Jessie shifted her feet in her sandals. She had just managed to stop crying. Ten more. She worked her jaw and lips, glaring straight ahead, trying to ignore the ever-larger crowd watching her punishment for entertainment. Ten more.
She heard it coming and clenched her eyes and jaw. It didn't help. CRACK!! Shouldn't they be getting more tired, not less? It felt like the hardest stroke yet, and left her gasping, eyes bulging, lacking the breath to even scream.
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
Suddenly she realized the warmth between her thighs was her urine, and she locked down to stop it, face burning.
CRACK!!
She lost all strength and control with the shock of the lash. Her knees collapsed, and she looked down, weeping, to see her jeans, riding low on her hips, becoming more and more soaked from her crotch downward.
She got a brief respite as Trevor and Jack came around in front of her to laugh and inspect what they had made her do. She could feel a small trickle of blood slowly finding its way down her left side, itching terribly. She could hear more than one reporter now, in more than one language.
"Y como se ve, la condenada acaba de orinar en su pantalon."
"Yes, that's definitely pee you see there! But don't worry, she'll be taking off those pants before she's crucified. Meanwhile, she has eight strokes to go..."
"Ok, boys! Keep moving!" it was Austin, behind her.
The lash came again, and her despairing scream interrupted her sobs of shame. Her mind tried to go numb as a defense against the torture of consciousness.
Nineteen licked around her belly, almost to her navel, and she lost her breath. Why were they even doing this? They would soon kill her anyway. What was the point of the -
CRACK!! Twenty. Over the shoulder, chewing flesh from her collar bone.
No more thoughts. Just pain. Wait...
CRACK!! Twenty-one. Streaking from shoulder to hip, deepening the stripes already there.
Resignation. Wait...
CRACK!! Twenty-two. From the other shoulder to the other hip.
No more mental protest. Just feeling every bitter detail of her punishment, fully immersed in the unbearable present moment.
CRACK!! Twenty-three. Licking within an inch of her nipple.
CRACK!! She wasn't even counting anymore. Head back, blurry, weeping eyes unable to distinguish cloud from sky.
CRACK!!