Rebirth – Chapter 2: Chasm

-Notes-

Graymoon74: GRAY! Eee! Oh my frikkin' gosh, you haven't seen the movie?! What are you doin' readin' this, crazy-head?! XD Well I really owe you the biggest apology. You're such a faithful reader, I don't know why after I continually leave you hanging. I swear, I've been on the next chapter of Talker for MONTHS. I'm going out of my mind. I figure maybe taking a break from it will pull back my inspiration? But I swear, if only for you, I WILL finish that story. I have so little left to go! Thank you, for everything.

Agent182: Thanks, I'm really glad you liked it! It's refreshing to know that a work in even such a small category is so appriciated. Hope you continue to enjoy it.

And so…on to chapter two.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"You-" the clatter of rusted chains being strained from their post bleeted against the walls again, "can't-" another metallic crunch, "leave me in here!! You fucking bastard! You son of a bitch! Aaaaaaaaaaahh!!" Adam roared out with a force beyond a man his size, every ounce of his soul pouring forth the utmost rage and mental anguish to a wall that offered nothing. The pitch black around him engulfed his cries into the bottomless pit of death that this shithole was, the illuminated neon 'x' seeming to be the signiture to his death clause. He sat shaking on the floor in silence for only a small moment with his musings, his ankle ringed with abrasions and cuff bruises, his head throbbing and his throat hoarse. This wasn't right. For the umpteenth time today, Adam was scrambling on his hands and knees as he wretched his guts onto the floor.

He reared up onto his knees again with a cough and a spell of extreme dizziness, throwing his arms over the rim of the bathtub clumsily and wincing as he hit his chin into it. Oh God, oh God, he had to get out of here. He frantically dove down towards the drain of the bathtub, tossing out tile debris and plaster as he searched. In the midst, faint as it was, there was the showing of a vibrant blue light.

"The key to that chain is in the drain of the bathtub."

Why? Why? Adam could only think this as he desperately dug his fingers into the drain pipe. Why the hell would he tell him where the key was? Why would he allow him to find it? What the fuck was the purpose in this? He didn't care, damnit he didn't care. He needed the key, he needed to get out, that maniac was loose out there, and so was Lawrence. "Come on—fuck—" he snarled out. He'd torn the cuticles of his nails by now, but at last he touched the jagged edge of a key. He twisted his hand painfully to reach it; it didn't matter. The hand was a little bruised and bleeding when he brought it up, key dangling from his thumb. With an inward gasp, he floundered back to the floor near the pipes and fiddled furiously in the black to find the lock. The frustration was ungodly. He just couldn't fit the key into the lock, jittering and scratching madly with the teeth of the key around the bottom of the palmed padlock. When the click and release sounded, he ripped the chain from his leg and hurled it into the tile wall with an outward growl, bolting up and throwing the key carelessly.

He pounced to the door in earnest, staggaring across the floor—and straight into the pooling blood. He slipped with a yelp and was slammed back to the floor, his head cracking hard against the tiles. "SHIT!" he bellowed, grabbing at his head to try and snatch back his fleeting vision. He was suddenly on his feet again, throwing his body into the door with every fiber of strength he posessed.. Another spark of pain screamed in his bones, but he thrust upwards, again and again, pounding on the door with both battered fists, wailing like a lunatic and using a few choice swear words that he had almost forgotten about entirely. "LET ME THE FUCK OUT!" he'd never been so angry. So afriad and helpless. "You fucking coward bitch! You don't even have the balls to kill me?! What are you running for!? I'm just some fucking-" slam "scrawny-" slam "loser-ass-" slam "stoner!! COME ON!!" slam, slam "Let me out!"

He didn't deserve this. It wasn't fucking fair, he didn't deserve this! "Ahhh!!!" he continued to tear at the door, a depraved, futile lack of sense spurring him on to beat at this fucking door until he was physically unable. "Open the god damn door!…" he paused for a single second before his pounding made a sudden, drastic increase in intensity. "I won't die in here! Do you hear me?! I won't d-AH!" there was a wrenching noise from the other side of the door, and before he could register what was happening, a dim, yellow light was filling his eyes and he tumbled straight into opened arms.

"Fuck fuck fuck get OFF!" Adam howled instinctively, writhing in horror as the arms roughly encircled him. "Get away from me!"

"Easy, kid, easy!" ground out the officer struggling to restrain him. Adam felt the hands of another man on him as well, pinning his arms. "Calm down, it's okay!"

"Let go! You can't—ah-AH!" Adam barked out as he wildly jerked against the grip.

He didn't know what happened then. He was screaming, flailing, trying to break free. They couldn't make him go back in there. They couldn't. They couldn't keep him here. He had to get out. But there were too many of them, and only one Adam. He found himself face down on the floor in the next instant, half-screaming, half-crying in a tremendous fit of mixed pain and utter terror.

A female voice. "Gunshot wound to the right shoulder, doesn't look like any major dammage."

Another man. "Hold him still, he's incoherent!"

"AHHH!" Adam released a feirce cry as he felt the length of a needle penetrate his unafflicted shoulder. The pain was not excrutiating, but he was convinced that it was killing him all the same. He succumbed to a series of whimpers and groans, his spasms and jerking dying bit by bit as tears crashed shamelessly down his face. "Please…please…I have to get out…"

"It's okay, kid. You're okay now." The unfamiliar male voice over him stated, a hand rubbing the back of his neck a little.

It's okay, come on, it's okay now…

He shifted blearily. "…Lawrence…?" the blackness was taking him, and he drank into it as the pull of sweet, merciful unconsciousness embraced him.