of blood and lies ; dystopian

23

Past

I sat in the crimson-colored water. My knees were tight to my chest as Karro gently ran the washcloth against my back. Small shards of glass floated in the water; I had a collection on the edge of the tub when they fell within reach.

He was being so gentle, despite it being our roughest fuck yet.

I tensed as the soapy rag met another gash. He cleaned it of any blood and shards. Occasionally, he would apply a little Neosporin to the tip of his finger and rub it into the slits.

I stared at my confused reflection in the faucet. My hair was a tangled mess and my cheeks were still flushed from the previous moments.

I'd never been touched so angrily. Nor had I been touched so gently. All in one night, too.

Karro confused me. All of it confused me.

"What does it mean?" Karro asked. He trailed his finger along the ink down my spine. I straightened my back under his touch.

I knew what he was referring to. Chinese lettering ran from the top of my spine and to the base. I'd prepared for everything. I already knew what to say when he asked of the ink; I'd planned to quote some shitty bible verse. I will fear no evil or she believed she could, so she did. Something he would find in the home of a church girl.

The lie was on the tip of my tongue, ready, but the truth slid out. "A dead man is a peaceful soul." I hesitated, his fingers slowing as they reached the base of my spine. "But a soul on fire is nirvana."

I caught his reflection in the faucet.

His eyes were trained on the ink and his jaw was tight. He dipped the rag back into the water and continued to wash my back.

"Does it mean anything?" Karro asked.

I shook my head. "It just sounded cool."

He hummed, continuing to search my back. I had many tattoos all across my spine and back. Visible tattoos were frowned upon at The Blood.

His finger moved across the rendition of a scythe on my lower back and then to the drawings on my ribcage.

"What about this one?"

I let out a shaky breath as his thumb ran across a rib. It was a block of script on my ribcage, directly beneath a thin bundle of roses. "Veni, Vidi, Vici," I recited. I should have lied. "I came, I saw--"

"I conquered," Karro finished. His eyes met mine in the faucet. For a moment, I swore I saw anger again. "I've heard of it."

I'd be disappointed in him if he hadn't. It was the motto for the War sector.

I didn't look away as I explained the tattoo. "My sixteenth birthday," I lied. "They had a flash sale at my tattoo parlor. It was just some stupid quote they had on sale."

I smiled at him, hoping he hadn't noticed the tattoo was still healing.

I needed to punish myself for this. I cracked, lying as a human would. I'd made it so obvious by telling the truth and following it with a weak lie.

He planted an open-mouthed kiss on my rib. I sucked in a breath as his teeth grazed against my skin. "You're good, Naga," he muttered into my skin. He smiled against the goosebumps.

Karro dropped the rag and went for my throat.

His fingers lingered around my neck, reminding me of how much control he had over me. He could push me beneath the water. He could snap my neck.

I focused on not tensing, as someone afraid would.

His fingers tightened around my neck. I coughed, reaching for his hand; he squeezed harder, my vision blurring.

"I don't believe in God," Karro began. I clawed at his hand, coughing and gasping for air. "I might, might, believe in the Devil. And, when the Devil made us, he made us one. Tore us apart and placed us on separate ends of this earth."

I kicked at the edge of the bathtub, his fingernails sinking into my skin.

"Karro--" I couldn't make sense of his words. I couldn't breathe. He was going to asphyxiate me; I was sure of it.

Karro planted a kiss on my lips and released me.

I gasped, reaching for my throat. I coughed and gasped until I could breathe again. My head throbbed and everything was beginning to spin.

The bathroom went cold.

Karro pushed himself from the tub, leaving me alone in the water. I stared at the door, questioning why he was so angry. Was it the tattoo? Did he no longer love me?

I buried my face into my knees, steadying my breath. A new feeling began to creep up my throat. An emotion I'd only felt in passing through the years.

Guilt. 

do u guys like karro??? i dont

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