Sophie sat in her cousin Hanna's car as they drove to a barn on the outskirts of town. Hanna had come to town to celebrate Sophie's 21st birthday. Although they lived in different states and could only see each other occasionally, Sophie and her cousin had always been very close, and they both agreed to celebrate Sophie's 21st together. While many of Sophie's friends were excited that they could drink legally at 21, this was not what excited Sophie. She had never been much of a drinker, and she was pretty enough that she never had trouble getting a boy to buy her alcohol if she wanted it anyway. Instead, Sophie was ecstatic to have turned 21 for an entirely different reason. Although consensual hanging parties were now legal, and anyone over the age of 18 could attend, only those over 21 could actually participate in the game. So, Sophie and Hanna were off to indulge their mutual interest in hanging parties.

The two cousins, for most of their lives, were unaware that the other had a strong attraction to the noose, until they happened to go to the same hanging party. At the time, both girls were under 21, so they were only spectating, but learning of their mutual interest only made their bond stronger. And so, they were on their way to a hanging party, for Sophie's first chance at the noose. Hanna, being two years older, had already taken her chance several times, but was very excited to take the chance with her cousin.

Hanna pulled her car up outside of the barn at around eight-thirty pm, to find several cars already parked there. The lights inside the barn were already on, and music was playing. "I hope we didn't miss any hangings" Sophie said.

"Don't worry, they never have the first one before nine" Hanna replied, as the two girls got out of the car. They each disrobed, knowing that nudity was required to attend the party. Then, they entered the barn. Each showed their IDs at the door to confirm that they were 21, then got their numbers. Sophie was 26, Hanna 27. The game was a form of roulette. Each woman who entered and wished to participate in the game was given a number, zero through thirty-six. If more than thirty-seven women attended, they started back from zero again, and if two woman had the same number and that number was called, they would both hang. The wheel would be spun ten times in the evening, or until five women were hanged, which ever came first.

Sophie smiled as the woman at the door marked the back of her hand with her number for the evening. She couldn't decide if she wanted it to be called or not, if she was excited by the risk or by the actual possibility of ending it all in the noose tonight. "Let's go get a drink" Hanna said as Sophie was smiling at the black 26 on the back of her hand.

"Okay" Sophie replied, and the two girls went to the bar set up at the side of the barn. They each got a gin and tonic, then sat down at one of the many tables set up around the room, facing the front of the barn. At this end, five nooses dangled from a cross beam, just behind the roulette wheel. "So Hanna," Sophie began, "can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course" Hanna replied.

"If I die tonight, will you speak at my funeral?" Sophie asked.

"Of course Sophie, is there anything in particular you'd want me to say?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah," Sophie answered, "I just want you to tell everyone I don't regret coming out here tonight, that I've known for a long time that my life would probably end by the noose sooner or later anyway"

"Okay. And you'll do the same for me if I die?" Hanna asked.

"Of course" Sophie replied. The girls then sat for about twenty minutes, sipping their drinks and chatting, before the hostess of the party stepped up to the microphone set up next to the roulette wheel.

"Good evening everyone!" she began as the music died down. "I trust everyone is having a good time! Well, it's about time we begin the evening with our first spin of the wheel!" With that, she spun the roulette wheel, and dropped the ball in. Sophie could feel her heart nearly leaping out of her chest as the wheel began to slow. Finally, the ball came to a stop. "twelve!" the hostess announced, and a slightly older looking, dark haired woman at the next table stood up without saying a word or giving any visible sign of emotion, and walked to the head of the room. Sophie had expected to feel relieved when her number was not called, instead all she felt was disappointment. It was at this point that Sophie realized she was actually hoping her number would be called tonight.

Sophie and Hanna watched as the woman from the next table slowly walked to the front of the room. She was probably in her mid forties, but she was fit and thin and very attractive. The woman stood next to the hostess and turned to face the other party goers. "So you're number twelve?" the hostess asked. The woman simply held up her hand, showing the number she'd been given at the door. "And what's your name?" the hostess asked.

"Diane" she replied.

"And what brought you here tonight Diane?" the hostess asked.

"I've had a fascination with the noose ever since I was a child, so I began coming to noose parties back when they had to be held in secret" Diane replied. Sophie was surprised by the woman's confidence.

"I see...so you don't regret coming tonight?" the hostess asked.

"No, not in the slightest," Diane replied, "some part of me always knew my life would end this way, better now then when I get bored with life and hang alone somewhere. Honestly, I was starting to worry my number would never come up."

"Alright, then I won't hold you up any longer, get to it" the hostess said, handing Diane a pair of handcuffs. Diane snapped the cuffs on to one of her wrists, then stood on the rightmost stool, peering through the rightmost noose. Sophie was again taken aback by Diane's poise and confidence as she climbed the chair. It was only at this moment that Sophie noticed the only two men in the room. One was furiously scribbling on a notepad, and the other was circling Diane, snapping pictures as she prepared herself to die. Sophie was even more impressed by Diane when she smiled at the camera man as she gripped the noose before her. Diane then slipped the noose over her head, taking special care to brush her long, black hair through the noose before tightening it down around her throat.

At this point, Sophie realized that she had unconsciously brought her hand between her legs, and was beginning to stroke herself under the table. Sophie was embarrassed to have done this at first, until she looked at Hanna to realize she was doing it to. So, Sophie allowed herself to continue, as Diane cuffed her hands behind her back. She then winked to the camera man, which he took numerous photos of, before she jumped off the stool beneath her, toppling it to the ground. Sophie began stroking herself more vigorously as Diane began to thrash and kick at the end of her rope. She looked to Hanna, to see that she had begun doing it to.

Sophie looked back to Diane, where her eyes became transfixed. She couldn't take her eyes off of the spectacle as it unfolded, keeping them pinned on Diane for the nearly fifteen minutes she spent sputtering and choking in the noose. Then, finally, as Diane gave her last desperate wiggle, Sophie closed her eyes, thew her head back and let out a groan of intense pleasure. She opened her eyes again to see Hanna was also recovering from an intense orgasm, and that at the front of the room, Diane was hanging limp and lifeless. The camera man was still sputtering around her snapping pictures of her corpse when the hostess again took to the microphone. "Alright ladies, how about a big round of applause for Diane?" she said, then pausing and allowing the crowd to clap for the erotic show they'd just witnessed. "Alright," the hostess continued, "the next spin will be in a half hour, good luck to all of you, whatever you hope to get out of this evening."

The hostess left the microphone, and the camera man had stopped taking pictures of Diane's slowly rotating corpse, to go to the bar and get a drink. Sophie watched as the man with the notepad stood at the bar next to him, and they talked as they were each served a glass of whiskey. Then, the man with the notepad pointed at Sophie and Hanna and said something she couldn't here. For reasons she didn't quite understand herself, Sophie felt nervous as the two men picked up their drinks and walked over to Sophie and Hanna's table.

"Evening ladies," the camera man said as he and the man with the notepad sat down, "I'm Jack and this is my partner Jason. What are your names?"

"I'm Sophie and this is my cousin Hanna" Sophie replied.

"I'm surprised to see you two in here, the hostess doesn't usually allow men, or cameras" Hanna interjected.

"She made an exception for us, we work for Hanging Out Magazine" Jason replied. Each of the girls faces lit up when they heard this.

"Oh, I love that magazine!" Sophie practically shouted.

"Me too, I'll admit I sometimes sit in the bath with a good article open" Hanna said, winking at Jack.

"Well, we're glad to hear you're admirers of our work" Jack replied, smiling and taking a swig of his whiskey.

"We most certainly are. So, are you here working on an article?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, our job is to go around to hanging parties like this and find stories and pictures that might be interesting to our readers. Diane over there might make it in" Jason said.

"You really think so?" Sophie asked.

"Oh yeah, all that stuff she said about how she always wanted to die this way, and how she was worried her number would never come up, our readers eat that up, it'd make a great article. Plus she's beautiful and I'm sure Jack got some good pictures" Jason explained.

"Oh I sure did" Jack smiled.

"So," Sophie paused, "are all of the hangings in the magazine real?"

"No," Jason smiled, "unfortunately not. You see, the magazine started before consensual hangings were legal, so back then ALL the hangings were simulated. Then these parties became legal and started cropping up all over the place, so we started taking pictures at them, but all of the hangings in the magazine that don't take place at a party like this one are still simulated"

"Damn, that almost ruins bath time" Hanna joked. The four laughed, and there was a momentary pause.

"So, we came over here because we noticed that the two of you really...enjoyed, that last hanging" Jason said.

"Oh yeah" Hanna replied.

"I see. So, are you both over 21?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, I'm 23 and Sophie here just turned 21 today, why do you ask?" Hanna replied.

"Oh, congratulations," Jason said, smiling at Sophie, "while I was asking because Jack and I were thinking of doing a slightly different project"

"Different how?" Sophie asked.

"Well, as I said, the only real hangings featured in the magazine to this point have been at hanging parties. Well those are often very erotic and our readers love them, it has some limitations. We can't have an extended interview with the victim, we can't get them posing with the noose for very long before their hanging and we have no control over what they're wearing" Jason explained.

"I see...so what are you suggesting?" Sophie asked, feeling a chill of excitement run down her spine.

"Well...for our readers, the ideal situation would be if we could do a pre-planned hanging at the setting of our choosing, with models who showed up, planning to hang, and willing to be interviewed and pose for us in wardrobe we provided" Jason explained.

"And you're asking..." Hanna asked, her voice trailing off.

"We're asking if you would like to be those models" Jason replied. Sophie and Hanna each blushed, and looked to each other smiling, neither quite sure what to do next.

"Well...when would that happen?" Sophie asked.

"Well, our editor has given us the go ahead to do the project, but if we want to get it into the next issue we'd have to do the shoot by the end of the day tomorrow" Jason replied. Each of the girls eyes shot wide open when they heard that.

"We've been looking for willing models for a while, but haven't been able to find any" Jack added. There was a momentary pause.

"So...what do you think?" Jason asked.

"Could you guarantee us that an article about us would make it into the magazine?" Hanna asked, to Sophie's surprise.

"Not only that, our editor has told us that if we could find to attractive models, such as your selves, it would be on the cover" Jason replied. Each of the girls was silent, having been dumbstruck by this offer.

"Well...what do you think?" Hanna asked, looking to Sophie.

"I...I don't know. It's very sudden" Sophie replied.

"Do you not have your affairs in order?" Jason asked.

"No I do, I wrote up a will before coming here, it's just...sudden" Sophie replied.

"Alright well I'll tell you what," Jason said as the Hostess again took the microphone, "we should get up there and get ready for the next hanging. If you decide to take us up on our offer, and you're both still alive at the end of this party, be at this address tomorrow at noon" he finished, sliding a business card to Hanna.

"I hope you two ladies will at least consider it" Jack said as the two men got up from the table. Hanna and Sophie again looked at each other and giggled.

The girls sat at their table, drinking and watching as the hanging party wore on. Neither of their numbers were called, but there were more than 37 women present, so every spin meant another woman to the noose, which Sophie and Hanna enjoyed immensely. The last hanging ended just before midnight, and Sophie and Hanna left the barn, put their clothes back on, and began the drive home.

"So...what did you think of their offer?" Hanna asked.

"I don't know," Sophie sighed, "I mean...on the one hand, I'm not suicidal, but on the other, there is a part of me that wants to experience the noose, and it would be pretty amazing to have my death on the cover of Hanging Out."

"I know...I think I'm going to go" Hanna said.

"Are...are you sure?" Sophie asked incredulous, "I mean, you're only 23 and you could live so much longer."

"I know but...how often does this opportunity come about?" Hanna asked.

"That's true I just...I don't really know if I want to die" Sophie replied.

"Didn't you say earlier tonight that you've always known you would die by the noose sooner or later anyway?" Hanna asked.

"Well yeah, but I figured it would be later, like years later, and I figured fate would decide for me. It's one thing to go to a party and take your chance, it's an entirely different thing to go to those men knowing we're going to die" Sophie replied.

"Well do you really want to spend the rest of your life like Diane, always wondering if you're number will come up, or you'll have to just do it yourself, in your house all alone with no one to enjoy it?" Hanna asked.

"Well..." Sophie paused, "no, I just...I'm still not sure."

"Well try this," Hanna suggested, "you have two options. Either you hang to death tomorrow, or you don't. Try saying, out loud, that you've decided on each, and which ever it feels better to say, that's the one you do"

"Okay..." Sophie paused, "Tomorrow, I am not going to hang to death, I am going to continue my life as normal." Sophie paused for a moment to let the statement sink in. "Tomorrow," Sophie continued, "I'm going to die..." a smile spread across Sophie's face as she said this, "and my dangling corpse will be on the cover of Hanging Out."

"Well...I think you have your answer" Hanna said, seeing her cousins broad smile.

"Yeah...what do I tell my parents?" Sophie asked.

"I don't think you have to tell them anything, just leave them a note" Hanna replied.

"That doesn't feel right" Sophie replied.

"You didn't tell them you were going to a hanging party tonight did you?" Hanna asked.

"Of course I did...didn't you back when you lived at home?" Sophie asked.

"No, I always just assumed that you would explain what happened if I don't come back" Hanna replied, "I can't believe your parents let you go to these things"

"I think they know they couldn't stop me. This would be a whole other thing though" Sophie replied.

"Look, Sophie, you're an adult now, and how and when you choose to die is none of their business. You don't have to tell them anything if you don't want to" Hanna said.

"Okay" Sophie replied, smiling. The two then drove the rest of the way to Sophie's house in silence, each thinking about the events of the next day. Hanna went in to the guest bedroom and went to sleep, while Sophie went to her bedroom to compose her suicide note.

"Dear Mom and Dad," it began, "I want to thank you both for everything you've given me, and apologize for the pain I've probably caused you with what I am about to do. Just know that I made this decision not out of desperation or misery, but excitement and happiness. One way or another my life was always going to end this way, and to me it makes little difference if it's tomorrow or a hundred years from now, so when the chance to give pleasure and inspiration to other women like me, I had to take it, even at the cost of my life. I hope you can understand the bliss I feel as I write you this note." Sophie left the note open on her laptop so it would be easily found, then went to sleep.

The next morning, Sophie woke up at 10:30. Her parents had already left for work. She left her bedroom and went into the kitchen to find that Hanna had made breakfast. "Bon appetit" Hanna said, handing Sophie a plate of pancakes.

"Thanks" Sophie said, sitting down and beginning to eat. Hanna sat across from her with her own plate of pancakes.

"So, how are you feeling?" Hanna asked,

"I feel good, I'm really excited" Sophie replied with a smile.

"So you're sure you still want to do this?" Hanna asked.

"Definitely" Sophie replied.

"Great," Hanna smiled, "I looked up the address they gave us. If we want to make it their by noon we should leave around 11:15"

"Okay" Sophie said. The two girls then finished their breakfast, showered, and got in the car. As they drove, the girls chatted about what they were about to experience, and about what it was like to know this was their last day on Earth. Then, they arrived at the address they'd been given at 11:58. They were surprised to find that, rather than an office building or photo studio, the address was of a rather normal looking house. They suspected they had the wrong place, but chose to walk up and ring the doorbell anyway.

"Ah, ladies, I'm glad you decided to come!" Jason said, opening the door.

"Oh, so this is the right place" Hanna replied.

"Yeah, this is a house where the magazine hosts exclusive hanging parties, but we're using it for the shoot today. Come on in" Jason said, then turning and leading the girls inside. Once in the house, Jason lead the girls into a living room, in which sat two chairs, sitting directly underneath two nooses, suspended from the ceiling. Sophie felt a warmth and tingling between her legs as she realized, one of these two nooses wood soon strangle her to death. "Well, this is where the magic happens" Jason said.

"Great" Hanna said excitedly, "when...does the magic happen?" Jason smiled.

"Well first Jack is going to get each of you into a good wardrobe and makeup, and I'm going to interview each of you so we can write a compelling article about you. Then we have to do some pre-hanging shots. Then, of course, is the main event" he explained.

"Great, then lets get started" Sophie said.

"Okay, Hanna, come with me and I'll interview you first, Sophie, go up those stairs and Jack will get you looking as sexy as possible" Jason said. Jason then lead Hanna through a free swinging door, and Sophie went up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Come in" she heard Jack call from the other side. She pushed the door open to see Jack sifting through boxes of lingerie and high heeled shoes. "Oh, Sophie, glad you decided to come" Jack said, shaking Sophie's hand. "Well, first things first, I need you to strip" Jack said. Sophie, expecting this, quickly removed all of her clothing and dropped it to the floor. Jack then quickly measured her legs and waist with a tape measure, then produced a pair of black stockings and a black garter belt in Sophie's size. "Put these on" he instructed, handing Sophie the garments.

Sophie slipped on the stockings and garter belt. Jack stepped back to examine her. "Perfect" he said with a smile. "Now it's time for hair and makeup, come with me" He said. Jack then lead Sophie into the bathroom, where he sat her down in a chair and went to work. He did her makeup to giver her a lightly tanned appearance, and put her hair in a ponytail. "What do you think?" Jack asked.

"I think this look is to die for" Sophie joked. Jack laughed.

"Well, if you're happy with it, that's all I have to do" Jack said.

"Great" Sophie said, smiling.

"Okay, just go into that closet and pick a pair of black high heels in your size, then go down into the kitchen with Jason for your interview" Jack instructed. Sophie did as she was told, picking out a pair of 6 inch black heels, which she carried down the stairs because she thought she would trip if she attempted to wear them down. Then, just as she got to the bottom of the stairs, Hanna came out of the kitchen, having finished her interview.

"Oh my god" Hanna said, freezing for a moment, "you look amazing"

"Thanks," Sophie blushed, "I'm sure he'll do the same for you"

"I sure hope so" Hanna said, then practically sprinting up the stairs. Sophie proceeded into the kitchen, where she found Jason sitting at a round table, across from another chair, reading over something in his notepad.

"Sophie, have a seat" he said, motioning to the other chair. Sophie sat down across from him. "So, what we're about to do is a little interview. I'm going to ask some questions about you, why you're here, when you first got interested in hanging parties and so on, so that I can write a compelling story about you for the magazine, okay?"

"Sure" Sophie smiled.

"Great, then let's get started. Just to confirm, you're name is Sophie and you're 21 years old?" Jason asked after turning on a tape recorder and setting it down on the table. Sophie nodded. "Great" Jason replied, scribbling something down on his notepad. "So, you turned 21 yesterday, correct?" Again, Sophie nodded. "So, 21 is a little young to die don't you think?" Jason asked.

"Well don't go trying to talk me out of it" Sophie joked. Jason smiled.

"Don't worry about that, I was just hoping you could give a little insight into what made you make this decision."

"Well, to be honest I think I've known since a very young age that this is how my life would end eventually anyway" Sophie explained.

"I see," Jason said, again scribbling in his notepad, "could you go into that a bit more?"

"Well," Sophie sighed, "I've had an odd fascination with death, particularly death by asphyxiation since I was a little girl. I used to love watching old west movies with hanging scenes in them"

"I see, and did this fascination ever lead to anything...more?" Jason asked, clearly leading her somewhere.

"Well, when I was about fourteen was the first time I tried choking myself. I hung a rope over the shower head and tied one end around my throat, then pulled as hard as I could on the other"

"I see, and was this a sexual event for you?" Jason asked.

"Well...not at first. Well, actually, I suppose it was, I just didn't really know that at the time. I was just coming into my body after all, but it wasn't long before I started...touching myself, as I choked myself."

"Yes, I've heard a similar story from lots of other women," Jason said, still writing, "how did this affect your normal sex life?"

"Well, I first had sex in my junior year of high school, and for a while after that I lost interest in breath play and focused on sex. Then, I began to loose interest in sex and went back to breath play mainly"

"I see, so how did this affect your relationships?" Jason asked.

"Well, I broke up with my high school boyfriend and stayed single for a while. Then in my freshman year of college I met a boy who had a thing for choking his partners"

"And I bet that got you back into sex huh?" Jason asked.

"Well...truth be told I don't know if it was the sex or the fact that I wasn't the one choking myself, that my life was totally in someone else's hands, but I can tell you it was a lot of fun."

"Great. So, are you and this boyfriend still together?"

"No," Sophie sighed, "he broke up with me when I asked him to kill me for real. Consensual execution had already been legal for some time before I asked him, but he said he wasn't comfortable with it"

"Really? So you had plans to die well before last night?" Jason asked.

"Only in that one instant, the idea of letting a man I thought I was in love with kill me was very appealing. Truth be told, if I knew for certain that I would fall in love with a man who was willing to hang me, I'd wait for that."

"I see, and when did you start going to hanging parties?" Jason asked.

"Shortly after I broke up with my boyfriend. A senior was hosting a hanging party in her apartment to celebrate graduation, of course she wouldn't actually end up graduating because she died at that party" Sophie replied.

"Really. And so how regularly did you go to hanging parties after that?" Jason asked.

"A group by campus holds one once a month, and another one by my parents house does the same, and I went to all of them. I tried to make friends with the other regulars, of course a lot of the regulars who are over 21 die pretty quickly"

"So did you stop trying to make friends at hanging parties?"

"No, the opposite. I found the hangings were hotter to see when I knew the victim, strange as that may seem" Sophie replied.

"I see. Now Hanna and I already discussed this a little, but tell me how she factors into this?"

"Well, it was the summer after my freshman year of college that I went to a hanging party and she happened to be there. At the time I was 18 and she was 20, so neither of us were playing the game, but we discovered at that party that we each had practically the same experiences with hanging, the teenage choking ourselves phase, losing interest when we started having sex, losing interest in sex and going back to choking, breath play with a boyfriend, all of it was the same"

"I see," Jason said, scribbling in his notebook again, "well I think we have enough for a compelling article, there's really just one more thing I'd like to ask. What's going to be done with your body after today?"

"Well it's written in my will that I be given an open casket funeral, wearing my favorite dress, and laid to rest in the family plot. Oh, and I had it written in my will that if I died by hanging, the bruises on my neck should be left visible during the viewing" Sophie replied.

"I see, and would you be willing to consent to have Jack and I attend your funeral and possibly take some pictures and interview your relatives for a follow up interview?" Jason asked.

"If my family is okay with it, sure" Sophie said.

"Great, well let's go see if Jack and your cousin are almost ready" Jason said, stopping the tape recorder and closing his pen. Sophie and Jason then left the kitchen and went back into the living room. There, Hanna was sitting on the couch, watching Jack set up a video camera on a tripod. She was wearing nothing but a pair of white stockings and white high heels, and Jack had clearly done her hair and makeup as well.

"Wow, you look great" Sophie said, seeing her cousin.

"Thanks, Jason really knows what he's doing" Hanna replied.

"I aim to please ladies" Jack said, setting up a chair under each of the nooses dangling from the ceiling, having finished with the video camera.

"Why the video camera? I thought this was a photoshoot?" Sophie asked.

"It is, and I'll be photographing you with this," Jack said, pointing to the camera hanging off his neck, "but we're also going to capture your hangings on a slow motion video camera. That way we can pull stills of the moment you jump, any of the poses you make, and the moment you finally go limp for the magazine and, if it's okay with you, we can post the full speed video on hangingout.com."

"Oh, great" Sophie said.

"Yeah, a URL will be included in the article so people reading the magazine can find the video. Given our circulation, millions of people will probably watch your final moments" Jason said. Sophie and Hanna each looked at each other. They could each tell that the other was intensely aroused by that idea.

"Alright, well I'm ready to start shooting whenever you are girls" Jack said.

"I'm ready" Hanna said.

"Me to, do you just want us to get up there and noose ourselves?" Sophie asked.

"No, we were hoping to do a slightly more intricate shoot" Jason replied.

"Yeah, it'll take a while, but I'd like to get shots of each of you in various different poses before we get to the actual hanging" Jack explained. The girls agreed and the shoot began. They took numerous photos in numerous different positions, some with one of the girls at a time, some with both of them at once. They took photos with the girls standing on the ground underneath their nooses, some standing on their chairs looking through or holding their nooses, some with their hands bound behind their backs, some of them noosing themselves, some of them noosing each other, and some where it appeared that one was about to pull the chair out from under the other. All in all, the girls probably took their nooses and handcuffs on and off at least a dozen times each, which got Sophie both excited and frustrated. All the while, Jason was standing in the corner of the room scribbling in his notepad, Jack was buzzing around taking photos of them, and the video camera was running.

"Can't we just get to the hanging already?" Sophie must have thought a hundred times. But finally, both girls were standing on their respective chairs, noosed, hands cuffed behind their backs.

"Okay, so can we go now?" Sophie asked as she noticed Jason and Jack standing behind the video camera whispering to each other.

"Well actually, we had one more idea we'd like to run by you" Jason said, turning to the girls, each trying not to fall off of their chairs in their extremely high heels.

"Yeah?" Sophie asked. The noose tickled her throat as she spoke, making her all the more aroused.

"We would like one of you to hang first, while the other watches from her chair. Then, once the first of you to hang is dead, we'll let the other down and they'll take some photos with your body, before being bound and noosed again and hanging themselves" Jason explained. The two girls looked at each other and shrugged.

"Who should go first?" Sophie asked.

"Dealers choice" Jack replied. Again, the girls looked at each other.

"I would really like to watch you hang" Hanna said, smiling.

"I would like to watch you too" Sophie replied. The two stood looking at each other for a moment.

"Alright," Hanna relented, "I'll go first, consider it your belated birthday present"

"Great," Sophie said, smiling broadly.

"Okay so Sophie, I'm going to want you to look at your cousin as she hangs, and smile as it's happening if you can" Jack instructed.

"Oh I don't think that'll be a problem" Sophie replied. Hanna giggled at that.

"So...should I just go?" Hanna asked.

"I'm ready when you are" Jack replied, looking at her through the view finder of his camera, "just say any last words you'd like to say, keeping in mind that they're on video and might end up in the magazine, and go"

"Well...I hope you all enjoy the show" Hanna said, then smiling as she stepped forward off the chair. She hit bottom, and immediately let out a loud gagging sound. Her eyes shot wide open, and she swung back again, her legs hitting and toppling the chair on which she'd been standing. It was only once the chair hit the ground that Hanna began to squirm and kick. Sophie watched, her eyes transfixed as Hanna writhed in agony at the end of her rope.

Sophie felt a warm tingling welling up between her legs as she watched Hanna suffer. Every movement Hanna made, from her fingers clenching and unclenching over and over, to her tongue writhing in her open mouth, to her bulging eyes darting back and forth, drove Sophie wild. "It's funny," Sophie thought, "Jack thought he had to tell me to watch and smile...I couldn't do anything else if I wanted to."

Sophie continued to watch as, for over fifteen minutes, Hanna writhed in agony, the asphyxiation causing her to move ever slower. Finally, Hanna was barely able to move. Her head was beginning to bow, and her legs moved in a slow, bicycling motion. Even her choking and gasping was silent now, and her eyes stopped darting back and forth, but she kept slowly kicking. One large gob of saliva dripped from Hanna's protruding tongue, and landed on her left breast. "God Hanna," Sophie said, "I hope hanging is as much fun as you make it look." Jason smiled, knowing that viewers would love hearing that on the video. Finally, nearly twenty minutes after she leapt from the chair, Hanna threw her head back, let out one last groan, and fell limp. Finally, as her eyes closed, Hanna's bladder released on the floor. "God that was hot" Sophie said. Again, Jason smiled.

Jack and Jason left Sophie standing on her chair for a moment, as the video camera recorded Hanna's body rotating slowly back and forth under its own momentum. Meanwhile, Jack buzzed around taking numerous photos of Sophie and her now deceased cousin. "So now what?" Sophie finally asked.

"Now," Jason said, unlocking Sophie's handcuffs, "we get a few more posed photos, and then you hang."

With that, Jack removed Sophie's handcuffs and directed her to pose with her cousin's corpse. She did one shot standing on her chair, with an arm around Hanna's shoulders, and another standing on the ground, hugging Hanna's waist. First she hugged Hanna's waist and looked directly at the camera with a blank expression, then she smiled up at her cousin's dead, motionless face. Sophie felt guilty for how aroused she felt touching her cousins body, touching the dead at hanging parties was strictly forbidden. Then she realized that, if the situation were reversed, Hanna would be enjoying herself just as much.

"Alright, get back up and noose yourself again" Jack directed. Sophie was just about to do this, when another thought crossed her mind. Without being told to do so, Sophie pulled her chair closer to Hanna, and stood on it. She then lifted her cousin's head up, and closely examined her face. Then, Sophie leaned in and kissed her cousin's cold, unmoving lips. As she did this, Sophie could hear Jack's camera shudder going off incessantly, and Jason furiously scribbling in his notepad. Sophie then pulled back, and lowered her cousin's head back to the position in which it had been resting. Without saying a word, Sophie then stepped down from her chair, positioned it back under her noose, and stood on it again.

Sophie confidently grabbed her noose, slipped it down over her head, and cinched it tight. Then, she closed her handcuffs again, removing any possibility she could get herself down. "I'm ready when you are" Sophie said, looking to Jack. Having been transfixed on Hanna for the previous several minutes, it was only at this point that Sophie realized both Jason and Jack had erections visible through their pants.

"Okay Sophie, just say any final words you might have, and take the leap" Jason said.

Sophie looked into the video camera and took a few deep breaths. "If you're watching this, I hope that someday the beauty of the noose reveals itself to you too. I hope each and every one of you can someday feel as happy as I do right now." Then, Sophie leaped off the chair. "Oh god, I'm finally here!" she thought as she fell. Then, she hit bottom, and the noose tightened around her neck. Sophie's eyes shot open and she began to kick just as the chair on which she'd been standing toppled to the ground.

Sophie kicked and squirmed fiercely in the noose. At first she choked and gagged loudly, then as the noose grew slowly tighter, Sophie's final noises grew steadily more quiet. Then, she swung their, her mouth opening and closing in complete silence. "Oh god I love this," Sophie thought as her limbs began to feel heavier, "I hope Hanna got to feel this kind of ecstasy...I hope Diane did too."

Finally, Sophie's head began to bow, and her vision began to darken. "No, no, just a few minutes more" Sophie thought, and she began to kick and squirm with a renewed vigor. Then, finally, Sophie's legs fell limp, utterly spent and unable to kick any longer. Her head was still up, her eyes still open, but Sophie could tell she was just moments from death. "My only regret is that I can only do this once, I hope the readers will know that" Sophie thought as her vision narrowed to a single point. Then, Sophie's whole body convulsed, she threw her head back, and let out one final groan as she was overcome by the most intense orgasm she'd ever experienced. Then, her head bowed, her eyes closed, and her bladder released on the floor.

"That'll make one hell of a cover" Jack said, buzzing around the two young women's dangling corpses and snapping photos.

"Damn right it will" was the last thought Sophie ever had.