Page 13 of Sanctuary After Dark

"Answer me!" He yells in my face. I've never seen him like this before, and fear is coursing through my body. A sob breaks free as the tears fall down my cheeks.

"N-no, D-Daddy!"

"No. I didn't. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to fucking do it without giving me attitude. You've been fucking pushing me all damn night, Eli. You were too loud and annoying everyone. You couldn't sit still like I asked you to, and you drank too much. You didn't even ask for permission to drink that much, and you were waltzing around drunk off your ass and flirting with everyone like a slut." Daddy pushes me away from him, and I fall onto the floor on my bottom. Rubbing my head as I sniffle and look up at him, the tears were falling freely down my face and blurring my vision.

"W-what...? I… I wasn't, Daddy!" I try to remember the night with our friends and how much I had to drink. If I annoyed anyone, and I can't remember anyone telling me to be quiet or calm down, except for Daddy. He told me a couple of times, but I had brushed it off because I was always like this around our friends. I always let loose and had fun. But maybe Daddy is right. Maybe I was annoying everyone and embarrassing myself. Maybe I was too loud, and I just hadn't noticed how annoyed people were getting.

"Do you know how embarrassing it was to have you so out of control like that? To have you not listen to me? Everyone was looking at me like I was a failure of a dom because I couldn't get my sub under control. But you don't even care. You just brushed me off as if I were nothing. Like I didn't matter. Maybe I don't. Maybe you don't love me like I thought you did."

Crying harder, I sat on my bottom on the floor and shook my head as he stood over me and spoke. Shuffling forward, I grab at his leg, trying to get him to listen. He thought I didn't love him? I had embarrassed him? My stomach dropped as I thought about it because that was the last thing I had wanted to do.

"N-no! Daddy, I do l-love you! I love you s-so much! I'm s-sorry!" Sobs wrack my body while I cling to his legs. Heavy sobs that had me gasping for breath in between. I can't believe I was so stupid and acted like that. That I embarrassed Daddy in front of everyone. He always tried to remind me not to be too much, but I had ignored him like an idiot. I was so stupid and now Daddy was mad and upset and thought I didn't love him.

A crack sounded through the room.

I blinked at the wall before I felt the pain radiating from my cheek.

I had been looking up at Daddy, but now all I saw was the wall in the entryway.

It was so quiet.

The only sound was our breathing as my mind tried to wrap about what had just happened.

Bringing my hand up to my cheek, I winced as I felt the sting. My cheek was hot from where he had slapped me.

Slapped me.

Daddy had slapped me.

"Clean up this mess. You spilled your candy everywhere, and we don't live in a damn pigsty. Then get yourself cleaned up. You're a fucking mess." Daddy pulled his leg from my grasp and stalked off towards our bedroom.

I sat on the floor in the middle of the entryway to our home, holding my cheek as I just stared after him. My mind was in shock at what had just happened. Daddy had never hit me before. Well, during a scene, yes. But not like this. Not when he was angry, and we were fighting. He had never done this before, and I didn't know what to do.

Clean up the candy. That's what he told me to do.

Moving to crawl forward, I started to gather up the candy that had spilled out of my basket when I dropped it. The more candy I picked up, the blurrier my vision got as sobs wracked my body. I knew Daddy heard me. Our house wasn't that big, but he didn't come out once to check on me.

I had messed up so badly.

I was supposed to be a good boy.

His good boy.

I needed to fix this. I needed to apologize to him for embarrassing him so badly and making him feel that way. I needed to be better.

This was my fault.

Chapter 6

Waking up the next morning, I just lay there in my bed and looked out the French doors that led to my small balcony. I hadn't been able to sleep very well. Which was my usual. The nightmares seemed to never want to leave me alone. So, I had been up for a while.

There's a grackle sitting on the railing, looking at me. It tilts its black head, and its feathers catch the sun, showing off the iridescent blue and green colors mixed within the black. It blinks its yellow eye at me before puffing up and shaking, then flying off.

The sight of it makes me smile a little. I have always loved grackles. They were funny birds, goofy and always fun to watch. I remember when I was a kid, I would sit on the back porch and watch them in our yard all the time. How they hopped around and chased each other while calling out. All the distinct noises that they made. They could keep my attention for hours.

My grandmother had once told me they were a symbol of transformation, adaptability, and the courage to embrace one's individuality. She grew up in the backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains and always talked about the spiritual and magical meaning of the plants and animals. I loved listening to her stories and learning about all the superstitions and cryptids.

It's a fitting animal to see on my first full day at The Sanctuary. This is a place where I have to adapt. I have to push through my panic and anxiety and adapt to a new way of thinking. Which will also lead to a transformation for me, hopefully. I mean I had already started with being in the hospital and then rehab, but this was going to be harder than all of that because I was going to have to face things that had hurt me before. Not just talk about them, but actually face them.