Page 60 of Diamond Kisses

Another Master took his place.

I groaned as he struck.

His hit wasn’t as accurate. The bite of the whip kissed my thighs instead of my back, adding another layer of excruciation. He whipped me five times and then traded places.

The next lacked finesse, the leather fork chewing its way through my shoulder blades, almost kissing bone.

Kiss by vicious kiss, they pushed me deeper and deeper to that point of inhumanness.

I felt it building inside me, welling like a mushroom cloud, preparing to blanket, shelter, and grant me adrenaline and strength to survive.

If only I could use that numbness to protect Ily and get her far away from here.

If only I could blow up this fucking fortress and every monster within it.

A guttural cry escaped me as another Master stepped up and began.

He held nothing back.

No one did.

Every Master brutalised me to the point I no longer even knew my own name.

I hung there.

Bleeding.

Gasping.

Twitching.

I lost track of time again.

I skipped in and out of awareness as pain became heat, and heat became ice, and ice became numbness.

My body shuddered as each man took his turn.

My bare feet slipped on the spilled blood painting the podium floor.

I didn’t know how many Masters were in residence.

I didn’t try to match faces with their strikes.

I didn’t care.

The sooner this was over, the sooner I could pass out.

You can’t pass out.

The guard…remember?

He’d whispered something...

Christmas is in two days.

Had he told me that to add yet another layer of torture?

I no longer kept track of the clock or calendar. I didn’t want to know how much time kept ticking past.

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