Page 14 of Inflict

Well, then …

Connor strolled forward, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “How’d they do that?”

“Some operations. She had bandages on her belly and paws for days.”

He frowned. “Did it hurt her?”

“I think so—I had to be careful, and not hold her too tightly.”

Kitty looked okay, now. Her multi-colored ears flicked as Connor tickled and rubbed the cat’s head. She was a great deal bigger than she had been when he handed her over to Evelyn a couple of months earlier. He knew her father hadn’t been very impressed by the kitten, but had allowed her to keep it.

“Is it very cold outside?” Evelyn asked.

“Yes. Didn’t you see the snow when you went to school this week?”

Evelyn’s brow furrowed. “I don’t go to school; I learn here, with Miss Teal.”

Connor hadn’t known that at all. Evelyn was only a few months younger than he was, her sixth birthday was next month; she had told him so. He thought she just went to a different school than him, even if they lived in the same area. Some kids did.

“Oh,” he said lamely.

“Hey.” Evelyn’s voice dropped to a whisper, her gaze darting toward the open doorway. “Want to see my drawings this week?”

Connor nodded, sitting down on the edge of her bed as Evelyn pulled her spiral sketchpad out from beneath her pillow. She never went very far without her drawings, and a pencil, in case she found something to try and draw. She was very careful about letting people see inside her books—only letting people see what she wanted them to.

He didn’t understand, but he listened when she told him no.

Evelyn flipped open the book, going back a good ten pages, to where she stopped at the drawing of a flower. Sometimes, her drawings were very real-looking, other times, they were more like blobs and scratches that barely made a form at all. Connor had seen different drawings of hers for a whole year since they had become friends, and each one got a wee bit better than the last. Not perfect, and they still looked like a kid had drawn them, but better.

That said something.

“That’s cool,” Connor said about the flower.

Evelyn nodded, but flipped the page.

For a long while, Connor stared at the rough image on the page, trying to discern what it was exactly. Of course, he picked up the human shape right away, but it was the other details on the image that confused him.

His childlike mind couldn’t process …

A woman, he knew. Naked, because her breasts were out, although misshapen and odd, and her hair was long. She looked to be on her stomach, lying on something, but her head was pulled back, and her chest was pushed out.

Connor kept staring, though a part of him wanted to look away.

Evelyn had tried to draw people before, and those drawings weren’t much better than this one, as learning took time, and a lot of practice. But he could still tell things about the image.

Like the naked woman.

And the ropes tied around parts of her body.

“Keep that door open!”

The bellow from down the hall made Evelyn slam her sketchpad closed, her gaze shooting to her doorway.

“What was that?” Connor asked.

“My dad.”

“No, the—”