knock knock knock

"Come in," a male voice answered.

A petite, young woman entered the studio.

"Hello, I'm here to apply for the assistant job?" she asked, looking around the half-lit space. Her soft voice pierced the stillness in the air. The heels of her ankle boots prominently echoed off the wooden floor. Breaking the silence, footsteps were heard from across the room. The male voice spoke again.

"Hold on, let me switch on the rest of the lights." The rest of the room was illuminated, revealing a mini-stage at the back with its own curtains closed and a young man of average build, casually dressed.

"Ah, that's better," the man said. He walked up to the woman, and they shook hands.

"Michael Corsair."

"Suzy Tempest."

"Interesting name, Suzy. I know you sent in a soft copy, but... do you happen to have a physical copy of your resume on you?"

Suzy plucked out a sheet of paper from the folder she had brought.

"Have a seat," Michael offered, gesturing behind her. "But there aren't any ch--", Suzy thought to herself, unconsciously taking a step back. She felt an object bumping into her and stepped forward in shock. She turned around to see an upholstered chair behind her. "How in the--"

cough cough Michael audibly cleared his throat. Suzy returned her gaze forward to see that he had already sat down in a chair of his own behind a desk. Seeing her visibly confused, he urged, "Please, sit down. Sit down." She finally sat down, reorienting her focus.

Michael began to read the resume in his hand. "Okay, acting school... two years... interesting...," he mumbled under his breath. Somehow, SUzy heard this and said, "Yes, I uh... used to do small acting roles here and there. Nothing special."

He dismissively responded, "I see."

An awkward silence filled the room for about a minute. Suzy anxiously awaited any query Michael might have for her. Finally, Michael stood up, and Suzy, slightly startled, readied herself to respond to anything he might say. However, he instead walked over to a lever near the stage. He pushed it up, and the curtains opened to reveal an empty stage. "Whoops, sorry, let me uh...," Michael mumbled as he pulled down the lever and closed the curtains again. With greater force, he pushed up the lever again, and the curtains parted to reveal two guillotines angled slightly toward each other and one taller woman. "There we go," Michael said triumphantly.

The woman carefully made her way offstage and walked over to Michael. She was wearing a tank top and skinny jeans, nicely showing off the shape of her legs. Even though she wore pumps, her footsteps remained silent. Both of them went back over to Suzy, who's still trying to process the sudden appearance. Nonetheless, she instinctively stood up to greet her. "Suzy, this is one of my assistants, Leia. You'll be working with her closely," Michael said. "Hello, Suzy, it's a pleasure," greeted Leia as the two women smiled and shook hands.

"Wait, working with her?" Suzy's smile disappeared as she realized what Michael had just said. "Does that mean I get the job?"

"Not yet," Michael sternly answered. "You're certainly qualified on paper, but first, I need to see how good you are onstage." He gestured over to the stage. "You will be helping Leia perform the illusion, then you yourself will perform it."

>>Fast Forward>>

On stage, Michael explained the flow of this particular trick. "Your job will be to secure Leia here onto the guillotine, while I mumble on about the history and whatever of the contraption."

Leia was standing in front of the bascule, tipped vertically and ready to accomodate her. Her long hair was now held in a bun as Suzy proceeded to tie her hands begin her back.

"Usually, I'd perform this trick with only the quote-on-quote 'victim', but for now, this will do," Michael elaborated.

With Suzy finishing her rope work, Michael instructed her to strap Leia onto the bascule as he adjusted it so that Leia's head was just above the wood.

Michael went on to show how to strap down Leia. "There are belts fixed crosswise along the length of this bascule. We only really need three of them to secure Leia. This first one goes over her shoulder blades." He grabbed the buckle of a belt just below Leia's shoulders and gestured to Suzy to grab its corresponding tongue.

"The second belt goes over her waist." He grabbed the tongue of a belt by Leia's waist. "Usually, the 'victim's' hands would be in the way, so just thread it under them." He lifted her bound hands slightly, his hands brushing over her butt.

"Hey!" Leia playfully interjected.

Michael blurted, "That reminds me." He made a clutching gesture with both hands and put them together. As he pulled them apart, the unmistakable sound of tape being unwound was heard. In Michael's hands appeared a strip of packing tape and immediately placed it over Leia's mouth without giving her a chance to react.

"Mmmm!" Leia could only moan into the tape.

"Suzy," Michael called.

"Yeah?" Suzy replied.

"The third belt goes over just above her knees. You take care of that while I put something else on Leia."

"Uh, sure."

While Suzy was tightening the belt strap, Michael produced a small canvas bag in his hands. Upon seeing it, Leia began shaking her head in protest. Michael ignored her playful pleading and fit the bag over her head. "Ah, still a perfect fit," he commented, tightening the drawstring snugly around her neck.

Visibly worried, Suzy asked, "Can she still breathe in that thing?"

"Oh, don't worry about her. She can handle it," reassured Michael. "Right, Leia?" he asked, squeezing her left hand.

"Mmm-mmmm," nodded Leia. She also gave an okay sign with her left hand.

"All right, now that Leia's secured on the bascule, it is time to tilt her down and slide her head into the lunette," said Michael. "Please open the lunette, Suzy."

As instructed, Suzy undid the catches holding the two halves of the lunette together. She raised the upper half as Michael tilted the bascule and the helpless Leia horizontally with a thud.

"Mmph," said Leia with a thud.

"Hold that in place, while I carefully guide her head in," Michael instructed.

Despite being tape gagged with a bag over her head, Leia kept her head straight as the lunette was finally closed over her neck, the bag covering everything on the head side of things. She even began nonchalantly waving her legs as Suzy redid the catches.

"Since her head is now secured in the lunette, it needs to be kept from moving too much," explained Michael. "Suzy, see those hook thingies at the corner of the lunette?" She nodded in agreement. "Tie each end of the drawstring to each hook, and make sure it is taut. I'll handle this side," he instructed.

After tying each loose end to its respective hook, Leia could barely move her head at all. Michael stepped back to check for any things left undone.

"There, we've finishing securing the 'victim' onto the guillotine. This is usually the time the magician would begin spitting some dialogue about what fake crime poor Leia here has done but not me," Michael stated.

"Are you ready, Leia?" he asked.

"Mmmmmm! Mmmmmmmm!" Almost as if on cue, Leia began writhing in her bonds as the bag muffled her loud cries.

"Oh, a reminder, Suzy." Suzy could hardly look away from the display Leia is putting on. Michael continued, "Always make sure all bonds are tight. If an assistant has to act scared and desperate, like what Leia is demonstrating," he gestured to Leia still flailing about, "we don't want belts or ropes or chains to suddenly snap or come loose from the violent trashing." Suzy could only nod as Leia continued her performance.

Michael stepped forward and untied the rope holding the blade up.

THWACK!

Without any warning, Michael had released the rope, dropping the blade onto Leia's neck. Her moaning was silenced, her earlier desperate flailing faded into involuntary convulsions. Blood was dripping from both sides of the lunette. Suzy, having jerked from the shock of the impact of the blade, was speechless, covering her mouth with both hands. Soon, Leia's body stopped moving altogether.

Even with the blade seemingly going through her neck and separating her head from her body, the drawstrings held her head in place. "If you'll notice, the blade stops in front of the lunette, instead of in a groove within it, as it should be," Michael pointed out.

Suzy finally uttered, "Oh, my God, is she okay?!"

"I don't know," answered Michael. Raising his voice, he shouted "Leia, are you okay?"

"Mmmmm-mmmmmm," Leia whimpered. She began slowly waving her legs again, flexing her hands, and stretching her legs.

"Suzy, I want you to verify that Leia's body is indeed alive and kicking."

A bit scared and still taken aback by all this, Suzy hesistantly approached Leia's moving body. She felt her moving arms and felt her chest heaving with breaths, even though the base of her neck and her shoulders are covered in blood. Leia's movements gradually became more energetic.

Michael went over to the other end of the guillotine and ran his hand along Leia's right thigh up to her ankle. "Mmmm," Leia moaned. When he reached her foot, he started to remove Leia's pumps, even with her legs trying to shake him off. After taking both shoes off, her foot flexed and stretched as if showing off. "Feel it," Michael invited, holding the ankle. Suzy took a good hold of her foot before Leia kicked her hand away. "I think that tickled," Suzy said, her expression looking somewhat less scared now.

"I also need you to inspect her head, and make sure it is Leia's," Michael instructed, as he put both her shoes back on.

Suzy, a bit more confidently now, went over to the other side of the guillotine. The mouth of the bag was tainted with blood as was the blade. Blood had pooled directly underneath the lunette, but the dripping had stopped. Suzy leaned in close to try to listen to Leia's breathing. Sure enough, she could her the muffled breaths. She brought her hand closer to touch the bag.

"Mmm!"

"AAAAHHH!" Suzy fell back onto her butt, startled by Leia's sudden cry of surprise. Michael had apparently decided to untie her hands.

"Mmmmm!" Leia's relief was short-lived when she realized that after having removed the first belt, Michael had instead just secured each hand to a cuff high up the frame, forcing her arms straight up and parallel to the frame.

Michael stood back and admired the new predicament Leia found herself in. She was strapped face down onto a wooden board, her struggling arms were pinned in a painful position, her mouth was taped shut, and her head was covered in a canvas bag, separated from her body by a weighed blade.

Suzy interrupted Michael's train of thought, "That... this is...  amazing." She was trying her best to speak straight in her bewilderment.

"I mean..., Leia has a freaking steel blade lodged through her neck!" Suzy was scratching her head. "She shouldn't even be breathing, but wow, like... this is unbelievable!" She could hardly hide the look of amazement on her face. "It looks so... so real! How do you even pull this off?"

At that moment, Michael just thought of what he thought was a great idea. Ignoring Leia's arms fighting against the cuffs, he approached the bag containing her head.

"Oh, you mean pull this off?" Michael swiftly untied each end of the drawstrings with one head and pulled the bag away with the other. He walked over to Suzy and said, "This... is amazing." Orienting Leia's head upside down facing him, he showed Suzy the open cross section of her neck.

"Go ahead. You can touch it. She won't mind," Michael said. Looking back over at Leia's body, she'd given up trying to get some slack for her arms. Suzy gathered the courage to touch Leia's giant neck wound.

"Mmmmmmm." From within the bag, the head audibly purred with pleasure. "Aaah!" Suzy was again startled, but this time, she just withdrew her hand quickly. The body visibly shuddered, its hands and feet clenching and unclenching.

Suzy was dumbfounded at how Michael and Leia could have possibly pulled this off so convincingly. She thought, "The bag with Leia's head, apparently, is still alive, and her body is also still alive, even when Michael pulled her head off the guillotine..."

"That's quite enough of that," Michael said as he tossed the bag into the basket Leia's head was initially supposed to fall in.

"Mmmph!" Leia's body was shocked from the impact.

"How did you do that... the thing w-with her head and her body?" Suzy managed to ask.

"Well, why don't you find out for yourself? I did say you are going to be performing, too," Michael replied. "However, I believe this is all new to you, so I have to confirm first that you can handle it," he elaborated. "Sadly, if you can't, then I have to begrudgingly ask you to leave the premises."

Suzy pondered the dilemma before her. She initially only took up this job to make some money while looking around for a much better job. However, with all she's seen so far, a voice in the back of her head was telling her that if she let go of this opportunity now, then she might never get the chance again. She thought this might be the real deal--legitimate, true magic. She looked over to Leia, who is doing what could possibly be the most impossible thing she has seen all her life. She looked back at Michael, her mind made up.

"What will it be, Ms. Tempest?" Michael inquired formally.

"Can I trust you?" she asked.

"Pardon?"

"Can I trust you?" she asked again, this time emphasizing each word.

"Well, I cannot say for certain that I am trustworthy nor can I say that you will enjoy this job I am offering," he replied. "However, I can say that I trust all my assistants." He approached Leia's body and gently ran his hand across her back and patted it twice. "I sincerely hope that they trust me as much as I do, too." The way Leia's hands and legs reacted suggested that she was surprised yet pleased by the gesture.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"As you wish, Ms. Tempest"

He produced a large sheet of white cloth and concealed Suzy with it. As he pulled it away, she was gone.

"Mmmm?" Suzy found herself staring into an empty wicker basket, neck stuck in something, her mouth taped shut. From behind her, Michael spoke, "There is no more backing out now."

Suzy tried to move again. She tried to move her arms but realized they were cuffed straight against the frame. She felt her torso was strapped down, and she found that she could only wave her legs.

"I've been bound like Leia..." realized Suzy. She glanced over to her right, but she could only see the frame of Leia's guillotine. She also noticed a circular mark of blood left on the blade.

"Oh, right, the blade..." she thought. "I wonder if decapitation actually hurts."

"Now, since this is your first performance of this particular trick, I have opted to go over the formalities," Michael continued. "However, for your case, I think I should cover your eyes as well."

He approached the lunette and tied a long strip of white cloth over Suzy's eyes. "All right, now I can begin these stupid formalities!"

Suzy took this as a cue to act scared, wriggling in her bonds. "Mmmmm! MMMMM!"

"Oh, don't struggle too much. Technically, this version is safe for volunteers," Michael stated. "That is why I didn't need to use the bag for your head."

This remark did nothing to lessen the nature of Suzy's current position. "Mmmm!" She continued to feign panic.

"For crimes against the state," Michael began his speech in an old-timey announcer voice. "I hereby sentence you, Suzanna Tempest, to be executed!" He sounded his own drum roll as he untied the rope of the blade.

"MMMMMMMM! MMMMM!" Suzy hammed up her acting, actively trying to break her bonds. They did not give way.

As Michael stopped his drum roll, Suzy had also stopped moving, anticipating the fall of the blade onto her neck. All was silent for several moments...

THWACK!

Thud!

Suzy felt her head hit something solid before feeling her left cheek touch the bottom of the basket. She felt a great, sharp pain from her neck, and she realized that she could no longer breathe and that she could no longer feel her body. In spite of all this, her mind soon entered a tranquil state, clearing her thoughts, enhancing all her senses, and killing all feelings of pain. She could hear blood dripping into the basket. Strangely, she could also her and even feel faint, short gusts of warm air in front of her.

She felt a pair of hands reach for her blindfold. When it was untied and pulled out of the basket, her head was moved a little. She saw Leia staring back at her. Apparently, Michael had switched their baskets and pulled Leia's head out of the bag. They exchanged blinks, showing each other that they were still alive.

Michael once again reached into the basket, grabbing Suzy by the hair. "It doesn't hurt as much," she thought. On her way up, she saw Leia's eyes follow her and her mouth smile at her under the tape.

With one hand under her neck and the other on top of her head, Michael brought Suzy's head over to Leia's body. He raised her up to Leia's cuffed left hand. Even in her state, as soon as her hand felt something, Leia gently lightly brushed her fingers over Suzy's face. As Michael pulled Suzy's head back, she waved her hand.

Suzy got a good look of Leia's still moving body before Michael turned her over to her body. Her arms were hanging limp from the cuffs. Her legs had fallen dead. Her body lay lifeless, having just finished its convulsions.

"Wow, I do have a butt," she thought, seeing herself prone from a high angle for the first time.

Same as earlier, Michael raised Suzy's head to her cuffed right hand this time. However, her face touching her own fingers elicited no response.

"I feel sleepy..." Suzy felt herself slipping into unconsciousness. Michael noticed her having a hard time keeping her eyes open and gently set her head down, back in the basket how she landed.

The last thing Suzy saw before losing consciousness was Leia making puppy dog eyes in front of her. The last she heard was Michael saying, "I will see you later in my office to discuss the terms of your employment."

>>Fast Forward>>

"You called for me, boss?" A short-haired woman in a loose tank top and shorts walked in.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me 'boss'?" Michael shot back. He was back behind his desk.

Haley just shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Anyway, I need you to get Suzy here into my office," he continued, pointing at Suzy's unmoving body, face down on a long, wheeled, metal table. Her arms were now at her sides. Her head, eyes closed and mouth still taped, was placed upright just in front of her neck.

"The interview go well?" Haley asked.

"Splendidly well," he replied. "She just needs a little more breaking in."

"Aw, that's great!" an elated Haley said. "I'll tell Rachel to get ready tomorrow."

"Ah, yes, thank you."

"And what about Leia over there?" She pointed to Leia's body strapped face down on a similarly long table beside Suzy's. Her legs were still free to move, but her arms were now in a box tie. She was trying to slip out of her box tie.

"Oh, I'm going to have a little more fun with her," said Michael. He lifted up a canvas bag and flicked it.

The object inside cried, "Mmmm!"