Page 29 of Drag You Down (Bloody Desires #2)

LEVI

I t’s late at night, with only a sliver of the moon visible. There are no stars in the sky, but there never are here in the city. The light pollution hides them.

Despite the late hour, there are still a few pedestrians on the streets. The people who live in this neighborhood aren’t well off, and the only way to get around is by walking.

Gabriel had made us take the bus, pay in cash, and get dropped off two stops away from the apartment building. He’d also made me wear a large hoodie, so different from my usual button-up shirt. He’s dressed down too, and he’s wearing a green baseball cap with a logo on it.

“Keep your head down at all times,” Gabriel says as we make our way to the apartment building.

Those don’t sound like the words of a man with nothing to hide.

I thought we were coming here to get Eve, to convince her that Father Zachariah doesn’t mean the best for her, but I’m suddenly not so convinced that’s all Gabriel has in mind.

“Daddy,” I whisper, touching his arm as uncertainty begins to flood me. “She’s going to listen. We don’t need to…”

Need to what? Act as though we’re going to kidnap her?

“We don’t need to give anyone extra ammunition. Showing up on the wrong camera would cause problems for us.”

Gabriel stops in front of the apartment building and tries the door. It’s locked, of course, but instead of turning away, Gabriel pulls a set of thin rods out of his wallet and works at the keyhole. This must be how he’d gotten inside all those past times.

I watch him, my mouth going dry. This all feels wrong.

But I need to save Eve, and if that means doing a few things that seem dodgy, I’ll do it. I square my shoulders, determined to get her out of this by whatever means necessary.

Gabriel pushes the door open. “We’ll go straight to her. If you can’t convince her…” He hefts up his backpack. It’s small and black, hard to see against his dark sweater.

I know there’s rope inside. I saw him putting the rope in there.

It also has a blindfold and cuffs and other things I don’t want to think about. We aren’t going to kidnap Eve that violently.

The first-floor landing is almost completely dark, except for a few small lights illuminating the floor. I instinctively go for the mailboxes but stop myself when I remember I don’t have my house keys on me, and that I’m not here for mail.

I look up the stairs, and everything seems so quiet . Everybody is asleep.

I’ve never been out here this late at night. I should be in my apartment too.

I should be safe from the dark instead of venturing into it.

“Avoid the third step there,” Gabriel says. “It creaks loudly. We don’t want to alert anyone.”

How does he know that? How often has he been here, to know about the creaky step?

I nod.

My gaze flicks in the direction of the basement door, and I press closer to Gabriel. I don’t want to think about that room, about what lies beyond. We’re here to talk to Eve and get her out. Nothing else matters.

Not even the dark and the way it makes my skin crawl, the way it threatens to make me panic as the fear claws at my insides.

I clutch the flashlight in my hands. Gabriel had told me not to use it unless I had to, and I’m just this shy of having to . “Daddy,” I whimper, my voice wobbling. “I need…”

Gabriel stops moving and immediately pulls me into his arms.

I breathe in his scent, and I hate that it isn’t the cologne he usually wears, but it’s still him, his warmth.

“Shh. I’ll guide you,” Gabriel says. “We can…” He trails off, and when I look up, I see him peering at the basement door.

I clutch him tighter. “What is it?”

“The padlock is back on,” he says. “Does Zachariah lock it when nobody is inside?”

“N-no,” I say, staring at the door as dread starts to filter in beside the fear. “Never.”

Who could be inside? Had someone spoken up for me, only to be locked away?

Or is it a coincidence?

Gabriel swears under his breath and steps away from me. I whimper, but Gabriel takes my hand before I can truly start panicking.

He walks us over to the basement door, and he rests his ear against it.

“I can’t hear anyone,” Gabriel says, “But that doesn’t mean anything.” He looks at me, and his eyes are so deep, so dark, that I can’t read what’s behind them. “We can ignore it,” he suggests. “We’re only here for—” He cuts himself off before he continues, “Eve. We’re here for Eve.”

I shake my head quickly. “We can’t leave someone in there,” I say, hating the desperate whine in my voice.

The idea of leaving anyone to suffer in the darkness is more than I can stand.

I want to get Eve out, but she’s at least safely upstairs.

If someone’s in here… “It’ll only take a minute, right? ”

“Yeah.” Gabriel gets to work on the padlock, and it doesn’t take him long at all to get it unlocked. He takes the lock and stuffs it into his pocket, then opens the door.

It’s absolutely pitch black down there.

“I can’t,” I whisper, my hand shaking so hard I almost drop the flashlight. “I can’t go down there.” I can barely handle standing up here staring down into the abyss, where someone might be waiting.

Waiting for salvation, waiting to pounce, waiting for something I can’t and won’t understand.

“You don’t have to.” Gabriel fumbles for the light switch, but nothing happens. He curses, then turns on his flashlight. “I’ll be right back.”

And with nothing but that flimsy light, he starts to descend into the dark.

Panic threatens to rise, threatens to overwhelm me. What if he trips and falls? What if the Devil is there to take him ? I want to call out and tell him never mind, to come back up, but the words won’t escape me no matter how hard I try to get them out.

All I can do is wait while he investigates.

Every footstep on the creaking stairs is sharp, nails on chalkboard, grabbing his soul and dragging him down, down, down.

The creaking stops. The light of his flashlight disappears out of my view.

Then I hear him cursing.

“Levi! It’s… it’s your sister down here.”

My heart crashes into my stomach, and I fumble with my flashlight as I take a step toward the basement stairs. The second I get close, though, I freeze.

I don’t know if I can go down there.

Even to rescue Eve.

My fear threatens to overwhelm me, and it’s all I can do not to crumble to the floor and bury my face in my hands, to try to escape this by pretending it doesn’t exist.

But she needs me.

I can’t turn my back on her. I can’t avoid helping her. I can’t let my fear get the best of me.

So I think instead of how she got there, of who put her there, and I let the fear bleed into anger.

I shine the flashlight down the stairs, staring down at the great, dark chasm that it is, and I try to force myself to take even a single step down there. Only one step. If I can take a single step, I can go the rest of the way.

Except I do manage to take one step, then I have to stop because the fear overwhelms me all over again.

I think Gabriel is saying something, but I don’t know what.

I only have the ping pong sensations of fear and anger, anger and fear, back and forth, over and over again as I rally then falter in equal measures.

“I can’t,” I whisper, and the self-loathing I feel drowns out all the rest.

Chains rattle, making me whimper in terror.

But right on the heels of that rattle are thick, stomping steps.

A loud creak.

I turn around, my mouth dry, as I watch Father Zachariah come down the stairs from the second floor.

His eyes meet mine, and even in the dim light, I can see his lips thin. “Levi. I thought you were gone for good.”

“ Why ?” I demand, my voice cracking, as I ignore his words in favor of the more pressing question in my mind. “She’s innocent.”

Gabriel would claim I’m innocent, too, but I’ve sinned so grievously.

Eve hasn’t.

“She tried to argue against me,” Father Zachariah says. “She wanted to follow you and bring you back. I couldn’t allow your taint to spread to her soul.”

He takes another step closer to me, and I cling to the staircase railing. If I move, I’ll trip down the stairs.

“She doesn’t deserve this!” I say fiercely, surprising myself with my own vehemence.

No one does.

“She’s my sister, and I love her, and she loves me,” I tell him. “And we’re going to take her away from you so you can’t ever hurt her again.”

So he can’t ever hurt either of us again.

Father Zachariah‘s expression gets meaner, uglier. “You can’t have her. She’s my wife. After all the money I wasted keeping you and your sister clothed and housed and fed, it’s the least she can do for me.”

My mouth drops open in shock. “The least she can…” I trail off, shaking my head. “That’s not how this works. You don’t get to claim her like that. We’ve done everything for you, everything you’ve ever asked.”

I glance down the stairs, and the dark threatens to swallow me whole as I stare into the void. Gabriel is down there with Eve. They’re going to be safe.

I’m going to be safe.

I only need to stall.

“Everybody here belongs to me,” Father Zachariah says, his voice growing louder. “You listen to me . My word is God’s! Now go upstairs and ready yourself for penance, boy.”

“No.” I spit the word with more venom than I’ve ever addressed anyone with. “I won’t. I won’t do it. Not for you. You’re a false prophet. You cast me out, and it’s the best thing you could’ve ever done for me.”

If he goes downstairs and sees Eve—or maybe worse, if Eve sees him—I know things will get bad. I need to lead him away from here.

I take the single step back onto the first-floor hall and snarl at him. “I’m going to report you. To… to the police.”

Zachariah’s eyes widen. “What would you report, boy? That you lived with me for free? That I nurtured you? Cared for you?”

“I think my back says otherwise,” I say, my voice steadier than I could’ve thought possible. “It’s not nurturing someone if you’re hurting them.”

Harming them.