Giving a polite wave to his neighbors, Jenkins pulled his old sedan into the driveway. Parking it, he went to the trunk and opened it.

“Help you with your groceries, Mr. Jenkins?” A young woman called from the yard next to his. “Looks like a lot, planning anything?” Susie, the neighbor’s daughter asked.

“Just stocking up for winter, my dear.” Jenkins replied with a chuckle. He took one of the paper bags and let her get the other. Sure enough, inside were plenty of cans as well as some large plastic bags of beans, rice and some other staples. After dropping them off on the kitchen table, he wished Susie a good day, then got busy putting most of the things away.

He left out the rice and one of the cans. Moving to the stove, he fixed up a large pot of food. It wasn’t anything fancy, just mixing all the ingredients and heating them up. Since his Mildred had died eight years before, he’d gotten used to simple fare. “Have to be careful...” He muttered to himself. “They’re gonna ask questions, they see me buying so much food now.”

When the pot was steaming hot, he took some potholders and carried it away from the kitchen. Not far away, at the back of the laundry room was a small closet holding the water heater. To one side was a wooden panel, completely unremarkable. It opened into a small hatch, giving access to the crawlspace underneath the house.

Getting it open, Jenkins climbed down, carrying the pot. He had to bend over, nearly double to walk down inside. The crawlspace was lit by a single, naked bulb, leaving much of the open space in shadows. The floor was bare concrete, part of the house’s foundation. Above, the thick beams and boards of the floor above.

“Dinner!” He called. There were muffled groans from one corner, followed by a rattle of chains. A second later, the crawlspaces two occupants came shuffling over on all fours, partly from the low space overhead and partly from the heavy chains running from wrist to wrist and ankle to ankle and a long one connecting both with the thick collars around each of their necks.

When they came into the light, their features became visible. The first was a young woman, with dark skin and long black hair, woven into a long braid. The second was a girl the same age, but lighter skinned, with strawberry blonde hair. They looked up at Jenkins, their eyes showing a haunted look. It had only been a week since they’d been out, late at night and had their car break down. Seven days since Jenkins had come along, picked them up and decided to keep them here, for himself. But it felt like years to the two kidnapped teens.

“Mmmm...” The blonde murmured, whatever she was trying to say muffled by the thick leather panel strapped over her mouth. Her friend grunted something as well as they kneeled in front of their captor. After a week of captivity, they knew what he expected them to do. Glancing at each other, shamefully, they both bowed their heads, almost touching the ground and groveled. Jenkins grinned, watching their display of submission for a long minute before he decided he was satisfied.

“Ok, up girls.” He said, smiling, seeing down the pot. The two crawled forward, turning their heads slightly so he could unbuckle the straps of their gags. “Remember, not a word.” He warned them. The first few days they’d been down here, they’d screamed themselves hoarse, crying for help or just venting their anger on their kidnapper. After a few days, and more then a few punishments from him, with no rescue in sight, they’d realized their underground prison was soundproofed enough they weren’t going to get the attention of his neighbors anytime soon. Now, they kept quiet, even in the rare times when they weren’t gagged.

Bending over, the two quickly wolfed down the food Jenkins had brought, all but licking the pot clean. He smiled. “Now, why don’t you show me how grateful you are for my food.” He said. The two again shared looks of shame, but they’d learned this lesson as well. Glumly, they laid down, rolling over onto their backs. There wasn’t much room in the crawlspace, but Jenkin’s made due.

“Good girls.” He said, as he crawled over to them. “Once I’m sure you’ve learned to be obedient, maybe I’ll let you upstairs, out of this crawlspace.” He grinned. “Well, some of the time at least...”