Disclaimer: I do not own the original story or original forbidden game characters.
Tom's POV
I was waiting for work to come to an end. I really wanted to see my Jenny, and...Julie. I bet she's at that wizard's old house again, isn't she? My question not meant to be answered.
People tell me that I'm paranoid and some say I need to go to a councilor. I'm not crazy, just cautious. I can't take any chances. Now that my little girl has decided to go to Jenny's grandfather's house every weekend I'm taking good precautions just in case the 'Julian incident' comes back to haunt us. It's not like there's no chance.
My question was answered. Not by a person, or a voice in my head, but a gut feeling that's put me on red alert.
Raising my left hand I grasped where my heart is and started to feel myself get both anxious and sweaty, from the thought of what this feeling could mean.I immediately decided that this feeling needed to be taken care of. My shift is over in a few minutes, but I might as well clock out a minute or two early. It's starting to get dark out side and I don't want to be caught in it. Stupid daylight savings time. I grabbed my crutches to carry me and my slowly healing foot out of here.
After an hour of a taxi ride I was dropped of at my home. The place was nice and had a lovely view of everything. I really did enjoy living here. Now's not the time for enjoyment though. I have to figure out what's going on. I got to my door as fast as my crutches would carry me and quickly slipped the key out of my pocket and into the door. I let the door wide open and almost tripped over the door step. I really need to get that removed if my foot is going to be like this much longer. I went as quickly as I could through the dimly lit house. As I entered a doorway that led to the living room I saw Jenny sitting on the couch, watching the T.V. She turned to face me as I walked towards her. "Oh. Hi Tom. You're home early. What's the occasion-"
"Where's Julie?" I asked before she could finish. "She's at Grandpa's place like usual. Why?" Her bright eyes questioned. I turned to walk back out the door. "Tom? Tom! What are you doing? Where are you going?"I swiftly pivoted on my good foot. "I've got a bad feeling. I think that she might be in trouble. We need to go check it out." I said trying to hurry. Her face was almost saddened. "I've told you that you need to trust her. She is our daughter after all. Besides, isn't it a mother's job to have the bad feelings and have a maternal instinct?" She tried to stop me. "I don't care if you believe me or not but I'm going. I know somethings wrong. If you're right and everything's fine then I wont ever do this again, but I feel like I need to. As you said she's our daughter and I'll do all I can to protect her." She seemed as if she gained more understanding now. "...alright. I'll let you go check it out, but only if I can come too." I nodded my head and rushed out the door as she followed.
As we ran; or in my case limped quickly; I noticed how quiet it was. Also how late it was getting. Jenny needs to go to work and I don't need to keep her from it. "Jenny, shouldn't you be leaving...for the hospital soon? You know...they would be...angry with you if you...missed a day. I don't want you to...get yelled at...just because of me." I said through was really putting my broken foot through Hell walking this much and so fast.
"It's fine. I'll just say that you had an appointment with a surgeon from a different hospital and I had to be there. They should believe that." She didn't seem to worried about work. I don't want her to lie, but years ago telling the truth got us no where. Almost in an insane asylum. No one believed us. Why should we start telling them the truth now? I decided to drop the matter and continue on in the forest. A twig broke beneath my unbroken foot.
It seemed like hours before we got here, though by the light I could tell that it could've only been an hour at most. Jenny started to search her jacket pockets for the spare key. She pulled her hands out with nothing. "I must've forgotten to grab it when we ran out of the house. Shouldn't it be unlocked if she's in there?"
"No. She locks it as soon as she gets inside." I started to look around for another entrance. "How do you know?"
"Because I told her too. She always listens to her-"
"Got it!" Jenny shouted opening the door. I looked over my shoulder. Okay, so maybe she doesn't listen to me. I need to talk to her about that once this is dealt with. I scowled at the thought of Julie not listening to me. Her own father. She always listens to her Mom so why not me? It makes no sense.
I walked inside the dingy building. "Julie! Julie, where are you sweetie?" Jenny started to call out to her. "Julie! Hey, Julie this isn't funny! Come out here!" I took a quick halt as Jenny paused in front of a doorway. "What is it hon?" She raised he shaking hands, one over her wide mouth, the other pointing into the special room. The room where the door is. The basement.
I gave a worried expression as I entered the door way. I could see the mess in the room. The mess that we left and more. I went down the stairs and stopped at the last step. I took a deep breath and looked in the direction of the door with the scratched out runes. The bookcase had been knocked over and the door left ajar. Julie...
I dropped my crutches and limped my way to the door. I grabbed a hold of the handle and opened it. Nothing. Just an ordinary closet. I fell to my knees. "I...was too late..." I heard rummaging behind me. I glanced only to find Jenny tossing things across the room.
"Jenny, what are you-"
"The runes." She interrupted "I have to find them. Then we can open the door and get Julie back. We've done this before we can do it again." I crawled towards her and hugged her from behind. "Jenny, do you even remember the runes that we're used last time? Do you even know how to make them anymore?" I doubted. She kept rummaging. I saw her hands. They're covered in small cuts from sharp objects on the floor. She doesn't even notice.
I felt like this was my fault. I have to try to protect everyone again. Especially Jenny. She looks as if she's having a mental breakdown. I have to stop this.
I went to reach for Jenny's lower arms. She tried to keep looking even though I had her in a tight grip. "Jenny, stop this already! This is getting you nowhere! You need to calm down!"
"Don't tell me to calm down! If I calm down I'll probably faint or something." She started to cry. "Jenny, I know how you feel." I embraced her warmly. "I wish we could do something right now, but we can't. Besides," I looked into her cypress eyes. "Julie's a smart girl. She probably would be able to figure something out." Jenny started shaking. "But, she's a witch Tom. She's a witch. They're going to treat her just like they did my Grandpa..." Her voice grew weaker.
She's a witch? My sweet little girl is...a...witch? But how? How is she a witch? Shouldn't the last of the witches and wizards had been Jenny's grandpa? "She got some of the witches genes in her that had skipped over me. They're going to murder her in there Tom. She's not going to be able to live!" She drove her honey colored head into my shoulder, and her sliced fingers into my back. Her tears started to seep their way through my shirt. They're so warm. She really loves Julie. I can't let her keep this up. She could die from this.
"Jenny...what if...they're not planning on 'killing' her exactly? What if...she wasn't even taken. She could've gone herself, or even just decided to let them take her. That could be possible." She looked me dead in the eyes. Her hands left my back and went straight for my check. I never knew Jenny could slap this hard. "You idiot! This is my daughter you're talking about! How dare you say something like that!" She hugged me again. "Oh Julie...Julie..." She sobbed even more. Her tears were drowning me.
Women are so confusing.
Julie's POV
I screamed as loud as I could. My voice cracking, I thought I was going to completely lose my voice. I was getting dragged even farther into the abyss. I thought the darkness was never going to end. I've entered a dark area that reminds me of a forest. A grim one to say the least. Though I'm surprised I'm even able to catch the scenery with how fast I'm going. So many turns. I don't think I'm even being dragged anymore. More like someone's carrying me over their shoulder.
This whole time I've been beating on their back with one arm, whoever 'they' are. My other arm was still holding onto my book. I'm guessing this is a shadow man. "I said put me down!" I screamed for the hundredth time. "I won't! Now will you stop hitting me already? You really are a pain!" This is the first time they spoke. Now that I hear their voice I recognize it. Not only is this a shadow man, but if I'm not mistaken...this man is a girl. A young one from the sound of it. And with how low my head is to the ground I'm guessing she's not very tall. Maybe in her mid-teens. She could also be short for her age...WHY AM I CALCULATING THIS? I SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON GETTING AWAY FROM HER! NOT HOW OLD SHE IS!
Eventually after going through plenty of screams I decided to just shut up and stop trying. I'm obviously not going to get away. I let my pounding fist hang off my shoulder as I sighed. "Will you please put me down?" I asked, bored of this question. "No. And I appreciate you not hitting me anymore. That really was annoying."
I took my palm to my chin. "So, what's your name?" She stopped immediately. "Hey! Watch the breaks! I could get whiplash." I barked. "First, no complaining. You're being captured so that's just confusing. Second, would you run if I put you down?" I glared. "If I tried you would most likely catch me, so no, I won't" I lied. "Alright." She gently sat me down. I hate to betray her trust and kindness, but hey, she's trying to kidnap me...and succeeding. I have a right.
I broke out into a dash for the opposite direction. I heard her call out to me from behind. She didn't seem like she was chasing me. I wonder why?
"Xavier! I could use some help here!" She called. Who's Xavier? I looked behind me for just an instant before I rammed into something and fell. What I ran into fell as well. "Ow..." I said rubbing my head. What I ran into stood and yanked on my upper arm. "Hey! Let go!"
"So you can run again? I don't think so." I looked up at what grabbed me. It was a...boy? Another shadow man maybe. This one actually being a male. He seems pretty tall from what I can tell. At least a head above me if not a few more inches.
I cringed at the pain coming from my arm. I could feel a bruise forming. I glared even more so at him. "Let me go you jerk!" I started to squirm to no avail. "I would advise you to quit with the escape plans. You're not leaving and that's that. Now stop or I'm going to have to carry you the rest of the way."
"Just shut up and let me go darn it!" I yelled. "You asked for it." He let go of my arm. My hand flew to my arm when he let go. "Thanks. You know that really hurt...whaaaa!" I yelped as I was lifted off the ground. "Get your hands off me!" I shouted as I felt one arm go under my back and the other under my legs. I was being carried bridal style by a shadow man! How bad could this get?
"If you hadn't of struggled than I wouldn't have had to do this but you left me with no choice. Now stop or I'm going to make this even worse for you!" I paused my hands. I was pushing his face away from the bottom of his chin. I let my hands slowly fall to my knees. "...fine..."I grumbled. We stood for a minute. "So...are you going to put me down? I've accepted defeat. There shouldn't be an issue."
"Nope. One, because I don't trust you to not run away. Two, because..." He leaned in closer. "I find this to be awfully amusing." He smirked arrogantly. I could feel his fingers touch the bottom of my shirt. The wind touched my cold skin. His fingers grazed over my waist. I discovered immense blush over my face. "Stop it!" I grabbed the edge of my shirt and pulled back down an inch so it wouldn't show my side. "You touch me again like that and I'll rip that hand right off. If you want to keep it I suggest you not touch me like that." I glared like it was going to make him disappear or turn to dust. I only now realize his appearance.
His eyes are a blood red, deeper than any crimson I've seen. Wrapped in pale soft skin. He seemed almost dead. There was no warmth to him. He's ice. All I could see of his clothes was the upper half of his shirt. I couldn't tell the color like I could his eyes, but I could tell that it had a modern style to it. The buttons were pressed to my arm so it's easy to tel that he's wearing a button up, but it's looks rather loose around his neck. Maybe he just doesn't have it buttoned all the way. He has the cuffs unbuttoned and draped over his wrist. From the 'touching' incident I could feel that his fingers were still exposed. From the feel it seems to be made of silk. Because of the darkness this is all I can tell.
"Cutting off my hands wouldn't do you any good. I am a shadow man after all. You have no idea what I capable of.-" He seemed like he was going to boast about himself some more, but was swiftly silenced by the girl who was forced to stand and listen to this. "Xavier will you just shut up! We need to get her to the ancestors before I get in trouble. You're the one who told me that my name would be carved out if I didn't hurry. Now let's quit wasting my time and go." I heard Xavier laugh. Turning to face him again I could sense his cocky aura. "But aren't you the one who called out to me? Screaming my name from the top of your lungs. Just like some damsel in distre-"
"You want to finish that sentence?" She spoke in a demonic tone. "Lets just go before I regret taking on this mission." She sighed and walked ahead. Xavier followed closely behind carrying me along.
"So, you never answered my question. What's your name?" I asked, getting used to being carried. It was somewhat uncomfortable because of the running, also the lack of knowing this guy, but I could deal with it.
"Yeah, because you started to run away. Well, my name is Annabelle, but for short people just call me Annie. Also when people like the Ancestors don't have enough respect to address me by my full name."
"Annie! Shut up! What if the Ancestors heard you say that? You know how much trouble you'd be in?"
"I'm sorry, did you say something? I can't hear you over that ego talking. Oh wait, that's you." She picked at her ear with her pinky. " And the Ancestors are the disrespectful ones? First you ignore me, than insult me, and now you've lost all sense of manners!" My question is how are these people able to run, yet speak as if they're walking at a slow pace? "Will you hush about the Ancestors? Ancestors this, Ancestors that. Is that all you can say? And who are you to be talking to me about manners? You're the one carrying a girl against her will."
"Only because you couldn't."
"That is so not true. She told me that she wasn't going to run!"
"So you believed her?" They're voices raised.
"Yeah I believed her! Yo got a problem with that?"
"In fact yes I do!" Then they continued on yelling at each other. I being the one that has to have both caused this and be in the middle of it. I'd have to say that so far my weekend is not going well and I doubt it will get any better.
Author's Note: So now we've met Annie and Xavier! The boy with class and a cocky attitude as well as the care free, rude girly girl. I had fun coming up with those two. Anyone else notice something about Xavier that Julie did not? There are two things. Well, do you know? Don't expect me to tell you. It's a surprise! (It might not be what you're thinking all you romantics out there. Then again it could be. You never know.) So I hope you liked that chapter. You even got a bit of in sight on Tom and Jenny. I hope that you'll be here for the next one and please review. Thanks a bunch! =^-^=