrible wind now. She hardly heard herself. "You're killing him!" Something wet coated Jenny's fingers and she didn't notice it until after Julian shrugged her off. "Julian, stop!"
In the next second, Zach's face turned from unbelievable torture to absolute thrill. He smiled a smirk only an insane person could wear, then pulled the gun on himself. He tucked it right under his chin, out of Julian's hold, ready to-
"NO!"
There was the bang of the gun. Julian dropped with Jenny at the same time as Zach's head snapped back. Jenny screamed, but the second she tried to crawl over to Zach's fallen body, Julian yanked her back. She thrashed instantly, trying to fight her way out but Julian only tossed her back to the floor behind him. With a grunt he punched the ground. Ice sparked with a blue flame and the vortex on the ground iced over with shadows. It was right in front of her. A vortex, similar to the ones Julian had used before. If she had kept crawling, she would've fallen right in.
"Jenny!" It was Dee who was calling her, hidden by shadows and ice. It was like a blizzard in her grandfather's living room. Zach's body was gone, so was Summer's. She couldn't see her friends, but she had to pray they were okay across the room. Yet, hearing them scream for her, unable to help, unable to see, only made it worse.
The tears lined her eyes before she could do anything. Julian grabbed her and she tried to fight him off. But he was stronger, and yanked her to her feet.
"Jenny, listen to me-"
"Let me go! You killed him-how-I-"
"Jenny, it's a trick. You need to trust me and go-"
"No! Let me go!"
She was still thrashing and kicking when his grip went straight to her bones, forcing her to go weak and still. He used such a grip to force her to turn the other way. Whatever he was saying next was cut off by something loud crashing around them. For the life of her, Jenny couldn't figure out what it was. She couldn't tell anything anymore. There was wind roaring, ice flying and shadows moving-shadows moving everywhere.
"Go now!" Julian was pulling her in a certain direction, one Jenny pulled against.
"No-you-I can't leave them-"
"They're gone! They'll take the rest of your friends if you don't go now!"
"No!" Jenny finally grabbed him back, meeting such icy blue eyes at a time like this. "I won't leave them! I can't!"
"I'm not asking you, Jenny."
"I can't just-You can't-"
"I'm trying to-"
"I'm not leaving!"
"Jenny-"
"No! I won't. I-"
"JENNY, IF YOU WANT ME TO SAVE THEM YOU HAVE TO GO NOW!"
A moment of shock. Their surprised registered on both of their faces, more Julian's than Jenny's. But there wasn't any time for it to settle. There was another horrible crack, followed by a terrible echo.
We will have her.
That's when Julian all but threw Jenny across the room, making her land harshly on the ground. There was a split in the shadows where someone was grabbing her.
"Hurry! Hurry!"
Tom helped her up, but she stumbled and landed on Dee, who Michael was clinging to. Behind them was a door with the rune Uruz gleaming a dark crimson. Jenny knew she should go through it. Julian had set it up for them. Even Michael was opening the door, but Jenny's feet wouldn't move. She was staring at her hands, at the similar crimson color that coated them. Her hands were covered in blood. Julian's blood-
When Jenny looked back, there was no sign of any Shadow Men.
Dee jumped in, dragging Michael behind her into the unseen room. Tom pushed her forward, but Jenny stopped herself by grabbing the doorway.
"No, wait."
"Jenny, we-"
"We can't just leave him!"
"He told us to!"
"But they'll kill him! We have to help!"
"I'm not letting you. We're leaving-"
"No, Tom! No one dies for me! Not even Julian."
Before Tom could respond, something dark forced the door closed, making Jenny shriek and jump back. A shadow whipped behind him, echoing with a cruel laugh, and they jumped forward. Tom tucked Jenny into his embrace and charged through the shadows. It was numbing and blinding and cold, but they didn't stop until Jenny hit something, the wall-the archway to the hall. Jenny forced Tom to follow her down and into another room, shutting the door behind them. The wind was cut off, but the ice quickly started to freeze it over, trapping them in the bathroom.
"Where's your knife?" Jenny hadn't realized she was screaming until Tom screamed back.
"I don't know! Michael had it!"
She dove into the bathroom cabinet, trying to find anything sharp. She fumbled with a pair of scissors, and quickly stabbed them into the wood of the linen closet door.
"W-We have to get out. If we go somewhere-"
"Where? The shadow world?!"
"No, j-just somewhere."
"Like where?!"
"I don't know!"
Jenny hadn't even gotten a shape carved yet when Tom's body jerked back into the wall. His pained shout made her drop the scissors, and the shadows were what made her scream.
Tom was pinned against the wall with the shadows glued to his back, and clawing into him as if to pull him backwards through the wall piece by piece. Blood started to pour and the thrashing only made it worse. Loose pieces of skin started to dangle and expose themselves as the shadows skinned him alive.
Jenny grabbed him, but there was no way he was coming off the wall. The shadows had him. The Shadow Men had him.
Jenny couldn't see over her tears. That's why she screamed when something yanked her back. To her surprise, it was Julian. He put one hand on Tom's shoulder, the other on the dark, bloody wall behind him. There was a dense struggle and the unbearable sense of the atmosphere constricting around itself again and again until it was about to snap-
Tom was pried off the wall, jerking and collapsing to the ground before Jenny. She was grabbing him, but his back was nothing more than a thick, carved open bloody mess. Like all the skin on his back had been peeled off with a dull knife, left in shreds and frostbitten pieces. She couldn't do anything to help except hold his head and cry as he refrained from passing out.
When Jenny looked up, Julian was slipping. He was in a fighting stance with both hands on the wall. His head bowed and his teeth were gritted, with pain or struggle, Jenny didn't know. There was a clear fight between him and the shadows. They would start to seep out, cover the whole wall, before being pulled back in little by little. But the wallpaper was peeling. The walls were starting to crack as the shadows started to horizontally push out from the walls. Julian's arms were shaking as he tried to flatten the darkness back out. But his feet were slipping. He was losing.
It was the laugh that set Jenny off. The one of a dozen evil creatures who had taunted, stolen, and tortured her friends, and were gloating in victory. The ones that were going to kill her now, and Tom, and Julian. Such evil laughter. Such cold, evil laughter.
Jenny was standing before she could think on it. The scissors were in her hands and she dove under Julian's arms, standing before him trapped by his arms, and stabbed the scissors into the wall.
"Jenny, no!" It came out in such a painful groan.
But Jenny didn't stop. She planted her feet firmly before Julian's and used all of her weight to push as she carved. She wasn't thinking. Wasn't panicking. She knew what to do if just a little. She started carving the odd Egyptian symbol. The one they've all been staring at this whole game. The symbol of light. But it was almost like carving into some sort of body, with a layer of skin and something underneath. The feeling under her hands as she pushed was like the one when you put the same ends of two magnets together, such a dense opposition, only colder and harsher. It burned her hands and numbed her fingers. It was seeping up her wrists to her arms, to her chest where she found it hard to breathe. One foot slipped, but then she felt Julian behind her and used him as a guide to keep her standing.
Their pushing was working. The shadows were pulling back slowly, tightly, almost like reeling in a taut line. The walls cracked harder. The room was shaking. The wind only got worse. She almost had the symbol carved. Just when the power seemed to finally cave back into the wall, something lashed out.
The scissors snapped out of her hands faster than she could comprehend. Jenny felt something odd snake up her arms, then came the pain. All at once the cuts appeared everywhere, racing up her hands to her elbows, slicing passed skin and muscle. It all came in one terrible burn, aching and throbbing as they developed deeper, till they hit bone.
Amid her screams she tried to let go, but now the shadows had her, keeping her hands stuck in place as the darkness started to peel the skin off her arms.
Julian screamed something, then released the shadows to grab Jenny. His hands jumped on top of hers, going through the shadows to her hands to pull her out. Yet, the second he touched her, everything changed.
Jenny knew she was seeing things. They all passed before her like an old movie reel on super speed. But it was different. It wasn't just pictures. It was thoughts. It was intellect. It was feeling. Jenny felt everything as she saw it, as if they were happening to her at the very moment. From hurt to joy to guilt; even temperatures as they changed. But it wasn't just images, it was memories; most not even her own.
She could see herself back when she was five, being ripped away from her grandfather, and what happened after he had disappeared in the darkness. She felt the cold, sharp pain that enveloped every inch of his body that slowly decayed him year after year after year until he was reduced to nothing in that wizard game machine.
She saw Summer as she was buried in darkness, screaming over and over from the wild images in her head. Poor Summer, all alone, and frightened more than an abandoned child.
She saw Zach slowly losing his mind, and the pain coming from there.
She even saw people she didn't know. Strangers jumping off of rooftops just to avoid the whispers in their heads. Friends turning and killing each other. Someone slitting their own throat. Being burned alive. Being eaten by something intangible. Being killed by their own blood, own friends, own minds. So fast, so cruel. She saw it all happen so fast. She saw everything so clearly. Felt everything so detailed. Even Pc and Slug, and Gordie Wilson. Even Tom….
Then it stopped-just like that. As she screamed, she was ripped off the wall, ending everything abruptly. There was an arm around her waist, carrying all of her weight so easily, like she was five again. There was some movement, a shift of the atmosphere, then she hit her knees.
Everything went still….So still for a moment, and in that moment Jenny thought she was dead. That was, until Julian appeared at her side. He was gripping her biceps, lifting her arms and she immediately flinched. Her arms were nothing more than swollen bloody shreds from the elbow down. She couldn't feel her fingers. She couldn't even see her fingers-
It hurt. It hurt so bad that it was incomprehensible. She felt numb to everything. She was staring at her burning muscles-at the exposed torn tissue an the slight hint of white bone- but she could still see the people, all that insanity, all that death and-and-
"Jenny, look at me."
Just as she did, something pulled Julian back. Just a small tug, a human one. Tom was behind him, although bleeding and half-conscious, he was yelling. "D-Don't touch-"
In one swift motion, they were gone-moved to the side of Jenny. It only took one move and Tom was pinned against the wall with one hand. Dee screamed, but she got nowhere close to the boys. Julian held Tom off his feet, letting his own pain ensure his suffering. "This is my fight!" Julian screamed. He leaned closer to Tom, and lowered his voice. The way he sounded so calm was enough to frighten anyone. "And I will be damned if I allow your worthless existence ruin hers."
Julian held him their a moment, writhing and groaning in agony from the pain in his back before Julian let him drop. Dee came over in an instant with Michael close behind.
Jenny was looking Julian in the eyes when he returned to her, but she wasn't looking at him. No, she couldn't see anything besides the pain and the memories-just one memory. That one painful memory. Of Tom.
He was saying something, but Jenny interrupted. "Was it true?" It came out so hushed, so terrified.
Julian didn't even respond. It registered in his eyes, that mystical blue growing darker for just a second before he looked away momentarily. He reached for her, and she jerked away. It hurt, of course, but the pain was fueling her now. Making her move, making her cry and stutter on her breathing.
She turned her gaze toward Tom, who was slumped up against the wall with Dee, trying to stop the bleeding from his back with her jacket. "Was it true?" she asked him.
Tom was writhing in pain, but he looked at her. "W-What?"
Dee cut in. "Jenny, he's bleeding a lot. He needs a doctor-"
"Was it true?!" Her voice rose, and echoed around the large, empty room.
Michael was kneeling towards her now, saying softly, "We have to stop the bleeding on you, too-"
He touched her shoulder and Jenny shrugged him off. She stumbled to her feet, towards Tom. "Is it true?" she asked one more time.
Tom didn't understand. "Wh-What are you-"
"Amber," she muttered. "Amber Skencs. The head cheerleader-Is it true?!"
Something widened in Tom's eyes, but it wouldn't come out. "Jenny, I don't-Ow! God! I don't know what-"
"Did you sleep with her?!" The shout brought on such a hollowing, painful silence. Everyone stopped. Even Julian.
Jenny was now fighting the previous tears she had, although she couldn't determine if they were falling now from pain or the fear. "Sh-She had a party that night…didn't she? You know, the one where we broke up. Did you go to it? A-After you left me, did you-"
"Jenny, j-just wait a second." The pain was clear on Tom. He was struggling to keep his head up, while Dee examined his back.
"This isn't the time to talk about it," she said.
Michael added, "And you're still bleeding."
But Jenny moved away from him. She advanced closer to Tom. "Tell me it's not true. Tell me-Tell me it was just a trick."
"Jen-"
"Did you fuck her or not?!" Her voice cracked on the cry, making Tom flinch.
"Yes!" he responded quickly, unable to look her in the eyes as the pain was making him collapse on himself. "Yes-I did, okay? I'm sorry, but I-how did you even know?"
Jenny took a second to process it. The pain from her arms now spread to her chest, where it carved out any feelings of hope or comfort or anything warm, and left her as just a cold, hollow shell.
She had to swallow something tough to get her voice back. "I saw it," she all but whispered it. "Th-They…showed me things. Everything. I saw everything-the drinks-spin the bottle-You on top of her!"
"Jenny-"
"How could you?!"
"What does it matter?" Tom's scream overpowered hers. "We broke up, didn't we?"
As soon as the words came out, his face changed to utter disbelief. Jenny couldn't even gasp. Her eyes widened as she took a step back. "Wait, Jenny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that-"
"Well, I guess you moved on quickly…."
Sounding angrier rather than hurt seemed to fill the room with such a tight pain. Even Dee looked as if she had been physically hurt. She tried to help. "Wait, Jenny, you don't understand. He was drunk that night."
"That doesn't make it-!" Jenny froze as the realization hit her. She looked at the dark look in Dee's eyes, then the pained guilty ones in Michael's cocker-spaniel gaze. "Wait…you knew? You all knew? Did Zach know? Even Summer-"
"Jenny-"
"And you didn't tell me?" Her friends hesitated, mouths open. Jenny couldn't believe it. "How could you?" Tom looked at her over the pain, trying to say something, but Jenny beat him to it. "How dare you!" She shouted. "How dare you-keep me away-a-and try to-how could you!"
She wanted to slap him. She wanted to scream and storm away, but she couldn't. It was too much to deal with all at once. The pain from her hands, the pain from Tom, the hurt from the shadow men, from her lost friends, from her own stupid actions getting everyone caught up in this mess and injured and killed-
"God!" She gave one final scream as all of it caught up to her, swelling up inside with just so much hurt-so much hollow raw pain. It all hit her like a freight train making her scream and collapse to her knees. She couldn't even hold herself or her wounds. She couldn't feel her hands. She wanted to lie there and never get up. She wanted to lie there till it all went away. She wanted to die. As horrible as it was, it seemed like the only thing left for her now.
But someone else decided otherwise.
The hands grabbed her. She tried to reject them, but she had no more strength. She could only bow her head and sob as the person picked her up by the waist, forcing her up to her feet and making her leave.
"No," she was crying between sobs. "Nonononononoletmenonojustnoplease-please!"
A door shut somewhere and the hands grabbed her shoulders. Her knees started to give in, but the arms kept her up, refusing to let her fall.
"I won'tlet you go," Julian said so firmly. "I'm the only one who can decide that. Understand?"
Jenny wouldn't look at him. The tears blinded her, and she turned her head away, but Julian turned it back. He forced her to meet his gaze where instead of anger or domination, even cruelty, she saw firmness. Cold, scared firmness.
"I won't," he said again. "I won't let you fall. I swear."
With a breaking sob, Jenny hitched a breath and nodded. She dropped her head again where she saw her two limp excuses for arms. Still bleeding, still numb. She wanted to move her fingers. She wanted to grab something, grab Julian to keep from falling, but she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything-The fear started to make her hyperventilate. The fear of never being able to touch anything ever again. The fear of losing her arms all together.
"Jenny!" Julian shook her. Since her fear was so heightened now, it was all but screaming at him.
"I-I can't," she stuttered. "I can't. I can't feel them. My arms-I can't-I don't have any-"
"Stop." Julian grabbed her face, and for some reason Jenny couldn't believe she was staring into those mystical eyes at a time like this. His voice wasn't as smooth and elemental as it usually was, but I was soft enough to reach past the anxiety clouding Jenny's mind. "I'm going to fix it… All right? Trust me, Jenny. Give me permission, and trust me."
"B-But-"
Julian didn't have to say anything more. It was all in his gaze. Could they change so powerfully without ever actually blinking? Whatever movement it was, Jenny saw it. She saw it the same time as his thumb gently ran over her lips. Not lovingly, not caressingly, more like reassuringly. He did it to stop the rambling, to end the fear. Just by looking into her eyes like this, he had that hold on her again.
But never before had it been this compelling.
Staring into those unfathomable blue eyes, the fog in Jenny's mind cleared away. It didn't' exactly take away the fear from her heart, but it was enough to push it away. Like being afraid of what lies in the dark until you turn on the light and realize nothing's there; the fear is still there, but your reasoning has kicked in and you go into an odd, calm state.
Jenny felt herself relax. She was still afraid, but she was seeing through the curtain that was holding her back. As Julian's hand trailed away from her face, she felt herself resettling back into her body. How weak and exhausted she felt. She could hardly stand as it was. When he fully released her, she only stayed standing by focusing on his touch.
He grabbed her left arm, right above her elbow with both hands. One securing her bicep, the other squeezing tight to the bone. Jenny didn't know if she should be relieved or not that she could still feel his grip there. He pulled her closer until every inch of their bodies was touching, to the point where every breath he took Jenny was taking it as well.
She was watching, waiting for him to do as he said as she trembled and cried.
That's when Julian lifted her head and kissed her.
Jenny was so surprised by its sudden force that she couldn't even pull away. There wasn't even any room to do so. It was so tight, so quick that is distracted her for just a moment. For a moment it pulled Jenny away from where and who she was.
But only for a moment.
Julian had moved his hand, squeezing Jenny's arm harder than humanly possible as it traveled down her forearm, over the exposed muscle and raw flesh. The pain made harsh sparks light under Jenny's eyes. The feeling of every muscle, every tendon being melded back together, every nerve being put to its highest melting point without burning out-such unbelievable, other-worldly pain mixed with mind-stirring pleasure kisses. It was as of Julian's hand was a blow torch, scorching every inch of her very being as he squeezed his way down to her hands, and it was too much for any person to take.
Her body tried to pull away, but Julian was too strong, and Jenny was too weak. She tried to scream, but the kiss was too deep. Julian swallowed every one of her cries as he slowly mended her arm. It was the most pain Jenny had ever felt, but it was hardly bearable.
Until he reached her fingers.
Her fingers were melting off. At least it felt like it. She could hardly bear that stretching, burning feeling, like Julian was trying to individually pull off each finger. This was the kind of pain that made someone lose control of everything-of themselves. This was the kind of pain that drove people insane.
Jenny finally whipped her head away, whimpering as it got to her fingertips where her nerves were the most sensitive. Once he let go, Julian was shushing her, holding her head until the pain subsided. It took Jenny a second to come to, realizing the pain was over, and somehow she was able to look down.
Besides the blood smeared down to her fingers, her arm looked normal again. She could hardly believe it. Her vision was starting to waver-the room spinning slightly. She tried to flex her fingers, but she was too scared. The ache still lingered, like a layer of heat lay right under her skin, ready to shred her muscles all over again. But she could feel it. She felt it as her wrist rolled a bit. She felt her fingers throbbing uncontrollably. She could see her fingers.
Jenny closed her eyes where more tears threatened to fall. She still felt so weak, but so relieved that the pain was over. But she couldn't relax because she still couldn't feel her right arm. When Julian grabbed that one, a moment of panic stirred inside her at the pain to come. Yet, she knew she couldn't stop him even if she wanted to. So she bit down a sob as Julian started to squeeze. Before he moved his hands, Jenny was the one to kiss him. She did it hard and tried to force her cries into the messy, tight kisses. She did all she could to focus on the kiss rather than the pain, but nothing ever hurt so bad. Even when kissing someone as distracting and mystical as Julian, the pain hurt too much. She tried to pull away again when he got to her fingers, but Julian forced her to stay until the end. And even after that he grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her harder, making her stay standing, to make her keep fighting. Jenny couldn't refuse him. She didn't want to. She kissed him until the pain stopped. She kissed him as she collapsed into him. She kissed him until they slowed to small, desperate kisses that melted away the ache in her chest.
Then Jenny gave herself to him, burying her face in the crook of his neck and allowing him to hold her up. Odd…. So odd that the man that she had always hated, the one that had always made her feel like she was flying, the one that was always so cold and cruel, now made her feel so safe.
Well, she didn't hate him now, did she? She had. She really had, but now-now things were different. Right? He was different-or she was.
The second Jenny tried to think clearly, all that came up to her were the images of before. The images of all those people-and Tom.
Before she could panic again, Julian scooped her up into his arms. He didn't walk far before he laid her down on a bed. That's when Jenny finally noticed that they were in a separate room. Just a small one, with fur grey walls, this bed, and a missing space where a door should be. Where was the light coming from? She didn't see any lamps or anything. Jenny didn't wonder on it too much because she was starting to feel sick. She caught herself as Julian fully laid her down. He laid beside her, pulling such thick, warm blankets over her. That's when Jenny finally realized she was still shaking. Was she cold? Why couldn't she stop? Why couldn't she do anything?
She felt like she was back in the cave from the last game; where she almost died and Julian was so gentle, so scared. How he took care of her if it was only for a few minutes. But this felt worse. The pain was worse. Julia was more tender toward her now. This moment was longer, more precious in a way.
She didn't know how long she laid there for, slowly moving her fingers one a time, feeling like she was working off a bad sore, before she looked at Julian. She couldn't think-couldn't focus, until Julian laid a gentle hand on her cheek.
She was glad his touch was warm. She was glad his touch made her weak and come undone like it always had. It made her feel normal, as if everything that just happened was nothing more than a terrible hallucination-
Those hallucinations.
"I-I saw-"
"I know."
Her voice had come out so raspy, so hurt, while he still sounded so calm. He was still caressing her cheek, his thumb making soft circles near her lips.
Jenny fixed her voice this time. "But…they were real, right? It wasn't just to scare me…"
Julian didn't answer. He withdrew his hand from her and that's when Jenny saw it. She grabbed his hand to confirm the queer marking she thought she saw, where Julian surprisingly tried to hide it. Yet, Jenny pulled it back, ignoring the twinge of her tendons as she turned his hand over. Across his palm was a nasty scar, like he had been cut with a jagged knife many years ago and it had healed to this sickening mark.
After Jenny had seen it, he tried to close is hand. "I was-connected to you. When I grabbed you." He spoke as if the words were difficult to say. He then took Jenny's hand, holding the back of it like he had done just a little while ago.
Jenny stared, unable to tie it together. It was when he had grabbed her? When she was stuck on the wall, when he grabbed her hands like this. "But…"
"It wasn't my ancestors tricks you saw… They were mine." Slowly he let her hand go and his eyes fell with them. "They were my memories."
The realization came slowly. It made sense. She had seen Gordie Wilson and everything that had happened to her friends-from the first game. She had seen what Julian had seen. But if they were Julian's memories, then all those other people…were his victims.
He had said before that he had been numerous things, but Jenny had never thought of what he had done as those thing. Tricking and killing-he was just like his ancestors. Those were his memories, so he was there for everything she saw. He had been a part of or at least watched everything she saw. Which meant he knew about Tom.
Jenny instantly sat up; ready to throw the covers away and leave. But Julian followed her, stopped her by her bicep. Of course he knew what it was without saying.
"Would you have believed me?" he asked gently. "In all honesty, believed me if I had told you he had done it?"
Jenny thought on it, but she didn't want to forgive him. He had lied to her, just like her friends had. Well, with good reason she had to admit. If Julian had told her what Tom had done, she wouldn't have believed him. She would've hated him more. Still, it would've surfaced some doubt. Maybe some questioning that would've led her to finding out. So she guessed it was for the better that he didn't tell her…
Still, she stayed rigid, leaned away. "You were saving it….weren't you?" Her voice was still quiet, almost hushed. "For another trick-another game. Weren't you?"
To Jenny's surprise, something flickered in Julian's eyes. A type of dismissal that she had seen before. Back when he was stubborn, when he refused to be kind. She saw it for just a second and knew immediately that he was lying. "Possibly."
Jenny hesitated because for once in her life she didn't know how to feel. How to react, how to proceed with herself. She should be mad at this man, She should be yelling at him to leave after everything he had done-had put them through. She should be angry or pitiful or anything besides thankful-thankful that he had saved her friends more than once. Thankful that he had fixed her arms. Thankful that he had forced her into kissing him so she would be numb for a while. No, she should be furious. She should hate him. And yet, as he put his back to her, almost like cowering away from her, she was only drawn into him more.
"I've taken your friends," he said almost completely casually, as if they were back in time-a year ago when they were still playing in the paper house. "My ancestors won't be able to touch them. Or you. They….can only be hurt by me now. So you might want to tell them not to piss me off-"
He was cut short by the hand grabbing his shirt. Jenny had snatched it without thinking because, suddenly…she was terrified. All over again. He was pushing her away again. It was inevitable, of course. How many times had they been through this? Even sworn his, she would never be his.
But right now, Jenny couldn't take it. If he suddenly vanished on her when she was in a state like this, she wouldn't know what to do. After everything that happened, after everything…. Jenny realized she didn't want anyone else at her side.
And she cursed herself for it. But she couldn't fight it; at least not today. They had been chased, taunted, tortured and taken almost to the point of insanity-and still he loved her so much. Enough to betray his own kind-to betray himself. Taking the toll of such a thing was far more difficult than Jenny had realized, and seeing it now only made her weaker.
Julian glanced at her hand, then back at her. The shock had made his cyan eyes lighter than sapphires, a little widened with disbelief. She should've let go, but she was afraid she'd pass out if she did. Or that Julian really would disappear from her and never return. Maybe it was just from the pain still lingering or just from almost watching her friends die a few minutes ago, but….
She needed him to stay. She doubt she'd be able to admit it aloud, but she could feel it in her core. The cold mark he had left inside her from sometime long ago, the one that had been sore and hollow this whole time, was something only he could fix. It took her this long to realize it, but she needed him.
Besides, it wasn't like there was a door for her to leave anyway….
"M-Make it stop," it came out like a question or a favor, but it was still spoken so lightly. Jenny didn't even know what she was asking for, but she refused to let go of his shirt. Not until he did something.
Julian paused, then carefully grabbed Jenny's hand. He removed it from his shirt, knelt down, and kissed her fingers. Jenny didn't know what to do when he came closer, kneeling on the bed and sitting before her. A shiver echoed from his hand when he caressed her face. And surprisingly enough Jenny couldn't let go of him. She was grabbing his shoulders, his chest, his arms-anything to keep him from leaving. And Julian was right there, responding back to her touches, coming closer like she wished until there was no more space left between them-until she felt his breath in her hair-until his heat, coming from a man that was supposed to be cold, had seeped into her core.
"I will," he all but whispered. He sounded so raw, so exposed. So unlike Julian. "I will. I swear on it, Jenny."
For some reason, hearing her name whispered so tenderly made Jenny collapse on herself. Her eyes closed and she bowed her head. She didn't know what to do anymore. She had finally run out of choices, and time. Everything was muddled.
Until Julian kissed the top of her head.
She could feel his lips on her, but somehow he was talking without moving them. In her head, she heard his voice softly saying, "You only saw what my ancestors wanted you to see….Now I'll show you what I didn't want you to see."
She felt him laying her back down, but Jenny felt like she was falling-falling somewhere far away and dark-somewhere back until she was five years old. With her stupid smile and flip-flops. She saw herself when she was older, as she grew up, playing tag with her cousin, when she graduated middle school, when she met Audrey and Summer and Dee-she saw almost every single time she smiled in her life to the point where she was now-in high school with a great family and friends and a life. Smiling at almost everything. Smiling so happily.
And she was so beautiful.
In Julian's eyes, she was all but glowing. Her smile drowned out everything else in life except for her-her smile, her eyes, herself. All the things that he treasured about her, all the things he loved.
The visions ended, but Jenny didn't bother to open her eyes. She knew Julian was gone, whisked away after exposing yet another part of him that should have never existed. She could only hug herself as the remaining memories faded away.
Of course he had loved her. He had been watching her all this time. He had always said he loved her, but it wasn't until now that Jenny had actually felt it. He had seen her and only her for the longest time. He had loved her so much all this time.
And Jenny was helplessly in love with him back….
29 damn pages. Jesus. I'm sorry? Haha Ill apologize for the wait. I needed this to be perfect. Definitely check back on this chapter in a week or two because I might add a little to it and detail some things up. I haven't been feeling well and I'm leaving for a week tomorrow so I'm updating for you guys. Hope this was worth the wait. And thank you to username Callista O'Brien for getting my spirits back up enough to finish this today. This was for you. J
Until my next update -ZVA