Baby Shoes: 100 Stories by 100 Authors (2015) by Jason Brick; Linda Needham (eds)

Author:Jason Brick; Linda Needham (eds) [Needham, Jason Brick; Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781514880005
Amazon: 1514880008
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2015-07-27T21:00:00+00:00

Torn

by Dani J Caile

A light swung overhead. Black, shiny walls. Bin liners. Hands and feet tied, a rope around his neck. Brad saw a corpse lying beside him.

“Oh shit!”

The corpse's head was all smashed in, its brains stomped into the blood-splattered wooden floorboards. From the clothes, it had to be a guy. A chair scraped the floor on the other side of the room. Brad made out a silhouette but nothing more, a silhouette smoking a cigarette and sitting on a backwards chair, legs spread apart.

“Hello?”

The seated silhouette took a drag and dropped the cigarette, stubbing it out with its foot.

“You forced my hand, dick.”

“S…s…sorry?” Brad's excruciating thirst shot straight down his list of priorities.

“What was I meant to do? Let you?”

“What?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Another cigarette appeared in the silhouette's mouth and a tall flame from a lighter lit the end, revealing a portion of the man's face.

“What...what am I doing here?”

“Isn't it obvious? Dying. Even a shithead like you can work that out.”

“Dying? Wh…why? What did I do?” His Adam’s apple felt like a stone.

“Don't you remember?” The man took a few puffs and sat there, silent. Brad thought back. He didn't know this guy, he didn't owe anybody any money, at least not much, and he hadn't pissed on anyone's doorstep for a while or ripped off a car aerial for a long time.

“Sorry, but I…I…”

“You don't know what you did, do you? Think. What were you doing, dick?”

“I…I…” Brad thought hard. As far as he knew, he had no enemies, he'd done nothing bad to anyone…who mattered.

“Oh, how clever you are! I didn't expect anything less.” The man flicked away his cigarette and picked up a rope from the floor. One tug and Brad's neck stretched up to its natural limit. He was not only tied but his legs were strapped tightly to the floor. The rope in the man's hand was connected to the noose around his neck.

“No, please! What…whatever I did, I'm…I'm sorry, alright?” He’d sort it out, he always did.

“Sorry? You will be. And so will she.”

She? Who? Wha…Brad's mind flashed through his last hours of hazy consciousness. The bar, drinks, his mates, playing pool, girls, a small group of girls, flirting, one girl in particular…the man slid a photo across the floor to Brad. It was her. Damn.

“So clever a few hours ago, weren't you?”

“The…the girl?”

“'The girl' he says. Yes, 'the girl'. My girl.”

“Yours? Sorry, alright? I didn't know…”

“Too late, dick. Meet Tasha, the most evil piece of skin and bones this side of the sun.”

“I'm sorry, alright? I didn't mean anything by it! Just a bit of fun, you know? A few drinks, a laugh, that's all! Nothing in it, honest!” Brad tried to loosen his ties but drew blood instead. He was in trouble.

“You know, she thinks she's the only one who feels, the only one who knows, who experiences the truth, the 'real' things in life. She thinks she is the center of the universe.”

What was this guy going on about? Brad was on the wrong end of a rope held by a complete nutter.

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