Page 116 of Penance

I don’t want to hear them.

I don’t want a reminder.

Why are you doing this, Draco?A voice in my head asks.Just delete it. Delete all the footage. You have her. Enough is enough. Just love her. Love her like she deserves.

It’s true.

I have her, but she’s intact. I haven’t broken her yet, and that’s why I have to do this.

I have to take the final steps.

Why?,the voice in my head asks.Why do I have to destroy her?

To make her love me,I say back.She has to have a reason to never leave.

On the screen, I see myself entering the frame, and I see the way my lips move as words are exchanged.

I don’t have to hear them to know what I’m saying.

I’m telling her to beg, to crawl to me, and she does.

She drops to her knees and I see the curve of her hip, the way her hands shake as she drops to the floor and comes towards me.

You don’t have to do this,the voice reminds me.You can still turn back.

I grit my teeth, my fingers flying over the keyboard.

“Clip the video,” I growl. “Clip the fucking video.”

And I do it, selecting two timestamps, and then after a flurry of keystrokes, everything else fades away.

The footage plays back, Mercy’s soft pleas, and my cold responses fill the room.

I shake my head.

Mute it.

I can’t listen to that.

Save it.

This moment, this vulnerability, it’s all a part of my plan. A necessary stepping stone towards the finish line.

I have to do this.

If I don’t break her, she’ll—

She’ll what?,the voice in my head sneers.She’ll know she’s too fuckin’ good for you?

I shake my head and continue on, saving the video and then bringing up the saved footage again. I type in a new command and the bedroom video flickers to life.

I can see Mercy asleep in my bed.

Right where I should be, laying beside her.

I force myself to look away and type in a few more lines, and I’m suddenly staring at a scene that’s both familiar and disturbing.

The room is bathed in the soft glow of a single bedside lamp, casting long shadows that dance on the walls. Mercy’s form is small and fragile, sitting on top of me, and I watch as I flip her,pin her to the bed. I watch myself, leaning in, whispering words that make her shiver as she wraps her long legs around my waist.

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