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Tom Lied	By : K.Blood Category: A through F > The Forbidden Game Trilogy Views: 1580 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter List
- 1-Tom Lied
- 1
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.
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If you see it anywhere else please let me know because that means it was stolen. Thank you.

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Summary: "Did you ever see—him—in the mirror?" Jenny asked, uncertain. Tom studied her closely. "No," he said, but he was lying.
Setting: Takes place during The Hunter, chapter 11 (directly after Summer's nightmare)
Originally Posted: January 2013 (Revised January 2019)
Warnings: Mostly okay for everyone. Some minor language.
Distribution/Sharing: Links only, please. No translations or reprints.
Word count: 3,778
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Tom Lied
By: K. Blood
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Tom stared at Jenny as she sat in the hallway, her face in her hands. Was she crying? He didn't think so, but his heart went out to her just the same.
"You're a monster," he whispered, not taking his eyes away from the image in the silver mirror. Julian held its oval-shaped frame in his hands as he stood there, allowing Tom to see everything.
Tom ached for her. Now more than anything he wished he could be there to comfort and protect her. It angered him to know that Jenny needed him so badly, yet he was stuck here, chained to the stupid ancient looking grandfather clock. Summer was dead. One of his friends was gone, forever. He knew the notion should have been at the forefront of his thoughts, but Jenny... Seeing her like this...
"How can you do this to her!" he shouted, surprising himself with his angry outburst. "How can you treat her this way? You don't love her!"
The Shadow Man looked amused. Tom wanted to hit him.
"You're too simple, Tommy." The thick bitterness coating his name tarnished Julian's normally poetic voice, making it sound momentarily harsh. "I don't expect you to understand the bond Jenny and I share."
"Bond?" Tom spit the word out. It left a sour taste in the back of his throat.
A smirk curved Julian's lips, as if to childishly taunt 'I know something you don't.'
"You don't see it, but this..." Julian made a dismissive motion in the air with his hand, indicating Summer's death. It was almost as if her loss wasn't worth any more of his consideration than that. Tom gritted his teeth. "...this only strengthens the connection."
"You're insane."
"I'm in love."
Tom fisted his hands, making his chain links clink lightly together. There was no name for the level of disgust and loathing he felt at that moment.
"That's not love," he managed to speak through his teeth. He wanted now more than ever to be free, to be able to attack the Shadow Man.
"Jenny and I, we're destiny," said Julian, his voice smooth and confident. "Even now, she's much closer to yielding to me than before. It's inevitable. She can't resist what we share. Soon enough, she won't want to."
"Do you even listen to yourself talk?" asked Tom. He wasn't sure if Julian was just toying with him or if he actually believed what he was saying. It scared Tom to think it might be the latter. "You're delusional."
The glistening midnight-blue of Julian's eyes narrowed. "No, Tommy, you're delusional. Refusing to see what's unfolding right in front of you. I love her. More than you ever could. When Jenny finally realizes this you'll be nothing more to her than a vague memory in the back of her mind."
Tom shook his head. He had heard enough. The Shadow Man was crazy. His "love" was obsessive and evil—and the monster was too damn insane to realize it.
The smirk on Julian's face shifted into a murky smile. Tom felt anxious just looking at the new mischievous light in the Shadow Man's gaze. There was concealed laughter in his tone as he said, "I can prove it to you. To Jenny. Without question, you'll know she's mine. She's always been mine."
Tom swallowed. He didn't like the sound of that. "What are you going to do?" His words came out sounding too meek. He cleared his throat, trying to hide his fear. "You better not hurt her."
It seemed the Shadow Man was no longer paying him any attention. Julian stepped to the side and Tom spotted a stand which hadn't been there before. It reminded him of one of those metal sheet music stands, only this one was made of ornate, chocolate-brown wood. Julian placed the mirror on the tilted bookplate, adjusting it to the right position so Tom could still see the image playing across its surface.
It was just Jenny and Dee now. Audrey and Michael had left a couple minutes before, although Tom wasn't sure why. Looking for the others, maybe? It sounded ridiculous to split up. He thought at least Dee, with her training, would have known better than to do something like that.
Jenny was standing now but leaning against a wall. She didn't look any better than before. Watching her, Tom felt the familiar ache in his chest.
I'm sorry, Thorny. I should be there with you.
Out of the corner of his eye Tom caught the Shadow Man heading for the door. It was one of two in the room. The other one stood wide open. Tom thought it might have been the way out, but the only thing he could see through it was a thick, inky blackness. Supposedly they were in the turret at the top of the paper house. Tom had his doubts. To him the room looked like the inside of some kind of weird store.
"What are you doing?" he barked, suddenly very afraid for his girlfriend. He was always stricken with an unnamed fear whenever the Shadow Man wasn't around. After all, if Julian wasn't here giving him hell it meant he was with the others. With Jenny.
Julian's stride didn't falter. He opened the door into what may have been a dark hallway. It was difficult for Tom to tell. Before slipping out he paused long enough to flash Tom an unreadable grin over his shoulder.
"You'll see," he said, and then was gone.
Tom was left with a churning sensation in his gut. He felt almost sick wondering what the monster now had planned for Jenny. He tugged fruitlessly at the thick chains binding him, already knowing he'd never be able to break free of them. He looked up at the mirror. The fact that the Shadow Man had left it behind this time only increased his anxiety.
Dee stood close to Jenny, speaking to her. He couldn't hear what she was saying. The mirror emitted images, not sound. Jenny appeared a little more put together now than before. However, she still looked pale and fragile—but oddly beautiful.
Even now with her tussled hair, wrinkled clothes, and worried, red-rimmed eyes she was beautiful. Tom felt guilty he didn't tell her more often how lovely she was. But now wasn't the time to think about such things. He wished he could understand what Dee was saying to her. Whatever it was, he hoped it made her feel better. He saw the faintest nod from Jenny, and then Dee was walking away. Tom reflexively jerked forward, his chains rattling.
"What are you doing!" he demanded to the mirror. He knew Dee wouldn't be able to hear him but that fact didn't seem as important as the sudden icy shock which clambered over his skin. "You can't leave her alone. Don't leave her alone! He—he's going to do something to her! Jenny!"
He felt utterly helpless as he watched Dee's form disappear beyond the edge of the mirror.
"Damn it," he swore, frustrated.
It hurt so much knowing he couldn't save Jenny. All he could do was sit there and watch. Seconds began to stretch. A minute passed. Dee didn't return. Neither did the others. The Shadow Man was out there, somewhere. Waiting. Hunting.
An abrupt burst of light off to the side drew his attention. Jenny's too. He watched her look up and down the hall before heading in the direction of the flash.
"Jenny, don't," he warned, his voice low and strained.
I can't do anything. She's heading directly into trouble and there's nothing I can do to stop her.
Jenny turned a corner and paused at one of the mirror-doors lining the hallway. This one was open, a dark rectangle in the wall. The blue light bulb overhead threw olive-tinted streaks on her blonde hair as she peered inside. Suddenly, the mirror-door began to slide close. Jenny hesitated, unsure, but then seemed to make a decision and jumped forward through the closing door. Tom felt his heart leap with her.
The image went dark and he wondered if that was it. Maybe the Shadow Man wasn't going to show him what he had planned for Jenny. Immediately, Tom's imagination went to work filling in the blanks. Each new idea made him feel even more nauseous than the last.
Instead of fading away to reveal its reflective surface the face of the mirror remained black. After a moment, Tom realized why. He was still watching her. Jenny had just entered an unlit room.
Feeling only mild relief, he stared at the image, hoping to pick shapes out of the darkness. No such luck. He thought he saw hazy movement, possibly Jenny, but he wasn't certain. A thin sliver of amber-red light cut into the black. It helped a little. Jenny was pushing aside a hanging curtain (or maybe it was a blanket), letting the amber hued light shine into the room.
It didn't offer much to see by but it was enough for Tom to determine where she was. It was her uncle's garage, the place Zach had converted into an art studio. Cautiously, Jenny entered Zach's darkroom, pushing past the curtain hanging at the entrance. She had once told Tom that Zach had created it because he preferred to develop his own photographs. Apparently he didn't trust other people to handle them.
She was in Zach's studio. So was this supposed to be his nightmare? After what had just happened to Summer, Tom hated to think Jenny would have to suffer through another of her friends' nightmares, and alone this time. He cursed the others for not staying with her, for leaving her alone in this hell. For the millionth time he wished he was there to take care of her. He knew that if he was ever granted the miracle of seeing her again, the first thing he'd do was take her in his arms and tell her he loved her. He didn't even care if the others were there to see it or not. His usual unease with public displays of affection now felt foolish. So many wasted opportunities to let her know he cared...
Tom hated himself for it. For the first time in his life it occurred to him that he might not be good enough for her. A girl like Jenny deserved better.
Jenny slowly entered the small darkroom glowing with red-orange light. Tom's heart skipped a beat when his eyes landed on the figure standing by a table: Julian.
Tom was startled when Jenny ran to him. She was saying something but Julian didn't turn around from the table. He was gingerly rocking a tray of chemicals with a print in it between his hands. Jenny threw her arms around his shoulders in a desperate sort of hug, but the Shadow Man simply pushed her back and continued rocking the tray.
Tom couldn't fathom why she was acting this way. Jealous and confused, his hands curled into tight fists which turned his knuckles bone-white. Through the haze of his anger Tom finally took notice of what Julian was wearing. He had changed his clothes. Now he was wearing a flannel shirt with plain jeans and...running shoes? The casual attire was nothing like what Tom had seen him dressed in before. The ensemble looked to be at odds with the exoticness of his appearance, but it was an outfit Tom had seen before. After all, Zach had been wearing the exact same thing.
The realization hit Tom like a pile of bricks. His earlier jealousy wilted away, leaving him feeling stupid and ashamed for having ever doubted her. No wonder Jenny was acting like this. She thought she was with her cousin. Tom's gaze narrowed at the underhandedness of it.
Jenny continued to try and talk to the Zach-disguised Shadow Man. She looked lost as she was continually ignored by her "cousin." Julian pulled away from her reaching hands to flick off the amber bulb and turn on the white one. She watched him with an expression of helplessness as Julian rinsed the print and plastered it against the wall. She was talking to him, her mouth moving but silent to Tom's ears. He attempted to read her lips but failed at it.
"What the hell are you playing at?" he growled as he watched the Shadow Man move about, fussing with the print.
Without warning, Julian stumbled. Jenny barely caught him as he collapsed, dragging her down to the floor with him. She looked afraid, almost in tears. In that moment Tom hated Julian more than he ever had before. He wanted to hurt him for what he was doing to Jenny. She held Julian to her, almost rocking him.
"That's not Zach!"
Tom knew his shouting was in vain, but there was nothing else he could do. It scared him as it enraged him to see Julian manipulating Jenny like he was. She thought she was hugging her cousin. She was trying so hard to comfort "Zach" that it broke Tom's heart. After a bit Julian had the audacity to push her away and try to straighten up. Jenny refused to let him, instead holding on, encouraging him to hold her back.
Tom's breath came out in quick, rapid huffs. He didn't think he had ever been so upset in his life.
"I'm going to kill you for this," he said to the Shadow Man's image.
They were talking. Jenny wore a smile which looked to be almost genuine. Whatever he was saying to her it appeared to ease her mood. She rested her head against his shoulder. His hand was in her hair, his fingers ghosting over her scalp as they held one another. She was practically sitting in his lap now. The sight of it filled Tom with a new wave of jealousy, but he couldn't blame Jenny. She didn't know what she was doing. Julian was tricking her.
Tom had to remind himself of that over and over again as he watched Julian place a tender kiss to the back of Jenny's neck.
She doesn't know. She would never—
But when has Jenny ever let Zach touch her like that?
The thought stunned him. Immediately, Tom tried to disregard it but it wouldn't leave him alone. It proceeded to nag at him as he watched Julian lightly kiss the top of her head, pressing his lips to the silk of her hair. It was a sensual kind of touch. She never would have let Zach do that to her. They were cousins. It would have been weird. Not just weird, but wrong. Yet she looked almost content as she relaxed in Julian's embrace.
She did think he was Zach, right?
She can't resist what we share. Soon enough, she won't want to...
...Tommy, you're delusional. Refusing to see what's unfolding right in front of you...
Tom shook his head to clear it of Julian's haunting voice. No, Jenny didn't know it was him—But she never would have let Zach do such things to her, either. They were family. She would have stopped him.
...she's mine. She's always been mine...
The Shadow Man's little kisses to her hair were coming quicker.
She doesn't know it's Julian, Tom assured himself. If she did she would fight him. He's done something to her. Put her in a, a trance or something. It's an illusion, like the rats.
Jenny had tilted her head up. Julian was peering down at her, speaking to her. Her hands clutched tightly at his arms. The way they were gazing at each other...
She's not going to do anything, Tom went on telling himself. She believes it's Zach. She has to. If she knew it was Julian she'd pull away. She'd fight him, he's evil.

Then Jenny let her eyes slip close and Tom knew precisely what was going to happen next.
Julian bent his head, and then they were kissing.
Tom felt as if a hole had opened up inside him, causing his stomach to drop into the void it created. Numbly, he stared. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. He wanted to avert his gaze but couldn't. Some awful, masochistic part of himself refused to let him turn away.
At first it was only Julian's lips moving over hers, but then she started kissing him back and that made it much worse. She was kissing him in a way she had never kissed Tom before. Something within her seemed to awaken under Julian's touch. Her fingers had moved to his hair, feathering through it almost desperately, clinging to him as if she'd faint if he let her go.
...I don't expect you to understand the bond Jenny and I share...
But she doesn't know it's him!
Then that would mean Jenny was making out with her cousin...
Stop lying to yourself, a voice spoke up. It was so calm and straightforward it came out sounding almost cruel. Jenny's not kissing Zach. She would never do such a thing with her cousin. She's kissing Julian and she knows it. Consciously or not, she knows it.
Suddenly, Tom's mouth felt horribly dry.
Jenny was pulling back now, staring in shock at Julian, as if she had never seen him before. But Tom knew better. She could deny it all she wanted to. She had known. Some distant part of her must have acknowledged what she was doing.
Her hand came up to wipe at her mouth, as if disgusted. Tom could tell it was only a reflexive gesture on her part. She didn't actually mean it. Julian was saying something to her, looking as smug as a wolf with fresh blood on its teeth. The Shadow Man tilted his head towards her, as if to kiss her again, but Jenny was backing away and getting to her feet. It didn't matter. The damage was done.
Julian had wanted to prove something, and he had.
Why Zach? It didn't make sense. Why not Tom, her boyfriend, or even Michael? Hell, at least Michael wasn't family. But the Shadow Man had chosen to impersonate Zach for a very specific reason. Because Jenny would never have done something like that with her cousin. Not ever.
She was standing now, saying something to the Shadow Man, her expression a mixture of outrage and surprise. And something else... But Tom didn't think he wanted to know what that something else was.
She was beautiful, more so now as she stood there confronting Julian. It seemed whether giving in or fighting with the Shadow Man there was passion there. Like a golden phoenix, Jenny burned with it.
How had Tom never noticed this before, this inner strength of hers?
Finally, he was able to look away. He should have felt jealous, betrayed. Instead he was gripped by a deep, profound shame.
I love her. More than you ever could, Julian's voice drifted through his thoughts.
Tom hung his head, his mind racing. I should have told her more often...
I love you. Why was that so hard for him to say? His chest hurt. Tom closed his eyes. His face felt hot and for a brief moment he wondered if he was actually going to cry.
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"Tommy!" she said as soon as she saw him. Her expression was one of extreme relief with just a hint of anger at the humiliation of seeing him in chains. The endearment startled him. Jenny hadn't called him that since elementary school. Hearing her say it now should have filled him with sweet nostalgia.
Tommy...
Instead Julian's mocking tone was all he could think about.
The others were there too, following her into the room. Dee, Zach, Michael, and Audrey—but not Summer. Tom felt a pang of remorse over that. But that particular pain felt small in comparison with the agony of seeing Jenny—and knowing she was no longer his.
She ran to him, reaching for him. Tom tried to stand the best he could, his chains scraping against the wood of the grandfather clock. He felt exhausted and beaten, as if someone had run him over with a truck. The Shadow Man had eventually returned to take the mirror away. He hadn't said much. He didn't need to. The triumphant and condescending way his eyes mocked Tom was enough. For the past couple hours Tom had been left alone. After awhile he had wished Julian would show up again to taunt him, just so he'd have something else to focus on. No such luck. It was just him and his thoughts. And the dark shadow now hanging over them.
Jenny clutched at him, her hands moving all over him, searching for bruises or wounds, making sure he was okay. She asked him questions about his health, about what had happened to him. She fussed over the scratches on his wrists from the shackles. But mostly she seemed happy to see him. She looked so beautiful, but different somehow. Stronger and untamed. Further proof that he had lost her.
It's because I don't let her know how amazing she is.
Face it, a voice spoke up. It was distant and scornful, reminding him faintly of the Shadow Man. You never even took the time to realize how amazing she is. This is your fault.
He had no choice but to agree with it.
Tom told Jenny about the mirror, about how he had wanted desperately to get away, to help her. The instant he brought the mirror up he caught the flash of horror in her deep green eyes.
"Did you ever see—him—in the mirror?"
Her tone was almost hesitant, as if she really didn't want to know. Or feared what he would tell her.
Yes, I saw everything. The hungry way you touched him. The tender way you two looked at each other. The way you come alive when he's near you. Please tell me, Jenny, how can I ever compare with that? Can you still love me?
He studied her carefully, wondering if he should ask. But, like her, he was also afraid of what the answer might be.
In the end, he chose to lie: "No. But he told me—he told me he was doing things to you. To all of you. He laughed about it."
The relief on her face spoke more than words ever could. She took his hands in hers. "Don't you worry about him, Tom. He can't..."
But Tom didn't need to listen to anymore. He knew Jenny was lying, too.
~ End ~

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Some later quotes taken from L. J. Smith's The Hunter, chapter 14, pg 199-200.*
(*I have the original 1994 printing of the book so page numbers may differ in later printings)
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Tom Lied