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He chuckles. “Just checking,” he says, his hazel eyes sparkling under the dim lights as he smiles.

Sam suddenly grips my chin, pulling me forward before kissing me, his tongue slipping into my mouth. He breaks the kiss when the waitress clears her throat before placing our coffee down. She leaves, and I turn to look at him. My eyebrows furrow.

“You okay? You’re acting strange,” I tell him.

“Yep, fine. What, I can’t kiss you now?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No, it’s not that I don’t care. You’re just being… I don’t know, more affectionate.”

“Yeah, I have been meaning to talk…” He doesn’t finish, instead looking up as someone approaches.

I drop my head. This cannot be happening right now.

Eli sits next to me, sliding along the booth seat. Sam looks from Eli to me, and I try to hide my face as I look out the window, embarrassed.

“Hi, can I help you?” Sam asks, a little perplexed.

“Adeline!” Sam exclaims, making me look at him as he looks between Eli and me. I press my lips in a line when Eli places his hand on my thigh.

“Hi, I am Eli. Addie’s boss,” Eli says politely, yet from the look on his face and the trembling of his hand on my leg, he looks like he wants to kill him.

“Okay, Adeline, what’s going on?” Sam asks.

“I am so sorry about this. We will just go,” I tell Sam, about to hop up when Eli’s grip on my legs tightens.

“Sit down, Addie,” Eli says, and the venom in his words makes me do as I am told.

I look up and notice Cyrus standing next to Sam, his jaw tight. Like, what was their problem to humiliate me like this? And to confront Sam over our non-relationship?

“Okay, I don’t know what’s going on here, but Adeline, call me when you figure it out,” Sam says, hopping up and stepping past Cyrus awkwardly. Sam glances warily at him before sending me one last glance and rushing out.

“I can’t believe you just did that. What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yell a little too loud.

“Tone, we are in a public setting,” Cyrus says.

“Fuck this! Move, Eli!” I yell at him.

“Sit down, Adeline. Now.”

“No, you just humiliated me. All because you have it stuck in your head that I am in some sort of weird fucking relationship with you. You had no right to do that. Now, move, or I will scream and cause a fucking scene,” I warn them.

Eli’s grip tightens on my wrist before he lets go, letting me out of the booth. I drop cash on the table before walking out. Eli and Cyrus are hot on my heels. I head straight for my car, noticing Sam’s is gone now. Clicking the button, my car unlocks, and I go to hop in when Eli snatches the keys from my hand, relocking it. He grabs my arm, pulling me away from my car.

“Give me my fucking keys and let go,” I tell him, but he just pulls me along while I struggle against his impossibly tight grip.

“Adeline!” Cyrus snaps.

I realize they are trying to take me to their car across the street. Eli turns to yell at me, but instead, I slap him. The sound resonates loudly as my hand comes in contact with his face.

He stops frozen, glaring at me, a growl escaping his lips. Wait, he can growl? The noise sounds menacing, like a predator stalking its prey. He grips my arms before tossing me over his shoulder and unlocking his car. I see the waitress look out the window nervously at me. He dumps me in the back seat, climbing in with me.

Cyrus climbs in the front seat, starting the car.

“What are you doing?” I scream.

“What I should have done from the fucking start,” he growls, and I freeze, paralyzed by intense fear. His eyes are bleeding black, and his teeth are elongating right before my eyes. A growl escapes his lips, and I scream before he rips my head to the side, his teeth sinking into my neck, pain radiating down my shoulder and neck.

My screams die out as my vision becomes tunneled, darkness creeping over me before I pass out. The last thing I remember is the face of a monster.