Devil at the Vatican (BL)

Chapter 4

The morning greeted Elio with pain. His head throbbed and his stomach churned. He stayed in bed as long as he could with the sheets drawn over his head. His window didn't have curtains, so the full spray of daylight came crashing in.

Suddenly, the sheets were torn from his body. Saul stood over him with an angry expression. He'd never seen Saul so upset. Elio sat up at once.

"What is wrong with you?" Saul growled. His voice trembled a bit. Was he scared?

Elio furrowed his brow. "What do you mean, sir?"

Saul held the sheets in a clenched fist. The stains on the sheets caught Elio's eye. Blood splotches patterned his bedsheets. He reached to touch it but Saul jerked them away.

"What's that?"

"What do you think?" Saul snapped. "Your mama went to check the eggs this morning and found that vile mess you made."

Nothing Saul said made sense. Elio blinked rapidly and took a deep breath. "What are you talking about?"

"The coop! The chickens!"

"What happened with the chickens?" Elio asked. Panic set into his belly. He now realized he had a strange metallic taste in his mouth.

"You tell me, boy."

Elio looked down at himself. He wore nothing but his drawers. His entire body was covered in blood and feathers. The blood trailed down his chest from his mouth. That metallic taste... it couldn't be....

He jumped to his feet and fell into the corner of his small room, cowering before Saul.

"What's this?" Elio screamed. "What happened?"

Saul narrowed his eyes at him. "You broke into my coop last night and killed all my chickens, boy. Ripped them apart with your teeth it looks like."

"I didn't. I couldn't." Elio shook his head. Frantically, he began wiping the blood from his face and neck. Feathers fell from him in beautiful wisps to the floor.

"Then what the hell is all this?"

"I don't know. I don't know!"

"Don't you raise your voice at me!"

"Don't you accuse me of some shit I didn't fucking do!"

"What the hell did you say to me boy?" Saul growled.

"Why don't you come over here and I'll whisper it in your goddamn ear," Elio hissed.

Saul reeled back at Elio's aggressive tone. He looked at him in such a way, Elio suddenly understood that he would never believe him.

Sophia sauntered to the doorway of the bedroom. Her face was contorted in fear and anger. Elio made a move to go to her, but Saul blocked him. A crushing sense of betrayal heated Elio's skin.

"Mama," he murmured. He crossed his arms over his body, trying to hide the blood.

Tears collected in her eyes. "First, the chickens. Now you disrespect your elders?"

Elio was shaking his head again, this time uncontrollably. He sank his fingers into his thick, curly black hair and pulled.

"I didn't do anything," he wailed. "Please believe me, mama."

Tears flowed from his eyes as he sobbed. The ferocity of his sobbing shook his body at the shoulders and chest. It dug deep into his lungs and squeezed all the fluid from his mouth and eyes. He sobbed heavily and childishly.

Sophia darted over to him with open arms. Saul stepped in front of her and stopped her from reaching him. She looked at Saul as if she might defy him, but she didn't. She dropped her arms and clenched her chest in agony.