“Yes, my sweet. Daddy is here,” he hums as he brushes her hair back with his long, boney fingers.

He pets her and she purrs softly at the frigid touch. When he lifts his hand to the top of her head, she can see the familiar tattoo on his wrist and stares—two black dots, which always seem to painfully throb, decorated by curvy black lines like a lace painting. She wishes she could trace the lines, but she has always been too afraid to ask.

“Daddy has a gift for you,” he coos.

His hands shift, placing her down in a seated position on the mattress next to him. She can see him a little more clearly now that the light shines directly onto the profile of his face. His skin is pale white and smooth, without a blemish or wrinkle—the complete opposite of these cracked and stained walls. Not even a vein pops from beneath his skin, besides the veins beneath his tattoo; in some lighting, she can see them there, like deep blue snakes. The snakes he’s described to her that the creatures keep as pets and feed pieces of flesh and bone to. His eyebrows nearly match the color of his skin but are thick enough to be visible. Thick enough that she can almost always read his emotions from a distance. When they aren’t furrowed, they are calm, flat lines. His hair is gray, a shade lighter than these concrete walls, and he wears it slicked into a perfectly neat do. So neat that she thinks if she were to tap on it with her knuckles, it would sing a metallic song to her like the metal door does. His eyes are piercing; they look at her with hunger. His sharp and wide jawline complements those eyes, making it seem like he could actually eat her if he wished to; when he smiles, his teeth sparkle. He is almost always smiling at her. Even right now, as he reaches into the back pocket of his pants and pulls out a lollipop.

“Would my sweet like a sweet?” he asks, holding the candy up in front of her.

She smiles and nods. Her cheeks nearly eclipse her eyes from how happy she is to see the gift.

He unwraps the lollipop for her slowly, carefully peeling back the paper to reveal the bright red candy. He opens his mouth; she mimics him. He places the lollipop on her tongue and closes his mouth. She copies and instantly feels the euphoria from the sugar shoot into her brain.

She is always excited by the taste of sweets.

A grin spreads across his lips and he leans in to kiss her forehead, his hand against the back of her head. He scooches down the mattress and lies, resting his head on the hard pillow. He pats the space next to his body and she lies with him, nuzzling into the crevice between his arm and ribcage. They stare at the ceiling together.