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ladymacabrebeth · 1 year

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The Name That Must Not Be Named (TW: Suicide, SA, VA) by Lady Macabre Beth

PROLOGUE

1979

"Out, damned spot! Out I say!—One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't.—" An actress recites the lines of Lady Macbeth while the director, Sir Gregory, gulps his throat at the echo of the words. Thankfully, the audience focused on the new rising actress at the university. Otherwise, they would've noticed his Adam's apple enlarged than usual, which he then hid faintly with his scarf. He glanced to the right, and thankfully, the eyes of the audience gazed at no one but the new muse. He peeked to the left, and all eyes were on her—his new star.

"To bed, to bed! There's knocking at the gate: come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed—" Suddenly, the audiences start screaming. As the actress gazes up, she sees a woman with long black hair wearing a distressed white gown gasping for her last breaths. Around her neck was a rope tied onto the battens of the theater. The blood from the woman's neck dripped on the actress's forehead, which led her to scream and run backstage. The audience started leaping from their seats and finding their way to the exit. And at the orchestra, a bunch of audiences draped with bell bottoms, long black hairs parted in the middle, climbed their way out of the seats. It was the night that changed the spirit of that theater.

PRESENT

2015

"So that's Marina, right?—"

"Shhh! You can't say her name, especially inside the theater." Candice, the sophomore, warns Laurence, the freshman.

"Oh, sorry. Why not?"

"Call her M only. It's a long story. People have reported seeing her ghost whenever they say her name. So it's best to call her M if you don't want her spirit to haunt you."

"Oh, okay—"

"Alright, freshies! Settle down, please. We will now enter the theater." Sir Eric beckons the students inside. "There's no going back once you enter the premises. Remember that." He warns the students. With hesitance, the students follow after him. Upon entering, a statue with his mouth gaped wide was carved onto the center of the proscenium wall. His expression was furious, like a dragon about to devour the audience. Inscribed below him is the word—liber pater. On the right side of the proscenium wall, there were carved grapes, and on the left, a goblet with wine. The students couldn't help but gaze at it with marvel and fear. And finally, they settled into their seats after.

Sir Eric clears his throat. "This will be your home for the next four years! Or less than that if you don't make it far. So treat it as if you would treat a temple. The theater is your church—your new religion." He gazes at the statue, and his eyes suddenly dilate at the sight of it. With vigor, he points at it. "Do you know who that is?"

"Me, Sir!" Laurence raises his hand.

"Yes, you." Sir Eric beckons him.

"That is Dionysus—"

"Correct. Or also known as Bacchus—the god of theatre, wine, ecstasy, ritual madness, and insanity." He takes a sip from his bottled water and then gazes at the statue with his eyes glistening at its sight. "You see, it is only in the theater where we can perform taboo things in a way that is still socially accepted. The most immoral and darkest sins you desire to commit—you can do on stage without the burden of it counted as a sin in your regular life. It's all pretend, and we'll never be accountable for the barbarism that—"

"I'm sorry I'm late." A faint voice comes from behind the audience seat. The students turn their head and sees a girl with pale skin and bright russet brown eyes that glowed in the darkness. On the front seat, Dani, a curly haired sophomore, nudges Belle. "I bet she's elitist." Dani whispers. Belle giggles as she chews her gum. "I bet she doesn't know how to sweep the floor. I'll make her clean it 'til she cries." They both giggle.

"Okay, take a seat. But please don't be late next time." The latecomer sits. "Now, where was I? Right. In your daily lives, you are stiff Apollonians. But in the theater, this is where you can strip your mask off and reveal your true chaotic nature. It is here where madness resides in the night! Anyways, enough of that dramatic intro." He takes a gulp of his bottled water. "You, latecomer. What is your name?" Sir Eric asks.

"I'm Holly. Holly Johnson." She responds.

"Ah. You. I know your father. You're the daughter of Dean Johnson?"

"Yes."

"Ah. I bet you don't know how to sweep the floor?" He asks while Dani and Belle giggle. "Rich bitch." Dani whispers. "Who's Dean Johnson?" Belle asks. "Isn't he like a well-known acrobat? I know he's like based in Russia." Dani responds. "Oh, I bet she just got here because of nepotism—"

"Sir, why would you assume I don't know how to sweep the floor? Just because I come from a privileged background doesn't mean I don't know how to clean or do chores. We should stop looking at things as black and white—" The students start clapping.

"Damn." Laurence whispers.

"I love her!" Candice whispers back to Laurence.

"She kinda reminds me of you." He responds.

"That's hot of her to speak up!" Kim butts in.

Sir Eric clears his throat. "Okay. Hold up. Relax. I was asking. There's no need for you to be so aggressive and defensive. Remember, you're the daughter of Dean Johnson. You must set as a good example." Dani and Belle giggle.

Finally, the orientation ends, and Holly bumps into Candice. "Hi! I'm Candice." She extends her hand to Holly. "Hi, I'm Holly. Nice meeting you!" She smiles. "I like what you did in there." Candice smiles at Holly in the aisle while Sir Eric passes by, brushing his arms at Candice.

"Okay, guys! Come forward!" Dani and Belle beckon the students. They move forward towards the sophomores. "Okay, so we will be your heads in the production, along with Candice. Where is she?" Dani gazes at the exit and finds Candice standing beside Sir Eric. "Whore." Belle mumbles. "Anyways, okay, let's start. So we have a bunch of rules here in the theater. All late comers will drink a late shake as a punishment. Except for today. Today is an exception since it's just orientation." Dani glares at Holly. "And remember that here in theatre, you will start from scratch and your achievements from kinder until high school won't count. Think of it as if you're reborn—as if you're nothing—a blank slate. You're a nobody here until you make a name for yourself. Okay?"

"Okay." The students respond.

The next day approaches, and the students gather in a circle on stage. Thankfully, Holly was early. However, one person went in late. It was Tia—a classmate of Holly's since high school. "You! Your late! Come here!" Dani beckons Tia. On the center of the stage, Belle pours coke into a plastic cup, then ketchup, gin, water, chocolate, and coffee mixed in one. "Drink this." Belle hands over the cup to Tia. "Prove to us that you belong here."

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" The students chant. Tia takes a deep gulp from her throat and slowly grabs the cup. She squints her eyes as she sips the drink. And finally, she finishes and everyone cheers except for Laurence and Holly. "Excuse me, I need to go to the comfort room." Tia excuses herself. Holly gazes at her. "Excuse me, me too." Holly excuses herself.

In the comfort room, Tia gags at the toilet bowl. "Tia? Are you alright?" Holly asks. Tia purges the late shake on the toilet. Finally, she wipes her mouth, but it still has bits of the vomit. Tia goes to the sink, but there's no water. She tries the others, but there's none too. "Here." Holly hands over some tissues. "Thanks." Tia responds. "I didn't like what they did to you." Holly utters. Tears start flowing from Tia's eyes. "It's not like this in the corporate world. Bosses don't do that because they're professional. My Mom is going to get angry when she finds out—"

"Shhh! Come here." Holly offers a hug. Afterward, they head to the 2nd orientation.

"Okay, so I want to inform you all that sponsorships for this play is required. You all need to ask your friends, family, and schoolmates for money to fund this play. The company doesn't have much money. So if you love theatre—do this. Prove your love, devotion, commitment, and passion by doing so!" Dani commands the new students. "You can do this by contacting people you know around the campus to ask or contact companies or brands willing to sponsor cash or in-kind. Preferably, the in-kind should be items usable as props. You may use the telephone at the office. That would be your first task to prove us you're worthy in this company." Belle adds.

Finally, the students exit the theater to begin on their first task. Holly walks towards an empty hallway to contact her Mom on the phone until she sees Candice approaching her direction. Her once bright aura dimmed into something of a murky shade. Holly noticed bruises on her face, arms, and legs. Her hair was disheveled too. "Hey, Candice. Are you alright? What happened?" Candice covers her bruises. "I-I-I was—" Tears start pouring from her eyes. "He-he-he took it too far. No one will believe me. He's too powerful. They'll call me a slut—"

"Shhh. I believe in you." Holly gives her a hug while Candice mourns on her shoulder. "You believe me?" With bloodshot eyes, she gazes at Holly. "Yes. You should report him."

"No one will believe me. Look at the way I dress. They'll say it was my fault—"

"They'll believe you. Look at the bruises on your body. You have evidence. And the next time it happens, secretly record it on your phone." Holly suggests.

At the office, Laurence enters with hesitance. He sees Sir Gregory sitting on the sofa with his cigar resting on the ashtray. Laurence clears his throat. "S-s-sir Gregory. I-i-it's great to meet you." He extends his arm. Sir Gregory doesn't shake it and browses through a script. "I-I-I'll be taking calls for sponsorship. May I use the—"

Sir Gregory finally shuts the script close and browses at Laurence from head to toe. "Perfect. Call Miss Esmeralda McFarlane for sponsorship." Sir Gregory hands over a strip of paper with a number. With hesitance, Laurence grabs it. "B-b-but Sir, isn't she the daughter of the late dictator—"

"Do as I say. Pronto!" Sir Gregory exclaims.

"O-okay, Sir." With trembling hands, Laurence starts dialing the number. "H-hello—"

"Oh, and don't forget to invite her." Sir Gregory takes a puff of his cigar. "Yes, Sir." Laurence nods his head.

Outside the office, a lady draped with jaguar printed pants, a white blouse, pearl necklace, black Prada hand bag, and nude pumps knocks on the glass door. The Manager, Gary, opens the doors. "How may I help you, Ma'am?" The Manager asks. "Hi, I'm Holly's Mother. She's one of the new students, and she called me earlier to say that your company is looking for sponsorships for the play?" She grins. "Yes! Yes, come on in." She remits the money, and afterward, Gary shuts the door close.

"Hey, Papa Greg!" Gary beckons Sir Gregory. "What—you hairless hag?" Sir Gregory responds as he flips the pages of the script. "Look what we have!" He flashes the money. "Perfect! Keep that to yourself. Besides, we have money coming from Esmeralda. She never fails to donate." He chuckles while Gary grins as he hides the stash of cash on his drawer. From the glass door outside, Kim catches a glimpse of them laughing as they keep the money. She enters and lines up behind Laurence at the telephone booth. "Fuck her Mom—dumb ass bitch." Gary chuckles. "Money for me!" They giggle while Kim pretends not to hear.

The following day, the students approach the theater with shock as they see police men gathered outside. As the door opens, two police men bring Sir Eric out with handcuffs on his hands. "Justice works, after all." Holly mumbles. "What happened?" Tia asks. "Sir Eric coerced—"

"Candice." Tia cuts her.

"Yes. How did you know?" Holly asks.

"I'm not stupid. I see how Sir Eric brushed his arms against her." Tia mumbles.

"She's such a slut, right?" Belle cuts. "Well, that's what she gets for being a whore. But oh no, I'm going to miss Sir Eric. What a pity! It's her fault they're firing our favorite professor. Whore." Tia and Holly silently look at each other. "I bet she did it for the grades." Dani adds. "Oh bitch, I wouldn't be surprised." Belle and Dani giggles. "Let's go." Holly beckons Tia.

"Hey Holly." Kim approaches her. "Hey, what's up, Kim?" Holly responds. "Hey, don't get mad, but I overheard this from the office." Kim looks down as she fumbles her fingers. "Uh huh?"

"Okay, so your Mom donated for sponsorship, right?"

"Yep." Holly responds.

"Okay, so after that, they hid the cash under the table. Sir Gregory said that Sir Gary can keep the cash as extra money since Esmeralda McFarlane is funding the whole play." Kim explains while Holly clenches her fist. "Lastly, I heard them call your Mom a dumb ass bitch." Kim breathes while Holly doesn't respond. "I'm sorry, but I think you deserve to know."

"Thanks for telling me, Kim. One sec, give me time alone." Holly's voice cracks as she responds.

"Where are you going?" Tia and Kim asks.

"The bathroom." Holly approaches the comfort room with her clenched fists shaking. She shuts a cubicle door and starts banging it with her hands. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! You don't say that to my Mom! You don't disrespect her like that! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" She bangs on the cubicle door until the hinges come loose. The door falls on the toilet as she heads to the sink. She spreads her arms on the sink and slowly gazes at her reflection with bloodshot eyes. Suddenly, the comfort room is silent except for her breath echoing. And then she smashes the mirror with her right arm. "Fuck!" The glasses shatter into pieces. A tiny portion of it cuts into her right arm.

"Oh dear! Oh dear!" A professor enters. It was Professor Barbara. "Oh no sweetie. Your arm!" She approaches Holly, whose face has turned red from all the rage and bleeding arm. "What happened dear?"

"I-I-I already donated money, but it wasn't enough to please them." Holly sobs. "Oh dear, let me tell you. The truth about life is that you can't please everyone, no matter how hard you try. The least you can do is know that you did your best. Alright?" Professor Barbara utters as she washes Holly's right arm on the sink. "I-I-I'm so sorry for the mirror. I couldn't help—"

"Oh, sweetie, never apologize for what you feel, okay?" She strokes Holly's hair on the side. "Don't seek approval of your worth from them, okay? I know you're smart and got in this program for a reason. Remember that. So chin up and never let that crown fall." Professor Barbara gives her a hug.

The following day, Laurence and Tia walked towards the steps of the university. At the steps, Dani and Belle were giving out flyers for their feminist organization, Pink Youth. "Join Pink Youth, where women support women!" Dani and Belle hands out a flyer to Laurence and Tia. Upon walking forward, Laurence rolls his eyes. "How could they claim themselves as feminists when they didn't support Candice's side?"

"You're right." Tia responds. "Instead, they slut-shamed her. Sick." Tia's eyes augment. "Fake hypocrites." Laurence utters. "Where's Holly?" He asks. "She's still at the clinic, I think." Tia responds. "Ah."

As Laurence and Tia enter the theater, they get surprised by the appearance of Esmeralda McFarlane. "What the hell is she doing here? Isn't she the daughter of the dictator?" Tia utters. "Yep." Laurence gulps while the rest of the campus talk in whispers upon seeing her. "Nasty." Tia whispers. "True." Laurence replies while he fidgets his arms behind his back. "One moment, I'll be right back." Laurence heads to the bathroom. "Sure, I'll just be here."

In the bathroom, Laurence drops on his knees and starts purging what he's eaten for breakfast. Outside the theater, Holly finally arrives. "You're here. How are you feeling?" Tia asks. "Much better." Holly responds. "You know me—I'll never give up." Holly wipes the tears from her face. "You ready for acting class?" Tia asks. "Bring it on."

"Okay, let's start with Athena!" Sir Gregory beckons the first student on stage. "Okay, recite Juliet Capulet's monologue in Act 2 Scene 2. And scene!"

"O Romeo! Romeo! Wherefore art though Romeo—"

"Cut! I can't hear you! Project your voice! Louder!"

"O Romeo! Romeo! Where—" Athena repeats.

"Again! Your voice is so soft!"

"O Romeo—"

"Stop! You're wasting my time here. You won't make it far with that mouse of a voice you have! Out! Get out of my stage! Next, please!" Sir Gregory yells. Athena exits the stage and then out of the theater. As she walks in the hallway, tears start pouring from her eyes. She bumps into Candice, who has finally returned on campus. Candice gazes at Athena with worry.

Backstage, Laurence puts his makeup on his dresser. Candice arrives with her bruises covered with concealer. On her arms was a Ouija board. "Hey, Candice! How're you doing? You're back!"

"Uh huh." Candice gives Laurence a hug. "Who's next?"

"Kim, I think." Laurence responds as he strokes the blush on his cheeks. "Okay. By the way, I ran into Athena earlier. She had a black aura around her—"

"Oh you and your superstitious self! Anyways, what's with the Ouija board?" Laurence asks while he glides the lipstick on his lips. "I'll tell you later."

Kim enters the stage with her hands fidgeting. "You, chinky eyed woman." Sir Gregory points at her with a knife. "Do as I say." Kim nods her head as she looks on the floor. "I want you to reinact your first menstruation." The students look at each other and whisper in silence. Little by little, Kim starts touching her abdomen and making painful sounds. "Louder!" Sir Gregory yells. Kim lets out a loud moan. "Okay, next, I want you to pull your panty down and show us the blood." Hesitant, Kim slowly rolls her pants down. "Faster! Show me! Show us! What are you waiting for?" He yells. She pulls her pants down and touches the edge of her underwear hesitantly. "Pull it down! Do as I say, or I will stab you with this!" He gesticulates with his knife. Suddenly, the theater went quiet, and the only thing that echoed was Kim's breath. She started pulling it down while she consciously stared at Holly. "Why are you staring at her? Are you lesbian?"

"Y-y-yes, Sir. I'm lesbian." Kim responds. "Okay, you're done. Next!" Sir Gregory yells as Kim runs backstage. Holly finally entered the stage while Sir Gregory beckoned some male ensemble to join. "Okay, for this one, I want you to reinact Marquis De Sade's 120 Days of Sodom but in movement." Little by little, the male ensemble form a semi-circle behind her, and they start touching her body. Holly fakes a moan. The ensemble slowly remove her clothes except for her bra and underwear. They start kissing her all over. Something about this strangely empowered Holly. She wanted to win over her professor's approval so bad. "Yes, come on! Sell it to me! Sell yourself! You're a whore, right?"

"No, Sir—I'm not a whore."

"Yes, you are. We all are. Everyone dies a whore! In theatre—we sell ourselves for approval. Not just in theatre but everywhere! We are all whores because we sell ourselves to get approval by people. So give that your all because you're a whore!" Sir Gregory puffs into his cigar. "Come on now, make me turn straight."

The ensemble tie Holly's arms in a pole. One of them pours a candle wax on her skin as she moans. "Perfect." Sir Gregory mumbles. "Okay, next!"

Holly runs backstage and pants. "Who would've thought my first BDSM experience would be on stage and in front of people?" She laughs. "No, Holly. That was very degrading." Candice replies. "I didn't like that either." Laurence adds. "Fuck, the candle wax is stuck on my skin!" Holly exclaims. "Here, let me help you out." Tia approaches as she tries to peal the wax. Bits of Holly's body hair gets removed as the wax gets peeled. She screeches from the pain. "Laurence, you're next."

Laurence heads to the center stage. "I want you to pantomime a blowjob! Down on your knees!" Hesitantly, Laurence gets on his knees and starts pantomiming. After a minute, Laurence tries to get up as he slowly feels pain from kneeling down. "Stay on your knees!"

"Yes, Sir." Laurence responds as he stays for 7 minutes more in that position. When he finished, he ran backstage and headed to his dresser. "I want to hire a hitman." Tears flow from Laurence's eyes as he wipes his makeup off. "I got a better idea." Candice responds.

"Let's play Ouija."

"What the hell? Why?" They all respond.

"Maybe we can get answers by conjuring spirits on why the system here is so shit!" Candice smirks.

"What has gotten into you?" Tia asks.

"Let's try. Come on."

"You know what, fuck it. I'm in. Might as well curse this goddamn exploitative place." Laurence responds.

"You know, I heard that if M likes you, she'll appear as your doppelganger, and if she hates you, she'll whisper your name and show up to you." Kim adds.

After 30 minutes, Sir Gregory finally left along with Esmeralda McFarlane. The students ran to the stage with the Ouija board. It was 10 in the evening. "Anyways, Candice, why did M commit, you know?" Laurence asks. "They say she got envious of the new younger actress who replaced her. But I don't believe in that. I know there's something more. I can feel it. Anyways, let's start." They put their hand together on the planchette. "Hello, is there anyone here?" Slowly, the planchette spells out the words, Y-E-S. "Okay, that's not funny! Guys, who moved that?" Tia asks. "Not me!" They all respond. "What's your name?" It spells out, M-A-R-I-N-A. "Fuck, guys!" Laurence screams. The lights of the theater start flickering. Suddenly, Candice starts crying and shaking. Only the whites of her pupils are showing. "Guys! What's happening to Candice?" Holly panics. "He-he-he raped me! He raped me!" Candice mumbles. "I couldn't take it anymore, so I had to end it. I needed to end my life! He destroyed my dignity!" Suddenly, the group gets quiet as they realized it wasn't Candice speaking. It was her—the name that must not be named.

Suddenly, the lights return, and Candice faints. Backstage, Belle removes her makeup while someone whispers her name. "Belle. Belle. Belle."

"Yeah, who the fuck is that? Yeah I'm here! Come here! Stop playing tricks!" She yells until she sees a reflection of a woman with pale face, blood all over her neck, and down her long white gown that seemed rusty and dried out with blood. Belle screams and runs all the way to the stage. "Fuck!" She cries on the center stage. "Belle! What happened?" Holly asks. "She-she-she showed up to me!" She gets on her knees and starts covering her eyes.

The following day, the students headed to their Shakespeare class. "Okay, who can tell me why Ophelia is depressed? Why did she end her life?" Professor Jodi Schaider sits on her table while she spreads her legs open. Holly raises her hand. "Yes, Holly?"

"I think it's because she relied her self-worth and identity on men. Thus, she feels like she's nothing or has no purpose without the men in her life."

"Interesting take." Professor Schaider replies. "You, Tia? Why are you gazing out the window? You're starting to look like Ophelia!" She spits while Laurence covers his nose from the scent of Professor Schaider's beer breath. Holly gazed at Tia and wondered why she's been so quiet ever since they entered college. She wasn't that way before. She was active and loud in high school. Not to mention, Tia was the batch valedictorian. But something changed, and it's like she'd absorb every character they'd discuss in class. And right now, she emulated Ophelia.

It's as if the theater devoured Tia ever since the orientation. The stage was the stomach, and she got swallowed by it. It tore her from limb to limb, gnawed into her flesh until she was no longer the golden child she was from high school. It rinsed the life off of her. She was reborn as nothing but an empty vessel.

"Okay, next, what about Hamlet? Do you all think he was really depressed?"

"Me!" Kim raises her hand. "Yes, Kim?"

"Hi, Ma'am. So for me, I believe that he was semi-depressed and semi-pretending."

"Okay, why would you say that?"

"I think he was depressed because Claudius killed his father and pretending for the most part. He was pretending to be out of touch. But the truth is, who contemplates to be or not to be when that is such a philosophical thing to do? Only a sane person can contemplate on the possibilities of what the unknown can bring."

"Okay, that's a good point. Care to point out what else makes you think he's pretending to be mentally ill?"

"Yes. When Hamlet plotted to stage a play that would trigger his Uncle Claudius to feel guilty and when he decided not to kill him while he was praying."

"Correct. Why?"

"Only a sane person would think of not killing someone while they're praying because they obviously know he'll go to heaven."

"Excellent!" Professor Schaider exclaims while Holly silently smirks in her seat.

At the bathroom, Dani and Belle put their makeup on. "You see what happened here in the mirror?" Dani asks. "Uh huh." Belle responds. "That was Holly's doing."

"Oh. What a pity. Holly might be depressed."

"Uh huh. Most likely. Poor rich bitch." They both giggle.

At the theater, Laurence and Holly sneak in. "Laurence, are you still planning to hire a hitman?" Holly whispers. "Oh, I wish. But I can't afford—"

"Let's kill him!"

"I'd love to! But how?"

"This!" Holly points at the arsenic. Laurence's eyes enlarge. "How?" He asks. "Well, he likes getting his food heated up. I can pour arsenic on it." She whispers. "Genius!" Laurence replies.

"Excuse me? Excuse me? Who can heat my pasta for me? Sir Gregory calls out. "Staff!"

"Sir, coming!" Holly approaches. "Dear, could you please heat my pasta for me?" Sir Gregory asks. "Sure thing, Sir." She grabs the tupperware and heads backstage. Laurence smirks at her. She was about to pour the arsenic until she covered the bottle again.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait, he's praying."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, look at him!" Holly whispers. "He's praying right now. He might go straight to heaven if we kill him now,"

"So you believe in heaven and hell? I thought you were an atheist?"

"No," Holly chuckles. "I'm religiously fluid. I believe in the possibility of anything, even if it's undebunked by science. What do we know about the unknown—the things that go beyond life? And if heaven and hell do exist—God forbid—let the ones who suffer in this life rest in paradise

and the ones who abuse their power burn in eternal damnation."

"So what do we do? When do we kill him?"

"Not now, I guess." She hides the bottle of arsenic on her bag. "Wait, I have a plan B! They have a reading this Friday for Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House. We can change the scripts into something of our own. That will anger him for sure." Laurence smirks at the idea.

Finally, Friday approaches. The sophomores request Laurence and Holly to mop the floors. "Sure Dani. We'll mop the floors now." Laurence responds while Holly grabs gasoline and places it inside a bucket. They start sweeping the stage and floors with gasoline disguised as water. An hour later, the actors gather on stage for a reading. The stage manager hands on the scripts and pencils. "Dear, can you please heat my food?" Sir Gregory requests Holly. "Sure thing, Sir." She grabs his tupperware, heads backstage, and starts pouring the arsenic while no one watches. Finally, she places it on the Microwave. Afterward, she serves it to him. "Okay, let's do this!" Sir Gregory claps his hand. "Actors, ready?" The stage manager beckons the actors. "Ready!" They respond.

On the script, the cover page says A Doll's House. And finally, they flipped the page. "Marina, what are you doing at the edge of the cliff?" Actor A asks. "I'm ready to jump." Actress A responds. "What? But you'll die?" Actor A responds. "Well, I'd rather die than live my whole life knowing I've lost my dignity."

"What do you mean? I think you're just envious because he has a new muse."

"No! I'm not even envious about his new muse! I'm furious because he took away what made me infinite! He took away my dignity! My youth! My—"

"What the fuck is that script?" Sir Gregory yells. "That script is wrong! That's not A Doll's House! You stage manager! Are you dumb?" He points at the stage manager. "No, Sir. I swear. I know I got the—"

"That's the wrong fucking script! Who the fuck changed it! Who?" Sir Gregory starts sticking out his knife to the stage manager until he feels himself choking.

Backstage, Laurence and Holly incinerate their lighter on the curtain wings and quickly dash out of the theater. The actors start screaming. "Fire! Fire! Fire!" They start dashing out while Sir Gregory stands center stage with his knife. "Who—who—" He starts coughing and drags his body in all directions until his clothes start catching fire. "No! No! No!" The flames slowly engulf his body until it burns his face, and nothing else was seen except for his eyeballs bulging out from his burnt crispy black corpse. In those last few breaths, the only thing that flashed before his eyes were the sins he committed—how he took Marina's youth, her virginity, her dignity, her life, his students’ sanity, and more. 'Til his last breath, that's all that ever played.

Backstage, Dani and Belle started screaming as their clothes start catching fire.

At the exit of the theater, Laurence and Holly watched the fiasco. "I guess this is the best performance this theater ever had." Laurence mumbles. Holly smirks as she pulls out a cigarette and uses the flames of the theater to light her cigarette. Nothing but screams of terror and roaring flames were heard. At the entrance of the theater, a lady with long black hair and white dress glowed. She was smiling at Holly. When Holly stared back at her, she was surprised that the lady looked just like her. "Am I dead?" Holly panics. "No, she's been reborn." From her peripheral, a man with curly hair who smelled like wine replied to her. When she looked, the man disappeared.

A day after, the theater was nothing but ashes. Only the face of Dionysus remained. He still looked alive with his mouth gaped open, furious, and ready to devour people. It remained gold and in tack as if no fire occurred. The police and the media took pictures of it. On their left, a woman stood. She had long black hair parted in the middle, bell bottoms, and a face that glowed. The media approaches her. "Hi, excuse me, are you a student here?"

"Yes." The woman responds.

"What's your name?"

"Marina."

END.

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