Dark to Light, or Light to Dark

by ZombieVampireAuthor

After that day in the Lighthouse, after THEY took Julian instead of jenny, everything should've been fine. But now the shadows are chasing her, taunting her, and slowly trying to kill her. Jenny's played with Julian now she has to play with his ancestors. Can she or her friends survive? Or will they need help? But Julian had died, right? And Jenny's love went down with him...right?

8. The Last Stand

"N-Nothing," she heard herself say. "It was nothing. Let's get back to work…."

"But-"

"But nothing. C'mon, I'm fine."

"Jenny, we saw that, too! They were-"

"I'm fine!" Jenny didn't mean to shout, but hearing her voice echo around the library made her look up. Surprisingly, she saw Julian above her, standing on the balcony of the second floor between the two giant staircases. His gaze was tight-those sapphires eyes unbelievably dark. He looked frustrated-no, fed up was more like it. Seeing him so suddenly, at a moment like this, rocked Jenny harder than it should have.

"L-Look, if we keep getting rattled every time they flash their teeth, we're never going to win. They can say whatever they want," Jenny forced the words as she came to a stand. "We can do this. If we want the others back-for Audrey and Zach and Summer-we have to do this." She didn't wait for them to agree. Her legs were feeling weak, but she made herself move. "Come on. I wanna try this out."

"What, like a practice run?"

"Wait-hold on!" Tom was saying, but Jenny ignored it. She had to. She couldn't let them find out. They just couldn't, otherwise they'd try and stop her.

"So you carved the three symbols on both sides, put the light on one-"

"Yeah, then say them out loud and touch 'em." Michael finished for her. "Er, well, that's how we've done it, and it works."

Jenny looked at the carvings as she asked, "And you just…walked right through?"

"Well, we kinda jumped. Made me a little dizzy."

A terrible thought came to Jenny as she looked at this dead tunnel of light. Something like that….could work. If she could pull it off, that is.

"Do you think that could work?" Michael asked. "Actually, trapping them-or, well, avoiding them like this?'

Dee practically jumped between them, saying boldly, "Won't know unless we try! Let's get to work."

Dee went to add something else, but, surprisingly, a cruel laugh echoed their way. Following the voice, they found Julian atop the stairs, where Jenny had seen him moments ago. He was leaning against the railway and gazing down upon them like a devilish child holding a magnifying glass to some ants. "Your stupidity must be worse than I thought if you believe that will work."

Jenny turned upon him with a confused glare. What was he doing? Only a few hours ago he had been so gentle, so carefree. Now…

Dee strongly stood her ground. She stood up straight, her long legs cocked like guns with her hands on her hips. "Well, what would you expect us to do?"

"Give up." He said it so harshly, so abruptly that it made Michael flinch and Jenny almost gasped.

"No way!" Dee shouted up at him. "You may be too scared to go against your ancestors but we're ready to kick 'em in the face!"

Julian stood up straight. The strange thing was, as he was talking down upon them like this, the smile he held was so small, so tight that it wasn't anywhere near playful as he usually did. It was the look of power and the look of control that he had at the end of the first game, when he was forcing their hands. It was so foreign at a time like this that it scared Jenny enough to head for the stairs.

"Oh, don't talk to me about fear, Deidre," Julian began darkly. "You don't believe they've already seen right through you? You think with a little light that they won't see deeper into your fears than I have? You believe this will protect you? Well, then again smarts never were your better hand-"

"Hey!" Jenny snapped it at the top of the stairs. She blinked and Julian was gone, but she kept walking, determined to find him. He appeared farther down the second story near the endless maze of bookcases.

For some reason, he looked upset with his words as he displayed them. There was something wrong with his eyes, something that Jenny couldn't identify. He gave her a slight bow and spoke as if confused. "Don't be rattled, Jenny. I'm only telling the truth."

"You're being a jerk-"

"I'm being honest. I'm crushing any hope you conjure up about this situation before my ancestors do it themselves-"

Jenny interrupted in a shout. "You swore to help us!"

"I swore to keep you alive!" It came out so painfully loud that Jenny winced. That's when Jenny saw it-what was wrong with that look in his eyes; it was fear. Some of those frost white bangs came down over them, making this perfect demon of tricks look so distraught. "And I refuse to let you walk right into their hands. Not while I still exist."

Jenny didn't understand when he whirled away from her, frustration taking over his whole presence. "But-" it was hard for her to even begin speaking. "But they can't take me. Not when I'm with you-"

"They can erase me." He said it so sharply that Jenny hardly caught it.

"What?"

"They can erase me. With one motion, carve my name out from the Stave of Life-and I'm gone. Then there's nothing stopping them from taking you and all your little friends." He turned back to her, something dark laced over his expression, like a baleful mask hiding something unfamiliar. "You don't trick the Shadow men, Jenny. We see everything. We always win."

So Jenny was right. The Stave was their greatest source of power; it held their very being-including Julian's.

She refused to believe in what he saying, at least she tried to. "You're lying. I beat you. Twice. There has to be some way that your ancestors-"

He cut her off by grabbing her wrist. Suddenly he was dragging her down the corridor, stomping his way to the back. With a wave of his arm, the room began to melt. For a second, Jenny thought it was just her eyes but even as she blinked and kept walking, the room changed drastically. First the color went out, leaving everything like an unsaturated black and white picture, the grey covering everything in shadows. Then slowly the dark overpowered until the books disappeared, the walls dissolved, and there was nothing but a vast endless land of black. For a second Jenny was worried that the floor would melt away, too, and she would fall into a vast space of nothingness. That was until she realized she was walking on shadows. There was a terrible chill as a wind picked up from nowhere, and Julian all but threw her away.

"We can create anything, Jenny! Don't you get it?" He was screaming at her now. The wind increased, tossing their hair, then their clothes. He stood before her with the shadows dancing around him, dangerously in his command. "We can be anyone. We can be anything. The second we step onto that field they will kill me-disguise as me-have me kill you myself! Same for your friends! They will make a shadow puppet of you, running back to them like the plan worked-and by the time your friends noticed they've already been captured for a century! That's how this works! That's how this game ends!"

"And you're just going to let it happen?" Jenny had to raise her voice. The wind was getting worse. Her hair was starting to hit her in the face, her clothes flying rapidly. "You're going to let them take what you rightfully stole? You're not even going to try to keep your game pieces-"

"You don't think I've tried?! Every time I was gone-every second I wasn't there I've been battling my ancestors. The first time I did-the second I took my eyes off you, they almost had you!"

Sharply he turned and whipped something in the air, causing the wind to shift harshly. A blizzard out of nowhere came together, the snow forming a cloudy dust of some magical power. Before Jenny could comprehend, the images started to fly by in the cloud before her.

"You got lucky, Jenny! You were dealing with me! Compared to them, I'm nothing more than a mere child!" Suddenly he was behind her, turning her to look into the cloud. "You don't think others have tried? I've been warning you-I've tried to show you!"

The images played like a ghostly movie-a movie she had seen before, if only a little. The movie-the memory that Julian had shown her before in her dreams. It was telling a story, she finally realized. The man with the jar, the one who had done something bad and ended up dead. Seeing it now, somehow it all made sense. The ashes were powerful-they came from someone powerful, like a King-or a Pharaoh. Someone who had harnessed so much dark magic that when burned it went into their ashes. Ashes that the man stole from the castle for their power. In turn, the shadows chased him relentlessly. He tried to use the power against them. He made a circle around himself with the ashes saying so that the Shadow Men couldn't touch him physically. He thought he was home-free. The man was laughing-then choking. The Shadow Men didn't need to touch him to kill him. They took him so easily. Just like that.

Everything was so cold now that Jenny didn't even realize that Julian had released her. He appeared amid the fading blizzard. It swirled around him like some kind of uncontrollable monster. The shadows played dangerously on his face-she didn't even recognize him.

"Do you understand now? There's always a loophole, Jenny. That's how you've won all this time."

"Then we'll find the one in their game!" She tried to say, but the wind drowned her out.

"They'll know!" he shouted right back at her, irrepressibly getting louder and louder. "What did they show you, Jenny? Hm? What did you see a moment ago? Did they show you your plan working? They always know, Jenny! They see through everything! They make the rules! They create the game! They create the one ending that's going to follow suit! The only winner is them! The only way out of this is death!"

"Stop it!" Jenny finally screamed. The fear had gotten to her. She could hardly see straight now, but still her gaze was locked on Julian-on the man of shadows screaming at her. The wind was knocking her around now, making her stumble, making her own clothes choke her. "Just stop it!"

"I can't! Don't you understand?!" Abruptly, there was a cut in the blizzard, making him perfectly clear while the tornado of winds swirled around him. "And I've kept my promise, Jenny. I've been helping to every extent I could."

The blizzard changed again, this time showing only one image and this image alone. It showed somewhere similar to this, like a room painted all black. Strewn across the floor, all unconscious, were Zach, Summer, and Audrey. Jenny thought it was a trick-she really did. She even tried to move closer to the image and the second she did, it vanished.

"Trust me, Jenny." He was no longer screaming. No, he was talking much calmer now-so calm in fact that it was the kind of voice that drove people to insanity. "I had to get a lot of souls for them. While I was gone-I handed a lot of people over to my ancestors. Do you get it now? Innocent people from your world-all dead-for your friends!"

Oh, God-

Jenny didn't know if it was the fear that caused the tears to fall or the wind whipping at her so violently. She tried to turn away, but Julian turned her back, forcing her to listen.

"They won't take anyone for you! That's their game! It's either everyone or you alone." For a moment, pain struck through the shadow man's face. So painful that it made Jenny cringe as if she had been physically wounded. "I'd kill every single life form in existence in exchange for your life and they'd still take you. That's how cruel we are, Jenny. We don't bargain. We don't take excuses. We just take."

Jenny could hardly hear him anymore. Even right in front of her, his words were being overpowered by the wind-by the reality-the fear.

"They took the right, Jenny! They made the laws! They can break them-I can't! There's nothing I can do to keep them from taking you! They're going to win this game-"

Next thing Jenny knew, she was lunging. Her hands were on his face, and before she could even realize what she was doing, she was pulling him into her embrace. For once, she forced him to lean on her, holding his face firmly against her shoulder. She had pulled him so hard, surprised him so far, that his hands came up in a reflex as if to push her away, but he didn't. Jenny forced him to stay put. She made him stop talking, stop moving, and shocked him enough to stop thinking. The storm around them even calmed for a moment-

But only for a moment.

He tried to lift his head, but Jenny only tucked it against her tighter.

It didn't matter how long it took. It didn't even matter how it happened. The tension Jenny felt under her hands gradually melted away, like an icicle to a tiny flame. Then Julian's arms came up around her, and squeezed. Suddenly he clenched onto her as if they were back in Limbo, afraid to let go, afraid to release his grip for merely a second because he knew that this time, if he did, she really would disappear and never return. He grabbed her so desperately, so inhumanly, that Jenny lost her footing and stumbled. They dropped together, knees landing on the ground that no longer existed.

Jenny couldn't say anything. There was nothing she could ever say to comfort this Shadow man, not when their entire relationship was based off of games and tricks, of insults and compliments, of a continuous struggle of connection.

But now it was all so exposed. This moment-They, themselves, felt so raw. It was a feeling words couldn't fix. So Jenny embraced Julian harder, keeping his head firmly tucked into the crook of her neck. Yet, it was when she felt the Prince of Darkness begin to tremble under her hands that every sense of reality in the world just shattered.

He was scared. Julian-The man who controlled fear- was utterly terrified. She could feel it in her bones from how hard he seized her, his grip burning. He was so scared-and Jenny was echoing the same fear back at him because she knew. She just knew.

That Julian was right. The only way out of this game was death. Her death. And soon.

Odd, how fast her fear disappeared. No, it didn't fade. It still lingered. It settled down, was more like it, calming into a sense of numbness. Soon all Jenny felt was the heat radiating off this man who was made up of nothing but cold evil. It enveloped her, spread around her entire body in a frighteningly comfortable embrace.

But the sense of déjà vu made Jenny sick. Once again, something had gone wrong. Once again, Julian had intercepted. Again, they would talk. Kiss, embrace, then he'd return her to her friends and the vicious circle would start again.

Only this time, Jenny knew that when she returned to her friends, it would be the last time this moment ever occurred.

She tried to catch her breath. She honestly tried to think straight-to think of a plan-of a way out, but the mere thought of words no longer made sense to her. Anything clear in her mind was muddled, scrambled and long forgotten.

"I-I…We should…"

Jenny made a gesture. She loosened her grip, tried to sit up straight. Something small, but the second she moved, the Shadow Man's grip tightened. Harder than before, stilling Jenny by force. "Don't run away."

His voice was stern, said so firmly, so suddenly that it almost frightened Jenny.

But his face contradicted everything about him. When Julian lifted his head, those blue pools had never looked so light-so swollen with vulnerability. If Jenny didn't know any better, she'd say Julian was desperately fighting back tears.

The hand on her face seemed so foreign at a moment like this. It was soft, only the faintest brush of skin against again. And yet it was so weak-so helpless. Jenny couldn't help but close her eyes at it. But Julian made her open them again. He tilted her head up to meet his. Oh, they were so close. He was still in her embrace, kneeling together, chests touching. Only by the tiniest space were they separated, and it was in this space that Jenny currently lived. Everything that ever existed, born or created, died or erased, had shrunk down to just this space. This tiny space, with hardly any room to breathe, held Jenny trapped in everything the Shadow Man was-all his features, all his thoughts-all his fears. His gaze alone held her in place while his voice drilled right through her.

"Don't fight me anymore. Just for today, let me win."

And just like that, the equilibrium between them no longer existed.

She probably should've said something, but suddenly Jenny didn't feel like talking anymore. All they've done is talk. They've talked about his ancestors. They've talked about their plan. They've talked about sacrifices. Now that everything was falling apart, there was nothing to talk about anymore. Besides, words in a moment like this were useless.

So Jenny grabbed the hand that rested against her cheek, pressing it tighter against her, and let her eyes fall closed. When he kissed her, everything that's been building up for the past year and a half, every little notion between them, every battle, every game, everything in between it all erupted in an instant.

The next thing Jenny knew, she was clutching to something unbearably soft, feeling the thin cloth ripple beneath her fingers all while the pleasure resonated throughout her body. The heat was still there, intensified and filling the atmosphere so thick that it was hard to breathe. Jenny was panting so hard it hurt-or was that from the traces Julian's lips were leaving all over her body?

When Jenny opened her eyes, all she saw was an array of colors. So many swirls and pods of light floating above her. There was nothing but blackness out here, with the colors sparking out like blinking stars. It took jenny a long time to recognize them. She had only seen this place once. She had walked through it back Julian's third game. She had to walk between the worlds in order to finish the game. Now she was drifting through this space, mesmerized by the colors, the power. She could see all the various other worlds, as if they were right at her fingertips. It was so dark and yet so peaceful. With this much heat, this much leverage, Jenny was easily lost in it. She succumbed to it, allowing the pleasure to completely seize all of her, all that she was, right down to her soul. She allowed Julian to claim her-she needed him to.

The only thing that mattered here was the fear of the pleasure ending, reaching the peak, afraid of what lies back on the other side. But it didn't matter where they were, what was happening, if anything was real at all. She just needed the touch. She needed to touch him, to feel the skin under her hands to know that she still could-that he was real-that they were still alive and not already dead and captured in some endless nightmare.

After all this time, she finally gave in. The realization, the outcome, the final puzzle piece-The word "satisfied" didn't cover it. It was like sinking to the deepest part of the ocean and holding your breath beyond your limits. Crossing that invisible barrier, beyond pain, beyond life. A feeling like that-She finally realized it was the only thing she had ever needed-had ever wanted. To finally taste it, after denying it all this time, was too much. She let herself sink deeper and deeper until life itself no longer existed.

When Jenny woke up, the feel of the softest cotton against her bare body struck a moment of confusion. That was until she realized she was awake and no longer in such a blissful state.

She didn't want to wake up. Not completely. She wanted to remain in that unconscious haze forever. She had been in such a perfect place. She had seen the vast strip of stars and other worlds, all the other nine realms that existed. She'd finally sunken past that point, beyond drowning, beyond life. She was floating in it, in a cosmic world of danger and comfort and love and pain and time and nothing. Nothing at all. Right and wrong didn't matter there. Safe and danger, alive or dead, nothing was important there. It was painfully perfect so for all the time that Jenny had left, she had floated there with Julian. But now….

Back to reality.

Still, it was hard to recover after sleeping with a Shadow Man. Her whole body just felt weightless, like a smoothed out, perfect feather wrapped in the thinnest sheets that-now that she noticed-were as black as coal. She closed her eyes and tried laying there for a little while longer, hoping that time would not resume from here and she could just lay here forever.

Of course, the mirror that appeared next to her was enough to pull her back. Just a small hand mirror with a burgundy trim-where had she seen it before? Her mother's bathroom? She didn't want to think about that-not now. Still, she watched her hand pick it up, like she was watching some odd movie from a terrible camera point of view. Instead of her reflection, she saw Summer. The blonde was sitting on the floor of a room made entirely of black, as if she was a doll positioned in a black box. The one with the lengthy legs beside her was Zach, and the head made of liquid copper was Audrey. They were all just sitting, not talking. For a moment Jenny wondered if time had been frozen in that place, leaving her friends stuck there for God-knows how long. That was, until the door appeared on their left. Audrey noticed first, but refused to give it a second glance. Summer saw it and immediately crawled over to Zach. Getting his attention was difficult. The man refused to acknowledge anything until Summer tugged on his clothes, met his gaze. After a voiceless argument, Zach got up and opened the door with a pointless attitude. He was clearly shocked to see something on the other side. It took them all a while to go through and once they did, Jenny saw them all reunited in the library, the fake one that Julian had set up for them. Jenny guessed the Shadow Man had only melted the top floor earlier since they were all gathered in the bottom lobby. Zach was like a stiff mannequin as Dee hugged him. Michael couldn't let go of Audrey. Summer was crying. And after a moment, Audrey came and hugged Dee-Dee of all people. Tom was able to sit up now, Jenny could see, and he brought Zach back to reality with a brotherly hug.

Jenny was glad. She almost cried, but she stopped herself. If she started now, she would never stop. She had to put the mirror down in fear of watching anymore, and with it came a huge breath of relief. After everything that's happened, they were still safe. All of them.

Well, excluding herself.

The fingers in her hair didn't surprise her. She wondered how long Julian had been laying behind her like that, watching her ever so patiently, like a klepto just waiting for the chance to touch the precious jewel that lay before him.

Feeling his fingers running through her hair was actually nice. It tingled her roots, leading to goose bumps on her neck. She shifted back to her stomach and turned her head to the other side of the bed where the prince of shadows lay in waiting. He was propped up on one elbow, gazing down upon her and his other fingers played with the end of her honey hair, as if handling pieces of golden twine. He looked so smug and yet so content, as if he had everything he ever needed and was gloating. Jenny couldn't help but smile back, although a knot started to form in her stomach.

"Want to see a magic trick?" He asked it very childishly, like they were back in the first game. Jenny didn't need to answer. His fingers moved behind her ear, where he pulled something out of the air. The ebony stone looked darker on his pale skin. He closed his hand, rolled it around once, and opened it again to reveal a black pearl rolling beautifully on his palm.

Jenny rested her head back on the pillow. Odd, how calm she felt with him. "Bravo," she said it dully just to tease, and Julian smirked at it as he put the jewel to her lips. Reluctantly, Jenny gave it a kiss where it now had a golden band, forming a ring. She didn't need to see the words on the inside to know what they said.

All I refuse & Thee I choose.

Julian held out his hand, waiting for her to give up her finger to him. The knot grew tighter.

God, she couldn't take that.

Jenny hid her hands under her pillow, hiding her guilt in a game. "I stay with you for one night and the next morning you pop the question? Sheesh….at least make me breakfast first."

"What would you like?"

Her eyes widened in shock, getting a pleased smirk from the Shadow Man. She sighed and turned her head the other way, pretending to be comfortable as she snuggled herself back into the pillow. Really, the sheets were starting to prick her skin like needles. "How about a robe? I don't plan on staying naked all day."

"Hmmm, but…." The same fingers appeared on the back of her neck, brushing their way down her spine, dragging the sheets with it. He did it slowly, too, so playfully, so confidently. "You look best….just….like…this…." His voice came on the back of her shoulders, followed by a kiss as cold as ice. It made everything in Jenny shudder, especially when the kisses followed his hand, going down her back to her ribs and lower-

Jenny finally stopped him when he reached her hips, snatching the sheet back over herself and rolling onto her back. "You're a pig," she mumbled, merely out of embarrassment, but she didn't know if she actually got the words out because now Julian was hovering over her. Hands by her head, gazing down at her with such pleasure, such satisfaction. The knot in her gut was starting to stir. Laying under him like this, naked, as his, made Jenny understand how easily he had seduced her. And after everything they've been through, as vulnerable as she currently was, in her mind and her body, she was afraid he'd get her to do anything.

She listened to the alarm ringing in her head this time and got out of the bed, covering herself with the sheet. Finally getting a good look at them, she saw they were black as black could get-as dark as death.

This room wasn't much different from the others Julian had created, either. Small, with blunt colors and tiny details. There was only one bed that sat in the center of the room, and a door that Jenny was afraid would actually lead to somewhere. Standing there, finally awake, Jenny didn't know what to do.

"What do you want?" he asked her so normally, which was odd for Julian, but he sounded so honest, like he lived to give her everything she wanted. "A dress of the finest silks? A coat of jewels?"

Jenny hesitated as she fumbled with the sheets to keep herself covered. She wasn't used to this. She never needed every little nice thing. She didn't know how to ask for it now. Especially since she was going to…

"How about your pants?" She said quickly. "And your vest-the black ones."

She surprised him pretty hard this time. Those sapphire eyes grew lighter for a moment, sitting somewhere between a pale lavender and turquoise. Once his smile returned, he didn't say anything. His gaze merely flickered behind her, making Jenny turn to look. Hanging on the door were those said clothes. Were they smaller? Probably, in order to fit her figure in the best way possible.

Now her problem was dressing in front of him. She had never changed in front of any boy before. But…he had always been watching her, right? Being naked now shouldn't be that big of a deal. Especially considering what they just did….

Still, Jenny took the nearest pillow and threw it at his face, which of course he caught fairly easily. "Oh, Jenny, no need to be shy-"

"Just shut up and close your eyes already." She quickly threw the clothes on, even the cute and simple white undergarments Julian had sneaked in there. "W-We can't have fun and games all the time. We should….get back to work." Her voice was tight as the words came out, making it tremble a little.

"Is that what you want to do?" When Jenny looked back at him over her shoulder, he had his eyes closed, facing the other way. His posture didn't give off a considerate way either, more like he didn't need to watch her dress in order to embarrass her. "Return to your friends-now?" He peeked at her on the last word with full intent on his position, showing off such beautiful blue eyes. Right now, they seemed to see right through her.

Jenny could only look away, and continued to dress. In all honesty, she did not want to go back. Laying there next to such a demon with everything she ever wanted at her fingertips sounded a lot better than what reality held for her behind that door. Even so, it was inevitable, she knew that. So, time to "man up" and get it over with.

Which was hard to do when she was trying so hard to button the tight black vest around her breasts. It was a v-neck of course, showing off her collarbone and shoulders, and the ends were too short, exposing the curve of her hips, before the black pants were there, hugging them tightly. She looked….hot-No, desirable. Wearing such a tight thing with her hair down, wild and crazy from a few hours ago, feeling exalted and reborn from such a task. She felt like she could do anything. Put on a little make-up, and she could rule the world.

It was a terrifyingly amazing feeling. It gave her enough strength and common sense to go through with it.

"Can we go…..somewhere with shoes? Like the biggest shoe store that ever existed?" She then added a quiet, "Please?" just to make Julian's senses go hey-wire.

"Anywhere, Jenny." he lifted himself from the bed, revealing some suave black pants which made Jenny's head spin at the thought of when they could have appeared. "London. Paris. Anywhere you like, Jenny. Anything you want to do." He approached her with such a blissfully content look, and for a moment Jenny wondered if he even remembered that his ancestors were still after her.

A chill ran up her spine. She pushed it aside and blamed it on such a small vest.

"Anywhere with cute shoes."

Julian opened the door for her to reveal an endless corridor of shoes. It looked as big as the mall with counters and shelves and stands and models of shoes. Did it turn off into other halls down there? Jesus, Audrey would love this place. Jenny loved shoes as much as the next girl, but she hardly ever bought a new pair whenever they had gone out shopping. She never needed them.

Now she was going to need a pair. She automatically stepped inside, but then pulled herself back out. She almost forgot. How could she forget? To disguise it, she hugged the doorway and smiled at Julian.

"I'm nervous," she admitted. "It feels like I'm walking into a trap."

Julian actually chuckled, which was as unnerving as hearing the big bad wolf himself laugh. "Oh, Jenny. Don't you know?" he spoke with a voice as cool as marble while he ran his fingers through her hair. "You're already in one."

God, wasn't that the irony of things.

"And exactly when did I fall into it?' Jenny didn't care about the answer. She was distracting herself with the conversation while digging her thumbnail into the wooden frame. She had been staring at the symbols for the past few months. She should be able to carve hem into the wood with her nail just from memory.

But in which order…..

"You fell the moment you walked into the more games store."

Jenny actually felt her stomach flutter. As odd and dark as it was, it was kinda romantic. "Oh, yeah right," she forced the words out. "If we're going to get literal, then you fell into my trap when I opened the closet door all those years ago."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes."

"Did you have all of this planned out?"

Jenny honestly had to choke back a laugh as she mocked him. "But of course." That made Julian smile. Good. Distracted. Just one more….

"Did you plan on eventually seducing me like this?

He came closer and just when he was going to kiss her, Jenny turned her head away, the pause between them giving her enough time to finish the last symbol. "Well, duh," she finally answered. "That way you give me what I want and I pay you back in kisses. Or…." Jenny let her voice trail off as she stepped into the corridor, winking at him before putting her back to him.

She never thought shopping with the Shadow Man would be so entertaining. It was a game the entire walk down the hall; Julian letting his body press against her when she stopped and looked around. Jenny grabbing a random pair and asking in a stupid blonde tone, "Do you have these in a size seven?" Their hands brushing together when putting it back, their lips practically touching every time they faced each other. He even did so much as to appear everywhere she turned, suddenly turning up right before her after being right behind her, surprising her enough to jump and squeal. It was enticing. It was thrilling.

That was until they reached the perfect spot. A break between the shelves and a small table holding a pair of pink pumps. Beside them was a table lamp. Small, but powerful. Jenny finally stopped and pretended to look around. She let her fingers play on the lamp until she turned it towards the wall, letting the circle of light engulf the blank space. After that, she honestly looked for a pair. She was shocked to have that girly jump in her stomach upon finding the perfect pair.

"Oh my God," she didn't mean to sound like Audrey, but it was unavoidable. They were a pair of black heels, not too tall, not too skinny, with a double strap around the ankles and something shining around the sides, something beautiful like purple diamonds. They were gorgeous, exactly the style Jenny liked, and they were laid out all by themselves in the center of the corridor, as if Julian had known she would choose them.

She faced him with a playful smirk. "Sir, can I try these on?"

"There's always a price."

As if he needed to say that. His smirk was so damn playful as he grabbed the shoes and actually knelt down. Jenny all but fell onto the padded stool resting by the table and had no time to react to Julian grabbing her leg. He rolled the ends of her pants up like some kind of professional and slipped the shoe on her. He hardly ever looked at the damn thing as he slowly did the straps. His eyes remained locked with Jenny's as if rubbing it in that he was just so perfect at everything. When he finally got it on her, his eyes dropped to the shoe. He pulled her pant leg up a little more, lifted her leg a little higher-

The kiss on her ankle made her bones melt away. She could've gasped. His hands moved slower than a gliding snake, sliding up her leg, taking the pant leg with it, and kissing his way up her calf to her knee, almost to her thigh.

The scary thing was…. Jenny liked it. Him at her every whim like this, giving her what she wanted, playing with her, touching her. Everything felt so good. She felt so powerful. With shoes like these, leverage like this, and no limits to anything, she felt like she was on top of the world-no, above the world, above all the worlds. Back in that dark, pleasurable sea of stars and magic. And she owned it.

She was actually shivering by the time Julian stopped, kneeling between her legs. He trapped her hands under his, and leaned up with a silent smirk, as if asking, "What next?"

Jenny felt herself move. God, she needed to move. She couldn't stay. She couldn't keep this up. She had to-to-

"Th-These won't work," she didn't sound like herself. She didn't feel like herself anymore. She had fallen away already. She pulled her foot out of the shoe a little awkwardly.

Julian clicked his tongue at her. "Oh, Jenny. There's no need to be picky. I told you, didn't I?" His voice seemed to hiss at her. "You can have anything."

"I-I know…now. But… I'll fall in heels. I want….um…" Was her voice shaking, or her whole body? Oh, god, when had she become so weak to this man? Probably when she slept with him.

She got up with the help of his hand, and in the process she made him sit in the same seat. Thus he watched her roam through a room of his making, like nothing else mattered. When he was completely relaxed, legs crossed, arms back, just gazing at her, Jenny knew it was her only chance. She found a good pair of short wedges that sort of resembled a causal tennis shoe/boot. As she put those on, she stood between the shelf and the table, using one of the shelves as balance.

She was going to do something, some kind of distraction. Something quick, something small, when she found herself staring at the shadow man. His eyes had never left her so now that she met them, there was an odd stillness in the air. Jenny didn't know how long they had stared for before she heard herself speak.

"Why didn't we do this before?" Her voice came out so small, so sincere that it seemed weak. When Julian didn't answer, Jenny continued. "We should've just….ran away when we had the chance…."

"I would've found you," he said after a minute. If anything, it was said so honestly. So pure, so exposed for Julian. Jenny didn't even know if he was talking about the same thing she was. "I would've had you, one way or another, even if it took all of my lifetime."

Somehow the words made Jenny wanna cry. She let her head drop and her hands fall behind her back, leaning against the wall. Stop thinking about it, she forced herself. Her fingernails started carving into the wall. "I-I should've….done something….sooner."

Another pause.

"When I saw you…" Julian began slowly. He was looking away from her, toward the floor. He looked almost confused, as if he didn't quite understand what he was saying. His gaze was dark, crossed as he spoke. "I knew it was a trick…But I couldn't…fathom the image of seeing you…." He went to say more, but the words softly died away. Slowly, something settled back into his face. He looked back at her, a thin smile back on his lips. A front, Jenny realized. Blocking himself again.

"You still owe me an answer, you know." Jenny was actually confused by the statement. Julian was still sitting down, only half facing her, but now his gaze was starting to fall back away from her. A sign of weakness. "When you saved me from Limbo. To save yourself….There was no other motive?"

Everything in her contracted, then throbbed. Her chest swelled up. It was so hard to concentrate on the symbols behind her back and keep herself from crying at the same time. "I….Because I…." it took her a while to get the words right and by the time she did, the symbols were finished.

"I-I…couldn't leave you there. Not when you….did that for me. Not when you were still alive-How could you?" Suddenly she was off the wall, voice hardened. The distance was still kept between them, but the hall was somehow much smaller, constricting to only them. The question had always been there, but it wasn't until now-at a moment like this-that Jenny could finally get an answer. "How could you even do that? To throw yourself away like that right in front of me-"

"I'd do it again."

It was spoken in such a flat tone, almost bored coming from Julian. It struck a terrible chord in the air, one that reverberated in Jenny's chest to the point where she couldn't breathe for a minute. The scary thing was, Julian was serious. Of course he was serious, on such a thing-about Jenny-he was always serious. But the real fear-the most frightening thing about his words, was the fact they were too real. Because if there was only one end to this game, as far as Julian could see, he would die all over again to keep his Ancestors from getting her. Saying it now was like a slap to the face, a realization that when they left this hall, the only thing that waited for them was death.

Jenny had to look away to get her breath back. She had to smooth her ruffles, mentally, and grab herself. Slowly, she settled back into herself. "When…. When I found out….I figured you were still…. I mean, I didn't want you there. I w-wanted…." Something got caught in her throat and she had to choke it down, grabbing the shelf for support. "I'm sorry," she finally admitted. "That it took me this long…. I'm sorry."

Julian's face fell, the cemented look of boredom stuck there as an act of defense, blocking all emotion. It shattered, just like that, like the whole world, everything right and wrong coming together, like light to dark.

He looked like he was about to say something, when Jenny's hand slipped. She hadn't planned on it, but the shelf slipped out of place, falling into the shelves under it, taking all the shoes with it. The chainlike reaction caused such a commotion that the echo of something shattering made Julian's head turn.

That's when Jenny pounced.

She spun fast and threw her hand over the markings. "Ankh, djew," she said quickly, taking the pause to cover her mouth like she had seen her friends do. By the time she said the last chant, Julian was shouting something. The second Jenny saw the light she jumped, just like Michael had done. It was completely discombobulating, when your mind expects yourself to smack straight into a wall and yet you end up stumbling into the empty space of a bedroom. Her head was spinning, her blood draining back to her toes as if she was about to pass out. She spun around so fast she stumbled, and found herself in front of the closet, just in time to see the lamp spark out. She saw Julian for only a second, such wide terrified unbelievable blue eyes, before she slammed the door.

"Nauthiez!" She made the X on the door and did her best to carve the shape into the wood with her shaking hands-but she couldn't do it. She didn't want to.

She didn't want to use blood. She didn't want the seal to work. She wanted Julian to bust through and stop her-to take her and lock her up in his kingdom of darkness forever. And yet, if he did that his ancestors would kill him. They would kill them all so easily.

So Jenny carved the slanted X into the doorway, fighting back tears. She screamed when the door jumped at her, a smack so powerful from the inside that it caused her to pull away.

"Jenny!"

It was such a rough shout, and it sounded so far away. Like a fading echo from some deep dark cave. Hearing it made the tears finally break loose.

"I'm sorry," she practically whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I can't I but-"

The door stilled after that and although she couldn't hear him anymore, she could picture him perfectly, leaning on the other side of the door, banging with all his might, screaming silently, he was probably furious, maybe he was scared. But Jenny knew, that through these few inches of wood and magic, he was looking right at her. It felt like she had been stabbed in the chest, like an invisible icicle had pierced her heart without even knowing it, and the cold ache spread throughout her chest.

"I'm sorry…but I can't have anyone die for me. Not anymore. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't just…go with you-I'm-in the in the beginning, I-God!"

She finally pulled away from the door, hardly able to see at all from how much she was crying. Jesus, she didn't think it would hurt this bad. Her lungs had frozen over, making it impossible to breathe. She was suddenly afraid she'd start hyperventilating. So she breathed calmer, started carving into the other door, and tried to ignore the silence from the closet door behind her. All at once, something crashed and her hand repelled from the door, actually pulling her whole body away from the wall. She couldn't fathom whether she had just slipped from surprise or if Julian had somehow smacked her hands away from behind the door.

She looked and found the mirror on the ground, cracked with a piece of glass popped out. It hurt to see it. She didn't want to look into the mirror. She didn't want to see her friends or Julian or anyone. She kept her eyes away from the reflection as she stole the piece of broken glass. It carved a lot better, but of course it cut her hand to use it, which she used to smear the blood over the rune.

She had done this before. Mark all the runes around the doorway, cover them in blood and say them aloud. She had it basically down except for one that she got stuck on; one that her mind just couldn't wrap around until it sparked back at her-the rune Dagaz, operation between light and dark. She was staring at the doorway when her voice got choked up, like a lump of ice had blocked any speaking. It hurt. It burned so bad, but Jenny swallowed it down and spoke every rune, activating the doorway in an eerie red glow. There was a terrible rumble, then exactly like before the circle of runes began to move. They started to spin, but it was different than the first time, probably because she was already in a room consisting entirely of magic. The runes spun only three times, sparking and smoking only for an instant before they clicked into place, much like undoing a deadbolt lock. There was a shift in the atmosphere and the color of her blood slowly speeded into the door, darkening the wood in a gruesome burgundy. Jenny knew, then, that it was ready.

Her hand was on the handle, but she couldn't open the door. It was too much. When she walked through that door, she would never see her friends again. She'd never see her family again. She'd never finish school. She'd never get a job, never have kids, never live her life. When she walked through that door, she would never see Julian again, and she would die. She would hand herself over to the shadow men, just like her grandfather had done all those years ago.

Her knees went weak, so hard she had to lean against the door, having to close her eyes just to keep from collapsing. "I love you," she heard herself say. "and…I'm sorry I can't be yours."

With that, she opened the door and stumbled into the black mist. She didn't know how long she walked for before the ground gave out from under her and she dropped into an endless land of black.

It had taken the group a while to wind down. Summer hadn't fully stopped crying. Audrey was still buried in Michael's arms. Tom was still working on standing up, but the pain seemed to be too much. As much as they wanted it to be, it wasn't another normal day of having lunch together. As if to remind them, a cold wind whipped them all from behind.

At first it was hard to make out what they saw, but as the black mist sorted itself out, they all recognized it. The large mass of power forming into one long being, like a perfect stroke of a brush. Seeing the Creeper now, standing tall above them with a quiet hiss, was enough to rock them all. Dee immediately faced it, head held high, ready for a fight if need be. Instead, the Creeper slithered around them, revealing a tall dark doorway. Beyond it was nothing but shadows. Summer instantly hid behind Zach, who looked to Tom.

"We're not going in there."

The Creeper hissed, unhinging it jaw as a warning. Dee still stood her ground. "Why should we?"

There was a shift somewhere in the doorway, then the darkness slowly faded into color. Not much color because the land it showed was pale and unsaturated. It took a minute, then they saw the movement, the figure, the blonde hair-

"That's Jenny!"

Instantly everyone was on their feet, watching the image of Jenny desperately covering her ears. Dressed in all black, she was sitting on something, floating in the shadows, with such a painful expression…. The dead carousel in the background made Michael shout, "That's the Shadow Park! Remember?"

"The what?" Tom said.

"That place in the Shadow World. To save you guys, when we went there-"

"Why is she there?"

"Did something happen to her?" It was Zach who asked it, surprisingly enough. He sounded weak, but he looked right at the Shadow Snake as he asked it. "She's in trouble. Isn't she?"

If a creature such as this could nod, the Creeper did, swiveling its head from them to the doorway, slithering out of the way for them to go through. Dee ran back for the knuckles and tossed Michael the knife on her way back. "What are we waiting for?! Let's go get her ass out!"

"But wait-" Audrey had yanked Michael back the second he tried to move. "What if this is a trick?"

Everyone looked to the snake.

"No…." All eyes then fell to Summer who was staring at the Creeper like a child would to someone from a horror film. "It's not here to hurt us. It's not like…the others…."

Of course there was a minute of hesitation. But everyone looked at each other, and back at the doorway with the only solution there was. It started with them, and it was going to end with them. As bad as it seemed, they were all in it together.

"Let's go!"

Dee jumped first, followed by Zach who had Summer tucked in behind him, and Michael was led by Audrey, hand in hand. One after the other, they all ran in together, jumping through the doorway quickly, like jumping into an ice cold pool, having to hold your breath and getting it over with. All of them except for Tom, who stayed behind, watching the Creeper follow them into the black vortex. As if he knew, he turned to find the Lurker behind him. The giant mass of danger shaped like a wolf seemed to be waiting for him on the other side of the room. There was no vortex with him, no warning, just cold, dark eyes.

Somehow, he just knew.

"Where's Julian?"

Everything was spinning. How oddly calm it was, such a slow pace, watching everything rotate in sync around you. With the slight bounce, rising above some things and then dipping others, going with the rhythm, it was strangely….fearsome.

Jenny couldn't wrap her mind around it. As she passed around in one large circle, she watched her five year old self run through the grass, the ghostly image running into the house-her grandfather's house. Oh no, not that day. It had been all her fault. By the time the circle finished, she was opening the door and watching her grandfather get sucked into the blackness. Yet, with the next pass she was following the darkness. As her seat rose up, she watched her grandfather land in a dark pit and with the next time she lowered, she physically watched the life drain out of him; skin shriveling, body crumpling like a ball of paper catching fire. Then he dropped into a vortex of pain, fear that prickled at the depths of your mind with heated needles, scraping away every sense of reality and feeling until-until-

You were nothing.

Then she saw Zach in the car with the head of blonde curls beside him. The car moved with Jenny as she continued to rotate as if the back road it was on was nothing more than a picture on a rotating wheel like something out of a commercial. Her cousin had glanced to look at the map, and when he looked back, all the color in the world had been sucked out-just like that, everything was in black and white. The figure stood only a few feet from the car and rapidly approaching. What was worse than the crash as Zach hit it, was the smile of the mirror image, of the figure cloaked in shadows that looked exactly like him, as it came through the windshield.

It was a blizzard upon the car in an instant, making Zach swerve and Summer screamed. The car had slowed down more than jenny, it was starting to fall behind. She tried to twist her head to see her cousin, her friend, amid the black that started to cover the car. She just barely saw the Shadow Wolf leapt from the mass of blackness and the image completely disappeared when it rammed into the driver's door, knocking the car entirely off the road.

The blood roared in Jenny's ears now. She could feel her pulse racing, heart thudding in her chest. But there was more; more images coming, flooding at her. The pace had quickened with her fear, going slow enough to understand, but more than enough to frighten her. The second she saw the fear inside Summer's head, she whipped her head away. She looked left instead of right where the images were only mirrored. She could see all of Audrey's fear, of all the dark myths and fairy tales she was told as a child, all of them surrounding her at once-

Jenny looked back to the right and saw her mother and her father, laying on the ground, their throats open and blood pouring out-

Tom back against that bathroom wall as the Shadow Men dug their claws into him, and literally carved his heart out of his chest from behind-

Summer with her eyes gouged out, drowning in her own view of darkness-

Jenny froze when she flipped her head again and saw Julian. Her seat still rose and fell and the images still blurred by her, but this one stuck with her like a broken record and her seat jerked between the paces of up and down, as if broken and scratching. The figures were tall above him, looming over him in nothing but shadows and eyes; large soulless eyes that just laughed at her. He was bound by shadows, literally dragging him down like harsh chains. He was struggling, his face tight with pain. Those impossible blue eyes were dark-with fear.

Oh God, he was even shouting something at her. Got an arm loose and reached for her, right as the arm of his Ancestor raised behind him. The extensive wooden staff did so little as stab into the piece of rock and jerk to the side. Jenny watched the piece of the stave pop out like a piece of candy from its wrapper, and everything that Julian was collapsed. Jenny even felt the loss of strength, the pain of your very core crumbling in on itself, growing smaller and smaller, tighter and tighter until-

Nothing. Gone. Dead just like that.

Was it real? Could it be real? Were they able to take him from the hall? Was it possible?

Didn't matter. The fear was making her breathe harder, make the black start to creep in on the edges of her vision. Jenny had to fully drop her head down, instead of to the sides, to keep from passing out. She finally saw the hardened plastic saddle under her and the world seemed to spin faster. She was holding onto the metal pole sticking out of the seat as it jerked up and down, around and around. The head of the horse came into view behind the pole, as black as death itself, and suddenly everything came into view. As if she had been told, as if the fog had lifted, it all made sense.

She was in the Shadow park, stuck on the Carousel, spinning faster by the second.

When she realized, she struggled immediately, but her feet were all but glued into the pedals. She tried letting go of the pole, tried jerking around, coming to stand, anything to fight it as the fear started to encircle her tighter and tighter.

That was when the head of her horse seat impossibly bent around back at her. It gave an unearthly whine before sinking its plastic teeth into jenny's thigh. The red hot pain finally jerked her off the seat. She fell into the shadows and landed on something harsh. She rolled onto her back instantly, reaching for her leg where there sat no wound. Before she could fathom, she heard the echoing neigh of the horse. She barely had time to turn her head to see the tangle of legs, of massive hooves, of trampling horses racing right at her. They were right on her, she had not time to react. They would run her over and she'd die-right there, no time-

The pressure came and Jenny fell. She landed on her knees, gravity smacking her in the lower back and making her slip completely on her face. The pain registered with hot consequences, the blood running down the bridge of her nose like a burn. She felt the rock under her fingers as she tried to sit up, discombobulated and disoriented, before the same hand was rushed with an icy touch. The water hit her knees soon after, rushing across the rocky floor faster than jenny could see. By the time she realized where she was, in a completely enclosed cavern like back in the game, the water was already at her elbows. She jumped to her feet, the cold quickly rising to her knees.

No. No no no no.

She looked for the leak, for the opening of rushing water so she could stop it. Like last time. How had she done it?

But there was nothing. All the rocks were as smooth as marble in the corners, like she was a fish stuck in a bowl made of black rock. The water was simply rising out of nowhere. It was colder than before, seeping right into her bones and stealing any sense of strength and feeling in an instant. It was at her throat before jenny could get her mind straight and the next thing she knew she was dipping under the surface, taking in her last breath into the lungs that had gone numb a long time ago. She had to close her eyes when she went under and the cold burned in her nose, the roots of her hair, in all of her joints. She felt herself sinking, no, dragging, deep down into the darkness at the bottom of the cavern. But the bottom never reached her. The darkness dragged on, letting her lungs shrivel up in a freezing pain so bad that it burned and when jenny was forced to open her mouth, the loss of any air being replaced by water struck an old fear in her heart. She wanted to scream, but death had taken that from her, too.

When she opened her eyes again, she was staring into blue. Impossible blue. As blue as sapphires. "J-Julian?" It didn't even sound like herself. It had come out so tiny, so pathetic.

He was smiling, but there was something…off about it. Something very dark, very cruel behind those lips. His touch was on her cheek just like yesterday, but it felt numb to jenny now. It dropped down her chin to her throat where it stopped. His grip tightened, then came the fear of being choked. Just like that, he was sitting on top of her, both hands pinned down over her windpipe. She didn't even get the chance to gasp. She was choking immediately, dying instantly. Her hands came to his, but she didn't even have the strength to pull at them. She knew she couldn't anyway. It wasn't possible.

It was real. Something told her. She knew. Nothing was real anymore. Why? The reason escaped her. Everything was shrinking. The shadows were slowly creeping in on the image of Julian above her, on the flash of white as he bared his teeth and smiled.

"..all a game, Jenny." It was his voice, but at the same time it wasn't. Jenny battled it the entire time. Even as the words struck deep like a spear to the chest, she did everything in her mind to argue it. She had to. To make it stop hurting, she just had to. But it was so hard. "None of it was real. Demons don't love. Do you understand now? I never loved you. We just toy. And the longer the game, the more satisfying the catch. Look, Jenny. Don't you see? You never had a chance. You were never even there. All the tricks, all the hallucinations were just glimpses. At the store, in the basement. You've been here all along, dreaming."

Jenny opened her mouth to shout, but she only gave out the last pocket of air that was sitting in her lungs. She couldn't close her mouth after that. Her head dipped back and the pressure on her throat increased, shoving her head back into the ground. Any harder in the palm, if he just jerked his palm at all, he'd crush her windpipe entirely.

But the fear was eating her sanity alive as she pictured it so clearly, of herself lying here, hallucinating everything that had happened since she had fallen into Limbo-no, before that, when Julian sacrificed himself and the torturing began. How all of it had been a lie. That the image she saw early of Julian chained and dying, his name being carved out, had actually happened and she'd been in suffering ever since then.

No. No no nononononono

Jenny thrashed then, even though she knew it was futile, and Julian laughed at her.

It was just one motion, a simple jerk of the palm, shoving all his inhuman strength into that one shot of his palm, and the pain shattered inside Jenny's throat. It blinded her, white hot, sparking in the back of her mind, spasming through her whole body.

Impossible. Impossible

Nononononononononononononononononono

"NO!"

Jenny jumped forward, sitting up and screaming with everything she had. The pain was gone, but she could still feel the burn on the inside of her throat. She grabbed it, tears running down her cheeks with impossible pain-and relief.

Julian was gone, her surroundings had changed again, but somehow she knew this was different. Whatever this was, this game, this massive hallucination, she knew this is where the source was. In her own body, not in her mind, she knew it was as real as this nightmare was going to get.

She could feel the dead grass under her. The cold of the lifeless world she sat on. In the distance she could see the tops of tents and stands and huts, all strung with dead lights and ripped signs and banners-everything sucked of color and hope. The Ferris wheel in the distance, rotating in nothing but shadows, reminded her exactly where she was, where she had jumped to in the first place.

But she didn't have time to think. She could feel it. Ever since she sat up, the presence behind her was burning into her, with a gaze she had met head-on once before. Something so dark and twisted, something she knew she wouldn't be able to see if she turned around. Something so cruel, so impossible evil, was right behind her. She didn't get the chance to think on it, to try and figure out what to do, because it charged at her. She felt it, she knew, and she jumped to her feet and ran.

Jenny couldn't breathe. She's never ran this hard in her life. Her lungs were burning. The cold air was starting to make her entire body numb. She couldn't feel her feet anymore. She didn't even know where she was running.

She felt like she was flying, running through the gated walkways that seemed to have rotted over centuries. She could still feel it behind her, gaining on her. She couldn't turn to see it. If she did, the second she'd take her eyes away from the road, she'd fall and they'd have her. They were going to get her.

God, she was so scared.

She turned so sharply she almost fell, stopping right in front of some broken roller coaster ride and cutting in front of the cave ride. As a result, a terrible noise echoed from behind her. Looking back, she watched the ice shoot up into the air as if it was alive. It encased all of the ground and up into the tracks, cracking and crashing in an instant. The shock didn't hit her fast enough-

Next thing she knew, she was falling. Her hip hit the ground first, then she was trying to catch herself from rolling hard from the impact. The second she stopped she started to scramble up before-

"Ahh!"

The sharp pain hit her hand so hard that it burned. She couldn't believe the ice that had her stuck to the ground. She started to panic, she could feel the presence coming closer, about to loom over her, while this ice was literally a fat chunk on her hand, spreading out into . It was going to get her. Like before, it was going to reach her, grab her, stab her, shred her apart, she'd die. It'd kill her. Like all the times before it would kill her and something told her that this time she wouldn't wake up to a new nightmare. It was right there, she was going to die, she could so it so clearly-before it hit her.

"Kenaz!" She screamed, quickly waving the symbol above her hand and watching the steam arise as the ice broken down. It shattered as she ripped her hand out, but she didn't sit around to check out the damage. She got back up and ran. She could feel this time was real. She could feel the ache still lingering on her hand, unlike disappearing all those times before. She could feel the physical toll on her body and she pushed it to keep moving, forcing herself to use all of her strength and adrenaline to keep moving. It was exhausting, and utterly terrifying.

Now came the whispers. Jesus, she hadn't missed those at all. Such cruel, relentless voices whispering the kind of harsh things that send people to insanity. Jenny honestly tried to block them out, but it was so hard to focus on surviving when the voices got smaller, harsher, quicker, more disoriented, more insane.

She covered her ears and tried to push them out. Focus. Focus on something else. What had Dee told her to say? I am…my own-Fuck that, she needed to run. She tried to see a path or a light or somewhere she could go-anything she could do-when something-the thing chasing her-lashed at her heels, making everything in her jump. The fear awoke instantly; an ancient fear-the fear a child has of the dark. Very old and very terrible.

Run faster.

But she was just running in circles. She knew that. She would run where they want her to. It was obvious, especially when she started to see things escape her peripheral vision-little bodies, tiny blurs, lights like eyes in the dark disappearing the second she glanced their way. Things to scare her, things to lure her away from going in that direction. It was all a trap after all. A trap of shadows and cruelty and death.

Her death.

The sudden archway of lights ahead of her was a shock to her senses, but she couldn't stop herself from running inside it. The arcade, the broken, eerie room of games and stands and memories-

God, this is where she went wrong. By saving her grandfather, by that one choice-

Your fault

You put them all in danger

Look what you did

How cruel

How stupid

No, no. Jenny tried to keep moving, but her knees gave out from under her. She stumbled, catching herself on some pinball type of game. She tried to keep going, she really did, but her twisted reflection struck her motionless.

You left them behind

You let them die

All your fault

You betrayed them

You betrayed him

The last one got her. She pulled away, but her own reflection grabbed her back. Literally. The ghostly image popped out of the glass, snatching her wrist in a tight grip, one as solid as ice. Her frantic heart told her to run, her body even jerked, but her soul wretched at the sight. She watched her mirror image, one as transparent as death, slowly rise from the glass, lifting like a puppet on a string-a puppet with honey colored hair, and eyes without a soul. She stared into the black pits, stared at the future image of herself, as the voices echoed from her own lips.

You never loved him

You let him die

Cant save him

Cant save them

Couldn't even help yourself

Thousands died for you

Your sacrifice means nothing

The laughing was what did it. Watching her own reflection's jaw drop, the laugh following its way down to the deepest part of her being, down into the darkest, weakest part of her. The laugh killed her, and seeing the blood start to spill out of her mirror's mouth, while it continued to laugh, made her veins run with ice water.

She was able to get away with a scream and a few thrashes, but only because it let her go. She knew that. She knew this was their game. She knew it all along.

She was running again, now outside. The wind was cutting her like shards of ice were embedded in it, going against her, slowing her down, breaking her down, sucking away all her strength-everything that she was.

She knew. She knew, and still, here she was, running to her death. To her death. Death.

She saw a light somewhere. Was it real? What was real anymore? Her mind was shutting down. She was slowing to a stop. She wanted to keep going-God, she did, but there was nothing to push anymore. Her body was giving up. She couldn't tell where she was anymore. It was all darkness anyway. Life, humanity, nothing was right, nothing was fair. At this point, surrounded by such a cold, dark world, the only thing that seemed right was death.

As if she had been pinched, a shock came to her finger. But that couldn't be right. The ring didn't exist anymore. Even with the golden band and the black pearl and the undeniable words. It….was just a trick. It had to be. She knew. She couldn't see anything in this darkness anyway-

Darkness.

The light was brighter now, forcing Jenny to incline her head. The lighthouse. Where everything had fallen apart for the first time. The moat was right at her feet, the bridge nowhere in sight. Only visible by the reflection off the top of liquid blackness. The light, spinning around and around, casting her into darkness every few seconds, illuminating her for only a second. Just a second. That's all it took. One second. Just like that, she was back.

Death only took one second. Life took forever, strength. Death was darkness. Life was light. She. Was. Light.

Jenny felt the rush of the evil behind her, the thing that had been chasing her. It must've been waiting for her to fall, to give in, so it could scoop up her soul in a delicious victory. Now it was drawing closer, rushing up to her back, dragging the entire world of shadows and all the evil in existence with it.

Jenny faced it and stared right into the black vortex without blinking.

This had been about her death. This whole time, just shadows and light. It had been after her death this entire time.

Like hell, she was just going to give it to them now.

"If you want me," she shouted loud enough for every Shadow Man to hear her, "you're going to have to fight harder than that!"

Then she turned and stabbed her hands into the ground. She clawed at the dirt quickly, drawing one symbol and one symbol only; the curved line from an old Egyptian culture, the symbol of Djew, for creating passages-bridges- to another world. She screamed the rune, before the demons behind her could react, and the entire ground throbbed.

There was a shriek coming from somewhere off in the distance, like she had just destroyed their favorite puppet, and the pain echoed up the strings to the Puppet Master himself. The light may have blinded Jenny for a second but she didn't need to see. She jumped into it, feeling the sudden sturdiness catch her in mid-air. The bright rays arched its way over the moat in a solid structure of power, stretching its way to the other side, to the lighthouse. Jenny charged over the bridge as it formed, running before they could grab her.

She charged through the door, running right into the darkened space. A slice of wind hit her instantly, trying to stop her. She could hear them now, but they weren't speaking. No, she could hear their fury. They were done. This was it. The game had finally come to an end. Jenny shouted the first Egyptian symbol she could think off, feeling the recoil against the darkness at the spark of light, and ran on through.

Heat raked up her leg, scraping through her skin to the familiar scar on her calf. It struck her so hard that she fell, face first into the ground. Her chin bounced off the cemented ground hard enough to echo up her skull. Before she could take her next breath, the pain started to drag her whole body. It tugged her in increments, a few feet at a time. She was able to roll onto her back amid one of the pauses where she saw the shadows physically entwining her calf-and the horrible creature that had a hold of her.

Following the shadows like a leash, it led to the small lake, the fake one where Tom and Zach had been rescued inside the little dingy-

But now the dingy was gone, the water was a stirring black, and something was coming out of the water-some type of inhuman being, a creature with the structure of a person, but with a body made of tar. It was crawling out of the lake, the water sticking to it, as if it was all made of tar. It was decomposing, falling apart and staying together at the same time. It was evil. Pure, cold evil, with no face, no voice, just a shape, a manifestation, and claws, dripping, melting, forming, crawling-right at her.

Jenny couldn't do anything but scream. It hit an all new kind of fear-a fear so old- a fear so strong, Jenny forgot who she saw, as it started to drag her closer.

It yanked on the shadows around her calf, making the ground slide away from her faster than she could comprehend. Two more tugs, and it'd have her. One more tug-

"Gebo!"

The power struck like a bolt of color, slashing between her and the shadows. Something trembled, like a ricochet of pain, and the monster of tar slithered back into the lake. Before Jenny could fathom whether or not she was actually still alive, the man was in front of her, one hand gripping a knife, the other bleeding profusely.

Michaels' copper-spaniel eyes never looked so wide. "Holy shit. It actually worked!"

There was one pause-just one moment where their eyes met-then the adrenaline kicked back in. The hands appeared from behind, grabbing Jenny under her armpits. She had flinched, turned and tried to jump away all at the same time. But Audrey was there, grabbing her again, red hair glimmering a dull crimson in the lack of light. Her grip was real. It was warm and wet and strong, pulling her to her feet. "Come on, c'mon!"

Her legs were numb, but she was stumbling up, following both Michael and Audrey as they ran right for the arched doorway of a hall. Jenny couldn't even find the breath to speak their names, to call out, to question anything, because then Dee was in the hallway, screaming as well. In her hand were the knuckles. Zach was with her, waving them along in a frantic motion and shouting inaudible nonsense, when his gaze suddenly moved behind them-and he was cut short.

All three of them turned at the same time. If all the shadows in the world could summon up in under a single second and take a physical form, it did in that moment. It happened right behind them, shooting up higher than anything humanly possible, into the shape of a body, shoulders, arms, and horns, and something so horrifyingly disfigured that no words were possible.

The last time Jenny had seen one of the Ancient Shadow Men, they had tried to grab her. A little darkness, a little ice, and she was theirs.

Just like now, with an outstretched hand, with elongated bony fingers made of darkness, they were reaching for her, the power pulling them back.

Jenny turned back and ran harder, all but shoving Michael ahead of her and dragging Audrey alongside her. Who knew that adrenaline could make you move so fast? Yet, the Shadow men were faster. She could feel it, feel them, right there, right behind her-

But they were already at the hallway. Dee was already shouting the Egyptian symbols. They were right behind her, invisible fingertips in her hair, ice freezing the back of her shoulders.

A flicker of light and the whole world was lost from her.

They landed hard, falling to the cold ground where the silence was maddening. Running for their lives, the blood in their ears, the wind whipping at their souls, it had all been so loud, to fall to a dead still was sickening.

Michael had landed on Dee, and Audrey was tangled under Zach's lengthy legs, who was beside Jenny. But they didn't wait. They were getting back up, pulling Jenny with them, all talking at once. Because they weren't home. The magic didn't take them home. No, it only took them to the other side of the lighthouse, to the gaping room where this nightmare had begun.

They were dragging her to the other side of the room, running, rushing, no time to explain, they had to go they couldn't stay they would be back any second-

But the sight of Summer across the room, standing in front of a glowing doorway and holding something small in her cupped hands, made Jenny halt to a stop. "No!" She shouted among the pathetic excuse for reasoning. She yanked out of her friend's grasp, stepping back as they stepped forward. "No, you guys can't-I can't-"

"No, Jenny! No one dies! You said so!"

They were trying to pull her back, but the longer they argued, the closer Summer approached, revealing the small clay jar and animal-skin top, the one from the basement now in her hands.

Jenny all but jumped away. "I can't!" her voice broke on the cry, spurring immediate tears. "I can't let you guys die for me! I have to do this!"

"You'd do that to us?!" It was Zach who screamed it, storming right up to her and grabbing her. His grip burned her biceps, literally shaking the fear in her. "Give yourself to them and you bring all of our fears to life! They win that way!"

Jenny was so stunned she couldn't even blink. Dee and Audrey appeared at her side, grabbing her shoulder in comfort. "Don't go down without a fight, right?"

Summer and Michael stood on the other side with a confident smile. "If we're going to hell, we're dragging them down with us."

Looking around, they were all on the verge of tears. Whether from fear or hurt, it didn't matter. There was a spark of hope, a bleak and desperate spark, but it was quickly consumed by darkness.

The laugh made Jenny jump away from her friends immediately. The shadows formed behind them where they had come from, blocking any chance of running. There were three of them, larger than before, and definitely uglier. Suddenly seeing something like the Ancient Shadow Men was something no one could ever be prepared for. Taking in their towering forms, their disgusting mutations, their soulless presence, was far more than they could handle. After knowing what they were-after experiencing what they could do first hand-glimpsing at the real pain they caused, it made everything seem so….hopeless.

They didn't reach for her this time. Instead, they merely held out their hand. It was the tallest one, the oldest one. Jenny remembered him. The one mostly malformed, the strongest one, the only one to stare Jenny right in the eyes with something like a grim smile rather than staring over the group of them while licking their lips like the others.

They weren't grabbing her. They were waiting. Waiting for Jenny to walk up to them. They wanted her to end this game.

But her friends surrounded her in a tight barricade the second she moved.

"You can't have her!" It was Summer who shouted it, clinging to Jenny's arms much like a frightened child. Her voice was small, but powerful. They were all so powerful….

And just like that, Jenny felt so weak. So weak for giving in. So weak for trying to do something so stupid. All this time, so stupid, for never trying to believe in their strength, because it was right here. She was staring at it. The missing puzzle piece, the final answer, the last move to this game.

And they had the chance of winning.

Before they ripped her away.

Jenny heard the scream before it came. She felt the familiar tug of ice on her body and the world rotated around her. By the time it stopped and her vision clarified, her friends were across the room, all staring at her in shock. Zach screamed and charged, but they had her. Jenny felt it. The cold seeped into her as thin as a needle, right in the middle of her spine. It was almost painless, the way they invaded her so easily, so quickly.

But Jenny fought it. She constricted around herself, clenching down on her own soul. That's when it hurt. The needle of power trying to break her own barrier, but Jenny clenched harder. Her being squeezed down on itself, refusing their entry, refusing their evil, their power, their darkness. The tornado appeared out of nowhere, whipping around her as the Shadow Men fought harder, and Jenny was sure they would've broken her not too long after, if they hadn't have pulled out.

They released her, but not without taking every ounce of her strength with it. She collapsed to the ground, feeling as if her bones had melted inside her. Somehow, things couldn't reconnect in Jenny's mind. Like she had the two pieces, but they wouldn't go together. What happened? She was supposed to be dead. She was supposed to die hours ago, but then her friends, then the shadow men, the darkness-

The icy voices had melted together, spitting like poison from out of nowhere. "A life for a life," they hissed. "This game ends now."

Jenny had to lift her head, but she could no longer see the Ancestors of the man she loved. It wasn't because of the room spinning so fast or the fact that her eyes couldn't focus right. No, it was because of the long legs covered by black jeans that blocked her from the sight of them.

The sense of Déjà vu made Jenny nauseous, but at the same time it was refreshing. She blinked and saw the white against the shadows, and everything in her jumped alive, like being sparked with electricity.

"Julian."

The Prince of Darkness had been kneeling at one point, his hand firmly in the ground, controlling the shadows silently at his feet. Jenny immediately knew he was the reason she was able to pull out of their grip. Just like last time, he stood firmly between her and his Ancestors. However, this time there was a strange amount of power about him; a strong aura flurried about him like some dark blizzard-one that was strong enough to make his Ancestors nervous. It didn't show on their disgusting faces, of course. But their numbers tripled, the Shadow Men growing out of the freaking walls of the lighthouse as a sign of defense.

Jenny forced herself to sit up because seeing Julian was impossible. With her friends just to the side of him and the ten demons before him, it was just…impossible.

But now the chance of impossibility sounded impossible itself.

The Ancestors laughed, a short, very hardy laugh; one that was clearly not amused at all. "You…Dare defy us again, boy?"

The voice that came out of Julian was the strongest thing in the room. "You can't kill me this time." The Ancestors really did laugh then, baffled and entertained all at once. It was when they stopped that Julian spoke again. "Jenny," he called louder than before, striking her attention instantly, "you were right." He didn't look at her. He merely turned his head to the side, where she could see the profile of his face from behind. There was no emotion behind his words, just a dull, bold statement. "There's always a loophole."

That's when the tallest Shadow man, clearly the oldest, the one in charge, raised his arm, the shadows dangling under it like some very old tattered cloth. The wooden staff formed in his grip in a blink of an eye, taking shape and looming above them in a terrifying aura.

"We created you-We can unmake you!" They roared.

The fear struck quickly. Jenny jumped to her feet instantly, stumbling twice in the process since she could no longer feel her knees. She could already see it, the Stave of Life coming together behind the wall of Shadow demons. She could picture the oldest one turning and stabbing so quickly, so easily, killing him so easily-

But then the strike of power broke the sound barrier. It was with a whip of Julian's arm that caused it, some type of invisible strength shooting out and the unmistakable recoil of it across the room by something stronger. But the attack doubled, countered, too fast for anything human to understand. There was a spark of light, then the staff was in the air, knocked out of the eldest's hands. It struck the ground like a spear, landing straight up like a monument-

Parallel to Jenny.

In the next instant, the blizzard around the Shadow Men erupted, sending the world into a hazy black mist. Jenny jumped into a run immediately, screaming, "No!" Because if she let him do that, if she let Julian fight for her, then they'd all die.

The hands were grabbing her before she could run into the storm of dark magic. It was just one shock after another because the last thing Jenny expected to see when she turned was Tom. He was slightly hunched over, and he didn't need to constrain her with an enormous amount of strength. The shock enough put her to a still point in his grasp. His smooth voice seemed to stand out among the forming storm behind them. "No, Jenny, you have to let him. He has to hold them off."

"W-What? Tom-What-How-"

"I let him out."

The words seemed to ring in jenny's ears. "Y-You what?"

Tom grabbed her face with both hands, holding her there before she could try to pull away whether out of shock or anger or fear, it didn't matter. "He's the only one," Tom stressed, and as strange as it was coming from him, it was true. Hearing it aloud made Jenny's eyes sting. "It has to end here. He has to be the distraction so you can end it."

"M-Me?"

His hands dropped from her face to her hands where he squeezed her palms so tight it hurt. "It's the Stave. That's our last chance, Jenny. Julian's the only one strong enough to hold them off, so it has to be you."

Jenny was shaking her head, unable to fathom, until she looked at her hands. The hands that had been ripped to shreds, the hands that Julian had repaired. The hands that were infused with the power of the Shadow Men. Her gaze shot back to the Tom who gave her the slightest smile. "They want a life, right? Go give them one."

A spark. That's all it took. A spark to defeat the dark. The spark they've had the entire time, now fully lit and raging into a full fire. Jenny almost accepted it, until she saw the rest of their friends in the distance.

"B-But you guys can't-if you get in the way-"

"I'll get them. We got the ashes, they can't touch us-" There was a burst of some kind, a rupture of a power so strong that it caused the entire Shadow World to shake. It trembled into their bones, waking up the fear and the reality of the situation. Tom all but shoved Jenny off with a look so scared that it resembled strength. "Go!"

Jenny turned without thinking and ran right for the staff. She didn't have time to think. If she tried to think, Julian would be dead-all of them would be dead-just like that. Just run. Grab the staff, find the stave. Grab the staff, find the stave. Grab the-

Jenny's mind couldn't even fully register what happened in the next second. The shadows literally leapt up from the ground, rising and forming faster than humanly possible. The Shadow Man was above her in a blink, reaching for her in the next second. It happened so fast Jenny didn't get the chance to scream. She saw, hitched a breath, and dropped to the ground.

Her body dove out of the way of the outstretched hand, the disfigured boney fingers with claws like an animal. She landed at its side, in its shadow, where it turned on her, ready to strike-

"Thurisaz!"

Jenny felt her fist strike something, then the power knocked the demon back. If there was any explanation for it, she had basically punched him away, and now the Shadow Man faded away with a cry. Jenny didn't stop to figure it out. She rolled over-eyes darting for the staff-right there. She didn't even get up. She started crawling, her legs kicking under her so frantically that she was sliding across the ground like an animal. She scrambled forward, almost to it.

She reached her hand out when the shout made her pull it back. "Watch out!"

She covered her head without thinking, hearing the sharp contrast of power collide around her. The air rippled above her, making her bring her head back up just in time to see the shadows knock the staff out of the ground. It went far across the room, sliding to a still on the other side of the demons' fight. The black cloud of power had doubled in size now, electricity thrumming into the air. It was getting worse between the Shadow men inside-and the staff sat to the very right of it.

Jenny jumped up, ignoring the pain in her knees. Something whipped at her from the left-from the massive war of evil going on beside her-but she caught herself. She kept her gaze fixed firmly on the staff. She couldn't look anywhere else. She couldn't think about what was going on in that battle next to her because if she did-if she saw her friends being attacked-if she saw Julian-

She wouldn't know how to keep going.

Something whipped her again, harder this time. It jabbed into her shoulder, sparking pain inside, and forcing her body to pivot, to face the rising storm of darkness. She saw a pair of eyes, the same as before, the ones that had been chasing her all along, before it was blocked. A chunk of ice ruptured from the ground like a spike, blocking the demon off entirely. Jenny didn't stop. She pushed back into her run-but the eyes were there, too, trying to cut her off. The ice followed, lengthening, growing and rupturing every step Jenny took.

Jenny ran in a curve, easing away from the eyes that tried so desperately to outrun the wall of ice that separated them. The blocking worked to her advantage, stopping right at the side of her feet, shredding off any kind of contact with the Shadow Man that was trying to grab her. It followed her all the way to the staff and the wall cut-off harshly in the other direction, trapping the Shadow Man back into the battling darkness.

The staff was only ten feet away when Jenny noticed what was happening. The ground moving, her eyes playing tricks on her. The image of the ground flickered, then there were five black rocks-no, not rocks. They were figures, moving, crawling onto the staff. It took jenny's mind less than half a second to realize they were the fetuses from the Shadow World; the tiny, disfigured little bastards that roamed this world. They crawled up from the ground, clutching onto the staff from every end. Then, slowly, they started to disappear back into the floor-taking the staff with it. Sinking, quicker than jenny could run, far beneath reality.

"No!" Jenny let out a painful scream and she dropped to her knees, sliding the remaining distance to the staff as it sunk. She landed on it, right as it disappeared, grabbing nothing but the cemented ground. She slapped the empty space for a moment, mind unable to fathom what just happened, muttering, "No. No no no no no fuck-damn it-no!"

The panic already had the tears forming before her hands literally smacked herself in the face. The force shoved her back, the shadows hovering over her in an instant. The Creeper formed on the next blink, the staff firmly in its jaws. The fetuses still clung on like maggots to a dead body. But all it took was one shake and the beasts went flying off into the darkness. Then the Creeper swiveled its head down, right to Jenny's level, and lowered its bottom jaw. The staff laid in its open mouth for only a moment, then Jenny jumped up and yanked it out.

Was it possible for something so large to magically shrink to her size, as if detecting she was only human? Jenny could only guess since the staff seemed much larger in the Shadow man's hands. It was lighter than she expected, too, made of old wood that was chip and jagged down to a point and resting fat at the other end. She could feel the energy inside it thrumming under her fingers-into her fingers. She could feel the power tingling through her skin like a million tiny bugs flowing straight into her blood-connecting with it.

Then the Creeper pounced at her. No, not at her. It moved so fast Jenny didn't understand when it suddenly disappeared. It had leapt around her, wrapping around her with its enormous intangible body, and blocked her from the oncoming attack. She felt the rumble of power, causing her to duck into herself, clutching the staff to her chest.

When the snake disappeared, blending back into the shadows from where it came, Jenny looked up, her mind grasping the faint thought of the Stave, and saw Julian.

He was across the room, a path cut between the raging storm of evil and shadows, exposing him among the battle. He was posted in a rigid stance like one of an ancient warrior. One arm out and low behind him, the other up and out in front of him. His hands clenched as if holding some kind of ball of imaginary power. The shadows were whipping around him, literally swirling around him so fast they were straight blurs, rotating faster and faster the tighter he grew. Jenny could feel the power coiling tighter, growing denser by the second. All it took was one twist of the wrist, and the shadows whipped off him, striking like lightening. He cut down several more paths in the storm, pinning some shadows down all together, erupting others, clearing half of the room just like that.

Before him were three of the largest Shadow Men Jenny had ever seen; so tall, so darkly ominous that the sudden reveal of them made the room colder-and the fight a lot more serious. They were stronger-So much stronger than Julian. Jenny knew. She always knew-

"Julian!"

It wasn't until Jenny heard her echo that she realized she had screamed. The impossible blue eyes shot to her instantly, and it was in that instant that the storm shattered.

The tallest of the demons, the leader, the oldest, lifted his finger, striking a physical shadow much like a spear, right to the side of Julian's head. Jenny screamed again, this one full of fear, as she saw the white head hit the ground of shadows. She ran toward him, she couldn't see him, the shadows blocked him-then he was there, being lifted above the war-

In the grip of the Eldest Shadow Man.

If a Shadow Man could express physical pain, the emotion completely covered Julian's face. He couldn't move, trapped in his Ancestor's grasp, lifted high off the ground like a toy in a child's hand.

Jenny was screaming for him, but the wind was knocked out of her when she ran straight into something. The imaginary body wrapped back around her, turning her around so fast that it discombobulated her. She whipped back around, trying to search the shadows for the speck of white, the fear scratching into her common sense like needles. But the face of the Creeper came parallel to hers, hissing so loud it drowned out the fear. It spun her back around where the bubbling shadows of power parted and revealed the stone. It was a colossal wall, as wide as a pair of double doors, and so tall that it melded beyond the ceiling of the lighthouse. Equally spaced out were individual lines, single vertical lines etched into the stone like large tally marks. There were so many that the realization of what Jenny was doing made her want to collapse.

But a nudge in the back by a demon snake made her run up to it.

The Creeper beat her to it, curling up quickly at its end. Jenny blinked and he was fading. On the next blink, the shadows were sharpening, stretching into a pair of stairs. She jumped on them, holding the staff in both hands, and stopped face to face with the lines-and reality.

What the fuck was she supposed to do now?

She gave a desperate glance back but couldn't see much over the growing storm. The blackness had the room entirely covered, minus a tiny corner on the left and right. There was no sense of color, no sense of light-just shadows and the cold.

Jenny looked back and lifted the staff without thinking. If her instincts were right-and if school had taught her anything about guessing and checking-then all she had to do was stab it. If she could.

There was some kind of noise behind her, a disconcerting one, meant to distract her, but Jenny held the staff like an enlarged spear and threw all her weight into piercing the rock with the dull end of stone. The connection was strong, rock meeting rock, and the line sparked. Something exploded behind her, one of immense spiritual power, that caused the atmosphere to shift.

Jenny turned and saw a body fall out of the shadows. A Shadow Man, one with large eyes an unnerving violet and half of his face decayed, landed stiff on the ground. He was clutching his chest with one hand and his whole being tremble.

But he remained there.

Which meant Jenny only hurt him.

So Jenny turned back and stabbed it again. She heard a screech this time, the kind only something inhuman could make. The intensity of it, the harshness of it, only increased when Jenny dragged the staff down half of the line's length. The stone throbbed, the power echoed up the staff and into her hands. They tingled sharply, much like the feeling when they fall asleep only mixed with tiny sparks of heat. It almost burned from the inside out, but Jenny used it to carve into the line. She stopped short, however, at the site of the black liquid that began to drool from the line.

She didn't bother to look back. She knew she was killing it. It was the sudden shock-the quick realization of what she was doing-and how easily it could've been Julian she was doing it to. Her eyes scanned the numerous lines on the Stave and the doubt consumed her completely.

If she hit Julian's name, if she accidentally carved his name out-

She started to panic, unable to keep going-

But then she was stabbing another line. Not carving, merely piercing. She stabbed one after the other, all of them that were in reach, watching the power spark under the rock again and again. She listened to the breaks behind her and clung on to the faintest hope that she hadn't hit Julian.

Then it hit her. Literally. On the next spark she could see it. An image in her head made of nothing but shadows, but clearly explaining everything. Was it possible to pass on information without actually seeing it, like teleporting it straight into your brain? Because that's what it was like, as if the Stave itself was telling her what was what.

Jenny glanced back and the age of the Shadow Man suddenly paid an important factor. All of them were ancient, growing more and more disfigured with every century that passed. Julian was the youngest, the only one remaining the most human. So his name had to be added last-his name had to be closer to the bottom, underneath the stairs that she stood on.

Thank God.

Her gaze shot to the top of the Stave, to the line that stood at the very top. The name that was first ever carved, the oldest Shadow Man that still existed-

As the realization came to her, the storm was settling. The injured demons lay still on the floor, hurt in some intangible way that they could no longer fight. Only a few remained-No there were still many. It was told without being seen again. All of them were watching from outside the walls, enjoying the show. The ones that remained were scattered among the erupting clouds of power. The one that clearly stood out was the Eldest Shadow Man, towering over the rest. Julian was still in his grip, struggling among the hold of shadows around him. What was worse was how pale Julian seemed to be, and the fact that his Ancestor was laughing about it.

Jenny desperately waited for Julian to meet her gaze, but hers flickered to the Eldest demon. The second her emerald pools met those endless black, the high pitch whining pierced her ears. It screeched right into her head, fiercely digging into her sanity with sharp, bloody claws. She actually felt the pain before she heard it, trying to cover her ears without dropping the staff. Weakness rocked her, the blackness crowding her. They were trying to make her pass out-no, kill her. Somehow, with just a noise, make her cave in, stop breathing. If they stopped her, they won.

If this had happened to Jenny two years ago, she probably would've collapsed immediately, too weak to even think of fighting. But over those years she had faced almost everything that was inhuman and learned how to better it. She had done everything a human shouldn't be capable of.

A part of her had changed in those few years because of these demons-

-and she'd be damned in they were going to drag her back.

"Dagaz!" The operation between light and dark, exactly where her soul lingered at the moment. It took all of Jenny's strength to scream it, but when she did, she felt the entire Shadow World pulsate in response. She was able to fix herself, stand up straight, and mentally push the whirring out of her sanity. All it took was a thought and the shadows under her rocketed up, shooting her up to the very top of the Stave of Life. She didn't hesitate then, because that's all it would take. Just a second. A single second to end it all. To end her. Or them.

Jenny stabbed the line as hard as she could, letting the staff linger longer than before, making sure she hit it good and hard. There was a shout-one that seemed to echo only in Jenny's mind. The Stave trembled under her, causing the staff to shift and slip off. Jenny pulled herself back and turned around immediately.

There she stood, standing above a crowd of Shadow Men, in their world, holding their power. The fighting had stopped. The darkness had decreased. She could see the floor once again and the outlines of the demons that had collapsed spread across the entire surface. Only the far left corner seemed untouched, the spot shining like white from amongst the shadows. There were her friends, all six of them, placed safely in the corner with some kind of outline marked on the floor.

They were staring at her. They were all staring at her, demons and all. Every Shadow Man, every demon within this world, even Julian. He was now out of his Ancestor's hold, back on the ground. He hadn't even finished standing, frozen in a half crouch, gazing up at her with….such wonder.

Jenny stood above them all-a mere human-with their own power, their very lives, in her hands. Jenny clenched the staff tighter, only imagining how she looked at the moment-hair wild and bright like gold contrasted against the shadows around her- she was practically glowing with power. But she could care less about that now.

She searched the room until she found the Eldest Shadow Man once more. The monster was slightly hunched directly below her as if he had tried to jump after her in the second she took to stab his name. His black eyes narrowed upon her then, declaring the official meaning of a death glare. Yet, Jenny was anything but scared. Instead she was furious. She felt enraged upon seeing him, at all he's done, infuriated with power. She felt it rise in her chest like an eruption of some kind, swelling up faster than she could comprehend.

She made sure their gaze didn't break when she stabbed the name again.

There was a throb, a cry, then the Shadow Man was on the ground. If he had any kind of physical body left besides shadows, it would be easier to say he was now on his knees. To be killed from the inside out was a terrifying thought, one that crumbled you down in reverse, weakened you and slowly dragged you down into the nothingness you were created from. Jenny watched the demon sink like this with a feeling close to satisfaction.

"You underestimated me! You took my grandfather. You took my friends. You should've left when you had the chance." She dug the staff in deeper, feeling the spark under her hands, seeing the contorted disbelief of pain in those soulless black eyes. She was proud of how clear she sounded when she finished, "This game ends now."

She turned. She pulled the staff back. She stabbed it one last time and dragged the staff down the length of the line. It was tougher than the last, like carving into hardened worn out leather. Everything inside her fought it, too, everything mental and sane inside her struggled to cope with the otherworldly deed, but Jenny did it. Even as it sucked out all her strength, even as it sucked at the very line that was her life, she etched into that stone until her hands went numb. She put everything into carving out his name-she put all the nightmares, all the hallucinations, all the games, all the fears, all the lives lost-all of it into making this rock bleed.

When she reached the end, however, she hesitated. There was just the tiniest stub of the line left, only a fragment of life, too weak to survive on its own. Just a jerk more and she'd be rid of him-she'd kill him. And yet….

Jenny removed the staff. Turning quickly to face the weakened pile of shadows that now laid on the floor. He wasn't dead. Not yet. All Jenny had to do was think of it, imagine it in her head, and then she was watching it. The Lurker came from the shadows, grabbing the Shadow Man in its jaws. With a twist of its head it tossed him across the room, to the lingering line of Shadow men that stood in waiting. They looked to the offering as if confused, then up at Jenny.

Jenny pointed to it and when she spoke this time, she realized just how out of breath she was. "A life for a life, right? Well there's my offer! Take it or leave it!"

The various demons seemed to hesitate, look at each other, then look at their leader upon the ground.

Slowly, they began to laugh.

Not at Jenny, as she figured at first. No, they were laughing with her. What a cruel thing she had done. Instead of killing him off, she offered him as if he were a human soul ready for an eternity of suffering. A human offering a Shadow Man for torture. They laughed not only in amusement at the situation, but at the fact that Jenny had become almost as inhuman as they were.

It took a minute of shifting around, trembling in the atmosphere, but then the Shadow Men were on their leader. Claws, hooves, and webbed fingers grabbing onto the mound of power that was their Elder, and then they were dragging him away. They faded into their own wall of shadows, slowly, cautiously, taking their sweet time at the new games they could play with one of their own.

Then, that was it.

Silence.

Game over.

Jenny didn't know what that clinking sound was-like rock against rock. The shadows started moving, tilting the world around her almost completely horizontal. It wasn't until she felt her weight sway off to the side that she realized she was falling. Didn't matter now. She'd be dead before she hit the ground anyway.

After being in nothing but shadows for what seemed like half a year, Jenny never thought something could be so bright. She was facing up-she wasn't sure how she could tell that, but she was on her back, staring up at something so bright. A white light-Oh, she was dying. Finally.

The light slowly dimmed and with every blink her mind adjusted to exactly what was around her. The light pulled back into a single shape, a circle-a lamp. Dimensions formed behind it-a ceiling. Walls. A room. A white room.

"Jenny!"

The noise came from very far away and sounded like a different language, clapping at her senses almost painfully. The world smacked back to her as something was suddenly touching her-no, it was someone. Warm arms wrapping around her body so tight that it hurt. It hurt.

Dear lord, she was alive.

Jenny finally looked away from the light above her to the head of blonde curls that was digging into her shoulder. The rest of her body was white-no, that was a blanket, or a sheet, whatever. She was lying down-in a bed. With this girl on top of her.

It took Jenny a long while to finally come to, and when she did, everything and nothing made sense. The shadows mixed with the light inside her and she understood, but didn't comprehend at the same time.

She was in the hospital, judging by the doctor in the corner of the room, and she was alive, if the monitor at her bedside was right. The room seemed so small with everyone cramped in there. She saw Zach, Dee, and her aunt and uncle on the right side. Then there was Michael, Audrey and the doctor on the left. She finally recognized Summer was the girl that was squeezing all the air out of her and in the next moment Jenny was sitting up, clutching to the blonde with whatever strength she had left. Surprisingly, there was a lot of it. Jenny didn't feel weak. She didn't feel tired. She felt sore, that was for sure, her muscles strained every inch that she moved. But she felt…vibrant. She felt alive, the energy bubbling through her like an excited young child.

The doctor tried to make his way to Jenny, but her aunt and uncle were on her next. Her aunt, of course, was crying and kissing her face and stroking her hair, and her uncle was squeezing her hands and keeping a firm hand on her shoulder. After the thanks to God came the immediate scorns and outbursts of concerned rage. Then the doctor was checking her vitals. They were asking her a million questions-everyone seemed to be talking, but Jenny didn't focus on a single one. In honesty, she could've cared less about the consequences that were staring her in the face.

She looked to Dee who was one of the few that was currently screaming at her. "Where's Tom? Is he-"

"Fine. He's in the room down the hall."

"You've been out for hours, mon ami," Audrey said. She tucked herself under Michael's arm, casting a gaze across everyone. "You were the last to wake up from the accident."

Before Jenny could even muster up a confused glance, her aunt was cradling her face again. "You were in a car accident, honey. You're lucky you didn't go flying out the car!"

"We were trying to come home, remember?" Michael said quickly.

"Our failure of a road trip, stuck out there for weeks."

"We finally got the car running again-"

"Then we lost control-"

"Tom fell out-Hurt his back."

"The bug is totaled."

"But we're all okay. You hit your head-knocked you out."

"Now we're fine," Zach finished. "Thanks to you."

At first, the words flew right by Jenny, instantly consumed by the fear. She had been asleep the entire time, it was all just a dream-a hallucination, none of it was real-

Until Summer pulled out the tiny jar, the clay jar with the animal skin top-the one with magical ashes, the one that kept them alive while she-

"Jenny, do you understand what they're saying? Do you remember?" The doctor was pressing her now and Jenny had never been so relieved as she lied to his face.

"Yes, yes, sorry. It's...a little fuzzy, but I remember. I was in the passenger seat, right? Tom was in the back, Zach was driving-"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Oh, Jenny!"

There was the few minutes of fussing and cursing and discussion of medicine and danger and the fact that they were on the news, needed to talk to a lot of people before she came home, not to mention that her parents were on a trip somewhere in Africa for work-but there were only two things that Jenny had in mind.

And they were focused on the only two people that weren't in the room.

"I want to see Tom."

"No, young lady you are to remain in this bed until-Jenny!"

She was already climbing out of the bed, peeling off whatever those circle patches attached to her chest were. When she stood, she felt even better. Although sore, her legs were strong, joints supporting her with enough power to jump out of the room if she wanted. Her aunt and uncle tried to stop her, but suddenly Zach and Dee were in the way, trying to clear the room as the nurses had been nagging at them to do, leaving Jenny the perfect path to escape. She left the room calmly, ignoring the fact that she was in a cheap hospital gown. Summer was behind her, pointing down the hall.

"That room-right there. He's awake-He's ok."

Jenny jumped into the room before any nurses or doctors could try and stop her. He was there, lying on his stomach with fresh bandages and an IV in his arm. He sat up when he saw her and he didn't get to finish calling her name before she had her arms wrapped around him. He managed to wrap an arm around her back, bringing her head down to the crook of his neck. He was warm, he was alive.

"You did it," he said rushed into her ear before anyone could enter the room. "We're alive-We won. It's over."

After that was a lot of tying up loose ends. They had to fake their bitch story about a hundred times to numerous people, and for good reason. Somehow, telling the truth like they did last time just didn't seem like a good idea. They had to fill out a lot of paperwork, make some calls, talk to more people, deal with cameras; it was a long while before anyone left the damn hospital.

Audrey reluctantly went home with Michael, talking about some catching up to do. Summer's parents, again, had snagged her up the moment they heard she was at the hospital, safe and sound. Dee went home exhausted for once, saying now that she's done enough fighting to last her a few months, she can sit down and try to study something. Tom had to stay in the hospital for a few more nights, at least until they were absolutely clear of infection or internal bleeding. Jenny made sure she gave him a kiss on the cheek before she left.

As for herself, Jenny went with Zach and her aunt and uncle since her parents were out of the country. It had been early in the morning when all of them were "found downtown in a complete wreck", so by the time everyone made it home, the evening was already starting to settle. Aunt May and Uncle Jack hounded Jenny for a good while before finally going to bed. They offered Jenny the spare room and clothes, but in all honesty Jenny knew she wasn't going to stay. She accepted it to be humble, but even Zach could read it and finally got his parents to calm down.

Now they sat there, cousins on the couch, watching some kind of fantasy movie as if they were just hanging out after school. Jenny laid completely curled up on the couch, leaning against her cousin while Zach sat stiffly at the end, like normal. They had made sure the adults were completely passed out before discussing the real topic at hand.

"So….what exactly happened?" Jenny asked a little quietly. "At the lighthouse."

Zach looked away from her. His eyes landed firmly on the TV although he was doing everything but paying attention to it. "You did it. They took that Shadow Man, and then you passed out. We kinda all did. We woke up in some warehouse downtown. We decided it was best to call an ambulance since you wouldn't wake up. We got our story straight on the way to the hospital."

Jenny tried to put that together in her head, watching the pieces play like some cheap fiction movie. "And…And you guys weren't hurt at all?"

"Nah, those ashes were some weird stuff. We used it like a barrier. Not too sure how, but they didn't bother with us. They wanted you." Zach finally met her gaze again. "And you beat them."

She let out a breathy sigh, her lips in a very small, humble smile. "I don't even know how that worked." She lifted her hands, trying to see passed the skin, to see what lay in her blood that wasn't human. "I'm just glad everyone's alive…."

"Including Julian."

Jenny almost jumped. She looked back to her cousin, but his eyes were back to the TV, as if pulling away from her like the old days. When he had nothing more to say, Jenny sat back against the couch, not as close to Zach as she was before, and muttered, "Yeah…"

"He had to be the one to put us back on Earth, right?"

"Well….Yeah."

"He didn't take you." There was a long pause where Jenny couldn't say anything because she was processing it as Zach explained it. "When he dropped us off, he didn't have to put you there with us. He could've taken you. But he didn't…"

Jenny had to fully take that in. After she passed out, she wouldn't have been surprised to wake up in a large, magnificent bed again, Julian at her side, only shown through a mirror that her friends had made it home and that everything had gone well. But she hadn't. She woke up on Earth. With her friends. And Julian…

"Has he…talked to you? I mean, since-"

"No." Jenny didn't meant to cut him off, but she felt so anxious all of a sudden-unable to correctly sort out the feelings bubbling up inside her. "No, he hasn't. It's just…. It's just been us all day." Jenny almost laughed. "I guess even someone like him can get tired of all those tricks." In the pause between them, Jenny let her eyes fall closed and she tilted her head back against the couch. "I had locked him up. I-I ran-It was so stupid, but I ran. I made it so he couldn't stop me. God-" Her hands came up over her face. "I almost got us all killed. I'm so stupid. I thought….. I thought they were going to kill him. And you guys-and…."

There was long moment where there was nothing but the voices of the movie filling the room.

"You love him," the question suddenly arose. "Don't you?"

Jenny's gaze shot toward her cousin beside her, wide with shock. Even though her mouth opened, there was nothing she could ever say. Zach accepted the silence and looked back to the TV. "Its ok. I get it-I can understand why-But, no, it's not okay. I don't want…" The words failed him and his eyes dropped to the floor. "I mean, none of us want you to leave, but…we kinda assumed…"

Jenny didn't know what to say. Had they all known? Had they seen how she felt before she did herself? Even with the look on her cousin's face, a kind of forced dismal, she couldn't deny it. There was no more fighting anymore. "I'm sorry," she breathed.

Slowly, Zach smiled. "Don't be. He loves you, which is strange, but… I mean, he didn't have to save us. So…That has to count for something."

A loud roar from the crowd on the TV made Jenny glance away. It erupted the conversation for only a moment before Jenny looked back. Zach was looking at her now with eyes as grey as an early November sky. There was a look of content in them now, whether there forcefully or not, it was comforting. "He'll make you happy…"

Something hot stung Jenny's eyes, but she refused to cry. She swallowed whatever snagged in her throat and threw her arms around her cousin's neck. He embraced her back, holding her for a very long time. "Just be sure to visit us a lot, okay? I don't care if you have to lock him up to do it."

Jenny could only breath out a tight laugh, one that was clearly holding back a sob. She nodded over his shoulder and didn't release him without giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I swear,' she said quietly, then repeated it louder. "I swear, I'll be back. I won't…disappear."

Something settled in Zach's face then. He looked as if he could cry, too, and Jenny knew that after she left he probably would cry, if just a little. It was confirmed by the way he jerked his head away, sighing and jumping to his feet. "Well, I've been dying to get my hands on a good camera and take a picture of something, so…You should probably get going. Before Aunt and Uncle start to worry."

Jenny wished she could hit her cousin at this moment for the move he was pulling. She came to a stand after him, fixing her skirt as if everything was non-chalant and she would see him at school tomorrow. "Yeah, I probably should." She waited until he met her gaze again before saying, "I'll see you soon. Okay?"

He gave her one more look, then nodded. "Whatever."

It was the right time to leave. As painful as it should've been, it was a mutual pain. Like the piece of someone when their sibling moves away, when reality sinks in, when lives change. It all slowly sunk in as jenny walked down the sidewalk, like all the times she had done before when they were younger. She paid careful attention to the cars whizzing by her and the rustle of the wind in the trees. She would miss this, this town, this place at least.

But she wasn't sad. There was more for her to see. And she would return. Like Zach had said, one way or another, she would definitely be back. Thus, she picked up her pace a little, looked straight ahead, and ended up running the rest of the way home. She finally stopped a few houses down from her home. Her actual home, the two story blue faded paint and white porch. She hadn't seen the figure until she was on her own lawn and when she did, her feet froze.

The Shadow Man looked completely out of place on her porch. But the thing was, he almost blended in like that; standing perfectly still, hands behind his back, wearing some casual black jeans and a white shirt splattered with black and the sleeves rolled up. Jenny almost didn't recognize him at first glance, but those icy blue eyes were on her like a death trap, locking her into place almost in a threatening way.

"I'll have you know," he said quickly, anxiously, before Jenny could fully take him in, "that the only reason I'm here is because you are. And you're mine."

Slowly, Jenny felt a chill land upon her, like an frosty drizzle that laid over her very being. She didn't have to respond because simply walking up to him was an answer enough. For a minute she tried to picture them like this a year ago, before any of this ever happened, and let her imagination roll as to what would happen. Would they still be where they are now? Would they still love as much as they did now? Would it had changed anything at all?

His smug smile was completely enforced, like a mask he quickly whipped on. "I'm not too sure about you, Jenny, but I'm sick of these games and I'd much rather finish it all. I don't think your friends are interested in playing anymore and frankly if they interrupt anymore, I won't hesitate on finishing the lot of them off-"

He stopped only when Jenny reached up and kissed him.

Jenny hadn't meant to interrupt him; she realized after she had let go. It was just a small kiss, a gentle touch of the lips. She didn't care about the nonsense he was spilling out of pride anymore. She had just…wanted to.

"Thank you," Jenny said with all the honesty and commitment she had.

Something flickered in Julian's face, then a smile slowly crawled back into his lips. A small smile, one that was holding something back. "And for what, exactly? I haven't done anything yet."

"I know," Jenny lied.

Julian probably should've said something cocky then. Normally he would have. But in that moment, in this world, at this time, it…just wasn't possible. Jenny thought she was going to say something, but whatever it was disappeared the second it arrived. The reason being because Jenny's gaze flickered up, noticing the small detail that had been nagging at her the second she saw Julian.

Sticking out of those snow white hairs were two black horns. They were like the cliché devil horns, small and slightly curved, but as black as black could get.

They pierced right through Jenny, and she was forced to take in the sudden realization that Julian was still Julian-He was still a Shadow Man. He was beautiful now, but some day he'd look like his Ancestors. One day he would grow claws or a tail or hooves or something. He'd become disfigured, it was just in his nature.

Seeing them threw Jenny off, and Julian knew. She knew he could read it on her face, feel it in her slight spark of fear. Looking back into those eyes, he was waiting. For what exactly, Jenny didn't know. Did he expect her to run? Was he waiting for her to be disgusted? Angry? Scared?

Slowly, she took a step closer and reached for them. She didn't touch them, not exactly, more like grazed her fingers near them as if testing whether or not they were real. Julian allowed her to, not saying anything as she let her hand fall back down, grazing his hair on the way down. She returned his gaze with a smile now.

They were unnerving. She wouldn't deny that. And the fact that Julian would someday shift and slowly morph into something hideous was as inevitable as her growing old and wrinkly. She may not like any of it wholeheartedly, but she was going to accept it one way or another.

Julian smiled back at her and in the moment he was kissing her-a real kiss. One that was sweet and swollen with passion. Jenny didn't feel sparks, or feel herself floating off into the other dimensions at this kiss. No, she was completely rooted, in the moment; the most genuine kiss they ever shared. Upon pulling away, it left Jenny more stirred up than any time before.

Then Julian's smile fell, mouth turned down, eyes darkened. He leaned closer and cupped her face with both hands, leaving little room between their faces as he gazed right into her. "Jenny, I'm going to take you home," he said very boldly, very flatly. "And nothing's going to stop me this time. Nothing."

Surprisingly, nothing in Jenny rejected that fact. Mostly because she had expected it. More over she had expected it all, but especially not like this. Now, standing here face to face with him on her own porch, as foreign as it seemed, it was the perfect thing.

Jenny didn't even have to respond. She merely smiled at the Prince of Darkness who in turn smirked himself. He released her face only to reach behind him and open the front door to her house. Instead of opening into her living room like her mind imagined, it revealed nothing but a dark entryway, a wooden floor leading into a wall of shadows.

Something inside Jenny flinched immediately. To actually have the reality suddenly staring her in the face, welcoming her so warmly, an all new fear settled into her.

But right behind that fear was a completely new excitement.

Jenny knew what lay behind it, and she was anything but afraid. If anything, she was kind of excited, but hell if she'd let all of it show. Julian held it open for her, other arm bowed across his chest as if offering a rare gift. Jenny tried to approach it slowly because she didn't want to lose her sense of time. She guessed she would after she walked through.

She knew that when she crossed that alien border she would no longer be on Earth, that she would no longer be another simple human being on the surface. She knew she would step into the kingdom of shadows. And when she did, she would light it up like a single flame in a pit of blackness. She would illuminate the entire world with her presence alone, taking the reigns of power into her hold as its Queen-with Julian at her side as its King.

THE FUCKING END

Well…..holy shit. If I had known we'd be this far when I first started this fanfic, I would've called myself crazy. But oh well! We did it! It's over! Im kinda sad, but happy J it was definitely fun, right guys? Of course there are tiny little things I want to keep changing, but then think I shouldn't, should, shouldn't, so I'm just going to leave them the way they are and pray for the best. I hope I ended it well enough for all yall's approval. I wrote an extra chapter already, kinda like a glance into what jennys life is like with Julian, but if you guys want me to post that it will literally be the last one, no mas! Otherwise, the trip is over! Dx I have more ff ideas with these two obviously, and if you guys want me to write anything specific of these guys just shoot me a message J Thanks for all the patience and the reviews and wonderful comments and advice. I know I've been slow and tedious, but hey, worth it in the end right? I hope so.

That's it. Thanks again guys and I hope it was worth it. Please review to tell me your final thoughts, and if you would like the extra chapter posted.

Till my next story! 3

ZVA