Cinere (Inferno 2)

Daddy’s back.

Well, holy shit.

I’m impressed that we have company again so soon and even more impressed that you’ve even decided to come back to my humble home.

Make yourself comfortable, because man, have I got a story to tell you this time! The little one you’ll see running around from time to time is Darby; I’m sure you remember her from the last time you came over.

The house is a hell of a lot more quiet without the other three running around like the little assholes that they were, but I’m sure you’ll recognize a couple of people once I get started here.

Buckle up, kid.

This is gonna be one wild ride.

I never did feel good about what happened to Jocelyn. What ended up becoming of her is not my fault though, because disobedient children always did leave a sour taste in my mouth, and she knew that.

Maybe things shouldn’t have ended the way they did, but what’s done is done and I don’t have the will or the want to start over with her again.

The boys were a fucking waste—I never cared much for either of them. Jocelyn on the other hand; man, was she special. The unadulterated embodiment of everything I ever wanted and needed, and she did a damn fine job of taking care of her wifely duties until those little fuckers got inside her head.

It’s alright though, because they got what they deserved, and in a way, so did she. Her entire purpose for even being allowed above ground as long as I let her was to give me children. She only gave me one, but that’s better than what Laura did, giving me three, two of which were fucking useless.

But as I lie here on my lawn chair watching little Darby running around picking wildflowers, her pigtails bouncing in excitement each time she finds a new one, I can’t help but think that we did alright.

She’s about five now, which is almost as long as Joce has been in the oubliette. After I delivered the baby from her womb, I tossed her down in the fucking ground where she belonged for disobeying me one too many times.

It’s a damn shame it had to come to this because there are nights where I’ll admit that I miss feeling her body next to mine on our bed. Hell, there are even some nights, after I put Darby to bed, that I go into my room and jerk off thinking about the way her mouth felt on my dick.

Part of the reason I get hard is because I miss Joce’s touch, but the other part is because I know that Darby will be just as good as her Momma when the time comes and it’s something I can’t wait to fucking experience.

“Don’t get too close to the well! I told you about that!” I call out to her when she starts picking wildflowers at the base of it.

That little girl is full of spunk and curiosity, but unlike her Momma, she listens to me. I know with time that will go away, because all children go through a stage of defiance, but I hope she’ll learn to love me the way that Joce did.

The more I think about things, the more I have to force myself to keep my hands off of her. Darby isn’t ready for me yet, and I don’t want her to be afraid of me—not when she’s supposed to love me.

Maybe I’ll bring Joce up for a family day soon. It’ll be easier for Darby if she sees how a daughter is supposed to love her Daddy, so she’ll be ready when it’s her turn to try.

Getting to my feet, I walk over to my baby and pick her up off the grass causing her to squeal happily. She loves the way my beard feels against her chubby cheeks—it always makes her laugh like this.

“Why don’t you go inside and put those flowers in a vase? I’ll be in shortly. I’m just gonna have a quick talk with your Momma, okay?” I say to her, gently kissing her cheek.

She squeals again and nods, kicking her feet so that I know she wants to get down, then turns and runs back toward the house.

I watch her, my hands on my hips, and sigh. Yeah; things would be a hell of a lot easier on her, if Jocelyn were up here with us.

“She smells a lot like you did before you crawled into my bed for the first time,” I say quietly into the dark hole. Jocelyn doesn’t respond but I know she can hear me, so I continue. “I thought that she would taste like you too, but I think that maybe I waited too long to find out—or it could be that I took my taste before she was ripe enough.”

When I hear her shifting on the hay at the bottom of the oubliette, I smirk and keep going.

“I don’t know. A lot of this shit doesn’t seem to make sense anymore. It’s not the way it was when you were above ground—I won’t lie about that. I do miss you sometimes, Joce, but you’re too fucking willful to be up here with us. Hell, you’d probably try to grab my baby and make a run for it even though you know how that would end. And that’s why you’re down in the hole where you belong,” I say, crouching down and putting a hand on either side of the well.

A rock goes whizzing by my head and I move quickly enough to keep from getting cracked in the face with it, letting out a laugh.

“Still got some spirit, I see. Relax; I haven’t touched her. I just wanted to make sure I had your attention, and now that I do, I want to make a proposition.”

Jocelyn throws another rock, but this time I catch it, stand up, and start tossing it up in the air.

“If you keep throwing shit at me, I’ll just seal this fucking well up forever and you’ll starve to death. I think maybe you should listen to what I have to say,” I reply conversationally.

She shifts again down in the dark, but at least there aren’t any more rocks being hurled at me. I’ll have to get down there soon and find out how she got them. Can’t have her thinking she’s got some kind of upper-hand