Emily tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear as she pushed up her glasses. It had just started raining when she got out of class. She didn’t have a raincoat or umbrella, and she had just gotten a very late dinner in a box to take back to her dorm. After trying to clean her glasses again, and failing, Emily finally took them off and stuffed them into her sweatshirt pocket.

Why did it have to rain now, of all times? Couldn’t it have waited ten minutes for her to get back to her dorm? Emily sighed as she neared the fork in the road. Both streets took her to the dorms, but the right street was lit, and the left was not, making it creepy. Emily turned right. She walked quickly, hoping that her books in her bag wouldn’t get too wet.

There was an almost immediate parking lot on the right, and a path to the dorms on her left. She was getting ready to veer left when she saw a dark, blurry figure in the parking lot. Emily paused and considered putting her glasses back on, but then decided that it wouldn’t make much of a difference with the torrent of rain coming down. She squinted at the figure, who seemed to be looking down. Emily followed his gaze down to the ground.

There was another figure on the ground. Emily was sure that the person, she suspected was a man, was speaking. Emily slowly moved closer, trying to make out the conversation. Why would this man be on the ground, especially in this weather?

“Please, don’t do this! I don’t want to die,” the man said. Emily froze. The figure above him laughed and bent over the man a little bit. And then Emily saw a gun in the person’s hand. Her heart almost stopped.

“Too late,” the figure said. Judging by the voice, it was a man. Emily thought he might even be a student. But that was absurd. Either way, she knew she shouldn’t be here, and began to back away.

“Please!” the victim yelled, growing more frantic. The figure raised the gun to the man’s head, and Emily screamed. She thought that maybe, no, she didn’t know what she thought. She didn’t mean to scream; it just came out. But maybe the man would hear her, and run away. The man’s head snapped over and he saw her instantly. Somehow she knew he did. He sneered at her.

The gun went off and Emily turned left and ran as fast as she could towards the dorm. He hadn’t even looked at the victim when he pulled the trigger. Emily choked back a sob and hoped she wouldn’t trip in the mud like they always did in the movies. She heard him chasing her, but was too afraid to turn and see how close he was. Finally, as she was nearing the dorm, she heard his sloshing footsteps slow.

He was too nervous to follow her here. Well good! In her haste, she slammed into the door. It was unlocked and Emily threw it open and went straight into the nearby RA office. After getting past her hysterics and actually telling the girl what happened, the RA on duty, Jessica, called the cops. Emily peered out the window for the hundredth time as she waited for Jessica to get off the phone. There was no one there.

Jessica put the phone back on the cradle and looked at Emily. She was clearly worried, and Emily wasn’t entirely sure that Jessica believed she had actually seen the whole thing.

But it wasn’t her imagination. Emily had to prove that. “I did really see it,” she said again, prepared to explain it all over again, but Jessica dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

“Look, it’s okay, I believe you.” She walked around the desk and coaxed Emily onto the couch. “You just need to take a few deep breaths and calm down. The cops are on their way.”

Emily nodded and looked at her knees, trying not to remember how that man had begged for his life.

2

It seemed like the whole school was there. The cops had split into two teams; one went to the crime scene, and the other to see the witness. Around them, students stood anywhere they were allowed, spreading fresh rumors. Emily sighed. She was tired of explaining what had happened over and over, and this whole thing was rather embarrassing. She didn’t like attention. Honestly, she was practically blind without her glasses, and she really didn’t even see that much anyway. It’s not like she could identify the killer.

As the cops asked more questions about the execution, Emily saw another cop approaching from behind. Detective Meyers, the man Emily was talking to, paused as this new cop stopped next to them and smiled vaguely. Emily guessed that maybe he didn’t like this new cop, who was considerably younger. The new cop smiled warmly and shook her hand.

“Hi Emily. I’m Detective Hammond.” He paused, growing more serious. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

Emily sighed. Here we go again. “No.”

Hammond smiled again and Meyers walked away with a grim look on his face. “I’ll try not to make you repeat too much, but how exactly did the victim die?”

“He was shot in the head, point blank…I think the guy had a silencer too,” she added.

“He didn’t do anything else? No…mutilation?” Hammond asked.

Emily blinked. “No. Why?”

Hammond paused and shifted feet uncomfortably. “Well…his eyes were missing.”

Emily blanked out. She had no idea of what Hammond was saying. Why would the killer do that? That was just plain revolting. And when did he even have the time?

“—and maybe because you saw him kill this student—”

“Student?” Emily blurted.

Hammond looked even more uncomfortable. “Yes. He was a junior.”

When Emily didn’t respond, he continued. “…so because you saw him kill the student, he carved out the eyes as a warning to you. A scare tactic, perhaps. Or at least, that’s what we think. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with these kinds of people.”

Emily realized she was holding her breath, and let it out in a giant sigh. “But detective! I couldn’t even see him. I wear glasses, and I had taken them off because of the rain. I have no real idea of what he looks like!”

Hammond frowned. “Where were your glasses when he saw you?”

Emily thought back to that night. “…in my pocket…”

“So he doesn’t know that you couldn’t see his face.”

Emily shifted uncomfortably. “But if that’s true…then how do I know that he won’t come after me next?”

Hammond sighed and ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. He’d had a feeling that she’d ask that. “Actually, we are quite sure of what he’ll do next.” He paused. Emily was looking at him hopefully. He hated this part.

“Ms. Peters, we are sure that he will come for you next.”

Emily’s eyes widened and her head dipped forward slightly. He had to finish his sentence before she fainted, or worse, went hysterical. After that point he was sure he wouldn’t be able to get a word in.

She began to stammer uncontrollably.

“Emily,” he interrupted calmly. She kept stammering; however, her words becoming jumbled together.

“Emily. Emily!” He grabbed her shoulders and she flinched. “Sorry,” he said. “Just hear me out. It’s important that you listen to what I have to say.”

Emily nodded.

“Okay,” Hammond said, releasing his grip. “Because we’re sure of what he’ll do next, we have a plan. We’ll have our men protecting you at night. When he comes, because he will most probably come at night, we’ll be ready. We will catch him before he ever gets anywhere close to you.”

He paused, making sure that she was still listening. "We’ll also have your room-mate stay somewhere else until this is over,” he added.

Her eyes widened. “But why? If I’m not in any real danger—”

He held up his hands in a stopping motion. “Just in case,” he assured her.

Emily was still in shock. “But…but…you’re making me the bait?” she asked, her voice cracking on the last word. Hammond softened his face, willing her to be calm.

“Yes, but you’ll be perfectly safe. We’ll make sure that nothing happens to you.”

Emily seemed to be having trouble catching her breath. “And there is no other way?”

Hammond hesitated. “You’ll be perfectly safe,” he reassured.

Before she could say anything else, Hammond patted her on the shoulder and walked away. He glanced behind him to make sure that she was being taken care of. Sure enough, some cops were already coaxing her to walk back to the dorms.

Hammond sighed and stopped next to Meyers. “Well that went well,” he said.

Meyers frowned. “Is that what you think?”

Hammond rolled his eyes.

“Why didn’t you answer her last question.”

“I didn’t want her to back out of this opportunity. He’ll be coming after her anyway. I’d be remised of my duty if I didn’t use this situation to its full advantage.”

Meyers nodded ever so slightly. “Right. Well just remember…if anything happens to her, the blame is on your shoulders.”

3

Several nights passed with no action. Emily wasn’t able to sleep well due to her constant brooding. Every night she was sure that the killer was coming to get her. She had dreams about him killing the guards and coming in to gouge out her eyes. These dreams would always end right before her torture or death, and she always awoke screaming. This would alert the guardian cops who were ever so annoying.

After a full five days of tension and waiting, Emily was beginning to think that he’d given up. She finally fell asleep after lying in bed for hours and sunk into a rather odd dream.

Emily walked down the hallway cautiously. She knew there was something wrong, but she didn’t know what it was. All of the halls were empty and the classrooms dark. She desperately wanted to go downstairs and escape, but some instinct was telling her that that was a bad idea. Someone was down there and he wanted to hurt her. He’d hurt so many others. Suddenly the lights went out and Emily froze. She heard footsteps coming up the stairwell behind her on the left. She looked around and hurried softly into the first classroom she found. Hiding behind the podium, she closed her eyes.

Her heart was pounding so loudly she was sure that the man could hear her. Somehow, she knew it was a man. She didn’t hear the door open or the footsteps draw closer. The sense of dread grew as she waited for something to happen. Just as she began to consider opening her eyes and leaving the room, a hand clasped over her mouth.

“Got you,” he whispered.

Emily’s eyes shot open and the killer’s face filled her vision. He was smiling, holding his hand over her mouth. His dark black hair fell in front of his face, although it didn’t obscure his faded blue eyes, which were almost grey. They bored into her eyes.

“Now I’m going to move my hand, and when I do, I expect you not to scream. If you do, I’ll kill you right away. Do you understand?”

Emily nodded as much as she could with his hand over her mouth. He removed his hand and for several seconds they simply stared.

“What do you want?” Emily breathed, rather short of breath. The man smiled and Emily saw something glint in his hand. It was also at this moment that she realized he was wearing gloves and her heart began to pound. He was silent, still smiling.

“Who are you?” she prompted, the nervousness seeping into her voice.

“What?” he asked sarcastically. “You don’t recognize me?” he mocked. Emily squinted at him and then reached for her glasses. Of course she knew who he was, but she wanted to see his face clearly. He narrowed his eyes.

“You wear glasses?” he questioned.

She nodded and put them on. He seemed young enough to be a student, maybe even her own age. “How did you get in here? Didn’t the cops see you?”

He laughed in response, but was clearly not giving her his full attention. He looked almost confused. “The cops?” he laughed again. “Let’s just say they are sleeping right now.”

Emily looked back at his hands. “Are you going to kill me the way you did that student?”

He snorted. “No, that guy had it coming for a totally different reason.” He looked back at her. “But you aren’t the one who should be asking the questions here.” He paused. “I don’t remember you wearing glasses that night…” he said thoughtfully, trailing off.

She sighed. “That’s because I wasn’t wearing them at the time.”

“You didn’t see my face.” It wasn’t a question. She nodded. He tilted his head back and sighed heavily. “This was completely pointless.” He confirmed.

“That’s right; especially now that I actually have seen your face.” A moment later she realized that that simple fact would be her death sentence. She looked up sharply at his face. He was still looking at the ceiling. Finally he looked down, focusing on her bright green eyes.

“Well in that case,” he said, “it would appear that I have to silence you regardless.” He started to move towards her.

Emily’s eyes widened. “Wait, wait, wait, hold on just a second!” She stammered for the right words. “You don’t have to do that,” she managed, laughing nervously. He raised an eyebrow.

“Why not?” he asked. “You’ve seen my face; you could turn me in. I think that’s plenty enough of a reason.”

Emily laughed hollowly. “But I wouldn’t! I won’t turn you in, so just…just lower the knife, okay?”

He stared at her for a few seconds before a smile spread across his face. “It’s not a matter of trust, Emily.”

Emily blanched. How did he find out her name?

“I can’t trust you just because you say that you won’t turn me in. I have to assume that the moment I leave, you have the opportunity to turn me in, and you will. Even if you mean that you won’t right now, you might change your mind later when the cops question you. Maybe because of a guilty conscience.”

He moved closer, his arm slightly raised. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this. I really hate to kill an innocent.”

Her strength left her and she felt completely defenseless. “Then don’t,” Emily whispered.

He was at the bedside now. “Don’t scream,” he instructed. He reached out with the knifeless hand and touched her cheek, holding her face still.

Suddenly the willpower came back. How could she just sit here and let him slit her throat? She needed to distract him. “How did you know my name?” she blurted out. He paused and then smiled.

“I was one of those annoying students crowding around when the cops were interrogating you outside.”

She frowned. “You heard them say my name?” He nodded. “And you didn’t hear him ask me about my glasses?”

“It was hard to hear much of anything with all those loud students everywhere.”

Emily tried desperately to come up with another question. He raised the knife slightly.

“Anything else?” he asked. Was he mocking her?

“Yes!” Emily exclaimed. He raised his eyebrows, waiting.

“Why did you kill that junior?”

He frowned. “He had it coming.”

“Elaborate,” she pressed.

"Why should I?" he asked.

"Why not?"

He stared at her for several seconds, deciding, and then released her face and lowered the knife. Emily relaxed ever so slightly. Moving backwards, he plopped into a chair. “You ever heard the phrase ‘the end justifies the means’?”

Emily nodded.

“Well that guy was a suspected rapist. He’s in the suspect list of a few different unsolved cases. And I mean a primary suspect.” He paused, gathering the right words. “He threatened my sister the other day and has been following her around ever since.”

He paused again, and then became angrier as he continued. “I wasn’t going to wait for something to happen first.”

“What about calling the cops?” she asked nervously.

He sneered. “They won’t do anything until something happens. Besides, my sister did call them. They said that they’d need more probable cause before they could do anything.” His face darkened. “He’s a fucking rapist and he’s threatening my sister and that isn’t enough?”

Emily looked down at her lap. “So you took matters into your own hands.”

He nodded. “That’s right.”

Emily hesitated. “And you couldn’t just give him a warning or something?”

He scoffed. “He wouldn’t take me seriously.” He frowned, as if he had just found something nasty. “No one does,” he muttered.

“I do,” Emily whispered.

He laughed. It sounded odd and out of place. “Yeah because I killed a man in front of you and am now threatening your own life.”

Emily shrugged.

“Now enough of this,” he said sharply, standing up. “I don’t have all night.”

Emily’s eye widened. “Wait! I’m not quite done. What, um, what is your name?” she spluttered, catching him off guard. He paused.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Just…just because,” she said awkwardly, unable to give a real answer. What could she say? Oh, because I want to delay you cutting my throat. Not.

His eye narrowed in suspicion. “Adam.”

“Well, Adam,” she said, his name sounding weird on her tongue, “are you sure you really want to do this? I mean killing him was one thing, but if you were caught and they discovered that you’d killed me too, an innocent no less, you’d be in much deeper shit wouldn’t you? I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”

He seemed angry at first, but then began to smile, moving closer again. “But I won’t get caught, you see, so I’m not worried.”

He continued his advance. Panic rose in her throat.

“But you can’t know that! Besides, even if you get away with it,” she continued frantically, “you’ll have to live with your guilty conscience for the rest of your life!”

He didn’t stop progressing, merely a foot away from her bed now. She leaned as far back into the wall as she could.

“So, so if you turn yourself in now, I won’t tell anyone that you came here to…to…”

He was on the bed now and he cupped her face in one of his hands gently, as if he were touching her intimately the way a boyfriend might. Her words caught in her throat and she couldn’t even remember what she was going to say.

“Please,” she barely managed.

His smile faded. “I really am sorry,” he whispered. She closed her eyes, and then he raised the knife.

“FREEZE!” a man yelled from the doorway. Emily’s eyes shot open immediately. The first thing she saw was Adam’s shocked face.

“Lower the knife. Do it NOW!”

A look of resignation crossed Adam's features. He held out his arm slowly so they could see the knife and then he dropped it on the mattress. He suddenly looked bored.

“Put your hands on the back of your head and don’t move,” the man continued to dictate. Adam did so and the man moved into Emily’s view. He was a burly cop. His short somewhat curly brown hair was disheveled and he appeared to have a black eye.

And Emily thought that ‘sleeping’ meant Adam killed those men. She wanted to make a witty comment on how he should have thought more about his time limit, but couldn’t seem to make her mouth open. Another man quickly appeared behind the cop, and it was he who grabbed Adam and pulled him so forcefully from the bed that Emily thought he’d fall on the ground. The cop caught him; however, and began to frisk him for any other hidden weapons.

The cop pulled his hands down behind his back and the sound of cuffs shutting seemed deafening. He reached into Adam's pocket and pulled out a wallet with an ID.

“Adam Lamport, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Emily Peters. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney…”

She looked away. Everything seemed so surreal. When she looked at Adam again, he was smirking.

“Guess you got lucky this time, huh Emily?”

She swallowed nervously and looked down at the comforter. It had to be over. He couldn’t do anything to her now. Right?

The sound of her name being called summoned her back to reality. Detective Hammond was standing in front of her with his hands on her shoulders.

“Can you hear me? It’s alright, we’re here now. Emily?”

She looked up and had never been so happy to see anyone in her whole life. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed. Hammond wrapped his arms around her and she was vaguely aware of his comforting words. The tears flowed freely now, but through them she saw Adam’s ever-present smirk.

“Catch you around sometime,” he whispered.

4

Emily sat down at the table with her plate and looked out the window. The clouds were dark with the promise of rain. As if on cue a roll of thunder disturbed the peace, and lightning cracked the sky. She sighed and looked at her food. It was a Chicken Caesar Salad. Emily always got the same thing at Panera. She toyed with a piece of bread and then took a sip of her drink.

The familiar patter of rain on the window returned her attention to the outdoors. She stared blankly for several seconds before closing her eyes. His face filled her vision and Emily’s eyes shot open immediately. Adam wasn’t there, of course. He was safely locked away in jail. This didn’t stop her heart from beating wildly.

Hammond had suggested a therapist, but Emily didn’t think it would do that much good. She would still think about him when it rained. She would still have nightmares. There was nothing that some shrink could do for her.

She sighed and poked at her food while glancing around. A newspaper rack caught her attention and Emily got up. She placed it on the counter and grabbed her drink simultaneously. As she took a sip, she scanned the headline news. The first article was about a prison break. Emily tilted the cup away from her, the liquid still in her mouth. She looked for his name, scanning the article quickly, knowing that she was overreacting. Surely it was someone else. She didn’t see his name, and realizing the coke was still in her mouth, she swallowed.

She picked up the drink and began to take another sip. Then she saw something, something that was so horrible she spat out her drink.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. The cup fell out of her hand and she grabbed her purse and ran out of the restaurant.

The waitress stared at her in shock as she fled the building.

“Maybe she found something in the food,” another waiter said. He laughed. The waitress walked over to the table and glanced at the paper.

“She was reading this before she left,” she said to the other waiter. He frowned in thought.

“What does it say?” he asked. She scanned the article.

“Hmm, not much here. Just something about an escaped convict. Someone named…Adam Lamport…”

Finis

August 31, 2009