Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thank you so much for checking this out! Couldn't Lie (To Him) is the final part of the Series of Lies, and a sequel to Wouldn't Lie (To You) Traps and continuity from that story are referenced, but this story is meant to be understandable without that as well. If you didn't read Wouldn't Lie, essentially, just know that he survived the bathroom, went through a series of trap plots in the Saw Two nerve gas house, and was led to the bathroom where Lawrence had his final test ready. His friend Scott Tibbs died in the trap and Lawrence saved him from the final one in the bathtub.
Hope that summary helps, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the final story in the Series of Lies!
As he progressed down the dull, dingy basement, Adam's steps got heavier. He stomped along, his legs like jello as he put one foot in front of the other.
He lazily recited Lawrence's instructions. The way out was right in front of him, the doctor had said so himself."'Go down the hall and down the path you came here from. Walk through the gap between the pipes and you will see a marked one. Turn left at it, and you'll find a new trail. The path will lead you straight outta here.'"
Not that he had any clue what anything outside of here could mean anymore. Everything was a blur, even the hall in front of him was indistinct.
What he had just gone through wasn't too clear either.
The traps — the nails, the drums, the cigarette, the safe, and the bathtub — they all led him through some decrepit house that seemed to grow darker and darker with every "game."
But his friend was there. Scott had helped him find his way through, given Adam the hope he knew he needed to get through it. They had finally put their bickering aside. He had helped him survive the trials thrown at him. Scott...
Died in that house, reduced to a pool of blood and a mangled corpse beyond Adam's eyeshot. Adam had slammed the door behind him, like he was securing his friend's coffin all by himself.
And Lawrence—
He couldn't think about it. Adam's fried brain wouldn't let him relive what Lawrence had put him in. How many people would come together and put Adam through death traps in the name of "games?" How many pawns could these twisted fucks possibly have?
Of all people, Lawrence was the biggest, most misguided of them all.
Adam's ribs bobbed around inside of him, cracking with each step. Lawrence had to bring him back after his final test went wrong. Surely, at any minute they would puncture his heart and finish him off.
After all this shit, if that is what finally got him...
Adam made his way to the end of the hall, towards the twisted lump of pipes that Lawrence had referenced. He looked around at the maze, noting the small opening in front of him. He turned left, just as the doctor had instructed.
To his amazement, Adam still couldn't bring himself to be mad at Lawrence. Disappointed, absolutely. The man had drowned him in that bathtub, after all.
But he had no choice, and Adam kept reminding himself of that. Lawrence had gotten him out of that bathroom, finally freeing him from that despicable place and all the vile memories Adam would never be able to get out of his head. And he had brought someone back — just as he had promised — and helped Adam get his life back after everything fell to shit.
Wasn't the doctor's fault that the people who tagged along to get him out were scumbags. Even worse than the people Adam had the pleasure of working with.
Hoffman.
The name bounced around in Adam's head. He ran it through over and over, refusing to let himself ever forget the name of the person who ripped Lawrence out of his grasp. The one who had forced the doctor out of his reach again.
Lawrence had made one of the many promises that had been pelted at Adam. And it was the only one he cared about.
"I wouldn't lie to you."
That was the one promise that had been kept.
Adam let out a shaky smile past his grit teeth. He pushed on through the mess of pipes, and spotted one at the end. It was marked, just like Lawrence had said. The familiar red shade bounced back in Adam's eyes, like it did in the house. And just like before, it formed a perfect little trail.
At least he actually wanted to follow this one.
He turned left, heart pounding against his broken ribs.
Of all the things he had learned in his science classes, what echoed in his ears now was the strength of adrenaline. It went away as he waded through this basement, and it brought every injury back to the surface.
His shoulder, the nails that had punctured him all over, the burns, the nerve gas that no doubt fucked with his brain beyond belief. And that was all before he drowned and had to be brought back.
He clutched a hand to his chest, wincing as he felt bones move. "Fuck."
With one final corner turn, he found a door. He smiled and half-jogged to it, gritting his teeth at every jerk against his ribs. He swung the door open. This was it. He could finally get out, put together a plan to get Lawrence back, figure out his life and—
It led to a big, dingy room just like the basement. There was something to his left — a washer, maybe — and a gate closing a path off.
And a body just in front of it.
That face...
A small cry escaped between Adam's lips. He knew this guy, Tapp as Lawrence had said. He had worked with him when the doctor was just some random target that didn't mean crap to him.
Tapp didn't matter much more to Adam, but he swore if he ever saw another dead body...
Keep going. Just keep going.
He forced himself to continue on, each step so heavy he may as well have been trudging through cement.
Through another damn hall with pipes on the wall. "Damn, does this shit ever end?"
He lazily followed the new path, and his mind started to drift back to Hoffman. The man had forced Lawrence to do all of this, in the absence of the one-and-only Jigsaw. Between him, Amanda, that other doctor, and now Lawrence, how many followers could this creep possibly have?
Adam found himself coldly chuckling at the thought. Jigsaw had his own little band of whack jobs, save for Lawrence, and meanwhile Adam could count on one hand the people he liked.
And one of them drowned him.
Towards the end of the hall in front of him, Adam made out something that hung up against the wall. He furrowed his brow and walked over to it. His eyes still sucked after breathing in the nerve gas for so long. The brain fog and general blurriness of the world made him have to look around even more than usual.
But with a few more steps forward, he was able to make out the figure. "Oh, for fuck's sake."
It was a ladder. As if the pounding against his messed up ribs wasn't bad enough.
He sighed. It was either this or waste away with the pipes. And he'd be damned if this place saw his last breath.
So he gripped the rungs of the ladder, his sweaty palms slipping against the cold metal. He grit his teeth and forced himself up. Every jolt upwards shot excruciating waves through his chest. His heart slammed against it.
The rungs dug into his bare feet, but he forced his weight up and towards the top. He swung his leg around and plopped on the ground, taking deep breaths.
He closed his eyes and tried to get the spinning to go away. The exit was almost there, it had to be.
And once he found it, he could get himself to a hospital and figure out everything else. He would get through it, like he always did.
If these "games" taught him anything, it was that he refused to reduce to nothing. Especially in the name of lessons, or trials, or whatever the hell they wanted to call them.
He had come too far for that.
Taking in one more shaky breath, he pushed himself up.
The newest hall was short, and it didn't take long for him to spot a sign in front of him.
'RAW SEWAGE'
Adam's lip curled. Just his luck. "Lovely."
Oh well, he probably smelled even worse than anything this place could throw at him. He felt disgusting, and he couldn't wait to burn these clothes and finally get clean. He added that to his mental checklist of things to do.
Call his mom, pet the hallway cat, get Lawrence out, bathe. In no particular order.
Just past the sign, Adam found a door to his left. A red sliding door that resembled the one to the bathroom. He needed to not get his hopes up, prepare himself for some pig mask to jump out at him and try to force him right back to where he just left.
He carefully opened it.
And he took in the freshest breath ever.
It nearly brought tears to his eyes. The dingy halls, the decrepit stairwells, and those damn pipes, they were all replaced with the night sky. With a few trees near the building and roads that extended past his eyesight. Instead of the dripping of random pipes, screams, or ringing in his ears, he heard owls and bugs hum.
With just a few steps down, his feet touched the cement below him. Anything was better than that filthy ground. To his left was a truck, but he didn't bother with it. Even if it was unlocked, he had no idea how to hot wire the thing.
Instead, he elected to walk down along the road, taking in the crisp air around him.
The stars were fading, the sun was about to come up. In these early hours, he knew no one would be close by to help him out. But if he just kept going, he knew he could find a place that had people. People with a phone.
He had no idea where he was. Adam had hoped that the house would be close to his apartment, that he would havesome clue of the path. He tried to take a mental note of where he was, determined to map out a way back.
As much as it sucked, he needed to try to figure this place out. Maybe Lawrence would find his way back over here.
But Adam's brain wouldn't cooperate with him. In the back of his mind, he could still hear saws whir around him. He swore a camera danced off to his right, and some creep would jump out at him on his left.
He tried to push them away. It wasn't real.
But with every step, his heart pounded more as it rattled around in his chest, and his fried brain grew more and more resistant. His vision blurred, and he huffed along. Everything seemed to catch back up with him, and he could barely balance on his own two feet.
There was the smallest blur at the end of the road. Adam squinted, trying his hardest to make it out.
A building. And more beyond it. Hopefully with people who could help.
He picked up the pace, stupidly trying to convince himself that one last bout of adrenaline would power him through.
But the ringing in his ears returned, and he felt the world spin around him.
And he toppled to the ground, the grass replacing itself with all too familiar black.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoy so far! I will update this story every Tuesday, and I am absolutely looking forward to it!
This story and its overall series have been in my head for about ten years now, and on the twenty year anniversary of the film's release, I am thrilled to be sharing it!