Running With Devils

Twenty-Four

He took my hand, placing it just beneath my breasts. Then he did the same to the other.

"Death is peace," he breathed. "It frees you from all the things that hold you back."

My mind was lulled into a state of calm with his soothing words.

"It's why immortality is such a weight," he swallowed. "There is no release. But you, my darling Coralynn, will have the pleasure of finding that paradise on the other side. Because you have an end makes all the experiences you are allowed, all the more meaningful."

His thumb brushed across my lips tenderly.

"I envy you for that," he whispered.

I don't know what came over me, but tears had begun to fall down my face.

"I envy that you will meet a point in time when pain ceases and you can simply drift," he breathed, resting his head on my body. "Sweet nothingness."

Sobs began to rack my body.

He let out a quiet laugh. "It's not so scary if you don't allow it to be."

I just laid there, wishing his vision of sweet nothingness would sweep over me quickly. Maybe it would happen while I laid in this bed.

I could never be as lucky.

"Your tattoos," I managed to croak out. "What do they mean?"

Levi lifted his head, looking at me attentively.

"When you're as old as I am, darling," he spoke gently, "you have to get creative when finding ways to make yourself feel. For me, pain is the closest comfort I have to finding peace. It's the destruction of my body that gives me the strength to forget the things I'll never have."

My mother had a tattoo. It was a depiction of the lunar phases that encompassed her left shoulder. The delicate artwork would appear in the summertime when our family would be at the river. She would lay in the sun, embracing the vibrancy of the daylight on her skin. And there it would be.

I had always wanted one. But I was always so afraid to make the decision.

"Would you— give me one," I asked shakily.

He took my hand, lifting the back of it to his lips carefully before placing them against my skin.

"What did you have in mind, darling?"

***

I sat on an almost surgical chair that sat beneath an overhead lamp. Levi had calmed me down with his power of persuasion just enough so that I could breathe properly. Then he had set me down taking up a sketchbook and pencil to listen. I gave him my concept and he had persuaded me to allow him some creative freedom of interpretation.

"Ready," he asked.

I nodded. "Yea," I swallowed nervously. "Don't laugh if I pass out."

Immediately, he began laughing. "What? I would never."

I scowled at him. "Don't," I ordered.

"Relax," he said, quieting his laughter a bit. "I take this art form very seriously. May I?"

He gestured at my dress.

I frowned, pulling down the shoulders a bit.

"At the risk of sounding greedy, I will need more room than that, darling," he sighed. "I won't play any games. Not unless specifically requested."

I huffed. Getting up from the chair I spun away from him.

"A little help?"

He did as I asked. Then I slipped it from my shoulders. The fabric pooled at my feet.