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.
There are two povs here so please don't skip this chapter if you're not a fan of Tom. Jennys pov is included and very important to the events ahead.
This chapter could not have been created in its depth without this song:
This chapter could not have been created in its depth without this song:
Artist: Ross Copperman
Song: Holding and Letting Go
Chapter Nine: Realization
Tom
Rain.
A welcome change from the dry heat that had swept over San Francisco.
Almost a cruel joke.
Clouds congested overhead as the downpour pelted the paved roads, the red headlights of cars reflecting in the misted haze as a streak of lightning scissored the skies.
It was Thomas Jay's view of the world; the perfect manifestation of the storm concocted in his mind as the last two hours replayed. Over and over, a torturous film reel on repeat. Only spurring him to drive further, separating another mile between himself and Jenny.
Jenny.
The mere name sent a sharp pang through his gut. Swallowing back the bile threatening to rise, he added a little more pressure against the gas pedal.
And merged unto the highway.
How to convey what a broken heart felt like? Some said the days following ceased to exist. Time became suspended and it hurt to even breathe. Yet for Tom, that wasn't the case or his life would've ceased the moment Julian had broken him and Jenny up. The first time when he'd broken into their lives.
This was unlike the rocky obstacles they'd faced during the game of Lambs and Monsters. This was worse, far worse. The fissure that had started in their relationship post the final game, had only deepened.
Tom blamed himself.
For a past he'd desperately wanted Jenny to erase from her mind, he still bore the trauma from. In a sense, he yet carried the burden of it. If it hadn't been for Jenny wanting to please the massive, boyish ego he'd harbored their junior year, the game would've never been purchased for his birthday.
At least, that was what Thomas Jay Locke thought.
Had the game still been purchased, however, without him so flippant about constructing the dollhouse—bringing it to life—all their lives could've been different. Less scarred. Less traumatic. And Julian might've still been trapped between worlds. At the very least it could've prolonged the Shadow Man's destruction in their lives. Had Jenny been older upon Julian's release, they could've been more prepared. They would've forged a solid relationship with one another by then. Been more aware in their maturity and better equipped.
Because Tom wasn't back then.
He'd been the atypical arrogant teenager suddenly sucked into a game, an unknown existent world, where strange creatures called the Shadow Men, reigned. The main protagonist, Julian, would use Tom as his play toy as a ploy against Jenny. Whom Tom would soon discover Julian's long-time obsession. Taunted by his phobia of rats Julian used him as a pawn for manipulative games centered on Jenny, coerced into the house's horror. While Tom had been forced to watch it play out, helpless to stop it. Even moments he didn't wish to see again involving the Shadow Mans's seductive efforts. And still, Jenny raced against time and space to save him.
Again, and again and again.
The second game of Lambs and Monsters had been the only time Tom gained an advantage on Julian when he'd killed The Creeper and the Lurker. However, he'd still been prone to capture, again. Tied with Jenny's cousin Zach. The two had been imprisoned in a lighthouse in an old amusement park called Joyland.
The last game.
Jenny had raced the clock once more, to find them.
Ultimately, she'd won against the Shadow Men. But it seemed moot in comparison to the present. Ludicrous as it sounded, it felt like Julian had succeeded in creating a rift between them. Tom knew it was because of everything they'd gone through, scars that had especially impacted Jenny—mentally. He'd believed such wounds would be fixed thus, bring them closer together. However even Tom, the acclaimed "love of her life", hadn't been able to save Jenny from herself.
Which hurt, deeply.
The blaring orange sign labeled ROAD CONSTRUCTION AHEAD flashed in his peripheral. Tom switched lanes and sped on...
"Well, I guess now it's time to face reality." Dee sat tall and proud like the ancient Egyptian princess Nefertiti, absent of the pride she'd once carried. She and Audrey— for once—didn't look uncomfortable sitting next to each other, either. Audrey looked worn out, sporting a less-than-polished appearance as her head rested on Michael's shoulder.
Zach looked as if he were about to pass out, squished up against the side of the cab with Summer resting in his lap. The storm in his eyes seemed to have settled as they rested on the golden-haired sun bunny. They'd all been so joyous to see her again. And he, seemingly, as well.
Tom smiled, wane.
He squeezed Jenny's hand as the cab started to drive away from her grandfather's house, prepared to bury all those memories behind. From here they could 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 fighting the urge to sleep. Appearing too deep in thought to do so, Tom followed where her gaze meandered. Towards the skies where the sun was beginning to arise, was an indescribable blue. Immediately he knew; it was reminding her of him.
"It's going to be okay, Thorny," he whispered with a kiss into her sunlight hair. He didn't know exactly what she 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.
Although it did make him uncomfortable.
Jenny turned towards him then, her eyes slightly puffy from crying. A slow smile crossed her lips with her eyes holding reservations, "I know, Tom, I know..."
The night of their return Summer and Zach had come up with an elaborate story centered on Summer's disappearance of how they'd gone to find her. Such attentive detail was given that the police and their families bought it without a hitch. Tom suspected they'd also grown tireless of the search. Knowing such came with hefty paperwork. With Summer alive and well, it would relieve them of such.
The night had been a joyful reunion with their families, even if Jenny hadn't seemed quite festive. After she'd talked with Aba Jenny had retired to her family's porch. To a favorite: the porch swing. Tom had followed and joined her as they stared in silence at the velvet black skies. They'd held hands but hadn't said much to each other.
Tom had chalked it up to exhaustion at the time. If only he had asked. Perhaps their relationship could've been saved that night. Looking back, it was with regret; they should've talked things out. Rather than skirt around what they'd both endured. But in the days following Jenny had seemingly lightened, spending most of her time with Tom.
But Tom should've known better.
In a sense, she'd been using their time to avoid dwelling on it. Even her parents, clueless as to what their daughter went through, had kept a strict eye on her. Insisting on therapy to combat the outburst that would spike from her anxiety. Tom had been witness to a few of those episodes in the post months. Later he'd learn of her PTSD which Jenny would admit, shameful. Tom ached then to hold her but she'd insisted she was fine. Even with a shrink, Jenny wasn't able to talk about the truth lest her sanity be questioned.
No doubt, it made her feel alone.
Tom couldn't believe how selfish he'd been these past few months. He'd been so focused on securing their future that he'd forgotten the main part: her. The whole time he'd been trying to convince himself she would get better, she'd been drowning. Even playing down her mental health because he'd believed he could fix it just by being was with a startling revelation that he realized he'd ignored her. Despite her clear apprehension. Despite her struggles. This only reminded him of Julian's specific barbs about Tom's treatment of Jenny.
Less than a year ago Tom had been forced to listen to Julian. How he'd watched her blossom into a stunning girl of light like Persephone. And he, like the mythological Hades enraptured with the beauty, had stolen her away to the Underworld.
Tom himself had seen Jenny grow from the gangly girl from grade school to the awkward stages of thirteen, and into a beautiful swan. With a kindness and purity of a dove. Because Tom had had Jenny since grade school, they'd become this sure unit and it went to his head. He could admit he'd treated Jenny less than she deserved and she, soft enough to accept this. So, when Julian had had the actual chance of taking Jenny away, forever—his perfect reality shattered.
Then, all he'd wanted was Jenny back.
With each game, however, Jenny's innocence was broken a little more. Introduced to the harshness of the shadow realm and an unfurling sensuality he believed came from Julian. He'd seen this new tenacity take over during the last years of high school. He'd been witness to it when she'd get angry or passionate, even still.
Now, the games were over.
But the battle wounds they bore weren't, especially her's. What I wouldn't give to go back in time. Exhaling, Tom pulled his silver Mercedes into a lone ditch outside a gas station. Upon the next routed exit. He stared out ahead as drops of rain continued to fall. The wipers swung up and washed the droplets away, creating a giant, watery distortion across the glass.
Kinda how he felt. "Ugh... dammit."
He could feel the tears building at the back of his eyes as his gaze settled on an old photograph Jenny taped atop his dashboard years before. Her laughter could still be heard from that time and it ailed him. The grainy film featured a golden-haired little girl and a tanned young boy outside a brick building. Their hands were clasped together with toothy grins. Their naivete of the world spoke in their smiling eyes as they faced the camera.
A sad, watery smile stretched across his lips.
His hands brushed the sun-bleached picture. It had truly been a different time when he'd first met the girl. Tom remembered the slight butterflies in his stomach when he'd first stepped onto the grounds of Vista Elementary. His mom had just bought him the new, popular Adidas backpack. Tom had proudly shown it off to a group of boys who urged him into a game of four square. It had been the very first day of school and 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 as tiny whimpers were emitted. Without a word, Tom knelt beside her, leaving his new friends to another round of four-square.
Startlingly large, cypress 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. Something in him wanted to make her feel better. Jane Locke had always told him to help someone in need if opportunity called. As a nurse, he supposed his mother would be proud if he'd helped 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 heroic.
The girl gave him a strange look. 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 causing the girl to tense 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 and finally, she nodded. Blowing out a small breath she murmured, "Okay."
Tom returned to his task. He craned his neck dipping his head down. His lips parted as he gently pressed a finger to the skin assessing the damage.
"Eh!" the girl gasped, sucking air through her teeth.
Tom leaned back with a crooked smile. "It's just a scrape you shouldn't need stitches."
A small smile formed on the girl's lips before she shook her head. "Thanks, anyways."
Tom shrugged. "Yeah."
"What's your name?" the girl asked abruptly.
"Thomas Locke. Tom." He stared at her as if expecting the same.
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. We didn't realize the bushes had thorns."
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. "Boys have cooties."
"And girls don't?"
"Hey!"
Tom laughed. He held out his hand watching as she bit her lip.
Jenny eyed his hand. Deep green eyes that reminded him of his mother's mint leaves from the gardens smiled with gratitude. 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. The next months of first grade were spent getting to know one another, playing games until the late evening hours, and on field trips where the two grew to be inseparable. Later Dee would warm up to him. While Tom would gain courage. And finally, he'd kiss Jenny behind a group of fiscus bushes a year later...
Tom's fingers involuntarily tightened around the leather upholstered steering wheel. The muscle in his jaw twitched before he expelled a breath. Throwing his head back against the headrest he squeezed his eyes shut...
"Tom?"
Tom gazed out at the clouds below as they rose higher into the sky. The state of Pennsylvania fell behind as flat green plains and rivers became smaller and smaller.
"Tom?"
Tom sighed.
He turned away from the window to be greeted by red-rimmed eyes that made the verdancy glassy bright. Instantly he reached for her hand and saw her nose unexpectedly crinkle.
"What is it, Jen?"
Jenny's eyes 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 Tom's gaze. 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 Jenny's earlier words surfaced. "Which doesn't leave out others that could be feeling vengeful... after what we did..."
Shit.
Was he being foolish? "Could it really be? 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 onto the next exit. The sound of burnt rubber rubbed against the asphalt as he did a 360—heading straight back to San Francisco.
Personal circumstances aside, Tom banged his fist against the steering wheel as the realization propelled his speed to increase tenfold. Jenny could be in serious trouble, and he'd been a blind fool.
Once again.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
Jenny
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 molding 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 the same, phantom pain ricocheted against her skull.
Jenny groaned and gripped her head. It took several attempts before she was finally able to pull herself up. Into a sitting position. Though it was not without difficulty.
"Oh... my head..."
She gripped the corner of the blanket as the reality of her situation crashed down. Slowly, her eyes trailed across the sewn lining of the duvet, to a broad figure perched on the edge of the bed.
Please not another Shadow Man...
Only when her surroundings focused, did she hear herself gasp aloud. "J... Ju...Julian?"
There he was sitting before her.
But what did that mean?
The excitement lasted mere seconds as she took him in. A shirt was undone with a few buttons on his lithe chest. A patch of sinewy skin shone like moonstone. A stark contrast to his tailored, black jeans. Once he'd appeared as a cyberpunk, a tribal warrior, an alien, and an Erlking.
The very faucets she'd seen before his death.
This, however, felt different. Jenny swallowed, hard."...Until you meet the other their words will be a little fiercer than what I just uttered..."
Jadans words suddenly made more sense.
It wasn't impossible that he could've—but Jenny cut off that train of thought. Rather transfixed at the way Julian was looking at her. He stood agile as ever, the supple curve of his jaw angled as he appraised her.
With an uncanny fixation he taxed her from head to foot. Those eyes slick as black ice, surveyed her. It sent her nerves on edge.
Something was... off.
She couldn't pinpoint it. The darkness leeched to him, shadowed his features. It caused the air itself to crepitate around them, sharp as a serrated blade.
A tension.
Jenny could feel it emanating from him and finally, with bated breath, she released the silence. "Julian, what's going—"
Jenny was cut off as a cold, clap of laughter resounding like thunder, erupted.
Instantly tiny hairs on her body stood on end.
It felt like a cool breeze had ghosted across one ear sending goosebumps pebbling the flesh. Long had it been since Julian made Jenny uneasy. It kicked her senses into overdrive. Something is wrong. Jenny couldn't recall a time he'd ever looked upon her with such barren coldness. As if staring into a bottomless, black abyss.
So when Julian finally spoke, his lips parted with a long, strained exhale. "Every part of my existence is fighting not to tear you apart limb by limb."
Jenny swallowed hardly believing what she was hearing.
A smile shivered across those lips. "It would be so, so easy."
In one swift motion, Jenny was wrenched up from the bed. A cry split her lips as a bone creaked in the socket of her arm. Tears pricked her eyes as she found her voice, "Julian w-what the hell?!"
In response, Julian tightened his grip. A maniacal grin touched those coal-black eyes that burned with the promise of retribution. The thick veins that ran along the back of her hand he traced with the index of his finger. "A single hand has only 19 bones with 206 making up the entire human body. Bones can be pliable, somewhat fragile, and with one, simple squeeze—"
"Uh!" Jenny cried out and winced. The agony pulled to a point in her wrist bone.
"I could break every single bone like the snap of a finger." His eyelids lowered, almost calculative as he surveyed her reaction. His eye narrowed as he cocked his head in question. "But where's the fun in that? The fun would end too quickly. Don't you think?"
For a fraction of a second Julian's fingers slackened. As if he were waiting for her to answer. The blood slowly ebbed and circulated back into her hand.
Jenny croaked out, "Julian," Her voice quivered, "please. You're... hurting me."
"You feel that?" Julian murmured as if she hadn't spoken, fixated on the pulse beating erratically beneath the angle of her wrist. His eyes shined, oily and malicious as he held up her hand. His nose nudged hers as he brushed over the beating vein. "That pulse is your life beneath my hands. The Ulnar artery. With just a single swipe of a blade, your entire would bleed out on minutes..."
He flashed a predatory smile that silenced her. The fear inside expanded to reflect in his eyes. The muscles in his arms became taut as he shoved her up against the wall. With brute force his fingers wrapped around her neck like a vice.
Jenny grappled for his hand voice shrill, "Julian, what are you doing?!"
Now, she was truly afraid.
Like a match to gasoline, her reaction only seemed to stoke the ravenous hunger in his gaze. Relishing in her terror. "Now these arteries can be constricted. Which can crush the windpipe causing hypoxia when deprived of adequate oxygen to... breathe."
Jenny's felt his fingertips glide along her neck and instantly tensed. "What? No!"
At once, she started to struggle as he barricaded her with one arm, while his other hand clamped to her neck and squeezed, hard. Sending the blood rushing to her skull, roaring through her ears, and pricking her eyes. The pressure nearly sealed her voice as she rasped, "Ju...lian. P...lease. I don't-"
"When a snake traps its prey it first constricts the entire body," Julian replied with gritted teeth. "First, it starts with more pressure." His nails indented her skin, dangerously compressing her windpipe, now. "Then it curls tighter and tighter around the body squishing its entrails alive. Yet able to feel every. Ounce. Of. Pain."
In the reflection of Julian's penetrating stare, Jenny saw her flesh had begun to take on a bruised, plum. If he added just even a sliver of more pressure her windpipe would surely collapse.
"And I, I could choke you of air," Julian continued, nearly spitting out the words. "Watch you struggle for just a pocket of breath while the whites of those eyes roll into the back of your head." He jeered. "Straight into unconscious oblivion. Over and over death would be stolen from you. Every. Single. Time."
Oh my God, I'm going to die.
Black stars danced in her vision now, at the precipice before she'd fade into the abyss that was death. Her lungs felt scourged 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. It took several minutes to even see straight, her lungs screaming out. When she was able to pull in a full, lungful of air Jenny lifted her head. Through blurred, hot tears she made out Julian's tall, broad form.
He leaned against the blank walls next to... a wooden door.
Fear, sharp and unyielding cleaved her heart squeezing painfully in her chest. With a stuttered thwump, the realization dawned.
Julian had nearly killed her.
This, this didn't feel like a game. It ran far deeper, beneath her skin, under her veins, and the threaded nerves attached. To somewhere in the core of her soul with painful clarity. This was unlike anything Julian had 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. At least then his actions had been laced with emotion. This had been purely intentional.
Lethal.
Bile surged and twisted through her gut. After everything they'd built, since. The emotional seams this brought.
Julian had physically harmed her. Another breath. Another. Jenny struggled as her voice caught in a strangled whisper. "How... h-how c-could you...?"
Julian's eyes flashed once in warning, unaffected by the tears that trickled down her face. "Don't."
It was the only confirmation that he'd heard her. At once those eyes sparked like a luminous flame as he straightened. "You and I are going to play a game now, Jenny. Let's call it: Rematch."
"You've got to be joking."
Jenny shook as the hysteria came to a head. It hadn't even been worth saying aloud with the new power that coiled around him. As she took in the finer details of his appearance, the realization struck. At that moment Julian looked like an avenging angel. Solid. Feral. Real. And those indescribable eyes, eyes that always held a torch of passion for her now seemed to blaze like a fiery inferno with life.
And hatred.
"Look. What if somebody-someday- carved Julian's name back onto that rune stave?" Michaels's words seemed to echo with alarming new clarity.
"Oh... You, you've been resurrected..."
Julian's eyes struck like a match.
It was the only response he gave as an admission. "Now, Jenny," he began smoothly, "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 hold the same connotation as before.
No.
Here, death would be a reality.
As if he sensed her thoughts Julian winked with a menacing smile. "Until our next rematch."
Like the blink of light, he just... vanished.
For a moment Jenny sat there as her mind fought to process everything that just happened. She didn't know whether she wanted to scream or cry. Insanity was right at the forefront. Cradling her head in her hands, she felt herself quaking.
Julian was alive.
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 smoothing her thumb over the cloth-like material. As she flipped it over thick, cursive letters spilled out unto the scrap.
"The light became blind
Not trace to see
No tears to shed
A trust now dead
Alas, a shadow for a shadow
Now death,
Shall find me."
No sooner were the words gone from her lips before the lights blinked out, plunging a still alert Jenny Thornton, into complete darkness.
NOTES:
Phew! What a ride! I hope I did this scene justice. Yes all will be explained in time!