We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca

Author:Eric LaRocca [LaRocca, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trepidatio Publishing, an imprint of JournalStone
Published: 2022-06-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

DAYLIGHT CREPT BENEATH the edges of the plywood covering the small crawlspace where I had spent the night. I pried my eyes open, wiping out the crust from the corners.

Pushing the plywood aside, I crawled out of the wall as if I were mere vermin and skirted into my bedroom, where I found my mother kneeling beside Samael and offering him a small plate of food. They both seemed to pass soundless words to one another, none the wiser that I had joined them.

I stirred, tucking myself in the corner. I lifted my head and unfolded my arms, rubbing my eyes as I yawned. I watched as my mother gazed at the giant snake lying in my bed. She touched him, laughing.

“I had to stop myself,” she said to him. “I almost called you… You act so much like my son. It’s his birthday tomorrow—”

I watched Samael force a polite smile. Then, his head swiveled to me.

“Are you hungry?” he asked me.

“That food is for you, dear heart,” my mother insisted, pushing the plate toward him. “You need your strength. No sharing.”

I lifted myself off the damp floor, my pajamas wet and dripping.

“Is there any more bread?” I asked.

“This was the last of it,” my mother said, her eyes glued to Samael as she watched him eat.

I sensed a dull ache in the pit of my stomach. “That was supposed to last us the rest of the month,” I said.

“Well, you’ll just have to go out and find more,” my mother said, flashing a dangerous grin at me. “Won’t you?”

I watched as my mother picked a piece of food off the plate and fed it to Samael. It was then I noticed her middle finger had been severed, the tip now dressed in the same bandages as her index finger.

“Your finger,” I said, pointing.

My mother lurched off the floor, snarling at me like a wild dog. “And yours? I know exactly what you do with yours. I hear you at night. That’s why you bite your nails, isn’t it?”

I recoiled, my cheeks warming red.

“I hope you stayed away from it,” she whispered to Samael. “Not for chastity’s sake. The smell. What fifteen-year-old girl doesn’t know how to wash their own cunt?”

Hissing at me, she stormed out of the room and disappeared.

I lowered my head, hiding my face from Samael. Shivering, my hands touched my mouth as I bit my lip. I sat on the edge of the bed, my arms tucked around my waist as if I were trying to make myself as small as possible.

I glanced over and noticed Samael pushing the plate of food toward me—a small offering.

I looked at him for a moment. Then, broke off a small piece of bread to snack on.

When I was finished eating, I ambled over to the sheet covering my bedroom door. I peeled it back, gazing into the living room.

I watched as my mother knelt, collecting bits of shattered glass into a small bucket. I saw Rake observing from the corner, as if he were a landowner supervising a mere serf.

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