Brian Burt - Speculative Fiction

Phantom Pain

[Originally published in Talebones and received an Honorable Mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, Tenth Annual Collection.]

Nobody sells his soul all at once. No, the Devil buys on the layaway plan: he trades you a few sins for this piece, a cheap vice for that one, damns you by scraps and slivers. By the time he holds the pink slip and consigns your sorry ass to Eternal Flame, you don't even know what happened, or how. Listen close, friend, and don't be smug. It's a short step from Paradise to the Pit… but it's one hell of a long drop. You won't be safe until you're in your grave.

In this part of Louisiana, you won't be safe even then....

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