Safe

TOVA

I had braced myself for the first lash of the whip. My torturer barely used his arm, instead flicking his wrist to have the tails of the whip dance across my back. I involuntarily screamed, the pain feeling like hellfire had been poured on to my back.

He pulled back and whipped again and again, flicking his wrist into a morbid movement of pain and blood. He was right; my blood spattered around the room with each strike of the whip. After the tenth stroke I was standing in a puddle of my own blood, bits of my flesh on the ground around me. My knees were wobbly, my throat was sore from screaming and my vision swam. I thought I heard voices over the thundering rain, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything but the pain.

“Get on with it!” I heard Sala scream. I saw the man cock back his arm, this time ready to put his weight behind the stroke and I closed my eyes turning to the pillar with a sob. I knew I would not survive this.

The stroke hit with as much force as I had im