Chapter 78

*Valerie*

Everything aches and burns. My skin is covered in welts and deep cuts where they have struck me with varying sizes of sticks and the occasional knife to get me to comply. I glance up, looking at the metal pole my hands were forced to grip before they chained me to it and lifted me up.

A chain clamps onto each of my ankles, tethering me to the ground to discourage too much swinging afte