“August?” I jump off my pet’s lap, leaving the needle stuck in his lip. I poke my head out of the dungeon. “August, is that you?”
“Clementine.” Daddy’s voice makes my blood run cold as he turns the corner.
He doesn’t come here unless he’s delivering a new toy to play with, and he lacks his usual upbeat tone. He is mad. Really mad.
“Daddy!” I step out and shut the door behind me. My latest craft project could be finished later. “You’re home early.”
“I am,” he snarls. “When I found out you showed your brother our secret place, I left my meeting early.”
My chest constricts like someone is squeezing the air out of my lungs.
Daddy holds up his phone, revealing camera footage of the forest and the entrance to my den. On the screen, I open the door, and August follows me. Daddy doesn’t have surveillance underground for obvious reasons, but he must have installed hidden cameras without my knowing. It wouldn’t have been difficult to install them in the trunk of a tree hidden from view.
“Daddy.” My bottom lip trembles in fear. “I can explain.”
“Come with me, Clementine,” he says.
I fall into line behind him and follow.
He’s wearing his favorite crisp black suit and shiny shoes that squeak as he walks. He leads me through the tunnels, along the passageway leading to the house. He presses the ring on his finger into a panel to open a hidden door to the basement. He’s the only one with permission to connect the two areas.
As soon as I step into the basement, he spins and slams his hands into the wall on either side of my head, boxing me in with no escape. His gray eyes darken, a storm raging behind them. I’ve never seen him this furious before.
“Your brother is a problem,” he hisses in a menacing tone. “I welcomed him into our home in good faith, but I never expected you would show me such disobedience. He’s a bad influence on you, Clementine. Did you have anything to do with the missing cop?”
“No,” I stammer, but August might.
“Don’t lie to me!” Daddy roars, spraying me with spit. “It was you, wasn’t it? You killed him, didn’t you? Did you get him to help you?”
“No, Daddy,” I whimper. “I swear, I’ve only hurt the pets you gave me.”
“I don’t believe you.” Daddy’s expression is thunderous. “Is that why you showed August the basement? Have you found someone to share in your twisted desires?”
“He’s not like me, Daddy,” I try to defend him. I saw August’s expression when he saw my pet for the first time. He tried to hide it, but it shocked him. He makes out he’s big and tough when I’m the one who has to be strong for both of us. “I made a mistake by showing him our special place. He never asked to see it. It was all me, I swear!”
Daddy slaps me hard across the cheek, sending my face flying to the left and almost knocking me over.
“Why did you show him?” he presses.
“I don’t know,” I stammer. “It just happened.”
He doesn’t know about August fucking me. If he did, he wouldn’t be asking for answers; he’d have already started with my punishment.
“Nothing just happens!” he explodes. He steps back, and his eyes scan my body. His mouth twists into a cruel snarl as my nipples harden involuntarily under his scrutiny, but the look in Daddy’s eyes tells me what’s about to happen next will not be for my pleasure. “You’re nothing but an attention-seeking whore. Look at you. This is not what I trained you for. You were missing attention because Daddy left town, weren’t you?”
I hang my head, deciding this will be the best way to proceed, and murmur, “Yes.”
He grabs a fistful of my hair roughly and forces me to meet his gaze, “Yes, what?”
“Yes, Daddy,” I answer dutifully. “I’m an attention whore.”
“That’s right,” he sneers. “And what happens to whores who crave attention?”
“We deserve to be punished.”
I know what I did was wrong.
I broke Daddy’s trust by taking August to my special place, but I had no other choice. I needed to show him who I really am. If August meant what he said about us leaving together, he had to know the real me before he could make a decision. I’d take Daddy’s punishment if it meant protecting the small part of me that is starting to consider a new life with August.