Sorry that I can't update regularly, I'm in the process of moving so I don't have time to write or regular internet access ^.^
-Jenny-
Jenny lay in bed staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about what Zach had said. What next? She had no idea. What could she do? If she went to sleep again, would she find Julian? Or would she find something bad? Is there a way she could bring him back? Or... Julian had said another shadow man must have been involved. Would she be taken too? Oh god... Why can't I just have a normal love life like a normal teenager?
-Stephan-
He had decided. Stephan wanted to see the human world. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. He carved an inverted u on a door. Then he whispered "Uruz" and opened the door.
He found Julian where he had been last night, staring at the door where Jenny had last come through. "Julian," Stephan said. Julian turned, looking at him with cold eyes. He radiated power and anger. Perfect. "I want to see the human world, and experience it. I want to see all that you have seen, but I don't understand humans well enough to be able to live among them on my own. I need a guide," Stephan said. Julian looked at him incredulously. Then he laughed and said, "What?! And you honestly thought I would help you? I knew you were stupid but..." "I think you might change your mind... For the right price," Stephan said with a smile.
-Julian-
"Jenny," Julian stated. "If you touch her so help me god..." "Oh don't worry. That's all part of the deal you see. I remake you, you guide me on earth. You do well, you can see Jenny. Fail me... Well, let's hope for Jenny's said it doesn't come to that," Stephan replied with a chuckle. This could be his chance, Julian thought. His only chance. But would Stephan keep his word? Julian had no leverage. Stephan offer was his only chance to be with Jenny. "Deal," Julian said softly. Stephan chuckled, and said," Tomorrow morning, I will remake you." With that, he disappeared.
-Jenny-
Jenny finally fell asleep late that night. She woke up inside and empty room. She could tell it was the paper house, but not a room she had been in before. If she was here, then so was Julian. She opened the door and looked around. An unfamiliar hallway. Which way? Jenny started walking left, and eventually came to a room she recognized. It was the room of mirrors. She turned around, but the room had changed. There was no hallway behind her. She heard a wicked chuckle behind her, and turned. It was a shadow man. One who had changed. It smiled grotesquely at her. Jenny shrieked and backed up. She saw a passageway of mirrors to her left and ran. From behind her, she heard a voice. "Can we take you? We can carry you." Oh god no! Not again! "Jenny screamed and turned around wildly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked all around, only her reflection in the mirrors. Something touched her other shoulder and she turned. The shadow man was back. He reached out towards her, and she backed into the mirror, screaming.
-Julian-
Oh god. Jenny. He heard her screaming from somewhere upstairs, but he couldn't find her. Every time he went towards where he thought he heard her, she sounded like she was somewhere else. She screamed again. "Jenny!" Julian yelled. "Jenny!" "Julian!" Jenny screamed from somewhere upstairs. "Jenny where are you?" Julian called back. "I'm-" Jenny cut off and started to scream again, the sound getting fainter and fainter. "Jenny! Jenny!" Julian called running up the stairs. Suddenly the entire house shook, and Julian fell to his knees. He heard a wicked chuckle. Stephan. "Should you fail me, this will happen. She will suffer, and there will be nothing you can do. Do not fail me." Stephan's voice boomed from all around. Julian hissed in anger and fear for Jenny. Was she hurt? Was she still here? Could he find her? "If you think you can hurt her, then Stephan you have another thing coming," Julian muttered angrily as he felt Stephan's presence leave the house.
-Stephan-
Yes, he could see now. Julian would be easy to control. All he had to do was threaten Jenny. He would do anything to keep his light from going out. But why?! What can make someone be willing to give everything up? Come morning he would know. He would understand. Stephan would understand this thing they called love. He would understand it if it killed him. Julian would try something. He knew it. He would want Jenny out of danger. But what would he try? He had become so unpredictable lately. Especially since he started the games with Jenny. He acted weird before that, but since then... He was different. He was completely unpredictable. But Stephan would be ready. Julian would not get the best of him.
-Jenny-
Jenny woke up in a cold sweat with Julian's name on her lips. Was it a dream? Had she imagined it all? It was just a nightmare she told herself firmly. Julian would never have let that shadow man get to you. He could not be overpowered. Could he? Julian didn't have power anymore since he was no more than a memory. But…. maybe she did. Back in the cave, she had performed the rune Isa. And when they all tried to go into the shadow world, it had worked. Why not now? Jenny made up her mind. She had to see Julian. She got up and dug around in her purse to find Toms old knife. She picked it up and walked to her closet door. She began to carve the inverted U for Uruz. Then she jabbed her finger, and covered the rune. She took a deep breath, and said, "Uruz". The rune glowed faintly, and everything faded as she fell into oblivion.
Jenny felt a blast of cold air, and she fell to her knees. What the….? Jenny forced her eyes open and looked around. It was a white wasteland. Cold wind blew snow all around her, and the ground was ice beneath her feet. This isn't where she wanted to be. She wanted to be with Julian. Not here in this frozen place. This is what she saw that day when she looked out the window of the paper house. Which means… the shadow creatures she saw must also be here. She wasn't safe here. The paper house. If she could find the house then she would be safe. Julian would be there. Jenny stood up and turned to look around for the house. She turned, and found herself face to face with the distorted shadow man who had trapped her last night in her dream. Jenny opened her mouth to scream, but the shadow man instantly covered her mouth. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," the shadow man hissed in her ear. "You will alert every shadow man here to your presence." "Jenny closed her eyes and whimpered in fear. Suddenly, the world faded to black. Jenny opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar place. In half a second, she took in the dark grey walls, the simple black furniture, and the red decorations around the room. The shadow man released his hold on her and backed off. "You will not freeze to death here," he said. "What is this place?" Jenny replied, looking at him cautiously. "I know this isn't the paper house." The shadow man chuckled and said, "No. That it is not. This is… my home, I guess you could say. It is my equivalent of Julian's paper house." This brought Jenny back to the issue of why she had ended up in the wasteland in the first place. "How did I end up here? I wanted to get to the paper house," Jenny asked. "Ah, well. You see, you did in fact get what you wanted. You arrived at the location of the paper house," the shadow man replied. Jenny just looked at him. "Hmm. Right. Well maybe I just missed it among all the freaking snow and ice, but I didn't see a house," Jenny said, annoyed. He chuckled. "When Julian left the house after you trapped him in the closet -nice work by the way that was very well done- the house's roof exploded. The paper house is broken. It no longer exists. That why Julian is able to be there. The house -like him- no longer exists anywhere except in memory. You see Jenny, you performed the rune correctly. You landed exactly where you meant to. There is just no more paper house to be in," he explained. Jenny looked at him a moment and looked away. Well at least she had learned one thing; she could perform the runes correctly. Now she just had to figure out where to go from here. "If the paper house still exists in memory, along with Julian, then why can I go there in a dream but not now?" she asked. "Because it is just that. A dream. Dreams can connect. Dreams and reality cannot," he replied. Oh. So the only way to get to Julian was in her dreams. Alright. Time to go home and sleep then."Who are you?" Jenny finally asked. The shadow man smiled, as though amused that she had thought to ask this. "I am called Stephan. I am one of the oldest shadow men. There is little I have not seen or done. That reminds me… don't you want to know what interest I have in you?" Stephan cocked his head and smiled nastily at her. Jenny looked at him, took a step back, and said, "No. Not really. I'm sure it's something terrible and I'd really rather not know." Stephan frowned. "Pity," he said. "I was going to enjoy telling you. Well then, best have you off to earth." "Wha-" Jenny started, but was cut off as the world tilted and swirled and set her back in her room. "Ugh..." Jenny moaned. Her head was pounding. Too much inter-world travel. Jenny stumbled over to her bed and fell asleep instantly the moment her head hit the pillow.
"Jenny? Jenny! Come on Jenny, wake up." "Uggghhhh," Jenny moaned. She felt like a knife was repeatedly stabbing into her skull. Jenny opened her eyes to see Julian looking concerned above her. "What's wrong?" he asked, worry creasing his eyebrows. "Too...much...shadow...travel!" Jenny gasped in between spasms of pain in her head. "Here" Julian said placing a hand on her forehead. He whispered something Jenny couldn't understand. She felt magic flow through his fingers and into her head, easing the pain. "Better?" he asked. "Yes, thank you," Jenny replied. It was amazing-no trace of pain left! Julian helped her to her feet, knowing she would still be a little weak from all the travel. Julian led her to a tall Victorian couch and sat her down. "How have you been doing shadow travel? Without a shadow mans help, I didn't think it would be possible for you to perform runes on your own. Although you didn't know it, when you and your friends tried to get into the shadow world, I helped so that you could make it. And once you were in the shadow world that was different. How did you do it?" Julian asked, looking at her curiously. Oh. So she couldn't do it on her own. It was Stephan who allowed her magic to work. Well dang it. She thought she had something to work with. "I-. It must have been Stephan, he…. "Jenny trailed off at the look that came over Julian's face. Pure rage. "Did he hurt you?" Julian demanded angrily. "Did he do anything to you?" "I- no. I tried to get into the shadow world, and I ended up where the paper house used to be, but he found me and took me to his home and then he sent me back here. He didn't hurt me... we just talked. He seemed sort of… curious," Jenny told him. Julian still looked pissed. Jenny stroked the side of his face and said, "Hey it's alright, I'm fine. He didn't do anything to me." Julian relaxed and leaned into her hand. Jenny grinned and then tried to hide it. "What?" Julian asked, peering at her curiously. Jenny looked at him shyly. It was really, really attractive when he got jealous and possessive like that. It wasn't overly controlling and yet... It was possessive enough for her to know that she was wanted... That she was desired. It felt kind of nice to know that he cared enough to be jealous at the thought of another guy near her. Jenny smiled and ducked her head. "You know I could just make you tell me," Julian said arrogantly. "Oh could you now?" Jenny asked with a grin and sat back a little. Julian moved forward so that his body was covering hers. "Tell me..." He whispered into her ear, close enough that she could feel his lips brush against her skin. Jenny sucked in a breath. "Uh... No," she said. "I'm not telling you-" Julian began to trail kisses down her neck. "Tell me," he whispered against her skin. "Not telling you... About... Whatever... It was." Jenny said between breaths. Jenny wound her hands around his neck and pulled him closer. "Julian placed his hands on her waist and looked up at her."I can't get you to change your mind but I can get you to forget what you wouldn't change your mind about?" Julian grinned and shook his head at her. Jenny just laughed and pulled him back down.