Page 56 of Drag You Down
Please don’t turn off the light,Levi had begged before we’d gone to sleep.
Maybe what I need to do is lock Zachariah into a dark room. I’ll tie him up with barbed wire, so every time he tries to move, he’ll cut himself. And in the dark, he won’t know if I’m lurking just behind him, or in front of him.
He won’t know where the next cut will come from.
He won’t see when I gouge his eye out.
I’m going to make him suffer.
I pet Ichabod briefly, and he stretches his paws before rolling onto his back to show me his belly. I stroke that too, but I know that Ichabod would gladly let me pet him for hours. I pick him up and set him on the floor.
“Later, Ichabod. I’ve got to take care of my lamb first,” I tell him in a hushed whisper.
Ichabod meows and jumps back onto the bed. He tries to go back to his previous spot, but I slide over so I can take Levi into my arms.
Levi stirs, and he turns so he can look at me with bleary eyes. “Hi,” he whispers hoarsely. He licks his lips, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still chasing the taste of blood.
“Hello.” I kiss his lips gently, and my lamb, my boy, opens up for me beautifully.
He wraps an arm around my back. I flex my shoulders for him so he can scratch open the newly formed scabs?—
But he freezes and pulls back.
“What is it?” I ask, brushing his hair away from his forehead. “Are you hurt?”
“N-no,” he says. “But you are.”
I chuckle and kiss his forehead. “This is nothing. I told you, you can have whatever you want from me. I believe in providing my boy with what he needs.”
His lips part, then seal back into a line. He pulls back, away from me, and I look at him in confusion.
“Why are you calling me that?” he whispers. “The boy, the… the Daddy?” He shivers like he’s cold, and I try to pull him back, but he refuses to move closer to me again.
I sigh and take his hand into mine, expecting him to snatch it back, but he only tenses.
“I call you my lamb, my boy, because I want to take care of you. I can see it in your eyes. You yearn for it, Levi. You yearn forme. That day when you sucked that man’s blood from your fingers, I knew we were made for each other.”
Levi stares at me, and I realize that the desire I’d seen the night before has turned into fear. “We’re not,” he says, his voice wobbling. “Last night was a mistake.”
I frown. “It wasn’t. You wanted me. You asked for me.” I reach out to stroke his cheek, and he flinches away from my touch. Anger flashes through me—not at him, but at Zachariah and whatever bullshit he spewed to make Levi deny himself like this. “Call me Daddy again,” I order. “Say it.Feelit.”
Levi shakes his head. “It’s… it’s perverse. Sick. Wrong.” He licks his lips, and I imagine him tasting my blood again. He scrambles back, away from me, and I tighten my hold on his hand before he can escape.
“Why?” I demand. “It makes you feel good. Say it, little lamb.Say it.”
“It doesn’t!” he protests, but I know he’s lying. He squirms, trying to pull his hand away. “Let go of me. You promised me one night. It’s been one night.”
He’s panicking.
I should’ve predicted this.
“It isn’t one night,” I say sternly. “I’m your Daddy now, little lamb. I know what you need.”
His eyes widen and he shakes his head. “You don’t! You don’t know me!”
But I do. I’ve watched him every chance I could. I know he’s the only one who leaves that apartment building regularly. I’ve seen how he stops to dig his fingers into his back whenever he passes by Zachariah’s unit. I’ve tasted the blood on Levi’s lips.
And I have his marks all over my back.
