“Alright, Betty, why don’t you pick out a movie for us to watch while I go make some popcorn.” Carol said, walking into the room.

“Ok. What are you thinking; romance? Comedy?” Betty replied from the couch.

It was early one Friday evening, about 7:00. The two college coeds were in the apartment they shared. Normally, on a Friday evening like this, Betty would probably be out on a date with her boyfriend, while Carol would be hitting the clubs popular with students. Tonight, however, Dave was away visiting family and Carol’s last shopping spree had left her temporarily broke, which was why they’d decided to spend the evening in and watch some movies.

“Hmmm...comedy. Definitely comedy.” Carol answered from the door to the kitchen. Carol was a tall and pretty, in the classic ‘school girl’ look. Her eyes were sky blue and her light blonde hair was brushed to one side, pulled back in a bun. Her long legs were well toned from years of cheerleading practice. Tonight, she was wearing a loose sweater and jeans.

“Alright.” Betty nodded. Grabbing the remote, she began to flip through Netflix’s suggestions. Betty was just as pretty as her friend, though in a different way. Her dark skin and flashing brown eyes gave her an exotic look among the girls on campus. Her long wavy black hair was tied back in a long ponytail, save for a few tresses which framed her striking face. Tonight, she had on a pink blouse, a white skirt and panyhose.

Carol hummed quietly to herself as she walked into the kitchen. Opening one of the cabinets, she got out the popcorn maker and the jar of kernels. The young woman busies herself setting things up. Pouring the kernels in, she waited for the machine to get to work and start popping.

In the other room, Betty was still idly flipping through the movies, trying to pick one. She heard the sound of soft feet padding on the carpet towards the couch behind her. Without looking, she said, “What do you think about this on-mmmppphhh!!!” Betty’s eyes widened as a pad of cloth was suddenly clamped over her face. Taken by surprise, she breathed in, getting ready to call out to her roommate. To her horror, as she did, a sharp chemical smell filled her nostrils. Instantly, she began to feel light headed.

Betty’s attacker removed the chloroform soaked cloth just before Betty lost consciousness. She shook her head, struggling to stay awake. She just barely managed to keep her eyes open, but she was too weak to do anything more then moan quietly as she felt hands on her body, looping rope around her wrists…

“pop! pop! Poppop!” The kernels bounced merrily inside the plastic dome of the popcorn maker as they burst into fluffy white pieces. When the popping began to slow, Carol switched the machine off. She poured the popcorn into a large bowl and added butter, silently vowing to hit the gym tomorrow in penance for tonight’s indulgence. Leaving the bowl on the counter, Carol walked back to the living room.

“Alright! I’ve got the popcorn ready. Betty, did you pick out a mov-Betty!” Carol eyes widened in horror at the scene that lay before her. Betty was sitting, tied up, on the couch. Her hands were crossed behind her back and tied with rope, while her feet were tied together in front of her. A strand of rope ran from her ankles around Betty’s neck back to the rope tying her feet, forcing Betty to hunch over.

Betty grunted something unintelligible. It took a moment for Carol to realize she was gagged with something. “Oh my God! Betty...who did this to you?” Carol said. Without thinking, she started to run over to her friend. Betty squirmed on the couch, moaning into her gag. Carol realized the captive girl was trying to warn her. Too late. As Carol stepped out of the kitchen, she saw someone coming up behind her out of the corner of her eye. He swung one arm around her chest, pulling the squirming girl close to him. His other hand pulled around in front of her.

“Hel-mmmppphhh!!!” Carol’s scream was silenced as a pad of cloth was pressed tight over her mouth and nose. As with her friend, the drugs quickly took hold of Carol. After a moment, her struggles weakened. When she went limp, her attacker pulled the drugged cloth away and slowly lowered his newest victim to the ground.

As the man rolled Carol over onto her back, she got a brief glance at him: a tall, broad shouldered man, wearing a white jacket. A black balaclava was pulled over his head, hiding his features. Carol struggled to move, to fight back as he pulled a coil of rope out of his jacket pocket and began to tie her up, but she was too weak to do anything.

The intruder moved quickly, with obvious experience. Carol’s legs were bound together at the ankles and knees, then her hands were placed on either side of her ankles and lashed there with more rope. Ignoring the young woman’s protests, the man forced her mouth open and stuffed a red rubber ball between her lips. The straps attached to either side of the ball were pulled around behind her head and buckled tight. Carol grunted as the ballgag was pulled deeper into her mouth, forcing her jaw apart uncomfortably.

After double checking that every loop was pulled as tight as possible, every knot secure, the intruder stepped back for a moment. He looked down, grinning, as Carol squirmed, feebly. Satisfied she wasn’t going to get free anytime soon, he picked the helpless coed up and carried her over to the couch where she was set down, none too gently, beside her friend.

Carol and Betty glanced at each other. The girls shared looks of fear. What was going to happen to them now? Carol could hear their captor dialing a number on his cellphone. A second later he spoke. “Hey. I did it. Yeah, I’ve got the two right here, trussed up. Say hi girls!” As he held his phone towards them the two girls moaned into their gags miserably. “Yeah, I know. How soon can you get over here? Apartment 21. Alright, see you guys soon…” He turned to his two captives. “Looks like we need to wait about ten minutes or so...oh hey, popcorn!”

The girls listened as the man walked into the kitchen. A moment later, he returned, carrying the bowl of popcorn. “Hey, this is really good.” The intruder sat down on the couch, in between his two bound and gagged captives. “I’d offer some to you two, but it looks like you’re both busy chewing on those ballgags right now, you can’t really eat anything.” He teased, as the two girls sobbed.

For the next ten minutes, the man watched tv, while eating the popcorn. When there were only kernels left, the three heard the sound of the front door opening. “Hey Mike!” A man called out. “You here!?!”

“In here!” The intruder, Mike called back. “And so are our ‘hostesses’ for the evening.” The two girls trembled with fear as they heard the sound of someone, no several someones, walking through their apartment. They went pale as three more burly men, dressed like the first in jackets and ski masks came into the room.

“Alright.” Mike said, getting up. “Now we can get started…"