"I'm armed," she said, raising her voice. "Stay away. I have a knife."

"No, you don't," the figure croaked.

​​

Her knees shook beneath her, and she collapsed onto the floor. She tried to get up, but her legs didn't seem to work. She scrambled and struggled, and the figure laughed in short, dry rasps.

"I'll call the police," she said.

"No, you won't," the figure croaked.

"I will," she insisted.

"They won't help," the figure said. "If the police were good for anything, I'd still have my hand."

She froze—there was something about the voice that sounded strangely familiar.

"Who are you?" she asked again.

"Guess," the figure said.

"I have no idea," she said, feeling a panicked sob shake in her chest. "I—I— swear."

"Oh, but you do know who I am, Madison," he said.

Her heart beat faster, and another sob shook her chest. How did the intruder know her name? What else did he know?

"My parents will wake up," she said. "They'll come in here the second I scream."

"No, they won't," the man said. "Even if they heard you, they couldn't get in. The door is locked."

"What do you want?" she asked. "We don't have any money. We barely have any valuables. We've been selling our jewelry to pay the rent and—"

"I'm not here for any of that," the man said.

"Then what are you here for?" she asked, horror seizing her.

"Revenge," the man said.

Slowly he lowered the stump arm from his face, and she gasped. The face below was horribly disfigured. The left eye was so swollen it looked like it would burst, the nose was clearly broken, and every inch of skin was covered in purple and blue bruising.

"Don't you recognize me?" the man asked.

His lips barely moved as he spoke, but she could see nothing but black space where his teeth should be. She studied his face in confusion.

"I have no idea who you are," she said.

"Think again," he said.

She looked past his face at the torn and dirtied suit, and it hit her. "Are you Adam?" she asked. "What the hell happened to you?"

"You happened done this to me," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"Your little party did this to me," he said.

"How?" she asked.

"Let me refresh your memory," he said. "When you invited me, it was on one condition, remember? You wanted me to seduce that little bitch Catherine Stewart. You said it didn't matter how I did it—drugs or not. But you know what you didn't mention?"

"W-what?" she stammered.

"Her bloody husband," he screamed. "You forgot to mention that she's married to Sean Bloody Blair."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "I didn't tell you anything about Catherine."

"Don't play innocent," he snapped. "I have the texts that prove it."

"What texts?" she asked.

"You bitch," he shouted. "Don't lie to my face."

"I really don't know what you're talking about," she said again. "What happened to your hand?"

"Sean happened to my hand," he said. "I'm lucky it was just the one. He wanted to come for my feet and bloody dick as well."

"He-he cut off your hand?" she asked, and her stomach churned.

"Oh, I wish he'd cut it off," Adam replied. "In the end, there was almost nothing left to remove."

A horrible sound filled the room. It took her a minute to realize it was her own shaking sobs. She shook her head and pressed her back against the wall—trying to get as much distance between herself and Adam as possible.

"Come here, Madison," he said. "Let me show you my hand."

"N-no," she said.

"Oh?" he asked. "But you seemed so curious about it before. Come closer, and I'll tell you exactly what happened."

"You—you need to see a doctor," she said.

"Oh, I have," she answered. "You know Sean Blair has doctors working for him? They do whatever he says—no questions asked. When he and his men were done with me, the doctor came and patched me back up. Well, what was left of me."

"That's horrible," she said.

"Oh, you don't know half of it yet," he said.

"You need to leave," Madison said, her voice trembling. "You need to leave now."

Adam ignored her, "Do you know what it's like to wake up and realize your hand is gone?"

"You're talking like a mad man, Adam," Madison said. "Stop, you're scaring me."

"Good," Adam growled. "Now, answer my question—do you know what it's like to wake up without a hand?"

"Of course not," she stammered.

"Would you like to learn?" he asked.

With his good hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pocket knife. He flipped it open, revealing a wickedly sharp, four-inch blade. He held it up to his face as if to inspect it, and the metal glinted brightly in the darkness of the room.

"Stay away from me," Madison stammered. "Don't come any closer."

"I thought I would die," Adam said. "The pain was overwhelming, and I prayed to lose consciousness. But do you know what happened?"

"What?" she asked.

"Every time I blacked out, they revived me," he said bitterly. "They shot me full of adrenaline, and as soon as I woke up, they began beating me again. They know ways to hurt that you can't even imagine. The things they did—well, I'd never seen anything like it. But I paid attention. I told myself I'd learn to copy exactly what they did so I could repeat it all and take my revenge."

"You're crazy," Madison whimpered. "You're absolutely crazy."

"Maybe," he said. "For hours, I begged for death. I suppose that changes a man."

Madison made a choked crying sound and pulled her bare knees to her chest. Tears streaked her cheeks, and her full lips trembled and shook.

"I don't know what you want from me," she finally said.

"I want to show you what they did to me," he said.

"No," she whispered. "Please don't."

"Come on, Madison," he said, his hoarse voice turning smooth and seductive. "Don't you want to see my hand?"

"No," she screamed. "Please, no."

He stalked toward her slowly, moving with a strange shuffling walk. With each step, a small grunt of pain escaped from his lips, but his face was determined. She scrambled backward on the floor until her back slammed into the locked door. She gasped in terror, and he laughed.

"Don't cut my hand off," she pleaded. "I didn't do any of this to you. It's not my fault. If you truly want revenge, you need to find the men who did this to you."