Chapter 74: Moonlight Dream

Jessie's teeth chattered against each other. She had been reciting times tables to keep her sanity, but now, multiplication was beyond her. 

The bread was gone the first time she fell asleep. She didn't want to think about how close the critters that took it had been to her. They could have just as easily taken chunks out of her as they did the bread. She should be grateful that they didn't, but gratitude was hard to come by when her only companion was misery.

Jessie remembered the smell of dog feces and urine when she arrived. Now she was for sure she smelled worse than that. She longed for a bubble bath and a face mask. Well, she wanted a lot of things, but those were the most basic aside from family and friends.

She tasted blood where her lips cracked. It felt like her entire body was cracked, and what was left would soon bake to bone under the lamps. Shirley had not brought water since the drenching. Whenever that was.