Chapter 231

"Cripple." The word stung, even if flung by leering men with thick beards and cruel eyes. Derrick's captors taunted him with the fact that they didn't have to chain Derrick like the other prisoners. Why chain the crippled man? It's not as if he can run away.

How they liked to toss cruel barbs about his infirmity, their English broken and heavily accented. Yet the sneering jibes were easier to bear than the way they scored his body, dozens of small cuts, slices in his flesh, burn marks too, with wagers placed on how quick each one would heal. The fine lines didn't prove as painful as the yanking of his nails-one by fucking one. With guttural exclamations, they marveled when they realized they'd regrown by the next day. Damn my ability to heal.

The pain was almost more than he could bear. More than any sane person could handle. He'd thought the agony of shifting a torturous thing, and yet that proved fleeting compared to this daily abuse of his body.