Chapter 17. From Insanity

AURELIA

The screams were deafening, from the people whose bones were being chiseled out to the ones with cuts deeper than the Red Sea. Some were being held to the bed by several hefty men while knives and scissors were used to perform surgery on them. I chose not to even begin to imagine their predicament.

The infirmary was definitely not a place to be by choice, especially in times of war. But there I was, absorbing it all: the smell of alcohol, stained bandages, the gory sights, all of it!

What kept me there was nothing but the deep-seated moans of a figure lying in front of me. The sounds emanating from her sank every other one in my ears. Her hands had been chained on either side to a heavy log of wood, forcing her to lay on the slender mattress like a criminal nailed to the cross. The twisting and wriggling of her sweaty body in unnatural positions irked me, but somehow I found it intriguing. Before me was the bloody proof! The torturous transformation of a li