The ghosts of Alexa, Megan, and Tiffany grinned at having watched the destruction of their cruel parents. Furioso appeared before them.
“Have you enjoyed the first part of your revenge, girls?” he asked them with a smile of his own.
“Oh, yes, definitely,” Alexa said, still grinning. “It was so enjoyable punishing my mother and father with the same isolation and deprivation that they put me through in my time of need.”
“Same for me,” Megan said with a malevolent smirk. “It was fun revenge-raping my dad, stabbing his ass like that. He so deserved it. It was a long time coming to him.”
“And you, Tiffany?” Furioso asked.
“Yes,” she said. “What a thrill, scaring my mom in that park, then smashing her skull in with that sledgehammer.”
“Good,” Furioso said.
“I’m hot with enthusiasm for when we get to Part Two of our revenge,” Megan said.
“Yeah, I’m a little too hot, actually,” Alexa said. “My skin is starting to feel a little like lava.”
“Mine, too,” Tiffany said, her smile changing into a wince of discomfort.
“Yeah, now that you mention it, this heat is starting to get to me,” Megan said.
“Are we melting?” Tiffany asked. “It feels that way…like we’re slowly disintegrating.”
“It’s part of the reality of being in Hell, girls,” Furioso said with a sigh. “In Hell, we burn. Abandon all hope, you who enter. There’s nothing we can do about it. You’ll have to accept it. Even I must; I’ve been burning for centuries. Still, there is hope of one kind–getting the next part of your satisfaction, which is surely coming.”
“Good,” Alexa said. “I can’t wait to get Boyd McAulliffe and Denise Charlton.”
“You will,” Furioso said. “But it will be best to wait for a fitting time to get your revenge on your school bullies.”
“Wait how long?” Megan asked with a scowl. “I want to get that rapist and his bitch girlfriend now!“
“Don’t get too hot with rage, girls,” Furioso said. “You’ll melt faster, and the heat will get unbearably painful. It’s best to cool off for a while, be satisfied with the revenge you’ve achieved for now, and get them at a time, and in a situation, that will be unbearably painful for them. Be patient. The right time will come, years later, when they are particularly vulnerable. You’ll thank me for this advice…I promise you.”
“Very well,” Tiffany said with a frown. “I’ll wait.”
“If it will result in a better revenge, OK,” Megan said.
“…and Alexa?” Furioso asked. “Will you wait with the others?”
She, contemplating a future Boyd, and a future Denise, with children they cherish and adore, nodded and grinned.
“Good,” Furioso said, also grinning. “You won’t regret this, I assure you.”
The three ghosts looked down at their reddening, melting skin, tiny black pieces of which were flaking off, like breaking pieces of igneous rock among infernally hot magma.
Infinite Ocean 