Our Selection

Chapter 15

The guards pull me into the centre of the square and handcuffs my hands either side of the whipping post. I put up a pretty good fight this time, I gave one of them a bleeding forehead and the other a broken nose... At least I hope it's broken, they deserve it. The guard not holding the whip pulls my top up at the back, exposing my skin. I close my eyes and grit my teeth and the first lash comes, burning across my back, the blood doesn't come until the fifth or sixth lash, depending how hard they decide to hit you, I have learnt from experience. I hear an annoyed murmur rise from the crowd and I look up to see my Mother shoving her way through the mass of people spectating my whipping. Her ice blue eyes desperate and sad, I make eye contact with her and she gives me a look. A look to say it will be okay, that I have gotten through this many times before and I will again. A look to say I love you and I'm sorry. The guard continues to strike me with the whip and soon enough I can feel the blood dripping down my back, I can feel the skin being torn with every lash and I groan in pain. The guard holding my shirt gives a chuckle of amusement as I cry out in pain and for a split second, I want to kill him. Many times we have been in this position and each time he recieves great pleasure from seeing me suffer, and each time the same thought crosses my mind. The guard does the final lash and I sigh in relief, letting my muscles relax... Before I know it, another lash marks itself onto my back and another, and another, and another. Tears slip down my cheeks, the whippings are durable if they don't hit the same place twice. If they do... Its complete agony, the guard has deadly precision and he hits right where the skin is broken and bleeding. A look of horror flashes across my Mothers face and she runs out to me to try and stop the guard
"Stop! Stop! What is wrong
with you? She is only a child... She was only supposed to have 10, that's more like 20, can you not count?" She shouts sounding horrified and stands infront of me protectively, trying to block the guard from getting to me.
"Mom..." I croak but it hurts too much to speak so I drop my head and try to not focus on the pain
"Get out my way... She is a continuous offender and she has to pay the price" He growls and pushes my mother to the side before aiming to hit me again. She tries to get infront of me but fails and he hits me hard. Harder than he has any other time and I scream, the pain is too much to handle and my vision starts to go black around the edges, I start to feel dizzy and I collapse against post, I hear my mother screaming and shouting at me to stay awake but the pain is too much to handle. I just want to sleep. The last thing I see is the guard grabbing a baton out of his belt and hitting my mother hard on the head. She falls to the ground next to me and blood starts to flow from her nose. It drips into the cobblestones, which is already splattered with my blood, the guards unlock my hands and I fall to the floor... Just as I am about to pass out she moans and winces before she sees me lying close by.
"Wolf... Please, stay awake" She says while tears mix with the blood on her face, I want to try and do what she says but I am just so, so tired. I close my eyes and she starts to sob even louder
"Please, please Wolf, wake up!" She cries, everything is muted and blurry, no pain, no sharp sounds, nothing to see... Just nothing, it's nice for a change. That is my last thought before the world disappears and everything turns black...