"I'm sorry, but can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?" Riley asked.

She was eyeing Arelie cautiously and Leah could see her thoughts drifting between staying put and launching towards the girl with the gun pointed at her head. It made Leah's pulse spike. Neither Arelie or Riley were particularly well-known for their self-restraint and if either of them made a move now, things would go south very quickly.

"I think you're the one who needs to do some explaining," Arelie snapped. "Who the hell are you, and why has Leah brought another live person to the world of the dead?"

Riley glanced incredulously at Zarah, her eyebrows raised.

"Who is this?"

Arelie took a threatening step forward, her jaw clenching in anger.

"You should be very careful what you –"

"Wow, wow." Leah slipped in front of Riley quickly, letting Arelie's gun zero in on her chest instead, her hands held out in surrender. "Everyone, please just calm down."

Arelie's eyes narrowed, but she held her place, shooting one last glare at Riley over Leah's shoulders before locking eyes with Leah again. Her face was set in a mask of angry determination, and for a moment Leah was lost in the Deja vu it roused.

"Fine," Arelie growled. "I'll play nice, as long as you do. Leah Azemar, put your hands on your head. You're under arrest."

Leah stared at Arelie for a long time, sure that she'd misheard.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked eventually.

"She's a cop, Leah," Zarah said softly and Leah's eyes swung to her.

Zarah had backed up against the wall, her eyes flickering between the three of them with obvious concern.

"She always has been."

"Yes, I have," Arelie snapped. "And I'm beginning to lose patience, so unless you want your sentence to worsen, do as I say. Now."

Leah glanced at Zarah incredulously, but she just shrugged.

"What am I being sentenced for?" Leah asked, aware that her voice sounded just as confused as she felt.

"For recklessly smashing holes in the fabric that keeps our two worlds separate, that's what!" Arelie snapped. "Ever since you returned to the live world you've been blurring the lines between death and life and it's disrupting the balance of everything. You're destroying our world!"

Leah flinched away from Arelie's words, more wounded by the truth of them than the venom in her tone.

"Look, Arelie," Leah said, shifting uncomfortably. "You're right, okay? I've been screwing up. I'll admit that. But I really don't have time for this right now. If you could just let us go for a couple hours, I promise I'll come back and we can –"

"You promise?" Arelie's voice was nasty and mocking as she took a step closer. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

Riley nudged Leah in the small of her back, the movement demanding, and Leah glanced down at her watch. They were meant to have been searching Brenton's study for a couple minutes now already.

"We're on the same side here, Arelie, I swear," Leah said quickly. "If you just let –"

"No!" Arelie interrupted, her eyes hard. "I'm not going to let you do anything. Now, put your hands on your head. I'm not going to ask nicely again."

"Please," Leah begged. "I don't want to have to hurt –"

"DO IT NOW, LEAH!"

Leah flinched back.

"You have five seconds!" Arelie yelled. "One, two –"

But before she could reach 'three', Leah was already moving. It had happened in the blink of an eye, fast enough that Arelie didn't even have time to panic before Leah was at her side and her hands were closing around Arelie's head, twisting.

There was a deafening bang as the gun fired wildly, a chilling snap as Arelie's neck gave way, and then everything was quiet.

Arelie's body slumped against Leah, heavy and limp, and Leah lowered her gently to the ground. For a moment, she stared down at her, a confusion of frustration and guilt rising inside her.

Arelie hadn't changed a bit since Leah had last seen her. She was still just as stubborn, still just as abrasive, still just unwilling to admit when she was outmatched. But even after everything, Leah hadn't wanted to have to do that.

Everyone else in the room was deathly quiet and Leah sighed. She could only imagine what she looked like to Zarah right now.

"Zarah, I'm so sor –"

But when Leah glanced up, her words halted, her eyes widening in horror.

Riley's face was scrunched up with pain, her hands clutched at her side where a crimson liquid was quickly staining her clothes.

"Ugh," Riley groaned. "The bitch shot me."

Leah dashed forward just as Riley began to tilt, grabbing her around the waist and lowering her to the floor gently. She pried Riley's hands away from the wound and examined it, trying to hide her growing panic.

The bullet had entered Riley's side, millimetres below her bullet vest, and buried itself somewhere just out of reach.

"Shit," Leah muttered under her breath, swinging her backpack around so she could pull the first aid kit out.

Zarah appeared next to Leah a second later, her eyes wide, as Leah pulled out a bandage a wrapped it around Riley's side, pulling tight until the bleeding ebbed.

Riley was watching them both closely, a hard determination setting in behind the pain.

"How bad is it?" she asked, her voice rough.

Leah shot her a reassuring smile.

"It's fine," she said. "Nothing you won't recover from."

Riley was staring at her, her breathing hard, and Leah turned to Zarah.

"Call an ambulance," she muttered under her breath. "She's going to need to go to the hospital."

Zarah nodded and rushed off, pounding downstairs.

Riley watched her go, despair washing over her face.

"The hospital?"

Leah sighed. "You weren't meant to hear that."

"How the hell am I meant to help take down Brenton from a hospital?" Riley exclaimed.

"You're not."

"Like hell I'm not! I'm not going to let you go alone. You know –"

Riley tried to sit up mid-speech only to cut off as a cry wrenched its way out of her throat. Leah grabbed her quickly, stilling her movements before she could do any more damage to herself.

"I'll be fine," Leah said sternly. "And so will you, as long as you rest. We'll sort out Brenton and then I'll come back and bring you back to the live world."

"I don't want to –"

"Riley," Leah interrupted sternly, locking eyes with her. "You're not going. Not like this. You'll get yourself killed."

Riley matched her glare for one moment, then two, but finally, she lowered her eyes.

"This is bullshit," she muttered in defeat.

Leah let out a sigh of relief just as she heard Zarah running back up the stairs. She burst back into the room and edged her way around Arelie, moving back to Leah's side.

"I called Danny," she said. "He'll drive her to the hospital. I don't want the ambulance coming here when there's a dead cop on my floor."

Leah blinked, staring at Zarah in surprise.

"Danny?" she repeated. "As in my brother Danny? How do you know – you know what, never mind. Just make sure Riley's taken care of, okay? I've got to go."

Zarah nodded, her face hard, and for the first time Leah realised how much her friend had changed in the last few months. That easy serenity that used to surround her had gone, replaced by something deeper, something more solid and self-assured.

"Be safe," Zarah said quietly, and Leah nodded, glancing back at Riley sternly.

"Don't do anything stupid," she warned. "Just stay put. I'll be back soon."

And then she reached down, deep into that void that lived inside her, and was gone.

...

Hey everybody!

Time for a vote! Who thinks Leah going in alone is a good idea? (Hint: I don't hehe)

This chapter is dedicated to @ShadowKnight2232 :) Thanks for being an awesome reader!

Next chapter will be out in 2-3 weeks. Sorry, it might be a little bit longer this time because I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo in April :) It's an online writers retreat where you have to write a certain amount of words on a new project during the month. I've picked 20'000, which isn't as much as some people, but wayyy more words than I'm used to writing! So be patient with me! I'll try and get the next chapter out as quickly as I can. 

Until next time!

Skylar xx