Scissor Damsel: Chapter Two

It took Tori two nights to finish reading the script Jade sent her on Snype, so she avoided logging back on until the third night. Once she had begun reading it she had trouble putting it down long enough to get her homework done. She even printed a copy and brought it with her to school the day after it was sent to her because she didn't want to waste any time finding out what would happen next. It contained the perfect combination of terror and comedy, and the twisted nature of it all had her sucked in much like American Terror Legends. When she finally did check the forum again she was met with the warning that she had a new private message.

From: xxScissorSlayerxx

To: DrowningDamsel

DroDam,

Where have you been? You better not be selling my play on the black market!

-SciSlay

Tori rolled her eyes and double clicked the icon in the bottom left of her screen to open Snype. As expected, Jade sent her a message almost immediately.

JadeW: Why haven't you been online?

ToriV: One of your characters came to life and claimed me as their next victim. You are now talking to my ghost.

JadeW: Quite a disappointment I wasn't invited to attend as a witness to your suffering.

ToriV: You'd have to know where to find me first.

JadeW: Of course you'd spoil my fun with your realistic points.

ToriV: It's only fair since you hijacked the last 48 hours of my life.

JadeW: I didn't say you had to read the whole play, did I?

ToriV: You win. I couldn't just read the first act then stop. I had to know everything.

JadeW: So I take it you're ready to assert that I earned my place in an arts school?

ToriV: I'm surprised they haven't yanked you out of school and ordered you to write for the big screen already.

JadeW: Maybe they would if the school let me put my work on stage. But it's booked up through next Fall, and I can't afford an off campus venue. My parents already throw a fit over paying tuition so that cash cow has been milked dry.

ToriV: There's no chance somebody might cancel their stage reservation or any friends who might be willing to swap?

JadeW: Fat chance. Seniors get priority, even the ones who don't deserve it. Like this one girl booked an entire three nights for her one woman show. She is the most obnoxious, talentless person I've ever met. Every time I see her I imagine myself pushing her off a cliff and stealing her reservation.

ToriV: Have you thought about doing some fundraising?

JadeW: I hate people.

ToriV: But there's less jail time involved. Bail doesn't run cheap either. :P

JadeW: Or I could just bank on making the tragic event look like an accident.

ToriV: Now is the part where I begin to wonder if it's safe talking to you. You seem like the perfect candidate to turn American Terror Legends into true, current events.

JadeW: I might spare you if you help me get funding for my play.

ToriV: I don't know if I'd be of much help, but I'll talk to my sister and find out what she usually does to pay for her performances. She has all these ridiculous outfits and props that I doubt my parents pay for…

JadeW: Just sell it all in a garage sale and donate the proceeds to my cause.

ToriV: Trust me, that would get me killed faster than whatever torture you have in mind. Let me talk to her and I'll pass along any useful information…if there is some.

Tori signed out of Snype and sighed. Talking to Trina was something she rarely volunteered to do unless it was out of basic necessity. But the play Jade shared with her was genuinely impressive and a girl with a talent like that deserved a chance to show off her work for an audience. So she walked down the hall and knocked on her older sister's bedroom door, hoping to get it over with quick and come out of it with information that would make it worth the effort.

Trina was inside her room with music blasting through her headphones. She took forever to notice Tori because she couldn't get her attention from just banging on the door and eventually ended up barging in to interrupt what looked like a solo dance party. Tori tapped her on the shoulder and had to duck to narrowly miss getting slapped by Trina's swinging arm.

"Haven't you heard of knocking?!" Trina exclaimed, upset at being knocked out of her zone.

"I was knocking. How do you expect to hear it when your iPod is up so loud it's almost the same as listening out of a speaker to anyone else in the same room?"

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you about how to get funding for a play."

Trina rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed. Tori took a seat in Trina's desk chair, turning it around so it faced the bed.

"Since when do you have any interest in the arts? You've never auditioned for anything in your life."

"Well…that's not entirely true. But anyway, it's not for me. It's for a friend. She wrote this amazing play but she doesn't have anywhere to host an actual performance of it yet. I was hoping you knew some ways to get money for something like that."

"I don't pay for the stage at Hollywood Arts. I just had to book it before the Fall term started. Maybe your friend should go to a better school."

"I'm not sure where she goes to school, but they don't have any openings left this semester. How do you pay for your extra props and things? That's not all covered in tuition, is it?"

"No, I raise the money by selling ads to other students' events at a profit. I use a print store off campus to draft and print whatever they ask for, and then charge them double what it costs me to order them."

"So what you're telling me is that you scam other students for your personal gain? There isn't some legit way like a grant or anything?"

"Maybe there is but that's too much work. I prefer my way."

Tori got up from the chair and pushed it back to its home under the desk.

"I guess I'll have to research some other options. Thanks anyway," Tori mumbled as she exited Trina's room.

When Tori got back to her room and logged into Snype again she saw that Jade was offline, so she decided to send her a private message on the American Terror Legends forum instead.

To: xxScissorSlayerxx

From: DrowningDamsel

Jade aka SciSlay,

I talked to my sister and I think it's a dead end. It turns out she is conning other students at her school out of their money to pay for her props and not using a more legitimate means of obtaining funding. I'm sure you wouldn't mind doing the same, but if you still want my help you'll have to choose something less dangerous. Please don't take this the wrong way, but if I'm going to help you I'll need more specific information about your location, because most grants are based on you city, district, or at the very least state of residence. Although I've been assuming this whole time you're from California, too. Sorry if I am wrong."

-Tori aka DroDam