With the parents inside, the elevator glided to a close. Geraldine stood beside Fuchs and selected the third-floor button.

“Never seen an elevator inside a residential,” Greg said, impressed by the sight.

Geraldine squinted her eyes at him and smirked. “You can do anything

if you have enough money.”

Something about the way she said this bothered Tom. In his mind, it was probably nothing, but he still couldn’t shake the strange uneasiness.

“Well, if you got any extra laying around, we’d be happy to take it off your hands,” Lacey said.

She was joking, but inside, she was stone-cold serious.

“Seriously though, if you have any—ah, any other gigs like this, we’re happy to help,” Greg said, laying the sincerity on as thick as Texas toast.

“You’re already helping me more than you can imagine,” Geraldine said. “But I’ll certainly keep you in mind for any future opportunities.”

The elevator dinged.

“And here we are,” Fuchs said, first to step through the doors.

As they exited the elevator, the parents were presented with a long, dimly lit but spacious hallway. Okina black wallpaper encompassed the walls and several doors could be seen.

Fuchs casually waved the parents down the corridor. “Right zhis way.”

They trickled down and followed him toward the end of the hall where a door was already open as if the room had been expecting them.

Upon entering what Geraldine referred to as the ‘spy room,’ the lavish nature of her lifestyle became even more apparent.

“You got a fuckin’ movie theater in your house too? God damn, is there anything you don’t have?” Greg whined, the constant reminders of their monetary variance beginning to irritate him.

“At this moment, I have everything I’ve ever wanted,” Geraldine told him. “Well almost, everything…” She briefly thought of Rock. “Please, do take your seats. We won’t be using the projector today. We’ll be using a video feed.”

Geraldine stood patiently as they filed in, eyeing the two circular buttons fixed to the wall. The buttons were the same in size—one black and one red. As her fingers pushed against the black knob, the crimson curtains on the wall in front of the seats gradually drifted apart.

Fuchs approached the screening area and tugged on the massive projection mat and it curled and drew itself upward like a window shade. Behind it revealed a dozen big screen TVs implanted in the wall. They were all turned off, but the display still looked like it belonged in an electronics store.

“This is so cool,” Molly said, excited by the overload of cutting-edge technology.

“It’s definitely somethin’ else,” Tom concurred.

There were three rows, each with six seats. Greg and Lacey plopped down in the center seats of the front row. In an attempt to avoid interacting with Greg again, Tom guided Molly to the back row on the far left, securing the seats furthest away from their peers.

The chair bottoms were cushy but the framework of the seats was far more rigid than one might expect for a theater. Unlike theater seats, these didn’t share an armrest, but had their own.

“I feel like I’m at the dentist,” Tom said.

He pressed his back into the cushion and attempted to get comfortable.

Fuchs made his way to each of the parents, adjusting their headrests ensuring they lined up comfortably with their heads.

“Thank you,” Molly whispered. Fuchs smiled. “It tiz my pleasure.”

Like a carnie checking rollercoaster seatbelts, the German adjusted each chair—with each sizing, Fuchs was careful and accommodating. He finished with Lacey’s and returned her smile of approval. After she leaned back and settled in, her mind drifted. Her short attention span had already

burned up its fuse. Lacey couldn’t help but look down at the zebra print encircling her wrist. The fidget toy Tanya gifted her was calling to her.

“Alright, in just a moment, Mr. Fuchs will activate the video feed, and your children shall be right here in the theater with you,” Geraldine explained.

Lacey pulled off the slap bracelet again, but before she was able to straighten it out, Geraldine’s voice interrupted.

“But, before we begin, I’d like to ask you all to be still for a moment. As guests in my home, I want you to be as comfortable as possible. It may sound silly, but meditation has been a great key to my success, so I hope you don’t mind playing along with me.”

“It’s your money, lady,” Greg said.

“Thank you, Greg. This brief exercise will provide you comfort during your time away from your children. If you could each please just take a moment and lean your heads back against your chairs. I’d like you all to relax and take a deep breath.”

Tom looked at Molly and discreetly rolled his eyes.

Molly smirked at him but slapped his hand, her way of saying ‘just suck it up and play along.’

Geraldine watched everyone carefully. Her bony, dotted hand slid back up over the circular, blood-red button fixed to the wall.

“Excellent. Now close your eyes and press your heads firmly against the padding behind you. When you feel that gentle pressure at the back of your skull, take another deep breath,” Geraldine whispered.

Geraldine heard the air hissing out of their lungs as she made eye contact with Fuchs.

The German stood facing the four parents head-on, studying them with the same detail which Geraldine studied him.

Lacey listened and followed the instructions but couldn’t subdue her obsession. The toy was too much fun to ignore for long. How something as simple as a silly slap bracelet brought her so much joy remained a mystery. In just a short time, it felt like the gift had become almost an extension of her body.

As she subtly twisted the material between her fingers, the gift suddenly slipped. While the bracelet fell out of her grasp, Fuchs nodded at Geraldine.

As her pruned finger pushed against the remaining red button, Lacey simultaneously jerked forward, attempting to save her bracelet from the fall.

The other parents had implemented Geraldine’s commands to a tee. Unbeknownst to them, their obedience would act as their saving grace. When the unforgiving, curved steel rocketed out the sides of the occupied chairs, they arched around Tom, Molly, and Greg’s neck without harm.

As the terrified trio opened their eyes, they were equally alarmed by the manifestation of the dangerous collars. Their eyes bugged out and their jaws slacked—a new dreadful reality ushered them into a series of cries and shrieks.

They grasped at the slick material as it slowly adjusted, automatically sizing up their throats. The retracting steel closed in until it reached a snugness that eliminated the slightest wiggle room.

The transition happened in the blink of an eye, but the grim surroundings they faced were irrefutable. The heads of the parents were instantly pinned in place, making them slaves to their seating. All of the parents were trapped—except Lacey.

Unlike the rest of her peers, Lacey had far graver problems than fear itself. In a comedy of errors, her flinch forward had resulted in the steel collar thrusting cleanly through the right side of her neck. The tissue had been pierced with a soulless mechanical power.

The ferocity of her injury triggered the red to gush from her jugular vein and carotid artery. Her throat became a sprinkler. There was no safety mechanism to soften the blow. The submissive device clearly hadn’t been designed with care in mind.

The metal punched through everything in front of it—neck, muscle, meat, and vessels. The blood didn’t just leak, it exploded. Like a bomb at a bus station, the bystanders felt the splatter. As the blood fountained upward and coated Lacey’s entire face, Greg was splashed with his share. The warm fluid erupted with such projection that it went up his nostrils, and into his mouth and eyeballs.

While his wife gurgled and gagged, Greg screamed in horrific harmony with the Grimleys.

“What the fuck! What the fuck did you do?! You’re killing her!” he squealed.

Geraldine moseyed around to the front of the theater beside Fuchs. The German had been left speechless by the ghastly turn of events until a smirk of perversion overtook his blankness. He was highly amused.

Geraldine watched the crimson flood in warm waves from the side of Lacey’s neck, leaving the ripped skin and tissue flapping. The gruesome sight fostered a somberness inside her. Not because Lacey was like a cow on the path to the slaughterhouse, but because Geraldine knew that she wasn’t going to get to see her children have ‘fun’ in her playground.

The cries of the parents were ignored. Geraldine focused on Lacey’s wound and watched her fade.

Lacey’s tremors and gurgles grew fainter and fainter. The blood that once oozed out of her neck so generously slowed. Her previously dry and

frizzy blonde locks were now flattened and wet—a sickening brownish-red transition within the morbid mane atop her scalp. Her eyes rolled in her skull as Greg’s threatening screams became the soundtrack for her final farewell.

“You sick old bitch! What—What is this?!” Greg cried.

“The stupid whore killed herself! She should’ve listened! I gave you very simple instructions. In fact, we know they were simple if you’re still here!” Geraldine barked.

She’d been waiting all afternoon to get a dig in on him. While losing a parent so early in the game wasn’t ideal, Greg’s anguish almost made it worth it for her.

“Fuck you!” Greg screamed.

“Considering the uncomfortable position you’ve found yourself in, Mr. Matthews, I’d choose my words very carefully,” she said, accenting his name in the direction of his dead wife.

She remembered the little things. Lacey correcting her when she spoke to Greg was still fresh on her mind. She didn’t like being corrected.

Geraldine looked down at the zebra bracelet sitting on the floor. It had been touched with a spattering of blood.

Tom and Molly watched on helplessly—the shock was on par with sitting in the electric chair. Molly’s lips quivered and her insides twisted. Tom was every bit as stupefied, his own dread leaving him speechless.

Geraldine picked up the slap bracelet. She shook some of the blood off and flattened it out.

SLAP!

Geraldine smacked the silly device back around Lacey’s wrist, then leaned into her corpse and whispered, “You dropped this, dear.”