I feel totally horrible guys. I wrote up all this below the day after my next update but I didn't want to post it until it was finished. However, since I feel so bad I'm posting it now, though it is unfinished. Sorry :\ I was going to just post a message about why I haven't updated but I decided that I'd feel better if I did this. I hope it doesn't annoy you guys too much Dx

I've been super busy with life and working on another project, a story but one that I'm doing something super special with—not an online posting/fanfiction story. That story currently has my complete devotion and I can't be doing both at once or else I'll lose my muse. Please forgive me guys and I WILL try to continue with this story soon. I need a vote in the reviews: would you rather I tryto update more frequently with possibly much shorter chapters (about the length of this one or less) or wait what could be quite a while for long chapters?

Here's chapter two—please review and enjoy! Beware—this level may be a bit gruesome and disturbing for some of you people. The first long paragraph is where the disturbing part begins!

Chapter 2

"What is this?" One of them asked warily. It was one of the three females and even from the distance Jenny could see this one was powerfully built, moving like Silva did with accidental grace.

"This is the Game," Julian responded. Jenny didn't look at him but she could hear the smirk in his voice, though his face was probably expressionless.

"And you are?" One of the boys talked this one, built not like a fighter but close, with all muscle and size.

"Julian. And this is," Julian started, sweeping his hand towards Jenny.

"Jenny," she interjected with a light voice. How did she feel? She felt…powerful. She didn't have Julian's power but he would protect her and do whatever was necessary. Was this how Julian felt all the time? One of the boys jerked in surprise—this one with a ponytail. He stared hard at Jenny but then looked away with the shake of his head.

There was silence and it was Julian that broke it. "Now don't be rude, tell me your names." More silence. When Julian spoke again, his voice was darker and more threatening. "I recommend you tell me before I do something that you'll regret."

They all hesitated and it was the first girl that spoke. "I'm Dee. They're Michael, Tom, Zach, Summer, and Audrey." Jenny considered speaking but decided against it—she wanted to see how Julian did this.

"And you found the Game." Julian was looking at the auburn haired girl, Audrey, as he spoke.

"Yes," she replied, lifting her chin with a defiant gesture though her eyes were terrified. Jenny couldn't help but feeling a bit of sympathy for them. The sympathy quickly hardened, though. She had been dealing with this since Julian had saved her from the Shadow Men and, though she couldn't get comfortable with it, she had learned to get used to it.

"Well," Julian was saying, "You just doomed yourself and your friends, girl. Let the Game begin. Be careful which door you go through." Julian winked at the six and then the sensation began again. Instinctively, Jenny closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, they were at the scene of her own personal part of the Game but there was an odd flickering in the air. It took Jenny a moment to realize that she was seeing the players, partly transparent.

"Which door?" The fatter boy asked. He looked downright terrified and unlike Audrey, he didn't attempt a brave air.

"That one," the one Jenny remembered as Dee said, pointing with a long finger at one of the doors.

"It's time," Julian murmured, bending to press a quick kiss on Jenny's forehead. In another moment he had disappeared, leaving Jenny still wearing the ball gown. The door at the end of the field opened and the players entered, the door disappearing around them once they had released it.

They didn't notice Jenny at first; they were too absorbed by the gruesome scenes around them and the sudden keening in the air. Jenny guessed that Julian had set all the scenes into motion.

"Hello," she said with a smile on her face. Her forest green eyes were focused on the six friends rather than the scenes around her. She had come up with them but that didn't make them any less horrifying for her.

"You're…Jenny," Audrey said, scrambling for the name. Jenny merely kept smiling, feeling a sudden coolness and confidence. She knew that Julian was watching, unseen.

"Have you ever wondered what you would do for your friends?" Jenny asked, moving towards them. She had gotten a rough draft of her speech together in her head but for the most part the words were raw with little thorough planning. "Perhaps you, Dee. You're powerful and brave, I can see that. Have you ever fantasized what you could do to save the day were one of these others in danger? Or you, Summer. So small and fragile. Surely you've imagined being the hero."

"She's small but not as fragile as you think," Tom snapped suddenly, leaping to Summer's defense. Jenny turned to look at him as she spoke, "That may be so or it may not. We'll find out won't we? So what would you do for your friends?" Jenny asked again.

"What does…any of that have to do with…this?" Summer asked weakly, waving her hand slightly at the scenes. Jenny did not answer the question directly but walked towards the first scene, a massive bronze bull.

"You know, death sentences may seem cruel nowadays but they're really actually humane penalties. A brass worker in Athen's came up with this one. His name was Perillos. One story says that the tyrant of Akragas, Sicily was looking for a new way to execute criminals and so Perrilos made this bull. It's made entirely of brass and its hollow, see?" Jenny opened the small door on the side of the bull to show a nearly black inside. "They would get the prisoner inside and light a fire underneath until the metal became yellow hot…the prisoner would roast to death. The head of the bull has a complex series of tubes. When the prisoner screams it transforms a sound much like the sound of an angry bull. When they opened the door again there was nothing left but the bones, which were often made into jewelry." Jenny paused and watched the players. Some of them had a looked of horrified fascination on their face, like Jenny when she had read about it, but then the others looked simply horrified.

"The tyrant—Phalaris—may have been cruel but even this idea horrified him. And he was smart. He ordered that Perillos step into the bull and test the sound system himself. Phalaris locked him in there and set a fire under him so he could hear the screams of Perillos. One story says that Phalaris removed Perillos from the bull before he died. Perillos believed that he would receive a gift for his invention." Jenny gave them all a wry smile. "Instead, Phalaris threw him off a hill, which ultimately killed him. It's believed that Phalaris died in this bull when he was overthrown by Telemachus."

Jenny ended her story, her hand resting on the bull and fighting to hide the emotions she was now feeling. The story sickened her but like many others it also fascinated her.

"That's disgusting," Michael choked out.

"That's life," Jenny retorted. "Humans have been doing it for millennia." She pointed to a pot. "In that one a person would be stripped naked and placed in a vat of already boiling liquid—usually oil, acid, tar, water, or molten lead—or they would be placed in the liquid when it was cold and the liquid would boil around them. To me it seems to be a personal favorite of King Henry VIII." She gestured towards a long wooden table. "Flaying. They would use a sharp knife and cut the skin from your body while you're alive, attempting to keep the skin all together like you would were you making a fur blanket. The apostle Bartholomew was flayed and then crucified—upside down. Another story says that he was beheaded after they skinned him."

"In the Ling Chi a knife was also used and body parts were cut from the body, slowly and painfully. Their breasts, arms, legs, chest, and then at last they were either beheaded or stabbed. The Breaking Wheel—or the Catherine Wheel—was from medevil times. A person would be spread across a wheel and tied. Then the wheel would turn while someone attacked the person with a heavy metal bar, breaking their bones. Surprising that in the merciful execution they would shatter many bones and then deliver to killing shot. In others the criminal would stay on the wheel until they died. This might have taken days and they would die of shock or dehydration. And last here we have sawing. A criminal would be hung upside down, naked, and would be cut from the…groin to the head. Because they were upside down and the blood rushed to their head they often didn't die until the abdomens main blood vessels were reached."

Silence was what followed. No longer fascination but cruel, cold horror.

"Why are you telling us this?" Dee asked, sounding strong but strained. Now Jenny had to turn away to hide her face.

"I already told you, what would you do to save your friends?" Jenny turned back to them, having recomposed herself.

"No," Zach spluttered. "You can't mean…"

"Zach, what?" Audrey demanded loudly. Jenny could see that Dee and Tom and Michael already understood.

"We have to kill one of us?" Tom asked.

"No, of course not," Jenny said, looking startled. "That kind of ruins the point of you saving each other, doesn't it? No, you need to do it to other people." Jenny looked meaningfully as the mostly silent now line of people.

"Michael," Audrey whimpered, clinging to him.

"We won't do it," Dee said. Jenny again admired her courage.

"Are you admitting forfeit? When you forfeit the Game is over and…you all die. I'll give you five minutes to discuss." With clear purpose, Jenny stepped away from them, towards the giant pot for boiling to give them their discussion time.