Wednesday, October 30th, 6:25 a.m.

The last of her breakfast pastry stuffed in her mouth, patrol officer Sandra Blaine hurried to the door. She paused briefly by the mirror beside the door, checking for any errant crumbs in her hurried breakfast. Brushing a few off her crisp blue uniform, she gave her badge a brief police, adjusted her smart cap on her dark brown hair and hurried out into the cool autumn morning.

The neighborhood was still dark and quiet as she jogged down the front path to her car. Apart from her, the only other person was another woman, dressed in running clothes, jogging up the sidewalk towards her. The other woman looked to be about the same age as Sandra, 29 and the same height and build, though her hair was black, tied back in a pony tail that bobbed as she jogged along.

After giving the other woman a wave, Sandra turned to her car, fumbling in her pocket for her keys. Her mind was focused on the paperwork she had waiting for her down at the station, and after that her patrols of the day. She’d just got them out and had the door unlocked, when the jogger came up along side. While Sandra was debating whether she had time to grab some coffee on her way to work, she didn’t notice as the jogger stopped, drawing something from the pocket of her windbreaker.

Without warning, the jogger lunged forward, jamming the business end of a nasty shock wand into Sandra’s side. As soon as it made contact, a jolt of electricity shoot through Sandra, stunning her. She went limp, struggling just to keep conscious as her attacker grabbed hold of the other woman.

Reaching around Sandra’s form, the other woman got the backseat of the car open and tipped her in, letting the policewoman sprawl out across the car floor. Sandra felt a hand fumbling at her belt and a moment later, heard the ratcheting of her own handcuffs closing onto her wrists. Her feet were then secured with what felt like a zip-tie.

By this time, the initial shock had started to wear off somewhat. Sandra started to struggle, sucking in air to try and scream, but she stopped when she felt the wand prod into her back again. “I’d keep still if I were you.” The other woman warned. “Open your mouth.” Nervously, Sandra opened and a wad of cloth was stuffed between her lips. It was followed by a band of cloth tied around her head, to keep the gag in place.

The car door was then slammed shut. Sandra heard the driver’s door open. Her attacker, no her kidnapper now, must have found her keys because a second later, the car started up and drove away…

***

Wednesday, October 30th, 12:45 p.m.

“I’m heading out now.” Alice Lowell said, handing her paperwork over to the nurse relieving her. “Finally.” Things were busy at the hospital today, which meant she’d had to hold off on taking her lunch break until things had calmed down a bit. Because of that, she headed to the elevators alone, the nurses the usually grabbed lunch with having already gone and come back.

Stepping into the elevator, Alice sighed with relief at escaping the mad house, at least for an hour or so. While she did enjoy her job most of the time, it did get hard on days like this. “And I wish they’d do something about these uniforms...” She muttered. For whatever reason, the hospital still seemed to think it was the 70s or 80s, at least when it came to their nurses uniforms. Alice had on the classic white gown, skirt cut just above the knees, trimmed in light blue with the hospital’s name and logo stitched on the right breast. It even had a white cap, awkward atop Alice’s short, sandy brown hair.

The elevator reached the bottom and opened with a chime. Alice stepped out into the hospital’s underground parking garage. Most of the spaces nearest the elevators were reserved for patients and visitors, so she had to walk across the length to reach her own car. Before she made it, another woman stepped out from around a large van, almost running into her.

“Oh! I’m terribly sorry!” The redheaded woman said apologetically. She paused a second, eyeing Alice. Both were about the same height and build. After a second, she nodded. “You’ll do.”

Before Alice could ask what she meant by that, the other woman suddenly pulled a small, snub nosed revolver from her jacket and pointed it at Alice. The nurse’s eyes went wide with fright. She opened her mouth, but shock left her speechless for a long, fateful moment. Before she recovered, the other woman had grabbed hold of Alice by one arm and jerked her around. In a smooth, practiced motion, her captor had the side door of the van slid open and pushed Alice inside.

By then, the nurse had got enough of her wits together to start calling for help, but her captor was inside, slamming the door shut and muffling her cries. “Shut up!” The woman growled in a sharp tone, emphasizing the order with her pistol. “I’d prefer not to get rough with you, I’d hate to damage that cute uniform you’ve got on, but I will if I have to. And if that’s the case, you’ll regret it! Understand?”

Alice could only nod, terrified, wondering why on earth she’d been targeted by this deranged woman. While she was struggling to process everything that had happened to her in the last minute or so, her captor barked again: “Lie down! On your belly!” As the nurse obeyed, her captor added: “Hands behind your back!”

Again, Alice complied and a moment later felt ropes being slipped around her wrists. In mere seconds, the loops tightened, binding her hands together. Just as quickly, her feet were tied as well. “Open up!” Alice gagged as a large rubber ball was jammed, none too gently, between her teeth. Leather straps were pulled around and buckled tight, securing her gag in place.

While she squirmed on the floor, coming to terms with her bondage, her kidnapper went to the front of the van, started it up and drove out of the garage…

***

Wednesday, October 30th, 7:15 p.m.

Heels clicking on the tile floors, Meredith Blake strode through the busy airport, trailing her rolling suitcase behind her. The tall, blonde was dressed in a stewardess’ uniform, a navy blue blouse, matching skirt, cap and heels. She stifled a yawn, having just come off a long international flight. Right now, she wanted nothing more then to get a cab, get to her hotel for the evening and sleep. Luckily, she had a day off before her next flight on Friday, so she could hopefully find something to do for fun on Halloween.

“Wilson Hotel.” Meredith said, climbing into the first available cab. The woman driving the cab nodded, pulling away from the airport and getting on the highway. Dozing after her flight, it took Meredith a little while before she noticed the cab had pulled off the highway early and onto a lonely side street.

“Hey!” Meredith cried, when the cab pulled over to the side of the road. “What’s going on?” She reached for the door handle, but it wouldn’t unlock. The other woman turned in the front seat and leaned into the back of the cab. While the stewardess fumbled in her purse for her cellphone, her abductor lunged forward, a large rag in hand.

As the cloth pressed over Meredith’s mouth and nose, she caught a whiff of something vaguely chemical soaked into the cloth. “It’s drugged!” She thought, trying to hold her breath, but it was already too late. The little she’d already breathed in started to take hold, making her feel woozy. Frantically, she reached up with her hands, her cellphone falling to the floor of the cab, forgotten. She tried to pull the cloth away, but her captor kept it pressed firm while Meredith’s efforts weakened every second.

Before long, lungs burning, the stewardess had no choice but to breath in, filling her lungs with badly needed air, but also with the drugged fumes. This second, larger dose hit her hard and she swooned. As she struggled to stay conscious, she was vaguely aware of her attacker climbing into the backseat with her. She felt her hands being pulled behind her back, rope going around her wrists. Then everything went black...

***

Thursday, October 31st 4:30 p.m.

“Helen! Glad you could make it!” Katherine said, smiling. Around them, the excited chatter and music of the party filled the air.

“Well, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to come...” The other woman said, “But luckily I found the perfect costume.” The redhead gave a twirl, showing off the nurses’ outfit she had on.

“I know...” Katherine replied, gesturing to her own policewoman’s uniform. “I picked this up just yesterday.” She glanced over to the far side of the room. One of the rules for attending the party: all attendees had to be in costume, and they had to find someone to “donate” that costume. The “donors” were lined up along the back wall, two dozen young men and women with their hands shackled over their heads. They were all stripped naked, apart from panel gags covering their mouths. Above, their wide eyes watched the party with confusion and fright.

Katherine spotted her “donor”; Sandra about three girls down from the right. The policewoman was struggling against her shackles, grunting angrily into her gag. Two more girls down, Alice hung limply from her chains, a look of disbelief on her face, as if she was trying to wake up from this nightmare.

The two women wearing their clothes milled through the party, chatting with each other and catching up. They passed another group, consisting of a man in a pilot’s uniform, a cheerleader and a hooter’s waitress. On their way to the refreshment’s table, a stewardess approached them.

“Hey girls!” She called, cheerfully.

“Nice costume, Sandy!” Helen complimented her. She eyes the row of captives. “Who donated it?”

“There.” Sandy said, picking out Meredith on the right side. The blonde woman was sobbing as she tugged at her shackles. The other two expressed their admiration, while pointing out their own donors.

Not long after, a woman in a coed soccer jersey walked to the front of the room with a microphone. She tapped it a couple times to get everyone’s attention. “Happy Halloween, everyone! Welcome to the Society of Kidnapper’s annual Halloween Party! As always, a round of applause for our guests, for donating the costumes...” Everyone in the room turned, clapping sarcastically while the row of captives along the wall watched in horror.

“Please enjoy the refreshments and have a good time.” The woman continued, “and in just a little while, we’ll begin the traditional donor auction...”