Read Online Suffer the Flesh by Monica O'rourke - Free Book Online Page A

facing the wall at the far end of the room.
    James faced the audience. “Many of you have become lax. You seem to believe I’m kidding around. Perhaps you think that because you’ve been here a while, I won’t go as hard on you as I would a newcomer. Not so, ladies, not so. As a matter of fact, since you already know the rules, I’m inclined to be even tougher on you.
    “But I digress. What we have before us are three guests who have forgotten the rules. Three who believed, perhaps, that this has become some sort of joke.”
    The woman closest to James slumped forward, her shoulders hitching.
    James pulled on a pair of utility gloves and accepted a cat o’ nine tails—thick reinforced shaft, multiple leather strands—from the guard Tony. Raised his arm, the whip overhead and behind his back, and struck the first women and then another, until he was whipping all three, each blow causing horrible screams. The cat o’ nine tails split their flesh, left bloody welts exuding pus and gore on their backs and arms and legs, ample flesh quivering with each blow.
    Breathing hard, hands on his knees, face glowing with exertion and happiness, James pointed at the first woman. “Sandra here spoke. Sandra’s been here way too long to have made such a careless mistake.” Crack ! Sandra screamed, her body shaking, as if trying to break free of the chains.
    He approached the middle woman. “Marie was late. Again.”
    Crack ! Flesh blood tricked down Marie’s thigh, and she shuddered. “Marie’s always late. Think now maybe she’ll be on time?”
    “Joanna …” James shook his head. “Joanna thought it was a good idea to attack a guard. There’s no excuse for such an indiscretion. No forgiveness.”
    Crack ! The third woman shrieked, threw back her head, falling toward her knees but caught by her wrists in the shackles. To the guard beside him, he said, “Turn her around. And get me the Ripper.”
    Joanna was unchained, and she slumped against the guards, who again secured her to the wall, this time facing out.
    Another guard handed James the device.
    Four-pronged, like sets of fangs, two metal curved spikes jutting up from the bottom, two reaching down from the top.
    Face already drenched with tears, Joanna sobbed harder.
    “ No forgiveness for assaulting a guard. No redemption. When one bites the hand that feeds her, the punishment must be severe. Some rules are never to be broken; such transgressions are intolerable. Let this be a lesson to all of you.”
    Gently, he raked the tool along her abdomen, leaving pink streaks in its stead.
    Joanna moaned, exhaling pent-up breath, her body trembling.
    With a quick stroke he lifted the torture device up to her breast and tore through the fatty tissue, delicate skin bursting, white globules hanging, dripping from the destroyed breast.
    Joanna was shrill, hysterical, and James yanked the device up from the bottom of her torn body part, severing the breast from her body. It plopped on the floor, a gory lump of ruined tissue and desiccated milk ducts.
    The smell of blood, coppery and salty, swam in her nostrils. Zoey retched into her palm.
    James snapped his head back, fire blazing from his nostrils. “Anyone pukes, they fucking eat it!”
    Handing the Ripper and his heavy utility gloves to Tony, James said, “Get them out of here. Clean them up and put them in the cells.”
    James faced the prisoners. “Any questions?”
     
     
    * * *
     
     
    Everyone had been told to report to Room Twelve.
    The pace in the corridor was rushed. No one wanted to risk being late, to have the flesh torn from her body … as much as she dreaded whatever waited for her in Room Twelve, Zoey hurried to get there.
    She followed the crowd as they gathered outside the door. All the prisoners were there—fifteen now, the three who had been punished now missing—and were told to form a line. One-by-one they were weighed. Zoey had lost twenty-six pounds.
    She was told to go inside.
    “Hey, Zoey.”