I hang my head. “No.”
“Me either. How about you, Jane? Fitness instructor’s pay suddenly gone up by a few million in the last month or so?”
“Piss off,” says Jane.
Phil grins wearily. “Wish I could, sweetheart. Really wish I could.”
“So what do you do?” I enquire out of mild curiosity.
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”
“He works in an estate agents,” Jane informs me.
“Thanks a bunch,” Phil grumbles.
“What about you?” I ask Kavi.
“Aw, who gives a shit,” Phil breaks in before he can answer. “That was in the outside world. In here you’re just another plaything.”
I look again at the empty cage. “Why did they do that? Burn that person up, I mean.”
“Nick,” Jane says quietly, her eyes glistening. “His name was Nicholas.”
“They don’t need to give a fucking reason,” Phil explains. “They’ll just come in, douse you with petrol and strike a light.”
“Phil, please,” begs Jane.
“Especially if you make a fuss, draw attention to yourself,” he carries on, ignoring her. “Just like Nick did.”
It was Jane’s turn to glare now, at Phil. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just––”
“He asked one too many questions,” Kavi points out, looking at me.
Phil nods in agreement. “Every time they came in, he was at it. What the fuck did he expect?”
“Come in? Hold on,” I say, switching the subject, “so you have seen the people holding us then?”
Phil considers how to answer that one. “They don’t exactly let us get a good look at their faces.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will,” Kavi promises.
“Nick didn’t do anything wrong,” Jane continues, as if the conversation hasn’t moved on at all. “It wasn’t because of that––they just enjoy it.” Without thinking, her hand goes to her neck and now I see the scar. It’s a fresh one, still quite raw. “They enjoy hurting us.”
“But why? What could they possibly gain from this? What do they want?”
“That,” says Kavi, “is precisely what Nick wanted to know.”
End of preview...
Want to keep reading?
PAUL KANE - PAIN CAGES
* * *
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BOOKS of the DEAD
BEST NEW ZOMBIE TALES (VOL. 1)
BEST NEW ZOMBIE TALES (VOL. 2)
BEST NEW ZOMBIE TALES (VOL. 3)
CLASSIC VAMPIRE TALES (VOL.1)
BEST NEW VAMPIRE TALES (VOL. 1)
MATT HULTS - HUSK
MATT HULTS - ANYTHING CAN BE DANGEROUS
JAMES ROY DALEY - TERROR TOWN
JAMES ROY DALEY - 13 DROPS OF BLOOD
JAMES ROY DALEY - INTO HELL
JAMES ROY DALEY - THE DEAD PARADE
GARY BRANDNER - THE HOWLING
GARY BRANDNER - THE HOWLING II
GARY BRANDNER - THE HOWLING III
PAUL KANE - PAIN CAGES
TONIA BROWN - BADASS ZOMBIE ROAD TRIP
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