MONDAY AFTERNOON

The library was, as always, quiet. Amy sat with her arm across Runner's back, resting her head on Runner's shoulder. She looked up as Runner leaned back from her reading, frowning. "So... the world goes around the sun..." Runner began uncertainly.

"Uh-huh."

"So why does it look like the sun is going around the world?"

"It's because the world is spinning around..." Amy thought about how to explain it. "Here, stand up."

Runner blinked, but rose out of her chair.

"Okay, say the table here is the sun, and you're the world. I want you go slowly around the table, and keep turning around and around while you're doing it."

Runner smiled. "Like this?" Runner began turning in place, sidling gradually around the table.

At the other end of the library, Amy could see Taylor look up at them curiously. Amy smiled back at Taylor, and said to Runner, "Okay, stop here a minute. You're facing the table. That's like the sun being right up overhead. Now turn, and watch where the table is... no, keep looking straight ahead. Now you're seeing the table off to your side. It's getting close to the edge of your vision. Keep turning... See, now you can't see the table. It's behind you. And now... here it comes again, from your other side. Now it's right in front of you again. It's like the table moved in a big circle all around you, but it wasn't really moving at all. You were moving."

Runner looked at Amy wide eyed, dropping her jaw. "So tonight when we're in bed, the sun will be..." She pointed to the floor. "There? And we can't see it because the world is in the way?"

Amy grinned and nodded vigorously. "Right!"

Runner shook her head, looking amazed. "I always wondered where it went at night. I got afraid sometimes it wouldn't come back." She suddenly gave Amy a serious look. "Amy... You help me learn so many new things. After this weekend you won't be here..."

Amy cut Runner off gently, putting both hands on Runner's shoulders, saying softly, "You can learn all this without me. I don't have to be here. You've been learning how to learn, so you can do it on your own. Just remember -- there's always a reason for everything, even the things that really confuse you at first. There's a reason. There's a reason. You can find out what it is. Don't let it scare you while you're trying to find out." She grinned. "And if you do need me, you'll be carrying me around in your head." She tapped the side of Runner's head. "In your thinking. You'll remember this talk today, right here. You'll remember me telling you not to feel scared, or feel bad because you're confused. Remember me telling you to think about all those times when your confusion went away because you understood, and tell yourself that will always happen again. You'll learn and you'll understand. I know you will."

Runner's face seemed aglow. She threw her arms around Amy. "I will remember."

They held each other for a time. Amy was startled to hear a throat clearing nearby. She looked up to see Melissa.

"I figured I'd find you here," Melissa began apologetically. "I was thinking... since tomorrow night is our last time, do you want me to be... ummm... Miranda? You know, the dress, the hair?"

Amy turned to face Melissa, her hand still rubbing Runner's back. She shook her head. "No, honey. I've always got Miranda with me. The person I want to say goodbye to is Melissa. I love you for you, not because you remind me of someone else."

Melissa beamed at Amy, and leaned forward and kissed her.

MONDAY NIGHT

Amy sat on the bed in Holly's and Haley's room, looking up at the sisters. "Okay, I won't say anything while you're doing it." She reached out with her foot and kicked the lever on the platform, starting its descent, then sat back and wrapped her arms around her shins, trying to imagine herself as a mere spectator of their pair hanging.

As soon as they were airborne, Haley smoothly thrust her right thigh between Holly's, who gripped it tightly. They began moving against each other, briefly touching hips, breasts, lips together. They were working on shorter breathing cycles, constantly shifting their grips on each other with their legs to allow for a single, deep breath for each of them during each cycle. Amy, comparing their performance with her memory of a month previous, could see they were much more sensual, less mechanical now than when they had first been learning. The leg lifts for breast kisses still required effort, but flowed much more smoothly now.

The best sign of how far they had advanced was the tingling that began between Amy's legs, almost at the start of the performance. She began rubbing herself, involuntary sighs escaping her throat.

When Haley waggled her foot, it took a moment for Amy to remember that she was not, in fact, a mere spectator, and that she needed to move the lever to raise the platform again.

Once both girls stood on the solid surface, Amy grinned and clapped her hands. "That looked great! And..." She paused, and giggled. "There ought to be a drum roll for this, but I'll just say it -- you don't need me anymore. Of course you need to make the program a little longer than that, and you should start working on a script for the girls assisting you to follow. If you want some ideas on that, Melissa would be really good. But you know what you need to know about the techniques and training."

Haley beamed at her. "Thank you!" She kissed Holly.

Holly giggled. "So are you going to untie our hands?"

Amy smiled. "Thought you liked to be tied. You seemed happy enough with it last night."

Both girls laughed. Holly said, "That was SO cool. We ran straight back to Melissa's room after we saw you and Jana like that. Melissa made us sit through the end of that movie she and Runner were watching..."

Haley continued, "...and then they tried to tell us they wanted to wait for another night, and not have to run around gathering the harnesses and ropes and all that..."

Holly went on, "...But we did a little tag team begging, and they knew we wouldn't let them alone..."

Haley -- "And after they got us all set up like that, Melissa said they might leave us like that all night..."

Holly -- "...but they came back about one a.m. Some night we want them to leave us tied all night..."

Haley -- "...but only if we don't need to do much the next day, because we were so wiped out. We had so many orgasms!"

Holly -- "It just feels so amazing! It's like..."

Amy laughed. "Hey, I know what it feels like, remember?" She stood and untied Haley's hands, and Haley herself untied Holly and they each removed the nooses.

The girls jumped down from the platform, and unexpectedly pressed up against Amy from either side. Haley, on Amy's right, leaned in and began giving Amy kiss-licks on the side of her neck. Holly, at nearly the same time, did the same on Amy's left.

The breath ran out of Amy in a rush, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her entire body seemed to be pulsating, vibrating. She had often been with two girls at once, but it seemed far more intense, more sensual, for her perceptions to tell her that she was being petted and fondled by the same girl in two places at the same time.

Her eyes still closed, Amy wasn't sure which of them unsnapped her bra, and which was unzipping her shorts, pulling them down with her panties. Now they had moved around, one in front and one behind her. The sister in front pressed her breasts, stomach, and mound against Amy's, bare skin to bare skin, her hands on either side of Amy's face, holding her head as she kissed Amy, her tongue deep in Amy's mouth. The one behind rubbed her stomach on Amy's back, mound brushing back and forth against Amy's buttocks, running her hands up and down Amy's sides from her breasts to her hips, while continuing kiss-licks on the back of her neck.

Amy moaned helplessly, then gasped in a sharp breath as both sisters let their fingers slide down between her legs, each of them slipping one finger inside her. Amy managed to stammer, in a hoarse whisper, "I thought.. thought we weRRRRe! g-going to watch a movie."

The sister in front snickered, and asked softly, "Are you kidding?"

Amy lay on her back on the sisters' bed, her eyes half-closed, floating on post-orgasmic bliss. Holly lay facing her on her left, Haley on her right, each with one leg draped over the nearer of Amy's, each with one arm under Amy's back, each with one hand cupping one of Amy's breasts, playing with it idly. Each had her head on one of Amy's shoulders, occasionally kissing the nearer of Amy's cheeks.

Holly said softly, "We wish we could see your hanging..."

Haley continued the thought with, "But we were talking before you came, and if missing your hanging is the price we have to pay for everything you've done for us, we're really glad to pay it..."

Holly -- "We just never imagined, when I was leaving home to come here and Haley had to stay behind for a year, that we could end up being in classes together, and graduate together..."

Haley -- "And these pair-hangings we're going to be doing! To be able to put on shows where everybody can see the special love we have..."

Holly -- "And it's never been stronger than now! Nothing has ever made me feel so close to Haley before..."

Haley -- "Whenever we feel that closeness, we'll think about you."

Tears were streaming from Amy's eyes now. "Really, you know I didn't make any of that happen by myself..."

Holly giggled. "Oh, shut up, Amy. Just let us think of you the way we want to."

Haley leaned in and kissed Amy under the chin. "And then we'll shut up too, if that makes you feel better."

Amy grinned through her tears. "What'll we do then, if nobody's going to talk?"

In answer, both sisters rolled onto Amy's body, covering her between them, and began another round of kiss-licks. Amy shivered, and found she was ready for another session of lovemaking.

TUESDAY MORNING

Amy felt a quiver inside as Tina smiled and directed her into the dean's office. This may be my last time in here, Amy told herself in amazement. She looked around, taking in details she hadn't focused on before. A photo of the dean shaking hands with the mayor. A framed award from the Chamber of Commerce.

The dean, apparently feeling a sense of occasion, stood and offered his hand to Amy. Stunned, she couldn't think what to do for a moment, but at last recovered her senses sufficiently to shake hands with him.

Sitting, Amy began, "Sir, I just want to thank you for... for everything. Everything in my life in the last four years." She wanted to go on, but couldn't think how to expand on that.

He smiled. "I'd like to offer you my thanks as well. I'd make a list, but I'm sure you know what would be on it."

Amy blushed. "I was just trying to... be a Hanging Girl. I think all of us have our own version of what that means. Everything I've done comes out of what being a Hanging Girl means to me."

"You've added quite a lot to what it means."

Her eyes stung with tears. She tried to palm them away. "Shit. I told myself I wasn't going to do this."

He smiled and pushed a box of tissues towards her. She blinked in surprise, and took several, dabbing her eyes with them. She looked questioningly at him, and he smiled and shrugged. "I've done a lot of exit interviews."

She giggled despite her tears, then sobered as a thought struck her. "I'm sure every one of those girls has added to your pride and the school's reputation. I hope I can do that."

He smiled again. "Not something I'm really worried about." He sat back now, tapping his pen idly. The smile widened. "For old times' sake, is there anything more you want to persuade me to do?"

Amy burst out laughing. It felt odd doing it while still crying. She sniffled and tried to recover. "N-No, Sir. I think I'm about done with that." An idea suddenly came into her head. "Oh! Wait! There is one thing."

He folded his arms. "Thought there would be."

Amy thought over how to put her wish into words. "This is kind of vague. You'll just have to figure out what it means when the situation arises. I think you'll be okay with it, though." She looked at the floor, seeking the words there. "Sometime... You'll get another applicant like Megan. Technically perfect, unlimited potential. You'll feel positive you want her as a student. But... ummm, she's sort of deficient in social skills, maybe. When that happens... get her together with someone like me. I don't mean I'm especially brilliant and can fix everybody's problem. But she and I... we were just right for each other. For hanging, she was the best teacher I could ever have had. And I found I could... open her up. Make her more approachable. We... I guess the best word is, we elevated each other. You can make that happen again, if you find the right fit."

He raised his eyebrows. "I should bring these two hypothetical girls together? I take it you mean pair them up from the beginning. How would I identify them that early?"

Amy leaned forward. She gave him a small smile. "I know how you are at reading people, Sir. I think you'll know as soon as you interview them."

He sat back thoughtfully. At last he nodded. "I will promise to keep that in mind."

Amy grinned. "Thank you, Sir."

"Anything else?"

She waited a moment to see whether further inspiration would strike. At last she shook her head. "No, Sir."

To signal the end of the interview he rose and, to Amy's surprise, came around the desk. She stood up to meet him, and as he held out his arms, she leaned against him and felt his arms go around her.

She couldn't help it -- she was sobbing openly now. With no idea the words were about to come out of her, she blurted, "I love you, Sir."

She felt his arms tighten slightly around her. It was enough. He and I both know, she told herself, a Hanging Girl doesn't need to hear words.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Amy hadn't been sure she wanted to say goodbye to Puppy, but she felt a need she couldn't shake off. She believed she owed her life, or at least her escape from the island, to Puppy, and the fact that she had no way to make Puppy understand she would see Amy no more after this week didn't really matter.

Puppy had so many new friends, lavishing on her so much of the physical intimacy she loved, that Amy wasn't entirely sure Puppy even attached any special significance to Amy as a person anymore. At least, Amy hoped that was the case. She didn't want Puppy to mope around unhappily from missing Amy.

In Amy's room, after an initial round of face-licking, Puppy was content to lie quietly, facing Amy, her stubby limbs entangled with Amy's, their faces close enough that no effort was required to kiss occasionally.

Amy sighed, feeling the wish again that they could have given Puppy a more completely human life. But Amy, looking into Puppy's eyes, saw contentment there, and decided that was enough. How many people, Amy asked herself, have that much?

Or have pink hair? she added.

Amy startled Puppy slightly by raising herself up to reverse her position beside Puppy. She started licking Puppy between her legs, and felt Puppy immediately reciprocate. Soon they were both moaning, and Amy had time to reflect, before losing herself in the world of pure sensations, that Puppy never sounded so much like a normal girl as she did when she was nearing orgasm. And that, thought Amy, seemed just right.

Amy, leading Puppy by her leash, knocked at the door to Melissa's and Jana's room, and heard Jana's voice saying, "In."

Opening the door, she smiled at the sight of Runner on the platform, noose around her neck. Runner grinned. "Amy! Watch!" She nodded down to Jana, who pulled the lever to lower the platform.

Amy was glad, though not surprised, that Puppy no longer barked at the sight of girls practicing hanging. She'd become accustomed to the constant sight, and understood now that no one was in danger.

Swinging freely, Runner took a short time to get into a breathing rhythm. Suddenly, with her legs together, she made a complex move with her hips, followed by a swing of her legs. Amy blinked as she saw Runner's whole body almost immediately make a quarter turn to the side, and remain facing that direction as she swung her legs separately to dampen the motion.

Runner waggled her foot to signal Jana to bring up the platform. Moments later, standing in its surface, she beamed at Amy. "I tried that last night, with Jana, when we were practicing with feet tied. Having my feet together gave me more..." She frowned and looked at Jana. "What was... Oh! Control. That was the word." She looked at Amy again. "I had more control that way."

Amy gaped at her. "You made that up yourself?" Turning the body while hanging was always a gradual, laborious process involving certain standard leg moves. No girl, as far as Amy was aware, had ever turned as far as Runner just had in a single move.

Runner grinned and nodded.

Amy tried to decide whether to try to learn the move in the time she had remaining, and decided against it. She might, she thought, become proficient with it in a week or two of practice, but she didn't have that long. A hurried attempt to work it into her own routine would just throw everything off. "Where's Melissa? I was thinking we could all go to dinner."

Jana answered, "She got called down to the dean's office. It didn't sound like a big deal. It was just a few minutes ago..."

She stopped at the sound of running feet down the hallway. Puppy quickly turned to face the door, a low growl at the back of her throat, prepared to protect her friends from any danger.

Melissa appeared in the doorway, using a hand on the door frame to stop her momentum, and stood there, grinning and out of breath. Amy tried to imagine what the dean could have told her that would make her as happy as she seemed to be.

Melissa finally put her hand over her chest to finish steadying herself, and said, still slightly breathless, "Tina just told me... the dean said it was okay to tell me..." She stopped again to make another payment on her oxygen debt.

Amy made a come-on gesture. "Melissa, what the hell is it?"

Melissa stood upright at last without help from the door frame. "They just mailed out letters of acceptance for next year's class. My sister Maria got accepted!" Melissa, her fists clenched, was bouncing up and down in place.

Amy's jaw dropped. Standing closest to Melissa, she was the first to jump forward to give her a hug. "That's great, honey!"

Jana quickly untied Runner's hands, then lunged at Melissa to join in the hug.

Amy shook her head. "I didn't even know she'd applied."

Melissa's eyes glowed. "I didn't either! Didn't know she'd interviewed, or anything. I think the dean didn't want to get my hopes up, in case."

"Did you know she was going to apply?"

Melissa shook her head. "I haven't seen her for two years. When I left home, I didn't even think she was interested in hanging! She was talking about going to medical school. That was her latest phase, anyway."

Runner, free of the noose at last, jumped down from the platform to add her hug to the others. Puppy barked, and Melissa laughed and knelt to offer a hug at floor level.

Runner asked, "So will you be like Holly and Haley?"

Melissa, giggling as her face was licked, said, "We're not quite like them, Runner. I think she'd almost be like a stranger. She went from sixteen years old to eighteen since I left home. Girls really change a lot between those ages."

Runner frowned. "Isn't that just two years?"

Amy rubbed Runner's shoulder fondly. "Growing up here is a little different from what you had, Runner. That age is, well, it's the time when a girl realizes she's growing up and has all these choices to make."

Runner nodded, seeming to understand. She looked back at Melissa. "Will she live with us?" Runner would be rooming with Melissa and Jana once Amy was gone.

Melissa didn't answer immediately. She looked thoughtful. "It depends on what she wants. She's probably going to want to spend most of her time with the girls she's in classes with. The First Year girls. She'd learn more that way, and I'm sure that would be important to her."

Runner blinked as a thought suddenly occurred to her. "She'd be in classes with Holly and Haley. Could she room with them?"

"Ummm... Runner?" Amy took her hand. "Don't say anything about that idea to Holly or Haley, okay? They have a really special bond, and nobody should mess with that." Amy wasn't sure Runner understood what the word "bond" meant, but Runner was uncanny about picking up new words based on context. She certainly knew the word "bondage," which was related. "It's possible they might want to share a room with Maria. But if they do, it should be their idea. Okay?"

Runner nodded. She was always willing to yield to Amy's superior understanding of social situations, a subject in which Runner was just cracking the surface.

Jana grinned, looking at Amy. "Somebody suggested a minute ago we should all go to dinner." She looked at Melissa. "How's that sound?"

"Great!" Melissa beamed at her. "We can tell more people!"

Amy, with Puppy, began following Melissa and Jana out the door, but she stopped and choked back a laugh when she looked at Runner, who was nearly to the door. "Runner." She gave Runner a significant look.

Runner caught on, and threw her arms up in exasperation. "I still forget about that!" The rest of the girls waited as Runner, still naked from hanging practice, rounded up her clothes.

TUESDAY NIGHT

Amy and Melissa lay facing each other, arms wrapped around each other, lips close enough together that they could kiss without effort.

Amy smiled. "I was just thinking. Now there'll be three Warren sisters who've been to the Academy. I wonder what the record is for one family."

Melissa shrugged, causing another kiss. "I could ask Tina. I suppose they've kept track somewhere."

Out of the corner of her eye, Amy could see Miranda's head, soon to belong to Melissa, in her place of honor on the shelf. Amy, her lips now brushing Melissa's as she spoke, said, "You look so much like Miranda. Does Marie?"

Melissa shrugged again. "I don't think so, but maybe I'm not the best judge. Maybe somebody outside the family would think so. She has dark brown hair. So that's different. I don't know if anybody would get us confused if she colored it."

Amy leaned ahead for a moment to give Melissa a more serious kiss. "Maybe it'll be good for Runner to see a sister relationship different from Holly and Haley..." She stopped as she felt, more than saw, Melissa's lips curl into a sudden smile.

"Amy, stop worrying."

"Worrying?"

"About Runner. I know you think it's your job to get her acculturated, and you feel like you're leaving that unfinished. I promise... promise, promise, promise, that we'll keep working on that. Me, Jana, Holly and Haley, the other girls. Everybody who's close to her. We all love seeing her grow. We can all see how much potential she has, and now we feel like it's our job to make sure she reaches that potential. So stop worrying."

Amy smiled, and tightened her arms around Melissa. "Okay."

A thought struck Amy. "Growing up, were you girls different from Holly and Haley? I mean, in the sense of physical relationships?" Amy, with her own background of dysfunctional sibling dynamics, constantly felt amazed at how different other families could be from her own.

Melissa nodded, her lips and nose brushing Amy's. "None of us in the family ever had anything sexual going on -- well, obviously not with Miranda, since she was so much older than the rest of us, but I never had anything with Marie either. But seeing how Holly and Haley are..." She shrugged and laughed. "I guess it's inevitable that's made me a little curious. We might try it, but only if it's really obvious Marie wants to."

Amy chuckled. "She's going to see Holly and Haley too. I guarantee she'll get curious."

Melissa made a slight giggling sound. "Yeah, probably."

Amy's arousal, so gradually rising with the series of intimate brushes of lip against lip, reached a tipping point. She rolled atop Melissa, using her legs to spread Melissa's apart, and opened her mouth over Melissa's, as they began rubbing mounds slowly.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

Amy, holding Runner's hand, pulled open the door and led her inside.

"This is the Hall of Honor," Amy said, speaking barely above a whisper, though no one else was present. "You know what 'honor' means? When somebody is honored?"

Runner wrinkled her forehead in thought. "It's for somebody who does something most people wouldn't do? Something very good?"

Amy smiled. "Wouldn't, or can't. Yes." As the first row of heads came into view, Amy went on, "We honor these girls because they died to help us, not themselves. These are the girls who have been hanged here, at the Academy. They were all students here. Except for one of them, these girls didn't graduate. They weren't doing well enough in their classes, so instead of selling them, the Academy let them use their abilities in a different way. Some of them were hanged in classes, in what we call 'demonstrations.' In a demonstration, a girl is hanged so other students can learn from watching. In each demonstration, there's something the students are supposed to pay close attention to, so they know that much more about hanging and they can do a better job themselves."

Runner was frowning. "These girls flunked out?"

Amy looked at her curiously. "Where did you pick up those words?"

"On a TV show. It was about college students, and they were talking about one girl who 'flunked out.' It sounded like she did bad on her tests and the college wouldn't let her stay."

Amy nodded. "It's kind of like that, but here we don't make them go away. That's very sad, when someone has to go away. At the Academy, all of the girls, even when they flunk out, are very special. They know more about hanging than anybody outside. So they either do demonstrations for us, or else we hang them at parties. You've seen that. In fact, you'll remember some of these girls." Amy led Runner into the last currently occupied row, in which the heads were displayed to a point about three-quarters down the row, with empty spaces after that. She pointed to the last head, and smiled. "You know this one."

Runner gasped, "Oh, it's Amelia! I watched her hang at the last party!" She looked at another recent head. "And this is Mandy! From the time before that!"

Amy grinned. "The longer you're here, the more special this room will be to you, because you'll know so many girls here. And here, look." Amy pulled out the small drawer at the bottom of Mandy's niche. "Girls come by and leave notes here. Mandy can't read them now, of course, but before she died, she knew her head would be here, and that her friends would come by and leave messages for her. That they would all remember her. Here's one. Can you read that?"

Luckily, the note happened to be printed, rather than cursively written, but Runner did need to concentrate on the shapes of the letters, none quite identical to the mechanically or electronically printed ones she was used to. With many hesitations, sounding out words silently in her head until she felt sure she had them right, she read, "Dear... Mandy... Do you... remember... the time you... hugged... me... after I ... messed up our... first... test? I... always... will. You were so... sweet... Thank you... so much... I love you. Sandy."

Amy smiled. "See, this is a room full of love. We love all of the girls who are here. And some are extra-special." Amy moved back up the row, and reached out to stroke the hair of one of the heads. "This is Susan. She was my first roommate, for the first month I was here. She was the first in our class to... well, flunk out. But the demonstration she did..." Amy tapped her own head. "She's in my memories. I'm the only one left from our class, but we all remembered her. By dying, she helped us all be Hanging Girls." Amy leaned forward and kissed Susan on the lips.

Amy looked up to see Runner frowning again. "Amy, will I flunk out? I don't want to. I want to graduate! I want to put on a show like you're going to."

Amy turned to face Runner fully, and took both of Runner's hands in her own. "Runner, I know you won't flunk out. You'll have to work hard, but I know you can do it. Always work hard. Promise me that?"

Runner nodded.

Amy gave Runner's hands a squeeze. "Good. Because if you keep working the way you do now, I know you're going to be one of the best Hanging Girls ever. Runner, you learn faster than anybody I ever saw, and in hanging you're already figuring out new things none of us knew how to do before!"

Runner's eyes lit up. "I do want to be one of the best. I want to be the best."

Amy grinned. "Well, you'll have to work really hard then. I'll show you who's the best."

Amy led her back to the front of the row, and to the wall opposite the rows of heads, to the one special niche by itself, facing the rest. They had walked by it on the way in, Amy not wanting to call attention to it until the last.

Runner blinked as she saw the specially-honored head. "Oh, she's pretty!"

Amy smiled. "Very."

Runner bent slightly to read the inscription on the plaque. "Megan..." She gasped and stood upright suddenly. "This is Megan! The one you talk about... all the girls talk about, all the time!" Runner looked confused. "Why is she here? She didn't flunk out, did she?"

Amy shook her head. "No, she's the one graduate in here. All other graduates end up with their owners. Their heads are usually... Well, you've seen Miranda, but you've seen others like her too, right? Mounted on a stand, or on the wall? In TV shows?"

"Oh!" Runner nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Girlhunting trophies."

"Right. Well, it's like that for Hanging Girls. Like we might be over the fireplace, or... well, somewhere our owner can show us off to his friends, or visitors. Having a Hanging Girl head is special."

"But Megan is here?"

Amy nodded. "So many people -- members -- knew about her, and how good she was, that the dean put on a show, just for her, so the members could come and watch her hang. They paid a lot of money, way more than for any other Hanging Girl ever, because they thought they would never see another like her." Amy took Runner's hand, and waited for Runner to look back at her, so she could hold Runner's eyes with her own. "I know what you can do. I know you can be like her."

Runner's eyes grew wide. "Really?"

Amy pulled Runner in for a hug, and whispered in her ear, "Really."

Breaking off the hug, Amy turned to Megan. All of the time spent with Megan, all of the practicing together, all of the talking for hours, all of the closeness, all of the times making love with her, washed in a flood through her mind. She stroked Megan's cheek with her hand, then leaned forward to give her a lingering kiss on the lips, for the last time. Tears stinging her eyes, Amy smiled and sighed. "Goodbye, honey."

It remained, now, to give the bulk of her remaining time in the Academy to her current roommate. She took Runner's hand once more. "Let's go back to our room."

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Amy couldn't remember the dorm, outside her room, being so quiet, other than occasions when it was emptied out for one reason or another. She knew Melissa, Jana, Holly, and Haley were taking shifts sitting in the hallway, reminding the girls to keep conversations and television volume down low. Amy loved them for that, and for so many other reasons. They wanted Amy and Runner to share a world of their own, without undue intrusions. Melissa had brought them sandwiches and drinks for dinner on trays, had picked the trays up later and replaced them with a late snack -- three bowls, one containing fresh strawberries, one with sour cream, and one brimming with brown sugar.

Amy sat on the bed with Runner, both of them automatically adopting the position more intimate than any other they knew -- sitting upright facing each other, legs around each other's waist (each with her right leg under the other's left), arms around each other, their pussies, stomachs, and breasts pressed together. Occasionally one of them would reach for a strawberry, dip it first in the sour cream and then the brown sugar, and feed it to the other -- Amy had shown Runner how it was done.

Runner, smiling, licked some excess brown sugar off Amy's lips. She frowned then in thought. "Amy, will I feel you inside me after I eat you? When we ate Mandy, I thought I was going to feel different, like I was partly her and partly me, but I was still just me."

Amy smiled and sat for a moment, thinking. At last she said, "It can be like that, but you have to do some other things first. When you want to feel someone you've eaten, first you need to think about her, and remember her. You didn't really know Mandy, but you remember one thing about her -- you watched her hang. At the party, do you remember what you were feeling inside while you watched her?"

"I felt..." Runner hesitated, searching helplessly for the right words.

Amy shook her head. "You don't need to tell me. Just go back to that night. Close your eyes, and put yourself there, right now."

As Amy watched, Runner's face began showing an inner excitement. She swayed slightly, her muscles making tiny twitches as though she were imagining herself hanging -- exactly as she had that night while Mandy had been hanging.

Amy said softly, reaching out to cup her hands lightly against the sides of Runner's head. "You're thinking back to it now. You're remembering Mandy. You know that everything you think, any time, is inside here, right? In your head, in your brain. That's where thinking happens."

Runner, coming back to the present gradually as Amy spoke, nodded.

"You ate Mandy later, and now Mandy isn't just in your head anymore. She's everywhere inside you. Your body, your skin, everything inside you, is made of things you eat. That's where it all came from. You're partly made of Mandy now. Now, when you think about Mandy, what you remember about her, start from the memory in your head, and then let it spread out to all of the rest of your body. Mandy was only here at first..." She tapped a finger lightly against Runner's head, "...but now she's spread out all around inside you." Amy let her hands slip down from Runner's head to her shoulders, slide down her arms, move to her waist, to give tactile meaning to the spreading.

Runner, her eyes still closed, suddenly shook and gasped in a sharp breath. To all appearances, knowing Runner and her body as well as she did, it seemed to Amy that Runner had had a small orgasm. Runner's eyes popped open wide. "I feel her! I do feel her inside!"

Amy laughed delightedly and hugged her tight. "Yes! And you can always do that, with me or anybody you eat."

Runner kissed her hard. The kiss became a tightening of arms, a rocking of hips, rolling pussies against each other. Presently they moaned.

After the lovemaking, Amy set the now-empty bowls of their snack on the floor, knowing one of the girls would pick them up when they brought breakfast.

Amy knew how she wanted to sleep with Runner on her last night with her, and saw that Runner, already curling into the appropriate position, had the same idea. They lay, and fell asleep, each gently sucking on a breast of the other, exactly as they had on their first night together, on the island. Amy knew how content it made Runner feel, reminding her of how she had always slept in the pen. It made Amy feel the same.

THURSDAY

They made love in the sixty-nine position.

They fed each other breakfast, brought by Haley.

They made love sitting up again.

Runner put on the strap-on, because she wanted to make love to Amy in the male style. Afterward, they switched.

After feeding each other the lunch Jana had brought, they made slow love, barely moving for hours, mouth covering mouth, tongues lightly touching, until the fire built up and set them into frantic motion.

After feeding dinner to each other, they made love once more.

And then it was time to part.

THURSDAY NIGHT

They walked silently to Melissa's and Jana's door, holding hands.

Runner knocked on the door, and Melissa opened it. Melissa saw Runner's wavery smile, on quivering lips, and put her arms around Runner.

Looking over Runner's shoulder to Amy, Melissa asked, "So we should be ready to go about eleven, tomorrow morning?"

Amy nodded, and gave Melissa a distant smile. "I want to make sure to be on time. Benjamin says I should try to be there by noon."

"He's never said why he wants you a day early?"

Amy shrugged. "No, but it's not a big surprise. Whatever kind of show he wants me to put on, I assume it requires some rehearsal. Laney had to be at the sorority a couple of days early, for exactly that. And then there was Linda, of course."

Jana asked, "Are you sure you really want to be by yourself tonight? You could stay here, and we wouldn't have to do anything, if you're kind of sexed out."

Amy gave her that same distant smile. "I won't be by myself. You know that." She turned to Runner, who was losing a battle to keep her eyes free of tears. "I'll see you in the morning, sweetie."

Runner gave her a spastic nod. "I... it's hard, letting you go." She was trying to smile again, though not well. "But I can see... well, it started about when we were leaving the room. You're somewhere else already. You're seeing your noose."

Amy's smile widened. She was not surprised Runner had no trouble reading her. Amy hadn't told Runner about her own perception of the "light" she could see in a Hanging Girl's eyes when her day came. Runner didn't call it by the same name, but she could see it now in Amy, and understood it for what it was. "Yes. You'll see your noose someday too."

Runner smiled back. "I know." She took a deep breath and appeared to gather herself. She seemed about to turn away, but Amy caught her by the shoulder and gave her one more soft, long kiss. She backed away then, and Runner entered the room. Melissa gave Amy a small wave, biting her lip, and closed the door.

Amy took a deep breath, and looked both directions down the hallway. Her last night in these halls, she reminded herself.

She went back to her room, and closed her door. Quickly, she shed her clothes, which she had put on for the first time that day just minutes earlier.

In the bathroom, she took a shower, and peed, and brushed her teeth. Then she returned to the bedroom.

She took another deep breath, her eyes closed. At last she opened them, and reached onto her shelf for Miranda's head.

Holding Miranda, Amy sat on her bed, then lay on her side, drew up her legs and curled herself into a ball, wrapping herself around Miranda, cuddling Miranda against her, Miranda's face against her breasts.

In a voice made husky by the tightness in her throat, but gradually softening and relaxing, Amy began, "Miranda... Thank you, thank you, thank you. For the last four years, and everything in them. I... I can see my noose now."

She began talking about her favorite memories of the last four years, though she knew Miranda knew them all already.