Chapter 11 Skill Issue
Skill Issue
Levi’s cheek pressed against the rough floorboards. He bucked upward, trying to dislodge the weight pinning him down, but the stranger just adjusted his position, his knee pressing more into the small of Levi’s back.
“I love how you keep fighting.” His free hand traced the curve of Levi’s spine with deliberate slowness. “So much spirit. It’s intoxicating.”
Cold metal pressed against Levi’s exposed back—the flat of the knife blade, sliding along his skin. The stranger’s touch wandered lower, fingers dipping beneath the waistband of Levi’s jeans.
“St-stop,” Levi gasped, renewing his struggles. The floorboards scraped against his face as he tried to twist away. “P-please stop.”
The hand withdrew from his waistband, but only to trace patterns across Levi’s shoulder blades. His nails pressed into flesh, not quite breaking skin but leaving angry red crescents.
“Your skin marks so beautifully,” he said. “Like canvas waiting for art.”
Levi felt hot breath against his neck, then the wet heat of a tongue tracing the shell of his ear. His entire body shuddered with revulsion, muscles tensing beneath the stranger’s weight.
“You taste like fear,” he whispered. “Sweet. Addictive. I can’t get enough.”
Teeth grazed the sensitive skin where neck met shoulder, then bit down—not hard enough to break skin, but enough to make Levi cry out. The sound seemed to please the stranger, who soothed the bite with his tongue before moving to create another mark.
“This is so much more satisfying than just killing you,” he murmured against Levi’s skin, lips brushing against the fresh bite mark. “Don’t you think? More... complete.”
Desperation gave Levi strength he didn’t know he possessed. He twisted, managing to free one hand from beneath his body. His elbow shot backward, connecting with the stranger’s face in a solid impact that brought a satisfying grunt of pain.
His head snapped back, blood spurting from his nose. His grip loosened enough for Levi to scramble forward on his elbows, breaking free from beneath his weight.
“You little—” The stranger’s voice held genuine surprise as he wiped blood from his face, staring at the crimson smear across his fingers with something like wonder. “No one’s made me bleed in... I can’t remember how long.”
Levi’s moment of triumph was short-lived. The stranger recovered quickly, lunging forward to grab his ankle. One powerful yank dragged Levi backward across the floor, splinters catching on his jeans before the stranger flipped him over, pinning him on his back this time.
Blood dripped from his nose, spattering onto Levi’s face as he loomed over him.
The stranger’s weight settled heavily across Levi’s hips, knees bracketing his thighs.
The new position brought an unmistakable hardness pressing against him through their clothes, making Levi’s stomach twist with horror.
“Look what you did,” he said, touching his bleeding nose with something approaching fascination. He didn’t sound angry—he sounded thrilled. His blood-smeared lips curved into a smile as he gazed down at Levi.
Levi’s hands pushed against the stranger’s chest, a futile attempt to dislodge him. The stranger caught his wrists, pinning them above his head with one hand. The other wiped more blood from his nose, then smeared it across Levi’s cheek.
“Red suits you,” he huffed, his hips rolling downward in a slow, deliberate motion that made Levi’s breath hitch.
Levi turned his face away, squeezing his eyes shut. “P-please don’t do this.”
“Do what?” The stranger’s voice dropped to a whisper, his breath hot against Levi’s ear. “You’re supposed to die, Levi. That’s how this works.” His hips moved again, more insistent this time. “But maybe there are different kinds of death. Little deaths. The French have a term for it, you know.”
Horror dawned as Levi understood the stranger’s meaning. His eyes flew open, panic surging through his system with renewed force.
“N-no,” he gasped, struggling beneath the weight pinning him down. “No, no, n-no—”
“Shhh,” he soothed, his free hand stroking Levi’s hair. Something shifted in his expression—the predatory smile softening into something that might have been affection as he grabbed his knife. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it good for you.”
“Just to keep you still,” he explained, taking on the tone of someone reassuring a frightened child as he positioned the tip against Levi’s palm, the metal cold against his skin. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
The blade plunged downward, impaling Levi’s hand against the wooden floor. Agony exploded through his nervous system as the knife penetrated flesh and muscle before embedding deep in the floorboards beneath. His scream echoed through the abandoned building.
“Perfect,” the stranger said cheerfully, releasing Levi’s other wrist to admire his work. Blood pooled around the blade, seeping into the cracks between floorboards. “Now you won’t go anywhere.”
A terrible stillness descended over the room, broken only by Levi’s ragged breathing and the stranger’s soft, satisfied sounds. The knife pinning Levi’s hand to the floor created a grotesque focal point between them—steel embedded through flesh into wood, a symbol of his trapped existence.
The stranger stroked his hair as he settled more comfortably across Levi’s thighs. “The hard part’s over now. Everything else will be good, I promise.”
Levi’s chest heaved with panicked breaths, each inhalation burning through his lungs. The pain radiating from his impaled hand overwhelmed his senses, transforming the edges of his vision into a pulsing red haze.
The stranger shifted his weight, creating friction that elicited an involuntary physical response despite Levi’s terror. Those mismatched eyes darkened as he noticed, a smile of pure satisfaction spreading across his blood-streaked features.
“There you are,” he murmured, rolling his hips in another slow, deliberate motion. “Your body knows what’s happening even if your mind refuses to accept it.”
Tears leaked from the corners of Levi’s eyes, tracking across his temples and into his hair. He turned his face away, unable to bear the stranger’s scrutiny, but a firm hand gripped his jaw, forcing him to meet that unsettling gaze again.
“I’ve watched you die four times now.” His thumb traced the curve of Levi’s lower lip with disturbing tenderness. “Each time felt... incomplete. Hollow. This is better. This is what we’re meant for.”
Revulsion surged through Levi’s system. He bucked upward with desperate strength, trying to dislodge the weight pinning him down. The movement only caused the knife in his hand to tear wider, sending fresh pain exploding up his arm as the blade shifted against bone.
“Don’t fight.” His hand slid from Levi’s chest to his exposed stomach, fingers splaying across trembling muscles. “You’ll only hurt yourself more.”
“St-stop,” Levi managed, the word catching in his throat. “P-please—”
He pressed two fingers against Levi’s lips, silencing him. His other hand moved to Levi’s throat, applying light pressure—not enough to cut off air entirely, but sufficient to restrict it, to emphasize Levi’s complete vulnerability.
“No more talking,” the stranger murmured, voice hypnotic. “Just feeling now. Just us.”
The fingers at Levi’s throat remained in place as the stranger’s other hand drifted downward, reaching the waistband of his jeans. The metallic clink of his belt buckle seemed obscenely loud in the quiet room, each sound another nail in the coffin of his dignity.
“You came to me this time. You chose me. Sought me out. Found my sanctuary.” His fingers slipped beneath the leather, tugging it free from the loops with agonizing slowness. “That means something, Levi. That means everything.”
Levi tried to shake his head, to deny the twisted interpretation, but the pressure on his throat increased, warning him to remain still.
“I d-didn’t—”
“Shhh,” the stranger soothed, releasing Levi’s throat only to pop open the button of his jeans. The zipper rasped downward, tooth by metal tooth.
With a rough tug, he pulled Levi’s pants down his hips, exposing his thighs to the cool air of the abandoned office. His pupils dilated at the newly revealed skin, nearly swallowing the mismatched irises.
“Look how beautiful you are,” he whispered, trailing his fingers along Levi’s inner thigh. “Absolutely perfect.”
Levi squeezed his eyes shut, unable to bear the hungry gaze. A sharp slap against his cheek forced them open again.
“No,” he commanded, voice suddenly harsh. “You’ll watch. You’ll see what I do to you.”
The touch alternated between bruising grips that would leave fingerprint-shaped marks and delicate caresses that raised goosebumps across Levi’s skin.
The unpredictable pattern created a disorienting confusion between pain and unwanted sensation, making it impossible for Levi’s body to prepare for either.
The weight across Levi’s thighs shifted as the stranger repositioned himself, settling more heavily, more intimately. His hands moved to Levi’s shoulders, pinning him against the floor.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered, his breath hot against Levi’s ear. “I’ll be gentle.”
Fingers hooked into the waistband of Levi’s boxers, tugging downward with excruciating slowness. “Make a sound for me,” he urged, voice rough with desire. “I want to hear you say my name.”
Levi bit down hard on his lower lip, drawing blood in his determination to deny him what he wanted. The metallic taste filled his mouth as the fabric slid lower, exposing him completely to the cool air and the stranger’s hungry gaze.
One hand slid beneath Levi’s lower back, lifting him slightly while the other continued its exploration. The stranger’s hips ground downward in a deliberate rhythm that made Levi’s body respond despite his mind’s desperate rejection.
“Your cock is responding to me. You can fight it all you want, but why? Give in. Let me have you.” His fingers dug into Levi’s flesh hard enough to bruise, claiming ownership through pain and control. Each mark seemed to delight him, evidence of his possession written across Levi’s skin.
“I’ll make it good for you,” he promised, his breathing becoming irregular. Something shifted in his expression again—the predatory confidence flickering, revealing something almost vulnerable beneath. “Better than dying. Better than anything you’ve ever felt.
The stranger’s hand moved to cradle Levi’s face. His face held a desperate need that hadn’t been there before—a vulnerability that seemed jarringly out of place on his features.
“Will you say my name?” he asked, voice uncertain, almost pleading. “Say ‘Asher.’ Please.”
The request caught Levi off guard. Something about the plea cracked through Asher’s facade of control, revealing a glimpse of something almost human beneath the monster.
“A-Asher,” Levi whispered, the name bitter on his tongue.
A shudder ran through Asher’s entire body at the sound of his name on Levi’s lips. His eyes closed briefly, like he was savoring the moment.
“Again,” he breathed, leaning closer.
“A-Asher,” Levi repeated, and this time he felt something else in the name—not just bitterness, but power. Information. A weapon.
Through the terror and unwanted arousal, through the pain and humiliation, Levi found a core of cold, calculating focus.
He needs this. Needs my response, my participation. That’s his weakness.
I have one chance. One choice left. He couldn’t escape. Couldn’t overpower Asher. Couldn’t endure what was about to happen. But he could choose how this ended.
With a surge of desperate strength, Levi yanked his impaled hand upward. The knife tore through flesh and muscle as he ripped his palm free from the floorboards, sending hot sprays of blood across both their faces. Asher recoiled, his features contorting with confusion.
“What are you—?”
Before Asher could finish the thought, Levi gripped the knife handle with his uninjured hand and dragged the blade across his own throat in one savage, decisive motion.
The cut was deep and precise. Blood fountained from the severed artery, pulsing in rhythm with his racing heart. The hot wetness cascaded down his chest, pooling beneath him on the wooden floor.
“NO!” Asher’s voice shattered the stillness, his composure crumbling. The predatory confidence vanished, replaced by something Levi had never seen in those eyes before: pure, unbridled panic.
Asher lunged forward, pressing his hands against the gaping wound with desperate urgency. Blood seeped between his fingers, unstoppable and warm.
“What have you done?” he demanded. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”
Blood continued to pump from the wound despite Asher’s frantic efforts. Levi’s vision began to darken at the edges, but a strange calm washed over him. He’d chosen this—chosen death over violation. For the first time since the nightmare began, he’d taken control.
“Stay with me,” Asher commanded, though his voice shook with desperation. Blood-slicked fingers fumbled with the fabric of Levi’s ruined shirt, pressing it against the wound with trembling hands. “Don’t you dare die. Not like this. Not when we were so close.”
Levi’s lips curved into a smile, his teeth stained crimson. The world was fading, sounds becoming distant, but Asher’s voice remained clear, desperate and devastated.
“You’d rather die than be with me?” The question emerged broken, almost childlike in its wounded disbelief. Asher’s features twisted with genuine hurt, and a tear tracked through the blood spattered across his cheek. “After everything—after I showed you what we could have—you’d choose this?”
Levi couldn’t respond, couldn’t form words through the blood filling his throat. But his gaze answered for him, holding Asher’s stare with defiant satisfaction even as the light began to fade from them.
Asher’s fingers trembled against Levi’s neck, his composure shattered. The monster was gone, replaced by something almost pitifully human.
“Please,” he whispered, “please don’t leave. I can’t—I won’t let you go.”
The tremor in that voice, the quivering lip, the tears mixing with blood—they seemed impossibly genuine. For a fleeting moment, Levi wondered if there was something real beneath the monster’s facade. Something capable of actual love, however twisted.
But it didn’t matter now. The darkness was closing in, his heartbeat slowing as blood continued to pump from the wound. Asher’s face blurred above him, those mismatched eyes the last points of color in Levi’s fading world.
“I’ll find you again,” Asher promised, voice fading into the encroaching darkness. “Next time will be different."