Author's Note: I am really sorry for how late this is, but I have been really sick this past week and haven't been able to even go n my laptop, much less update any of my stories :( But, here is a very long chapter in order to compensate for that! I hope you guys like it, I'm quite proud of it and how it develops a little bit of Valerie that bit more.
Please don't forget to review! Love you guys!
Prisoners
"The portal of Xiao Fung, the Wind Demon, lies upon the seventh land mass." Shendu said as they walked through the forest. "Four million and one cubits above the southern hemisphere, beyond the placid forest, nestled between the rolling hills…" he finished as he, Finn and Ratso reached the top of a hill overlooking the valley bellow, which if their map was correct, was the location of the portal.
"Err…" Ratso said a little uncomfortably. "The only thing I see nestling…"
"Is Hollowland's penitentiary," Finn finished, voice queasy as he looked upon the huge prison below them. Its walls were thick, grey and imposing, even the front gate over twenty feet high. Multiple fences surrounded it, guards posted on every wall, corner and fence; even Shendu had to admit that the prison looked impenetrable for his current state.
"Do you mean to tell us," Valmont hissed as he momentarily took control of the body. "That the demon portal lies somewhere in those prison walls, Shendu?" Shendu responded to the question by taking control again, though not gently.
"Do not take that tone with me, Valmont!" the demon snapped angrily. "I did not build the fortress!"
"I've heard of busting out of jail," Ratso murmured. "But breaking in?"
"No problem," Finn shrugged as he looked to his friend. "I did a stretch here. Rumour has it there are miles of tunnels under the joint."
"The Pan'ku box mentioned no tunnels," Shendu said dismissively. "And I will not waste time chasing windmills! When we can simply allow ourselves to be… taken prisoner."
The henchmen's immediate reactions were to gasp in horror, faces growing pale. Ratso held up his hands defensively as if a blade were suddenly being held to his throat. Finn yelped as he leapt behind Ratso for protection, poking his head out to look at Shendu pleadingly.
"Oh no…" Ratso murmured miserably.
"I don't wanna go back!" Finn sounded as if he were about to burst into tears.
Shendu grinned.
"Nervous?" Jackie asked Valerie, eyes filled with concern as he watched her fidget. Valerie tried to control her suddenly racing heart, shifting from foot to foot as she tried to keep her muscles warm. Her shoulder-length hair was up in a messy bun, and she wore slacks and what most people would consider wearing to the gym.
"A little." She admitted quietly.
"Don't worry, we're not doing anything hard, just enough to get you started," Jackie smiled reassuringly, making Valerie only feel marginally better. "Now come close and stand straight," Valerie did as he instructed, and automatically mirrored him as he brought his hands into fists over his stomach. "Concentrate on your breathing… in through your nose, and out through your mouth… close your eyes and focus only on your breathing…"
Valerie did as he instructed without question, closing her eyes and controlling her breathing, in through her nose and out through her mouth. Trying to root her feet in place, suddenly able to feel all of the tension in her body, from her stiff back to her tense thighs and shoulders. Subconsciously, she tried to shake the tension from herself.
"Use your stomach to breathe… expand the diaphragm… listen to the air in your lungs… let it fill your mind and wash away all distractions…" Jackie's calm voice instructed her soothingly, and she did as she was told, hearing only the rush of air into her body, feeling it fill her up and drain away all other thoughts. As she lost herself to this focus, she felt the tension in her body slowly dissipate, and some new focus awaken within her as she became calm. "Bring that sense of focus… good… now open your eyes." Valerie did so at the instruction, staring levelly at Jackie in front of her. "We'll start with something simple: Sweeping Block."
Valerie nodded, feeling that nervousness creep back into her stomach, but she brushed it away with another focusing breath.
Jackie had her raise her hands in front of her, forearms vertically straight and equal distance from each other. Then she was to move one arm and sweep it across her front, which Jackie said would block anyone who tried to grab her front or tried to punch her. Valerie tried not to imagine a situation where someone would be punching her in the face. Jackie had then slowly reached out to her as if he were to grab her by her tank-top, and Valerie did as instructed by sweeping one of her raised arms away with her forearm. Then she used the other arm to do the same when he repeated the move. They repeated this several times, each time getting a little bit faster, or a little more forceful. Valerie knew that Jackie was holding back extremely, but even when they were going at what normal people considered a normal speed, Valerie's forearms hurt from the force needed to sweep Jackie's hands aside from her. She didn't have the muscle on her forearms that cushioned the blow to her bones, and she was sure with a wince that she was going to bruise.
"Okay," Jackie said at last, a professional smile of encouragement on his lips. "Now you need to follow that up with a counter attack. We'll go onto single punch."
"Oh…" Valerie mumbled.
"Right, after you sweep aside your enemy's strike, you need to bring your hand back to here," Jackie said as he took hold of her hand, curling it into a fist as he draw it back until the side of her fist was pressed against her ribcage. "This is what we call the 'home position'. Now, try and punch."
Valerie licked her suddenly dry lips, and threw her fist outwards in a form of punch. Her dad had taught her how to punch when she was a teenager, and this was much different from that. Her dad had told her to punch from her shoulder and throw her weight into it, so to suddenly switch to this position was a little jarring. She brought her elbow out as she tried to swing, but Jackie quickly snatched hold of her wrist and stopped her. She looked up at him with confused eyes as he returned her fist to the home position.
"Don't bring your elbow out." He told her. "Your punch will be crooked. Strike out straight and twist your fist." Valerie did as instructed and pushed her fist out straight in front of her like a released spring. "Very good." Jackie smiled.
They then tried to put the two moves together, Jackie coming at her slow, again as if he were going to grab her top. Valerie then swept his arm aside, again going slow, before quickly bringing her arms to the home position and striking out to punch him. Once again, they did this for several minutes, getting faster with each time. Putting the two moves together was harder than Valerie had first thought. Sometimes she would be able to complete the sequence, other times she would miss Jackie's offending arm completely in her nerves or not be quick enough to strike back, and he would push her. Of course, Jackie wasn't going to actually hit her, they had both agree before the lesson that he would push her to signify that he had landed a hit and she had lost.
They were about to move on to the next exercise when they suddenly heard the alarm go off and Captain Black come marching into the training room, Jade at his heels with a huge grin on her face. Valerie and Jackie looked over at them, expectant yet worried looks on their faces.
"We got trouble with the Dark Hand." Captain Black said quickly as he beckoned Jackie towards him. "Valmont and his pals have been spotted down town, you in Jackie?"
"We're there!" Jade said excitedly.
"Is your name Jackie?" her uncle asked rhetorically with a pointed look. Jade just growled her frustration. Jackie then turned his attention back to the secret agent. "Captain Black, I thought all Dark Hand matters had been reassigned to Section 12?"
"Yeah, isn't this a little outside of your restriction?" Valerie asked with a frown.
"That may be so," Black nodded, before his grew hard and determined. "But I'm not gonna sit pretty whilst the Dark Hand strolls into my backyard to hand a hall pass to a hobgoblin!"
And without another word, he turned on his heel and marched away, a fierce power in his stride. Valerie and Jade watched him go with approval.
"Captain Black is in the house…" Jade murmured, her voice filled with awe and respect. Valerie chuckled.
"Valerie," Jackie said as he turned to her. "We'll pick up our lesson at the weekend, yes?"
"Okay," Valerie nodded, before watching him leave as he went to catch up with the mobilising agents.
"As the head of an international crime syndicate…" Valmont growled as he struggled against his own body to get out of his only remaining limousine. Shendu growled at the back of the mind in frustration, clawing for control as he tried to force Valmont's body out of the car, though the human held on to the door with an iron grip. "I refuse to expose myself by robbing a common bank!"
Shendu had had enough. His spirit flared with the force of his demon chi as he made Valmont surrender to his will, forcing the human consciousness into subordination as he clawed his way into control. With this show of power, Shendu was in complete control of the body he shared with Valmont, the fight leaving the limbs as Shendu stood smoothly and exited the car.
"You seem to forget, Valmont," he murmured with a smirk of triumph as he closed the car door with a loud 'bang'. "That in the event of a stalemate… I win." He then strolled to the front of the car, where he was irritated to see that Finn and Ratso had not exited the front seats. He knocked on the window, and they nervously rolled it down so that they could see his cold glare. "Well?" he growled impatiently. "Must I remind you that the portal cannot be opened without the Pan'ku box? WHICH I CANNOT TOUCH!"
There were no more arguments from the two enforcers after that, they whined and seemed deeply upset by what they were about to do, but they did not question Shendu's orders. They made their way into the bank, easily bypassing its security in order to get to the vault. Shendu thought himself above petty theft, and seeing as how they needed to be captured for their plan to work, there was no real reason for them to bypass security. However, Shendu knew that the threat of them would only be taken seriously if they reached the vault itself.
The plan was simple: Shendu, Ratso and Finn were to break into the bank and be captured. Because of Valmont's extensive crimes to date, it would be very clear that they would be carted off to the maximum security prison. They were then to wait in the prison until Chow and Hak Foo managed to get the Pan'ku box to them in the prison, where they would then release Xiao Fung. It was simple. And so long as Valmont and his incompetent men did nothing unbelievably stupid, it wouldn't go wrong.
It was very easy for Finn and Ratso to blow apart the door of the bank vault with their high tech tools. Shendu receded to the back of Valmont's mind, but still watched everything through the human's eyes, ready to jump back into control if his defiant host gave even the slightest inclination of rebellion. Normally Shendu wouldn't dream of relinquishing control on such an important mission, but for where they were going, he needed to go unnoticed by human eyes, and Valmont's eyes glowing an unnatural red would certainly attract unwanted attention. Valmont was obviously not at all happy with the situation, but put up with it because he knew that the demons needed to be released in order for Shendu to get out of his body. The sooner the better, they both thought.
"Let's get this over with." Valmont sighed grumpily like a sulking child as all three of them walked into the vault and started grabbing handfuls of money. Finn and Ratso were looking increasingly nervous by the second, looking as if they were ready to bolt if they even heard a pin drop. Valmont stood in the centre, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. Shendu simply waited until he heard the clatter of footsteps charging towards them.
"Freeze Valmont!" Captain Black ordered fiercely, and Valmont and the others turned to see the Section 13 agent and a group of his finest men block the exit of the vault, Jackie Chan with them and already standing ready for combat.
Shendu felt Valmont grit his teeth as he hesitated before slowly raising his hands, his men a miserable second behind him as they all droned out as one: "We surrender."
"You do?" Jackie and Black asked at the exact same time with great confusion, looking to one another as if they wondered if this was truly real.
The three criminals were then carted away in handcuffs, and despite being captured, Shendu couldn't help but mentally grin. His plan was off to a good start.
Valmont and two of his men were trialled and sentenced within the week. All three of them pleaded guilty to their crimes, and the judge quickly ruled that they would be sentenced to fifty years in Hollowlands Maximum Security Prison. Valerie was rather impressed that the crooks were finally in jail where they belonged… but also extremely confused.
Why on earth would Shendu allow Valmont to cart him off to prison? Why did Valmont want so badly to go to prison? Valerie assumed that perhaps Valmont had had enough of being possessed and carted off to do the demon's bidding and so punished them both by locking himself away. But that assumption didn't seem right. Valmont was not the martyr type. Despite the fact that Valerie's view was extremely jaded by her loathing of the criminal, she still thought it accurate to think that Valmont would rather do as the demon told him then make such a self-sacrifice. The questions burned at her mind, reminding her of the times her dad would work on a case over the kitchen table, the case files all of the room on every available surface as he tried to work it out. He dad had been good at what he did. He'd always ask questions: from the tiniest clue in a case, to asking Valerie on her choice in movies when she made him take a break to watch TV with her. It also didn't help that Valmont had been sent to prison where some of her father's biggest cases had been locked up.
Valerie was proud of her father, but these thoughts still brought a sick feeling in her stomach and a painful ache in her heart. So, she shook such thoughts out of her head, reminding herself that she should be done with her grieving, that if she stopped thinking about it then the problem would go away with time. She had been just reading over the few letters that Shendu had been sending her. Like her father, she had been pouring over them to see if there was any clue in the words. But deciding to not disturb her chest of buried emotions, she shoved the letters away in a drawer and quickly stormed out of her apartment and hitched a cab to Section 13. She was going to schedule with Jackie about when to have their next lesson, and decided to get herself out of the apartment on her day off and take her mind off of everything. She should be celebrating – Valmont was in jail! That was good!
So why did she have such a sense of dread?
She arrived at Jackie and Jade's room to find them in the middle of a training session, Jackie going through the breathing exercise with Jade as he had done with Valerie. They both smiled in greeting.
"Hey Val," Jade said cheerily.
"Hey guys," Valerie smiled back. "You two not celebrating?" she tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible. "Valmont's in prison, so Shendu can't release any more demon portals. That's got to be good?"
"Tch, yeah right, like we could fall for that old trick," Jade rolled her eyes.
"So I'm not the only one thinking this is a little fishy?" Valerie asked with a look to Jackie.
"No," he said in low murmur, a thoughtful yet serious look on his face. "It's all too convenient… too sudden… too good. I suspect that this is ploy, and Captain Black does as well. He says that for their criminal record, it is easy to assume that they would be sent to Hollowlands,"
"So… Captain Black thinks this was orchestrated?" Valerie lifted her eyebrows at the thought.
"Yeah," Jade agreed. "He's trying to contact the pentagon, get them to pull a few strings to have Valmont taken to another prison."
"Let's hope it works." Jackie muttered, before turning back to his niece. "Now Jade, breathe deeply…" Jade did as she was told, going through slow motions as she took in a deep breath –
"Eww, are you wearing Cologne?" she asked as she looked up at Jackie.
"Aftershave," a deep voice from the door corrected, and Valerie turned to see Captain Black as he strolled into the room.
"They didn't believe you, did they?" Jackie asked hopelessly as he turned around to face his friend.
"Black, they're a bunch of corporate jerks," Valerie said in an attempt to console the big man. "Considering all that you've done, they should have taken you at your word."
"Thank you Valerie," Black murmured to her gratefully with a nod of his head, before turning back to Jackie. "If we can't stop the demon by moving Valmont out, we're going to have to move in."
"You don't really mean 'we', do you?" Jackie said unhappily as he looked at the floor, already knowing what was going to be expected of him. Valerie's eyes went wide with sudden panic.
"You in?" Black asked simply.
"Cool!" Jade exclaimed excitedly. "You're going undercover!"
"B-But I don't want to be a prison guard!" Jackie spluttered.
"Not a guard, Jackie," Captain Black corrected. "An inmate."
"What?!" Valerie burst out loud, causing everyone to look at her in surprise. "No! Captain Black, you can't make Jackie go into a place like that!"
"It's the only way, Valerie," Black said, trying to sound soothing as he held up a calming hand to her.
"Yes, but not Jackie! The inmates in there will eat him alive!" she said desperately.
"Jackie can handle it!" Jade grinned encouragingly.
"Valerie, what's wrong?" Jackie asked with a concerned pinch to his brows.
"I…" Valerie hesitated, before releasing a sigh and murmuring out: "Nothing. It's nothing. Just… Just be careful Jackie." She told him with a pleading look in her eyes. Both Jackie and Captain Black looked as if they were about to ask her more, but she quickly held up her hands, shutting herself off to them. Too many bad memories were coming with this territory, so she just turned around and left with a muttered: "Don't worry about it."
"Come on Jackie," she heard Captain Black say as she left. "Let's get your disguise ready so you can leave for Hollowlands ASAP."
Shendu quickly found that he hated prison. Human males all squashed together in the same environment eating disgusting smelling food and some of them hardly washing until the pungent smell of their own bodily fluids was almost gag inducing. He should have known that it would be Xiao's portal that would cause him the most mental torture. The only comfort he took from this arrangement was the fact that he resided in the back of Valmont's mind, leaving the human to have his own head for the most part, choosing only to see through his eyes in order to check on the situation and to relieve his boredom as he counted away the hours. They had only been here two days, but already Shendu was itching to leave.
"When are they getting here?" Finn asked in quiet yet bitter voice, still very sour about being in jail again, sitting on a bench in his orange jumpsuit and pouting.
"We've talked about this," Valmont murmured just as quietly, if a little impatiently. "They will be here as soon as possible. I've left them with my best contacts and equipment, they should know what to do."
Yes, Shendu was well aware that Valmont still had is "business contacts" and that before they'd put themselves into police custody, he had given Chow and Hak Foo access to these resources so that they might find a way into the many different deliveries that came in and out of the prison. They had also been left with some sort of technology that Shendu didn't really understand, something that would have them able to monitor communications in the prison and hack into their files in order to know where Valmont and the others were in their chores. This way they could make sure the Pan'ku box came to them and them alone.
A commotion suddenly drew Shendu's attention as Valmont and Finn glanced to the other side of the yard where two inmates were fighting. The men were grappling with each other viciously, cursing and insulting each other as they wrestled. Quickly, noses were broken and black eyes were given, the victor being the one who was seemingly going further into a blind rage the more he fought. Seven guards came to respond with Tasers that spat lightning and shocked the inmates with such a powerful voltage they were left completely unresponsive for several moments whilst the guards handcuffed them. The two fighters groggily came round as they were shoved to their feet and then marched back towards the prison to be taken to the solitary confinement wing. Shendu watched it all with mild amusement, entertained by the humans.
"That guy almost killed him," Finn whispered with a slight shake in his voice as he watched the larger of the two fighters had disappeared, the one who had been on the verge of a blind rage.
"That would be Kent Higson," Valmont said, and Shendu could feel a secret smirk tugging at the edges of his host's lips as if he knew something the demon did not. "A man with extreme anger management issues, he beat his way through the central states moving from town to town, pulverising his victims as he went. He was eventually caught in Washington State by one none other than John Lawson… father to one Miss Valerie Payne."
What?! Shendu hissed inside Valmont's mind using his chi to sting the human like a flash of on an oncoming headache, the only way to communicate his demand for more information. Despite the fact that he winced with pain and evident annoyance, Shendu could feel Valmont's smugness as he continued to gloat.
"Oh yes, Shendu," Valmont murmured to himself so that only the demon could hear him. "When you had me research her I did a little extra digging. Valerie's dear old daddy helped to put away a lot of nasty criminals, many of which are in here. I hope she doesn't ever find her way here Shendu, the one's caught by Lawson heard of his death a year ago no doubt, I would imagine that they would love for some payback, if given the chance."
Shendu felt his metaphorical insides boil with rage at the very idea, and also at his human host for daring to taunt him so. Shendu made his displeasure known by giving Valmont a much nastier shock.
"We shouldn't be here Big V," Finn moaned out, breaking the silent feud between human and demon as Valmont focused his gaze on him as he crossed his arms. "We need to be doing something, something to help us get outta here!"
"We can't find the portal until the Pan'ku box arrives, so we will just have to wait." Valmont said for the third time since they'd arrived.
"Well, we could have been making our way out through those tunnels with our demon of the week by now." Finn muttered sulkily.
"Alleged tunnels," Valmont corrected.
"Anything's better than doing time, right Ratso?" Finn asked his bulkier man who was holding a baseball in one hand and wearing a glove on the other as he tossed and caught the ball, amusing himself. Shendu was beginning to suspect that the man was more of a child in adult skin.
"Come on!" Ratso said cheerily as he turned to them at the sound of his name. "Let's toss a few before lunch. They're serving gruel again!" he grinned excitedly.
Valmont and Finn stared at him with deadpan looks.
"What? It's fun food?" he smiled.
"Oh, sorry!" they suddenly heard a meek little voice, one so out of place in the yard setting filled with hard case criminals that it was actually rather jarring, causing the three to turn to the owner of the voice. Shendu paid particular attention inside Valmont's head, something about that voice being very familiar… "Uh, sorry I didn't rearrange your molecules! Watch where you're going next time!" the man who seemed to have spoken before said in a much gruffer voice. It seemed to dissipate the fears of the thugs, but Shendu could have sworn that something was familiar about the human, but he couldn't quite place it.
The man was about average height, with a strong build and a very square jaw. His brown hair was slicked back into a nineteen-fifties style that Shendu recognised from his time imprisoned as a statue. He man walked briskly and with purpose, making a straight line for their group, though the others all tried to ignore him.
"So… what are you in for?" he asked them as he came to stand next to their group.
"Go away." Valmont said irritably.
"Chance Jackson, safe cracker." He said, undeterred as he held out his hand as if for one of them to shake it.
"Big whoop." Finn murmured sarcastically.
"I crack them with my head." Chance Jackson then went on to correct. This statement however was so outrageous, that all of them look at him as if they highly doubted such a claim, and Shendu would have added his sour expression. This human was rather annoying in his attempts to play nice. But seeing as how they were all shutting him down, Jackson looked to them all, almost desperately, before seeing the baseball glove on Ratso's hand. "You… like baseball?"
"Oh, do I?" Ratso beamed with excitement, and Shendu suppressed the urge to growl in frustration as the big thug proceed to act like a child and began to play the ball game with Jackson.
And so began three days of tediousness that grated on Shendu's patience to no end. It was made more unpleasant by the fact that Chance Jackson stuck to Ratso like a parasite, following him and consequently their group as the two became inseparable in the most childish activities. Shendu tried to ignore them as best he could in the back of Valmont's mind as he tried to think up ways to escape this infernal prison. He was scraping his metaphorical claws down the walls of his prison, itching to be free, his patience wearing thinner by the day the longer they went without any sign of the Pan'ku box. Shendu was willing to give it three more days, and if the box had still not arrived, he would blast his way out, retrieve it and blast his way back in. Granted, that was not a very subtle plan, and sure to bring Chan and the Chi Wizard running to stop him, but he had other portals that could not be revealed until this one was opened. Should Xiao Fung be sent back as Po Kong had, Shendu would not exactly weep tears of grief for his torture-loving brother.
One afternoon, the group were in the kitchens washing the dishes, the watchful gazes of the guards as present as ever, and Shendu resisted the urge to take control of Valmont and hiss at them like the caged animal he felt. Ratso was not making his foul mood any lighter with his constant chatter of Chance – who was thankfully absent.
"Ah, you guys oughta give Chance a chance, he's one of us!" he was telling the other two, thought Valmont and Finn were adamant that the new tag along was very unwelcome. "Probably why he reminds me of somebody…"
"Howdy guys," came a murmur, and the others turned with a sigh of exasperation to see Chance Jackson had joined them in their chores. Shendu wanted to claw his own eyes out.
"Chance! You wrangled kitchen duty!" Ratso cheered.
Thankfully before the two could start gushing over each other, a large buzzer was heard, the loud squeak of mechanisms started, causing Valmont and Finn to turn to see the large shutters being prepared to be lifted. The guards seemed to know that this was a prime time for prisoners to escape and so had doubled their efforts by the doors.
"Supplies! Everyone back!" shouted an officer, and the group of criminals stayed dutifully behind the counters as the shutters were rolled open… and who should be standing there, but Chow and Hak Foo? Shendu wanted to roar with triumph, the box was here at long last! Chow and Hak Foo were dressed as delivery men, and the prison security officers seemed none the wiser as to who they were as the two secret criminals brought in the supplies, setting down the boxes and crates in front of Valmont and the others. The paused only momentarily, Chow lowering his glasses for a second in order to incline his head towards a specific stack. A box of dates and on top was a see-through container for a birthday cake. The two undercover criminals wasted no more time and quickly made their exit, the shutters closing behind them. "At ease!" the prison guards shouted once the exit was properly secured.
"A bit obvious, but…" Valmont Murmured to himself as he took the cake, turning around as inconspicuously as possible as he stooped down to place the cake on the ground. Lifting the lid, Valmont then began to dig through the cake, quickly tearing it apart in an attempt to find the Pan'ku box. But even when the cake was a pile of mush, there was nothing to be found. "What?!"
"Hey! That's the Warden's birthday cake!" shouted a guard as he noticed what Valmont had been doing. Two came racing over and hauled Valmont up by his arms, restraining the man as he began to struggle. "You just won a free trip to solitary."
As they began to drag him out of the room, Shendu made his displeasure extremely well known. He dared not take complete control, but he could still make Valmont feel his wrath, as he flexed his power like a bolt of electricity that shocked Valmont from the inside painfully. Shendu thrashed inside of his host, his fury boiling inside of him as he raged at his host.
Valmont… he growled inside the human's head. YOU ARE AN IMBECILE!
At first, Valerie had tried to not be worried. This was Jackie after all, he could do anything, he could handle himself. But after three days and they had still heard nothing from him, she began to be extremely worried. Why was it taking so long? Why hadn't they heard anything from Jackie? Had something happened? Valerie would have asked Captain Black, but right after Jackie left he had sworn against telling anyone anything, not even Uncle knew where Jackie had gone. And besides, Captain Black was currently "indisposed". Apparently his superiors thought it best to test his mental stability with endless tests, something Valerie severely raged in protest against, but ultimately had no say.
To put it mildly she was feeling like a very useless third wheel.
But unable to do anything whilst the worry gnawed at her stomach as if she might be physically sick, Valerie decided to take matters into her hands. She would make a simple phone call, find out how Jackie was doing and see if he was okay, and that would be that. But if she didn't know his new name or prisoner number, she still had a way of finding out what she needed to. So, before she set out for work at the shop that day, she made the phone call. When she got through to the right office, she had to wait on hold for about seven minutes before finally, she got an answer.
"Hello?" came a voice on the other end of the line.
"Uncle Lee? Hi, I-it's Valerie," she mumbled a little awkwardly.
"Valerie?! Sunshine!" the voice suddenly cried triumphantly down the phone, almost so loud that Valerie had to hold the receiver of the phone away from her ear. "How are you doing little girl? It's been too long!"
"Y-Yeah, it has been a while, hasn't it…" Valerie murmured again, though she couldn't help the corners of her mouth from twitching into a smile at his enthusiasm. 'Uncle Lee' wasn't really her uncle, as in he wasn't related to her by blood or marriage. He had been one of her father's best friends, and growing up Valerie had just automatically called him Uncle Lee, seeing as she didn't have any real aunts or uncles of her own. Lee and her father had been friends since they were boys and always kept in touch, and it proved useful when Lee worked as one of the senior guards at Hollowlands Prison, where most of John Lawson's tough criminals went.
"How have you been Sunshine?" Lee went on to ask. "I wanted to invite you to thanks giving last year, Mary and the kids would've loved to have seen you. But I thought you would want time with your mom, you know… after everything…"
"I'm doing good Lee, better than before anyway," Valerie said vaguely, a part of her cringing as she hated that question. "Listen, I'll call to arrange a visit later, but right now I really need your help,"
"Yeah?" the man on the phone asked, his voice instantly becoming serious and she could hear his office chair creak as he leaned forward in his seat. "What's up Sunshine, you in trouble?"
"No – no! It's not me," she amended quickly. "Listen, I know someone in your prison, he came there very recently in the last few days. I just want to make sure he's alright."
"You should know better than to hang out with the kind of people who end up in here Valerie," Lee murmured, and she could just imagine the frown on his face as he shook his head.
"It's nothing like that, I promise," she asked. "I just want to make sure he's okay, maybe talk to him if I can. Please Uncle Lee? Could you do that for me?"
"Fine," he sighed in exasperation. "Just hold on a second," he didn't give her time to reply as he put her on hold. Valerie waited, impatiently tapping her foot as she sat on her couch and continued to wait. She'd been waiting five minutes before the phone finally clicked back into life. "Okay I got it." Lee said as he came back, Valerie hearing rustling as he set the phone to his ear. "Our four newest inmates were all in the Kitchens this morning when we had an incident."
"Incident?" Valerie echoed, her stomach dropping with a sense of dread. "What happened?"
"One of them trashed the Warden's birthday cake – we'd meant it as a surprise for the old bat, but now that's gone out the window." Lee grumbled. "Anyway, the unhappy man earned himself solitary confinement,"
Valerie pinched the bridge of her nose as she squeezed her eyes shut in exasperation. Why on earth could Jackie be so brilliant yet sometimes so utterly stupid?! How on earth did he get into these situations? The logic was beyond her!
"Uncle Lee," Valerie groaned, already planning out the hour drive from San Francisco to Hollowlands. "I'm gonna need a favour…"
"I am Free!" cried the demon with a grin as it stepped through the portal.
Jackie looked up at it through his plastic face, horror dawning on him as he gazed upon what he had unwittingly unleashed. He had stolen the Pan'ku box right after Valmont had been taken to solitary confinement, but in running away from Ratso and Finn he had unknowingly brought the Pan'ku box to the location of the portal. Despite Jackie trying his best, the box had opened and the demon had been unleashed. It stood perhaps ten feet tall, looking much like a frog with four squat legs and a bulging throat and mouth. Its skin was a pale lavender colour with a set of green ridges on its back much like a shell. It wore a robe around its hind quarters as well as a form of footwear. Its glowing red eyes looked upon the world around it with excited glee. Jackie noticed with growing dread that the portal behind the demon closed, the Pan'ku box clattering to the floor, and not a second later, the door to the laundry room opened and Finn and Ratso came storming in.
"Whoa, we struck demon…" Finn murmured as they stood beside Jackie – who they thought to be 'Chance Jackson'.
"Not any demon," the giant purple frog corrected with a wag of a finger. "Xiao Fung, demon of the wind!"
"Err, like breaking wind?" Ratso asked.
In response, the demon reared back, opening its huge mouth wide as it sucked in a large lungful of air. Then, with a sudden roar the demon expelled the air from its lungs and a hurricane like wind erupted from it. The force of the wind was so strong that even Jackie was knocked back off of his feet and into the other two enforcers.
"Like breaking bones!" they heard the demon say with dark glee as they all climbed to their feet. Jackie had only just got to his feet when Finn grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up aggressively.
"You care to explain the swipe-and-run, Chance?" he demanded.
"Go easy on him," Ratso said as he quickly got between the two, to which Jackie was silently grateful. "He found our boy,"
"Yeah!" Jackie quickly interjected.
"Good instincts, buddy!" Ratso beamed as he slammed a hand on Jackie's back. The gesture was meant in friendship, but it knocked the wind from Jackie's lungs and almost left him dazed as he shook his head.
"So, uh, what's with tumble-dry?" he asked as they looked back at Xiao, who had picked up a piece of clean laundry and was holding the white fabric to his face as he inhaled the scent.
"Ah, the sweet scent of freedom," the demon purred.
"Err, actually your breeziness, sir," Finn said nervously. "You're not exactly free…"
"No?"
"You're in the hoozscow," Ratso said.
"Prison," Finn clarified.
"This prison is paradise compared to the ghastly abyss I have escaped." Xiao said as he looked around the room at the modern surroundings.
"Whatever you say, chief," Finn shrugged. "But outside's even better! Beaches… movies…"
"Yeah," Ratso nodded. "So why don't you huff and puff and blow this big house down?"
"No!" Jackie said a little too quickly, and blundered to correct his mistake. "I-I mean, you can't leave without your boss, can you?"
"Where is Shendu?" Xiao asked with narrowed suspicious eyes as he looked around as if the fire demon was hiding somewhere.
"Err, Shendu's in Valmont," Ratso said.
"And Valmont's in solitary," Finn finished.
"Hmm… if I do not free this Valmont, I will be burdened with freeing my brothers and sisters…" the demon said as if he were thinking aloud, before reaching a decision with a nod of the head. "Very well."
The demon suddenly spun, a whirlwind creating around him that blurred his outline, a kicked up a hurricane wind in the laundry room that threatened to suck the humans off of their feet. After a few moments, however, the whirlwind passed, and a human stood in place of the demon. Jackie could have sworn his jaw hit the floor as the demon had turned human! He hadn't possessed a body, just conjured a human form. Xiao now was a man of just under six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a barrelled chest. He still had his bulging throat and large mouth that looked like he always had a twisted grin on his face. His glowing eyes had been masked by normal eyes with dark iris's, his hair was slicked back much in an Elvis Presley style. Finn and Ratso gasped in unison as they stared at the man who walked towards them.
"Whoa!" Finn exclaimed. "You guys can do that?!"
"Concealment seems prudent," Xiao answered with a grin. "Demons appear to stick out like sore thumbs in this modern world."
"Ooooh! He's gonna blend in, undercover like. Get it Chance?" Ratso asked Jackie with another hard thump on the back.
"Err…" Jackie said slowly, shakily, the irony not lost on him as he prayed that his fake face was still perfectly in place. "Got it."
Valerie strolled down the prison hall in what her grandmother would have called her "Sunday best", being some of her best smart casual clothes she owned, such as nice dark trousers and a long blouse with thin long sleeves and a jacket. For some reason she felt that her usual comfortable clothes that she always wore were not appropriate for this setting. But as she marched down the hallway with her head held high, she couldn't help but feel nervous, her eyes darting to every corner as if she expected the shadows to suddenly explode with ghouls and nasties from her worst nightmares. Even with her Uncle Lee marching next to her, she still felt like a child who was severely out of place amongst the lair of the big baddies. This was the final holding place of all the worst cases she had ever heard of, the place where the real bad guys came, and they were all in one place, and she was like an innocent lamb to their slaughter.
She quickly swallowed hard, berating herself for such thoughts, she was only making herself more frightened, which was completely ridiculous. She focused instead on her Uncle Lee, who was getting on in years now, she could see, from the grey that flecked his hair and bushy moustache, to the tired lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth. He hadn't been happy on granting her permission to come here, he'd wanted her to stay far away. She'd really had to pull out all the stops in order to convince him to get her into solitary confinement, namely on her own good word and calling in the favours he owed her father that would now never be repaid. He hadn't been happy, but she'd won out. She was only going to get twenty minutes, that was how long he could afford for her, but twenty minutes was all she needed to make sure Jackie was okay. When they reached the solitary confinement wing, Lee finally turned to her.
"You sure you know what you're doing, Sunshine?" he asked with an anxious furrow of his brow. Valerie smiled warmly, she couldn't help it, the man's worrying had always been adorable.
"I'm sure. And I appreciate everything you've done for me Uncle Lee. I promise to make the visit trip soon, see Mary and the kids." She said as she gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"You should, the wife's been asking about you and the kids are growing up so fast… it would be good to see you," he murmured.
"Yeah I know, I promise I'll visit soon." She smiled encouragingly. "Now you best get back before you're missed."
"Right," the man blustered as if he were steeling himself. "I'll come back for you in twenty minutes, you understand? Good. You'll want this door right here," he said as he walked towards a door on the left wall, and slid the key into the lock. "I'll be locking you in so he doesn't escape. But you be careful now, you understand?"
"Yes sir, I'll be careful," Valerie smiled again, patting her uncle's arm affectionately as she passed him and slid open the bar to the door, opening it as she stepped inside. "Thank you,"
Lee took one last nervous look at her, before nodding. Valerie quickly stepped fully into the cell, and closed the door behind her, not turning from it until she heard the key click in the lock once more and heard Lee's footsteps drum down the hall. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and turn around.
"Do you have any idea how – argh!" Valerie screeched when a hulking mass came in front of her, but the sound was suddenly cut off as a hand was placed over her mouth, drowning out her voice. She stared up in confusion at the one holding her, which soon turned to horror as she recognised the red eyes.
"Ah, greetings Valerie," came a silky snake like voice. "This is a pleasant surprise," slowly, he released his hand from her, and she stared up at the dreaded figure before her in horror.
"Shendu?" she squeaked. "B-But… I thought… oh no!" she gasped as she turned around and made a break for the door behind her, completely forgetting that it was locked. When the handle would turn on her command, she began to panic. How stupid could she be?! How could she have been so horribly and utterly wrong?! She desperately tried pounding on the door, but Shendu quickly snatched her first and pulled her back into the room. He pulled her wrist until it was close to his chest, pulling her along with it until they were uncomfortably close and Valerie was forced to tilt her head up to look into his face.
"Ah-ah-ah," he muttered to her in mock sweetness. "No you don't. Now, what would bring my precious flower to such a dreadful place?" he asked with a grin when he saw how her face turned red with outrage.
"I'm not your anything!" she hissed venomously as she tried to wrench her hand free of his grip, though unsuccessfully. "And that's none of your business!"
"A place such as this is not befitting a lady such as yourself, many bad things could happen to you," he teased, enjoying the way such statements irked her, she guessed.
"I'll take my chances." She growled.
"Perhaps it would be best that you stay close to me, for your own safety of course," he added innocently, though his face had a wicked grin. Valerie gave him a look that showed her scepticism. "You doubt me?" he asked.
"Obviously."
"I gave you my word that I wouldn't hurt you," he told her, his voice edging with slight impatience, as if he were tired of repeating himself. "And I believe that you will be much safer in here with me: one who wishes you whole and sane. Or would you prefer to be amongst the inmates? You think you would fare better with the murderers, and the rapists, the thieves, and the terrorists? Especially since I know some of them may have a personal grudge against your family…"
Valerie scowled at him, and wanted to give her curt and defiant retort, but remained silent. Because no matter how much she detested it, but Shendu was right, she was probably better off in here than in the main cell block. And besides, she only had to last twenty minutes, then Lee would return for her, and she could get out of here and forget this dreadful mistake ever occurred. So she remained silent, wrenching her hand out of Shendu's grasp as she crossed her arms, but stayed. It didn't mean that she had to like it, she noted, as she went to the cot by the side of the wall and sat down upon it, pretending to ignore Shendu's presence. However, that was easier said than done when the fire demon came to stand right next to her, looming over her as he leered down at her.
"Did you get my letters?" he asked, though she knew that he knew perfectly that he had received every single one of his letters.
"Yes." She ground out grudgingly. "And I would appreciate it if you stopped sending me them." she said more pointedly, before muttering as if to herself: "I have no idea why you would invest in such a thing anyway,"
"I accepted your challenge,"
"I didn't issue any challenge!" Valerie said as she whirled on him, more confused and demanding answers then angry at this point.
"You want to love someone before marriage. If that is what it takes to make you compliant, then I will woo you." Shendu said in a matter of fact kind of way.
"When are you going to get it through your thick skull?! That. Won't. Happen!" she tried to say, growling in frustration.
"I can be very tenacious when I want to be. I may surprise you."
"So you picked letters for romance?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The romanticism in letter writing is becoming a lost art in the modern age, I thought it quite the pretty little message," he shrugged.
"Well, you can stop them, I don't want them. Leave me alone."
"Do you still have them?" he asked so suddenly that Valerie was taken by surprise as she blinked at him stupidly for a second too long.
"N-no," she stuttered over the lie as her heart was suddenly pounding. "I threw them away."
"Liar." He said the word harshly, but a grin spread across his features as he stared at her. Valerie tried to brace her suddenly trembling spine, setting her jaw in determination as she tried to come up with another retort.
"Do you even know what love is Shendu?" she asked. "Do you even know how to feel a positive emotion for anyone other than yourself?"
"I know a great many things," Shendu purred as he leaned closer to her, and she automatically leaned away from him, though this seemed to delight the demon as an excited grin lit up his face as he followed her slowly. "The pleasures of the body are not a mystery unto demons,"
"Th-that's not what I meant…" Valerie whispered as her frame was suddenly trembling uncontrollably.
"Why so nervous?" he asked her with that continued grin as he edged closer and she tried to scoot away.
"Call it an instinct of mine to put some needed distance between you and me." she said, trying to sound much firmer then she felt.
Suddenly, Shendu closed the gap between them, lunging for her and causing her to squeal in alarm as she tried to duck away. His arms encircled her waist and pulled her flush against him, pinning her in place. Valerie felt every hard line of his body, every muscle that was pressed against her front. She tried to struggle, to get her hands to push at his shoulders but he wouldn't move, his strength was too great as he kept her firmly in place. She looked into his face, which was now just inches from her own, fear making her lip tremble as it became abundantly clear that he had the strength to overpower her and do whatever he wanted and she wouldn't be able to stop him. Her heart was hammering against her chest, almost like it was trying to burst out of her body, she could hear it thundering in her ears. She stared into Shendu's face, read the cruel lines and gazed into his glowing red eyes, she waited for him to do something, but he remained perfectly still, just staring back at her. A minuet passed and still he did nothing, and Valerie worked up the nerve to try and wriggle free, but he kept her pinned against him with unyielding force. Valerie looked up at him in confusion, for if he wasn't going to do anything with her, then what was he doing?
"I gave you my word: I shall not harm you, and I will wait until I have won the challenge." He said to her softly, his voice taunting at the inner sanctum of her mind, the silky threads pulling at her sanity as if he were trying to tempt her again. He leant forward, and for a moment Valerie feared that he would kiss her again, and cringed her face away, but he did not touch her, only came close enough to take a very obvious inhale of her scent. "I could do so many things with you, and the guards would never hear you," he purred out into her ear, his voice heavy and musky, and Valerie felt her knees tremble as she struggle not to look back into those eyes. "But I won't. I will do nothing you do not wish me to…"
"You'll be waiting a long time," she spat out breathlessly, trying to show some semblance of defiance in her helpless state, though the sound came out feeble and weak even to her own ears.
"If it is anything the centuries have taught me, my dear Valerie," he chuckled, and she felt the vibrations in his chest against her own. "It is endless patience. One way or another, I always get what I want."
He then unceremoniously let go of her, causing Valerie to squeak in surprise as she suddenly fell back onto the mattress of the cot. What confused her greatly was that he turned from her completely to the middle of the room, though she was rather thankful for his attention to be on something other than her. Her body shook in the aftermath of her awe-striking terror she had experienced when trapped in his arms. She tried to still her racing heart, or settle her quivering insides. She brought her knees up to her chest as she watched Shendu as he looked at a black mark on the floor. She gasped when he suddenly unleashed a jet of fire from his mouth – something she was very surprised to see him able to do in a human body – the heat and the light was so immense that Valerie had to duck behind her arms to shield herself from the blast. The fire breath only lasted a few moments before the fire died and Shendu looked at the spot again before blasting it again with his fire. For several minutes this continued on, and Valerie huddled herself away from the heat that stung her knees and knuckles as if her skin was peeling away with the heat. Finally, as she hid behind her arms again, her wrists beginning to feel like they were burning as she held them up to hide her face from the blast, when she heard a loud crack. When the light of the fire died, she lowered her arms to see that Shendu had blasted his way through the floor.
"What are you doing?" she asked before she could stop herself, her curiosity winning out.
"There are rumours of tunnels underneath this prison," Shendu explained with a smug smirk as he surveyed the hole made by his flames. "When Valmont landed us in here, I thought to test the theory as an escape contingency." He then quickly hopped into the hole, which came to about his neck height, before turning back to Valerie and held out his hand to her. "Come." He instructed.
Valerie looked at him for a long moment, obviously hesitating as she most certainly didn't want to be stuck in any tunnels with the detestable demon. But she also knew that she had no choice in the matter really. So, swallowing back her nerves, she begrudgingly took his hand and hopped into the hole with him.
She grunted as her knees absorbed the impact, and had to squint into the darkness as her eyes slowly adjusted in the now lightless world. As her vision slowly cleared, she realised that she and Shendu were standing in the middle of a huge cavern, with tunnels stretching on for miles and miles in all directions. Stalagmites and stalactites broke the cavern's outline like jagged fangs inside a gigantic mouth that was about to chew them up. The stale air made Valerie want to cough but she reigned in the impulse, looking around at the stone labyrinth that spread on into infinite darkness. She had to wonder at how far these tunnels went on for, and if so, which was the correct way out? She was about to voice her thoughts, if only to clear the heavy silence that had fallen as Shendu still clutched onto her hand. When suddenly, they heard a noise from the cell above which they had just vacated.
They quickly poked their heads back up through the hole, realising that they were hearing the key in the door and the bar being slid open. Valerie felt her heart leap in her chest with hope, could it be Uncle Lee finally come to get her? But then, what would Shendu do if the human found his means of escape? She suddenly felt very afraid of the answer.
But as the door opened, Valerie felt her heart fall as Finn, Ratso and an unknown man with a large mouth and bulging throat came into the cell. Shendu however, grinned.
"Ah, greetings brother Xiao," he purred. Valerie blinked, was this strange man the demon Shendu had come for? But he looked so… human, how was that possible? She then made eye contact with Finn, who gasped upon recognising her.
"Whoa, the Payne girl?" he asked in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"
"She is my guest," Shendu shot a sidelong grin at her, which Valerie tried to pretend that she didn't see. Her focus then became drawn to the fact that Finn and Rats had left the cell door open…
"What are you doing in a hole, dear brother?" Said the man that Valerie assumed was called Xiao.
"Securing our escape from this place," Shendu answered with a smug smirk.
"See! I knew there were tunnels!" Finn elbowed Ratso excitedly as they climbed towards the hole –
Valerie took the opportunity that suddenly presented itself, and with a burst of adrenaline fuelled energy, she shot out of the hole, slipping through the hands that tried to grab her as she scrambled to get her feet under her and race for the door. She heard Shendu shout something after her, and heard many footsteps try to chase her and stop as she barged through the cell door and raced into the hall. She ran down the corridor, her mind urgently trying to remember the way out, but was coming up blank in the depths of her hysteria. Blindly, she turned down the first corner she came to –
And froze in her tracks. Her eyes widened, her breath froze in her throat and her blood turned to ice in her veins as she beheld the one person who still haunted her nightmares.
She'd never forget his face so long as she lived, the face that she had not seen on that dreadful night, but she had seen him in the court room when she looked upon the man that had torn her world apart. He was a boy, perhaps a year or so younger than her, with dirty brown hair that was pulled into a low pony tail, his cheeks gaunt and his frame thin. He had a scar that ran through his left cheek down over his lip, with bags under his eyes that gave his serious face a rather dark look. Despite his young age he looked ancient as he glared at the world through disinterested eyes. He was in his orange jump suit with a mop and bucket as he stood mopping the hallway. When Valerie had screeched to halt not ten feet away from him he had looked up at her, his eyes roaming over her face, and she knew that he didn't recognised her, which caused her heart to burn.
Why did he not recognise her?! He, who had torn her world asunder, had taken from her the only important thing she'd ever had in this world, he'd murdered her life, and now he had the gall to forget her?! When she could never forget him?! As she looked upon his face, all the emotions that she had long since thought buried and gone for months came boiling back to the surface with a vengeance that threatened to crush her sanity. She felt rage, fear, overwhelming grief, hatred, confusion, so much clamouring for her attention that she only had one outlet in order to expel such forces from herself before she drowned in it.
She screamed. Valerie screamed as she was confronted with her worst horror imaginable, she expelled the grief at what this boy had taken from her when he'd panicked that night her father had coming asking innocent questions. She screamed the fear that this boy would take something from her again, make her relive the horror he'd already inflicted upon her.
But not a moment after she first unleashed her scream, she felt a hand snatch at her, hauling her backwards and crushing her as she was pinned flat against a muscular body, a hand clamping over her mouth and silencing her. Valerie still couldn't take her eyes off of the boy across the hall who was staring at her in confusion and fear, her breathing was turning hysterical, and Shendu noted her state and what was causing it, and quickly hissed venomously at the boy. Seeing Shendu's glowing red eyes and hearing the inhuman sound he made, the boy quickly got the hint and fled back up the corridor.
As soon as he was out of sight, Valerie felt her knees almost give out beneath her, and she could no longer bear the strain of the weight on her heart alone. Without thinking as to what she was doing or paying any thought to her surroundings, she turned in Shendu's grip, breaking his hold on her momentarily as he was unprepared for the direction of her movement. For she didn't escape his grasp, she simply turned in his arms and buried her face in his chest as she clung to his jumpsuit with claw-like fingers, and burst into tears. She didn't care who this person was that she clung to, only that she needed someone to help her ease this agonising break in her heart. She felt Shendu stiffen under her touch, completely not expecting this and almost at a loss for what to do. Then, she slowly felt his arms around her, pulling her closer against him, greedily taking advantage of her closeness to him. As she continued to weep into him, she felt one of his hands brush aside her hair from the side of her face, and he leaned down until his mouth was right beside her ear.
"Hush now," he murmured into her ear so that his voice was all she could hear. "It is over… come with me…" His voice was so oddly soothing, that Valerie felt like a puppet being pulled on its strings as he continued to hold her close to him as he dragged her back towards the cell and she was helpless but to follow. He murmured words to her in a language she couldn't understand, but felt their meaning as she felt the curtain of her grief slide from her mind, the emotions returning back to be replaced with rational thought once more as she recognised her surroundings. When they reached the hole, Valerie was in a sense of mind once more to disentangle herself from Shendu and voluntarily climb into the hole herself, knowing that she had allowed herself to be captured by the demon once more. She was now his prisoner, and there was no escape with him now watching her every move. Shendu came into the hole a second after her, and they both stepped deeper into the cavern where Xiao, Finn and Ratso were waiting for them.
"You need to exert better control over your pets, Shendu," Xiao growled out as he sneered at Valerie, who folded her arms protectively across her chest, looking at the floor as she felt her ears burn with shame at allowing such weakness to foil her escape. The others began to move, and Shendu made to take Valerie's arm, but she flinched from his grasp, having fully recovered from her ordeal, wondering at herself at what could have possible made her turn to him for comfort, and she walked on her own, arms folded, head tucked down as she followed silently, Shendu looming by her side.
They walked on for a time in silence, seemingly heading in a random direction as they followed the tunnels. They could have been heading in the right direction, or going round in circles, Valerie didn't know for they walked on for what felt like hours. She was in no mood to care though, she suddenly felt numb inside after expending so much emotional energy in that hallway. She didn't know why she had reacted so hysterically, for in the back of her mind she had known that he would be here, she had been at the court case when the judge had sentence him to life in prison for what he had done. So she had not forgotten that he would be here, but she had wished that she wouldn't see him; of the hundreds of prisoners, that had been the one she had wanted to avoid the most, but ultimately failed. As they plodded along in silence and Valerie was left alone to her thoughts, she could still feel the tension rising as impatience among the group grew, their desperation to find daylight making their tempers short, which was eventually broken.
"We are going around in circles!" Xiao snapped in frustration, glaring at Shendu, who merely returned the sour look. Looking past Shendu to Valerie, she was brought from her thoughts to see the demon looking at her hungrily as he licked his lips. "At least we brought snacks…"
"Mind your manners brother," Shendu snapped viciously as he planted himself between Valerie and the wind demon. "The girl is not for you."
"And of what importance is she that you would protect a snivelling mortal from me?" Xiao asked with narrowed and suspicious eyes. "She is of no use to us, get rid of her or give her to me to eat."
Shendu remained silent, merely glaring at Xiao defiantly.
"Very well," Xiao growled out. "Keep her if you must, but I warn you Shendu, we had best find a way out of here soon, or I may start to eat your useless thing to relieve my boredom…"
Valerie gasped at the malicious glare the demon sent her way, causing her to stumble back instinctively. She felt her foot hit an uneven rock, causing her balance to wobble. She reached out a hand automatically to steady herself, her fingers curling around a jagged rock. She hissed when she felt something slice open her palm, causing her to recoil her hand, looking at it to find a shallow cut on her palm. She clutched her hand, gritting her teeth against the stinging pain. She heard a hiss, and looked up to see Shendu standing absolutely rigid in place, every muscle like stone as he was frozen on the spot, his face contorted with severe concentration.
"Shendu?" Valerie asked in confusion with a raised eyebrow. But still Shendu did not move from his place in front of her, body trembling slightly as if from great effort. Valerie felt her hand sting as her blood trickled into her palm. She felt a strange itch as her blood smeared across her skin, something inside of her tugging and pulling as if it wanted her to go somewhere, as if it were reaching for something. Thinking that maybe Shendu was acting strangely due to some predatory instinct that had arisen due to the scent of her blood, Valerie quickly tore at the bottom of her blouse, pulling a strip of fabric from it, and crudely made a bandage for her hand. It seemed to do the trick, for Shendu quickly picked himself back up and strolled ahead, leaving Valerie most confused.
But Xiao had noticed, unbeknownst to either Valerie or Shendu, and he understood. He had seen Shendu's reaction when the girl had cut herself, and more importantly, Xiao had felt what had happened. He had felt it when the scent of the girl's blood had bloomed into the air, he had felt the swell of power like a beacon crying out for its answer, something in the girl calling out like a willing slave calling for its master. Xiao had felt Shendu's spirit inside the human body thrash, his chi dancing with dangerous intensity like a silent answer to the call. Shendu had secured himself in place in order to prevent himself from doing something very specific, it was as if the girl's blood called to what was previously locked away now that Shendu no longer inhabited his own body. And Xiao was knowledgeable enough in order to know exactly what had happened, and what it meant: Shendu had found his Other. What an unexpected surprise…
Xiao decided to keep this rather interest revelation to himself as they all continued walking again.
"Way out's gotta be that way," Finn suggested after another long silence.
"Nah," Ratso shook his head. "We just came from there!"
"Shendu," Xiao growled out, his patience officially at an end. "I have had enough of your lost expedition!"
Shendu seemed prepared with a retort, when suddenly two figures rounded the corner, and bumped straight into them! Valerie felt her heart soar as she recognised the man and the girl beside him.
"Jackie!" she called out with a relieved smile.
"Val?" Jade asked with a confused frown. "What are you doing here?"
"So good to see you again…" Xiao purred darkly, making Jackie and Jade back up from him quickly. "In fact…" suddenly the demon turned, igniting a whirlwind around him that contorted his outline, and in a second the human was no longer there, and in his place was a huge frog like creature with red eyes, lavender skin and fangs lining his large mouth. "I'm all a bluster!"
Xiao sucked in a huge breath, pulling in all the air into his bulging throat, threatening to pull Jade and Jackie towards him. Jade quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out the dragon talisman. Valerie's eyes widened, and she quickly tried to shout for the child to stop, but the talisman released a blast of flame straight for Xiao. The wind demon quickly dodged, and the blast hit the rocks behind him with a resounding 'BOOM'. Cracks appeared in the ceiling, causing rocks to fall all around them, making Valerie scream as she tried to duck away from the falling debris. When the rubble cleared, she saw that the falling ceiling had created a huge hole in the floor which lead to more tunnels, which Jackie and Jade had fallen into. Xiao quickly jumped down, taking in another huge breath, causing the winds to be pulled towards him, which Jackie was only able to resist getting sucked in as he ran against the current of air. Valerie watched the whole thing from the lip of the hole with growing dread. As Jade and Jackie struggled against the current of air, she suddenly had an idea.
"Jade!" she shouted above the winds to be heard, but the child saw her, the woman waving her hands in the air as she gave herself some much needed room from the other enforcers. Jade then threw a talisman as hard as she could, and it was almost swept away by the winds, if Valerie had not reached down and snatched it out of the air. Quickly, she saw that it was the dragon talisman. Holding it in her hand, she saw the little flash as its power activated, felt it fill her with unimaginable power and heat, filling her up and then drawing it back down through her arm and into her hand.
She quickly turned on her heel, blasting it at Ratso and Finn who were closest to her. They leapt out of the way in time, but it hit the ground where they had been standing, causing them to tumble down into tunnel below. Before Shendu could charge after her, Valerie leapt into the hole, and before thinking, in mid-air she blasted the talisman again, watching as a gigantic blast of flame erupted and struck Xiao Fung in the back, literally knocking the wind from his lungs as he roared in pain. The wind was expelled from his mouth in a short grunt, which flung Jackie and Jade down the tunnel a good twenty feet, making them cry out as Jade lost her grip on the other talismans. Valerie landed heavily on the ground, grunting as she crumbled to her knees with the impact. But as she rose, she met the eyes of the glaring wind demon who was quickly recovering.
"Who's useless now?" she taunted, much braver then she felt as she turned on her heel and ran back towards Jackie and Jade who were now hiding behind a huge boulder. Suddenly, they all heard a shout as something fell through the hole above them and landed heavily on the floor in a heap. Valerie's eyes widened, for as the dust cleared, she saw that it was Uncle and Tohru!
"Aiya…" Uncle groaned as he sat up from where he was lying over Tohru, his back to the wind demon behind him.
"Uncle! Quickly!" Jackie shouted, urgently gesturing for the old man to come towards them.
"Ah, Jackie there you are!" Uncle said as he and Tohru stood to their feet, still not noticing the demon behind them. "Where is the –"
"For god's sake, are we in a pantomime?!" Valerie yelled in frustration. "Look behind you!" and Uncle did, finally noticing the demon that was smirking at him.
"You are going to be sorry!" Uncle yelled at the demon as if he were about to scold it. Finn and Ratso tried to charge for Uncle, but Tohru quickly picked up the old man and raced with him, aided by the speed talisman as he was little more than a blur, to reach Jackie, Jade and Valerie. They quickly began to pull out bags and vials and oddly enough a fan as they worked on the chi spell Valerie supposed.
"Xiao Fung," Shendu snapped to his brother. "The chi spell will seal your doom!"
"One cannot cast what one cannot catch," Xiao replied with a smirk as he sucked in a huge breath into his lungs again.
"Wait!" Valmont's voice rang out. "Let us get out of the way!"
But Xiao Fung waited for no such thing, as he unleashed a sudden massive breath that sent a ferocious wind through the cavern, causing Valerie to cry out as she clung to the nearest rock surface. Everyone else did the same, clinging to whatever they could hold onto or ducking behind rocks to shield them from the wind. Valerie heard a scream, and turned with horrified eyes to see Uncle be swept off his feet by the wind and flew down into the darkness on the wind. Tohru threw the speed talisman down after him, and Valerie preyed that the wind would carry it to Uncle and he would catch it, she couldn't bear to think of what would be left of Uncle if he was smashed by this wind against the rocks. A moment later, they saw his outline trying to run back towards them against the wind, running as hard as possible he could only bring himself to a standstill.
"Talisman is very good!" he shouted above the winds. "But demon breath is better!"
"Tohru!" Jade shouted out to the big man. "Human windshield!"
Tohru seemed to understand, and moved himself into position in front of Uncle, holding on to two stalagmites on either side of him to brace his arms so that he could hold against the wind and block it from reach Uncle. Without the resistance of the wind, Uncle came shooting back towards them, stopping right behind Tohru as he tried to finish the last of the chi spell.
"The old man!" Valerie heard Shendu hiss. "Stop him!" he ordered Finn and Ratso.
Looking around her pillar of sanctuary, Valerie saw the thugs coming right for them. Summoning whatever courage she could, she wound one arm around her pillar of rock, holding onto it with whatever strength she possessed, as with her other arm she held out the dragon talisman, bracing her arm against the rock as she aimed. The talisman obeyed her instantly, filling her with its power as if she had taken in a mighty breath, before expelling it with an explosion of fire. The enforcers screamed as the blast came straight for them, blasting apart their rocky platform and sending them sailing into the air. The continued hurricane wind from Xiao's mouth caught them and flung them down the tunnel and quickly out of sight. Valerie was blinded by the debris that fell her way, and so didn't see Shendu as he came sailing past her and landed in front of Tohru as he tried to reach around for the fan in Uncle's hands.
Thankfully, Jackie was there a second after him, and as Shendu snatched the fan and shoving Uncle to the ground, Jackie used the wind to send him sailing over Tohru and kicking out his legs into Shendu's chest. Shendu dropped the fan as he was once again plucked up by the winds that carried him off down the tunnel and out of sight. But still Xiao persisted with his breath of wind which seemed only to be getting stronger by the moment. Valerie cried out in panic as she felt her fingers slipping from her rock perch as she desperately clung to it.
"Jackie!" Uncle called above the roar of the winds. "Fan the fan!"
Jackie did as he was told, opening the fan and quickly sweeping it from side to side against the wind. And as he did so, Valerie was astonished to see the winds die and calm against it, until they ceased to exist all together. Valerie continued to watch in amazement as Jackie walked towards Xiao Fung whilst fanning the fan, sweeping aside the ferocious winds that the demon tried to make stronger to try and fling the human aside. But Jackie remained unharmed, and the magic of the fan beat away all power of the demon's breath.
"It's working!" Jade cheered. With one final wave of the fan, Jackie sent a ball of green energy out from the fan, which struck the demon like a blast of green fire. Xiao recoiled, and as if he were being dragged against his own will, he was suddenly flung into the air and pulled back up through the tunnels and out of sight, to where Valerie assumed his portal to be where he would be sealed away. The last they heard of him, was his final scream of: "NO!"
"Is it over?" Valerie asked shakily as she let go of her perch.
"Yes," Jackie said with a smile. "It's over."
"Looks like it's off to wind in the willows for Mr Toad," Jade said smugly.
"I didn't know you read that book," Valerie said with a delighted smile.
"Last year English class," Jade shrugged. "But what are you doing here?"
"I… erm…" Valerie struggled to come up with an answer that wouldn't make her look more like an idiot then she already felt, but came up blank. "Came to check on Jackie, and kind of took a wrong turn," she shrugged.
"Are you okay?" Jackie asked as he came up beside her. "You seem a little… off."
"I'm fine," Valerie lied as she gave him a reassuring smile. "Now come on, let's go home." Jackie seemed a little disappointed, but Valerie was too tired to feel guilty. Maybe one day she would tell Jackie and the others everything, but she couldn't deal with that drama today, not after all she'd been through. She just needed to go home and bury the bones in her closet.
In the red haze of the void, Xiao Fung used his breath to push him through the air as he searched for his brothers and sisters. He was still sore about finding himself back in this abyss, when he had been so close to freedom in the real world. He searched through the void until he found what he was looking for. As through the maze of floating rocks, he saw six other forms awaiting him. Oh what wonderful news he would tell them! He couldn't wait for their reactions! If Shendu couldn't keep him free, then Xiao Fung would repay the favour by divulging the others in his little secret.
"Oh brothers and sisters!" he called out as he approached them as they all waited in a circle at their meeting. They all looked up at him, their faces each masked with their own reactions to his return. But he had something that would take their minds right off of that. "I have some very interesting news to tell about our dear brother…"