Issue 1
This issue is 48 pages.

Page 1
A black page.
Caption #1: “Think not of yourself.”
Caption #2: “Think not of your target.”
Caption #3: “There is no target.”
Caption #4: “There is no shot.”
Caption #5: “You do not seize the moment, but submit to it.”

Page 2
A full-page shot showing the full body of Irene, bald-headed, blindfolded, standing, holding a nicely curved longbow, the arrow drawn. There are trees around, their tiny green leaves visible in the shot. Silent. Blindfolded. Beautiful. Still to the world.

Page 3
1-3.The top tier. We have a series of close-ups on her hands on the string, pregnant, waiting. There is no change between panels.
4.A large, tier-wide overhead shot showing a bird, beautifully rendered, flying over Irene, still standing blindfolded, arrow drawn. She stands in a plaza in a Japanese complex. Caption: “I hear the bird overhead, hear its height, its trajectory.”
5.A shot of a squirrel on a tree branch. Michael Zulli stuff. Caption: “I hear the squirrels all around, hear their scraping, their scrabbling on the bark, their teeth and claws.”
6.A shot of the target sitting on bamboo rods. Caption: “I hear the dead space of the target, feel the wind running around it, smell and taste that wind.”

Page 4
1.A small black panel. Caption: “And I hear none of this, feel none of this.”
2.A close-up on her blindfolded eyes. Caption: “Cannot know any of this. It’s too much.”
3.A close-up on her hands on the string, pregnant, waiting. Caption: “But the universe knows it.” [3 | 4]
4.Another such shot. Caption: “I stop thinking and wait until the moment finds me.”
5.A similar shot.
6.Another similar shot, except that here she has just let go of the string. Her movement is so mild that it can barely be perceived.
7.A similar shot, only here the arrow has flown and her hands are in the same place.
8.A close-up on her blindfolded face. A Japanese man holds a gun to her temple. Man: “Did you hit the target? A wrong answer means your death.”
9.A small black panel. Caption: “There’s an arrow in the bull’s eye, but I did not put it there. I merely let go of a string without thinking.”

Page 5
1.A close-up of her fingers taking off the blindfold. Caption: “My name is Irene.”
2.A shot of her head as she tears off the blindfold. Caption: “And I’m not dead.”
3.A large shot of her walking away, the man beside her with his gun down. We see the target, an arrow resting in its bull’s eye. Caption: “My answer must have been right.”

Page 6
1.A tier-wide shot of Void, an old Japanese man, and Tommy, a Japanese man in his early thirties, standing to the side, observing the scene. Void: “She passed the test easily. As you knew she would.” Tommy: “You honor me, master.”
2.Another tier-wide shot. Void and Frank walking away from the scene. Void: “In less than three years, she has mastered the bow. More importantly, she has merged with nothingness enough to do so. Most impressive.”
3.A small tier-wide shot of their feet and the tiles under them as they walk away. The feet are on the right edge of the panel. On the left, we see where the tiles begin and the grass ends. Tommy: “She knew nothingness long before she knew it.”

Page 7
1.A large shot, perhaps half the page, of Irene at six, begging in the streets of a Greek village in the 1960s. She holds a small metal can for money. Caption #1: “I was born into [4 | 5] poverty.” Caption #2: “I do not say this to generate sympathy, neither wanted nor deserved. It simply was.”
2.A close-up on the can she holds. Caption: “By the age of six, I was begging on the streets to supplement my father’s income.”
3.A shot of the child begging in a poor area. Passers-by are not giving her change, though she looks quite pitiful. Caption #1: “People were more inclined to give me coins than my parents or my brother, and so I stood apart from them and begged.” Caption #2: “Monks throughout history have often begged. Forsaking the world, the monk depends on the kindness of others to survive.”
4.A close-up on Irene’s pitiful face, looking up at us -- as if we were a prospective donator. Caption #3: “Circumstance made me a monk before it made me a woman.”

Page 8
1.A shot of a small apartment. The walls are decrepit. It’s one room with a bathroom and a bedroom. Present are Irene’s mother and father as well as her younger brother. Caption #1: “My father worked intermittently at various jobs, always unskilled labor.” Caption #2: “My mother stayed at home, cooked, cleaned, and watched me to make sure I was safe.”
2.A shot of the younger brother working in the back of a store, skinning fish. Caption: “My brother, a year younger, worked when he could at the simple tasks. He’d be hired by some local store for a pittance to do half the work of an adult. But even a pittance helped.”
4.A wedding photo of Irene’s parents. Caption: “My parents were poor Greeks who married out of some combination of love and fiscal need, like most people.”
5.A shot of the Athenian agora, with the Parthenon, in silhouette, Irene the begging girl juxtaposed symbolically in the foreground. Caption #1: “We lived in the shadow of Athens, but only went there to beg. The rich white tourists paid well to be left alone.” Caption #2: “Thus was the life of Irene Stavros, a poor girl in the suburbs of Athens in the 1960s.”

Page 9
1.A shot of Irene walking on a crowded street, her younger brother for company. She’s 16 or so; he’s 14 or so. [5 | 6] Tommy, the Japanese man seen earlier, walks behind them. He’s in his late twenties. Caption: “That is, until Tommy.”
2.Irene and her younger brother entering the family apartment. Caption: “By then, I was sixteen. My parents must have been thinking who they could find to marry me.”
3.Tommy standing at the door as Irene’s brother tries to close it. Irene’s walking off into the apartment. Caption: “The solution fell into their laps.”
4.A shot of Irene’s father sitting at a table in their apartment, talking to Tommy. Irene’s mother stands nearby, serving them food and beverages. Caption: “Marrying a Japanese man had some stigma attached to it, especially in such a small neighborhood. But he had money enough to provide a life for me that they’d never thought possible. We could move away from the neighborhood and their disapproval.”
5.Irene and her brother kneel by the door of the bedroom, observing the scene of the previous panel. Caption: “And it was the sixties. A new era in which business was business, regardless of skin color or slanted eyes.”

Page 10
1.Irene watching as Tommy shakes hands with her father at the door. Caption: “My parents insisted on thinking it over.”
2.A similar shot, only now Tommy’s leaving.
3.A shot of Irene observing her parents talking in the bedroom. Caption: “They talked that night. In such a small apartment, it was impossible for me not to hear -- a fact that only cemented, over and over again, what an opportunity this represented.”
4.A shot of Irene, her parents, and her brother all getting into a 1960s car on their impoverished streets while people watch with speculation and curiosity. The driver is Tommy’s assistant. Caption: “Tommy had arranged with them to have a car sent for us the following day.”
5.A shot of Irene and her parents talking with Tommy at a dinner table in a fine restaurant. Caption: “It took us into Athens, then stopped at a nice restaurant. I got to watch my parents eat nervously, vaguely uncertain of their etiquette, even of how to eat such an expensive meal.” [6 | 7]
6.A close-up on Irene at the table. Caption: “My parents were not the world. They knew so little, were so much in awe of this man. Of his money. Of the life I was being offered.”

Page 11
1.A shot of Irene’s father shaking hands with Tommy at the table, now cleared but for wine. Caption: “And so it was decided over wine.”
2.A close-up on Irene, mute and uncertain, but anticipating the opportunity she cannot understand. Caption: “I needed a husband.”
3.A close-up on Tommy, in command of the situation, smiling politely. Caption: “He needed a wife.”
4.A close-up on Irene’s parents. Caption: “And it would be good for my parents.”
5.A shot of the family talking in the car on the way home. Caption: “My father only conferred with me on the way home. He told me it was a wonderful opportunity. But I knew more than him. He was trying to convince a little girl, but I knew that, the moment I was married, I would eclipse him.”
6.A close-up on Irene’s father talking with her. Caption: “He suddenly seemed old and feeble, the life he had given me so unknowably flawed.”

Page 12
A full-page shot of Irene and Tommy being married in a Greek Orthodox church. Caption #1: “My family had insisted on an orthodox wedding. They’d gotten the most lavish one they’d ever seen, though he had no family present.” Caption #2: “And so Irene Stavros died and Irene Nakiotomo was born.”

Page 13
1.A shot of a house in the rural village in which Irene Stavros grew up. Her parents and brother are standing at the door, waving to Irene as she gets into a car. Caption: “My parents got a house in the town in which I had grown up begging. I would visit them occasionally, always bearing some gift. They’d never treated me better.”
2.A shot of a large house in urban Athens. Irene is getting out of the car and entering. Caption: “I, on the other hand, lived with Tommy in Athens.” [7 | 8]

Page 14
1.A shot of Tommy lying on top of Irene, as seen from over his shoulder, showing her face. Caption: “He took my virginity forcefully but with consideration.”
2.An overhead shot of Irene and Tommy lying in bed together. He’s lying back, basking in the after glow. She’s caressing his hair, gazing into his eyes. Caption: “At first I loved his money. I needed to be cold to marry a man I hadn’t known.”
3.A side view of Irene caressing his hair and gazing into his eyes. Caption: “But I came to love him. How could I not?”
4.A shot of Tommy following Irene on the street in her old neighborhood, prior to their marriage. Caption: “He had picked me because I was so beautiful.”
5.A shot of Irene in a white fur coat, looking at herself in a lavish mirror. Caption: “He had given me everything just for being his wife.”
6.A shot of Tommy lying on top of Irene, as seen from the side of their heads. She is gazing at him. Caption: “He had made me a woman and made me love pleasuring him.”

Page 15
1.A shot of Tommy and Irene at a large table in an exceptionally fine restaurant. Rich Greek businessmen are talking with him. Caption: “The only thing I had to do was accompany him to an occasional dinner. He’d instructed me in how to behave at such events, how to hold myself, what to say, how much to reveal about our personal lives. So that, I believed, I wouldn’t show my parents’ awkwardness. And I’d appreciated it.”
2.A similar shot only much later, when everyone’s had a good deal of wine. Caption #1: “I wasn’t to enter the discussions, which mostly focused on obscure points of business. I got the sense that he was showing me off, as if he was proud of me, of my beauty and manners. His trophy wife.” Caption #2: “There were worse things.”

Page 16
1.A shot of Irene in her marriage bed, though Tommy is absent. Caption: “Then came the day, half a year into our marriage, when Tommy wasn’t there when I awoke.” [8 | 9]
2.A shot of Irene at a glass-topped table in the kitchen of her house. A servant waits on her as she drinks coffee and reads the newspaper. She’s got the paper wide open. The front reads: “SHIPPING MAGNATE FOUND DEAD” -- in Greek with a subtitle if this is possible. The date is partially visible: 1974. Caption: “I eventually decided to have my breakfast as usual, if only to take my mind off it.”

Page 17
1.A shot of Tommy’s assistant -- the same man who drove his car earlier -- answering the door. Caption: “Until the knock at the door.”
2.A shot of Tommy’s assistant opening the door, only to have it pushed in as three thugs enter.
3.A shot of Irene at the table in the foreground, dropping the paper and getting up. In the background we see Tommy’s assistant being beaten by two men while the third closes the door, having just entered behind the other two. One of the two men beating the assistant is clearly noticing Irene.
4.A shot of the assistant, bleeding, in the foreground. His arm is bent back behind him. In the background we see Irene running off. In the middle ground, though nearer to the foreground, we see one of the other thugs dashing off after Irene.

Page 18
1.A shot of Irene caught by her pursuer. He does this by grabbing her torso area, the easiest to grab in a pursuit. They’re on the edge of the kitchen.
2.A shot of Irene slammed into the wall by this pursuer. This is a larger shot and here we can see clearly that we’re on the edge of the kitchen.
3.A shot of Irene elbowing her attacker in the face.
4-5.Two shots, from two different angles, of the two struggling in the kitchen, her thrashing and hitting, him continuing to hold her from behind. It’s frantic. Not orchestrated, choreographed. They’re knocking things over, off the counters, etc. One of the things knocked over is a wooden block with kitchen knives in it.

Page 19 [9 | 10]
1-2.Two more such shots. Irene is slammed into the counter, an easy way for him to maintain his hold and still subdue her.
3.A shot of the two other thugs bringing a beaten assistant into the kitchen. Thug #1 is one of these two. Thug #1: “You need help with that?”
4.A shot of Irene, subdued against the counter, her attacker lifting her head.
5.A similar shot, only here the attacker is pounding the head into the counter. He is Thug #2. Thug #2: “No.”
6.A shot of the assistant with a gun in his face. Thug #3 is questioning him. Thug #3: “Where’s your boss?”
7.A shot of the frightened assistant, staring at the gun that is inches from his face. Assistant: “I don’t know, I don’t know! He’s not here!”

Page 20
1.A shot of the frightened assistant as Thug #3 presses the gun into the assistant’s face. Thug #3: “How do you know?”
2.A similar shot. Thug #3: “He didn’t come home last night.”
3.A knowing glace passing between Thug #3 and Thug #2.
4.A shot of Thug #2 looking into Irene’s slightly battered face. Thug #2: “That right?”
5.A similar shot. Irene: “No, he’s not here.”
6.A larger shot of Thug #1 exiting the kitchen, gun in hand, as Thug #2 looks up from Irene and at him expectantly, and Thug #3 continues to hold his gun in the assistant’s face. Thug #1: “I’m on it.”

Page 21
1.A shot of Irene, her head pressed to the countertop, a gun pointed at her face. Caption: “As they waited nervously for their friend to return, my mind raced: what they might do to me, what my husband was involved with, whether I’d ever see him again.”
2.A shot of Thug #1 re-entering the kitchen, more relaxed than when he left. Thug #1: “He’s not here.”
3.A shot of Thug #3 with his gun against the assistant. Thug #3: “You sure?”
4.A shot of Thug #1 standing in the kitchen. Thug #1: “I’m fuckin’ sure. I searched every goddamn room. He’s not here.” [10 | 11]
5.A shot of Thug #2, his gun against Irene’s horizontal face. Thug #2: “You hear that, bitch? Your husband abandoned you. He’s probably halfway to Japan by now.”

Page 22
1.A close-up of Thug #2’s mouth, real close to Irene’s face, distorted from being pressed into the countertop. Thug #2: “We’re going to have to leave a message just in case. And I’m inclined to take it out on your ass.”
2.A close-up on his hand, pushing against her dress at the crotch area.
3.A shot of Thug #3 pushing the assistant away into the kitchen. Thug #3: “Ease up.”
4.A shot of Thug #2 moving Irene’s head upright but keeping her pressed against the counter. He’s got a gun to her head.
5.A shot of Thug #2 in the foreground, holding Irene in this posture, making her look at Thug #3 in the background, who is now holding his gun outright at the assistant -- who’s a foot or so away from Irene in the middle ground, pushing himself back against the counter, getting as far back as he can. Thug #3, while pointing at the assistant, is looking at Irene and therefore at us. Thug #3: “Where is he? Tell us or I’ll shoot ‘im.”

Page 23
1.A reverse shot. Here we’re behind Thug #3. The assistant is slightly to the side, with Thug #2’s arm extended in that direction, the gun ready to fire into the assistant. Directly in front of us is Irene and Thug #3. Irene is starting to cry. Irene: “I don’t know.”
2.An extreme close-up on Thug #2’s lips, whispering to Irene’s ear. Thug #2: “You’d better tell him. My friend will fuckin’ do it. He’s not kidding around.”
3.A shot focusing on the assistant, scared out of his mind, the gun pointed at him by Thug #3. Thug #3: “This man is a dead man unless one of you tells me.”
4.A close-up on the assistant’s face, utterly petrified. Assistant: “I swear I don’t know.”
5.A close-up on Irene’s face, crying. Irene: “He didn’t come home last night.”

Page 24 [11 | 12]
1.A shot of Thug #3 firing into the assistant’s head, the back of which is exploding outward in a fine red mist.
2.A shot of the white cupboards behind the assistant’s head. We see a streak of blood, as well as its texture, the little fragments of bone and brain.
3.A shot of Irene’s face, crying, eyes shut, spattered with blood.
4.A shot of Thug #2 talking to Irene, her eyes closed. Thug #2: “When your husband reads about how they discovered your body, he’s going to read about how you were violated before you died. And violently. Real nasty. How do you think he’ll like that?”
5.A large shot of Irene springing up, pushing Thug #2 while the others watch, covering her. The corpse is also visible, slumped over on the floor. Irene: “Just kill me.”

Page 25
1.A shot of Irene being punched in the stomach by Thug #2, doubling her over.
2.A shot of Irene falling to the floor, being kicked on the way down by Thug #2.
3.A shot of Irene on the floor, being kicked and punched by all three thugs.
4.A shot from Irene’s P.O.V. The floor is roughly vertical. We see the head of the assistant, the open back of the skull and the bloody mess inside fully visible. And we see a couple feet of the thugs. But we also see detritus from the wrecked kitchen, including a fairly large knife.
5.A shot of Irene’s head being stomped.

Page 26
1.A shot of Thug #1 holding Irene’s legs up and around him. He’s standing and kicking her crotch with his boots, slamming his foot down repeatedly. Thug #1: “I’ll warm ‘er up for you.”
2.A shot of Thug #2 kneeling over her bruised face. He spits on it. Thug #2: “Bitch.”
3.A tier-wide shot of Irene’s body, limp on the floor. Thug #2 is kneeling by her bruised face, but looking out at the others. Thug #1 is still kicking her crotch with his boots. Thug #2 is kicking her side. Thug #2: “Okay, stop.” [12 | 13]
4.A shot of her limp body on the floor, battered and bruised, utterly limp and beaten. The hair a mess, the blood from the assistant by her feet. The three thugs stand around her feet, looking down on her.

Page 27
1.A shot of Thug #2, kneeling between her legs, tearing off her clothes.
2.A shot of Thug #2, lying between her legs, lifting her battered legs.
3.A close-up on Irene’s open but dazed eyes. Caption: “When I felt him push in, I knew I was in hell. Irene Nakiotomo was dead.”
4.A black panel. Caption: “I don’t remember much of him or the next one. I could barely stay conscious from the beating.”
5.A shot of Irene’s limp body being flipped over by Thug #1. We see her ass but not her vagina. Thug #1: “I’ve always wanted to do this.”
6.A small shot of Thug #1 lighting up a cigarette.
7.A small shot of Thug #1 smoking, breathing in deeply. The cigarette burns fast.
8.A small shot of Thug #1 smoking, exhaling.

Page 28
1.A shot of Thug #1 putting the cigarette out on her ass.
2.An extreme close-up of the cigarette on the skin.
3.A shot of Irene’s eyes, open with a bit more vigor but still dazed and confused. Thug #1 (off-panel): “Always wanted to do that, man.”
4.A shot of Thug #1’s crotch as he finishes zipping up. Thug #1 (from above the panel border): “I’m gonna check the place for valuables.”
5.A shot of Irene’s eyes, slightly closing again. Thug #2 (in a balloon without an arrow): “If you’re going, I’m going too.” Thug #3 (in a balloon without an arrow): “Hey, I waited for both of you! You ain’t takin’ the loot on my turn.” Thug #1 (in a balloon without an arrow): “Relax, we’ll split it.”
6.A shot of Thug #3 looking down at the near-unconscious Irene. The other two are out of the room. The corpse is rather visible, his blood smeared everywhere. Thug #3: “Fuck. May [13 | 14] cost me loot, I best get it good from you. Fuckin’ blood all over the floor.”
7.A large-ish shot of a limp, almost entirely nude, bruised Irene being pushed by Thug #3 onto the glass-topped kitchen table, back up.

Page 29
1.A black panel. Caption: “Between the cigarette and his choice of orifice, I perk right up.”
2.A shot from Irene’s P.O.V. She’s looking down at the floor from atop the glass-topped table. There’s assorted detritus and some blood on the floor. Caption: “He tears it up. Really makes it hurt.”
3.A similar shot, only now she’s looking down, towards her feet. We see her feet dangling slightly off the ground. Near them, but slightly under the table and to the side, we see a knife among the detritus on the floor. Caption: “Not the lingering pain of a beating. That acute burning, searing that wakes you up, worse than you ever imagined. And inside.”
4.A close-up on the knife. Caption: “And I know what he reminds me of.”
5.A shot of Irene as a girl, begging on the streets. Two boys, older than she, are approaching her. Caption: “When those two boys accosted me as a girl.”
6.A shot of the two of them standing in Irene’s personal space. One is yelling at her. Caption: “The one that yelled at me, he’d called me a slut and all kinds of terrible names neither of us really understood. I’d talked back.”
7.A shot of the yelling boy’s hand, holding a glistening knife. Caption: “And then he’d pulled the knife.”
8.A shot of the girl Irene kneeing the knife-carrying boy in front of her in the balls. Caption: “And then I’d kneed him in the balls.”

Page 30
A full-page shot of Irene on the glass-topped table, though now as seen from below. Her breasts and face are pressed against the glass. The edge of the shot cuts out their genitals, but we see her feet dangling underneath the table. Caption: “These guys are scum. Thugs with uneducated accents and gruff mannerisms. Just like the boys I grew up with. And I know how to handle them.” [14 | 15]

Page 31
1.A shot from behind Thug #3 as he’s fucking her. She’s gone past flat, both her legs all the way up between his, so far up that they obscure his dangling balls and seem pressed into his body.
2.A shot from the side as he’s pulling out and his hands are going shooting down for his balls. Meanwhile, her legs are swinging back under the table, the momentum of which is carrying her upper body back. Hide his genitalia if possible. Caption: “He’s bent inside of me (which hurts me like hell) and his first instinct is to step back and hold his balls as he screams.”
3.A similar shot, only now he’s stepped back and is holding his balls while her body is just past pivoting on the edge of the table and is now falling to the floor. Caption: “As my legs swing back under, I’m sent back off the table.”
4.A shot from above and slightly behind him as her head and shoulders hit the ground behind him, her having fallen between his legs. He’s staggering backwards a bit. Caption: “I feel his erection slam the back of my head on the way down. The momentum carries me between his legs.”
5.A close-up of her hand grabbing the knife. Caption: “Fortunately, he’s still standing.”

Page 32
1.A tier-wide shot of her on the ground and him above her, as seen from the side. The top edge of the panel stops just under his testicles. He’s staggering backwards. Her legs are slightly crumpled under the table, resting on some detritus and each other. Her shoulder is directly under his testicles. She’s looking up at them, her teeth gritted. Her right arm is fully extended, the knife barely visible at the end of it, right straight up between his legs. Caption: “And I just stab upward.”
2.A similar shot, only not as tall as he’s collapsing downwards and backward, his ass falling towards her face as she’s pulling the knife out. Her face is turning towards the side, her eyes wide, realizing what’s happening. A trail of blood follows the arc of the knife. Caption: “I see him falling back onto me.”
3.A similar shot. Here we have him sitting on her face, his bloody hands shielding his genitals from our view. Her face is turned to the side but blood’s running down it. Her right arm [15 | 16] has reached out and away from him. Caption: “I turn my head just in time for it to be hit by his torn-open scrotum.

Page 33
1.A similar shot, only here she’s turning the knife in her hand. Caption: “The texture of a severed testicle and a half against my cheek, it takes me a moment to stab again.”
2.A similar shot, only here her arm with the knife is stabbing into the side of his chest. Caption: “I’m tasting his scrotal blood by the time I feel the knife against the ribs.”
3.A shot of her getting up from under him. She’s still holding the knife. Caption: “Then I can, at last, push him off.”
4.A shot of her standing, her face and a good portion of her nude body covered in blood. She’s holding the knife. He’s on the floor, not looking too good. His genitals are hidden by the camera angle and her body, which is blocking them. We see his gun on the countertop. Caption: “Then I remember hearing the other two running down the steps.”
5.A close-up of her grabbing the gun. Caption: “And I notice the gun.”

Page 34
1.A shot of Thug #1 just slightly entering the kitchen, as if in slow motion, running quickly.
2.A second later, a bullet exploding something just over his shoulder as he’s a little further into the room, lifting his gun up.
3.A second later, a bullet tearing through his upper chest on the side. Thug #3 is slightly entering and already drawing his gun.
4.A similar shot, only a second later as Thug #3 is hit in the shoulder that has entered the room as Thug #1 is falling.
5.A second later, Thug #1 falling as Thug #3 is sent spinning around by the force of the impact, momentum still carrying him forward. A bullet explodes something just to the side of him. Thug #3’s gun goes off as he is spinning, sending a bullet off at a strange angle.
6.A second later, Thug #1 on the ground as Thug #3, still spinning, is hit in the neck.
7.A second later as Thug #3 is falling.

Page 35 [16 | 17]
1.A shot of Irene standing over Thug #1 and Thug #3 at the entrance to the room. Thug #1 is still moving, reaching for his dropped gun. Thug #3 has a hole in his neck and is clearly going nowhere.
2.A shot of Irene picking up Thug #1’s dropped gun.
3.A shot of Irene pointing it at Thug #1, who’s lying on the ground. Thug #1: “Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!”
4.A shot of Irene’s firing the gun.

Page 36
1.A shot of Thug #1 screaming and grabbing his crotch, which has blood on it.
2.A shot of Irene holding the gun to Thug #1’s head as Thug #1 screams.
3.A shot of Irene firing the gun in this position.
4.A shot of Irene firing the gun into Thug #3’s head. He’s probably dead, a gurgling hole in his neck, but she’s taking no chances.

Page 37
1.A shot of Irene standing over Thug #2 in the kitchen. He’s bleeding profusely from the chest, but it’s a side wound. He’s also bleeding profusely from his groin. He’s barely conscious and going nowhere, but he’s looking up at her.
2.A shot of him looking up at her as she points the gun against his head.
3.A shot of Irene with the gun against his head. Caption: “There’s a million things I want to say, but none of it matters.”
4.A shot of Irene blowing his head open.

Pages 38-39
A single shot. Here we have an angled overhead shot of the messy kitchen area. It’s a massacre. And a wreck. Irene is standing still, naked and bloody. Caption: “I’m terribly beaten, semi-conscious, I can still feel them inside me, and suddenly it dawns on me.”

Pages 40-41
The same shot, broken into about thirty-two panels (a four by four grid on each page) in the Frank Miller style. The captions are now also slightly off, at slight angles.
Caption #1: “I’m a murderer.” [17 | 18]
Caption #2: “I’ve just killed three people. In my kitchen.”

Page 42
1.A close-up on Irene’s hand dropping the gun.
2.A close-up on the gun bouncing on the blood- and brain-stained floor.
3.A shot of Tommy smiling at the camera -- at her, as she remembers it. He looks dashing and in love.
4.A shot of Irene demurring to Tommy. Irene: “I’m a virgin.”
5.A shot of Thug #2’s face, tense as he’s raping her.
6.A shot from Irene’s P.O.V., looking down through the glass tabletop during the rape. The panel is shaking, shattered, reminiscent of the crayon drawings of rape and incest survivors.
7.A shot of Tommy and Irene in bed together, lying beside each other. She seems very much in love.
8.A shot of Irene’s blood-covered face.
9.A shot of Irene as a child, begging on the streets.
10.A shot of Tommy’s car, parked in front of his nice house.
11.A shot of Tommy kissing Irene at their wedding.
12.A shot of the name “Irene Nakiotomo” on a piece of paper.
13.A shot of Irene riding with Tommy in the back of their car. Irene is looking at him lovingly.
14.A shot of Tommy in bed, lying back against the pillow, arms folded behind his head, smiling.
15.A shot of Irene’s father talking to her, looking down at her. The camera is near her, looking up at him. She’s a teenager. Irene’s father: “Don’t pay attention to those boys. You want to wear white at your wedding.”
16.A shot of Irene in church, looking up at the crucifix.

Page 43
1.A large shot of Irene sitting at the bloody glass-top kitchen table, drinking coffee. The image is fractured into eight smaller panels, the captions running over the gutters of these panels but basically one per panel. The captions are at slight angles, expressing her disturbance. Caption #1: “Wait for Tommy. Wait for Tommy.” Caption #2: “Oh, God. Tommy’s dead.” Caption #3: “He’s never not come home before.” Caption #4: “He’s my life.” Caption #5: “The cops are [18 | 19] coming.” Caption #6: “They’re dead.” Caption #7: “More thugs are coming.” Caption #8: “I’m shaking.”
2.A close-up on Irene’s hand resting on the table, feeling the glass tabletop with the palm and fingers of her hand. The captions are still at slight angles. Caption #1: “Table on palm and fingertips.” Caption #2: “Feeling it.”
3.A close-up of Irene’s coffee, resting on the bloody table. The captions are still at slight angles. Caption #1: “I was raped here.” Caption #2: “I died here.”

Page 44
1.A shot of Irene in the bathroom, washing her face. The captions are still at slight angles. Caption #1: “Get it off.” Caption #2: “Wash it away.”
2.A shot of Irene in the shower, as seen from outside the shower. Very sexy, ironically. The captions are still at slight angles. Caption #1: “Clean myself, wash myself out inside.” Caption #2: “Minutes. Minutes ago. Their semen inside me.”
3.Another shot of Irene in the shower, though now as seen from inside the shower. Again, ironically very sexy, though she’s visibly distressed. The captions are still at slight angles. Caption #1: “Get it out get it out clean their sweat on me torn dirty.” Caption #2: “Trying and trying, but I just wouldn’t get clean.”

Page 45
1.A large shot of Irene taking a dress from the many dozens in her massive closet. The captions are still at slight angles. Caption #1: “I have no idea what to do.” Caption #2: “Get dressed, get the day started. Tommy will be home any minute.”
2.A shot of Irene, dressed, combing her hair. The captions are still at slight angles. Caption #1: “Clean clothes.” Caption #2: “Look presentable, look clean.”
3.A close-up of Irene’s face in the mirror, a tear just starting as she’s putting on make-up. The captions are still at slight angles. Caption: “Oh, Tommy, if only they’d killed me.”
4.A shot of Irene, dressed, sitting on the bed. She’s staring off into space.
5.A similar shot. Irene’s looking down as one does when looking for something to interest us or distract us. The caption is not at an angle. Caption: “I feel like an idiot.” [19 | 20]

Page 46
1.A shot of Irene entering the bloody scene of the kitchen. Caption #1: “He’s not coming. Dead or not, he’s not coming.” Caption #2: “I have to get out of here.”
2.A shot of Irene on the phone. Caption: “I call a cab.”
3.A shot of Irene putting money into her purse. Caption: “There are four bodies in the kitchen, three of which I killed, one brutally. Either the cops or more thugs will be here eventually.”
4.A shot of Irene putting a gun into her purse. Caption: “I feel dirty. I’ve got to get out of here.”
5.A shot of Irene looking through the front window. Caption: “I’m dead here.”

Page 47
A full-page shot of Irene exiting her house and walking to a waiting cab in front of the house. Somewhere on the house is the number: 263. Somewhere else is the name “Nakiotomo”. Caption: “I died here.”

Page 48
1.A shot of Irene entering the cab.
2.A shot through the cab window as Irene instructs the cab driver. Caption: “I tell him to head to my parents.”
3.A shot through the cab window as Irene looks back at the house.
4.A shot from Irene’s P.O.V. as she looks through the window at the house. There are incomplete bloody footprints from her heeled shoes leading from the house to the curb. Caption: “I’ve nowhere else to go.”
5.A similar shot, only now the car’s pulling away and she’s looking back at her house.
6.A close-up on a bloody footprint near the curb.

[end page 20]