Five

Adara sighed at herself. How could she let this happen?

She picked up her phone once more, going back to the burner number. After three long rings, Gabe picked up.

"What do you want?" he asked harshly. Still, she could hear the underlying tone of interest that he was trying to hide with his hostility.

"I want to know the exact terms of this agreement. What do you want, and what will it take for you to give Maia back?"

He laughed, already reveling in her pain. It made her blood run cold. "I already told you. Either you come to me with no fight, or you give me two and a half million dollars. Simple, really."

Adara gawked. It was definitely not simple. "Two and a half million? Where the hell am I supposed to get that kind of money?"

Gabe chuckled. "Now, sweetheart. I don't believe that that's my problem. Do you?" he asked rhetorically. She growled at him threateningly. Don't mock me, you condescending bastard, she thought.

After that, nothing was going through Adara's head at that moment except for the amount of money that he was asking for. It was so much. Her parents didn't even have that much, and he expected her to just magically make it appear?

"Well...well, before I can agree to anything, I need to know that you have Maia. I need to know that you're not trying to trick me with some random person." She was trying to delay, stall him. It wouldn't work for very long.

"Very well," he said, annoyed. He must have expected it, though. Gabe knew that she was not stupid. "Speak, bitch."

Before she could yell at him for calling Maia a bitch, a voice spoke up, much farther from the phone's receiver than Gabe. "Adara, please, get me out of here. Please, I'm begging you. He's a psychopath, please. He's insane."

"Huh," Gabe mused, sounding surprised. "And here I was, thinking she'd tell you to save yourself. What a selfish brat. Won't even try to save her own best friend from-"

"Don't talk about her like that!" Adara yelled, cutting him off. She understood. She knew why Maia was asking to be saved. She was in immediate danger; Adara was not. "Maia, I'll get you out of there. I promise. No matter what it takes, I'll have you safe soon."

"Oh, how sweet," Gabe said condescendingly.

"God, can't you just shut up?" Adara asked. She felt like they were still together like normal, fighting over every little thing. Every stupid, useless little thing.

"But it's much more fun this way, darling. Don't you agree?"

"You're sadistic."

"Oh, please, continue stating the obvious." She could just imagine him inspecting his nails like he always did when he was bored.

Adara sighed and reined herself in. She needed to get that number down. Couldn't he bug someone else for ransom? "Gabe, please," she pleaded, using a voice that she knew made him weak. He once told her that he would do anything she asked if she talked like that all the time. "Please, can we lower the number? I swear, as long as it's less than two and a half, I'll pay it all within the week. I swear to you."

He sighed, and in it, she could tell she had made a dent in his resolve. She had done it, but she didn't think it was enough. "How much less are we talking, sweetheart?"

Adara took a stab at the lowest she possibly thought he could go. "Half a million."

Gabe laughed, but stopped when he realized that she wasn't. "You're serious?" When she didn't say anything in reply, he said, "You're the fucking insane one if you think I'm going that low."

"What would you do then? What's your idea of a compromise?" she asked, annoyed but concerned about how much it would really end up being.

"Two million."

"No. No way. There's no way I could come up with that much in a year, let alone a week."

"Fine," Gabe grunted. "Next offer then."

"A million." She was already pushing the limits. Her parents' combined salary could barely cover that in a decade. She felt a cold fear wash over her frozen body. I can't do this, she thought to herself.

"I'll meet you in the middle. A million and a half. Take it or leave it. It's that, or you come to me with two and a half. Or just yourself."

"A million and a half it is, then." So much money, just because she was a freak. Because she couldn't keep herself under control. Adara felt disgusted with herself. Maia would hate her after this, for putting her in this kind of danger.

"In a week. You promised," he said, sounding more like a child than ever. A child with a very dangerous secret in his possession, but a child nonetheless.

"I did. And I don't break my promises." Answering felt like giving up. Calling him back felt like giving in. She knew that this was all leading to her losing.

Whether it was her best friend, a million and a half dollars, or her life would depend on her decisions.

"I know. I'll talk you where to drop it once you have it."

Turning herself in to either Gabe or the government seemed like the best option she had, though. No one would lose any money, and Maia could still go free. Maia could tell the police about what Gabe did, and maybe they'd even take care of him for her. She wouldn't have to live in fear. She could find a new best friend, one who wasn't a freak, a mistake.

"I'll call you again in a day or two with updates on my decision," she told him, hardly leaving room for discussion. She had to be firm, had to close herself off from emotion. She most certainly wasn't giving him that money. So, if she was going to die, she also wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her fight back. She would not fight for her life at the end of it all. She would only negotiate for Maia's.

"Sounds good, babe."

"Don't call me that," Adara snarled and hung up the phone. Arrogant bastard. He deserved to die for what he was doing. Kidnapping Maia like an animal, and making her play like some stupid beggar on the street.

Adara put her head in her hands.

It's not like she wanted to die, but what choice did she have? If Maia was going to live, then she was going to die. As Gabe would say, "simple, really". She would never come up with that kind of money.

So this is it, she thought. The end of Adara.