Charlotte's New Trick
The Evil Magician hadn't told Charlotte much about tonight's performance- just that she was going to be performing a new trick with him. He insisited she wore a skimpy dress with a bare midriff, for some reason... which Charlotte knew usually meant that her trim stomach was due to get sawn, pierced, impaled, severed, burned or otherwise mistreated at some point during the performance!
Better get on stage, the show must go on, after all! Now what's that the magician has got? Lightbulbs? Sharpened lightbulbs? Charlotte didn't much like the look of those, and she liked it even less when the magician put the frame against her bare midriff. "I knew it!" she thought to herself as the magician brandished the lights threatningly. Even touching her with the burning hot tips caused her agony- Charlotte had had enough! She was just about to storm offstage when... the Evil Magician's hypnotic voice drained her willpower and numbed the pain!
Afterwards, when taking her bow, she could have sworn that the lights had passed right through her.. she could feel the burning heat, the pain as the sharpened bulbs passed through her, the electric shocks deep inside her... but perhaps it was all in her mind, and it was, after all, just a new trick...?