The old fashioned clock on the wall ticked out the seconds, slowly. Just a couple minutes before 2:00. The door to the classroom open. In trooped a dozen teenage girls in a long row. The girls were wearing school uniforms, but each one was different. Skirts, pleated and strait, in tartan and navy blue and black. White blouses, sweaters, blazers, each emblazoned with the crest of a different school. They shuffled in, glancing around the room in frightened confusion. Their hands were pulled behind their backs, bound at the wrists with cord. Over each girl’s mouth was a leather panel gag, muffling their whimpers.

Bringing up the rear of the line were a trio of men in dark jumpsuits. Each had a stun gun holstered on one side of their belt. Opposite it hung several coils of rope. Under their stern gaze, the girls sat down in the desks, twelve of them, spread around the room. As the girls were seated, the men took the rope and quickly lashed the girls to their seats. Then, with the captives secured, the men turned and filed out of the room.

For several minutes, the young women sat, looking about at their fellow captives and the room. They were still trying to process what had happened, being called from their classroom to the office, being grabbed, taken to the bus and now here.

Finally, the clock on the wall ticked over. The door opened again and an older woman stepped in. She walked across the room, looking over the rows of captive girls as she went, twelve faces each with a mixture of fear, confusion and curiosity. She reached the teacher’s desk and sat down, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke.

“Good afternoon, girls. I am Miss Knowles, your new teacher. I know there may be some confusion about your...ahem...involuntary transfer to this new school, but let me assure you our foremost concern is your future and preparing you for the lives ahead of you. This will be a difficult...and perhaps painful, process for you, but I’m sure in the end you will thank me for helping you adjust to your new circumstances.”

Quiet murmurs went up through the classroom, but tied as they were, none of the girls could do anything. The teacher smiled. “Anyway, without further ado, class is now in session...”