ACADEMY GIRL - Book 3: Arrivals

Chapter 6


Susan did a slow turn, sighing. Amy said nothing, knowing Susan wanted one last look around the room they had shared for a month. Susan said, "I hope you get a roommate who can lift you up as high as you can go. I know you'll be one of the best ever."

Amy smiled. "There's never any guarantees. I don't know if I'll even graduate. All I know is that when I do go, whether it's as a graduate, or at a demo or a party, you'll be there with me."

Susan turned to look at Amy. "What do you mean?"

Amy fingered the envelope on her desk. Susan knew what was in it -- she'd seen Amy collect it, at the hair salon. "When I'm hanged, I'm going to have a strand of your hair wrapped around my collar. You'll be just a couple of inches away from the rope."

Susan put her arms around Amy and squeezed her tight, tears running freely from her eyes now. "Shit. I wasn't going to cry, but that is just so sweet. Thank you."

Susan finally let go and looked up at Amy. "I'm ready. Do we have everything we need?"

Amy nodded. "We do here. Think a minute to see if you forgot anything you wanted to tell Gail and Bridget."

Susan shook her head. "There wasn't really that much to tell them. I got it all written down." Susan looked at the room again, then turned and grinned at Amy. "Let's go do it."

Amy turned and picked up the rope from her bed as Susan popped off her bra and slid her shorts and panties down her legs. Naked now, Susan put her hands behind her back, her wrists crossed, and waited for Amy, who started wrapping the rope around both of her roommate's wrists.

Amy frowned in concentration, muttering, "I wish they'd let you use the crotch rope. You deserve to have a chance at an orgasm while you're hanging."

Susan giggled. "I feel so tingly right now, I think I can do it without that. Just seeing everybody watching me will help. Doing the show will help too. Thank you again, so much, for that."

Amy finished the knot between Susan's wrists. "Try to get out of that. I don't want you to get loose and mess up the demo, and everybody blame me for it."

Susan tugged hard at her wrists, her forearm and shoulder muscles straining. "Yeah, that's good."

"Not too tight?"

Susan laughed. "It doesn't matter if my hands go to sleep before the rest of me."

Amy picked up the bedsheet and bit her lip. "I'm trying to think what's the best way to do this. Hold on." She laid the sheet out flat on her bed, put a rope across the middle of it, and folded the sheet across the rope. Lifting the sheet up at the fold, she draped it over Susan's back with the fold at the top, and wrapped the fold around Susan's neck, the loose ends of rope projecting out from either side of it. Amy tied the rope loosely in a slipknot around Susan's neck, closing the sheet in front of Susan's chest. She wrapped one more rope around the sheet at Susan's waist, to hold the sheet closed down there, tying another slipknot. Susan was shrouded in the sheet down to her knees. "How's that feel? Is that going to stay?"

Susan walked around the room tentatively. "I think so, if I don't make any sudden big moves."

Amy looked at the clock by her bed. "Five to eleven. We better go." Amy reached for her electronic clicker, which all students had been told to bring with them to the demo, and clipped it to the waistband of her shorts. She put her pen and her small notepad in her pocket, and looked up to see Susan was looking at her, smiling. "I'm the one student who doesn't have to worry about that stuff today."

Amy smiled back and stood in front of her. "Yeah, you'll probably be the least tense student there. Ready?"

Susan stood on her toes and kissed Amy, one last time, a long, soft kiss. Amy suddenly remembered Miranda's last kiss with Beth, and her eyes stung. I know just a little now, she thought, just a shadow, of how they felt then.

Susan broke off the kiss, and looked lovingly at Amy, their eyes just inches apart. "Funny to get so close so fast. Good time for it, though, right?"

"Wouldn't have missed it for anything."

Susan turned suddenly, and walked towards the door. She stopped, and giggled. "Oops. A little help here."

Amy laughed, and reached for the doorknob. "You're acting more like a princess than a prisoner. Got me doing everything for you."

Susan stepped out into the hall, letting Amy catch up with her so they could walk side by side.

Just in front of them, Heidi, from three doors down, burst out of her room and started running down the hall. She gave Amy and Susan a quick glance, then stopped suddenly. "I guess I'm not late, if you guys aren't there yet."

Susan grinned. "Can't start without me."

Heidi gave Susan a puzzled look. "What's the sheet for?"

Amy answered, "Part of the show. You'll see in a minute."

Heidi smiled. "Your hair looks really cute that way, Susan."

Susan beamed at her. "Thanks. It feels kind of weird. I don't exactly have time to get used to it. I love the way they made it look, though." At the salon, they had cut it down to about a one-inch length, while shaping it at the edges so that it still looked unquestionably feminine. Susan had had Amy hold her arm in front of Susan's neck to block Susan's view in the mirror from the neck down, Susan then admiring her new hairstyle for several minutes, seeing what her head would look like mounted in its niche.

Heidi backed away, smiling. "I better get there so I can get settled before it starts. Really looking forward to your show, Susan."

"Thanks."

Heidi gave both girls a little wave before turning and sprinting away.

Susan took a deep breath. "I hope I don't disappoint everybody."

Amy rubbed Susan's shoulder. "I know you won't."

Amy paused at the door of the demo room, taking in the sight -- she hadn't seen it other than empty before. Her heart pounded, stimulated by the drama of the situation and contemplation of her own role in it.

What appeared to be the entire First Year class was gathered on four rows of benches circling the hanging platform, above which the noose hung down, ready for Susan's neck. The benches were semicircles, actually, four on either side of the platform, with small gaps between the semicircles affording walkways. The nearest of the benches was barely four feet from the spot on the platform below the noose, slightly elevated to give the students a better view, with each succeeding row slightly higher than the one in front. No student on any of the benches was more than about twelve feet away from the noose.

Amy looked at Susan, and saw that her face was glowing with excitement. Susan whispered in a voice full of wonder, "They're all here for me!"

Amy grinned and whispered back, tapping her own head, "Remember, you'll be in here for all of them, always. You'll be part of their identities."

Susan sighed and leaned her head on Amy's shoulder. "Thank you again. You've made this a really special day."

Amy shook her head. "No, you've done that."

At present the girls on the benches were chatting with each other as they waited -- none had yet noticed Amy and Susan in the doorway. Cindy, one of the teachers, in her red outfit, was calling the roll, reaching the end of the list, when she spotted Amy, and held up her hand as a signal to wait where she was for the moment. Barbara, another teacher, walked towards the door.

Several girls on the far side saw Amy and Susan now, and suddenly broke into applause, joined by the others around the room, the ones on the near side twisting around to see.

Susan flushed and giggled, burying her face against Amy's shoulder. Amy smiled and turned her firmly back to face the room. "Come on, Suse. Just another performance of the play."

Susan whispered, "This is just a little more intense, Amy."

"It's exactly what you wished when you were doing the play, isn't it? When you were hanging, you imagined it was for real, right?"

Susan shivered and grinned. "You know it."

The applause faded, and the conversations resumed at a more intense level than before. Cindy reached the end of her list of names and nodded, then cleared her throat and held up her hand for attention. The murmuring of the gathered girls gradually faded.

Barbara met Amy and Susan at the door. She smiled at Susan. "I was going to give you kind of a pep talk. Do I need to?"

Susan smiled back and shook her head. "I'm okay. Are we starting?"

Barbara turned back towards Cindy and nodded, and looked back at Susan. "Not quite yet." She fished something like a cloth band out of the small pocket of her shorts. "I need to put this on you."

Barbara lifted the band up towards Susan's throat, and Amy recognized it as a cloth choker, similar to the ones Miranda and Beth had worn at their hangings. Amy suspected it had the same purpose. "Is that a pulse monitor?" She pulled down the bedsheet slightly from the back of Susan's neck to help give Barbara room to overlap the Velcro pads that fastened the choker.

Barbara nodded. "We'll need it for the lesson today." She smiled again and gave Susan a quick kiss on her cheek before turning and walking back towards the middle of the room.

Cindy was addressing the waiting class. "Everybody get out your clicker. Did anyone not remember to bring theirs?" She waited, but no one spoke. Some of the girls shifted in their seats, fishing their clickers out of their pockets; some had already been holding theirs. Cindy nodded and went on. "I would suggest not taking notes during the hanging. We'd prefer that you pay full attention to what's going on, without being distracted by trying to write anything. During the hanging, some of you may have suggestions for Susan, but please don't just speak out. Raise your hand and wait until Barbara or I point to you. It's possible we might not want you to say anything right at that moment. Understood?" She waited for nods, and continued.

"Today, the one thing we want you to be watching for especially is the moment of Susan's death. At the instant you think Susan's heart has stopped, push the button on your clicker. The signal from your clicker will be time stamped in the computer, and compared afterwards with the actual time of death. The closer you are, the more points you'll score as your grade for this demo. Okay?" She waited again for positive responses.

Cindy looked towards the door and smiled. "This is a little unusual, but I'm sure you all know Susan and Amy intend to put on a little show for you. Can you tell us a little more about it, Amy?"

From the doorway, Amy said, "It's just a little scene from a play Susan did in high school. If any of you haven't seen the play 'The Wrong Woman,' it's about a woman who's hanged for a murder she didn't commit." Amy shrugged. "I guess that about covers it. Oh, none of you need to say anything during the show. It'll look like Susan wants you to say something, but you're not supposed to."

"Are you ready, then?"

Amy took a deep breath and looked at Susan. "Are you?"

Susan took her own breath. "Amy, I just want to say again thanks for everything. For last night, and making this easier for me, and... just for being such a great roommate." She grinned. "I won't wish you luck. You don't even need that. I know you're going to graduate."

Amy tapped her own head. "If I do, it'll be because I have you up here with me."

Susan grinned and stood on her tiptoes to kiss the taller Amy. "You know that means everything to me." She gestured then with her head. "Okay, let's go."

Amy patted Susan's shoulder, and then her own chest to trying to settle her pounding heart, as Susan walked -- more properly, trudged, into the room, her head down. Amy followed her towards the student-encircled platform, and through one of the two narrow walkways towards the center and the platform, between the semicircles of seats.

Susan stopped as she entered the inner circle and stopped by the platform, at last looking up at the noose. She let out a moan and her knees buckled. Amy caught her and held her up until Susan stood on her own again.

Amy had the first line. "Janeen Forest, according to the authority of the state, the hour of your execution is here." It sounded a little stilted to Amy, but real executions weren't really much less formal. "In front of these witnesses, you will be hanged for the murder of Roger Penney. Do you have any final words?"

Susan turned slowly, with a hopeless look towards the onlooking students. She's really good with this, thought Amy. Well, I guess she's done it enough.

In a low but somehow penetrating voice, no doubt coached by the school's drama teacher, Susan said, "I didn't do it, I didn't do it! Why doesn't anyone ever believe me?"

From behind her, Amy said, "Your trial was long ago, and the time for arguing your case is over."

Susan snapped, "You asked if I had any last words! I just want to know if one person here believes me. Sally!" Susan looked vaguely in front of her. "You knew Roger. You know me! How can you think I would do this?" Amy couldn't tell who Susan was looking at -- most likely she was carefully looking between students so none would think they were being addressed. The original name in that line was "Sandy," but there was actually a student here named Sandy, and Amy and Susan decided they needed to change the name.

Out of the corner of her eye, Amy saw Megan with her characteristic smirk. Amy glared at her and gave her a tiny headshake. Megan responded with a lift of her eyebrows and a shrug. Amy was glad Susan wasn't looking in that direction.

The students, including Megan, were completely hushed. Aside from Megan, they seemed awed.

Susan's shoulders slumped. In that same, low but penetrating voice, she said. "Just one person to believe me would be enough. I could be at peace with my death then, if I had the faith of just one person."

Amy stepped up onto the platform. "Janeen Forest, turn to face me." Susan slowly turned, and backed off for a moment as if she intended to resist, then shook herself, squared her shoulders and stepped up, as if resigned to her fate and determined to die with dignity.

Amy reached out and pulled on the ends of the slipknots holding the bedsheet wrapped around Susan. She tried to make the unveiling as dramatic as Miranda's, but the lack of springs made that impossible. So she did her best, flicking the sheet off Susan's shoulders with her fingers so that it flew back behind her, settling to the floor just off the platform. She fought down a smile as the murmurs from the watching students told her she'd carried it off adequately. They'd been denied permission to oil Susan's body, as the staff decided that would interfere with the students' concentration on the hanging process, and in the absence of sunlight it wouldn't have been as impressive as the truly stunning image of Miranda's body glowing in any case. Susan, of course, didn't have a body like Miranda's either, but, to Amy's delight, Susan, now naked, was suddenly standing so proudly, her eyes so alight with excitement and anticipation, that Amy could sense the air of astonishment enveloping the room.

Amy had to shake herself to get herself moving again, and worked to still the slight tremor in her fingers as she reached for the noose, and dropped it down over Susan's head to settle on her shoulders. Amy nearly laughed as she saw Susan's expression while Amy was tightening the noose around her neck -- Susan was fighting to stay in character as the frightened, forlorn Janeen, but her eyes showed how thrilled she was to be allowed, at last, to carry out her role to what should always have been its true conclusion. Amy knew that if she laughed, Susan's pressed-together lips would split into a grin that would ruin her performance.

Amy took some time adjusting the knot to just the position she wanted. She knew that it wasn't, strictly speaking, necessary in this situation to make sure Susan could survive as long as possible, but she knew that the longer Susan could stay conscious and kicking, the happier she would be. At last Amy was satisfied, and managed to catch Susan's eyes just before stepping off the platform. Susan mouthed a very minimal "Thank you" that couldn't have been seen by any of the others. Amy wasn't sure for a moment what gesture she could give without breaking character herself. Under the guise of giving the noose one last check, she let one hand drop and gave Susan's shoulder a squeeze.

Amy stepped down from the platform, and noticed Susan taking a deep breath -- probably not in preparation for her air being cut off, thought Amy, so much as an acknowledgment to herself that she was standing alone now, naked in front of all of her classmates, waiting to be hanged.

Amy said her last line, "It is now time to carry out the sentence of the court," and looked at Cindy questioningly, gesturing with her head towards the lever. Cindy responded with a small shrug, gesturing towards Amy as if asking if she wanted to do it herself. Amy blinked, looking at Cindy with a "for real?" expression, and saw Cindy give her a tiny nod.

Amy had never actually snuffed anyone before. She'd known that if she stayed on after graduation as an instructor she would probably hang a student or two before she was sold for a show, but that was off in the distant future. She felt doubly honored, in that she doubted that many Academy students had ever been given the privilege of snuffing their own roommates.

Concentrating on the moment so that she'd always remember it, she reached out for the lever and pulled it back, afterwards stepping back and squatting down in the space between rows of seats so as not to block anyone's view. She heard Susan let out a small gasp on feeling the platform start to descend, after which Susan remained silent, concentrating on her breathing, until letting out a barely audible squeak as the noose pulled her up onto her toes, and finally the normal, natural slight choking sound as the rope tightened around her neck and squeezed her airway closed, her toes losing contact with the platform.

It was hard for Amy to tear her eyes away from Susan as the girl started to kick, her body automatically trying to find some support, but Amy took a quick look at the faces of her fellow students as they watched the hanging. Amy realized that many of them had never been so close to a terminal hanging before, probably having seen them only on TV, or from a greater distance at a public hanging, and in any case never before watching someone they knew personally. If they had seen their mothers, older sisters, or friends snuffed, it had most likely been by a standard beheading. It was one of the rare advantages in experience that Amy had held over the rest of them.

All of the girls were staring intently, not wanting to miss any details, and probably would have been doing so even without the classroom assignment requiring their close attention. Like Amy at present, many of them appeared barely able to breathe as they watched -- Amy knew that in her case, she had come to feel so strongly connected with any girl who was hanging that it always affected her breathing.

Amy looked back at Susan, noticing that the girl was forgetting some of her lessons. The necessary movements should have been automatic to Susan after her practice in the last several weeks, but possibly in her excitement she was imagining herself back in her role in the high school show, performed at a time when she knew no technical details about hanging. Amy was about to raise her hand, but saw Jackie's hand shoot up to catch Barbara's eye. After Barbara nodded to her, Jackie called out urgently, "Susan, remember the head movements! You're not doing it enough!"

Susan was, indeed, doing little organized head-rolling, and was very likely not breathing at all. She wasn't able to give a sign that she'd heard Jackie, other than that she did lean her head back and start rolling the back of her neck from side to side against the rope. Amy breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Susan's form improve.

The rest of Susan's movements were instinctive random jerks and kicks. Amy could see the muscles of Susan's back and arms strain as she tried to free her hands, her breasts bouncing as a result of the effort. Amy blinked with a sudden insight. She had assumed all along that the reason all practice hangings, as well as this real hanging, were done by the girl naked, was that it helped them get used to being that way in preparation for their final show, some years in the future. But it occurred to Amy now that, as with so many things here, it was also part of the learning process for the students who were witnessing a hanging or practice. Watching the muscular strains and contortions of a hanging girl gave any onlooker that much better feeling for what was involved, and the instructional staff didn't want any part of that lesson lost by being covered up with clothing.

All of the girls had seen Megan's stunning erotic moves, but Susan had so far not tried any of them in practice. Amy thought about suggesting to Susan that she try something of that nature, here in her final opportunity, but decided that this was Susan's time, and that she should continue with whatever she felt most comfortable with. Amy knew it had to be thrilling for Susan to see such rapt attention among her peers for her final performance, and Amy didn't want Susan's concentration disrupted by having to try something she didn't feel ready for. Only a few of the girls, including Amy, were beginning to work some of Megan's routine into their own practice. Amy had had a limited amount of success, but like the rest of the girls she found it nearly impossible to concentrate on Megan's type of sexual thrusts simultaneously with her "survival" moves, and her hanging time dropped off significantly when she tried to copy Megan.

It occurred to Amy to pick up the discarded bedsheet and put it in a crumpled pile on the platform, directly below Susan's kicking feet. She backed away quickly afterwards and resumed watching.

As Susan's spastic kicking started to slow, Amy took a quick look at her watch. Only two minutes so far, and Susan already seemed on the way out. Amy knew Susan was capable of more, but she was no doubt too distracted, and hadn't started well. She, like the rest of the class, had started getting a feeling for the breathing trick, and had done three minutes easily in practice in the room with Amy.

Amy fingered her electronic clicker and fastened her whole attention on Susan's wriggling body, determined to spot the exact moment of death.

In about another minute, Susan stopped moving. The inevitable stream of urine cascaded down from between her legs, most of it falling on the bedsheet to be absorbed rather than splattering. The electronic clickers made no sound, but Amy could tell by their movements that several girls had pressed the buttons on theirs, signaling the computer that they believed Susan was dead. Amy thought them a little premature. A slight kick of Susan's right foot caused several girls to groan, no doubt those who had used their clickers, though admittedly it might be due to random electrical surges in Susan's nervous system. About fifteen seconds later Amy pushed the button on her own clicker, responding to an undefinable feeling that life had departed her friend.

A flurry of whispers was brought to a stop by Cindy's hand raised in warning, and the room full of girls watched in silence as Susan's nude body hung limp by the neck, gently swaying back and forth like a slow pendulum.

Barbara broke the silence at last. "The system is telling me... let's see. Megan came closest to identifying the instant of death. Could you tell us what you were looking for, Megan?"

Amy had seen Megan sitting leaning forward, not bored for once, as absorbed as any of the other students in the spectacle of a real hanging, but now she sat hunched with her fist supporting her chin, the expression on her face returned to normal for her. Megan said quietly, "Shoulder relax, to put it non-technically."

Barbara gave a small nod, looking slightly surprised, and responded, "Could you go into a little more detail?"

Megan nodded back. "Generally the shoulder muscles are tensed all through a hanging. It's an instinctive response to the effort to get air, even after loss of consciousness -- it's not under conscious control. You have to be looking for it to see it, because it's just a very slight change, but at the moment of death they finally relax. It happens after the bladder release. Holding your bladder isn't required for survival, and the body lets go of it to concentrate on trying to find air."

Marcie, in the row behind Megan, asked irritably, "Where'd you read that?"

Megan answered in a bored voice, "Flanders," naming the text the First Years used for their Hanging Techniques class.

Marcie, still more irritably, said, "I haven't seen anything about that in there."

Megan shrugged. " 's in chapter twelve."

Lucy snarled, "We haven't got to that!"

Megan gave her the standard smirk. "Doesn't mean you can't read it."

Cindy held up both hands in a calming gesture. "Okay, okay, enough. The demonstration is over, but before you go I want you all to show your appreciation to Susan, even if she can't hear you."

Amy quickly stood and clapped her hands, and in seconds all of the girls were standing and applauding. Amy beamed, and felt, somehow, that Susan was indeed able to hear it. Amy felt very proud of Susan. She'd gone out just the way she'd wanted to, and had earned every bit of the applause.

As her classmates began filing out, Amy sat on the edge of the platform. She felt very strongly that her roommate shouldn't be left alone, hanging dead in an empty lecture hall. Amy looked up as Cindy said uncertainly, "Amy? Did you want to take her down yourself?"

Amy shook her head. "I'm just going to stay with her, if that's okay. She loved hanging so much, I think she'd want to do it for as long as possible today."

Cindy shrugged and smiled. Amy thought this may not have been the first time Cindy had seen this reaction in a roommate. "Okay. The kitchen staff will be here in twenty, maybe thirty minutes."

Amy nodded back. "That's no problem."

Cindy smiled. "You and she did a good job this morning. I've never seen a demo quite like that."

Amy laughed. "Beginning of a new tradition, maybe."

Cindy laughed with her. "Probably. Well, I'll see you at the dinner."

Amy waved as Cindy left the room, the last person to go. She brought her feet up onto the platform and wrapped her arms around her shins. Her head was at about the level of Susan's foot, and Amy rubbed her cheek fondly against the side of her roommate's foot. She said quietly, "You were great today, roomie." She picked up the bedsheet and tried to wipe most of the pee off the insides of Susan's thighs. Then she sat back down and settled in to wait for the staff.

She leaned away from Susan's dangling foot and looked up. She'd never seen a hanging girl from this angle, and she rubbed herself between her legs absently, surprisingly aroused by the unusual visual stimulation. The pendulum swinging of Susan's body was gone now, and she simply hung quietly, motionless, peaceful. Amy smiled, thinking how excited Susan would be if she could see herself this way.

Amy sighed. Somehow she felt closer to Susan now than even last night, when they'd been making love. She felt pride at being able to share such a happy exit with her.

Amy was startled when the door opened and two women entered, pushing a long, wheeled cart, obviously slaves from the kitchen. They were equally startled to see Amy. The one on the left, a blonde, opened her mouth, stammering uncertainly, "Umm... We're here to get her to the kitchen and start processing her. You're, uhh... done with her, right?"

Amy stood, stretching to get the kinks out from sitting motionless so long. She realized she'd been staring up at Susan, her mind almost empty of thought, for an unknown amount of time. "Oh, sure. I was just keeping her company until you got here."

The other slave, tall with reddish-brown hair, pushed the cart to the platform and looked up at Susan, saying to Amy, "I imagine you want to save that rope."

"Oh! Right." Amy sighed, looking at Susan. "We've got to take you down now, roomie." She untied Susan's wrists, letting Susan's arms swing to her sides, setting her body into the pendulum motion once more.

The blonde swung the lever forward to raise the platform. "You were her roommate, then? Want to help us get her down?" She stepped up onto the platform after it reached the level of Susan's feet.

"Sure." Amy hopped up onto the platform, and wrapped her arms around Susan's waist to hold her upright, giving her one last hug as the blonde loosened the noose and slipped it off over Susan's head. Together they carefully lowered Susan onto the cart on her back. Amy arranged Susan's arms with her hands over her stomach. "You'll take really good care of her?"

The blonde smiled. "Sweetie, we'd get cooked ourselves if we didn't treat the students with respect, but it just comes naturally anyway. Most of the staff are here because we wanted to be students. We didn't make the grade, but we just wanted to be part of the Academy somehow. It's kind of... well, disappointing and satisfying at the same time, if you see what I mean."

Amy nodded. She knew exactly what the girl meant. She leaned down and kissed Susan one more time, whispering, "Taste good, hon."



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