story continues from part four
Chapter 5
Amber gazed from the dark interior of the car out into the blackness beyond. Two down, two to go, she thought to herself. She briefly caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the glass and noticed that she was smiling slightly at the notion that the job was half complete, and that, so far, it had all gone according to plan. One of the ‘downed’ duo currently languished only a few feet away in the boot of the car in which they were travelling, whilst alongside her in the driver’s seat, one half of the pair that made up the ‘to go’ category sat, still oblivious to the fact that she would soon become just as much a victim of this whole deception as both her sister and her friend.
For a few brief seconds, the car passed a well lit roadside cottage, and in the light that momentarily infused the interior of the vehicle, Amber glanced across at the driver. Poor, deluded Jasmine, she mused to herself, and failed to stifle a further smile as she stared at her cousin’s profile. It was a good job that Jasmine was concentrating on the road ahead, and that the vehicle was soon past the illuminated building and once more out in the concealing blackness of the wooded area they were passing through. For if Jasmine had stolen a glance at her cousin during that brief interlude in the otherwise all encompassing gloom, then she would probably have become suspicious as to why her passenger had that self-assured, gloating look on her face. Jasmine was gullible, that had always been obvious to Amber, but even she might have become aware that everything wasn’t quite as she’d been led to believe if Amber let her guard slip. She would, Amber reminded herself, only have to keep up this friendly act a little while longer, and Jasmine would fall nicely into her trap.
As the car sped onwards, Amber lay back in her seat and contemplated the entire sequence of events that she hoped to bring to completion in the near future. She did this partly because she wanted to ensure that her thinking stood up to scrutiny and that every detail was taken care of, but also because, quite frankly, the whole concept excited her and made her feel good about herself. And after running through the complete process, both of events already transpired and those still in the future, she drew the same conclusion that she had come to a hundred times before; that everything was so meticulously calculated and perfectly planned, that it simply couldn’t go wrong.
****
The devious plans that Amber had laid out to Jasmine and Jade on Saturday were a true representation of the way she foresaw events unfolding... well almost. Yes she planned to send Steve a ransom note for his beloved girlfriend and pocket the hefty sum for her release. And yes she had every intention of luring Hazel in with Lauren as bait, take the fee she had negotiated for handing over her captive, then overpower her bitter rival and keep her tied up for a few days – maybe even a week or two – before handing her over to the police.
Where her real intentions veered off at a tangent from the version given to the twins, however, was when it came to their part in the proceedings. Okay, so she’d been truthful in her assertion that the pair would be invaluable in helping to entice Lauren into a situation that she would no longer be able to extricate herself from. But at that point her true objectives deviated from the watered down account she’d fed to Jasmine and Jade. For she had no intention whatsoever of sharing any of her ill-gotten gains with her gullible relatives. No, after Lauren had been secured, they would be surplus to requirements, and could be disposed of... for good.
Amber had pondered long and hard on ways to subjugate both of her despised cousins, but apart from realising that she would have to use cunning and guile to hoodwink and render them helpless, she had been struggling to think of a way to separate and overpower them. But in this respect, she’d been lucky. For Jade had made things so much easier by her treacherous antics, and with a rift that she could never have dared to even hope for having developed between Jasmine and her sister, life had been made a whole lot easier for her. For with Jade already in a severe and unbreakable state of bondage, this only left Jasmine to deal with. And Amber was certain that she would have no problem overcoming the one remaining twin.
But then what? Well after Hazel was safely back behind bars, Amber had decided that she would take a leaf from her foe’s book and sell her two cousins into the kind of slavery that Hazel had been intent on lumbering them with. To this end, she had sought out a cartel that dealt in human trafficking, and had made enquiries as to how much slim, attractive females in their early twenties might fetch. The sums quoted had blown her mind, and convinced her that this was most definitely an area of business she wanted to get into.
But although she could make more money selling three rather than two of her captives into lifelong bondage, Amber had baulked at the idea of Lauren also becoming a victim of this unsavoury industry. For wasn’t she the one that Amber found most appealing, and wanted a more intimate relationship with? She would never have forgiven herself if she let that sweet little thing slip through her fingers. So she’d decided at an early juncture in her planning, that Lauren wasn’t going anywhere. No, even if Steve paid the ransom in full, Amber still had no intention whatsoever of allowing Lauren to leave. For Lauren was going to be Amber’s bondage plaything... forevermore.
But how could the disappearance of three young women adequately be explained to the authorities? Forever meticulous in her approach, Amber’s warped mind had even come up with a plausible answer for this potentially problematic question. They had, she would inform the police, been abducted by Hazel prior to Amber putting a halt to her reign of terror, and been disposed of already; either through being transported into lifelong servitude in obscure regions around the globe, or else killed and their bodies disposed of in graves unknown. Whether this would be accepted or not, she wasn’t certain, but the fact that It would be her word against Hazel’s, and the latter was already known to have had such dealings in the past, suggested that she would be more likely to be believed than her hated rival.
Amber watched the landscape of the night pass in a blur. She knew her plans weren’t foolproof, and could go wrong in so many ways. But her natural self-belief and arrogance told her that everything would work out fine. The only question that vexed her slightly at present, was when, exactly, to take Jasmine out of the equation? Should she do that soon; within the next few hours, perhaps? Or would it make more sense to have Jasmine on her side until Hazel was safely within her clutches? She was leaning towards the former option, as she wasn’t certain exactly how long it might be before Jasmine became suspicious, or suddenly had a change of heart and took pity on her sister. And as the car headlights picked out the outline of the unlit prison building where all the action was to take place, Amber knew that she was close to making her decision.
****
Lauren tried to kick out at the walls that surrounded her. But it was all to no avail. The fact that she was tethered by the ankles and neck to the sides of the boot in which she was incarcerated, ensured that she could attain no momentum with her cocooned legs. Screaming was also out of the question, as the tights in her mouth were still held firmly in place by the unyielding tape, and on top of that, the accumulated strata of thin mesh – on their own flimsy and ineffective, but en masse a not inconsiderable barrier to normal vocal functioning - meant that the noise which filtered through this dense padding was minimal, and most definitely not audible to anyone more than a few feet away from its source. The steady drone of the car engine, of course, blocked out any sound that did make its way out into the wider world beyond.
From the moment Amber had made her presence known in the twin’s living room, Lauren had done everything within her powers to evade and hinder this evil woman, and dissuade her from doing her worst. The trouble was, of course, that Lauren’s capabilities were extremely limited, to say the least, and aside from wriggling caterpillar fashion in her strictly inhibiting casing, and trying to slither wormlike across the floor away from Amber’s grasp, she was defenceless to counteract whatever hideous fate her dreaded adversary had in mind for her. So ultimately, this invertebrate mimicry had been in vain.
And it soon became apparent that the first thing on the list of torments that Amber had in store for her, was an extra layer of stretch fabric, as if she wasn’t immersed under enough tightly clinging material already. But this final layer - the icing on the cake, so to speak – proved not to be of the same gossamer thin mesh as the tights that already enslaved her. In common with the hosiery, this outer covering was also snugly fitting, and constricted around Lauren’s body as both Amber and her helper Jasmine eased her between its folds. But this tier of the mummification process proved to be of far sterner stuff than the see-through pantyhose which had so far enveloped her. And not only that, although her eyes were somewhat hampered by her forty denier facial mask, Lauren had been sheathed in a very similar item of restraint on many previous occasions, and knew, the moment that her feet were inserted into the long, thin tunnel of soft material, that this was a darlex sleep-sack, and that, once inside, the likelihood that she would be let out again for many a long hour was slim in the extreme.
Up over her thighs and hips the hugging black fabric made its way, by which time Lauren had resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t going to reverse this process by struggling. With the inserted female now still and compliant, save for the whimpering that occasionally issued from her gagged mouth, the upward journey continued at a rapid pace, over her breasts and up past her shoulders to nestle tightly around her neck. Even now the encasement process wasn’t finished, however, as everything suddenly went black for the already visually impaired woman, the air that she took in through her nose in short, frightened bursts became stuffy and less easy to inhale, and the unmistakable scent of the darlex assaulted her olfactory nerve. Somewhere at the back of her head, the rasping sound of a zipper corresponded with the whole head covering contracting to the contours of her face and neck.
But this still wasn’t quite the crowning glory of her bondage. For now Lauren experienced the sensation of something being wrapped around her ankles, which was suddenly pulled tight and remained that way. Similar procedures followed further up her legs, as well as around her waist and chest; the almost inaudible jingle of something metallic informing her that these stringent ligatures were in fact leather belts, whose buckles clinked softly before being secured with such force as to ensure they couldn’t slip off. With both her captors sharing the workload, Lauren found herself strapped faultlessly in no time at all, the final belt making its way around her neck and being deftly fastened to the point where, if it had continued to constrict any further, it would have been on the verge of strangling her.
With their victim now sealed beneath copious layers, and with the certainty that she couldn’t get out unaided, Lauren felt two pairs of hands grasp her body and haul her into a standing position. With her mind reeling from this latest, most definitely undesirable turn of events, a momentary giddiness overcame her, and the notion that she was about to fall and come crashing back to the ground passed through her terrified brain, which brought with it an involuntary squeal of dread. Luckily, Jasmine and Amber had a firm grip on her, and ensured that she remained upright. But if allowing her to fall was not on the agenda, then what exactly did her persecutors have in mind for her next? Although cryptic in nature, when Amber broke the silence, her words offered no comfort to the stricken woman.
“There you go Lauren, all nicely packaged and ready for transportation. You really fell into our little trap, didn’t you?”
A snort of evil laughter reached Lauren’s ears through the muffling layers of stretched textile.
“Did you really think that we’d simply let you get away with leaving us in those crates for days on end, knowing full well that there was no way we could escape? And all the time you and Steve were off enjoying yourselves. Well now you’re going to find out what it’s like to go for days and days without hope of escape or rescue.”
Lauren, suddenly and without warning, found her polarity change from the vertical to the horizontal, as one of her captors picked her up by the legs, whilst the other grabbed her torso. Immediately, she was met with the sensation of movement; of being carried out of the living room and into the hallway beyond. This impression lasted for a minute or two, during which the sound of her oppressors’ footsteps changed from the soft thud on carpet, to the harsher clicking on the wooden floor that Lauren knew to be the twins’ kitchen, followed by the crackling of gravel underfoot; the latter sound corresponding with a change in the air temperature as it permeated her layered attire. Being hoisted upright again for a second or two, the sound of a car boot opening reached her ears, and almost instantly she found herself being tipped forwards into what could only be the vehicle’s less than spacious luggage compartment.
She was given little time to contemplate where she was being taken, however, as immediately her legs were pulled to one side of the car and somehow – Lauren had no idea how, exactly – her ankles were secured to the metallic structure of the vehicle. A second fetter soon followed, this one attached to the strap around her neck; the purpose of which was similar to that at her feet, namely to ensure she didn’t move around within the confines of her mobile prison. Once this final travel arrangement had been completed, the lid slammed shut above Lauren’s head, and within less than thirty seconds, the slightly more distant sound of car doors being closed was followed by the revving up of the engine, and the crackling of gravel as the vehicle began to make its way slowly down the pot-holed driveway. After a minute or so of being tossed and battered against the floor, however, the less rutted public highway was reached, and the journey became, if not exactly enjoyable, then at least bearable.
****
For what seemed like hours, but was probably no more than thirty minutes at most, the car sped on through the night with its unwilling cargo shivering in the boot; a result of both the temperature, which bordered on freezing, and the mental turmoil that Lauren was experiencing. At last, however, after a brief start-stop period during which the car seemed to be negotiating some barrier - a gate which needed to be opened, perhaps - the engine died and for a few seconds a deathly silence prevailed. This pause in proceedings was short lived, however, with the opening of the trunk being accompanied by a blast of icy air which, despite her cocooned state, chilled Lauren to the bone, both physically and metaphorically. Swiftly, the anchoring bonds that held her in place were removed, and she found herself being hauled out of the cramped space.
What took place in the next few minutes was a blur in Lauren’s mind, as she was made to hop forwards in her encased and sightless state, with a hand constantly gripping her shoulder. Part of the onward journey included the mounting of what seemed like metal stairways, while at other times her closely monitored progress halted for a brief period, at which time the clanging sound that she took to be a heavy metal door being opened, then shut behind them, took place. Much of the trek was at a pace which Lauren found difficult to keep up with, and at several points she found herself screaming into her gag in despair, as the whole ordeal became a trial of endurance. Finally, one last door opened, and after she had been forced to cross this unseen threshold, instead of being encouraged to continue onwards, Lauren found herself being eased onto the floor.
****
After endless hours of solitude, when Jade finally heard the sound of human activity again, a surge of optimism coursed through her. Ok, she knew that it was probably Amber and Jasmine returning, but at least the prospect that release could be in the offing, however remote that outcome might be, raised her spirits tremendously. Not that they could have fallen much further prior to this interruption of the silence which had enshrouded her all day. Being unable to move more than an inch in any direction, with no clue as to what hideous fate lay in store for her in the hours and days ahead, had caused her mood to plummet to depths not previously imagined. She was used to being bound for hours on end – indeed normally relished the prospect – but with her sister turned against her, and with Amber soaring to new heights of despicability, there seemed to be no light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. And the worst of it was that she hadn’t even been allowed the luxury of a crotch rope to help get her through the day! At least that would have given her something to take her mind off the hopelessness of the situation she faced.
But now footsteps were approaching ever closer, and the possibility of contact with another human being seemed imminent. But wait, what was that commotion? For despite the repetitive clicking of heels on concrete playing the predominant beat, beside this there came a muffled melody that she instantly recognised as someone groaning and whimpering into a well applied gag. And from what she knew of Amber’s plans, it just had to be Lauren who was the instigator of this pitiful dirge.
Summoning what little energy she had left, Jade responded as best she could, answering the stifled chorus with a harmony of her own, which she hoped would send out a message to her fellow prisoner; a reply aimed at conveying solidarity with the stricken newcomer. Hopefully, if Lauren heard this response to her own outbursts, she might take some morsel of comfort from the knowledge that she was not alone, and that there was a friend and ally close at hand, albeit a powerless one.
But whether Lauren was in a position to hear or not, Jade had no idea. And soon, the footsteps reached their crescendo and gradually began to fade in the opposite direction from which they had arrived. And once again Jade was plunged into her own, silent, isolated and helpless world.
****
The cell into which Amber and Jasmine steered their quaking captive was, to all intents and purposes, identical to all the others on this landing of the deserted incarceration centre; a small barred and thickly glassed window high up on one wall, bare concrete floor, walls and ceiling, the latter furnished with a long disused light fitting. This was as the room had been when Amber first acquired the keys to the building. This particular cell, however, had this very day been set up, not as a detention cubicle as such, but as a makeshift film studio. In one corner sat a small, car battery powered generator to which were wired three mobile lighting rigs, positioned strategically around the room so that the lamps set atop them would spotlight the centre of the floor. And it was at this focal point that an old, worn out mattress had been unceremoniously flung on the ground. For this was to be the arena for today’s cinematic undertaking.
Still fighting for breath after her enforced journey through the labyrinthine building, Lauren was grateful that her sightless travels were at an end, and the fact that, once compelled to lay down, she found herself resting on something softer than the expected hard floor, was a bonus of sorts. But any thought of rest and recuperation were soon dispelled from her mind, as no sooner had she been laid out on the mattress, than a pair of hands got to work, releasing the sleep-sack’s zip and pulling the hood section down over her face. Two pairs of hands set to work releasing the straps around her body now, then sliding the darlex sheath downwards until it finally cleared her feet. It soon became apparent, however, that this was to be the full extent of her release.
Lauren blinked through her gauze mask. At first the room – wherever they were – was in relative darkness, with two bobbing and weaving beacons of light shining intermittently into her face. These inadequate sources of illumination were clearly torch beams, a fact soon confirmed when, after a few seconds, one shaft of light suddenly swung away from the tights-and-tape cocooned woman and instead concentrated on an area away to her left; the precise focal point being unclear to the partially sighted damsel in distress. But these weak, handheld sources of luminosity were suddenly rendered redundant, as a second later, a brilliance ten thousand-fold more intense than that radiating from the torches seared into Lauren’s retinas, seemingly from all directions.
“Right Jasmine, we need to get this over and done with as soon as possible. That battery won’t keep these lights working for more than a few minutes, so we have to make sure we get this right in one take.”
Through the dense mesh across her eyes, Lauren could vaguely make out the blonde haired figure of Amber, holding something up in front of her. It didn’t take a genius to work out that she was being filmed, either on a phone or a digital camera. For a few seconds, Amber slowly worked her way around Lauren’s prone form with her heels clicking monotonously on the bare cement floor, obviously intent on catching her subject from every angle. But after maybe half a minute of this circumnavigation, her roving came to an abrupt halt and she addressed her next remark to the star of the movie.
“OK Lauren, let’s see you writhing about a bit. We wouldn’t want Steve to think that you were here of your own accord, would we? Let me see you struggle as if your life depended on it.”
As Amber finished speaking, Lauren felt the toe of a boot nudge her gently on the thigh. This caused a short grunt of surprise to issue from her gagged mouth, and saw her slither slightly away from the direction in which this encouraging kick had emanated. Evidently, this wasn’t enough of a reaction for Amber’s liking, however, as no more than five seconds later, a heftier prompt issued from the same sharp toed footwear.
“I said struggle! If you don’t do as you’re told, there are plenty of ways to make you really squirm, Lauren. We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. It’s entirely up to you.”
With tears welling up behind her shielding mask, Lauren did her best to please her tormentor, hoping that if she did as she was told then maybe, just maybe - and it was a long-shot, she realised that only too well - Amber would come to her senses, see the error of her ways and release her from this nightmare scenario. Thrusting her body upwards, whilst simultaneously attempting to split the tights and tape that held her arms in check with sheer force, Lauren bucked and contorted herself into every shape imaginable, in order to comply with Amber’s orders and avoid whatever unspecified punishment non-compliance might deliver. For a minute or more, she writhed and rolled in her hosiery and adhesive restraints, until she had exhausted herself and collapsed back to the mattress, panting for breath through her gag. As expected, not a single element of her cocoon had shown the least inclination to relinquish its staunch grip on her limbs and body. The only positive thing to come out of this futile activity was that it seemed to have met Amber’s requirements.
“That’s good, Lauren, really good. I’d forgotten just how much I enjoy the sight of you all tied up and helpless. That should convince Steve that you really are in trouble, and that he needs to rescue you. I’m sure he’ll pay a hefty sum of money to get the ’love of his life’ back in one piece. ”
She turned to her partner in crime, who was standing in the shadows just beyond the blinding lights.
“Okay Jasmine, that should be enough for now. Can you turn the lights off please?”
The return to darkness was almost instantaneous, and left Lauren temporarily blind again. When her eyes once more adjusted to the twilight, she could just make out Jasmine dismantling the lighting rigs, whilst Amber held a torch to guide her in her endeavours. This went on for several minutes, but Lauren found her mind drifting away from the activities going on only a few feet away, and instead her thoughts focused on what was to become of her now. She had a nasty feeling she already knew the answer to this question, but found herself compelled to make an attempt at articulating her enquiry. Her words, of course, were drowned at birth in the efficient gag, but somehow Amber seemed to know exactly what was on Lauren’s mind.
“What’s going to happen to you now? Well I’m afraid that we’re going to have to leave you here for a day or two until your boyfriend comes up with the cash to release you. Until then, it’s going to be bondage, bondage and more bondage for you my darling...”
She paused as Jasmine picked up one of the tripods and left the room.
“...But as you’re such a bondage devotee, that shouldn’t cause you too much hardship, I wouldn’t imagine.”
The blurred image knelt down by Lauren’s head, until the blonde locks and red lipstick were in close proximity to her ear. Amber’s next words were spoken in a whisper.
“Of course, if the money isn’t forthcoming, then I guess I’ll be forced to keep you here for the foreseeable future... or maybe even forever.”
Lauren felt Amber’s hand on her thigh, which quickly worked its way up to her crotch, where it lingered a few seconds before sliding slowly onto her abdomen and upwards to her breasts. She squealed at this unwanted intrusion, but Amber simply laughed as her fingers retraced their route back down the way they’d come. It was only, it seemed, the return of Jasmine that put a stop to this molestation. Reluctantly, Amber got to her feet and bade her captive farewell.
“Well Lauren, you’re about to find out what total isolation is like. You should be warm enough to survive the night in all those lovely silky pairs of tights. I’ll send this little recording of your performance off to Steve in the morning. Then we’ll just have to wait and see how long it takes him to come up with the money. I would think that it might take a little while for him to put such a sizeable sum together, so I imagine that you’ll be here at least until the weekend, or possibly even a bit longer. Don’t worry though, we’ll be back to vary your bondage every day, so that you don’t get bored being kept in the same position for days on end.”
Despite Lauren’s sight being masked by the blurring properties of the tights, as well as hampered by the tears that had pooled in her eyes, she was able to view the indistinct image of first Jasmine, then Amber, leaving the room. Just prior to the door slamming shut and being secured, Amber delivered her parting shot.
“So be a good girl Lauren, and try not to scream too much or struggle too hard. I’m sure you realise that they’re futile gestures that will get you nowhere. And you never know, if you behave yourself I might even give you a crotch rope to keep you company at some point in the future.”
****
Despite Amber’s advice, Lauren both fought her bonds and shrieked with all her might, in an effort to get out of the sort of situation that she had previously vowed to herself she would never get embroiled in again. After a few minutes, however, her physical strength waned, and she found herself lying motionless on the floor, the severity of the situation she found herself in spinning constantly around in her head. How could she have been so stupid? Despite severe exhaustion, her muffled shouts, aimed at drawing attention to her unhappiness, continued for a while longer however, and seemed to echo throughout the supposedly now empty building.
But was that really an echo? For if it was, shouldn’t it be a duller, faraway, less distinct replica of her own pathetic calls? After a few minutes, it occurred to her that the sounds she had assumed were caused by her own voice bouncing back off the walls of her prison, didn’t follow this pattern at all. Then suddenly the revelation hit her. There was someone else out there calling back to her! Someone who, like her, also wore a vocally impeding gag of some description. Who else did Amber have bound and helpless here?
Jade! Surely it had to be the missing twin. But why was Jade a prisoner, while Jasmine was still at large? Putting two and two together, Lauren realised that Amber had managed to worm her way between the twins, in a sort of ‘divide and rule’ strategy that had driven a wedge through their normally watertight sisterly solidarity. And if this reasoning was accurate, then Lauren doubted that Amber was doing this for any other reason than her own selfish gain. Jasmine was being duped into thinking that she and her cousin were equal partners in this harebrained scheme, whereas the truth was that Amber would – Lauren was certain – jettison Jasmine as soon as her usefulness came to an end. And when that time came, Jasmine too would undoubtedly end up bound, gagged and inescapably trapped in Amber’s web of evil.
She had to somehow get word to her friend of Amber’s duplicity. But how? Lauren vowed that, when the unlikely alliance of Amber and Jasmine returned, she would do everything within her limited powers to warn the latter of the danger she was in. She just hoped that she wouldn’t be too late.
But for now, there was nothing more that could be done to this end. And trying to start up a rapport with Jade, although a sort of comfort to her in otherwise uncertain times, was of little benefit, as neither could understand the other’s utterances due to both the gags in their mouths and the distance between them; which from the faintness of the sound suggested that her fellow captive was some way away.
****
Amber pressed the play button with her latex gloved hand and began to watch the footage she’d shot this evening for the fourth or fifth time. The action lasted only a little over three minutes, but it would certainly bring home the message to anyone who saw it that the subject of the show was inescapably bound and helpless, and most certainly not a willing participant. She’d edited the film so that the bit where she’d prodded Lauren into action with her foot had been discarded, and the first couple of viewings she’d used to check that the spectacle was up to the standard that she wanted it, with no visible signs of herself or Jasmine to be seen, and no indication of where this cinematographic masterpiece had been shot. Thereafter, however, her subsequent viewings had been for her own pleasure.
Amber sighed. Lauren really did look good in bondage; better, in fact, than anyone else Amber had ever had the pleasure of tying up... And she’d been involved with a lot of people in bondage in her time!
It was a shame that Jasmine had come back into the cell just when she’d started to enjoy herself, Amber thought. In fact, Jasmine’s mere existence now was beginning to really annoy her. OK, at first she’d been of use - invaluable in fact - in helping Amber first lure in, then ensnare their chosen victim. But now she was surplus to requirements. Amber had been mulling over exactly when to liquidate her tiresome cousin for most of the day, and she’d now come to the conclusion that this should take place sooner rather than later.
The final decision had been taken after they’d abandoned Lauren for the night, and Jasmine was driving them back towards civilisation. At first, Jasmine’s enquiries had been only mildly irritating in nature, and their frequency limited to only every few minutes. But after a while, Amber found herself barely being able to contain her exasperation at the constant nagging of her relative. When, Jasmine wanted to know, could they let Jade out of her bondage? After all, she wasn’t the one they were supposed to be holding to ransom. OK, Jade had tried to warn their target of her impending abduction, but now that Lauren was out of the picture, surely Jade could be released, couldn’t she? Jasmine even tried to assure Amber that she would make certain that her sister wouldn’t cause them any more trouble.
Amber, however, wasn’t convinced. How could she be sure that a free Jade wouldn’t persuade Jasmine to turn against her? And as it was becoming obvious that Jasmine wasn’t going to stop campaigning on her sister’s behalf any time soon, it felt as if the decision was being made for her. As Jasmine dropped her passenger off at her flat, Amber’s assurance that “We’ll review the situation in the morning.” was issued through gritted teeth, and was anyway a blatant lie. For Amber had decided that tomorrow was the day that her captive count was to increase from two to three.
****
Amber watched the video a couple more times, before copying the recording onto a USB stick. Slipping this into a large envelope that she’d already printed the intended recipient’s address on, she took a sheet of paper that she’d prepared earlier and read it one more time. She smiled to herself. The single A4 sheet had been subject to Amber’s attempts to create a ransom note in the old fashioned ‘cut and paste’ manner, whereby words and letters were chopped out of newspapers and magazines, before being rearranged into a coherent message; in this instance a demand for cash.
As you can see, we have kidnapped Lauren.
If you want her back, it will cost you £150,000 in used banknotes.
Don’t call the police or tell anyone else, or you’ll never see her again.
We’ll be in touch in a few days with details of where to leave the money.
Hope you like the enclosed clip of your girlfriend. She remains our captive until the debt is paid in full.
Amber folded the sheet of paper and pushed it into the envelope. The gloves were worn, not only because of her fixation with latex-wear, but also to ensure that no traces of fingerprints or other incriminating evidence would be left on any of the items she was about to send via Royal Mail to Steve’s address. Sealing the envelope down, Amber logged off her laptop. The clock showed that it was now past midnight. She yawned and stretched; time to get some shut-eye, she told herself. It had been a long but very productive day, and tomorrow promised more of the same; a day when, hopefully, her master-plan would take another few giant steps towards its successful conclusion.
Story continued in part six
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