Still Alive - Adam Stanheight

Chapter 14

Adam wakes up, his head completely underwater. He freaks out as he sits up, the room he is in pitch black. He climbs out of what seems to be a bath, finally realising where he is. He begins to scream his lungs out.

"Help! Somebody help me! I'm back.... why am I back!"

He begins to bawl his eyes out, the coldness of the bathroom and his dripping wet clothes hitting him harder than the first time. He then hears a familiar voice. "Adam!"

It is not Lawrence.

The lights switch one rapidly. He squints as the brightness takes over. Opposite him, he sees Brielle, also screaming for help. She's not just chained up to the wall. She's bleeding out from her shoulder, just as he did before.

"Oh my God!" Adam screams as he tries to break his chain so he can save her. Just like last time, nothing works no matter what he does. "Fuck!" he screams running out of options. He then looks over to the lid of the toilet. He opens it, to realise that the Hacksaws are placed there again. Knowing that he only has one option, he takes out the stronger hacksaw, ties his shirt around his foot, stuffing the remainder in his mouth.

"What are you doing!" Brielle screams. Adam doesn't hesitate for a second. He begins to cut it all off.

***

Adam jolts up in a cold sweat, gasping for air. He looks around him, realising that he's in fact not in the bathroom, but in bed with Brielle peacefully sleeping beside him. He then shoves the blanket off his feet, to see them both still intact.

"What the fuck," Adam sighs relieved, but still shaken. That was the worst dream he has had so far.

He decides that he needs a glass of water so he gets out of bed, doing his best not to wake Brielle. First, he goes to the bathroom as he feels he's about to vomit. Luckily, he is able to swallow it down. He shrugs as he enters the apartment bathroom, eyeing the bath. He hasn't been able to have one since the incident. Showers were difficult enough to get through.

He takes off his sweaty shirt and throws it into the laundry basket. He then begins to wash his face with cold water, but it doesn't really do anything. He then looks at himself directly in the mirror, realising that no matter how well things are going for him, he is never going to recover from this incident. The constant nightmares, having to face Lawrence again, and the permanent scar from his shoulder wound was a clear reminder that this will never go away.

Adam suddenly begins to cry. He tries to be as quiet as he can so he doesn't wake Brielle. Unfortunately, as his panic rises, so does his sobbing.

Brielle enters the bathroom full of concern. Adam gasps as he sees her, rapidly wiping his tears. "Shit, did I wake you? I'm so sorry."

Brielle makes her way over to him and hugs him from behind. Her touch immediately comforts Adam. "Don't apologise. It was another nightmare, wasn't it?"

"You were in it," Adam replies, his voice still breaking with emotion. "The two of us were in the bathroom. You were dying the exact same way I almost died and...fuck I just want this to be over."

Brielle almost tears up herself after hearing the turmoil that Adam just went through, and may always go through. "It's bad enough when I'm in them, but when you're in them too, I can't deal with it. I'm so afraid of losing you," Adam continues.

Brielle then squeezes him tighter. She then begins to plant small kisses on the sharp, long scar on his back. "You're never gonna lose me," she then whispers. "I mean I don't know what the future holds but as of now, I'm not going anywhere." She plants one more kiss on the scar. "That scar doesn't belong to the bathroom anymore, it belongs to me."

Adam turns around to face her, beaming through his tears. Brielle never fails to calm him down. "I love you, Brie," he whispers.

Brielle places her hands on his shoulders and slides them down his abdomen. "I love you too," she whispers before kissing his lips tenderly. They both then go back to bed for cuddles. The two hold each other tight, making the most of their moment until the morning.

***

Adam is now back at what he calls Jigsaw's seedy headquarters. Brielle wasn't keen on him going after the night he had, but he insisted that he'd be okay. The more he shows up, the quicker John is locked up, along with Amanda and possibly Lawrence. He doesn't know if he had murdered anyone...yet.

"This is our next victim," John announces to the four of them, sitting round a meeting table. Adam still can't wrap his head around the fact that he's in a meeting determining someone's death.

John holds up a picture of a woman who looked to be in her late twenties, early thirties. She had curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She looks completely innocent to Adam. She probably is considering that he was innocent and John still decided to punish him.

"This is Liliana White," John announces. "She is a local journalist and new wife and mother. Well, was going to be a new mother. She and her husband Cian were due to have a child they didn't intend. Cain was extremely excited, but she was not. She secretly had an abortion six months into her pregnancy, while her fetus was developing. She lied to her husband saying it was a miscarriage."

Amanda scowls in annoyance. "What an asshole." Lawrence just simply nods, agreeing with John because he has a child himself.

Adam doesn't know how to react and just gapes at John in shock. He agrees that she shouldn't have lied to her husband, but at the same time he believes that it was her choice to decide on what she did with the baby. What she did wasn't a good move, but was it punishable by death?

"She will be tested for lying and causing her devoted husband anguish, and for taking a precious child's life," John explains.

"But the child wasn't born yet," Adam nervously speaks up. "Yeah, lying to her husband was fucked up but..." Adam trails off as both John and Amanda give him an intimidating look. "Exactly," John then says. "As someone who's had my wife go through a real miscarriage, this lie is unacceptable."

"I agree," Amanda butts in. "And I thought what Cecil did was fucking bad enough." She then turns to Lawrence, who is sitting silently. "What do you think, Doctor?"

Lawrence focuses on the woman, determination wiped across his face. "I couldn't imagine losing my own daughter in such an awful way. Let's do it," he says, his voice low.

"It looks like we are all in favour," John then announces. Adam gulps, knowing he agreed to nothing but pulls himself together quickly. For this to work, he had to trust the process. He could maybe even save this woman somehow.

"Amanda, you're working on the trap, yes?" John asks.

"It's almost done," Amanda answers proudly. John then looks at both Adam and Lawrence. "I want you two to kidnap her," he then explains. "She will be on her way out of yoga class at eight o'clock tomorrow night. That is when you need to bring her to us. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Lawrence responds confidently.

Adam just nods, his stomach churning in sickness. Again, he wonders what the hell has he gotten himself into...