Page 42 of Caged

Please don’t look over the side.Please don’t look over the side, I repeat in my head.

The sound of a lighter striking to life accompanies the smell of cigarette smoke.

“I fucking hate doing watch duty,” a male voice says. “Max and Brody got stuck with the front door.”

“How many more of these will there be?” a different male voice asks.

“The initiation ceremonies are once a month, right? Every full moon,” the first male voice either asks or confirms, but it’s unclear.

“I’d give anything to sink my dick into some pussy right now. Too bad it’s not a regular weekend or we could order these sluts to beg on their knees.”

I think it’s the first male voice again, but they both sound similar.

“Too bad we’re not Kieren. That guy can have all the pussy he wants.”

“Psshhh. I wouldn’t want to be him.”

I’ve lost track of which voice is saying what, but it doesn’t matter.

“Why not?”

“They say he lost his fucking mind after his girlfriend left. Like, truly. The guy is mental.”

“That hot blonde girl? She’s still not back?”

“She ran, bro. You heard the rumors about what he did to her, right?”

“Yeah, but there’s no way that’s true. You’d have to be out of your mind crazy.”

“I’m telling you, bro. He’s off his rocker. I avoid that guy at all costs, dude. I see him in the hallway, and I walk the other way.”

“Speaking of crazy, I hear Barrett and Kasey are on the outs.”

“Really? She’s been here all week, or at least, that’s what I heard.”

Here all week? That would explain things, and I hate that those fucking cops were right.

“Jonah said that Barrett is still pissed she cheated on him over the summer.”

“Weren’t they on a break?”

“Who knows, but you know Barrett. That guy’s an asshole.”

“Fair point. Have the elders arrived?”

Elders?I think to myself, pondering the new terminology.

“Yeah, about fifteen minutes ago. You didn’t see them? Hard to miss them in those masks. How can they fuck in those, anyway? Has to be hard. With those horns? Shittttt.”

Both guys snicker at the joke, and I wonder if they are talking about the masked individuals I saw exit the SUV. The description fits.

My head spins as they banter, and I become more confused by the second. Unable to follow along, I plot my extraction plan. The options are grim. It sounds like guards are stationed at the front door, so that rules out testing those windows, and I won’t be able to get to the other side of the house, given the guards at both the front and back exits. The only way out, as I see it, is to go back the way I came.

I draw in a steadying breath and take a step. Then another, then another. I’m careful to stick close to the hedges so I canremain shrouded in their shadow. Three more steps and I’ll be around the corner.

Crack.

I freeze at the snap of a large stick under my foot.