The force of her hit was strong enough that Jared staggered backwards.

He swore and spat blood on the ground. "Why do you always have to –"

He cut off as Leah wrenched her gun from its holster, aimed and pulled the trigger. He launched to the side, pulling out a spare dagger, and hurled it at her. The throw was deadly, precise, but Leah had seen it coming. She dodged out of the way, shooting again, but Jared rolled behind a tree.

Leah crept closer, dead grass crunching under her feet and her chest heaving with a barrage of emotions.

"Why couldn't you have just left me alone?" she yelled. "Why did you have to push it to this?"

Her voice shattered on the words and even she could hear the desperation in them, the plea, but they were slathered in anger as well, a deep fury that made her limbs vibrate with its need for release. She wanted to hurt him, she wanted to make him scream over and over again until she was free of him.

She heard him laugh.

"Push it to this?" Jared growled. "This was always going to happen."

She moved closer to the tree, her gun held out warily. There was a soft rustle and her eyes narrowed.

"Don't blame me because you deluded yourself into thinking otherwise."

The words were deadly, and they came from directly above her. Leah's head shot up just as Jared dropped from the branches and slammed her onto her back, knocking the breath from her lungs and sending her gun flying from her grip.

Leah pressed her feet upwards and launched Jared away. She scrambled backwards, crashing into the base of a trunk as Jared reached for her. She swung her fist wildly, connecting with his stomach and dragging a dagger from his belt. Leah sprung up, brandishing it at him.

For a moment, Jared stared, his eyes shadowed as he took in her expression. There was something manic in his gaze that Leah knew was reflected in her own. It was a twisted form of relief, a sense that finally one of them was going to lose.

And it was only then that Leah admitted to herself what she'd been trying to bury, what she'd so desperately avoided thinking about. He was going to be the death of her. Whether he took her life, or she his, this would break her, this would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Jared shot her a dark grin, the movement drawing blood from his lower lip, and Leah watched as it travelled down his chin.

"Come on, then," he said tauntingly. "I know you want to kill me, I can see it in your eyes. Do it. Knock me out and take me back to the live world to finish the job."

Leah sucked in a breath.

"Don't ever assume you know what I want," she hissed. "I didn't want any of this. But you just had to push and push."

"You shot me!" Jared yelled suddenly, taking a step towards her. "I'm not the one who started this!"

Leah ground her teeth. She wasn't going to get into this argument with him. They could spend hours screaming about the wrongs they'd done each other.

"How did you find out about Seth?" she snapped.

Jared let out a low laugh, his eyes flashing deep blue. "You should've checked who was following you before you let Danny spill his guts."

"It couldn't have been then," Leah said. "You were dead."

Jared's lip curled up into a snarl and he pulled another knife from his belt.

"No, I wasn't, no thanks to you. I've never been able to die here, another quirk of what I can do, I guess. But you," his eyes narrowed and she could see something dangerous and unforgiving building in them. "You can, just as easily as anyone else. I didn't kill you last time and I got shot in the back because of it. I'm not going to make that mistake twice."

He launched at her and she let out a gasp, flinging herself backwards as his knife slashed at her throat. She ducked down as he swung again, knocking his legs out from beneath him.

"You didn't leave me any choice!" Leah yelled, diving at him. "I shot you because I had to."

Jared rolled to the side and stood up. His knife was held loosely in his hand, effortlessly. It made Leah's adrenaline flood her system.

"It doesn't matter why you did it," Jared spat.

They started circling, eyeing each other off.

"It never mattered. You're just another person I have to kill."

He stepped closer to her and Leah gripped the dagger harder until her knuckles turned white.

"That's a lie." Her words were stronger than she felt; the way Jared was looking at her was so hateful, it made her blood run cold. "You could've killed me so many times, but you haven't. Not even here. It's because you don't want to."

His step faltered and for a moment she saw him, properly saw him, in a way she knew he'd hate. The conflict that battered her every time she thought of him was reflected in his eyes – all the uncertainty and desperation and anger. It made her breath catch. But then a sneer curled up his lip.

"I don't care about you," he snarled. "I never fucking did. You were just an easy target. I was bored, and you were available."

Leah jerked back as if he'd slapped her, blood rushing to her cheeks. His words shouldn't have hurt. They really shouldn't, but it felt like he'd reached inside and yanked her heart from her chest.

She launched at him with a yell, slashing furiously. He darted out of the way of her attacks and, in a blurred motion, barrelled straight into her and knocked her to the ground.

Leah barely had time to move before he grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head, knocking the dagger from her grip effortlessly and positioning his body so it held hers down. She screamed in anger and tried to throw him off, her body withering in protest. But he only pressed harder against her, muscles tensing as his knife rested against her neck once more.

Leah felt her will collapse, her limbs going weak, and she closed her eyes with resignation. She didn't want to see his expression in that moment, to see the victory and hatred that must be rolling across his face. Her heart couldn't take it. She just wanted this over.

There was a deathly silence as Jared pressed the knife down harder. For a moment, everything was still, and then she felt it. Jared's hand had started shaking, the blade skimming across her skin chaotically. Leah's eyes flew open and she looked up at him.

His jaw was clenched, his eyes flaring with anger and desperation. His gaze met hers and she saw that conflict again, that sudden vulnerability that spoke more than his words had. It undid her, loosening something tight and knotted under her ribcage, making her breathless.

His breaths were coming faster now, his hand shaking so intensely that Leah thought he might slice her throat by accident. She lay very still as the seconds lengthened, her heart pounding heavily.

"Jared –" she said softly.

"No!" He yelled, his knife left her neck only to have his hand replace it, tightening threateningly, anger and despair soaking his eyes. "You do not get to speak."

Leah froze. His heart was beating so hard she could feel it against her skin, almost as if she could cup it in her palms.

"What the fuck is it about you?" he spat, leaning towards her so his face was only inches from hers. His eyes seemed brighter than ever – blue flames trapped by dark rings. "Why can't I kill you? I..."

He broke of when he realised how close they were and something in his expression changed. For a moment he froze, watching her with a look that made Leah's breath catch, but then he pulled back, scowling.

"Screw this," he said, and jumped up, walking away from her.

Leah scrambled to her feet, watching him go with wide eyes. Before she could think it through, she ran after him.

"Jared," she called, reaching for his arm, but he wrenched it away and spun to face her.

"You've ruined everything for me. Did you know that, Leah?" he snapped.

The blame in his voice made something inside Leah snap, and before she could stop herself, she went to shoved him, but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him and stilling her movements.

"I wouldn't do that," he said darkly, his breath ghosting across her face.

Leah glared up at him.

"You think you're the only one who has it hard?" she hissed. "Grow up. I feel guilty all the time because of you."

"Because of me?" Jared drawled, stepping closer to her, his eyes sparking with malice. "And why is that? Because the only time you managed to actually shoot me, it didn't work? Because I tricked you into leading me straight to Seth? Because from what I can tell, that was all your own –"

"No!" Leah screamed suddenly. "I feel guilty for still caring about you! It's killing me!"

Jared sucked in a breath, his grip on her arm loosening and Leah's eyes widened in sudden horror. She couldn't believe those words had come out of her mouth, that she'd be stupid enough to say them to anyone, let alone him. She wrenched away from him as if he'd scalded her and backed up, as far away as she could go.

"You," Jared swallowed. "You what?"

His voice was tinged with disbelief.

"I didn't mean that," Leah said quickly.

For a moment Jared lingered where he was, staring at her hard, but then he started to march towards her, his eyes flashing with a dangerous light; one that frightened her more than his anger had.

Leah stumbled backwards.

"Don't come any closer," she said, her voice angry, but his steps only quickened. "I didn't mean that. If you –"

Jared grabbed her face and slammed his lips down onto hers with a force that almost made Leah fall over. For a moment, she tried to pull away from him. This couldn't happen again, she couldn't let –

"Please," Jared murmured desperately against her lips. And that was all it took for her brain to disconnect. She reached up, and grabbed a fistful of his hair, tugging at it brutally, and opened her mouth to him. He groaned low in his throat and then his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

There was an urgency in the way he was kissing her, a roughness, as if he'd been waiting for this for weeks. It made her heartache, and she was sure he could feel the desperation behind her teeth, the anger and the pain and the want. She bit his lip, dragging her fingers down his spine and Jared pressed even closer. His hands came up and tangled into her hair. He tugged roughly, swallowing her gasp and pulling her head back so her neck was exposed, and he bit his way down it, her pulse racing under his tongue.

Every spot he touched had lit like fire. It burned her, violent and angry, and when she closed her eyes she could almost see the flames. They'd consume her if she let them. They'd ruin her.

"Stop!" Leah said suddenly, wrenching away from him.

Jared froze. His eyes were burning, scorching her almost as effectively as his touch had.

"I can't do this," Leah said, horror suddenly flooding her. "I can't do this again."

She spun and started walking towards the school, her steps fast, panicked. She needed to figure out how to get back to the live world. She needed to get out of here.

"What can't you do again?" Jared called, following her.

She spun around to face him, distress turning her anger into a storm. "This!" she yelled. "I can't do this! You nearly killed my entire family, including me! So many people are dead because of you!"

"Leah –" Jared said softly, reaching for her.

"No!" she shrieked, pulling away again. "You're a terrible person, you're a murderer. If you ever come near the S.I.S again, I will kill you. I don't care how much I don't want to."

Jared's eyes darkened, and something glinted on the grass between them. Leah's eyes flickered to it and she froze. It was the dagger she'd held before he'd disarmed her. Jared followed her gaze and he tensed.

"Leah," he said, his tone full of warning. "Don't –"

But she'd already launched forward and grabbed it, hurling it at him with a scream. But all it met was air, because Jared had twisted that ring on his finger and disappeared.  

...

Hello everybody!

So what did we all think of the chapter?!? Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed it :) 

Does anyone have any predictions of what's going to happen next? I'm interested to see where you all think this is going haha. 

This chapter is dedicated to @clearskyes. Thank you for all your votes and comments! <3 

Next chapter out in 2 weeks.

- Skylar xx