The Reaper pushed Sarah backwards.With a slight shriek of surprise, she fell sideways inside the open cage that rested on the platform. The Reaper slammed the cage door shut, trapping her.Sarah scrambled to her feet and stared out from the cage. “Um, are you all for real? This is supposed to be, you know, fake!” Unfortunately her words were drowned out by the intense music that blared from the speakers along the platform’s edge. Bright lights blinked on and off in time to the audio recorded thunder and lightning special effects. As Sarah gaped at the Reaper from behind the metal bars, trying to keep her cool, the cage shuddered, and then started to rise up off the platform.”What in the world?” she said to herself. She craned her neck upwards.A machine attached to the ceiling carried the cage further into the center of the room.Below her, Sarah could see the dark platform below her that separated one side of the crowd from the other. Sarah’s legs shook. She clung to the bars of the cage with both hands. “It’s all for show. Don’t be a wuss,” she mumbled to herself. Below her, on the lit side of the massive platform, the Reaper and his masked men stared up at the cage.”Now the fun really begins,” the Reaper said into his mic. It was hard to hear over the loud music, but the crowd below Sarah didn’t seem to care about her safety. She could see kids pointing to the cage and laughing.Everyone assumes I’m part of the show! Sarah realized in alarm. She tried to control her breathing. She really didn’t like heights. She wondered briefly if she should try to call for help, but she was now too high in the air. The cage was nearly touching the ceiling. And she guessed that crying for help would only encourage more laughs from the crowd.”Relax! It’s not like anyone is actually trying to hurt you,” she said aloud to herself. Her heart continued to pound violently in her chest. A hot blinding spotlight pointed directly in her face as she scanned the crowd below her. “At last, humans, we will reveal what is in store for our unfortunate prisoner,” the Reaper said, his voice rising excitedly. Lights illuminated the platform below the cage.When Sarah glanced down to see what everyone was now staring at, her eyes bulged in alarm. She let out a terrified gasping cry. “They can’t be serious!” she whispered.Now that the lights were on inside the platform, she saw that the platform was actually a gigantic tank filled with water. And in the water…were sharks!The Grimm Reaper and his masked men laughed from the far side of the platform that was still solid. “If you were wondering why we call this nightclub, The Deep End…” The Reaper waved his arm in the direction of the swimming tank of sharks. “Now you have your answer.” The recorded special effects audio track sent another ear-splitting crack of thunder and lightning rumbling throughout the room. A hidden vent began to blow cold air directly across Sarah’s cage, causing the cage to shudder and shake. The Grimm Reaper raised his arms high above his hooded head. “So…my dear little humans. I can’t make this decision alone. I need your help.” He paused as another deafening crack of recorded thunder and lightning reverberated off the walls. “What should be the fate of our prisoner? Sacrifice? Or set her free?””SACRIFICE! SACRIFICE! SACRIFICE!” the crowd chanted.The Reaper let out a maniacal laugh. “It sounds like we have our answer.”The crowd cheered.As Sarah’s eyes filled with frightened tears, from the corner of her eye, she saw someone leap onto the platform where the Reaper and his masked men stood. “Let her go!” a deep voice yelled. Sarah wiped her eyes. Bent stood facing the Reaper and his men. His hands were clenched into fists. “Ah, what have we here? Come to rescue the damsel in distress?” The Reaper nodded to his men. “Get him!” The masked men charged Bent. Several men closest to Bent went down with a single punch. But it soon became clear that he was severely outnumbered. More men had jumped onto the platform and attacked from Bent’s other side. “Sarah!” Bent shouted in exasperation. The men shoved him down hard onto his knees. They quickly tied his hands behind his back. The Reaper reappeared on the platform. “You put up a good fight,” the creature said. “Too bad it was all in vain.” Bent struggled against the thick ropes. “Release her!” he yelled, his voice strained with anguish. The Reaper waved his arms in the air, signaling to someone offstage. “You heard our hero,” he said menacingly. “RELEASE HER!” Sarah screamed as the cage suddenly plummeted towards the water.