Craving Purity

05

When Levi was young, his mother used to stroke his face when he was sick, soothing him and promising that he'd feel better soon. He always got terrible sickness and it took him forever to recover.

His head throbbed and Levi couldn't quite remember what happened the night before or where he was. The bed in his apartment wasn't as comfortable or as spacious as the one he was cuddled up in... maybe Maggie changed her mind and brought him to her place?

A hand stroked his face, making Levi long for his mother to hold him and tell him that it would all be okay. To tell him that she didn't die and she loved him.

Opening his eyes and groaning, Levi saw a face he didn't expect to see, and it made him push himself away, ignoring the pain in his head.

Elijah was sitting beside him, stroking his face and staring at him with adoration. "You're so beautiful," he cooed, trying to touch Levi's face again, but Levi wouldn't have it.

He slapped Elijah's hand away and sat up, trying to get as far away from the psychopath as he could.

"What the hell?!" Levi shouted, holding up his fists, ready to fight the man who managed to get him into his bed. "Where am I and how the hell did I get here?!"

Elijah ran his hand through his platinum blond hair, biting his lip. "You got really drunk," he started, but Levi cut him off.

"Drunk?!" he yelled, eyes wide in horror. "Did we have sex?! You raped me you psychopath!"

Elijah looked hurt, his eyes welling with tears. "No I didn't!" he said, grabbing his aching heart, a result of his beloved being angry with him. "I would never take advantage of you while you're drunk!"

Levi scowled. "Where am I?"

"My home," Elijah murmured, his knees pulled to his chest as he tried to keep from crying over his soulmate's anger. "Greyson isn't here because he has work and I wanted to stay here with you to make sure you weren't in too much pain."

"Why? Why the hell do you care?" Levi asked, grabbing his throbbing head and trying to Will the pain away. "I met you once and you have a boyfriend who probably wouldn't appreciate you bringing me here!"

"He knows you're here," Elijah said, nibbling on his bottom lip. "And I care because you... we belong together. You, me, and Greyson. We belong together."

Levi let out a dry laugh. "You're insane."

Elijah dropped his head, trying to keep himself from crying. He needed to make Greyson proud; he had to stay strong and protect their beloved.

"I'm not," Elijah whispered. "You don't feel it as strongly as Greyson and I, but you're our soulmate."

Levi shook his head and climbed out of the bed. "No. You're insane and I guarantee you're a rapist waiting for me to let my guard down so you can do what you want! You're waiting for your stupid boyfriend to come back so it's a two on one so you can say that you love me while making me hate myself, and I'm not dealing with that again!" he yelled, ignoring the strange pang in his heart when Elijah completely broke down, crying loudly as Levi left the room.

Levi ran down the hall, colliding with someone and grabbing his head as he sat up. The boy looked to be younger than Levi, but he had a sort of composure and wisdom in his face that made Levi envy him.

"Your head must be throbbing," the boy said, helping Levi up. "My name is Kayden, and I'm the only other human in this place."

"H-Human?" Levi asked, stepping away from Kayden. "What do you mean by that?"

Kayden smiled and grabbed his hand. "Don't worry, they'll explain soon," he said, skipping toward the huge kitchen and pulling Levi behind him. "I'll get you some pain relief pills. I'd usually be at work but Simon made me take the day off because I've been going all week and you can only fuck on a desk so many times before you need a day off."

Levi walked toward the back door. "I don't need any pills, thanks," he said, grabbing the handle. "I'm going to leave."

Kayden's face changed into a concerned expression. "We live in the middle of the woods, Levi. It's not safe to walk home from here," he said.

Levi was more creeped out that Kayden knew his name. "I'll figure it out."

"Don't-"

Levi bolted before Kayden could try to force him to say. He didn't realize until he left that he'd been in a giant mansion, but Levi didn't stop to stare at it. Instead, he kept running.

He didn't want to be anywhere near people who claimed they were soulmates and another who said there were only two humans in the house.

What did he even mean by that?

If Kayden was serious, that meant that Elijah and Greyson apparently weren't human, but what did that even mean?

Levi tried to push the thought of the people that'd taken him from his mind. He never wanted to see them again; they were all insane and were going to take advantage of him like all of the other people in his life had.

He finally made it to the city after a half an hour of walking down the road, and then he walked another fifteen minutes to get to his apartment. Thankfully he hadn't been changed out of his clothes that he wore the previous day, so his key was in his pocket.

Once inside, he rummaged through the medicine cabinet and groaned in irritation, throwing an old bottle of iron supplements across the room when he couldn't find what he wanted. He just wanted something to stop the throbbing of his brain, but he couldn't find anything to help his pain.

"Dammit," Levi grumbled to himself, laying on his rickety, twin sized bed.

He didn't have work until the following day thankfully, but thinking about how he'd feel better the next morning wasn't enough to make him feel relief.

Levi took a deep breath and laid facedown on his bed, trying not to cry. He just wanted to feel better, wanted to feel loved and cared for, but no one cared. No one wanted to protect him or cherish him; they all just wanted to use him and then throw him away like a piece of trash.

He had no clue why Elijah wanted him around, but he didn't believe Elijah's "soulmate" bullshit for a second. If anything, he believed that Kayden was some poor sex slave that had been conditioned to believe that he had a soulmate and had to stay around that mansion.

Maybe Kayden was right; those people weren't human. Cruel rapists didn't deserve to be thought of as humans.

They were worse abominations than Levi himself.