a chained heart

21 | goodbye

Adam could hear nothing. Not a wave of noise passed through his ears as he slowly put one foot in front of the other, nearing himself towards his worst nightmare.

He stopped in the doorway, pressing his palm into the door frame as if he could put a dent in the building. He pictured the wall cracking underneath his fingers, the room crumbling around him and crushing him. He willed it to happen.

He felt he was meant to die in here.

When the door was slammed shut in front of him that night, he never thought he'd see the other side again. But now that he had, he didn't know if he regretted being saved.

Bradley, Ryan, and the rest of the crew didn't make a single sound as they watched Adam survey the bathroom. He stepped slowly towards the pipes on the wall, moving like a skittish deer in the wild waiting for its hunter to shoot.

When he reached the back of the room, he peered down into the bathtub where he'd woken up. Adam felt like he was watching it all happen again in front of him. Bending down, he peered at the rusty pipes he was once chained to. He ran his fingers slowly across the bumpy metal, closing his eyes and trying to normalize the texture.

When Adam opened his eyes, he saw on the floor laid a pair of pseudo-cuffs for Ryan, the actor, to use. Adam knew they were fake, but something about them turned his stomach sour. He stood up and turned around, averting his eyes to the wall where Lawrence had once been sitting.

It's the spot where he met the love of his life, but also where he'd experienced hell.

Deciding he was done surveying and made peace with his surroundings, Adam looked up towards the crowd in the doorway. He locked eyes with Bradley and gave a small nod.

"Okay!" Bradley clapped cheerfully, breaking the silence. "Let's go guys! Last day of shooting, here we go!"

As people began to fill the small area, Adam started to feel a sense of dread. He saw he was being approached by a man. It was no ordinary man though.

He wore a white t-shirt that was drenched with blood as were his hands and head. Adam's throat began to close as his worst nightmare, his captor, his murderer, walked towards him.

There wasn't much room to walk, or breathe. Adam was clutching at his chest, and his vision blurred. He feared that he would fall on the floor, but then something happened. His air cavities opened back up and his eyes cleared as the man identical to John Kramer did something; he smiled at him.

The small gestured added a normalcy to everything. Adam remembered that that was all a scheme. John Kramer was dead, and this man approaching him was just an actor. A person who was probably really nice and had a family.

Adam gathered himself in a matter of seconds and smiled back.

"How's it goin' young lad?" the old fellow dressed as a villain so kindly introduced himself to Adam. "I'd shake your hand, but it's kinda gross," he held up his fake-blood caked arm and laughed.

Adam laughed in return. "Not bad, and yourself?"

***

Alison stood at the stove and checked the steak one last time before taking it out of the oven. She wanted to make sure it was perfect, as she loved to perfect everything in her life. It was just how she was.