The Confession

The area of the park Adam had chosen was secluded. 

It was a small grassy clearing surrounded by dense trees. 

The grass was long and untamed. Not many people came here. It was the only place he could think of where he wouldn't be easily followed. It was his temporary safe zone.

As they reached the clearing Adam took off his backpack. He set it on the ground. 

He had forgotten he was even wearing it. 

Sofia watched him. Her body was tense with fear. 

She wondered what he was going to do to her. 

Every terrible possibility raced through her mind. She stood silently in a corner of the clearing trying to make herself as small as possible as if she could disappear into the shadows.

Adam saw her reaction. He saw the way she was trying to shrink away from him. 

He knew she was thinking the worst. He let out a heavy sigh. His own problems were immense but this girl's silent terror was something he couldn't ignore. 

"I'm not going to do anything to you," he said. His voice was softer than before a conscious effort to sound non-threatening. "Why are you acting like I'm some kind of villain?"

Sofia didn't answer. Her fear kept her silent. Her throat was tight her tongue a leaden weight in her mouth.

Adam sat down on the grass. He looked up at her. The setting sun cast long shadows that made the clearing seem even more isolated. "I know you're being bullied," he stated simply. It wasn't a question. It was a fact.

The words made Sofia flinch as if she'd been struck. Her eyes widened in shock. How did he know? No one knew. No one cared.

"Who are they?" Adam asked. His voice was calm but held an underlying intensity.

Sofia remained frozen unable to speak. To name them felt like a betrayal a dangerous act that would only bring more pain.

Adam's patience snapped. He had died five times. He had killed three people. He had no more patience for fear or hesitation. 

"I asked who is it that bullies you?" he yelled. His voice echoed in the quiet clearing. It was the raw frustrated sound of someone who had seen too much.

The sudden shout terrified Sofia. It broke through her paralysis. "Lily and her group," she stammered the words tumbling out in a rush.

The name Lily brought an image to Adam's mind. 

A girl with blonde hair an air of superiority and a cruel smile. She was popular and rich. 

"Lily..." he murmured thinking. 

"She's from a pretty wealthy family." He knew Lily. He even knew her boyfriend Andrew. 

He was the captain of the kendo club a popular and respected student. 

But Adam had heard rumors that Andrew was involved in gang activities and street fighting. He had never believed they were true. Andrew was always so polite and disciplined at school.

He looked back at Sofia. "Is Andrew involved too?"

Sofia's mind flashed back to the scene in the classroom just before Adam had arrived. She saw Andrew's leering smile. She heard his low suggestive voice. She didn't answer. She couldn't. Admitting it out loud would make it too real.

Adam saw her silence and he knew. His image in her mind was already ruined. 

It didn't matter anymore. His personality was changing with each death and revival. The polite quiet boy was a fading memory. He no longer cared what other people thought of him. Results were all that mattered.

"I asked you a question. Answer me," he shouted again. He stood up taking a step towards her.

Sofia flinched violently. She gave a small jerky nod her eyes squeezed shut.

"So it's both of them? Is there anyone else?"

She nodded again.

"So Lily's whole group is involved right? All of them?"

Sofia nodded a third time confirming his suspicion. The pack mentality. They were all complicit.

Adam took a deep breath. He tried to control the anger building inside him. It was a cold methodical anger different from the hot rage he felt for his own pursuers. 

He looked at Sofia. His gaze softened slightly. He saw not just a victim but a person on the edge of a cliff. "Have they... done anything to you? Yet?"

Sofia went silent for a second. Her face was a mask of confusion.

"I mean," Adam clarified his voice lower. "Have they... done that kind of thing?" He couldn't bring himself to say the words.

Sofia understood immediately what he was asking. She shook her head quickly her long hair flying. 

But the look of pure terror on her face told Adam that even if nothing had happened yet it was about to. It was the next logical step in their cruelty.

"Did they tell you to do something like that? In the future?" he pressed. He had to know the whole truth.

At this question the tears Sofia had been holding back finally broke free. 

They streamed down her face in silent heavy drops. 

The dam of her composure had shattered. Adam saw her reaction and he knew. 

The bullies must have been in the classroom right before he arrived. The defaced desk the scattered belongings her flight from the room. It all made sense now.

"What did they say?" he asked his voice now gentle again. He had pushed her too far.

Sofia's crying only intensified. She couldn't stop. The sobs wracked her small frame.

Adam's patience wore thin again. He needed to know. Time was running out. "I said what did they tell you?" he repeated his voice sharp and demanding. He needed her to focus.

The harshness of his tone cut through her sobs. It shocked her back to the present. 

"They... they told me to meet them... on the hill behind the school," she stammered. Her voice was trembling so hard it was barely a whisper. "At seven o'clock."

Adam stared at her. The pieces clicked into place. The full picture of their cruelty became clear. 

They weren't just bullies. They were predators planning an assault. 

He was stunned. 

That bastard he thought. 

His anger now directed solely at Andrew. Does he think he can do whatever he wants just because his father is a high-ranking police officer? The revelation hit him like a physical blow. 

The police. His father was a cop. 

Just like the men who had tortured him. Just like James's contacts. 

It was all connected. The corruption ran deeper than he could have ever imagined. 

The school, the police, the criminal underworld. They were all intertwined in a web of power and violence.

And he and Sofia were just two flies caught in the middle of it.