Page 10 of Adam & Eve

around me stilled and I choked back the scream threatening to break free from somewhere deep

within. So this would be how I would die?

My chest tightened, and it got hard for me to breathe. It hurt holding back, but I wouldn’t

disturb the loony toon across the room. This was a nightmare I’d never imagined for myself. There

was no scenario in my head where any of this turned out well. I was a criminology major. I’d read

about things like this. He was going to rape, torture and kill me. No one would know because there

was no one to report me missing or to miss me.

My mom was dead. I never knew my dad. I had no friends, and my few acquaintances would

think I’d dropped out of school and disappeared. It would be plausible. I’d acquired massive debt

trying to graduate on my own. The money from my grandfather’s life insurance and savings was

almost gone. I had nothing and no one. We’ll that wasn’t exactly true. Michael crossed my mind,

giving me a modicum of hope. I latched on to it, but it was fleeting. The insecure little person in me

had always thought that he was too perfect—too right— and it made me wonder if he had something

to do with what was happening to me. Something about him had always seemed off. He was the

reason I was in the hotel when I’d gotten taken. That shit couldn’t be a coincidence, unless….

What if he was—

Fear, an emotion I was not accustomed to, rushed over me. What if Michael was somewhere

lying in a ditch, hurt or dead because of me? I began to hyperventilate. Trying to breathe past the lump

in my throat became hard.

All of a sudden, I heard a harsh, “Stop screaming. Why the fuck are you screaming?”

Professor Adam loomed over me. His eyes frantically roamed over me as if he expected me to be

hurt.

“Did you kill him? Is he dead?” I blurted out the question before I could stop myself.

If he had, did I really want to know?

His brows furrowed. “Who? Did I kill who?” He regarded me in confusion.

“Never mind,” I said quickly.

I wished I’d never brought him out of his lala land. He looked happy there. When he

realized what I was talking about—who I was talking about— the look he gave me made every hair

on my body stand on end.

Eyes narrowed, face twisted, he lashed out. “You mean him? You care for him,” he accused.