Chapter 10
Charmine awakened and stared straight up at the stone ceiling of a dark cell that reeked of mold, rotten corpses, and sewage. She didn’t know which smell was worse, but it didn’t matter. Thirst burned her throat, but she would rather go to hell than drink the water in the puddle next to her, formed by the water trickling down from above. She could feel a chilled toxic mist seeping up from the floor. Someone or something was chanting from above. The humming noise of a praying crowd crept into the cell. She must be underground.
She moved her body. The pain stabbing at her brain told her she was very much alive. She rubbed gently at her tummy.
“How are you, my sweet child?” She refused to believe their child hadn’t survived.
She recalled vividly how she had plunged the knife in
