Mary

by Kelvin V.A. Allison

The smell of death hung in the air and lingered in the structure of the building that held them prisoner, a smell that all the water in the world could not cleanse.

Lily began to scream, drawing a laugh from the older of the two men and he stepped forwards, cracking his stick hard against her head several times in quick succession.

So this was it. She was the last. The final one to die. But why? Why were they doing this to them? What harm had they ever done these men? The most terrifying thing was that the men didn’t even seem to hate them, they just didn’t seem to care about the hurt they caused them. But then it had always been that way in her life for as long as she could remember.

Perhaps death would be a blessing when it came. Freedom from the pain and the abuse. But no, death was still death.

A right to breathe and love and enjoy the world?