Page 117 of Depths of Destruction

Fear grips me as I slowly turn my head toward him. While his face is so swollen I can't recognize him, his voice I'd know anywhere. I gasp. "Ezra."

Why do they have him?

What have they already done to him?

"Behind closed doors," he mumbles.

What is he talking about?

"What?" I whisper.

Santiago's finger glides from my neck down my spine and into my shorts. He strokes the slit of my ass, and I shudder. Leaning into my ear, he murmurs, "If you weren't valuable to me, then you'd be getting what they get. One day, I'll find you, and this will be your fate. For now, I'll have to play with you in some different ways."

My sobs turn into a wail, and I realize I've been crying since they zapped me.

He steps away.

Two cracks fill the air, and Ezra and the other man scream.

Horrified, I yell and am immediately filled with electric shocks again.

Over and over, the cracks of the whips ricochet in my ears. Santiago's men beat them quickly, and cheers compete with the shrieks of pain. The stranger's shrill scream is deafening, and Ezra's cries shatter my soul.

It feels like forever. The men get whipped. I get shocked, and whatever they are sticking in my back gets ripped out. My nerves become so distraught, I don't feel the blood from the other men dripping down my arms and legs. If I weren't tied to the tree, I would collapse on the ground.

The rough bark rubs against my skin, chafing it, as the volts of energy push me closer to it.

The pain is so fierce, I blackout a few times but not for long enough. The men become so bloody their clothes are hanging off them in shreds, and they no longer scream in pain. Their quiet murmurs fill my ears.

They're dying.

I'm going to die, too.

Eventually, there are no more sounds from the men.

"Ezra," I barely whisper.

His blank eyes stare back at me, and a new wave of sorrow grips me.

Grief cuts deep, but there's also another realization.I'm next.

But they don't kill me. They leave me tied to the tree with the bloody corpses.

A thug comes over and loosens the rope then pushes the men toward me so I'm a sandwich between their lifeless remains.

Blood covers me. The stench of death consumes my airways, and I puke on one of the bodies.

There's so much loud laughter and cheering it doesn't even register anymore.

Am I dead?

Surely, I'm going to die?

Birds land on the men and begin to peck at them. One nips at my back and I scream in pain.

More laughter and Santiago's men begin throwing stones at the birds. Several hit me, but my tears are silent as my body seems to not be able to handle any more pain.

The night becomes darker. The crackle and smell of a campfire and food fill the air, and it mixes with the stench of the deceased.