The Professor

Twenty-four

It's quiet when I awake. I feel like I've just awoken from a hangover. My head hurts and I can barely remember what just happened until it all returns to me.

"Alex," I whisper when my eyes open.

She betrayed me. She actually hired two men to murder me so that she can have Dean to herself. What kind of friend does that? I thought I could trust her, I thought we were friends. Not anymore.

I search the dark room for her. She's not in sight, no one is. I glance at the joining room door. It's currently shut. I then spot the gun on the dresser. They left it there.

I pull myself forward only to be yanked back. I'm still cuffed to the bed from my left arm.

If I grab the gun, then I can easily get myself out of this situation.

Slowly, I attempt to free my hand the way I did my right hand. I groan from the pain as I tug harder.

There's loud shouting coming from the joining room. It sounds like Alex and another man. I try to listen to what they are saying, but the conversation is too muffled.

Suddenly, the joining room door swings open, startling me. The man with the tattoo marches in with Alex behind him.

"I told you that I left the stock with Joe!" The man shouts at her. "We had a deal, Alex." He snarls.

Alex folds her arms. "I gave you the profit. I don't owe you anything." She glances at me. "Besides, you haven't held up your weight of the deal either." Her eyes draw back to his.

He pushes his jaw forward. "I will kill her once you pay up. Otherwise, she's not going anywhere."

She groans while stomping in place. "Fine." She hisses while pulling her wallet out from her back pocket. She digs out a stack of cash and counts them individually before handing them to him. "Here." She smacks it down in his palm. "I told you that the drugs were coming in through a truck tonight. Don't miss it." She bumps his shoulder as she walks pass him.

He slides the cash into his back pocket and smirks at me. "Hey, babe."

I swallow hard, pulling my hand down further. The pain begins to sting roughly.

"Doug." A man's voice calls out from the other room.

He turns his head back and calls back, "What?"

"Get in here." The voice demands.

The guy who is now known as Doug walks back into the room.

I glance at the gun and throw myself forward as hard as I can. The handcuff restraints me back, causing me to let out an oof!

Doug walks back in holding a plastic bag of white pebbles. For at least, they look like pebbles, but I get the feeling that they aren't.

The other man walks in.

"The other shipment will arrive in an hour." Doug informs while handing him the bag. "Take these back to Garcia in exchange for the good stuff."

He nods. "What about the girl?" He glances at me.

Doug's eyes draw towards me. "Don't worry about her." He grabs the gun from the dresser. "Just take the drugs to him and come back. Let him know that we're waiting on the shipment."

He nods while grabbing the bag. "Don't leave evidence." He walks out the door.

Doug watches me while calling out, "Alex, I think it's time for her next dose."

Shortly, Alex appears in the room while wiping her nose with the back of her hand. She sniffs before walking toward the bag and pulling out the syringe. She uses the syringe to suck up liquid from a small bottle. She then walks towards me and around the bed. The needle pokes back into my neck.

"I'm going to make sure you don't get away with this." I growl confidently, despite the fact that I don't believe myself.

I feel that I will die here. No one has any idea where I am at. There's no way I'm going to walk out alive, especially with these drugs being injected in me.

"Aw, how cute." She puckers her lips. "I don't think so. You are going to die here. No one can save you, darling. You're already slowly dying." She points at the empty syringe. "One more dose and you're done." She smiles before giggling.

I inhale through my nose deeply. "What happened to the sweet girl I knew? The one with great fashion advice and great humor?"

She rolls her eyes. "She never existed. How am I supposed to stay undercover without being bubbly and preppy?" She leans her back against the wall.

"Undercover?" I ask. "To sell drugs?" My head rests against the railing hazly. I can already feel myself dying. This is it. Just end it now.

"I'm in a business now, haven't you heard?" She smirks. "We're making top of the line drugs that has never been made before: bath salts mixed with meth. The money just keeps flying in." She laughs.

I glance at the syringe in her hand. "Drugs? You mean what you're injecting me with?"

She smiles. "What a smart girl! Yes. They come in all shapes and sizes. People are going crazy for it. They just can't get enough."

  I begin to think about all the campus deaths that was caused by drugs. It must be what she was selling.

I swallow hard. "But it's killing people. It's bad." The pressure increases in my head.

She shrugs. "That's on them. They want to fuck themselves, then that's their fault."

My body begins to feel hot as my heart rate increases. Sweat pours down my forehead as I pant. My vision blurs more.

Alex walks towards the gun. She picks it up and examines it. "It would be so easy to just shoot you now." She says softly while pointing the gun at me with one eye closed. "All it would take is one click."

I swallow hard as my body overheats more. My head pounds like a drum.

Suddenly, the door slams open, revealing a man at the door with a gun. He's too blurry to make out, but I assume he means trouble. I slowly push myself against the railing because it's the only defense I've got.

I squint at the man.

He keeps shouting, "Put the gun down!" He points it at Alex.

She drops the weapon onto the floor with her arms held up.

With one inhale, I make out the man's face. It's Blake.