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The Big Bad Wolf	By : K.Blood Category: A through F > The Forbidden Game Trilogy Views: 1693 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Before you start the story please read the below disclaimer. It's very important. Thank you

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Disclaimer: The Forbidden Game Trilogy and all its characters were created by Lisa Jane Smith. This is just a fan story based on her works, using her characters. All rightful credit is given to her. I make no profit from this.
fanfiction .net and adult-fanfiction .org are the only two sites this story is posted on.
If you see it anywhere else please let me know because that means it was stolen. Thank you.

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Summary: Julian: "I've been more things than you can imagine. And what I want you to believe is that children can go into dark places and disappear..." Some Jenny/Julian.
Setting: Completely AU. Has nothing to do with the FG storyline. The quote in the summary comes from The Hunter, chapter 8.
Originally Posted: January 2010 (Revised January 2019)
Warnings: For young adults and up, 16+. Story contains language and graphic violence.
Distribution/Sharing: Links only, please. No translations or reprints.
Word Count: 4,165
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Author's Notes: This is one of those stories were a line from the books inspires me to write a whole fanfic centered around it. I hope you at least find this story somewhat entertaining.

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The Big Bad Wolf
By: K. Blood
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~ Chapter I ~
Jenny Thornton was quickly coming to second-guess the wisdom of turning down her boyfriend's offer to drive her home. At least when she had originally declined the sun had still been hanging in the horizon. Now only the slightest sliver of orange could be viewed. In the distance a heavy blackness was rapidly stretching across the sky to steal what remained of the day.
The seventeen-year-old hugged herself and glanced around. The streets were abnormally quiet. Sure it was getting dark but there should have still been other people around. Kids, Jenny's age, simply hanging out and doing nothing, or adults finishing up late afternoon yard work. Yet there was no one at all. It was so out of the ordinary, especially in a well populated neighborhood such as this one. If seemed as if all life had abruptly vanished.
From the look of things, it had.
Jenny mentally scolded herself. She knew it was only her imagination messing with her, making the shadows seem longer and blacker, increasing the feeling of isolation. She felt like a lost little girl, consumed with the very childish need to see her mother. Jenny shook the notion away. She was practically an adult. It was silly to still have such thoughts.
It's not that bad, anyway, she told herself, eyeing the empty windows of darkened houses.
Then why aren't there lights on in any of them?
She thought she saw something in one of the windows. A silhouette, much blacker than the darkness around it, watching her. Jenny's heart leaped into her throat as she looked away, picking up the pace of her footfalls.
See, her mind said, ignoring the chill and sudden eruption of gooseflesh over her skin. There are still people around. You're not alone.
The thought did very little to comfort her.
As she past by the entrance to Grayson Park, Jenny paused. The playground itself was relatively small, but the surrounding patch of woods was a beloved spot for joggers. During the summer months she and Dee, a close friend, would run some of the trails together. Jenny knew the area fairly well. By cutting straight through she could save herself a couple blocks to her home. There was just one problem...
Whereas the neighborhood behind her looked dead, in the lack of light the woods looked oddly alive. Swaying leaves appeared to mimic the movements of breathing. Dark patches in the thick foliage of the treetops gave the impression of glaring, hollowed eye sockets. Jenny blinked and swallowed to remove the sudden lump in her throat. She gingerly glanced back toward the empty house fronts before returning her gaze to the creepy breathing trees. Neither option looked very appealing.
You're being silly, again, she told herself, even as something deep inside pleaded with her to turn around, go back to Tom's house, and beg him to take her home.
Jenny shook her head. She had to smile at herself, even if it was only a slight turn of the lips. She was acting like a five year old instead of the young woman she really was. Fearing the dark, that's all it really was. Just some impractical childish fear. You’d think that a person would have grown out of such things.
With that thought in mind, Jenny stepped past the entrance and into the playground area.
Without any children there to play on them the playground equipment appeared eerily haunted. What was it that was so unhinging about an empty set of swings under a nighttime back drop? Jenny suppressed a shiver and moved onward. She refused to let her steps waver in the slightest as she ventured between the tall trees and into the woods.
What indigo light remained in the horizon was cutoff by the bulk of the trees. A thin crescent moon hung overhead but was too small to offer much illumination. Jenny followed a familiar path, letting memory take her through it as she ignored the enclosing darkness. The looming presence of the trees only reinforced her growing sense of being isolated from the rest of the world. She forced her eyes straight ahead as she walked, not wanting to give her imagination any chances to toy with her.
A rustle off to the left made Jenny's heart slam against her ribs. Her eyes darted around for the source of the sound, but were unable to decipher anything through the darkness.
It was amazing how disturbingly different things looked in the dark than in the light of day. Every swaying shadow or shifting branch suddenly became cause for alarm.
Stop scaring yourself, she ordered.
The sound came again. A soft crackling, like something moving through the underbrush.
Rabbit, she told herself and forced her legs to continue on the path. The noise seemed to follow her as she went.
Yep, just a rabbit.
There came the sound of snapping wood.
Okay, a big rabbit. Or a raccoon. Yeah, a raccoon.
Jenny picked up the pace.
A low growl came from some place nearby and she pivoted around, trying to pinpoint the location of the noises. It felt as if the sound had come from directly behind her. Jenny's first thought was a mountain lion. This was California, after all. Sometimes on the news you heard of joggers or cyclists being dragged off and eaten by one of the large cats. It was an uncommon occurrence, but apparently not uncommon enough. Then again, what were the odds that one was actually hunting in such a modest sized park in the middle of suburbia?
Not very good, Jenny thought.
She knew she was being ridiculous again. Either way, the growl had been too gruff to be feline. It seemed to resonate from the chest rather than the throat. To Jenny it sounded like something that would come from a dog.
She stood motionless, waiting for the noise (any noise, really) to come again. The woods were quiet. No, not quiet. Quiet implied a sense of serenity or calm. This was silence, lingering and all encompassing. It occurred to her that there wasn’t the faintest hint of any other sounds. No nighttime birds or chirping crickets, just this extending dead silence.
Something was out there, waiting.
Jenny's blood roared in her ears as her heart beat frantically in her chest. She wasn't sure what to do. Should she run or wait it out? Perhaps whatever it was would get tired of stalking her and leave to go find less alert prey.
Prey?
Great, now she was even thinking of herself as a food item. Jenny couldn't allow her thoughts to wonder into that type of territory. Anyway, who had said this thing was some terrible predator? It could just be an irritated raccoon or opossum. They could growl like that, right?
Even as she thought it Jenny knew the idea was garbage. There was no way a noise like that could have come from any animal of such minimal size. This thing, whatever it was, was big.
A sudden thought occurred to her and Jenny cautiously sent a look over her shoulder.
What if the thing was circling around? What if it wanted to spring a trap on her from behind? That was how predatory animals hunted, wasn't it? She didn’t know much about the animal kingdom but she’d seen enough National Geographic specials to pick up a thing or two about the way nature worked.
Jenny ran a nervous tongue over her lips. She still couldn't make much out in the darkness and wasn't even sure in which direction she was facing anymore.
Okay, girl, calm down.
She knew she was only scaring herself and panicking wouldn't help her situation in the least.
Then Jenny saw it.
It was a gleam of eyes among the blackness, positioned about a couple yards down the path behind her. Straining her vision she could place the yellow glowing orbs in a vague canine-like outline.
A wolf?
Jenny felt her adrenaline abruptly spike. Did this part of California even have wolves? No, that was crazy. It had to be someone's lost pet, or one of the wild dogs occasionally spotted poking around the neighborhood trashcans.
Their eyes locked. When the beast realized it had been spotted it let loose a deep snarl which ricocheted off the trees. The sound sent the hairs at the nape of Jenny's neck standing on end. She ran. She couldn't help it.
Jenny's feet hammered on the cleared dirt floor of the trail as her chest heaved for air. She could hear the beast chasing after her. She knew that if she continued on like this the dog would catch her easily. Hoping to lose it, Jenny dashed between the trees.
Low hanging branches slapped at her face and arms. Underbrush snagged her jeans. Jenny ignored it, letting raw instinct and the pure will to live drive her through the foliage. She could still hear the canine growling from some distance behind her. She recklessly serpentined through the area. It was dangerous to run directly through the woods during the day. Doing so under the cover of night was just stupid. She prayed she didn't trip and break her leg.
Up ahead, Jenny spotted pale light filtering in through the trees on her right. Shifting directions, she headed straight for it. The only thing racing through her mind was the hope that the light led to people, people who could help scare the dog away.
A sharp stabbing sensation had started to bunch in her side and fatigue threatened to slow her pace. Jenny wasn’t an athlete by any means and she knew she could not keep it up much longer. The patch of light became like a safe haven. If only she could reach it then everything would be okay. The notion was unrealistic but at the moment it was all she had to cling to.
The dog was still somewhere behind her, trampling through fallen leaves. Jenny imagined she could feel its hot breath on the back of her neck—or so she hoped she was only imagining.
The light was closer now. Pale, but very bright compared to the rich darkness she had been suffering through. Past the trees Jenny could make out manicured grass. Her spirits soared.
So close.
She pushed her body harder. Her lungs had started to throb. The clearing was right there, only a yard away.
Jenny covered the distance in a matter of seconds. She burst through the trees and into the moonlight. Instantly cold shock seized her and she temporarily stumbled.
A graveyard! her mind screamed. It's a GRAVEYARD!
Of all the places she could have ended up...
As a young girl she had been plagued with nightmares involving cemeteries and such. Dreams in which corpses, their flesh gray and flaking from their faces, crawled up through the dirt to grab at her legs. It was a nightmare which had haunted her ever since she had watched her grandfather's coffin lowered into the bitter soil of a cemetery when she was six.
A graveyard.
Jenny felt the insane need to laugh at the world. There would be no help for her here. The only other people around were already dead.
And hopefully stayed that way, she thought as old fears came rushing back to her.
Jenny caught her footing and continued running, ignoring the feeling that such a place was as appropriate as any to get mauled to death by a rabid animal. She threw a glance back over her shoulder just in time to see the dog tear into the cemetery right behind her.
Jenny couldn't suppress a scream as she got a good look at her pursuer. It wasn't just a dog. It was a wolf, only far too massive. It was much larger than any normal wolf could ever hope to be. The worse part was that Jenny swore she could see right though its hide, like some kind of glowing apparition.
The creature seemed to stand out from the rest of the world, as if it were only a luminous image painted on the darkness. The wolf's eyes gleamed a sickly jaundice and its jaws snapped at the air as it paused to look around. It didn’t take long for those horrible eyes to relocate Jenny and take up the chase.
She didn't falter. She ran on, weaving in between headstones, unable to peel her eyes away from it. It was wrong, just wrong. Something like that did not exist in the real world. It wasn't possible. A ghost-wolf? It was a creature better suited for some child's fairytale. The impossibility of such a thing only added to her fright.
Without warning, Jenny slammed into something solid. The abrupt impact made her cry out in surprise. She would have fallen backwards if not for a pair of hands which shot out to grab her by the elbows.
A person! A real, living human being!
"Please," Jenny sobbed. She felt tears slide down her face but wasn't sure when she had started to cry. She couldn’t think straight. Her mind was a rush and she was having difficulties gaining enough oxygen.
At first, there was an overwhelming sense of relief at finding another person, someone who could help. Then such foolish thoughts were quickly replaced with the truth that there was no way anyone could ever be safe from a demonic creature like the one chasing her.
"Run!" Jenny shouted, frantic. She gripped fistfuls of her companion's shirt, sobbing as she tugged at it. They needed to get away or else that thing would kill them both. "God, please, there's a, a wolf. We have to go!"
"What wolf?" asked a voice, quite casually, as if she wasn’t shrieking like a mad banshee.
Jenny's head shot up. The young man she had rammed into stared down at her with a look of mild amusement. She took in bright blue eyes and bleach-blond hair before glancing back over her shoulder.
He was right. The wolf was gone. Jenny stared, openmouthed.
"It...Where'd it go?" Her eyes darted around the graveyard, searching the brush and scattered headstones for any sign of the phantom-beast.
"What are you talking about?"
The young man continued to keep his grip on her arms. Jenny was silently thankful. At the moment she wasn't confident that her legs would support her. Slowly, continuing her uneasy search for the wolf, Jenny turned her eyes back toward him.
"But..." she let her words trail off. She was terribly unnerved and baffled. The monster had been right behind her. Could it have simply disappeared or faded away, somehow?
"Perhaps it was only a shadow," the young man offered, sounding as if he were making some privet joke.
When she continued to stare helplessly up at him he flashed a half-smile. It wasn’t until then Jenny noticed just how handsome he was. And his eyes... Such a lush blue, like no shade she had ever seen before. They were luminous like the daylight sky and as lively as gas flames. In her panic she had mistaken his hair for being a bright blond. Now Jenny saw it was white. Pure white, like snow. In the light of the moon it looked astonishingly soft.
Moonlight?
A large amount of it was illuminating the area around them. She peered upward to find a fat full moon hanging overhead. Jenny frowned. If she remembered correctly the moon had been only a thinly crescent, and there definitely had not been any stars out. Now the whole sky was painted a rich violet-obsidian, speckled with thousands of them, all twinkling like precious stones.
That was...odd.
And since when did Grayson park accommodate a cemetery? Neither Dee nor anybody else she knew had ever mentioned it. Even her mother, who understood her daughter's distaste and fear of such things, had kept silent. Surely someone would have said something?
Jenny didn't know how she could have not noticed it on her own, given all the years she use to come here and play with her friends. How could she have not known this place was here? It wasn't as if it had simply appeared out of thin air. Right? ...Right?
Then again, maybe it had.
Jenny thought of the translucent wolf, and shivered.
She met the young man's eyes. They appeared to glitter like stained glass, almost mockingly. He was disturbingly beautiful. Exotic in some strange way...
Otherworldly, she thought absently, and was then struck with how true the word felt. She wasn't sure what this guy was but she knew that, like the phantom-wolf, he did not belong here.
"I should go now," Jenny heard herself say as she began to pull free from his grip. His fingers tightened their hold.
"But you seem so distraught. I think you should stay."
Jenny shook her head, unable to break contact with the alluring twinkle in his eyes. She tugged gently on her arms. "I really think I should go."
His grip did not change. "Maybe I don't want you to leave."
His voice was smooth, as if wrapped in silk. He had not demanded anything or spoken in a threatening tone, yet something instinctual screamed alarm bells through Jenny's body. Whoever—or whatever—he was, he was dangerous. Maybe even more so than the wolf. She tugged harder. Fresh tears blurred her vision as panic began to rise again.
"Please," she begged.
He pulled her closer until Jenny could feel the coolness of his breath against her lips. He whispered teasingly, "But aren't you scared the wolf will get you?"
Jenny opened her mouth but found she had nothing to say. Instead she spoke the honest truth: "I don't know what's going on."
He studied her a moment, then grinned. "You're very bright."
Jenny frowned. Was he making fun of her? God, she just wanted this to all be over. She wanted to go home where she could feel safe and brush everything off as a bad dream.
"I wasn't expecting that," he went on, releasing one of Jenny's arms to touch her face. His fingers were light upon her cheek, like dragonfly wings over her skin. It was very disconcerting. This person was a stranger, maybe not even human if her instincts were correct, yet Jenny found herself fighting the strong urge to press her cheek against his open palm.
"Skin kissed by the sun. Hair like liquid-amber. Even your eyes are flecked with gold. You seem to be your own little ball of light."
His tone was low and lyrical, but in the most natural of ways. It made her think of water in a stream flowing over rocks. Listening to it, Jenny was overcome with the sensation of falling. She gripped the front of his ebony shirt in an effort to keep herself grounded.
"Please, don't touch me," she said, her unfocused gaze cast toward the ground. His caress was too soft and his voice too sensual. They wrapped around her mind, distorting coherent thought. She needed to get away. Something was very wrong. It all felt too surreal. Somewhere deep inside Jenny some primitive part of herself called out in warning.
"I really need to leave."
His response was a dark chuckle. He moved his hand to feather through her hair. The delicate way in which he did so made Jenny's legs turn to water.
"I'll admit, I'm tempted," he said cryptically, more to himself than to her.
Jenny raised her head and met his gaze. There was something predatory in the back of his eyes, something that cried of a deep hunger. Raw and savage—and ancient. Jenny felt her heart skip a beat.
Blackness danced in the edges of her vision. Fighting back the tremors threatening to unhinge her body, she was barely able to keep her eyes on his as she whispered, "What are you?"
She watched as a humored smirk curled the perfect shape of his lips. "What do you think I am?"
She answered with the first thing to come to mind: "Old. And dangerous."
Her response seemed to please him. He released her other arm to cup her face in both of his hands. Defensively, her own hands moved to cover his. He bent his head until their mouths almost touched. "What's your name?"
"Jenny," she breathed. The fluttering sensation of his lips over hers sent little sparks of heat coursing through her body.
"Short for Jennifer?"
"Yes," she said curtly, fearing the warmth seeping into her. His presence was intimidating, but also exciting in a way. She would have compared it to petting a wild tiger; a mixture of fear and wonder.
"Jennifer." He paused to think. "It's an old name that comes from an even older one. A kernowek variant of Guinevere. The white phantom, or the fair-skinned fay. Some would go so far as to claim its meaning as the white enchantress. It's a lovely name and I think it suits you."
Jenny blinked. His voice was so low and melodious. It was like listening to the song of some wonderful instrument she had never heard before. One which captivated and drew her in until nothing else existed.
"Oh," she managed to say, feeling winded. "Thank you."
His eyes studied her face as his fingers returned to brush through her hair. Vaguely aware, Jenny's hands moved back to press against his chest, to the feel of solid muscle underneath.
He offered a sly little smile. "You're very welcome."
That smile...
Should she scream? Runaway? Or let herself melt against him?
He was so strangely stunning. Almost alien, as if he honestly had just stepped in from some other world. She should fight back. That was what every fiber of her being told her to do, but her dazzled mind wanted her to give in and simply let this otherworldly being do to her whatever he pleased.
Such thoughts terrified Jenny.
She knew she needed to get out of there. Nothing felt right about the situation. Maybe back in the woods she had fallen and hit her head. Perhaps she was unconscious and this was all just a dream—or a nightmare. Jenny wasn't sure which.
She began to back away from his touch. "I really have to—"
As quick as a striking serpent he seized her by the wrists. It didn’t hurt but surprise forced her to cry out. He yanked her back against his body. Instantly, Jenny felt a blush heat her neck and spread up towards her face. Besides her boyfriend, she had never been so intimately close to a guy before. Definitely never any guy who looked like this one. Black shadows sharpened the features of his face and his eyes shined like moonlit ice as he regarded her.
"You see, Jenny..." Her name rolled off his tongue like a silk purr, leaving her muscles feeling weak. "...unlike the others I prefer to feast while my meal is still fresh. I don't enjoy wearing things out. Not unless I'm in the mood for it."
He paused, perhaps waiting for her to say something. Jenny had nothing to say. She was utterly confused and wasn't even certain if this was the real world anymore.
He went on: "This time I'm willing to make an exception. You really are very pretty. I guess bright would be more appropriate to describe you. You are like a candle flame, Jenny. I enjoy that. There's not much light where I come from. It would be a shame to just smother yours outright. Un-sportsmanlike of me to do so. "
His words made Jenny grow wary, forcing some clarity into her thoughts. She searched his expression. "What are you talking about?"
"An opportunity, my bright little enchantress. A chance to live. Consider it a gift. All you have to do is make your way out of the woods and you're free."
"I... I have no idea what's going on."
He smiled a strange, sweet smile and tilted his head. "Haven't you been listening?"
Something flickered in his gaze, something cold and sinister. It froze Jenny's veins and caused her throat to constrict.
Leisurely, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "You've stepped into the Devil's playground, Jennifer. Your only hope is to find your way back out. Good luck."
She felt his lips brush tenderly over her cheek, leaving behind a warm chill. Then there was a vicious snarl from somewhere close by. Jenny recognized it immediately as belonging to the monster which had been chasing her. Abruptly, the hands on her were gone, replaced by a rough shove.
Caught of guard, she fell back onto the grass. It didn't take long for Jenny’s mind to realize what was happening. She fumbled a moment, getting to her feet. Then she was running, heading back for the trees. The deep, sensual timbre of the young man's laughter chased her as she ran.
It wasn't the only thing.

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The Big Bad Wolf