Page 143 of Anathema Codex

“You’re ly—”

“No, I’m not,” I bark, cutting him off. “I never do. That’s something you should know by now. I didn’t really do it foryou,if you want me to be clear. I did it because it fucking floored me that she had so recklessly ruined your life and then decided that cactus smack was the best way to go on about shit like it never happened.Thatis what and why it happened to your precious fucking Bea.”

He looks like he’s ready to shrivel up and die of absolute misery right now, but before that happens…

I get to my feet, snuff out the smoke in the ashtray, then motion for him to follow me back to the bedroom.

“You ready to say you love Lakyn?” I ask him with a laugh as I lead the way back to the best setup I’ve ever come up with in my life.

He’ll get to see his fucking precious Bea one last time, then I’ll probably toss the damn thing in the garbage.

Where she should have left him.

TEN

Lonelier than Ever

ICHABOD

The door is so close.

I think it would actually be fewer steps to walk out the front door than to follow Lakyn back to the bedroom, but as soon as the thought crosses through my mind... I push it away. Even if I wasn't naked, I know I wouldn't leave. I've had the opportunity to leave so many times over the years, and I never do.

Some naive part of me thought there was a line, though.

Something Lakyn could do that would eventually push me too far, and then I'd beforcedto leave, but if killing Bea didn't make me walk away from this godforsaken house, then I don't think anything will.

My feet move before I fully accept the hell that I've found myself in, but by the time I'm in the hall with the doorway looming in front of me, I know that whatever he has planned for me is going to hurt and I'm going to take it like a good boy.

That's my role here.

That's my punishment for all the bad choices I've made in this life, and any other lives that came before it. I'm suffering as penance, and the only inkling of comfort I get in that moment of clarity is that eventually Lakyn will pay for his actions too. Maybe not in this life, but eventually he will.

"There you are!" Lakyn calls out, clapping his hands together to punctuate the satisfied grin lacing his tone. I hate that he's beautiful to look at, I hate that even twenty years later he still manages to look attractive, the muscles of his chest and abdomen shifting as he spreads his arms wide. "What do you think?"

I'm sure he's asking for a compliment on his body until I finally pass through the doorway and something above the bed catches my eye.

God, no.

I think I'm going to throw up, but I'm frozen inside and out and the bile never moves up my throat as I stare into the face of the one person who ever really gave a shit about me.

Bea doesn't look like Bea anymore though. I don't even think Lakyn has bothered trying to keep her head cool in that fucking cooler of his, and it's pretty obvious she's decomposing under the haze of blood spatter and dirt marring her face and hair.

"I figured it would help you out to have her in the room since you miss her so much." Lakyn takes a few steps toward me, and the movement finally breaks the horrified trance.

"No, no, no," I babble, stumbling backward into the hall. I'm shaking my head, clenching my eyes tight as if I can somehow block out the image of her head hanging over the bed. I think he wrapped some of her knotted hair around a nail, or more than one nail. I'm not sure how else he could have got it to hang on the wall like that, and I hate the fact that even with my eyes closed I can still see the disgusting sight like it's imprinted itself on the inside of my skull.

"Tsk, tsk, Ichabod," Lakyn says, and he's way too close. "For a minute there I thought you were gonna be a good boy, but I can tell you need my help."

I let out some version of a groan and a yelp as his hand clamps down on the back of my neck and hauls me forward, back into the bedroom. I try to hesitate, to fight him while keeping my eyes shut, but he throws me forward and I slam my shin into the bed frame, barely catching myself on the mattress. Halfway bent over, I'm sure Lakyn is just going to fuck me in this position, but then I feel the sharp sting of his palm connecting with my ass as he spanks me.

"Get up. Right in the middle," he orders, pushing and shoving me while I crawl onto the bed, fighting the tears that are already burning my eyes. "This way, I want you facing your bestie."

"I hate you," I mutter through clenched teeth, but Lakyn just laughs.

"You keep saying that, but we both know it's a lie." He climbs onto the bed behind me, and I brace myself on my elbows, dropping my head down as his fingers dig into my hips, and then I hear him spit. A second later he's spreading my ass and I feel his cock press against my hole, expecting him to instantly force himself inside... but for the first timeeverhe hesitates. "You remember the first time I fucked you?"

I don't want to remember it.

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