Family Business

Chapter 14

William woke up with a terrible headache. Opening one eye, he tried to figure out where he was. He was back in his room, sprawled across his bed.

Forcing himself to sit up, he tried to remember how he got back. All he remembered was that he and Adam were drinking at the bar.

He dragged himself to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. Suddenly he wondered where Adam was. Concerned, he quickly went to Adam's room.

He knocked on the door but there was no answer. He turned the knob. The door was open so he went in.

Adam's room was identical to his. He did not seem to have a roommate so one of the beds was neat. Adam was lying on the bed near the window.

Sighing in relief, William decided not to wake him up. He turned to leave when he tripped on a sock on the floor and fell, knocking down a few things from the bedside table.

Adam woke up with a jerk. He had a panicked look on his pale face and was sweating profusely. His eyes darted around the room which stopped when he saw William.

"I didn't mean to wake you up man. Go back to sleep." William said, picking himself up.

Adam frowned and tried to get up but winced in pain and fell back on his pillow. Pulling his hand out from under the blanket he stared at it. William saw it too, his heart was beating hard.

Adam had no fingers. It appeared like all his fingers were completely cut off and his hand was wrapped with a white band aid with spots of red blood.

"It was real!" Adam gasped, shaking terribly.

"What happened to your hand?" William gaped, taking a step closer. But Adam backed away, pushing his body away from William with his one good hand.

"You! Stay away from me!" He yelled.

"Adam, what are you talking about?" William asked, confused. He tried to put his arm around Adam and calm him down. But it only made things worse. Adam tried to jump off his bed but he was too weak and crashed on the ground.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed. "YOU CRAZY, PSYCO!"

William froze. What was wrong with Adam? This was not how Frank was when he stabbed himself. Was Adam crazy now too? He cut his fingers off?
William rushed out of the room to get help.

"You will pay for what you did to me!" Adam said when he left.

William's mind was buzzing with questions. How could Adam blame him for hurting himself?

The first person William ran into when he left the building was Captain James Norman. He literally ran into him, almost knocking him to the ground.

"Cooper! Watch where you are going!" He snapped.

"Sir! I need your help." William said, he was out of breath and tried to convey the urgency to the captain. People around them began to stare.

"It's Adam, sir. Something is wrong. He is not making any sense. I am worried it is something like what happened to Frank." William said.

The captain did not hesitate. The moment William said this, he followed him to Adams room without another word.

They rushed up to Adams room to find his door ajar. Panicking, William rushed in. It was empty.

Adam wasn't there. His bed was empty and blanket was missing. The mess of bedside things which fell to the ground was all back in its place.

"No signs of a struggle. No Adam." Captain Norman said tonelessly.