I stand by the street lamp, lightly holding the cigarette between my index finger & my middle finger. My watch says the time: 00:23. She normally leaves the night club around this time, then she crosses the street here on her way to her apartment. I act completely discrete. My day job involves following people around, so I know how to get into character.

Like clockwork, she appears, tight purple dress, her legs long & lean. Dirty blonde hair, light green eyes, her gait beckons me. As soon as she walks 10 m in front of me, I slowly begin to tail her. I’ve already picked a suitable alley to take her down to. As soon as she nears the spot, I pull up my hoodie & take out my dagger.

It’s a dagger I had customized. It says Agrippina on it, to honor Agrippina the Younger, the stereotypical evil Roman matron. The blade gleams in the dark of that street.

I grab her & put the dagger to her throat, pushing the tip in just enough so she feels the pain. I start to tell her to obey, but then she yelps & says the safe word.

“Trajan! Trajan! Why the fuck is that our safe word anyway!? That shit hurts!”

“Yo, I told you that this knife doesn’t fuck around. I warned you!”

She put her hand to her neck. “Am I bleeding?”

I check her neck. “A little...”

“OK, you are really good at this whole predator prey thing. I was actually terrified.”

“well...”

“Ok, sorry about that. Can you take me down this dark alley & pound me against my will? I’m super wet.”