I Want to Die, But I Am Immortal

As soon as Adam let go of the two of them they both ran away from there. Adam turned around. He slowly tried to get out of the alley. He stood at a corner.

The thought came to Adam's mind. It was possible that they were waiting for him at the school. This could have been a coincidence where Adam met them at the school.

As Adam was thinking this he came out of that alley. Adam saw that a small light shone from a building a short distance in front of him. Immediately after that a bullet hit Adam's head.

Adam fell straight back onto the ground. In the few milliseconds in which Adam was alive and dying he saw that similar bullets were being fired at Sophia's house.

Seeing this Adam understood that they had come to kill Sophia too. Then darkness spread all around Adam. Adam went back to the roof of that lift again.

As soon as Adam woke up on that lift he immediately got out of there. He went straight to Sophia's house. He hid a short distance away. He looked at the house with the light.

It was quite far away. Adam came out from his place. He went to the other side of Sophia's neighborhood. He came to the street where Adam thought the shot had come from.

However Adam did not know for sure. He had not seen exactly where the shot had come from. He just knew that in this direction the two or three houses in front of Sophia's house had houses behind them.

The shot had come from a window in one of those houses. There were three or four houses that Adam suspected they could be in.

Adam entered the first of the three houses. He climbed over the wall.

He moved very slowly around the house. It was about to be 5 o'clock so everyone was asleep. Adam slowly went to the roof of that house.

He saw the same window that he had seen last time. But Adam also saw that all three houses had the exact same window on their roof. Because of this Adam had to be very careful.

He slowly went next to the window. He stood there hiding himself. Adam saw that the window was completely closed. Adam moved his face a little forward.

He looked into the window. He found that there was a curtain there. Then Adam realized that if he continued like this the whole morning would pass.

Adam was ready to die one more time. So Adam would not hide now. He would go right in front. So that he could find out the location of these people. Then Adam tried to open that window. But the window was not opening. So Adam applied a little force.

Adam ripped the entire window out of its frame with a low groan of stressed wood. Glass and all. He carefully set the heavy window frame aside on the rooftop, the motion silent and deliberate.

He slipped through the opening into the quiet room. Pulling the thin curtain back, he saw a space that looked almost exactly like his own bedroom.

It was a simple room, with posters on the wall and books on a desk. He didn't see any signs of a killer here, no professional equipment, no hint of a predator's nest. There was just a girl, sleeping peacefully on the bed.

Seeing her, a deep certainty settled in Adam. This house did not have the killer he was hunting. This was a dead end. He felt a pang of frustration and was about to step away, to retreat as silently as he had arrived.

But as he moved backward, his foot landed squarely on a pink teddy bear lying on the floor. It let out a pathetic, wheezing squeak. The small noise was an explosion in the dead silence of the room.

The girl's eyes snapped open. For a split second, there was only confusion. Then her head turned and she saw Adam, a dark figure standing in her room.

Shock morphed into pure, undiluted terror. Her mouth opened wide, a scream building in her throat. But before any sound could escape, Adam rushed over in a desperate, silent dash.

He clamped a firm hand over her mouth, smothering the scream before it could be born.

She started trembling violently, her whole body shaking with fear. She was convinced intruders had broken into her home. Her hands flew up, trying to pry his hand away so she could scream for her parents, for anyone.

Adam leaned in close, his voice a low, urgent whisper. "It's not what you think. I just needed to check something." Even as he spoke the words, he knew how useless and insane it sounded. He was an intruder. He did sneak in.

Unsure what to do, and knowing the clock was ticking, knowing he kept getting killed in this loop, Adam made a hard choice. He grabbed a piece of cloth from a nearby chair, ripped it with a sharp tearing sound, and gagged her. "I'm sorry, but you'll ruin my whole plan," he said, his voice flat with grim necessity.

She struggled hard, thrashing against him, but his grip was like iron, too strong for her to break. He tied the gag securely so she couldn't shout.

Then, working quickly, he tied one of her wrists to the side of the bed, and the other to the opposite side. The girl grew even more terrified, her eyes wide with the question of what would happen to her.

Adam paused. He looked at the knots. He hated this. He loosened one of them slightly, just enough so she could free herself after a short while. He only needed a few minutes of quiet.

He only needed to confirm which house the killer was in. Looking her directly in the eyes, he spoke again. "I know you won't believe me, so I'll spell it out. I tied you up, yes. But I have no intention of hurting you. I'm hunting someone who's after my life. I saw three possible houses here. Yours was the first."

She just stared at him, her fear a palpable thing in the air between them. Adam added, "I know you still won't trust me. I'm leaving now. After I go, you can free yourself, scream, or call the police if you want. But please understand. I'm just trying to survive." With that, he turned, slipped back out through the empty window frame, and was gone.

The girl watched him disappear into the pre-dawn darkness. She lay there in silence, her mind reeling, and began to work her hands furiously to loosen the ties.

Adam wasted no time. He dropped silently into the lane outside and immediately sprinted toward the second house. "I have to hurry," he thought, his heart pounding.

"She'll free herself soon, and my plan will be blown. The whole neighborhood will be awake." He vaulted over the wall into the second property, his movements fluid and urgent.

He scrambled up to the roof, not bothering with stealth this time. He kicked through a window, using his forward momentum to smash it completely. The glass shattered with a deafening explosion.

Adam's eyes widened as he landed inside. A man dressed in all black was set up with a long sniper rifle, the barrel resting on a bipod, aimed out the window.

The man's attention was not on Adam yet; he was focused on his scope. As the sniper heard the crash and reached for a separate 9mm sidearm lying near the rifle, Adam leaped.

He was a blur of motion. He kicked the man hard in the face. A heavy, sickening crack echoed in the room as the sniper was slammed to the floor. The pistol skittered across the floorboards.

In one seamless motion, Adam pulled a knife from his inventory. He drove it through both of the sniper's hands, pinning them brutally to the wooden floor.

When the man opened his mouth to scream in agony, Adam stuffed a wad of cloth into it, silencing him. The sniper writhed in silent, excruciating pain, his body convulsing.

For a moment, Adam wondered why no one else had rushed in yet. He listened, his senses on high alert. There was nothing. Then it hit him. This house was empty. They had cleared it out. It was just a temporary nest.

Adam straddled the sniper's chest. He pounded a fist into his face again and again. The man's cheeks swelled and bruised. Adam didn't finish him with one blow.

He kept hitting him for several long minutes, a cold fury driving him. Finally, with a thin, cruel smile, Adam said, "If you scream…" He drew the knife again, its blade glinting.

"This goes straight into your throat." The sniper, his face a numb and swollen mess, nodded frantically, his eyes wild with terror.

Adam pulled out the gag. "Tell me your team's location."

The sniper was about to speak, his lips trembling, when a voice crackled from the small radio on his tactical vest. It was a burst of static, followed by a cold, professional voice that cut through the silence.

"Team B, status?"

In that single instant, Adam understood everything. It all clicked into place. They were networked. They were communicating. That was how they kept catching him before.

That was how they were always one step ahead. It wasn't bad luck. It was a coordinated, professional hunt. Each squad knew exactly where the others were at all times.