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“Stop protecting him!” Emma shrugged off her friend, brushed the tears from her eyes, and then glared at Adam. “How could you?”
“I love you,” he said, struggling to break free. “I’m trying to prove it to you.”
“By scaring me? Isolating me? Making everyone hate me?” She held up her arm. “Hurting me?”
“That was a mistake,” he said in a small voice. He stopped moving, deflating as though the air had been sucked out of him.“I didn’t mean it.”
“You meant to burn things, meant to hurt other people. How could you possibly think I would ever want that? You haven’t given me a minute’s peace. I felt like I was losing my mind, but it was you. It’s always you. Whenever anything goes bad for me, it’s because of you.” Emma looked as though she was unleashing years of unspoken words. She was almost unrecognisable. What had he been putting her through? “I’ll never forgive you.”
She turned and fled, brushing off Chloe’s attempts to console her. Chloe looked broken.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She nodded miserably, touching her throat.
“Then get help. Please.” I had already sent Niall a message letting him know what was happening. I only wanted to get Chloe away from Adam.
She took one last pitying look at him before leaving.
“You could have killed Chloe,” I told him. “What were you thinking?”
“You’ve no idea what I’ve been through,” he said.
“I’ve been hurt,” I said. “And I love, too. The only difference is I understand that the people I love wouldn’t love me back if I hurt anyone who got in my way. Chloe’s right about you. You need help.”
He wept, trying to curl into a ball on the floor.
The room soon filled with people, separating us, trying to take hold of Adam. He struggled, fighting them off, but they sedated him, and he soon calmed down.
A nurse got my attention. “Are you all right? Hurt anywhere?”
I shook my head. “What’s wrong with him?” I muttered, thinking of how much Margo had suffered because of him, and even Emma whom he claimed to love. “Why would he do all of this?”
“He’s not well,” she said kindly. “He’ll get all the help he needs though, so don’t you worry.”
What about the people he had hurt?
The aftermath was noisy as the evacuation stopped midway and patients were guided back to their rooms. Adam hadn’t managed to start a fire, so nobody had been hurt. Except for Margo. As usual.
While I looked for her family, I found Chloe and Emma in an embrace outside the hospital. Emma trembled when they broke free.
“Thanks,” she said, her lower lip wobbling. “It could have been worse.”
“I’m not sure what even happened,” I said. “I’m out of the loop.”
“He’s Emma’s stalker,” Chloe said. “I never expected him to get this bad, but he’s always been obsessed with her, ever since we were little. His family life is awful, and he clung on to her as a way to cope.”
“He’s always been a weirdo,” Emma said, her eyes flashing with anger. “Since Halloween, he’s been worse.”
“What’s with the fire though?”
“When he was little, his dad kept him locked up in a shed. Firefighters broke him out after Emma started a fire,” Chloe explained. “That’s probably why everyone suspected her of the arson attacks.”
“That’s why he’s so obsessed with her and fire?” I shook my head, struggling to catch up. “That sounds…”
“I know,” Chloe said. “But it’s easier to explain than Margo, right?”
Both girls stared at me. I shrugged after a moment. “I suppose so.”
