Susan Dubois and Jane Hardy had been flat mates for almost a year. They shared a nice two bedroom apartment at a good address in an inner city suburb. Jane had been there the longest, over eighteen months. But she had found the rent difficult on her own and, since there were two bedrooms, had finally decided to share with another girl like herself to defray costs. After making inquiries and eventually advertising she had met Susan. The two young ladies had got on well right from the beginning and had agreed they should be able to make a success of living together.
Susan's mother, a very well provided for widow, had insisted on seeing the apartment, the locality and then meeting Jane before allowing her only daughter, indeed her only child, to leave home for the first time. She had declared herself satisfied with everything, Susan had moved in and they had been living happily together ever since.
The two girls had several things in common. Both were in there early twenties, both were computer programmers and worked in the nearby City. Both were considered good at their work. Susan was of middle height with a trim figure, shoulder length ash blond hair and a somewhat pretty face. Jane, the older of the two was slightly taller and thinner with a more serious look about her. She had short dark brown hair and was the more practical of the pair.
They had many similar tastes, which was a great help in apartment sharing. Each was reasonably neat and tidy. They both liked the same foods so there were no problems in the kitchen. And they both favoured the same magazines, books and TV programs. This last was important as they only had one TV in the shared lounge room. It was this last which had led to the discovery of a rather unexpected interest in common .
About five months back during an evening at home they had both been watching a very old American crime movie. It was not the best film Hollywood had ever made but there was nothing else on that interested them both. At one point Susan had became openly critical. The villain had captured the heroine and begun to tie her up. Very unconvincingly, it would seem.
"Look at that," Susan had said, unbelievingly, "Those ropes are too loose. And that knot, it won't hold. She could get out of that if she wanted to." By now the rascal was gagging the distressed damsel, using her own handkerchief, which appeared to be far too small. "That won't keep her quiet. It'll fall off the moment she moves her head. Yet I suppose she'll lie coy and helpless on that bed, without making a sound until her boyfriend gets around to rescuing her. He hasn't even tied her ankles. She could walk out of there." Clearly the doings on the screen had not impressed Miss Dubois.
Jane looked at her as she spoke. At first smilingly, but then with aroused interest. Finally she had said, "You sound like quite an authority on bondage. Have you ever been tied up yourself? Or tied anyone else up?"
Susan had paused before answering. By then the girls' friendship and knowledge of each other was such was such they had exchanged several intimacies. Finally she said, "A few of us did at that la-di-da ladies' college I went to. There was an injuries recovery room underneath the sports pavillon we could get into. We'd go there some afternoons when there was no sport and tie each other up with the aisle ropes. Sometimes we'd use the surgical adhesive tape for gags. It was super."
Jane, at the time wondering if she was doing the right thing, had taken a deep breath and then asked, "Would you like to try that again? Here?"
A pause. Susan had turned, smiled and finally said, "Why not?"
And so it began. They tore an old sheet into strips of varying lengths and set to work. They made a gag out of a trimmed piece of sponge rubber with a sash around the middle which was very effective but at the same time not uncomfortable. Jane tied up Susan, Susan tied up Jane. In time they were practising once, sometimes twice, a week.
Eventually they developed scenarios to add spice to their exercises. A favourite one being the lonely old maid spinster, victim of a home invasion who deliberately resists her attacker in order to be subdued, overpowered and bound by him. That is, touched and handled. They liked these little dramas. There was something of the actress in both girls. It was all great fun.
Tonight was a cold mid winter workday evening. They were not expecting any callers so the girls decided to indulge in what had become a favourite pastime in Susan's bedroom. The play-scene chosen was of a tyrannical lady school principal who had bullied and hounded the hapless girls under her control for years. Living alone, she is visited by one of her long suffering students of former years, now a professional cat burglar, who gleefully proceeds to bind and gag her.
As had now become their custom, both girls dressed the part. Susan, as the dragon headmistress, wore a neat dark business suit (her own, which she wore to work occasionally) and had done her fair hair up into a schoolmarm type bun at the back of her head. Jane, her former pupil, now captor, wore track suit pants and a skivvy with a hood which had been pulled over her head for the role.
The play acting proceeded. The bullying headmistress, subdued by the threat of a rubber truncheon her assailant was reputed to be carrying, was forced to stand upright while her onetime student tied her up.
Jane bound her wrists behind her back with a long strip of sheet, and then pushed her arms down straight so that her hands were level with her bottom. Then she tied her three times around the body, above and below the breasts and then around the waist, forcing her limbs flat against her back. Finally she knelt and lashed her above the knees and lastly around the ankles. This last had the effect of making the bound and upright Susan unsteady on her feet and she was lowered into a sitting position on the bed.
All the time the two girls kept up the flow of banter in keeping with the roles the were playing. Jane prided herself on the neatness of her bondage, making sure that the cloth strips were never twisted and overlapped evenly. Susan was beginning to look like a neat, if partially wrapped mummy. The last touch was to be a gag pushed into the schoolmistress tyrant's mouth. Jane was just holding this to her lips and then....
The front doorbell rang.
Both girls were taken by surprise. "Who on earth can that be?," asked Jane. "We're not expecting anyone."
Susan commented that there had been two Mormon missionaries in the area all day. "Someone must have let them into the building," she said.
"Well, we're not buying anything. I'll send them on their way." Jane walked quickly out of the room, closing the door behind her. She moved across the lounge to the front door and flung it open.
Instead of neat, dark suited evangelists she was surprised to see a man and a woman waiting outside. The male, tall, lean, thin faced, wearing a leather coat and a cloth cap. The woman, somewhat shorter, slim and obviously fit, an oval face with straight pinned back fair hair. She wore a grey overcoat, buttoned up against the cold, a woollen cap and had a large satchel slung over one shoulder. Both wore dark glasses and leather gloves. They also seemed surprised to see Jane.
The woman spoke. "You're Jane aren't you? Well, we're here to see Miss Susan Dubois. Where is she?"
Jane, knowing the state Susan was in, was flustered. "She's not in. Er, well, she's here, but she's indisposed. She's, ah, not available." She thought wildly of saying 'she's tied up at the moment' but thought that would be inappropriate.
The woman, clearly the spokesperson, looked quickly at the man and then said, "We have to see her. Can we come in?"
"Er, no you can't," Jane by now had decided she had better keep these two outside the apartment. There was something about them that made her uneasy. "Why don't you wait out here in the hallway? I'll see her and send her out. When she's, er, ready."
The two exchanged another quick look. The woman snapped, "You're stalling for some reason Jane and we're not buying it. We're coming in anyway."
And without further ado the two walked into the apartment, closing the door behind them. Before Jane could cry out the woman clamped a gloved hand over her mouth and the man slipped behind her and pinioned her arms. She was quietly told she was going to be tied up and gagged and if she tried to scream or struggle she would be knocked unconscious. A prepared gag was taken from the shoulder satchel, thrust into her mouth and knotted at the back of her neck. The man took a length of cord from the same place and expertly tied her wrists behind her back.
Jane, helpless and by now becoming frightened, she sensed these two were professional and probably dangerous people. She was also dimly aware that this was coincidently, more or less the same scenario she had acted out with Susan only twenty minutes before.
"There," said the woman, patting Jane's gagged mouth just as her companion was finishing tying her hands, "Our interest is with Susan, Jane. Not you. We thought you'd be away on a course. Now, simply by being here, you've become our business as well." If Jane had not been gagged she could have told them the advanced computer course she was to have attended this week had been cancelled at short notice. She wondered what the woman meant by 'our business.' Her captor turned to her partner, "You finish tying her arms. I'll find Ms Dubois. Whom she doesn't seem to want us to see." With that she turned and walked toward the bedroom.
Entering the bedroom she looked at the bound Susan, sitting on the bed and stopped in surprise. "Well, well," she exclaimed, "Just look at you. Really Susan, the things you girls get up to." She turned and called through the door to her companion, "Just come and have a look at this."
The man, who had already begun to tie Jane's upper arms, pushed her across the lounge and into the bedroom. "Well indeed," he smiled on sighting Susan, "This saves us some trouble. Very thoughtful of you ladies." He went to the bed and looked closely at her bindings. "And very professional I might add."
Susan was getting over the shock of the sudden arrival of the newcomers and of seeing her flat mate bound and gagged. "Who are you?" she asked falteringly, "Is this a robbery?"
The woman laughed. "Not a robbery. We're taking you two on a journey. We'd only planned on removing you Susan. But since Jane is here as well, she can come along with you for company." She picked up the girls' own gag from the bed where Jane had put it down to go and answer the door. "Now we'll just get on with the work you ladies have so obligingly started for us."
"What! What do you mean?" shrieked Susan, "Is this a kidnapping? You can't.... Mmfff." Anything further she had to say was cut short as the woman thrust their own gag into her mouth and tied it firmly. And from there the pair began to tie the two girls securely. The man continued to bind Jane's arms, using strips of sheet from their own box of bondage materials. The woman knelt and untied Susan's ankle and leg bindings. This done, she lifted the unwilling girl off the bed and on to her feet. The two now stood with their arms tightly bound and very effectively gagged beside the bed.
"Well now ladies," smiled the woman, "You're almost ready to travel. But first a few touches to make you presentable. Not that we expect to meet many people on the way." She took a roll of flesh coloured surgical tape out of the satchel and cut off two long lengths. Handing one to the man the pair taped their captives' faces from ear to ear, effectively covering the gags already in their mouths. "There," she said, "So much better if it's not obvious you're gagged." Clearly she enjoyed her work. "And perhaps a couple of happier expressions." By this she meant getting a lipstick out of the satchel and, while the man held each girl's head steady, outlined a pair of smiling lips on their taped faces. "Smile ladies, look cheerful," was her comment to the glaring girls.
Finally the man took out a hooded rain cape from their bag and draped it over Susan. It covered her upper body to the knees, concealing the fact her arms were securely bound. Meanwhile the woman had a quick look in her wardrobe and found a long raincoat. This was fitted over Jane's shoulders and the two top buttons done up. The two girls now looked as if they were about to set out on a threatening winter night, and had dressed suitably for it. It was not at all obvious at first glance that both were bound and gagged.
"Excellent," pronounced the woman, "Now let's get moving." But the girls, though not able to speak, looked at each other. By mutual, if unspoken agreement agreement they had decided they were not going anywhere with these two. They both stood motionless with feet firmly planted and unmoving.
"Oh, a little stubbornness is it? Well we've thought of that." The woman rummaged in their satchel, produced a small case from which she extracted two prepared injection needles. "We planned to use these later but we'll do it now." The man held each girl firmly while she quickly and expertly injected each in the base of the neck. Clearly she had had some training in this.
It was a powerful anesthetic which began to take effect almost at once. Both girls began to feel drowsy, their minds became numb. Though still vaguely conscious, they gradually lost control over their actions and were ready to move, zombie like in whichever direction they were impelled. The pair moved them gently but firmly towards the door of the apartment.
A quick look to see the hallway was clear, then they were shepherded towards the rear of the building. Out through the back security door and across the darkened back lawn to the narrow lane at the rear of the complex. Here, in almost complete darkness the abductors and their two captives came to an unmarked grey van. No one had seen them leave the apartment.
By now the two drugged girls were almost completely unconscious. They were lifted into the back of the van were they both passed out and were lowered onto a mattress which had been thoughtfully placed on the floor. Satisfied that they would both be out for many hours, the two captors got into the front of the vehicle and drove off into the night.
* * *
The girls awoke about ten hours later.
Though the drug used on them had been very potent they were both clear headed and without any after effects. It was as if they had both had a very sound refreshing night's sleep. It was morning and light enough to see their surroundings.
They found they were both naked, lying under blankets in two narrow tubular steel framed beds on firm, reasonably comfortable mattresses. Their clothes, they noticed were lying folded on a third bed alongside their own. They were in a rectangular room with solid looking plaster walls and a concrete floor with a couple of mats. There was a heavy wooden door opposite the beds and high on the same wall a horizontal window through which they could see bars on the outside. The door looked locked. Across one end of the room was an enclosed shower recess, a wash basin on a shelf and what they took to be a toilet cubicle. The other end had a very small table with a chair either side. The whole room was dry, well ventilated through the outside wall and the single window let in enough light.
They lay for some time taking in their surroundings and talking softly. Naturally they wondered where they were and why had they been brought here? Ransom? That was perhaps possible in Susan's case. Her mother was very wealthy. But Jane's family was not. Yet obviously a great deal of planned effort had gone into their abduction. The girls would have liked some answers.
Then they heard a key rattle in the door and it started to open. Both sat up in their beds, clutching the the blankets to cover their breasts.
The woman from the night before came in. This time she was wearing a faded denim skirt, what looked like a belted waterproof rural workers jacket and on her feet a pair of gumboots. She stood with her back to the door, thrust her hands into the jacket's deep pockets and smiled.
"Good morning ladies," she said pleasantly, "I trust you slept well? We took the liberty of removing your clothes. Sleeping fully dressed would have rumpled them. They're there when you want to dress." She nodded toward the third bed. "You're going to need them over the next few days and you might as well look presentable."
"Where are we? What is this place?" The girls wanted to know their situation.
The woman smiled. "Let's just say you're in an isolated part of the country. This house was once the homestead of a large grazing property. This lower ground floor room was originally a station hand's quarters." She nodded towards the facilities at the end of the room. "Later it became a storeroom in which valuable items were kept. Hence the bars on the window. Now, you might say, it's a guest room for ladies in transit like yourselves to stay awhile. That's all you need to know for the moment." The smile never left her face.
"You'll get your meals brought in as necessary. You can eat them there." She nodded toward the small table and chairs. "There's no reason why you shouldn't be comfortable for the duration of your stay here." And with that she turned and went out the door, locking it behind her. Shortly after she came back with a tray containing two bowls of cereal, toast and a pot of tea with cups which she placed on the table. "Bon appetite," she said as she went out. The pair got up and dressed quickly.
About half an hour later, with breakfast eaten, the girls had visitors once more. Their lady captor again, her male companion of the night before, this time wearing blue jeans and a work shirt and with them a young woman in her mid twenties. This lady, slim and athletic with short fair hair wore a faded tee shirt, jeans and the gum boots which seemed to be necessary in this area. She never spoke a word in the presence of the girls. Both she and the man wore dark sunglasses. He carried a large cardboard carton.
"Well girls," said the woman, who seemed to give the orders, "Hope you enjoyed breakfast. We now have to take some photographs. For the benefit of Susan's mother. But first there's a little theatrical preparation to be done. You two both have to be very effectively bound and gagged. And the more distressed you appear, the better." The girls just gaped at each other.
The trio set to work with the enthusiasm of a film crew. Susan and Jane were made to stand together and thick heavy sashes were taken out of the box. First, their wrists were bound behind their backs, then their arms were lashed three times around their torsos. Both pairs of ankles were tied, as were their legs, above and below the knees. Lastly, large gags were placed in their mouths and knotted at the base of their necks. None of these restrictions were drawn tightly, nor were they particularly uncomfortable, but they looked as if they were. The knots were large and impressive.
Finally, both girls were forced to sit on the concrete floor and cringe against the wall. Their clothing was pulled in disarray, their hair was tousled and rumpled.
Even some dirt, brought in from outside in a small bowl, was rubbed into the parts of their faces, not obscured by the gags. The woman took a small case from the box which contained makeup materials. With these she etched tear stains down their muddied cheeks and even managed to redden their eyes. As a final touch they were both told to huddle together closely and look wide eyed and terrified. The whole tableau would have done credit to a Hollywood team making a brutal gangster film. The girls were bewildered and more annoyed than anything. And then a camera was produced an several pictures taken.
This done, the man left immediately, presumably to get these works of art to Mrs Dubois. The woman and her silent helper lifted the girls to their feet and began to untie them, folding the sashes and putting them back in the box. They were told they could clean themselves up at the washbasin. A comb was provided. Jane, at this point, felt inclined to speak.
"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked, "My family's not wealthy. They don't even live in the city. My father's not a millionaire. He's a tradesman."
The woman looked at her. "We know that. We haven't even approached them. As far as they know, you're still safely back in your apartment. And we've strictly informed Susan's mother not to tell your parents. Not to go any where near them. We're not asking anything of your family."
This astonished Jane. "If you're not trying to get a ransom, then why have you kidnapped me?"
At this moment Susan chimed in. "And what happens if my mother, for whatever reason, isn't able to give you what you want? What happens to us then?" Both girls looked in anguish at their captor.
The woman laughed at their serious faces. "Don't look so mortified. It's not a matter of life or death." She spoke as if to a pair of non comprehending children. "However, both of you understand this. You Jane, were brought along because you were unexpectedly there in the apartment when we abducted Susan. We couldn't leave you behind to give the alarm. Now, we've invested a great deal of time, effort and money getting you both here. And in holding you here. In the unlikely event of Mrs Emmaline Dubois not doing what we ask, we'll have to get a return on our investment. We're not in this business for our health."
The girls stared uncomprehendingly though it was beginning to dawn on them.
She continued. "So as to what could possibly happen to you. There are extremely wealthy men in countries overseas who will pay many thousands, tens of thousands, to have attractive young western women, particularly if they have some skill, like computer knowledge - as their personal property. They're all obscenely rich, well educated, after all, they've been to some of the most expensive schools in the world and some of them are even of a gentlemanly turn of mind. But they like to have skilled, attractive ladies as part of their household, permanently at their beck and call for whatever purpose they like. So," she smiled, "If you were to end up there, you'd be able to ply your trade with some of the most expensive computer equipment on earth. But you'll also be the private possession of whichever wealthy magnate that buys you." Susan and Jane were dumbfounded.
"Of course, in the remote event of that having to be done," the woman went on, "Getting you there would be our task. This property, despite its isolation, has a very good private airstrip. On a designated afternoon a long range transport aircraft would land here. You two would be bound and gagged, strapped to stretchers, sedated if necessary and put on board. Perhaps in company with a couple of other ladies on their way to a new life. The larger the number, the more profitable it is. And that night you'd be off to new horizons overseas."
"To where?" the girls were incredulous.
"That could vary," she said, "The Middle East, the Far East. We've even sent them to Latin America. We prefer not to know too many details of destination. Suffice to say that such ladies end up privately owned by very big money. But," she said knowingly, "I repeat again, that's not likely in your case. We've investigated Susan's mother very thoroughly."
"So," said Jane, ever the practical one, "You make a business of kidnapping women and sending them overseas?"
"That amongst other things. We've all got to make a living darling," came the reply, "I might add that our looking into the Dubois fortune has brought a few disreputable facts to light. Susan's expensive education wasn't entirely paid for with clean money."
The woman and her silent companion were about to go. "And that's all you need to know about the matter. You'll be here for two or three days. We'll get some reading matter in here for you to pass the time. Meanwhile, enjoy yourselves." The two left the room, locking the door behind them.
* * *
The girls need not have worried. Susan's mother moved heaven and earth and did what was asked in thirty six hours. She got together an amount that would have been impossible for a working class family but which made little difference to the Dubois fortune. On the third night they were told they would not be going on a long trip overseas but would instead be returning to their former situation. They were both greatly relieved.
The same van they had arrived in was driven to near the door of the room where they had been held. Both were given a sleep inducing injection then bundled into the rear of the vehicle in pitch darkness. Here they passed out on the mattress on which they had travelled before and spent the next hours in deep slumber.
The van was driven, not to their apartment, but to the palatial home of Susan's mother. In the last hour of darkness just before dawn it was quietly parked in the driveway near the front door. A discreet ring on the doorbell was answered by Emmaline Dubois herself, fully dressed and very anxious. After all she had just, with difficulty, paid a huge ransom and very much wanted the return of her daughter. She was a trim, active woman, just short of fifty with short wavy hair, just going grey. She was dressed in a well fitting, pale blue dress. The two who had abducted the pair assured her that Susan would be returned shortly but first it would be necessary to tie her up.
Grudgingly, Mrs Dubois submitted to this. Within fifteen minutes she was sitting, neatly bound and gagged with strips of white sheet on the most comfortable armchair in her lounge room. She noticed, with some surprise, she was not uncomfortable. Some time back, when she had first seen the picture of the two girls in what looked like a horrific state of distressed bondage she had formed a fearful idea of what it was to be tied up. She was quite unaware how posed it had been. She also had the notion that they had spent most of the last two days like that and would have been surprised to learn they had passed the time reading popular potboilers.
With Mrs Dubois secured, the two kidnapped young ladies were carried in and placed on the lounge opposite her. She was assured they would awaken soon and indeed they did. Within an hour the girls had drowsily regained consciousness and were able to release the bound householder. The result was a tearful but happy reunion. Their abductors had long since left the premises.
All three ladies had been strictly admonished not to make any report of what had happened in the last two days, otherwise the girls would disappear again, this time permanently. By common consensus they agreed to do this. Particularly in view of what they had been told during the time of their captivity.
Although, in the months that followed, Jane, ever the practical one, thought about what they had been told. Did they really kidnap and transport young women overseas to be sold to mega-wealthy men? Did that really happen in this country?
She wondered.
Uto
You can also leave feedback & comments for this story on the Plaza Forum
14.11.15