A/N: I own none of the characters, they all belong to L.J Smith. I only own the one Shadow Man I created.
For anyone curious as to how I wrote this scene it was solely created by one song.
Artist: Sara Bareilles
Song: Breathe Again
Chapter Three: The Beach
A blazing blood-red sun descended and reflected off the crystal waters of the ocean. Waves washed against the sandy banks, effaced each footprint traced into the sand. Jenny headed toward the water where a lone figure had emerged from the glittering depths. The sharp contours of their back muscle suddenly flexed as if they turned their head to the side.
"Julian..."
"I remember once there was a time when I first started watching you. You were six, out on your father's pontoon with him trying to fish."
Jenny grimaced at the faint memory that held coarse scales and scum.
"You were vacationing up in Lake Tahoe. Your parents had bought the cabin. You'd sit and watch the sunset on the long dock that stretched out into the lake. As I distinctly recall you didn't dwell there long, afraid of the water turning dark like shadows." Julian chose that moment to turn as Jenny submerged herself into the waist-deep waters.
Like the waters they stood in his eyes were crystallized and warm. Yet they still withheld an intensity. It was like a hurricane underlying the calm. His wild hair was a shock of white against the backdrop of the setting sun, setting off the spark in those eyes. They mirrored the passionate colors of the skies, framed in soot lashes as he soaked in every detail before him.
Like a man starved.
Redemption had cost him and spared her and her friend's lives. It was during that third game in Joyland Park that Jenny's feelings had begun to shift, taking on a depth that confused even her. In the aftermath of Julian's death, their first reunion had taken place on this very beach. Willing to accept her comfort, Jenny had consoled him. Seeing him here after many months struck a chord. Yet being in a familiar spot calmed her spirit.
Such peace she hadn't felt in a while.
"It has been... awhile." Julian stepped forward as if he'd read her thoughts, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Yes," Jenny nodded, "that it has." The two dreams that Julian had last visited had occurred when she'd passed out in a hospital chair from Summers's bedside. The second had taken place under hypnotism. But before the dreams had ceased altogether—some because of the cause of her mental issues—there had been an abundance of exotic places traversed. From the deep reefs off the Australian coasts to the glittering mountaintops of the Alaskan terrains.
Hundreds of conversations had been had.
"The last time I created this dream it was our first." Before he reached her Julian stopped, keeping a small gap between them.
"Yes..." Jenny watched him and a tender smile formed. "Your first dream of light."
"Light." He laughed then the sound slightly bitter. "This is it." He dipped one slender hand into the sparkling waters before watching it lazily slide down his palm. Refracting off the sun like fallen diamonds. "And now here we are," he murmured after a moment. "Together again in a world created of my own from yours."
"Yeah..." Jenny replied, her voice thick with emotion.
"And how is little Goldilocks faring?"
Jenny's lips twitched at another nickname he'd given her.
"Oh, don't even get me started. It's... a mess."
"You, okay?"
Jenny looked up to see that Julian had unabashedly closed the distance. Nearly a year ago Jenny believed the world safer from a Julian roaming the planet's surface. But that was before the dreams. While she unmasked what she once viewed as a predator; a prince of darkness who once haunted her nightmares. "I'm okay," Jenny began, holding up her hands, "please, Julian, you don't have to—"
"Jenny," Julian gently interjected. "Look at me."
Warm but resilient fingers slid beneath her chin and tilted it up and Jenny acquiesced. How could she not? Always was it as if nothing else in the world mattered but her. It reminded her of when she'd undergone hypnosis. Traumatic events from the earthquake had nearly left her an insomniac. Jenny's parents had gone to painstaking lengths to get her seen asap. So, when Julian suddenly appeared in such haunting memories, never could she have imagined he'd actually help her.
There was a woman Jenny had lost after attempting to rescue her from her home. It was one of the most gripping memories she kept buried...
She came across a small toddler in the sequestered neighborhood on her drive back from her—then—canceled appointment. The little girl was hysterical, she couldn't have been more than four, covered in bits of drywall on her tarnished dress and ribbons undone from her sandy hair. A fire hydrant off the corner of the street had burst, flooding the streets and saturating the sallow lawns.
Sirens continued to blare in the background, the skies congested with smoke and ash.
"Please help, my nana!" she screamed, sky-blue eyes puffy and bloodshot. Her lip trembled as she pointed a shaky finger to a nearly caved-in home.
The white-washed house was being supported yet, the roof had not completely caved in. A shrill scream pierced the air and straight through Jenny. She'd barely thrown her car into park before she bolted, using the hood of their truck to leap onto the roof.
"Hold on!" she cried, shattered glass from the blown window, cracking under her trainers.
Reckless impulses be damned.
One bloodied hand reached out in desperation through jagged shards of glass. "Please help me," they whimpered, elder and frail. There was a desperation in her voice and a fear of the unknown.
It cleaved Jenny's heart in two as she staggered to the window. "Just hold on, I'm going to get you out."
This was their only way out and Jenny knew they were on borrowed time before the house gave. She reached for the sun-spotted hand speckled with blood. It felt clammy and shook within her own. "Please don't leave me," she begged, "I-I can't hold on much longer."
Tears spilled from her eyes as Jenny held on, hoping against hope she'd have the strength to pull her out. She needed to calm this woman first or she'd surely have a heart attack. Distraction would be key. "My names, Jenny Thornton, I'm not going to leave you, okay...?"
"Rosie."
"Rosie, beautiful name that I'm sure matches a beautiful face. As is your granddaughter."
"Is my Odettie okay? I tried, I tried so hard—"
"She's okay I promise you, just worried. Now, I need you to lift yourself if you can so I can pull you up. Can you do that?"
"Yes, yes I will try."
"Odette needs her nanna; you can do this."
Jenny felt the old woman grasp her hand tighter, using everything she had.
That's when the roof decided to give.
"Jenny? Jennnnnnnyyy!"
The firefighters arrived seconds after. They'd hauled a screaming Jenny off as the house shuddered one final time—before collapsing to a plume of smoke, ceasing the cries of the woman, Rosie. It was there as her granddaughter, Odette's blood-curdling scream speared the air, that Jenny collapsed into a quivering sobbing mess.
Julian would take her to the same park where a memorial had been erected, commemorating lives such as Rosies lost that day. But also, where their graduation was set. It had left Jenny confused. Up until she'd realized he'd dressed her in a graduate gown with a speech she wouldn't soon forget. "Life doesn't end here. It renews. The strength within you is far superior to the loss that ails you. And you're not weak. There's a fire within your spirit that has prevailed always. And Jenny, that fire has never and will never extinguish. Unless you let it and you have too much to offer this world..."
In a very uncharacteristic manner, he'd sat beside her for hours, comforting her in her pain. Then he'd taken her to the little girl, catching a glimpse of her mother and father through a window allowing Jenny to peer in and see the girl wrapped in their arms. Relieved. Thankful. Offering up whispered prayers.
That was the day that something of significance evolved between them.
Julian's words had helped her carry on with daily life, after. Even as she stared into those cobalt eyes that had iced over. Was there still a kindling of fear of him? Yes, and maybe it would always be there as a remnant of their past. He'd sent her through a living hell, after all. Further displayed after Jenny won the second game of Lambs and Monsters and he'd kidnapped her boyfriend and cousin as penance. At the end of Joyland Jenny and the gang would come face to face with the true demons: the real Shadow Men. Julian had paled in comparison saving her from their bloodthirsty clutches, while pierced by the Frosted Blade that killed Shadow Men.
After shutting the door between realms, Jenny and her friends had dragged Julian back to their world and he'd gone in peace. After Jenny stepped out of her grandfather's house that early morning, she'd been so sure of her life. Relieved Julian had gone into the light and the people she loved most, were safe. Until the second shift in her life tragically struck.
That earthquake.
After tonight's events, Jenny was brought to a revelation. It had been there for some time, with her, too scared to acknowledge it. Why? Because change was always a scary transition in life. Jenny was escaping from reality for the moment. In her waking reality, she was stepping into adulthood. If she accepted the engagement, it was no small matter. Engagement led to marriage. The honeymoon. Which meant sex; something she hadn't yet experienced. A lifetime commitment. Trials. Kids. Growing old together.
Until death do you part...
Was that truly what she wanted out of life? Or was there something more and that was the bitter truth? In her heart, she had not accepted this engagement. Which she hadn't been given any time to correct. This wasn't some high school puppy-love spat. There would be consequences to this in which both parties would not come away, unscathed.
And truthfully, it scared her.
A sigh passed her lips, head dropping onto Julian's chest as hot tears trailed down her face. "I missed this." His hands softly combed through her hair, his breath rolling off the nape of her neck.
There was no demand in his touch, only solace.
Jenny began to slide her hands up his arms in an embrace—when she froze. Tiny faucets twinkled in the hazy light off her ring finger. Julian's actions immediately stilled and the breath in his chest released. "I already know," he stated, his voice suddenly ominous. "Although "Yours Forever" seems rather constricting for someone who loathes such oaths."
"Julian—"
Julian cut her off with a hand, stepping back from her embrace. It left her cold as a chill grew in the air. "Though he'll never measure up, he does care for you. He can be a part of your future with one I'll never have." He laughed then in a hardened voice and grasped a single strand of gold that had fallen. "Every morning he will be greeted by your face, watch the morning light dance in those cypress eyes. "She's beautiful and therefore to be wooed. She is a woman, therefore, to be won". 1st Henry VI exact quote of a women's beauty in sleep."
Jenny swallowed as Julian reached out and glided a finger across her cheek and along the ridges of her lips. The sensation caused her lips to part as he said, "The question is, Jenny, do you truly desire such commitment? Because from where I am standing, the truth to that answer is already there."
Jenny couldn't help but stare at him slightly perturbed by the bold statement. Still, this was a private matter to be dealt without Julian's involvement. With a hint of regret, she took a half step back. "I'm an adult now, Julian. I am not little Jenny Thornton anymore." She sighed, tucking the fallen strand behind her ear. "Given the history, we shouldn't even be discussing this." She added this quietly, mentally scolding herself. "With all these dreams or not I can't..."
She shook her head unable to go on.
Julian's eyes flashed once, dangerous. "Don't worry yourself, Jenny," he spat bitterly. "In time you'll even forget about me and your problems will seem minuscule. The world is always evolving as your life will with Tom. Especially after the honey... " Julian's voice abruptly trailed off as his eyes sparked. He inhaled sharply as hands fisted at his sides, the knuckles bone-white.
Jenny tensed knowing what he was getting at, "Julian—"
"Don't." Julian gritted out in a deadly, quiet voice as those eyes sliced into hers.
It was a warning.
Jenny watched as he closed his eyes seemingly waiting an eternity to speak. But finally, just barely above a whisper, he said, "Dreams can only last so long until they wither."
The sympathy was evident as Jenny murmured, "They won't wither with me."
Julian turned away from her. For a moment the silence lingered between them and heavily so. His voice had become fairly distant now. "I think... you should go."
Jenny's face softened. "Julian," she began.
But Julian whirled on her, his eyes set ablaze. "This is all there will be between us now, Jenny!" He snarled. "I saved your life to keep you from horrors you could only dream of. And for what?"
Jenny's eyes narrowed. "Stop it, Julian. You did a good thing and saved all of us from the Shadow Men."
Julian shook his head and let out a dark laugh before his teeth gnashed together. "That won't matter once you're dead."
Jenny flinched at the word, scraping a strand out of her face as a tug of wind pulled at her.
Julian continued, "I was wrong, Jenny." He glared. "There will never be enough light here without you in it. And when you die, I will be left to dwell in eternal darkness. Because it will happen, Jenny. When it does my world will fade. It will be like a plant. Without sunlight, it will shrivel until its leaves fold in on itself and perish."
Jenny jutted out her chin, "I don't believe that."
Julian's eyes were piercing. "B—"
That was as far as he got before a large, gust of wind surged between them cutting off Julian's next words. Jenny couldn't help but gawk as panic began to crawl its way into her nerves. Was this Julian's doing? A rise in his temper affecting the dream? It stiffened her stance furrowing her brows.
"Is this really necessary? Have you learned nothing after all?!"
Julian looked at her almost affronted as his eyes slanted, "You think I did that?"
Jenny stared at him, not wanting to recognize the horrible gut instinct churning on the inside, pulling at the lining of her stomach. "Well, didn't you?"
But Jenny never got to hear Julian's response.
The waves suddenly rose like sharp talons and crashed over; the passionate atmosphere swallowed up into a black, starless night. Like a void of abyssal darkness. A coldness had crept in, Jenny's breath becoming visible as the winds howled. "W-what's happening?"
It sounded as if a hurricane were just over the horizon—if she could just see. The winds intensified whipping hair into Jenny's face, the sheer force nearly lifting her from the waters. She fought against the torrent and yanked the hair blinding her vision screaming out, "JULIAN!"
Julian jerked his head back in her direction, the winds whistling like a hollowed-out scream. It was as if their clothes were about to be ripped from their bodies. Their eyes connected once more and Jenny swore, she could feel an invisible hand physically pulling them apart.
The distance between them only expanded.
"JENNY!" There was a wild look in Julian's eyes now that Jenny hadn't seen in a long time. Enough confirmation that Julian had no idea what was happening. Their dreams never turned hostile.
And Julian, it looked as if he were going out of focus.
Jenny saw both puzzlement and shock register as his entire body began—to disappear. Julian looked up at Jenny alarmed. Right before a feral animosity took hold, he fought against what could only be described as an invisible force. Those eyes blazed as he roared, "JENNY WAKE UP NOW!"
Then like a snap of a finger, Julian was gone.
For a moment all Jenny could do was stand there staring dumbstruck at where he'd vanished. There was nothing left but an eerie silence as the winds abruptly died as quickly as they'd come.
While her mind screamed for her to wake up.
WAKE UP, JENNY!
As half of herself started to grow detached from rem sleep, her eyes felt like lead. They refused to open. OPEN! But it was as if she were yanked back into the dream as a cold, slimy-like tentacle constricted around her ankle. Jenny filled her lungs with air as she prepared to scream—
When she was plunged into ice, cold water.
Down, down, down. Jenny's back suddenly slammed into the ocean floor as she tried to twist her way out of its bruising hold. The atmosphere was so bitingly cold it seeped into her very marrow.
Before the voices started.
Jenny's head instantly snapped up, alert, as what sounded like static grew.
"F...a...iiiiii...sssss...d..."
It was like an old radio being tuned as the static grew louder and louder.
"F... aaaa...iiii...sss...ddd... FAAAAMMMIIISSSHHHHEEEDDDD!"
Instantly her blood ran cold.
The Shadow Men.
The hunger in their voices sent the hairs on the back of her neck straight up. They were back. The Shadow Men. "Come to me, Jenny," A low, crooning voice called in the distance as the chanting of the Shadow Men grew louder. "I'll catch you before you fall."
Moonlight eyes glimmered in through the pitch black.
Jenny screamed as an unexpected hand touched her.
"Jenny? Jenny? Jenny!"
Jenny gasped, the eyes still dancing in front of her vision before light filtered into the wake of her mind. Jenny's vision gradually cleared, a homey scent pulling her into waking consciousness.
Bright blue eyes followed.
Blonde tendrils hung around her delicate face scrunched in worry. "Jenny?"
Summer.
"Summer?" Jenny croaked.
The early light of dawn cast a glow against soft yellowed walls of... her bedroom. She was in her bed. Safe. Jenny hoisted herself out of the damp sheets she'd enveloped herself in. Only to discover her cocktail dress soaked in sweat. "Water..." Jenny whispered after a minute, her throat throbbing as if it were raw from screaming.
Had she screamed?
"You, okay?" Summer asked after she came back with a cool, glass cup of water.
Jenny downed it in less than a minute. She licked her lips as she stared at the entangled sheets that had horridly wrinkled her dress. The memory of her dream was too fresh. The voice that sounded like spiders crawling on gooseflesh, replayed in her mind.
Jenny shuddered.
"Oh, you cold?" Summer patted Jenny's lap before sliding off the bed to shut the window.
Jenny didn't bother to object; she felt sick. The boozy smell off of Summer wasn't helping. But she seemed to sense Jenny's unease because she scurried away. The distinct clink of her friends' overalls echoed as she trumped down the hallway. In less than a minute she was back with a Happy Bunny bucket. Ironically from the mint chocolate chip ice cream they'd both finished that week.
Summer had just tossed it to Jenny right before last night's contents hit the floorboards. "I think I'll go call Tom," she suggested after Jenny retched again. "And, hey, congrats on the engaaaagement!"
Her friend's voice echoed down the hallway.
Jenny merely nodded, not in the mood to get into that right now. She didn't even see her friend return. As soon as her stomach settled, Jenny laid back down and reluctantly passed out.
That's right rest, Jenny.
"For now." He chuckled.
He watched the human fall back onto her pillows. Laughter broke from between his lips, the sound chilling enough to raise the hair on a mortal should their presence be felt. Like a wolf waiting on his haunches and chin resting in the palm of his hand. He remained ever attentive as her chest gently rose and fell with each breath.
Then her body relapsed into a deep sleep.
He watched as the girl's delicate friend re-entered the room, coming alongside the sick girl's bedside to check on her.
"Sleep well, Jenny."
Her tiny voice echoed around the cavernous room. Only when the door closed behind the tiny blonde, did his eyes wander back to the foretold sleeping beauty. Only a fool could be deceived into such thinking of course.
Beauty was but fleeting after all.
No matter this girl was different. He of course knew the truth and her whole story. How this supposed heroine had outsmarted their kind. What was the saying again? Those must reap what they sow? Well, it wouldn't be long before she paid, dearly.
To undo what was lost to them made her the key.
As the scene continued to play itself, he licked his lips in interest. The girl's breathing was deepening, lost in an unconscious state once more. A slow, cruel smirk grew more pronounced as it stretched across his lips. So easy it would be to invade her dreams and play with her mind some more. But tonight, he'd simply watch while in the quiet of the darkness, lying in wait.