Dunstan stepped into his living room, grinning with pride over his latest conquest. He decided to celebrate with a drink. He poured the alcohol into a glass and downed it in one great gulp. Suddenly, he felt strangely heavy and dropped heavily into the nearby chair, but his body was soon too limp to stay upright. He fell to the floor, unable to control himself. He was still very much alive, but no longer capable of movement. A soft noise caught his attention; a young woman stepped out from her hiding place, holding a large bag. She knelt beside him and opened the bag, revealing many long slender needles and razor wire. He stared in horror at the woman.

“Guess what,” she said softly to him. “I guess you’ve just learned that drinking is even more hazardous to your health than you thought.” She leaned in closer, until he could feel her breath on his cheek, and added, “I put a special sedative into your drink.” She picked up one of the long needles and smirked as she leaned over him, poised to strike…

“Nah,” Tacita spoke up. “It’s hard to get those kinds of things inconspicuously. Besides, I don’t think Dunstan is much of a drinker.”

“Yeah, good point,” Jade replied with a sigh.

“I thought it was good idea,” Valo replied. “But wait, how about this? Instead…”


Dunstan awoke, his mind a haze. Whatever she’d added to his drink it had made his head spin. He slowly realized that he was tied down to the table. But why? She peered at him and said, “Oh, good, you’re awake. I wasn’t sure how much to add, because, y’know, these things don’t come with directions, and it’s not like I could ask. I’ve been doing some research and… well… I hear that castration is a very simple operation. I mean, young farm boys do it all the time, so how hard could it be, right?” Dunstan stared up at her in horror…


“Nah… too much risk of legal action,” Jade said. “Besides, one wrong cut, and he could bleed to death.”

“Okay, the legal thing bothers me more than him bleeding to death,” Valo admitted.

“Maybe we should try to make up our own methods of torture, rather than borrowing from movies,” Tacita suggested.

“So, we can’t do the Lady Vengeance thing and let everyone who’s been hurt by him take a whack?” Jade asked.

“Or use any of the methods from the Saw movies?” Valo added.

“Right,” Tacita replied. They all fell silent for several seconds.

Jade said slowly, “I’ve been wondering something. Maybe you guys can shed some light on this, since you’d know more than me. You know that girl, Ophelia?”

“Yeah,” Valo said slowly.

“Well, there’s something I’ve been thinking about. She’s rather angry at Dunstan.”

“We all are,” Tacita replied.

“Yeah, but… I mean, I can understand her being ticked that her cousin is dating a total jerk,” Jade began, “but… well… many people close to me have dated some serious losers, and I’ve never acted that ticked.” She frowned. “For someone who hasn’t been directly faced with his evilness…” She paused. “I mean, she hasn’t dated him, right? So… what did he do to her? I can’t help but get a weird vibe… You don’t think…?”

Tacita replied, “Honey, you don’t want to know what I think.” They all fell silent again. Tacita said, after a few seconds, “So, back to plotting revenge.”


Ophelia admired the painting. It’s finished, finally! she thought proudly. I can turn it in tomorrow, have it put in the art competition, and totally beat Emily! I’ll show her… Her thoughts trailed off, as her eyes widened slowly.

“I… I’m becoming a cruel person, huh?” she whispered. “Looking for revenge. I can see why Emily acted the way she did; I was basically invading her turf, for lack of better description.” She stared at the painting, eyes narrowed. “No, I can’t get soft now; I will not lose this fight.” She clenched her fists tightly. “I am going to win this competition.”


Cy reviewed the music video, grinning proudly. It was, in her opinion, well-edited and well-directed. “I am definitely going to get an A on this,” she said to herself. “I really ought to give Ophelia something to thank her for her help. But what? Eh, worse case scenario, I’ll take her out to dinner.” She grinned broadly and added, “It’s good to live with people who have all kinds of high-tech editing equipment.”