io9 is proud to present fiction from Lightspeed Magazine . Once a month, we feature a story from Lightspeed ’s current issue. This month’s selection is “Drosera regina” by A.L. Goldfuss. Enjoy!

Drosera regina

by A.L. Goldfuss

The men knew before she did. Before this boy, before sophomore year, before even her twelfth birthday, they had jostled her on the sidewalk and hooted from cars, searching for something just past her skin. But now, with her panties stripped off and the boy’s eyes on her, Jackie felt a strange prickling. A warning pacing behind her ribs. A mouth about to drip.

The boy’s family had a single-wide, newer than her mother’s, and the carpet in his bedroom was soiled with crumbs. The thin pile bit into Jackie’s shoulders and spine as she thought how, inches below he

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