Chapter Thirty - Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER THIRTY
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I’M GOING TO bury her alive and walk away,” he said, and my heart stopped, a sudden void where hope had clung. The weight of his words pressed down on me, dense and suffocating like the dark soil he threatened to use as a tomb for Madeline.
“You’ll sit here watching and helpless to do anything while she suffocates. Only then will you feel what I did, this suffocating loneliness and loss. The knowing that the girl you love needs you, but you’re helpless to do anything.” His voice dripped with venomous satisfaction, each syllable a dagger aimed at my chest.
“Oh God,” Madeline mumbled beside me, her voice trembling like fragile glass, starting to panic as the reality of his threat sank in. I could see her pale face, eyes wide with fear, reflecting the terror that dug at my insides. I knew I had to do something— anything —to stave off the impending horror about to unfold.
Our eyes met in a silent plea, and I caught a flicker of trust there; I silently assured her I would never let anything happen to her.
I’d die first.
“You’re a fucking coward!” I snarled, the words tumbling from my lips like molten lava. “Too much of a pussy to fight like a real man, instead taking your anger out on helpless women and children.” The accusation hung in the air, thick with disdain, my heart racing with the knowledge that my words might not be enough.
Adam laughed, a cold, mirthless sound that echoed in the night. “I’ve been with the club too long to fall for your reverse psychology bullshit. You and my brothers will suffer so much more this way, die slowly at the loss of the things you value above everything—including your life.” His arrogance was palpable, a shield he wore proudly.
“They’ll kill you,” I warned, desperation climbing up my throat as I felt the ropes loosening just a fraction more. My hands were almost free—just a little longer.
He shrugged nonchalantly, his indifference cutting deep into my senses, making me work harder to loosen the ropes. “I’m ready to die and have it all planned. I’m going to reunite with Kezia.” His voice softened at her name, an unsettling reverence lacing his words.
“I see. You’re a man with a plan, and you believe you’ve figured it all out,” I said, subtly adjusting my position, easing the weakened bonds of the rope even more. The bitterness in my tone was masked by an air of detached curiosity; I needed him to linger on this path of delusion. Every word was calculated—a gamble to buy time while I fought against the ropes.
Adam’s eyes flickered at the shift in my tone; it was a spark of interest, a glint of ‘let’s see where this is going’.
“And what about Kezia? You think she’d want this?” I asked, sweeping my gaze towards Madeline who sat as still as a startled deer caught in headlights. Her breaths were shallow yet frantic, each one sounding in the tension-filled silence like a clock counting down to disaster.
“To know that you killed innocent people as revenge for her dying?” My words dripped with urgency, seeking to penetrate the armor he’d forged from his grief. “She was such a kind girl, and she wouldn’t want any of this. What if she rejects you for what you’ve done?”
Adam’s smug grin faltered for an instant; it was like watching a candle flicker in a gust of wind. In that brief moment, I saw it—the flicker of doubt crossing his face beneath his defiant facade. He was searching for words, mulling over my question as if weighing its implications against his twisted reasoning.
“I... She...” he stuttered, and triumph surged inside me at the crack in his resolve and gave me the time to finish getting free.
His hesitation was the opening I needed, and without thinking twice, I jumped up yelling, “Run, Madeline!” My voice thundered through the night air like an alarm bell.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Madeline startle at my shout—a doe caught unaware by an approaching predator. Her eyes widened in shock but blessedly didn’t waste any time; she scrambled to her feet like a wild animal fleeing from danger and darted into the darkness away from us.
Adam reacted a second too late to my lunge; his eyes flashed with shock as I barreled into him like a freight train. His back met the ground with a hard thud that seemed to reverberate through my bones. He grappled for purchase, his hands clawing at my arms in desperation while his legs kicked out wildly in an attempt to dislodge me.
His surprise was my advantage; it gave me precious moments to wrestle the gun from his holster. My fingers grazed the grip just as I ripped it free—my heart raced with adrenaline as the metal gleamed ominously under the faint moonlight. In one swift motion, I pointed it down at him.
“No!” he snarled in desperation, catching my arm mid-air with a grip that felt like iron around my wrist. Desperation surged through me as he fought back; but determination amped my adrenaline tenfold. Without hesitation, I swung my other fist forward—my knuckles connected with his face in a brutal collision that elicited more surprise than pain from him.
I didn’t pause to see if I had hurt him; instead, I tightened my grip around the gun and fired. Adam’s scream sounded into the silent night—a haunting echo followed by gurgling as he choked on his own blood.
The bullet buried deep within him didn’t seem to stop him from fighting; shifting back against him, I pushed my weight down hard—trapping his writhing body beneath me against the unforgiving earth. The cold ground offered no mercy; neither did I. Adam coughed and squirmed beneath me as life slipped away with each labored breath he took.
“You shouldn’t have touched Madeline,” I spat through gritted teeth, pressing down on him. He let out a guttural roar that quickly faded into a whimper.
His eyes were wide now; they flickered between shock and defiance while rage simmered beneath the surface as he glared at me—acceptance swirling within their depths. “You... still didn’t... win,” he gasped out between ragged breaths.
“Oh, I think we have different definitions of winning,” I replied coolly, letting a cold smirk curl my lips.
Suddenly, he laughed—a gurgled sound filled with blood and desperation that sent chills down my spine. “You’ll... you’ll never save the others...” Each word seemed like poison dripping from his tongue as he coughed violently again, blood splattering across his chin and mine. “It’s... all... in motion.”
My heart thudded painfully in my chest—shit, the women!
Adam’s eyes widened in satisfaction for a fleeting moment before they glazed over—his expression unraveling like a thread pulled too taut. His body convulsed one last time as life fled him entirely; then everything fell silent—his grip on my wrist loosened and finally fell away like fall leaves dying at winter’s arrival. His gaze remained fixed on the moon above us.
I jumped up and sprinted in the direction Madeline had run. Each pounding step mimicking my racing heartbeat. Fear for the women’s safety gnawed at my gut like a rabid animal. The forest was a dark labyrinth of towering trees, and I pushed forward. There wasn’t a second to waste.