Page 12 of Drag You Down
“The Devil did it,” I repeat, my voice raspy.
That’s the truth. There is no reason for Mary to suffer when she had nothing to do with it.
Father Zachariah walks over to me and grips my hair harshly. “Why would the Devil pull a fire alarm, Levi?”
I look up at him, at the cold anger in his blue eyes.
“Because… because the Devil wants something in our home.” I swallow down the confession that wants to slip free.
The Devil wantsme.
Father Zachariah shakes my head from side to side, and I bite my lip to suppress my pained noises.
“What would the Devil want from us?” he demands. “We are righteous and godly. Our halls are hallowed, and the Devil may not step foot inside here.”
I stay silent, hoping the answer will be enough.
But Father Zachariah releases me and says, “If the Devil is here, then you must all take penance, to ensure you remember your place in the world.”
He means to punish everybody for my own sin.
It isn’ttheirsoul the Devil came for.
They aren’t the ones who have been remembering the gurgling sounds of a stranger’s death.
They aren’t the ones who have been thinking about a tall stranger with a smooth voice.
They aren’t the ones who have been dreaming about a copper kiss.
“I did it,” I quickly say. “The Devil came for me. I’m the reason he pulled the fire alarm.”
The others, thechildren, don’t deserve to suffer for the weakness in my soul.
I can feel Eve stir as much as I can see her out of the corner of my eye, and I know she’s willing me to backtrack. She doesn’t understand why I need to do this. She would rather everybodytake a lash or two and be done with it, instead of me receiving God’s full wrath.
But I know Eve can’t take much penance either. I’m doing this for her as much as for the children.
I see Father Zachariah’s lips curl into a smile, one not even his bushy beard can hide. “Then I’ll have to drive that Devil out of you, Levi.”
My back already aches, and my stomach drops in dread, but I nod. “Yes, sir.”
If this spares Mary and Eve and the others, I’ll gladly take it.
As long as it’s penance up here, in front of the others.
As long as penance means pain and prayer and is over in a few minutes.
Father Zachariah tightens his hold on my hair and looks at the others. “Be grateful, children. Levi has done the honorable thing and confessed to his sins. Pray for his soul, for it is the most stained among yours.”
Those words cut deeper than anything else he’s said so far.
It’s because I know they’re the truth.
This is why the Devil sought me out.
But the others are still pure. Their souls can still be saved.
“Now stand, Levi, and bare yourself for penance.” Father Zachariah lets go of me and walks to the nearby wall.
