In the Grip of the Hangman

[BettyDreadful]

[So, this is my first stab at a heroine peril story, featuring my character the Gossamer Ghost. Comments/criticisms are very much appreciated, hope somebody finds it to their liking! Thanks in advance for reading!]

In the Grip of the Hangman
A Story of the Gossamer Ghost



The night was cold on Margo Fox’s skin, as she ran through the back alleys of the city. The young’s woman’s toned legs pumped as she ran, her gaze fixed hard on her prey. The twilight sky hung red over the city, steam pouring out of apartments into the cold night. The heavy atmosphere couldn’t deter Margo, however. When her mind was fixed, she told herself, the heroine known as the Gossamer Ghost wasn’t someone who could just let her deadly prey slip out from beneath her gaze!

The Gossamer Ghost cut a striking figure against the darkness of the city, leaving a sharp impression on those few who had seen her. The Ghost’s appearance lent to the masked woman’s legend just as much as her deeds: clad in a shimmering white lace negligee, thin lace fabric that clung to her curvaceous body, the Ghost was framed in a billowing gray cloak and hood that added a mysterious air to her shimmering presence. Night in and night out, the Gossamer Ghost stalked criminals from the deepest shadows of the city, bringing them to justice. Just as she aimed to do now, hot on the heels of her latest targets.

Those targets, Dante & Gaspare Castrovinci, were running at a steady pace. Expensive shoes pounded against hard gravel as the two well-made men broke through the chill night. Like any member of the Castrovinci crime family, the two brothers had talked a big game about what they would do if confronted with the increasingly-legendary Gossamer Ghost. Many an idle threat involving getting the drop on the masked vigilante, besting her in combat, and all of the salacious details that would follow getting their hands directly on the buxom young crime fighter.
Those whispers and boasts did occasionally get back to Margo’s ears, much to her chagrin. Tonight, though, it looked like those boasts were dissipating like the steam drifting into the night air!

Dante rounded the corner first. Gaspare turned to follow- Margo’s breath caught in her throat, however, when the crook’s foot slid in a puddle and completely upended his balance. This was her chance to strike! Reaching into the folds of her billowing cloak, Margo’s slender fingers wrapped around a discus, one of the thick moon-shaped discs she carried with her, and pulled it from the cloak. Chest swelling as she reeled back her hand, the Gossamer Ghost released the discus with a mighty swing and struck the lower back of the fleeing criminal!

“Aaagh!” Gaspare screamed, falling forward and landing face first in the dirt. Bringing her run to a stop right behind him, the Gossamer Ghost couldn’t resist a wry grin.

“Down in the gutter, huh?” Margo said, “Only serves you right, after the dirt you dragged your victims through! How many was it, Gaspare? Police records implicate you and your creepy brother in human trafficking going way back! Word is you’ve got a lot of people ready to funnel into whatever creepy operations you can. How many people have been waiting for me to catch you, before they could get their freedom back?”

At the Ghost’s feet, Gaspare was struggling. From the look of misery on his face, the virile young man was incredibly uncomfortable with his situation, caught between rage and panic. Laid out, vulnerable beneath the heel of the svelte young crime fighter! Margo smirked, as her hand retreated back into her cloak, fingers searching for her handcuffs.

“Just get comfortable down in the dirt, you ,” Margo said, “once you give the police something on where to find your brother, you can start begging for whatever deal the DA might cut you …” The buxom young vigilante relished moments like this, her usually short yet curvy body looming powerfully over some thug that would have usually relished in his superior strength. Especially over his cowering victims. Margo was so caught up in this power play, that the rest of the alley faded out of her mind. Much to her peril, as the older Castrovinci had doubled back …

“You’d better be prepared to taaaAAOOW!” Margo’s attempt at tough talk was cut short, as Dante Castrovinci came rushing in, fists swinging, a punch landing right in the young woman’s soft rib! Margo was thrown off by this, her handcuffs clanging to the pavement! Margo wrapped her arms defensively around her ribs, trying to nurse away the stinging hurt!

“You gonna shit talk my brother now, bitch?” Dante said, sneering. The young Castrovinci’s fists were raised, ready to fight. Margo turned quickly to meet him, but she stumbled. Aching ribs were one issue, but fear was another. Dante had caught her off guard, hurt her, when she was so damn certain she had this one in the bag. Beneath her mask, Margo winced, and tried to push back the pain.

“That’s what I thought,” Dante said, sneering, “not so tough when you don’t get to be all spookytits, huh?” Stepping in, Dante fired off a sharp jab, toward Margo’s face.

“OH!” Margo cried out, not expecting the straight offense. Dante’s fist rocked Margo’s face, snapping her head back. She felt one of his gaudy rings dig into her soft cheek, as her head snapped back. Margo’s eyes widened in shock.

“HOOOF!” Margo groaned, as Dante’s following uppercut drove hard into the young woman’s soft belly. Margo’s hands cupped her midsection once again, the wind having been driven from her body. “D-damn,” she grunted, sliding backward against the wall.

The look on Dante’s face was one of sick pleasure. The bastard was enjoying every minute of watching Margo writhe and ache on the hook, figuring that he could end this fight- and the life of the Gossamer Ghost herself- after just another few quick jabs!

Clenching her jaw, Margo tried to focus. No matter how many of these brawls the Gossamer Ghost got herself into, she just couldn’t get used to them. Still, Margo had to do something. Her life was on the line, here. If she could only will her body to react, before it was too late …

The next fist came in hard and fast, and would have crushed Margo’s pretty little face against the unforgiving brick wall behind her. Instead, Margo was able to jerk her head out of the way, letting Dante’s knuckles scrape themselves against the rough brick!

“Damn!” Dante wailed, reeling backward. Margo smiled, her dodge having turned things around. At least, if she could manage exploit this opening. Pushing herself forward, the Gossamer Ghost led in with a hard knee, sinking deep into Dante’s body! His abs seemed hard, but not hard enough to protect him as Margo’s kick knocked the wind out of his sails.

“Got you, bastard,” the Gossamer Ghost said, frustration in her voice. Dante reeled back, sucking air, leaving him wide open to a pivoting roundhouse kick from the Ghost. The Gossamer Ghost laid a shapely leg hard across the young thug’s skull, laying him out cold.

“Oooh,” Margo exhaled. She cast a quick look back into the alley and realized, to her horror, that the other Castrovinci was gone! “You can’t be serious!” she whimpered.

Margo stepped further into the alley, trying to locate her prey. After the other brother’s ambush had nearly gotten the best of her, the Gossamer Ghost stepped with trepidation. Despite her caution, however, Margo wasn’t prepared for what she saw: Gaspare Castrovinci, swinging limply from a chain link fence. Tongue protruding, eyes rolled back in a ghastly mask, thick rope tied tight around his neck!

“Oh God, no!” Margo gasped. “This- how could this happen!” Margo’s fingers clasped over her mouth, as she stared in wide-eyed shock at the swinging body of the career criminal. Margo turned back in horror. If Dante saw this, thought she had done it? There were lines the Gossamer Ghost wouldn’t cross, in her vigilante career. The police tolerated her unique brand of special investigation and citizens arrests. Taking on the role of judge, jury and execution made things entirely different. Margo’s life was in her hands every night she stripped down to the sheer costume of the Gossamer Ghost, certainly. But murdering a suspect in such a grisly fashion, ignoring due process? Surely, pretty young Margo would have been begging to be arrested, at that point! Worse, however, was that Margo had just lost a lead. Those missing persons she’d hounded Dante for had just lost one of the few souls on earth that could lead help investigators to them! Turning, Margo saw, to her horror, that Dante was no longer where her deft kick had left him.

“Oh, God,” Margo whispered through her ruby red lips, belly clenching nervously. Taking a few steps down the alley, it wasn’t long before Margo saw a grim scene: from a fire escape, dangling just a few feet away, was the body of Dante Castrovinci. Just as ghastly lifeless, just as inexplicably murdered as she’d feared!

Margo could hear boots scraping the fire escape, possibly a few stories up. Swallowing hard, the young vigilante grabbed the lowest rung of the metal ladder and prepared herself to follow. The effort was cut short, however, as flashing red and blue lights began to pierce the darkness. The wail of police sirens filled her ears. The Gossamer Ghost would have to escape, at this point. She had no other choice!

Clearly, someone in her city was taking the war on crime a few steps farther than she had, and had no issue leaving her to take the fall. Margo could already imagine the parties that would be looking to blame the mysterious young vigilante for this. The police, knowing that she was acting without license or sanction, had no reason not to think the mysterious vigilante who had been tracking these men had finally taken the law fully into her own hands. And worse, the Castrovincis would surely be looking to collect on her pretty little head, for retribution!

More importantly, however, there were the victims. Lost souls who Dante and Gaspare had left up to fate. Margo couldn’t well save them while trying to keep her own hide safe, could she? Whoever had done this wasn’t likely to stop, she knew that much. Now, with the oncoming rush of police at her heels, the Gossamer Ghost was faced with the task of finding a killer, finding lost souls, and doing it all with the city’s police hot on her back!

Margo knew she had to run, and she had to run fast. The screech of tires sounded on either side of the alley. Quickly, the Ghost deduced that neighbors in the alley must have tipped off the cops, who were trying to section her off. They were behind her, blocking the alley she’d come down. They had arrived at the other end of the open alley, boxing the poor heroine in. Margo’s impending arrest- and the inevitable, humiliating reveal of the Gossamer Ghost’s true identity- seemed like a certainty, now!

Margo shivered at the thought of her slender wrists being bound in cuffs, before her body was forced helplessly into the back of a squad car. Biting her lip, Margo looked below Dante Castrovinci’s hanging body, to the chain link fence he was swinging from.
Margo choked back her disgust at such close proximity to the corpse, knowing that she had to get back to work if she was going to avoid trading in her pretty little lace costume for a humiliating prison jumper.

From her cloak, the Gossamer Ghost produced a small circular saw- impossibly tiny, a handheld device. One of several clever little tools that helped the Ghost in her nocturnal mission. Trying to get to work while keeping herself away from the late Castrovinci’s dangling boots, Margo got to work cutting the steel. Over the small motor, Margo could hear the impending approach of boots against the pavement. With every link of the fence that broke, the loud clink echoing against the buildings, the footfalls grew louder and louder. A trickle of nervous sweat ran down Margo’s forehead, brushed her cheek and splashed against her ample bosom.

The final link, closest to the ground, finally gave. Margo gasped in relief. Just as her escape route was secured, however, a uniformed officer rounded the corner and drew on her!

“Hands in the air! Hands in the air!” he shouted into the alley.

The Gossamer Ghost had bent over to cut the last of the chain links, leaving her standing with her curvy rear end pointed directly at the oncoming cop. Margo couldn’t stifle a gasp. Biting her lip, Margo raised her hands in the air, but remained bent at the waist.

“I-I will shoot! Just stay where you are, hands where I can see them!” There was a nervous tinge to his tone. It was was then that Margo realized her position, her curvaceous ass pointed straight toward the cop. Getting arrested ass-first wasn’t exactly ideal, but it gave Margo something she could work with.

“You wouldn’t shoot me, would you?” Margo asked, peeking over her shoulder. She kept her hands up, not wanting to provoke him. At least, not in that way. Instead, Margo shifted her leg, twisted her hip, and let her long black cloak fall off to the side. Now, Margo’s ample ass, barely covered in the tight white fabric of her costume, were swaying slightly in front of him. The Gossamer Ghost’s skimpy costume was part of her persona, lent her confidence and presence, but also had some other, obvious advantages. The thin white lace of her bottoms were cut a bit short, and the edges of Margo’s ass peeked through in normal circumstances. In this compromising position, however, Margo was presenting the lucky beat cop with a hell of a late night view!

Under any normal circumstance, Margo couldn’t imagine herself doing this. Not even close. The Gossamer Ghost, from behind her mask and bold costume, could get away with anything. As Margo watched the poor beat cop, eyes staring unblinking at her teasingly presented ass, she knew that “anything” could now mean “escape!” As another set of foot falls sounded around the corner of the next alley, the Ghost flicked her wrist.

Out of a small, secret compartment within her glove, a black pellet fell to the ground and shattered- yet another of her clever crime fighting devices! In a quick burst, that perfect ass disappeared into a thick black fog, enveloping Margo’s tantalizing body completely!

Shocked, the cop stepped forward, but his vision couldn’t pierce the smoke screen. As his backup arrived, and the fog dissipated, the two men were alone. Alone, save for the bodies of two men who, from all available evidence, appeared to be the first murder victims of the vigilante, the Gossamer Ghost!



A rushed exit, and a midnight flight across the city, left Margo to return home to her penthouse apartment exhausted. Under cover of night, the Gossamer Ghost secreted her way up the fire escape, around the secret railings and hidden handholds she’d set for herself, and squirreled away into her home unseen.

Margo’s chest heaved against her costume, as she panted for breath. Her adrenaline was spiking, her heart was threatening to pound out of her chest. In all the time that the Gossamer Ghost had been haunting the streets of this city, this was the closest she’d ever come to facing arrest! It wasn’t an easy scare to shake off.

Allowing her billowing cloak to slide off her shoulders to the black marble floor, Margo stepped into the apartment. She sighed deeply, trying to settle her nerves. Fortunately, she was well aware that she wasn’t alone in the apartment.

Quickly, one of her roommates slipped out of her room and into the common area. A slender young thing, hair pulled back tight in a ponytail with eyes hidden behind thick coke-bottle glasses, Kimi Li regarded her roommate.

“What happened?” Kimi asked. “You look so shaken! Are you hurt?”

Margo smiled, and shook her head. She leaned back against the wall, and took a deep breath. Margo’s ample chest swelled against her costume, as she fought to control her racing heart. Fortunately, the sight of Kimi was enough to take some edge off. Like all of their roommates, Kimi Li was in on the Gossamer Ghost’s nocturnal secrets. In fact, like those other women, Kimi was a frequent aide to the crime fighter, part of a group that Margo jokingly referred to as “The Justice Sorority.”

“No,” Margo said, exhaling loudly as she leaned back against the wall. “No, I’m just fine. At least, for now …”

“Ah,” Kimi said, adjusting her glasses, “I’m grabbing some wine. You sit on the couch, catch your breath and we’ll talk!” Kimi dashed off quickly. Margo smiled as well as she could, despite her exhaustion. At the very least, having a chance to talk tonight’s fiasco out with a friend was something.

“My word,” Kimi said, once Margo had finished recapping the night’s misadventure. “Thank God you got out of there alright! How did you escape that cop, it sounds like he had you dead to rights!”

Margo shrugged, not having been willing to share how the narrowest strip of fabric over her curvy ass had been the only thing between her and certain capture. “Misdirection,” she said, “probably not something that’s going to save me twice. I’ve got to figure out how I can clear my name, before the heat turns up even more on me!”

“For sure, but how? Did you catch any glimpse of who actually did this?”

“No,” Margo shook her head, “but they must have been massive, right? I mean, who else could have pulled to large guys like the Castrovincis up on a noose like that, right? That had to take some power, right?”
Kimi shuddered, “Right. I can’t believe you’re going to have to go up against someone like that. What are you going to do against that kind of power?”

“I … I don’t know. Hopefully, it won’t come down to a show of force, like that. I’m hoping I can get the drop on him- or her, or whatever it was- before they can get their hooks on me!”

“Them, or the police!” Kimi grimaced, trying not to imagine the kinds of peril that Margo would face behind bars. A buxom, pretty young thing like Margo Fox would get plenty of the wrong kind of attention behind bars, even before factoring in for the enemies that the Gossamer Ghost had made.

“So, what’s the game plan? And how can I help?”

“I don’t know yet,” Margo said. “He was clearly after the Castrovinci’s, just like I am. Maybe he’s got a connection to those kidnapping victims? Or to one of the other crime families in the city? There’s still way too much I don’t know about this one!”

“I just hope they were the ones he was trailing, and not you.”

“I-I hadn’t considered that!” Margo gasped, her red lips in a perfect ‘o’ shape.

“Just a thought,” Kimi said, sipping her wine, “those guys managed to keep ahead of you for a few weeks, now- what are the odds that this mysterious hangman caught up to them on the exact same night you did? And knew enough to keep out of your sight? He clearly had it in for them, but maybe …”

“Maybe they weren’t the only targets. Damn! Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Well,” Kimi said, letting her glasses slide playfully down the bridge of her button nose, “it’s not like you’re the brains of this outfit. At least you’ve got me looking out for you.”

“Meanie,” Margo giggled, “after everything else I’ve gone through, tonight, I come home to this kind of abuse?” Taking a deep breath, Margo leaned back. She arched her spine across the back of the couch, moaning slightly with a hard stretch.

Kimi let her eyes trace along the generous curves of Margo’s body. She downed a little more wine, before saying “You should get some sleep, heroine. City doesn’t need a yawny protector.”

“I think all that adrenaline’s finally warn oo-wwwaaaahhhhhnnn,” Margo’s sentence devolved into a long yawn.

“That it, right there,” Kimi said, “you sleep. Now. I’m going to do whatever research I can. Me and the other girls have put too much work into you to let you wind up in prison!”

“Or worse,” Margo said with a weak smile. “Okay. Sleep. Then, tomorrow, some kind of plan comes together. Thanks, Kimi!” Margo pushed herself up off of the couch, and sashayed down to her bedroom. Kimi sighed, licked a bit of wine off her upper lip, and began to try forming a plan.



That night, Margo’s body sank into her silk sheets and she drifted off to a sleep that the dead might envy. Despite this, however, her morning was no more peaceful than the harrowing night beforehand.

The contrast between Margo Fox’s life and that of the sultry Gossamer Ghost was never more obvious than it was at her day job. Every day, Margo Fox walked into the offices of CityChannel news, usually with a stack of production notes tucked clumsily under one arm, holding her phone to her face while struggling to balance a four-pack of coffee in her other hand.

Margo herself was covered in multiple layers, cardigan over a sweater over tights, at least two scarves wrapped around her neck, square-framed glasses catching every bit of light in the busy studio. And, more often than not, a wince prepared on her face for when her boss finally got hold of her.

“What the hell is this?” an irate woman demanded, forcing a flinch to run through Margo’s entire body. “Seriously, what the hell am I supposed to do with this? Fox, get the hell over here!”

At the other end of the lobby stood statuesque newswoman Elana Lange, with a smartly cut pantsuit that hugged her impressive figure. The raven-haired woman flashed a look at Margo that made her blood run cold. By night, Margo had the criminals of this city in the palm of her hand. If they only knew how much of her day was spent cowering under the glare of their local news anchor!

“W-wh-” Margo stammered.

“W-wuh,” muttered Lange, shaking her head. “Fox, these notes from the police blotter are trash. They gave you prime rib, and you churned out a McRib. With ketchup. How do you fuck this kind of story up this badly?”

“I- I covered everything the police know, at this-” Margo said, trying to force the words out of her slender throat.

“But you buried the lead! The keystone cops in this crappy burg finally have that masked bimbo dead to rights, and there’s all this crap here about some human trafficking bullshit! How do you not know how to find a story when it’s right under that tiny little nose of yours?”

“We’d been following that huma-”

“Yeah. We followed it. It’s old hat, and we’ll tie it up when they actually know something. If they know something. But now we’ve got that slutty caped tramp staring down two murder charges, and you don’t even have an outline for me on it? Look, I was talking to Commissioner Cage this morning, and he says they’re putting all hands on deck on this one. They’re tired of this tramp showing them up, and you wouldn’t believe the size of the book they want to throw at this bitch! I’m not missing this one, Fox. Get your empty little head in the game, and prep me for this!”

The back of Margo’s neck burned. She could see what this was about all too clearly, now. Ever since busting out onto the local scene, Elana Lange had it in for the Gossamer Ghost. While the rest of the city had been intrigued by the sultry specter haunting their streets, Elana Lange had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for the moment that the city’s new local celebrity would screw up, and meet her grisly and shocking end … with Lange’s news crew there to immortalize every morbid moment!

If only Lange knew how much she was belittling her imagined rival on a daily basis, Margo thought with a shudder. Still, Margo had to tolerate this as best she could. Margo’s love of journalism was another way she looked to help as many people as she could, and the access it gave her to information was invaluable to the Gossamer Ghost’s nocturnal mission.

“Now,” Lange said, snatching a coffee off the pack and throwing Margo’s balance completely off, “you take this crap back, and bring me a story worth covering!” Lange shoved the papers into Margo’s chest, and let them slide down her body to her boots. Margo couldn’t focus on that, however, as the unbalanced coffees began to teeter in her hand!

“Wh-wait … nooo …!” Margo whimpered, eyes widening as the pack of coffees swung and swished about. Margo’s boot caught a loose page, slipped out from beneath her, and utterly destroyed any and all attempts she might have made to keep those coffees- and her dignity- intact! A loud splash sounded, and before she knew it Margo was wearing nearly as much coffee as scarves.

“Pathetic,” Lange said, shaking her head. “Look, Fox, get it together. That Ghost bitch is going down, over this. And when she does, I’m not letting your incompetence keep me from getting it on camera!”

Margo bit her lip, feeling her chin tremble. Somehow, the criminal might of the underworld didn’t hold a candle to Elana Lange when it came to making her life hell. If only Lange knew, though, how ironic her statement was. Margo Fox’s ability to keep on top of this case was going to be of the utmost importance, if she was going to avoid prison, possible death, and absolute humiliation in front of the entire city!

Sitting down on a nearby equipment box, Margo’s shoulders heaved. As with every time this happened, production crew and staff avoided looking directly at Margo as her fought against sobbing. Pushing back some tears, Margo looked at her boots. Then, a thought hit her.

Commissioner Cage. Someone that had been after the Ghost since her first night on the job became public, and now he was going all-in on this frame job! Margo couldn’t believe it. The white-haired, middle-aged Commissioner was a creep, through and through, and his obsession with the Ghost often seemed something beyond adversarial. A shiver ran over Margo’s body, as her mind wandered to thoughts of him finally getting his hands on her.

This situation was quickly getting out of hand. If Cage was mobilizing the police force against the Ghost, it was only a matter of time before they caught her- and it seemed as though all of the Castrovinci’s victims were in grave danger of going unfound!

Leaning back against the wall, Margo took a deep breath to center herself. This hangman needed to be caught- and there was only one way she could do it. Elana Lange had decided that- more than the hangman, the Castrovincis, even the victims- the Gossamer Ghost was the center of the story. Margo shook her head. Thinking back to her conversation with Kimi, Margo couldn’t help but have a troubling thought. Perhaps, despite all logic, Margo had to accept that. Perhaps the Gossamer Ghost did have to be at the center of this, after all …



Margo was still shaking off the warm feeling of her evening nap, as the Gossamer Ghost perched herself atop one of the city’s high buildings. Still, she was waking up rapidly, feeling the cool night air bracing against her skin.

“I hate this plan,” Kimi had told her, as Margo was slipping into costume. “Hate hate hate it. Just want to go on record with that.”

“Duly noted,” Margo said, as she clasped her cloak around her slender neck, “and filed away for later discussion. But I just don’t see another way to get this case closed in time to save those people!”

“Yeah, save them … assuming you don’t wind up dangling from a rope yourself! Or wind up in cuffs!”
Margo shuddered. “I know the risk I’m taking. But you’re right- whoever this hangman is, it’s possible he’s after me. So are the cops. So, the best way to get them all into one place is by putting myself out there. I just need to be ready for them.”

“Yeah, you think that. But you don’t even know who this guy is! I- I mean, you can’t put yourself at risk like this! It’s insane!” Kimi was visibly upset, walking toward Margo with a desperate look. “What if you get caught? What if you get- get …”

“Kimi,” Margo said, softly, “this is the risk I take. Think of those people, missing somewhere in this city because I couldn’t catch those scumbags. And because nobody else seems to care. I have to do this. You know that, right?”

“Right,” Kimi admitted, leaning into Margo. Margo wrapped her arms over Kimi’s shoulders, pulled her close. Kimi tucked her head into Margo’s chest, and sighed. “Just come back to us, you idiot.”

Now, the Gossamer Ghost was hoping she could make good on that promise, as her eyes scanned the skyline. The first step of her plan was to get some attention. In her outfit it wouldn’t be hard, but she had to hope it was the right attention. Hopefully, from wherever the creep was hiding, the hangman was watching.

It started simply enough- with petty crime. A few sidewalk assaults, an odd armed robbery. All foiled by the wits and mystery of the Gossamer Ghost, throwing herself headfirst into danger. All, however, without her signature guile. For the first time, the Gossamer Ghost wanted her city to see her clear as day.

The reports came in quickly. Rumors of the Ghost’s supposed murder spree had hit the press hard, thanks in part to a zealous Elana Lange, and the fingertips of even the most grateful citizens were quickly on the phone. Squad cars were scrambled, lights and sirens echoed off the walls of the city. And in the darkness, the hangman stirred.

The Gossamer Ghost was evading the attentions of a squad car as she ducked into an empty building. The building had been carefully chosen: a few stories below was the corner where the mysterious hangman had cornered the Castrovincis, and set this all in motion. It was her hope that her potential stalker might be following her back to the scene of the crime. The Ghost was stirred from her thoughts by a shuffling in the darkness.

“Who’s there?” Margo called out, spinning on her heel. No answer came.

“You hiding from little old me?” Margo said, draping her cloak over half her body. Beneath it, she fidgeted for a weapon. She hadn’t seen a soul in the darkness, but deduced easily who was with her. Her plan worked. “You’ve gone to so much trouble to see me, too. You gone all shy now, big boy?”

Margo’s taunting worked against her, however. Her words drowned out the shuffle of feet against the dirty floor, and in seconds a large figure was upon her!

“OH!” Margo cried out, as she caught a heavy shoulder in her back. The blow sent Margo reeling, stumbling forward without control. The Gossamer Ghost tried to turn again, whipping another of her discs behind her. The disc missed wildly, hitting the wall hard enough to sink into it. Margo’s eyes narrowed; that disc should have ricocheted off the wall, taking another chance at striking her assailant. Instead, it sank into the plaster. To her horror, she wondered if her attacker, the hangman, had planned their encounter that thoroughly.

Before she could think more on it, however, the figure lashed out again. A fist sank hard into Margo’s soft belly, doubling her over! “Ooooohhh,” Margo moaned, as the air was knocked out of her. She stumbled back. Looking up, she could see the full figure of the man: easily seven feet tall, clad in a black leather duster with a wide-brimmed hat. His face was ghastly, bone-white. His lip was curled in a sneer, exposing sharp, yellowed teeth. His sunken eyes were shadowed by the brim of his hat, giving his face a skeletal look.

“Wh-who, who are you?” the Gossamer Ghost demanded, before a swing of the lanky hangman’s hand rocked her face and sent her reeling. “Oh!” she cried, stars flashing in her vision as she stumbled helplessly backward.

Margo knew this looked hopeless. The hangman was upon her now, and she was taking a hell of a beating. Stepping back, she was too stunned to feel the rope ensnaring her foot, until the trap was sprung!

“NooooOOOAAHH!” Margo shrieked, as a length of strong rope hooked her and pulled her upside-down! The buxom crime fighter hung helplessly, her body swung by the rope over a pit of unfinished flooring. Wide-eyed, Margo looked down in horror at what would have been a life-ending fall!

“No,” she gasped, watching the hangman loom closer, “not like this! No!” He had her dead to rights, however. Margo’s strategy had backfired, as she found herself the one caught in a trap! Reaching out, he pulled a long pole from the wall. “At least tell me who you are, you bastard! Tell me why you’re doing this!” With a sharp jab to her chest, the pole sinking deep between Margo’s soft breasts, the Hangman silenced her.

“You stupid bitch …” the Hangman spoke, his voice sounding like boots dragged over gravel. “You were dead the second I came after you, and you didn’t have a damn clue. You thought you were luring me into a trap, didn’t you? Didn’t you?” Margo’s eyes were tearing up, suddenly feeling the regret of having her plan backfire on her so spectacularly.

“Well, you little idiot,” the Hangman said, “you didn’t know who you were fucking with. You didn’t know how long you’ve been in my sights, girl. Tell me, what were you gonna do with those Castrovinci boys if you caught ‘em, huh? Hand ‘em over to the cops? So they can get right back out of prison? Only one way to deal with scum like them, and I did it.”

Margo winced. Blood was rushing to her head as she dangled there. Her ankle felt like it was going to slip out of place. Her ample breasts hung, threatening to spill out of her costume and smack her in the face at any second! But still, she had to remain focused. “Their victims …” Margo groaned, “are still missing! Th-there’s still time to find them!”

“Well, you ‘found’ them, you stupid bitch! Those scumbag sumbitches had the whole lot of them, right under your nose! Or were you too much of an empty-headed bimbo to realize where it was I finally caught you?”

“What?”

“Figures. Outside, bimbo. That’s the alley I knew you’d try to corral those little pricks. Where I was waitin’ to do what you’re too damn soft to. Right by their own damn hideout, where dozens of people were about to enter this country in the worst damn way. Where’d you think those boys were gonna run, if not home?”

“Why haven’t you let those people go, then?”

“Had to lure you in, didn’t I?”

Margo’s eyes widened in horror, at what the man said. He had gambled with dozens of lives casually, like they were nothing, just for a chance at killing her!

“See, people think you’re protectin’ this city, when you’re just a flashy distraction. Nice legs, great pair of tits, they forget what you really are. Weak. This city deserves real protection. Real justice. Justice I can give ‘em, when you’re out of the picture.”

“Y-you …” it was getting harder to think, as gravity took its toll on Margo’s aching body, “See how quickly they turned on me, though, for what you did! What do you think’s gonna happen when you go full ‘Deathwish 3’ on people?”

“See, that’s the problem,” he said, “they don’t fear you. Who the hell’s gonna fear some busty harlot in her underwear? They’re gonna fear me, when they see what I can do. What I’m gonna do to you …”

Margo knew this was it: the end. Below her was a pit of human suffering, one her body wouldn’t survive. She’d searched for these people, put her life on the line for them, and now she was going to die battered and broken among them. The Hangman was going to see to that. The bastard reached forward, the cruel hook at the end of his staff inching perilously closer to the rope that dangled Margo’s body above certain doom.

The lanky killer couldn’t help rub it in a bit more, however. His staff swung hard, striking Margo in the lower back. “Aaargh!” Margo cried out, as the staff hit hard against her spine. “Oooh!” she shouted, as the stick swung around again, and rocked off of her skull. “Nnngh!” Margo whimpered, as the staff struck hard against her swelling breasts. Margo’s eyes rolled back in her head, as the cruel torture continued, seemingly the last thing she would get to experience in life.

Suddenly, however, the howl of police sirens pierced the night air. Flashing red and blue filled the building, through the barren windows.

“Here we are,” the Hangman said, with urgency in his voice, “high noon and the town’s filling in for the execution. You ready for them to find that body where it was always gonna end up- mangled in some gutter?”

“Nnnooo …” Margo tried to struggle, but she felt weak. Her body had been upside down too long, trapped at the cruel whims of this madman. Tears were flowing freely now, matting her brow. After everything she’d done, all she’d gambled to be the heroine these people needed, was it really all about to end like this?

With one final effort, Margo bucked her body. The Hangman’s hook had inched toward her rope, looking to sever the Gossamer Ghost’s final lifeline. However, the buxom young woman rocked it just enough that her angle of descent was off. The rope was severed, but she fell forward, instead of straight down! The hangman’s eyes, red and bloodshot against his sunken white face, widened in surprise. The Gossamer Ghost tumbled forward, and came crashing toward the ghastly man!

“N-no! Y’dumb bi-” The Hangman was cut off as Margo slammed into him, chest first. The Gossamer Ghost was acting on pure instinct, now, as she heard the front door of the abandoned building kicked open and a legion of police barreling in!

Trying weakly to fend off her predator, the Ghost thrust a palm into the Hangman’s face- setting off the smoke bomb she’d prepared for the ambush, the preparation that the big man had previously foiled! Now, smoke poured out of the Ghost’s glove, burning her hand but choking the monster of a man!

“Hhh-hhcckkk!” the Hangman choked.

“OOooowwwwww!” the Gossamer Ghost wailed.

As the billowing smoke disbursed throughout the room, police officers poured into the fray. They saw the hole, the severed rope. They could hear a scuffle. Guns drawn, they waited to see who would come out of that signature mist.

To the frustration of some and the relief of others, the smoke cleared and there was no sign of the Gossamer Ghost. Instead, the Hangman lay there,
still choking on the chemical cloud that had blinded him. Suddenly powerless, it was a simple matter for the city’s finest to disarm and handcuff the armed man, even as he screamed and threatened their lives.

In short time, an examination of the building would reveal the basement of suffering souls who had been the Castrovinci’s intended traffic, and the Hangman’s eventual bait. Poor human beings who had suffered at the Hangman’s callous hands, and were all too eager to testify against him. What the police couldn’t uncover, however, was the Gossamer Ghost. The woman who once again slipped off into the night, to haunt the dreams of the city.

As was often the case, media tone shifted on the Gossamer Ghost on a dime. With enough evidence to convict the Hangman for her supposed crimes, the Ghost was again a loved- or at least tolerated- presence in the city. A fact that was sending Elana Lange into conniptions, behind the camera.

“We had that bitch!” Lange shouted, spiking her lapel mic on the news desk the second she was off-air. Margo had somewhat enjoyed watching Lange have to stifle a full-body cringe, as she worked her way through the evening newscast and effectively exonerate the Gossamer Ghost.

“N-next time, Ms. Lange, I’m sure,” Margo offered, trying not to smirk.

Lange straightened her jacket, staring down Margo. “Yes, next time,” she said, pursing her lips. “And next time, be sure you get those stories to me on time, Miss Fox. We certainly wouldn’t be getting the best of this masked bitch if we had to rely on your level of competence …”

Despite the insults, Margo couldn’t help but give a little giggle as Elana Lange stormed off. She couldn’t help but anticipate the next time Lange was going to be forced to report on yet another victory for the Gossamer Ghost.

[bobcashman]

Thanks, nice story. Enjoyed it and the hint of peril and all that it entailed. Can't wait to see another.

[Void]

I really enjoyed it. Good characters and gripping peril. There's some really sweet descriptions in there that made it a pleasure to read.

I'm sold on Margo - I hope to see more of her adventures soon!

[DrDominator9]

Really had a good time reading this. Excellent character development and great peril. I would have liked a bit more description of Gossamer Ghost's costume. It's still a bit nebulous in my mind. That said, I look forward to your next story.

[flirty_but_nice]

I look very much forward to more tales of the Gossamer Ghost!

[tallyho]

Nice job but you need to proof read your stuff,there's a few instances where you changed your mind about how you were going to say something and ended up with a part of both versions left in the sentence. We all do it - don't be afraid to go back in and edit your work once posted. I once edited one post 19 times and after each time I thought it was perfect. Plus I am the man who wrote about 'the terrible COAT of World War One' instead of 'COST' so honestly we all make typos just go over it a bit more.

Excellent characterisation and dialogue and nice descriptive writing. There were some bits that didn't work for me - 12 people kidnapped in less than a month ? Given kidnapping needs some degree of planning the numbers just didn't work for me. Just a bit implausible. Also keeping her items IN her cloak so its weighted and would just be crashing and clattering into things as well as constantly slamming into her again just didn't scan. Have them secreted in her bodice or whatever she is wearing - much more practical than running about stealthily with a small circular saw banging about behind you. Also I am not sure how wiggling her ass at the cop would work since she is wearing ...a cloak?

All that sounds overly negative and its just me being an anal prick for detail but if you do write believable and detailed stories (and you do) with interesting characters when you do get those sort of faux-pas it just detracts from it.

I would have liked a bit more to-ing and fro-ing with the fighting at the end but thats just me.
Really good effort - you have a nice engaging style and a good eye for descriptive detail. The characterisation is both good and interesting and the whole thing is nicely paced and elegantly constructed. I look forward to hearing about the rest of her room-mates in future stories
Well done!

ps first posted stories tend to get a lot of comments - don't be disappointed when it fades off to nothing with your subsequent efforts! All of us who have commented so far are also writers and thats kinda how it goes. (not sure if Bob writes - sorry Bob)
Joe public stays silent, by and large

[DrDominator9]

Hey! Joe Public is one of my biggest supporters! Ease up there.

[BettyDreadful]

Thanks everyone for your feedback and replies! Really appreciate folks taking the time to read and comment, and I've tried to incorporate as much of folks' commentary as I could into the revisions (and into following stories). Tried to revise the crime in the plot, to hopefully make it more believable. I also tried to make the Ghost's costume a bit clearer, since that's a very important part of the genre.

Did keep Margo's cloak as is, for now, hoping that I can sell it as a "utility belt" kind of device. Hoping that I'm describing her crimefighting tools as the kind of comic book devices I'm picturing them as a bit better; please, let me know if it still doesn't work! Anyway, thanks again for your feedback, everyone, hope that my continued work entertains folks, here!

[Bleesid]

Good work! I always enjoy your detail and keeps me coming back for more...

[KnightsofGotham.com]

Enjoyed this. Thank you for sharing