A/N: L.J Smith owns the actual title of Rematch, I simply borrowed. No copy infringement intended. Only characters I own is my deviant sidekick, Jadan. *Points in corner* yes you!

This chapter could not have been created in its depth without this song:

Artist: Ross Copperman

Song: Holding and Letting Go

Chapter Nine: Realization

Rain. It was always a welcomed change of weather when living in a city such as San Francisco. Clouds shielded the golden rays of sunshine that would leave the city thick with humidity. Cars passed, just then a streak of lightening cut across the sky. Faintly he could hear the cities sirens blaring out the warnings of a possible funnel cloud spotted. But Tom ignored the warning signals.

Because another mile was another away from Jenny.

Jenny.

Somehow it felt as if their relationship had reached a breaking point. It wasn't similar to the rocky road they had taken during the second game of Lambs and Monsters. This was worse. This seemed final. As it had been when they'd escaped the dollhouse Tom still blamed himself. It had been Julian who Jenny had originally purchased the game in the halfway point between the Shadow World and the earthly realm.

All for he, Tom's birthday.

As a teenage boy he had been Julian's play toy used against Jenny. Taunted by his phobia of rats and the pawn in manipulation games for when Julian coerced Jenny into awful situations. Tom had had no choice but to watch as it all played out. Time after time. All the while Jenny raced against time and space to save him.

Again and again.

During the second game was the only time Tom had gained an advantage when he'd killed The Creeper and the Lurker. Even then, Tom had been prone to being captured and he had. Again. He'd been tied with Jenny's cousin Zach for a time in a lighthouse in Joyland park as the last game commenced.

Tom always believed if he hadn't gone along with the dollhouse and pressured his friends to open the box from the beginning, all their lives could've been different. Julian might've still been trapped between worlds. Or at least they might've prolonged the inevitability of the Shadow Man tainting their lives. Had Jenny been far older when Julian had been released, it could've prepared them more.

As stupid as it sounded the Shadow Man seemed to have won.

Jenny wasn't officially Tom's anymore. He'd felt her begun to slip away little by little as the time stretched between them. Once he believed he could fix it. But even he, the acclaimed "love of her life", hadn't been able to.

And it hurt, deeply.

How to convey what a broken heart felt like? Some said it it was as if you'd never be able to live. Or breathe. For Tom, that wasn't the case or his life would've ceased when Julian had entered their lives.

The flashing arrow from the side of a construction site flashed: Left.

Tom switched over and sped on...

"Well, I guess now it's time to face reality." Dee sat tall and proud like the ancient Egyptian princess Nefertiti and held herself in a way that was not prideful. She and Audrey— for once—didn't look uncomfortable sitting next to each other either. Audrey looked completely content and worn out, less than polished as her head rested on Michaels shoulder.

Zach who looked as if he were about to pass out was squished up against the side of the cab with Summer resting in his lap. The storm in Zachs eyes seemed to have settled as they settled on the golden haired sun bunny.

They'd all been so joyous to see her again.

Tom smiled, wane. He squeezed Jennys hand once more as the cab started to drive away from her grandfather's house, prepared to bury all those memories behind. From here on he would begin anew. He now had his whole life ahead of him to do so. Dipping his head over his left shoulder he smiled fully.

There was his life.

Her beautiful forest green eyes moved with the rolling hills that spilled over the valley. Her head slightly lolled back and forth seemingly fighting the urge to sleep. But her expression proved to be too deep in thought. Tom followed where her gaze meandered and looked up at the skies to see the sun beginning to arise.

It was an indescribable blue that must've reminded her of him.

"It's going to be okay, Thorny." he whispered with a kiss into her sunlight hair. He didn't know what it was she exactly felt about Julian. Tom had a feeling it wasn't something Jenny would discuss with him. But that was fine with him; he didn't want to know the details.

Jenny turned towards him then, her eyes slightly puffy from crying. A slow smile crossed her lips her eyes still somewhat guarded. "I know, Tom, I know..."

The night of their return Summer and Zach had come up with an elaborate story. Everyone, including the cops and Summers family, had bought it without a hitch. It had been joyful reunion with their families but Jenny hadn't seemed very festive that night. After she'd talked with Aba (which Tom hadn't been present for )Jenny had retired to the outside swing on her families porch. Watching as she'd stared up at the skies, Tom had joined her in silence. They'd held hands but hadn't said much to each other.

Which Tom had assumed exhaustion.

If only he had known what had been going on inside that head of hers. Perhaps their relationship would've been better. Looking back they should've have talked things out when they'd finally been alone. Especially going through as something as traumatic as they had. Although Jenny had been happy to see Tom and they had spent many days post the last game together, there had been a difference.

Though everyone bore some scar in one form or another Jennys' had seemed to run a far deeper course. The worst part about her experiences, even with a shrink, left her unable to talk about the extent lest her sanity be questioned. It seemed when she'd started coming back around to normalcy, the earthquake had happened.

Tom couldn't believe how selfish he'd been these past few months.

He'd been so focused on securing Jenny into his future he'd forgotten the main part: her. No wonder Jenny felt as she did. In some aspects he'd acted like the same self-assured ass he'd once been. He'd been too sure of her and their future despite her clear apprehension. Just as Julian had made sure to remind him many times before. Less than a year ago Tom had been forced to listen to Julian and how he'd watched her blossom into a stunning girl of light; Persephone.

Before he, like the mythological Hades, stole her away.

Tom himself had seen Jenny grow from the gangly girl he'd found with a scraped up knee into a beauty. But when they'd gotten together they became this sure unit that had gone to his head. So when Julian had had the actual chance of taking Jenny away forever, the reality had surfaced. After they'd escaped the dollhouse Toms desires for himself had changed. All that had mattered was Jenny. As selfish as it sounded Tom thought he'd finally won when Julian had died.

At least I thought.

The games were over. But the battle wounds she bore were internal. Each game had broken Jenny from her innocent molded image. Along with it had come a certain essence he believed came from Julian. He'd been witness to it when she'd get angry or passionate and spark with an urgency. He'd noticed how Jenny appreciated the sunrises and sunsets with a sensuality he couldn't bring himself to understand. He'd seen this new tenacity take over when she'd taken charge of a group of volunteers who had agreed to help clean up after the earthquake. He'd seen it when she nearly died after risking her life to save a family stuck in a collapsed building.

He'd thanked his lucky stars that night.

Exhaling, Tom pulled his silver Mercedes into a lone ditch outside a Pizza Place joint just a couple miles out of town. He stared out ahead as drops of rain continued to fall against the windshield. The wipers would swing up and wash them away creating a giant, watery smudge across the glass.

That's what he felt like. "Ugh... dammit."

His eyes settled on an old photograph Jenny had taped on his dashboard many years ago. It featured a toothy golden haired little girl and tanned young boy outside a brick building,hands clasped together.

It brought a sad smile to his lips.

Tom remembered the slight butterflies in his stomach when he'd first stepped unto the grounds of Vista Elementary. His mom had just bought him the new, popular Addidas backpack. Tom had proudly showed it off to a group of boys who urged him to join in on a game of four square. It had been the very first day of school.

The same morning Jenny Elizabeth Thornton would enter his life...

He wasn't sure what exactly to say. It was clear she was trying to fight the urge to cry by the tiny whimpers she emitted. Without a word Tom knelt down beside her leaving his new friends to another round of four square.

Startlingly large, forest-green eyes peeked up beneath the bangs that stuck to her forehead in sweat. A track of dried up tears stained her sun-kissed cheeks. She was pretty and he wanted to make her feel better. Jane Locke had always told him to help someone in need if ever the opportunity arose. As a doctor he supposed his mother would be proud of him for helping someone out.

"Does it burn?" he whispered lowly, watching her with apprehensive eyes. He tried to imitate the look his mother always gave when tending to wounds on a person. He mentally scolded himself for asking a second later. Of course it burned. So much for playing the heroic doctor.

The girl gave him a strange look as her eyes wavered between her knee and him.

Mutely she nodded.

Tom saw no better opportunity then. Slowly, he stretched out his arm and offered to help her up. "I can take you to the nurse."

"Dee went to go get one." she answered softly, her little nose crinkling as both hands cupped her knee.

For some reason it made Tom wince. He got down on his hands and knees, leaning over.

The girl tensed immediately, "What'd you doing?"

Tom looked over to her, his eyes gentle. "Trust me."

The girl stared at him for what seemed like forever, her lips pursed. Finally she nodded, blowing out a small breath, "Okay."

Tom returned her nod and back to his task. He craned his neck dipping his head down. His lips parted as he gathered his breath and blew what he hoped was cold air. Just like his mother always did.

"Eh!" the girl gasped, sucking air through her teeth.

Tom leaned back with a crooked smile. "My mom does that when I get hurt."

A small smile formed on the girls lips before she shook her head. "Thanks anyways."

"Yup." Tom shrugged.

"What's your name?" the girl asked abruptly.

"Thomas Locke. Tom." He stared at her as if expecting the same. It became apparent to him that she wasn't responding back.

Finally she did. "I'm... Jenny. Jenny Thornton."

"Jenny." Tom smiled. "Nice."

"Thanks."

"So uh, how did you get hurt?"

"Dee wanted to play hide-n-seek in the thorny bushes."

Tom burst into laughter.

Jenny looked at him, her eyes wide and innocent. "What's so funny?"

Tom's eyes shined with laughter. "Thornton. Thorn." A teasing smile broke across his lips.

Jenny looked confused. "What?"

Tom just smirked. "Nothing, maybe I will tell you sometime.

Jenny shrugged. "O...kay."

"Okay." Tom held his hand out then. "Let me help you up, friend." He smiled warmly.

For the first time Jenny looked unsure. "Okay, but I don't know how Dee's going to like a guy in her group."

Tom unexpectedly found himself curious. "Why?"

Jenny's nose crinkled. "Boy's have cooties."

"And girls don't?"

"Hey!"

Tom laughed. He held out his hand watching as she bit her lip.

Jenny eyed his hand. Those eyes gazed into his before slowly, gradually, she allowed him to lift her to her feet. "Thank you... Tom."

From that day on nothing was ever the same between the two again. The next months of first grade were spent getting to know one another, playing games until the late evening hours, and field trips where the two grew to be inseparable. Later Dee would warm up to him, while Tom would gain the courage to kiss Jenny shyly behind a group of ficus bushes a year later...

His fingers involuntarily tightened around the leather upholstery of his steering wheel. His jaw tightened before Tom exhaled again and blinked several times to clear the swell of tears as he leaned back...

"Tom?"

Tom gazed out at the clouds below them now as they rose higher into the sky. The state of Pennsylvania fell behind them as flat green plains and rivers that stemmed from large lakes took its place.

"Tom?"

Tom sighed. He turned away from the window to be greeted by red rimmed eyes that made her green eyes glassy bright. Instantly he reached for her hand and saw her nose as it unexpectedly crinkled. "What is it, Jen?"

Jenny's eyes had traveled down to their twined fingers. Slowly she slipped hers from his, wincing. "Look." she pointed. Her face automatically turned confused. "Did I have this before?" She lifted one slim finger to Toms gaze so that he could get a better view of it.

There, just below the white crescent of her nail, was a dried crimson river… of blood.

A deep cut as if the skin had been...

Sliced.

Tom's head snapped up as the realization sunk in as Jennys earlier words surfaced.

"What if there is another one?"

Shit!

"Could it really...? Shit! Shit!"

Tom gunned the engine of his car to life and slammed his foot against the gas pedal. Cars beeped and rants of profanities rang out across the highway as Tom veered the small Mercedes back on to the road. The sound of burnt rubber rubbed against cement as he swerved the car into a 360-heading straight for the first exit back to San Francisco.

Tom banged his fist against the steering wheel: all this time Jenny had been telling him.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

She was so tired. But the fading darkness rousted her back into consciousness. Her lungs expanded as Jenny's eyes slowly fluttered open. A yawn stretched out as she shifted and curled up against the soft, white duvet that seemed to mold to her form. She grasped the material and meshed it between her fingers. It felt like butter. It was so soft and nearly distracted her from reality-

When a pain ricocheted against her skull.

Jenny groaned and gripped her head. After several attempts she was finally able to pull herself up into a sitting position, though not without some difficulty. "Oh... my head..."

"The sensation will pass," murmured a smooth, quiet voice.

Caught off guard at the sudden voice, Jenny nearly fell back down. She gripped the corner of the blanket as the reality of her situation crashed down. Her eyes slowly followed the sewn lining of the duvet to a broad figure perched on the edge of the bed.

Please not another Shadow Man...

It was only when her surroundings focused she gasped. "J…Ju…ulian?"

After countless attempts of trying to find him in her dreams, he was finally here. But the excitement lasted mere seconds as she took him in.

A sleeved shirt was undone a few buttons on his exposed chest. A patch of lithe and hard-muscled skin shone beneath, a stark contrast from his tailored, black jeans. Once he'd appeared as a cyber punk, a tribal warrior, an alien and an Erkling. The very faucets she'd seen before his death.

This, this was different.

Jenny swallowed, hard.

"...Until you meet the other their words will be a little more fierce than what I just uttered..."

Jadans words suddenly made more sense.

It wasn't impossible. So was it possible Jadan could've- Jenny cut off that train of thought before it could complete itself, transfixed at the way Julian was looking at her. He stood as graceful as a preying panther, his head tilted at an angle as if he were examining her.

It was eerie the way he held himself above her.

The emotion that stirred in that gaze just then unnerved her. His eyes slanted a darkness contorting his features within that moment.

And it seemed to be targeted directly at her.

The air itself seemed to crepitate around them. Jennys own confusion thickened as the silence deepened. Finally, with bated breath, she released the silence. "Julian, your here. What's going o-"

Jenny cut off as a cold, bark of laughter erupted from him.

The hair on Jenny's neck rose, goosebumps pebbling her skin. This was not the Julian she remembered. If looks could kill. It had been a long time since Julian had made her feel uneasy. Her senses kicked into overdrive. Something is definitely wrong. Jenny couldn't recall a time when Julian had looked at her as if he wanted to...

No.

A beat passed before Julian finally spoke. His lips parted with a long, strangled exhale between gleaming, clenched teeth. "Every part of my existence wants to tear you apart limb by limb."

Jenny swallowed hardly believing what she was hearing.

A small, shivering smile graced his lips. "It would be so, so easy."

In one fierce, swift motion he yanked Jenny off the bed.

Jenny yelped as something gave in the socket of her arm. Tears pricked her eyes as she found her voice, "Julian what the hell?!"

Julian tightened his grip around her wrist in response. His maniacal grin and the glimmer in his eyes was that of a madman. He traced the index of his finger along the thick veins that protruded on the back of her hand. "A single hand has only 19 bones with 206 making up the entire human body. The bones are so soft and fragile that with one, simple squeeze-"

"Uh!" Jenny winced and swore she could feel the bone of her wrist bend.

"... they'd be crushed... dust." His eyelids lowered, almost calculative. "But that would be much too wasteful... too soon. Don't you think?"

For a fraction of a second Julian's fingers slackened as if he were waiting for an answer. The blood slowly ebbed, circulating into her hand. "Julian," she started shakily, "you're hurting me."

"Do you feel that?" Julian murmured as if she hadn't spoken. His eyes shined with a malicious glint as he held up her hand and brushed the curve of her wrist. Leaning closer, with his nose just barely brushing against hers, he said, "That pulsing vessel is your life beneath my hands. The Ulnar artery. And with just one, deep cut you would be left to bleed out."

He flashed a predatory smile, she at a loss for words, as her fear curdled and expanded to reflect in his eyes. Muscles bulged beneath his skin as he pushed her up against the wall with force, fingers wrapped around her neck like a vice.

Jenny gripped his hand eyes wide, "Julian, what are you doing?!"

Like fuel to a fire, her reaction seemed to thrill him like a hard drive as if he fed off it. "These arteries can also be crushed with constriction. It causes hypoxia when deprived of adequate oxygen to... breathe."

Jennys eyes widened further as she realized the double meaning behind those words. "What? No!" At once she started to struggle as his grip intensified, her nails digging into the skin of his arm. "Julian. Please. I don't-"

But her words were soon swallowed in his iron-like grip.

"A snake kills a mouse by constricting its entire body." Julian's words were cold and hindered on unmerciful as he grit out, "First, it adds more pressure." His actions laced together with his words as his hold increased. "Then it curls tighter and tighter around their little body squishing its innards of the mouse, still alive. The mouse screams able to feel every. Ounce. Of. Pain."

Jenny wheezed as the blood pounded against her skull. In the reflection of Julian's penetrating stare a hunger had sparked in the coal-black of those eyes. By then Jenny's flesh had begun to take on a bruised, flushed purple.

"And I, I could choke you of air, watch you struggle for just a pocket of breath as the whites of your eyes roll into the back of your head." He sneered. "Straight into an unconscious oblivion. Over and over death would be a hairs breath away but the relief would be stolen from you. Every. Single. Time."

Oh my God what is happening. Black stars danced in her vision, a mere precipice from fading into the world of the unconscious. Her lungs were on fire, slowly devouring her of oxygen when suddenly-

Julian's hold released.

Jenny slumped to the ground with a thud, a hoarse, wheezed breath pulled from her lungs. Her hands trembled as they reached up and cupped around her neck. The flesh burned like a hot iron. Staggering to her feet, gulping in several deep breaths Jenny lifted her blurred, hot tears she made out Julians tall, broad form.

He was standing next to a wooden door.

But it was his stare that kept her rooted, absent of remorse. And fear, sharp and unyielding shot straight through her. Her heart stuttered with a pain thwump against her chest as the notion circled to her of the reality.

Julian had actually, physically, hurt her.

This, this didn't feel like a game. This felt far deeper. This was unlike anything he'd ever done to her. It surpassed the bees he'd set on her in the first game, the grip he'd demonstrated at her senior prom, the fire in the cafeteria or the tunnel of Love and Despair. His actions then had been laced with emotion. This had been purely lethal.

Painful.

Yet again for the second time, Jennys gut tightened. It had seemed so abnormal of him. Especially after all they'd been through and everything they'd built together, since. Yet again it was pushed back into her mind as the reality of her situation crashed over her once more. And she found an actual ache reverberate with the harsh truth.

Julian had physically hurt her.

Another breath. Another. Jenny struggled as her voice caught in a strangled rasp. "How... h-how c-could you after everything...?"

Julians eyes flashed once in warning, unaffected by the tears trickling down her face. "Don't." It was the only confirmation he gave. Those eyes sparked like a core of a blue flame as he straightened up. "You and I are going to play a game now. Let's call it: Rematch."

"You're joking." Jenny shook as the hysteria came to a head. It hadn't even been worth saying aloud because she could see a new power surrounded him. This was anything but a joke. As she took in the finer details of his appearance, the realization struck. In that moment Julian looked like an avenging angel. Solid. Feral. Real. And those indescribable eyes. Those eyes that had always held a torch of passion for her now seemed to blaze like a fiery inferno with hatred.

And life.

"Look. What if somebody-someday- carved Julian's name back onto that runestave?" Michaels words seemed to echo with new alarming clarity.

"Oh... my suspicions were right. You, you've been resurrected..."

Julians eyes struck like a match. It was the only response he'd given as an admission before more words were ushered. "You will have to solve a riddle before the end of the game. A last piece to the puzzle or you lose and belong to me... forever."

There was a chilling note on the word forever. Jenny had a feeling it wouldn't mean the same hunger it had once stood for. Especially with how he looked at her just then. Given his previous demonstrations death would be a reality.

As if he sensed her thoughts Julian winked then with a menacing smile. "Until our next rematch."

Like the blink of a light, he vanished.

For a moment Jenny sat there as her mind pondered all that had happened. She didn't know whether she wanted to scream or cry. Insanity was right on the cusps. She cradled her head in her hands, not wanting to believe the impossible had become possible.

Once again.

D-Did he say something about some riddle?

As if reading her mind, a single, piece of paper appeared out of thin air and gracefully settled next to her feet. Uncertain, Jenny picked it up, the material like cloth. When she turned it over thick, fancy letters like Harrington, spilled out unto the scrap.

"The light was blind

Not trace to see

No tears to shed

A life of the undead

A shadow for a shadow

Now death,

Shall find me."

No sooner where the words gone from her lips before a black out happened.

Hearing thoughts bring power to a writers ambition to keep going. I love hearing your thoughts. Whats in store for Jenny? Oh the mysteries we weave when we practice to deceive...