Chocolate Cake

Portia

"Hey." I try to claw his arm off. “Where are we going?”

He stops, looks back at me. “You saw your brother. He's fed. He's unhurt. Let's go."

"That's not really fair."

"It's exactly what you asked for."

"But...no. That's not...I want to talk to him. Can he come upstairs, please? He's harmless." I gesture to Nathan as if to make a point.

"Are you warm?" Callahan asks Nathan over my head.

"I...guess."

I forget how young he is. Just a kid. So unlike Vincent and Gregory were.

“I have a blanket." He points to it as if he doesn't want to be any trouble.

Callahan turns back to me. "You'll visit tomorrow." He pulls me to the stairs.

"He's probably scared down here all alone."

"I think he's old enough to no longer be afraid of the dark. Let's go. If you give me trouble, you won't see him again."

I go with him because I don't have much choice. "Does that mean we'll both be alive tomorrow?" I ask when we're upstairs.

He releases me, looks down at me. Sweeps his eyes over my — his — clot