Chapter Text
There’s something to routines that makes a part of you fade away.
Not in a depressing sense, but in a moral sense. Waking up every day at the same time, eating the same thing before inevitably rushing out the door to do a variation of the same job you always do. All this to return home to the same place you left, with less of yourself still with you.
So you sit down on what you deem yours and you try not to think about it.
You flick on the TV, put on music, or call friends—anything you subconsciously call a distraction.
Maybe you hold someone dear to you, maybe you eat to make yourself feel something. Maybe you’re so tired of feeling you go to bed early.
Adam stared absentmindedly at his shitty TV screen, which was glimmering with the enthusiasm of infomercials. He felt like yawning, but he felt so disconnected from himself it felt impossible. So he just let his mind wander while his eyes burnt from the blue light.
The landlord finally got around to fixing the piping system, which meant he could finally take showers again. His job is okay, everyone is nice, but he wishes he could do more. More for himself.
Getting up from his stupor, he glanced through the open doors of each room. He didn’t grace his darkroom with privacy anymore, all his photos had already been placed away with care and he no longer had a working camera to make new ones. So it stood ghostly.
Gracing his plate with a frozen veggie burrito from Aeriss, he started fiddling with his hair. He hadn’t cut it in a while, a bit hard with one hand, so the sides were a bit long.
A faraway creak broke his train of thought, and Adam froze. His eyes slowly slid over to his dull knife block before obliging and sliding against his dirty apartment wall.
He was disadvantaged, but not by much.
Making his way slowly across the apartment, he checked each room completely, keeping his back against the wall and jerking the knife around.
After clearing each room, he took a shaky breath and made his way to his living room closet. Jigsaw wouldn’t make the same mistake twice… he was sure.
Lurching the door open and swerving to the side, he was met with no fanfare and a closet filled only with junk. No pig-faced killers.
He was tense. Adam was sure that he had heard the unmistakable sound of someone in his home. He’d use that noise to flick the TV on for Aeriss when she woke, or prepare himself for one of Scott’s break-ins.
Not that Scott ever really bothered him that much when he did, but he always was short a couple of the few things he owned when Scott left.
He flicked his head back as he heard shuffling from his bedroom. Fuck this. He was not being baited.
Slapping his dirty work pants, Adam remembered that he left his phone on his bed. Shit.
Hobbling his way out the front door, he hurried down the hall. There was an older neighbor down two doorways who likely would be up at this hour.
As he banged on the door with pleads, he heard the creaking begin again. He started pleading louder and banging more excessively.
His reddened palm nearly fell out into his neighbor’s home as an older man with a bat clutched in his hand glared at him, albeit spooked. After pleading him to call the police, he was met with a huff and a door slam. Fair enough.
Looking back at his room, he was met with a door slightly ajar. He had slammed it on his way out—not the best move. He nearly tripped down the stairs, dropping the knife as he slid towards the door.
Frosty air clutched his face with sharp pain, and Adam let out a cloud of relief as grass brushed cool dew onto his patchy socks.
He saw nothing when he looked back. He probably looked crazy. Probably not the worst resident here.
Adam felt headlights burn his body as he clutched his sling. A dark car met him halfway, reminding him of the types they warn young children about when they walk home from school. The type you walk quickly away from, and don’t give a risky second look at.
Except here he was, standing frozen in the fractured light, bouncing from butcher-cut trees and cracked brick.
There was already someone there, waiting.
Blinking slowly, his lungs heaved for air. He turned and slowly tried to make his way up the stairs of the entrance, and yelped as his foot caught on the cement.
A sharp pain in the back of his neck elicited a yelp and sent him swinging aimlessly. Adam could barely feel as multiple bodies pulled him up and away, no care for his sling.
He saw Lawrence. He thought he did.
———
Adam woke with a start.
Kathy Mitchell was still on, gaining a deep sigh from him.
He’s okay.
His back cracked as he sat up from his slouch, gaining a groan and an ass scratch. His left leg was completely numb, and his neck was sore from what he assumed was falling asleep in an awkward position.
4:15
He’d have to get ready for work in less than two hours. He groaned.
The frozen burrito lay room temperature on his counter, still wrapped in aluminum. The knife was still in the block.
The cold, metallic sink water hit him heavenly. He was still completely disorientated.
There was still blood and grime under his nails from work. He desperately needed a shower. He gently wiped his eyes and grabbed his burrito, making his way into the bathroom.
He took bites as he slipped out of his clothes, dropping them in the hot water that filled his tub and started scrubbing. The water was a brownish-gray when he finished, and he washed his clothes out with his shower head before hanging them over the plastic stool in the corner of the bathroom.
Before he could take a shower with what hot water was left, his phone rang. Flipping it open awkwardly, he chirped a greeting as he sat down on his toilet seat cover.
After a breathy response he interpreted as some sort of laughter, he rubbed his face with his hand.
“Look, I have no time for this—”
The line went dead.
He groaned and let his head hit the back wall. He was so done with ominous phone calls.
Cracking against the cheap surface, Adam flung his Ericsson into the dip of his sink bowl and limped into the shower, hissing as the cold water hit him.
———
“Look, dude, I barely fucking know more than you don’t blame me that I got the advantage here.” Adam groaned as he yanked hard on the rusty slider. It didn’t budge.
”Well dude, I know you’re hiding something.” Lawrence eyes scanned him with a snap. “You seem awfully calm for someone with your disposition.”
”My… disposition.” Adam mocked. He turned and leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “You a Brit?”
Lawrence cocked a brow. “Does that matter?”
Shit-eating grin burning the other man’s face, Lawrence flicked the tape on again and held it close to his ear. Adam returned to pull at the door until Lawrence flicked his hand up to stop him.
After cycling it a couple times, Adam drew close and leaned in at Lawrence’s beckon.
Adam thought about how easy it would be for the other man to strangle him now. He put that thought aside for now.
Shortening his breath, the whisper of something edged near the end of the tape. Lawrence was onto something.
Pulling his arm up to fit between both their heads, Adam pressed lightly against Lawrence’s fingers to rewind and replay. Follow Your Heart.
”…the hell does ‘follow your heart’ mean.” Adam murmured
Glancing at Lawrence, his expression was unreadable. Pulling away, Adam left him to his thoughts and began scrounging around the room.
“Wait. Adam. Look.”
He followed Lawrence’s pointer finger to the toilet situated by disgusting tub he woke from. “No fucking way.”
”I can’t reach it. Please.”
Adam’s lips drew into a fine line, but he followed the doctor’s instructions and made his way over.
Crouching near the toilet, he gave Lawrence a quick sour glance before groaning and reaching in.
”Anything?” Lawrence’s hopeful expression pissed him off. Adam gave him a narrowed look, but older man wasn’t affected. “Try taking off the lid.”
Obliging him, Adam was met with a filthy black bag. After letting out a snarky comment about checking it first, which garnered a small laugh from Lawrence, he ripped it and slid his hand inside to investigate.
Two saws. The type you’d find for a couple bucks at a hardware store.
After investigating the rest of its contents, he dropped the bag and tiptoed past the dead body to meet Lawrence half way.
They must have been on the same wavelength, because the older man took one saw gently from his hand and lowered himself towards the base of his chain.
After they both worked at the chain for quite a bit, they were met with no relief. With a quick snap, Lawrence’s saw broke at the bladeline. He grabbed Adam’s hand to stop.
Cursing, Adam threw his in-tact saw against the floor and gripped his hair. Lawrence’s hand hovered near him, but never met.
”It’ll be okay Adam, just—calm down okay?”
Adam grabbed Lawrence’s broken saw and flung it at the shitty window, fracturing it into pieces. He felt a bit better.
They were stuck like this.
———
“Good morning Adam! How was traffic.”
”Hi Mateo,” Adam set his bag down at the counter and sighed. “Bad, as usual. Weird to see you at this part of the clinic though.”
Mateo met him with a small smirk. “No issues, just never got to really meet you. You’ve been working with us for what—two months now?”
”Yeah, almost three.” Adam smiled back.
”Never seen this place cleaner. By the way, Pamela mentioned you were interested in veterinary?”
”…Yeah. I haven’t got a GED yet though.”
”Ahhhh gotcha gotcha.” He flicked a couple cabinets open, searching for something. He heard the shake of a couple bottles as he flittered around the room. “Well lemme just—“
Quickly slipping a paper next to him, Mateo slipped out with a polite goodbye. He was strange, to say the least.
Looking down, Adam was met with a flyer with a broad pink sticky note perched above its headline. Something about a veterinary program, but the sticky note itself held a phone number and email. The email looked shady, but he assumed that the phone number was Mateo’s, as it was local.
He huffed and folded them into his bag before beginning his work day.