Still Alive - Adam Stanheight

Chapter 4

(TW: Mention of Ab*se)

Brielle cannot get Adam out of her head once she returns to work. There are photos of him all over the head office, along with this Lawrence guy that seemed to have betrayed Adam. If he was the main cause of Adam's trauma, then she hated him as much as anyone else.

Agent Straham knocks on her office block door and she lets him in. She doesn't smile and greet him like she usually would.

"How did that go?" Straham asks, muddled. Brielle spins around in her chair to face him. She has a look of fright on her face as if she has seen a ghost.

"Adam was completely innocent!" she begins to complain. "And that fucking killer just messed up his life to teach someone else to value there's."

"Would you say he'd be ready for questioning?" Straham asks uneasily. Brielle shakes her head. "The poor guy is traumatised. On the way out, the nurse told me that he's had several panic attacks. He's not ready for it now. He mightn't be ready until a couple of months, even a year. He's too fragile."

Straham nods understandably. "Got it. In that case, we'll have to question the other victim, Doctor Lawrence Gordon. The only issue is, he hasn't been found. We collected a sample of his blood when we were in the bathroom rescuing Adam, but it's hard to know if he's alive or not. We also know he's only got one foot."

Brielle gasps. "He what?"

"That was his game," Straham explains. "He and Adam were given a hacksaw each. It wouldn't cut through their chains so Lawrence cut off his foot to save his family, although by that point they had saved themselves."

Brielle is staring at Straham in shock, especially because of how casually he told her all of this. "So, you're saying Jigsaw left Adam there because he refused to saw off his own fucking foot?!"

"Seems like it," Straham replies. "There's probably more to it. This guy plans out his games very wisely. Still, it doesn't justify leaving someone to die in the dark."

Brielle sighs, trying not to even think about what must've gone on in that bathroom. She then turns back to Straham. "I know I'm not the boss or anything but, I'll keep visiting Adam while you guys deal with Lawrence. He's the guy you'll want."

Straham nods in affirmation. "I was going to suggest that. What Adam needs is someone he can trust, and you might just be that person. I'm not asking you to question him, but if he gives you any vital information on the killer, can you please let us know?"

"Will do," Brielle partially lies.

***

Adam sits himself up in the hospital bed. He seems to be much stronger than he was yesterday. "Okay, you can't tell your detective team anything, mainly for their protection," he says to Brielle, who is sitting in the exact same spot as yesterday. She puts her hand up to her chest. "I cross my heart and hope to die."

Adam then finds himself staring at Brielle's badge. "I mean in saying that, are you even part of their team yet?"

"Yes and no," Brielle responds. "I'm still studying criminology. This is kind of an internship thing. They'll move me up to the actual forces when I graduate in two years' time."

Adam smiles at her for the first time. "That's pretty cool. I always wanted to go to college, but I never even graduated high school."

"Not to pry but, how come?" Brielle asks.

Adam rolls his eyes, but not directly at her. "My parents...well my stepdad really. My biological dad left when I was ten. Haven't heard from him since. My Mom and I had a good relationship, but it tensed up a bit when I would come home from school and catch her fucking a new guy every week. She then met this guy like twice her age. He was really rich and that's how she fell in love with him. He'd been out to get me from the first time I met him. I don't know what the hell I did wrong. I was civil to him, just like any other guy she brought home because I wanted her to be happy. I think he just didn't like the idea that she was still raising a fourteen-year-old kid."

Brielle scowls sympathetically. "Jesus, rich people."

"Tell me about it," Adam responds. "This guy tormented me for three years straight for absolutely nothing! He always picked on me for being smaller than other boys my age and that I needed to toughen up. He'd scare me into thinking he was going to hurt me and then would laugh if I got frightened. He'd never let me hang out with my friends or do anything on the weekends, except study. This guy literally kept me hostage."

"That's so fucked up!" Brielle says in shock. "Was your mom aware of this?"

"Oh yeah," Adam scoffs. "He was also obviously using her for sex, but she didn't want to believe it so in return she refused to believe me too. It was the final straw when I snuck out to my buddy's house one night, just to get away from it all. When I got home, he was sitting on the couch, just waiting to berate me. I don't know how the fuck he found out.

"That was the first time I had ever stood up to him, and what did he do back? He striked me right across the face."

Brielle gasps. "Oh shit! What an asshole."

"I know, and Mom didn't help things either. There was a literal bruise on my face and she still refused to believe that he had hit me. I told her that he was some narcissistic bastard that could do the same to her if he didn't have control over her. That's when we got into a huge fight because she still continued to take his side. I left home that night. I had only just turned seventeen. School didn't matter to me anymore."

"And you haven't spoken to either of them since?" Brielle questions.

"Nope. Not in over three years. Mom messages me now again, begging me to come home. I've never had any desire to talk to her if she's still with that psycho-fuck. Now that I've been put in a death trap, I'm willing to try and make amends with her. Maybe I was too hard on her."

Brielle shakes her head firmly. "No, not really. She played just as much of a part as he did by believing him over you, her own son."

"She's worried sick about me though," Adam admits. "She constantly tells me that Dad's not angry anymore in her voicemails. I don't believe that for a second, but at least she cares, you know?"

Brielle looks at his hurt expression. He's been through enough already and bringing up his childhood is making things worse. She clears her throat, prepared to change the subject.

"What would you have studied in college?"

Adam smiles, thinking of the possibility. "I really wanted to be a vet. People have always told me that I have a way with animals. I then saw the grades I would've had to get to even consider this sort of thing, and I realised I needed to dream on. I'm not the academic type. No matter how much I'd work, it was never enough."

"I never liked school either," Brielle says. "Yes, I graduated but it wasn't a bunch of A+ grades that got me this job. It was my capabilities and self-belief. If I could do it, so can you. I'd say you'd make a great vet."

Adam smiles a little sadly. "Yeah...maybe."

Evelyn is now peeking her head through the door. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything."

"That's all right. Is everything okay?" Brielle asks.

The nurse looks directly at Adam. "There's someone here to see you."

Adam's eyes widen in shock as he sees who is approaching. Blonde hair, pale skin covered in permanent scars, missing foot.

Lawrence.