The days go by quickly and uneventfully.

I call Turner once after being followed by the stalker again. I know he won't be able to do anything about it, but he'd told me to keep him informed. That also meant that he has my number if anything ever comes up in the investigation.

I chat with Jack a couple more times, never really going into too much detail. My mind is always elsewhere.

I don't see Adam at all for the next couple of days. I'll apologize again later. The tension honestly isn't that bad. It never is with him. I can apologize later when I'm not busy with so many things, and it will still mean just as much to him.

I break from my thoughts and sigh as I glance over at my clock. 6:32. I'll have to be heading out in about twenty minutes if I don't want to be late.

I hadn't realized how late it had gotten already and jump out of bed. I grab my phone, wallet, and keys, then put on my shoes. I quickly comb my hair one last time and check that my window is locked before leaving my room and closing the door behind me.

The door to the study is open, so I peek my head in.

"I'm heading out, Dad."

The chair squeaks as he turns to look at me. "Your date?"

I nod.

"Okay. Have fun and be careful. Please call me if you need anything."

"I will." I slowly start inching out of the room.

"And be home before midnight. If you're not going to be able to make it, then call me and tell me where you are and how long you'll be. And let me know plenty of time beforehand."

"I know. I will. Promise. Bye, Dad," I call out, already halfway down the hall. He isn't telling me anything I haven't heard before.

"Bye, Raiden. I love you."

"Love you too." I quickly run out the door and start my car. Quiet music comes on over the radio and I look at the dashboard. It's only 6:40.

The drive to the park is only ten minutes from my house, but I'm too nervous and excited to wait any longer. I pull out of the driveway and start driving.

Nine minutes later, I arrive at the park and park my car in the lot near the back. There are a couple of cars in the lot, but I don't bother to pay much attention to them.

I can see the bench from my car; he isn't there yet. "Of course he's not," I tell myself. "You're ten minutes early. Don't psych yourself out."

After a deep, calming breath, I leave my car and head towards the bench. I turn back about halfway there and put my keys back in the car. I can see it from the bench and I don't like how uncomfortable they are in such a small pocket. There's not much of a chance that anyone will try to steal my car, anyway. Not in this small of a town.

I walk back to the bench, looking around at everyone to see if one of them could be Jackson. I doubt it. There are only a few far-away people here, and none seem to even notice the bench.

I sit down silently and check the time on my phone. Only 6:53. I groan and throw my head back. Waiting is and always has been one of my least favorite things to do. I can't stand it.

The wind picks up and I look at the clouds drifting across the sky. I heard something once, that you can tell a lot about a person by what they imagine clouds as. Like, if they constantly say something depressing, they're probably depressed. But, I mean, obviously. Or if they see food, animals, people, whatever. It all works. All I see is a cloud.

Someone clears his throat and I jerk back to attention. I lift my head off the back of the bench.

My eyes slowly take in the lone figure standing before me. I end up looking up at his face, skeptically. "Adam? What are you doing here?"

Adam smiles sweetly at me, his eyes glinting in the evening light. He slides into the space next to me. "I'm meeting someone."

"Really? Me too." Weird. I scan the park again. Only a few people are within view. Where could he be? It has to be time by now.

Adam is still staring at me when I turn around. I honestly don't know why he's still here. "So are you meeting Rachel for your date or something?"

He shrugs and tilts his head to the side. His smile grows. "I guess you could say that."

I give him a confused glare. What's he talking about? Either he's meeting her or he isn't. What 'in-between' could there be?

He crosses his arms and sits back, raising his eyebrows condescendingly. "Raiden," he scoffs.

I stare blankly back at him.

"Raiden. Seriously? Don't tell me you don't understand." He laughs as if he thinks my ignorance is humorous.

"Understand what?"

"Really? You don't get it, do you?" He chuckles again and I shake my head. He turns himself straight to look directly into my eyes to make sure he gets his point across. "I'm Jackson. I thought you would have figured that out by now."

I don't realize my mouth is hanging open until he reaches up and closes it for me. I turn and shake my head, not believing my ears. There is no way he's Jack. No...

"But... What about Rachel?" I somehow manage to ask.

"It was the closest feminine name I could find to Raiden."

"But... You're straight..."

He shakes his head with an inquisitive look on his face. "Not since last I checked."

"Oh, God," I mumble, leaning forward with my head in my hands.

He gently sets his hand on my shoulder to comfort me. "Raiden?" he carefully questions.

I jerk my head up and shrug his hand away. "You catfished me... Why would you do that to me? I thought we were friends..." I try not to cry despite my feelings of betrayal. How could he hurt me like that? It's sick to mess with people's feelings like that for so long. If it was all just a sick prank...

"We are friends, Raiden," he whispers. He looks down and grabs my hand. "We're more than friends. You're my boyfriend."

I pull away from him and scoot back on the bench. "No." A small, humorless laugh escapes my throat. "I should have listened to everyone. They said I should be careful who I trust..."

"Rai..."

"Stop..."

"Babe, please."

"Shut up! Don't call me that!"

His mood darkens immediately. "Do not yell at me."

I shrink away from him and stand up. I've never seen him so serious. It's almost frightening. "No!" I scream even louder. "Fuck you! Just leave! I never want to see you again! Not after what you've done to me... Was this all just a joke to you? How could you?"

"Calm down, Raiden." The bench is eerily silent as he stands. The way he moves is somehow too smooth to irritate the old, worn, plastic bench. I back up a step in fear.

"No! Leave me the fuck alone! How many times do I have to tell you?"

He steps closer and I back up to counter it. The rough bark of the tree behind me suddenly digs into my back as he forces me farther back. I hadn't noticed how close it'd gotten as I'd backed away. I'm cornered.

My breath catches in my throat as he flips out a knife and holds the cold metal precariously against my neck. "Don't yell at me."

"I'm sorry," I quickly whimper.

"Apology accepted." He smiles, another gleam in his eye. He's sick or something. He just has to be. It's the only reason I can come up with for his actions. "Do you recognize this knife? It shut you up last time too."

I look down at it. At the handle, specifically. "You... Fuck, you're the stalker too...aren't you?"

"Your words, not mine."

Talk of the stalker brings Turner to mind. My phone. If I can just call him and let him know something's wrong, he can track my phone and find me. I have to let him know that I need help.

He's the last person I called, so he'll be the first person on my call list. If I can press the call button twice, it'll call him back. I thank myself mentally for not replacing my broken smartphone. If I didn't have my old backup phone from middle school, it wouldn't have tactile buttons and this wouldn't work.

"Please, Adam. Please let me go." I slip my hand into my pocket and feel around for the call button.

He smiles, but it just makes him look scarier. "I can't do that, Raiden. I was actually hoping you'd come with me."

I find the button and click it twice. "Come with you where?"

"Back–" He stops short and looks down at my pocket. He pulls the lit phone out and reads the screen, then holds it in my face. "You're calling the cops?" He hangs up and throws the phone away.

At least he didn't turn it off. They can use the GPS tracker to find us here.

He turns me around and pushes me face-first against the tree, my hands behind my back. "Don't move or I'll cut you," he warns.

I stay still, letting him waste whatever time he wants. The longer we stay here, the better. It's just more time for Turner to arrive.

He pulls my hands together and ties them loosely with a type of cloth obviously not meant to be used as a restraint. He finishes a loose knot I'm sure I could get out of with a little effort. "I don't know why you fought me. We've had a plan. We always said we would run away together."

Once he pulls me back from the tree and my chest is no longer crushed, I'm able to answer him. "No. That's not what I meant. I never wanted this."

"Raiden, please." He turns me around to face him. "We were meant to be. Don't deny it!"

"Damn it, Adam!" I want to break down and cry, but I'm too afraid to let myself. "Don't you see it? Something's wrong! This isn't you."

He smiles as if he expected me to say that and is absolutely delighted. "No, this is the real me. You'll come to understand soon enough. I promise." He grabs my arm in a tight grip and coaxes me forward.

I push back against him to slow him down. "Adam, stop! I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"Don't make this difficult."

I push back harder.

"Raiden, I swear to God! I'm going to count to three. You better stop this before I finish."

He pulls me to his chest and puts his knife back to my throat. I squirm in his grip.

"One... Two... Three..."

Without hesitation, he digs the knife in at one far end of my throat and slowly drags it across.

My neck burns and I can't stop myself from crying out in pain. Every time I try to move, the knife digs deeper.

"Adam, please..."

He leans in closer and whispers, "Stop struggling and I'll take it out."

I stop immediately. Once I'm completely still, he chuckles and pulls it back out, my blood dripping onto his hand.

"Good boy... Now let's go to my car without a fight, okay?"

"Okay..." I shakily whimper. I quickly abandoned my plan to stall for time. Despite my will to wait for Turner, I don't want to get myself killed before then. I can't trust that I would be alive when Turner shows up. It has to be in my best interest to comply.

Adam quickly forces me into the passenger seat of his car before I can work up any nerve to fight back again. He buckles me in, crushing my hands between my back and the seat. After he walks around and slips into the driver's seat, it hits me why he's never fixed the broken handle on the inside of the passenger door. Even if I had my hands accessible, there's nothing to grab.

We start the drive in uncomfortable silence. I find myself not being able to focus on any clear thought. One second I'm thinking about how to get away from Adam, the next about how scared I am, then Turner, then the blood uncomfortably drying on my neck, then all the hours I spent talking to "Jackson," then my mom and dad and what they'll think.

Despite myself, I start to cry. At first, it's only short sniffles but soon turns into quiet sobs.

"Rai," Adam gently starts. "Are you okay?" He sets his right hand on my leg, but I do my best to shrug him off of me. He holds on.

"No..."

"Is it your neck? I'm sorry, but I did it because you wouldn't listen."

"Just let me go... Please..." I turn my body away from him and lean my head against the window, trying to cry quieter.

He sighs, removes his hand, and keeps driving in silence.