"I hope all your homework assignments are going well," begins Dr. R, "If any of you need advice or suggestions, feel free to ask me at the end of class today."

Just like the last two classes five female volunteers are picked from the audience.

Addie Jones (22, brunette, 5'2") has a bubbly personality. She is wearing a fuzzy pink sweater and a jean miniskirt. The next girl, Hanna Carlton (18, dirty blonde, 5'6"), is a quiet girl. Dressed modestly in a grey hoodie and jeans. The third girl is Yukio Ichikawa (20, dark brown hair, 5'0"). She is an international student from Japan. Number four is another international student. Isabelle Barnier (25, light brown hair, 5'5") is a French girl. I had hooked up with her last semester after a party. It had been a night to remember. Fifth and finally, Dr. R. chooses Rebecca Troy (21, platinum blonde, 5'9"). A party girl and sorority president, she is known all across campus for her stunning good looks and kinky tastes in bed.

With all five girls on stage, Dr. R has his assistants bring out the tools for today. He leads Addie and Hanna to a small gallows at one end. He instructs them to stand side by side and places a noose over each of their heads, tightening the rope around their necks. Addie is bound at the hands and feet, and a black bag is placed over her head. He leaves Hanna free, but she only looks out at the class nervously. He unzips Hanna's hoodie and asks her to take off her shoes. She stands barefoot in a tight tank top and jeans, visibly trembling.

"Hanging," He turns to the class, "can mean two different things. If dropped from the proper height, a victim can be killed from a broken neck, or if merely suspended by the rope, she will die slowly of suffocation." He signals to his assistant. A lever is pulled and Addie drops through a trap door under her feet. There is a crack as the rope tightens. Still visible from the waist up, we watch her body jerk uncontrollably for a seconds before becoming motionless.

"A broken neck leads to a quick death. However, obtaining the right conditions to snap a victims neck is often difficult for a murderer. Not to mention, it is not nearly as rewarding as watching the girl fight against the rope for as long as possible." As he talks, he motions to the assistant again, who cranks a wheel, lifting Hanna slowly off the ground. First her heels come off, leaving her standing on her tiptoes. Then a choking sound comes from her throat, and her toes are just brushing the floor, reaching out to support herself. She falls silent as she comes completely off the ground. She is only about six inches off the ground when Dr. R signals the assistant to stop. The girl's arms are flailing and legs kicking as she twists and turns in midair. The pain of her burning lungs is on her face, and the rope digging into her stretched out neck. Her mouth is in a grimace, her eyes are wide. She is eye level with the professor. He stands in front of her and she reaches out to him for help, but he steps back until her arms fall back to her sides. "The girl's own weight is what seals her fate. Suspended like this, she is powerless. Her body is beginning to feel heavy. She can no longer lift her arms, and it takes a great deal of strength just to kick her legs. As she loses oxygen, her senses fade, until she is lost in the darkness and pain."

For the time being he leaves the girl dangling and moves on to Yukio. She strips down to her panties and kneels on the stage as Dr. R produces two Japanese samurai blades. The shorter one, a wakizashi, he hands to Yukio. The katana he keeps himself. "Today we are also going to study death relating to different cultures. We will begin with suicide in Japanese culture. Suicide because of lost honor is called Seppuku. This ritual involves the cutting open of one's belly. It is a painful way to go. Luckily for us, Yukio believes she has lost her honor and feels it necessary to perform seppuku." With legs spread wide, butt resting on her heels, and hands trembling on the sword, she is obviously nervous. She shakily draws the blade and presses the tip against her lower abdomen. A trickle of blood runs from where the tip of the sword presses into her skin. She furrows her brow, determination in her eyes, and with a quick jerk, thrusts the blade into her belly. Still in control, she yanks the knife to the side, leaving a horizontal slit about eight inches above her crotch. She pulls the knife out and drops it on the floor. Blood and intestines follow it out of the slit, spilling onto the floor between her legs. Her posture is changing. She begins to sink. Her back, which was straight, now slouches, and her head drops, chin resting on her chest. Her breathing is labored, and a small whimper comes out which each ragged breath. Dr. R kneels beside her as he talks: "If left like this, she may take hours to bleed out and die. For brevity, we will demonstrate a version of the ceremony that utilizes another swordsman." A man walks onto the stage. "This is Ken Iwate. A master Japanese swordsman." Dr. R hands him the katana, then follows him over to Yukio's side. He pulls her hair away from the back of her neck. Her face is obscured by the thick locks of her dark hair. Her shoulders still rise and fall with each breath. Her hands grip her knees so tight her knuckles are white. She jumps slightly when she hears Ken draw the katana. He lines it up inches above her neck before raising it above his head. He holds it for a few seconds until, with a smooth, graceful swing, the blade severs the girl's head from her body. Her head hits the ground with a solid thud and rolls forward a few feet; blood spurts from the base of her neck and hits a couple people in the front row; her body twitches then slumps all the way forward, her small breasts pressing against the floor. Dr. R and Ken bow to each other and the swordsman leaves. Dr. R picks up the head to allow the class a better view. Her girl's pretty eyes are dull and blank and the slack jawed face is expressionless. He placed it next to the body before moving on.

He examines Hanna and declares her dead before bringing Isabelle to the front of the stage. She wears a short blue skirt and white shirt and stands stock still, unsure of what she should be doing. "Did you know," He asks the class as he walks back to the tools, "That the french invented the crossbow?" He picks up an old wooden crossbow from the table, loads a bolt, and fires. The bolt hits Isabelle in the upper part of her right breast and knocks her to the ground. Dr. R sets down the bow and walks over to her. "If you notice, the bolt did not hit her heart and she is still breathing. The bolt is buried in her lung, but with it in there, her lung can still function, albeit very painfully, because her chest cavity is still sealed. She will still eventually die if help is not provided, but it will take much longer than if the bolt is removed." As he talks, her fingers are grabbing at the shaft of the bolt protruding from her chest. Dr. R pushes away her hands. "If she could, she would remove the arrow. This would seal her fate, but her body is acting instinctively. Often in its fight for survival, the body merely speeds its own demise." He crouches next the the girl, places one hand on her breast, and takes the bolt in the other. She cries out as he pulls it from her. As soon as it is out, her breathing audibly changes. Before, though heavy and uneven, her breath was relatively steady. Now she breathes more rapidly by the second and each breath is short and shallow. "With a hole in her chest, her diaphragm is no longer able to create a negative pressure, meaning that it is impossible for her to draw a breath." She gasps for air for a few more seconds, but is unable to sustain herself. She thrashes on the ground, back arched and legs spread, in a last ditch effort to breathe, but ultimately she is unsuccessful. The body lays flat on the ground, and her skirt is up around her waist.

"Our last girl should be quite exciting. How many of you have heard of Vlad the Impaler?" Rebecca Troy is brought out, strapped naked on a type of gurney. Her ankles are tied up next to her thighs and her arms behind her back. "I will need some volunteers to assist me with this one. "Dr. R chooses me and Ellie Bradshaw to help him." We stand one on each side of Rebecca. Dr. R hands me a gag to secure onto the girl. He then brings out a long spike and positions it between Rebecca's spread legs. "Ellie, please place the tip of the spike in her anus." Ellie guides the point into Rebecca. Feeling the wood inside her, Rebecca begins struggling against the bonds that hold her down. Dr. R instructs me to help guide the spike in. I place one hand on the girl's mons pubis and the other next to Ellie's on the spike where it sinks into Rebecca. Dr. R counts down from three and gives the spike a shove. It sinks further into the girl. Once more and there is a tearing sound as it rips into her abdominal cavity. Her muffled screams grow louder. Another jolt and blood starts flowing down the spike over our hands. She writhes as squirms as the spike is driven further in with the squelch of blood and soft tissue. After about two feet of the spike has disappeared into her body, her breaths are becoming cut short. "I assume," Dr. R tells us, "the tip has reached her diaphragm." We unstrap her from the gurney and the three of us hoist her up vertical. There is a stand on the ground that the spike fits in and keeps her upright. "Vlad the Impaler," Explains Dr. R, "would stick captured enemies onto spikes and place them upright, just like this. As time progresses the victim slowly sinks onto the spike. In the interest of time, I have had to skip through most of the time spent in agony as it works its way through her intestines and stomach. We are now at one of the main ways that the victim dies. The spike pierces the victim's diaphragm, likely ending her ability to breathe." He signals to me, and we each grab Rebecca at the shoulder and elbow and pull downward. She slips down further on the spike. "If somehow, she manages to survive for another five minutes, she will encounter another likely cause of death." We pull her down again. "If the spike pierces her heart she will die virtually immediately. If somehow it misses her heart, she will die soon after from either suffocation or blood loss." Again another yank and this time the tip spike begins protruding from the soft spot at the base of her neck between her collarbones. Her body is still fighting so we pull her down once more. The spike pierces the bottom of her jaw, travels through her mouth and her soft palette. I remove the gag and blood pours out of her mouth. Just past her teeth, the wooden spike is visible. As I look into her terrified eyes, she convulses twice, and I hear the crunch of the weak bones protecting her brain as she slips a few inches further onto the spike then stops with a jolt. Her body is now completely still. Streaks of urine and blood run down the girl's inner thighs and drip onto the floor from her knees. The blood that was pouring across her chest and from the corner of her open mouth slows to a trickle before stopping completely.

Ellie and I return to our seats as Dr. R dismisses the class. "I would like to remind you," He adds, "there are plenty of extracurricular activities that you can be involved in, including internships with real detectives on active cases, and studies into how a serial killer chooses his or her victims. Just speak with me if you would like more information. See you all next week."