In terms of engagement, the volunteer displays had been rather successful. Around half of the people who attended last night’s show came to the exhibition. Like Jessica, they were allowed to touch the volunteers, but any indecency was swiftly met with instantaneous removal and subsequent banning from the premises. Pictures were not allowed either. Phones and other gadgets were not confiscated, but any attempt to sneak a picture was met with a malfunction, a very blurry image, or the sudden death of batteries.
Well into the night, the steady stream of visitors eventually came to a crawl. The latest of them was seen exiting the theater as Jessica rounded the corner, the building coming into view. Tote bag in hand, she hastened her steps as she crossed the damp street.
Upon entering the lobby, Jessica was greeted by the sight of the five display platforms and the table with the basket of heads. The waist-high table was located dead center of the lobby. Elliptical in shape, it had a rather thick wooden top and an equally thick central steel pole as its solitary leg. The basket lay in the middle of the surface of the table, containing the severed heads of the losing volunteers. The heads were lifeless, gagged and blindfolded, and “packaged” differently from each other. At the curved ends of the table were the two assistants who had their heads displayed as well. They faced away from the table and wore black masks that doubled as gags. They were mounted on small wooden plinths that were affixed to the table. They were also animated unlike their basket counterparts, and their hair was a mess, likely from being inspected multiple times.
Flanking the table were four displays, two on each side. On the left were Abby and Clare’s headless bodies, and on the right were Danielle and Therese’s. They remained as they were last seen, that is, trapped in their respective challenge and fidgeted occasionally in their restraints. Each of their displays was elevated slightly off ground level by a square platform with rounded corners. Opposite the main entrance was a fifth display holding Paige’s body. Her platform raised her a couple of feet higher than the others. Around what remained of her neck was a tight metal collar. Two chains ran taut from it, one at the front connected to an eye anchor embedded into the surface and one at the back connected to another anchor on the wooden post behind her.
“Jessica! You’re back early,” greeted Michael, who was supervising the displays. “May I see your ticket?”
“Hi, uh, I don’t have it on me,” replied Jessica.
“Well, if you weren’t supposed to return Athena to us, I’d have to ask you to leave,” he explained. “Only audience members from last night’s show are allowed to view these displays, and their ticket is proof of attendance.”
“I see.” Jessica raised her arm, presenting the tote bag to Michael. “I’m not sure how to return her, but here you go.”
“No, no, no, it’s still too early,” he rebutted. “Exhibition hours aren’t even over yet. Nine o’clock is quite a while away, too.”
“Hmm, Athena was actually saying the same thing, before I gagged her, put her in the bag, and came here.”
“How about this: why don’t you take Athena and wait out the time in our dressing room?”
“I guess I can wait.”
Michael opened a door to a corridor and instructed Jessica to find a door with the words “Dressing Room” above the door frame. He closed the door behind her and returned his attention to the displays. A few more visitors came by to check out the displays, but eventually, it would hit nine o’clock.
With the sign outside now showing “Closed”, Michael pondered how best to restore the volunteers.
––––––––––––––––
A flood of sensations overwhelmed Abby. Something was placed on her neck stump. Her entire head was overloaded with feeling. She felt a ball wedging her mouth open. She flared her nostrils as if stretching her limbs after a long night’s sleep, but it and the rest of her face encountered fabric resistance. She felt all of this for what seemed like a second, before light enveloped her vision.
“Hnh!” Abby gasped. She found herself back on the stage, unable to move. The ball gag that accompanied her head in her beheading muddled any speech she was capable of. Immediately greeting her was her decapitated body, still strapped into the guillotine that took her head off. Its platform was parked a short distance in front of her, its side facing her. She tried moving her hands and was surprised to see her body respond properly, albeit weakly. She could clearly see her body heave up and down against the straps with her breaths, though she felt no air escape nor enter her nostrils. A tap from both feet confirmed her control of her legs. Looking around, she realized her head was placed on a glass surface slightly wider than her neck that put her head a little above her torso on the guillotine.
Beyond her body from left to right were two metal tables, the infamous cart from last night’s show, and a modified luggage cart. Lying face down on the tables were Violet and Haley. Both of them were tied up by four bundles of rope located above the knees, at the ankles, at the wrists, and above the elbows. The last three were connected to each other, completing the hogtie. A u-shaped metal bar trapped each woman’s neck in place on her respective table. Their heads were hanging freely off the edge of the tables. A leather mask that covered each woman’s mouth and chin completed their look.
On the cart were Rachel and Suzy’s trophy heads wearing similar masks to Violet and Haley and Leia’s lower half sitting beside them. Her legs were dangling off the edge swinging freely—well, as free as they could since ropes bound them together at the ankles and above the knees. Finally, the luggage cart was occupied by Leia’s head on Athena’s body spitted on a long steel rod affixed to the center of the cart. From the base, the rod disappeared into the hem of her dress and exited up into a pointed end that protruded a good few inches out her mouth. The rod forced her head back, facing straight up. Her arms were bound behind her back in a box tie. Near the bottom of the rod was a strip of metal with two cuffs at either end seemingly threaded into the rod. Her ankles were locked in each cuff.
"Good evening, Abby,” greeted Michael, startling her a little bit. He quietly entered the stage area and shook a hand of her body on the guillotine. Despite having her wrists bound on top of being headless, she was able to give a decent handshake, her strength and control slowly returning. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you somewhat properly. How are you feeling?”
“Nnm gnnn,” the brunette replied, regardless of her gag.
“I’m gonna read your thoughts to understand you, if that’s okay,” the magician requested. “I’m not very good at gag-speak.”
“Nn nnnf mnnnn, hnf hmnf mn nnff rmmnf mnn gng? [I don’t mind, but can’t you just remove my gag?]”
“Nope, it’s part of the brand,” he rebutted. Abby’s head shot him a look.
“Moving on, I trust that the blade chopping off your head wasn’t too unpleasant? How did it feel?”
Gathering her memories of last night, she answered. “[When the blade fell and hit me, I felt a surge of piercing pain across my neck. The pain was barely bearable. I hardly noticed my head tumble into the basket because of the pain. It did eventually turn into numbness, but I think you made me lose feeling in my head first.]”
“Well, that was the deal. Fail the challenge, and you get to experience being truly headless, painful head removal included.”
“[Yeah, I know. I know. It was kinda nice, though. I thought I would be freaking out being not able to see and talk anymore, but oddly enough, it was very peaceful. In a weird way, the straps and my wrists and ankles being trapped helped me stay calm. Since I couldn’t really move much, panicking wouldn’t do me anything, so I just took it all in and got used to it. Some time later I felt my body being touched and poked a whole bunch of times. That was me being displayed, right?]”
“Yes,” Michael confirmed. “And you were also the most, I wanna say ‘touched’? No, basically, most of the visitors went to your display.”
“[Really?]” She blushed a little. “[You’re not kidding?]”
“I was there supervising the displays. People checked out your body the most. Although, I would attribute it more to you being bent over, wearing shorts, and having your neck wound covered by the blade.”
“[Wow, still, I’m... flattered. I guess that explains why my butt kept getting smacked.]”
“I allowed some light spanking, but anything more forceful or indecent wasn’t allowed.”
“[It did dawn on me after the second or third smack that with how I was restrained I was practically begging to be spanked. Thanks for keeping watch.]”
“Of course, the brand has its standards after all,” remarked Michael. “Here, I think you might want to check yourself out.” He unlocked the wheels of the guillotine’s platform and slowly turned it until the lunette faced her. Abby noticed the blade obscuring the hole of the lunette was marred with dried blood, her blood. He lifted the blade up its uprights until a click was heard at the top. The blade stuck in place as Michael let go of it.
Sandwiched between the two halves that made up the lunette was Abby’s neck, or what remained of it on her body. Front and center was a perfect cross section of her throat, consisting of the vertebra, the two holes that led to her lungs and stomach, and the muscle tissue all around them.
“[That’s gross, but cool.]”
“Tell me how this feels.” Michael prodded her open neck with a finger.
“[Hey—... Weird, I felt it, but it didn’t hurt. It was like a little tingle inside, err, on my neck.]”
“Good, you should have full control of your body by now.” He slowly spun the platform the rest of the way until it returned to its initial position.
“[Now that you mention it, when my head came off, I think I lost feeling of my body for a second before it slowly came back. You know how when your leg falls asleep and you try to move it again, it goes all tingly for like a few minutes? It was kinda like that but for my whole body.]”
“All right, now that you’re reacquainted with your body, I can finally reveal why I returned feeling to your head.”
“[Oh, right, weren’t you just gonna magic us back home and back to normal after the display is over?]”
“You are mostly correct, but I wanted to do something extra,” Michael stated. Abby gave a confused look.
“Since you lost a challenge and lost your head quite painfully, I feel like its only right that I get to fulfill any one magic-related request that you may have,” he elaborated. “The other losing volunteers get one each as well.”
“[Wait, how many of us lost our heads?]”
"Of the six of you, five got beheaded, and one didn’t. It was Jessica, the one with the braid.”
“[Aww, that sucks. Can I see them?]”
“I can show you later before I send you home, but for now, I need to do your request first. Again, you can ask for anything; you can even take home one of my assistants’ heads for a day as revenge, if you like. The other volunteers are off-limits, though.”
“[Anything magic, right?]”
“Yes.”
Abby thought of the possibilities that lay in front of her. After a short while, she spoke through her gag.
“Hmn mnn hnf mm nn hnf? N mmnnn nn fnmfnng mmnn mnn mmhf.”
“No problem.”
Springing immediately into action, Michael pulled from inside his coat a large blade. It resembled the blade from a paper cutting board, but it was much bigger at about two feet long. He studied Abby’s body’s positioning and held the blade over her waist.
“Hmm, could you pull out your shirt? I can have the blade ignore it with magic, but I’m not confident enough to guarantee not damaging anything,” he said, moving the blade away.
“[Sure. I got it.]” She managed to pull out some parts of her shirt tucked in at her back, but with her wrists tied together behind her back and her upper torso strapped in place, Abby found it hard to pull it out everywhere else.
“[Okay, maybe I don’t got it. A little help?]”
Putting down the blade on the floor, he undid the strap over her waist, so Abby could maneuver her body better. With his assistance, they were able to pull out her shirt all the way. Michael tied her shirt off to her side, exposing her midriff. Finally, he replaced the strap back over her waist, such that it also pinned her arms onto her back.
“[Hey, what are you doing?]” she asked, slightly worried.
“Taking some liberties,” he replied smugly. “Now, hold still.”
Using the bottom edge of the waist strap as a guide, Michael placed the blade onto her trapped forearms. He put his free hand onto the middle of the blade, and in one sudden motion, he slammed the blade down hard.
“[Wait, wait! You’re gonna cut through my a—AAHHH—a-arms...]”
The guillotine jerked as the blade hit the bascule below. A wave of shock went through Abby’s body, followed by searing pain in three different places. It was more bearable this time around, but it still stung like hell. In her pain, she did not notice her now severed forearms fall off her back down onto the platform by her feet. Blood began to pool where the cut was, eventually dripping off the sides.
“Nngfh...” Abby muttered. She was riding out the pain. On the bascule, her headless upper half moved its now free arms. They ended abruptly at the middle of the forearm and at a slight angle. She tried to reach around with her reduced appendages, but soon gave up and let her truncated arms dangle down the sides. Her hands, meanwhile, were clenched on the platform.
Pulling the blade out of her waist, Michael stashed it back into his coat, the blade vanishing in the process. He crouched down and unlocked the shackles of her legs and undid the strap right under her butt.
“Are you going to try walking your legs?” he inquired.
“[I can, uh, try],” she responded, still visibly reeling from the pain. “[Can you hold onto my hips?]”
He placed his hands on Abby’s hips, and helped her straighten them, pulling her lower half away from her upper half. She took a few uneasy steps backwards off the platform, careful not to step on her still bound hands. She turned to face her head and stood with her feet together.
“[You can let—ugh—let go now.]”
Michael slowly pulled away his hands, letting her lower half stand on its own. Without her shirt, her low-waist shorts were more apparent. Her form ended right above her navel, which was soaked in blood. There was a decently large stain of blood similarly on the front of her shorts, arguably from the puddle on the bascule.
“[This is actually kinda hot. I can see why you like having your assistants in pieces.]” The pain from the cut had mostly subsided at this point. She began alternately tapping her feet in anticipation.
“Yes, exactly. The physical attractiveness of my assistants needs to be flaunted to the world,” the magician declared. “Now, what to do with your legs?”
“[Right, uhh, now, can you tie my legs together?]”
“How do you want it?” There was no hint of hesitation in his voice. “Rope? Tape? Something else?”
“[I was thinking of using those thin plastic strap thingies that hold wires together. Do you have any of those?]”
A cable tie was produced in his hand. “Ah, you mean a zip tie?”
“[Yes, that’s it! Can you do one for my ankles and one right above my knees? Oh, and make them kinda tight.]”
Within a minute, two cable ties tightly fastened Abby’s legs together. Her feet kept tapping as if nothing was happening. She tried tapping her fingers as well, but she found she could only spread her fingers apart and bring them slightly together.
“Will that be all or is there more?”
“[It’s perfect, yes, thank you! My friend is going to love this.]” Her face showed excitement.
“I see. This is for your friend?”
“[It’s a... long story, but basically, he’s a huge, huge fan of your show. He lives like a hundred miles away, though, so he can’t really come see the show for himself. I didn’t get the appeal, though, so I bought a ticket to see for myself. Now, I totally get it.]”
“Does that mean you want me to send your divided self to his house?”
“[No, no, he’s visiting my place tomorrow, and I want to surprise him.]”
“That’s very thoughtful of you. However,” Michael glanced over to her upper half, peacefully breathing in and out, “what do I with the rest of you?”
“[Uhh, let me just run you through my plan. I’ll send him a message about where to find the spare keys to my place, let himself in, and lock the door immediately. Once inside, first thing he sees will be my couch, where my severed head and my disembodied legs will be. My head will be blindfolded and gagged and placed on my neck, while my legs will be tied up, face down, and kicking my feet. A note will be on my head telling him to take off my blindfold, so that the first thing I see that day is his reaction to me.]”
“Quite the plan, but I still don’t know what to do with your upper torso.”
“[I think I’ll have him put me back together, or maybe, he’ll do it on his own. Whatever happens, I guess just have it in a box somewhere safe?]”
“I can arrange that, but do you want to be able to control or feel your upper torso or no?”
“[Hmm, I’ll go with no for both. I’m in like five pieces right now, and it’s a bit overwhelming being able to feel every part of me.]”
“And your hands?”
“[Same thing, and just stuff them in the box. Actually, no, wait, scratch that. Keep my hands as they are right now, but still stuff them in the box. I might be able to spook my friend when he reaches for them.]”
“Is there anything else?”
“[Nah, I think that’s it. Thank you so much again for doing this.]”
“It’s my pleasure. Now, before I send you home, I believe you wanted to see your fellow losing volunteers?”
Michael reached out and lifted the brunette’s head off the glass surface it was on. He carried her head facing forward, and proceeded offstage, where the other volunteer displays were placed in a line. Abby stared in awe as her fellow beheaded fidgeted in their restraints. Their heads were out of the basket, placed instead on their necks on a table to the side reserved for beverages. She noticed the heads were all covered differently.
“[Was my head covered differently as well?]” she asked.
“You know that makeshift chute that guided your tumbling head into the basket? I wrapped your head in that,” he explained.
“[Could you do that again instead of just blindfolding me?]”
“I don’t see why not.”
After a few minutes of perusing, Michael returned with Abby’s head onstage to begin sending her home. Her head was placed by her feet, before going back offstage and retrieving a wooden box. Her upper half, now motionless, was placed into the box. Its dimensions perfectly fit her upper torso, from neck to waist and shoulder to shoulder. Her torso was laid on his back, her forearms stumps bent upward to fit, since her arms extended beyond her waist. Her hands, still bound at the wrists by rope, was simply thrown in onto her chest with no fanfare. The lid was placed, fitting seamlessly over the box, removing any visual indication that it could be opened at all. It was secured by latches on all sides.
Moving on to her legs, Michael gently eased them down onto the floor, butt side up. The legs decided to kick their feet up in the air, with a wiggle here and there. He pulled out a long piece of white cloth from his coat and started wrapping her head completely in the cloth. Just like before, he didn’t cover up her ball gag.
“Nnf fnnmf nnffnrmnf...,” Abby’s head mumbled from within the cloth.
At last, he produced a large white sheet from between his hands and draped it over Abby’s parts. After whisking the sheet way, she had vanished.
The rest of Michael’s night was spent helping the rest of the volunteers check their headless bodies out and granting requests. Clare requested a private show for her and her soon-to-be husband’s honeymoon. Paige requested to have some pictures taken of her and Rachel in their decapitated states in various creative poses. Therese, after profusely apologizing to Rachel and Suzy for getting them beheaded, requested simply a ticket to see the next show. Danielle, meanwhile, requested something different.
“You want to be one of my assistants?” Michael reiterated.
“[Yeah, my last assistant gig was fine, but it got too monotonous for the amount of pay I got. You, on the other hand...,]” Danielle’s explanation trailed off.
“Who was your former magician?”
“[It was a guy with the stage name ‘Tom Tortellini’. Only knew that his first name was Thomas. His specialty was private gigs, mostly kids parties, though. There was not a single kid who got his name right. The best ones I heard were ‘tortilla chip’ and ‘turtle weenie’.]”
“I’ve heard of that name somewhere before. Wait, does this Tortellini guy have hair that looks exactly, and I mean exactly, like pasta?”
“[Oh my god, yes!]”
“Ah, no wonder. Well, I have no qualms with accepting as one of my assistants, but it’s not me you should be convincing.” He looked toward his assistants on the other side of the stage.
“I’ll leave you to be vetted by my assistants,” he said as he exited the stage.
Danielle stared past her headless body hanging upside down in the middle of the stage. Her gaze met the assistants staring back at her intensely.
Inside the dressing room, Michael reappeared, opening the door to enter. The room was empty. He walked to the other side of the room and opened a secret door that blended into the wall. He disappeared into that and out into a bigger room, where mirrors lined three of the four walls.
In the rehearsal room was a metal table, exactly like the ones Violet and Haley were on. Trapped on it was Jessica, who was squirming against her ropes. She, too, was wearing a mask and in a hogtie. Beside her was Athena, no longer gagged and now full-bodied. From the neck down, she was covered in a latex catsuit. Latex gloves and boots completed her look.
“You should wear that more often; you look great in it,” commented Michael.
“Thanks, but I’m not wearing it technically,” replied Athena. Her voice had the slightest hint of a drawl.
“Bah, those are just details. Back to Jessica, though, you actually managed to convince her?” he asked.
“I didn’t need to do any convincing actually. She wanted to try it; I just told her I could make it happen,” she said.
“You wanna do the honors?” Michael pulled out the long blade that was used on Abby earlier. It still had her blood on it.
“I’m more than happy to.”
Athena took the blade and lined it up against the outer side of the u-bar that held Jessica’s neck in place. Michael took hold of Jessica’s braided ponytail and pulled it forward, so that her neck would stay straight.
“Hmm!” Jessica yelped, her hair now tugging on her scalp.
With a quick flick of her wrist, Athena swung the blade through Jessica’s neck. A small puddle of blood hit the floor from the slice. Jessica’s head came off, swinging from her ponytail held up by Michael. Her body on the table immediately went limp. Blood started dripping from both cuts of her neck onto the floor.
“May I see her?” Athena requested.
Michael obliged, lifting up Jessica’s head to her eye level. Jessica’s eyes stared into the distance but were still blinking.
“Wow, she took it like a pro,” Athena remarked, as Jessica’s head was lowered.
“Takes one to know one,” Michael said, reaching for the top of Athena’s head with his free hand. He took hold of her hair and gave a slight tug. Her head came off, her latex outfit collapsing to the ground as it lost shape.
“Full of hot air, are we?” he jibed at Athena, bringing her face close to his.
“Maybe...,” she responded. He gave her forehead a kiss before lowering it as well.
With a head in either hand, Michael made his way out of the rehearsal room. Jessica’s head leaked a drop of blood every few seconds.
“So... how was your day with Jessica?”
“She was lovely. She even fed me breakfast and lunch! If you’re interested, she’d make a great assistant.”
“Funny you should say that.”