“This is it!” Natalie thought, giddy with excitement. “This is my big break!”

Three years of trying to break into showbiz; of waiting tables to make ends meet while going to auditions, cattle calls, passing out headshots and demo tapes to anyone who looked important, trying out for roles and settling for bit parts or as a background extra were finally over. She had, at long last, gotten a named role in a major picture! True, it wasn’t the lead role and it was a small indy studio she’d never heard of before she’d gotten the call back inviting her to audition, but it was a role none-the-less. Something she could put on her resume and use to get other roles in the future.

Excitedly, Natalie reread the emails she’d gotten a couple days after that audition. It let her know which part she’d been selected for and where and when she should arrive for rehearsals. At the end was a small addendum, “In order to maintain security regarding the film, we ask that you avoid telling anyone the time or locations of rehearsals and shoots and do not share scripts with anyone. Failure to do so may result in your part being recast.”

The need for secrecy made Natalie a little uncomfortable, but she’d seen the lengths big budget movies she’d been an extra in had gone to keep gawkers and paparazzi away in the past. This seemed like more of the same. So as much as she would have loved to tell her two roommates about her big break, Natalie kept quiet the next couple days until the first rehearsal. She made her excuses about needing to go visit family and hopped in her battered old car to drive to the rehearsal. It was being held in a small, private film studio on the edge of town. As she parked and got out, she saw a number of other young women heading to the same building, and when she went in there were more, nearly a dozen altogether, milling about in the lobby.

“I hadn’t realized the movie called for so many female roles.” Natalie thought, dismayed. It would be harder for her to stand out and get noticed with so many other girls on screen. “Maybe some of them are just extras.” She reassured herself. Natalie was glad she’d taken the time yesterday to get done up. Though there wouldn’t be any filming done today, she’d wanted to make a good impression on any producers who stopped by for the first day of rehearsals. Her auburn hair had been expertly curled and styled. She wore a new pleated spaghetti-strap top a brilliant blue to highlight her hair, designer pants she couldn’t really afford but she looked great in and a pair of dark heels that were murder on her feet but added a couple inches to her gorgeous 6’2” cheerleader figure.

As Natalie came in, a PA told her the director and producer were passing out scripts to the leads and going over their character’s motivations one on one. If she would wait just a moment, her name would be called shortly. Natalie found a seat with several other girls who were excitedly chatting about how this would be their Big Break for sure. Natalie felt a little uncomfortable, more and more so as girls were called ahead of her. Maybe her role wasn’t as big as she’d thought. But she knew she couldn’t pull out now. Even if this wasn’t her big break, she knew getting a reputation for unreliability would almost guarantee she wouldn’t get another break like this in the future. So she sat and waited.

Finally, another PA came in and called her name. Natalie got up and followed the young man through a door. Beyond was a long hallway with doors leading to a number of offices. As she started down the hallway, she was startled by the slam of the door. The excited babble of the other women was cut off, as if someone had hit a mute button somewhere.

The PA pointed her to the office the director and producer were using. Stepping ahead of her, the man knocked on the door a couple times, then opened it. Inside, Natalie saw a desk covered in scripts and papers, behind which sat two men. One she recognized as the director, Patrick Jones, from her initial audition. The other was Thomas Ridley, the producer. She’d seen his picture while googling the studio.

“Please come in, Miss Hendricks.” Mr. Jones said, reading her name off one of the scripts. “You’ll be playing the part of Alicia in our new production…”

As Natalie stepped into the room, she was suddenly seized from behind by a third man she hadn’t noticed. He’d been crouched beside the door, waiting for her to pass by. “Hey! What are you doing? Let me go! Help! Help!!!” She screamed again and again, struggling in the man’s firm grasp.

“That won’t do you any good, Miss Hendricks.” Mr. Jones told her, faint bemusement entering his voice. “This room, like all the rooms adjacent to the sound stage, are thoroughly sound proofed.” He reached down and lifted aside one of the scripts. Hidden beneath it was a small silver pistol, which he pointed at her. “For instance, I could fire off this gun and no one would hear a thing. So I suggest you cooperate!”

Scared though she was, Natalie could see the man’s point and she stopped screaming. When she was ordered to cross her wrists behind her back, she glumly complied, biting her lip as the ropes came out.

“Now, your role in our little production is quite simple…” Patrick continued, tauntingly, as Natalie was thoroughly and tightly trussed up. “You play the helpless damsel who, after obligingly walking into the villain’s trap…” He chuckled, bowing his head slightly. “Gets trussed up and taken away. Then, there’s your big scene where you and all the other damsels in distress are auctioned off as slaves to the highest bidder.” He laughed evilly as Natalie’s eyes widened in horror.

The young woman started to say something, but just then the man tying her up jammed the rubber plug of a ballgag between her teeth. The young woman gagged as the straps were yanked tight, forcing the gag deeper into her mouth. A padded blindfold was slipped over her eyes and strapped in place, making everything go dark for Natalie. As she was dragged from the room, she heard the producer hit the button on an intercom and say, “Send in the next girl…um…Miss Dorothy Brown, I believe.”

Then Natalie was out in the hallway. She screamed into her gag, but she remembered how the sound had cut off when she stepped through the door from the lobby and realized it was sound-proofed as well. Natalie was dragged across it to another of the offices. As she was led inside, she was greeted by the desperate “Mmmpphhh’s” of the girls who had gone ahead of her and been taken captive the same way.

The goon dragged Natalie over and forced her to lie down between two of the other helpless girls. She grunted and moaned as her feet were lashed together, then pulled back and tied off to the ropes around her wrists, bending her back into a strict hogtie.

“Don't go anywhere!” The man taunted as he turned and left.

Natalie squirmed, tugging at the ropes binding her, but a few minutes of struggling were enough to convince the young woman she wouldn’t, in fact, be going anywhere. She dropped her head to the ground in despair. “Some big break this turned out to be…” She thought, bitterly.

Meanwhile, in the other office, the interviews continued at a steady pace. At regular intervals, the door to their makeshift prison would open and another frightened girl would be dragged in to join those already trussed up and gagged. Eventually, when the last poor girl stood, sobbing through her gag, the kidnappers went through the room, getting the rest of the captives up.

Natalie felt the ropes hogtying her being cut away, leaving those lashing her wrists together. Rough hands seized her and lifted the trembling woman to her feet. Something was slipped around her beck. As it was buckled snug against her throat, she realized with horror it was a leather collar. A short leather leash was attached to the front. Someone tugged it sharply, forcing the young woman to stumble forward, almost running into another captive girl. The lead was tied off to the other girl’s collar. A moment later, a third girl was led up behind Natalie. She felt a hand tugging at her collar, attaching the other leash to it, joining all the captives in a long line.

“Okay ladies, time to go!” The goon growled. Natalie heard footsteps ahead of her. Then her leash snapped taut. She had no choice but to follow, stumbling blindly wherever the leash tugged her. They went out into the hallway and down it, heading towards, as best she could tell, the rear of the building.

A short distance away, Mr. Jones and Mr. Ridley were watching as the women were led off. Their destination were the large loading doors at the back of the studio, which opened to an alley between it and the adjacent film lot, where trucks could pull up delivering materials for the sound stage.

A bus had been pulled up in the space, positioned so its doors were as close to the building as possible, to minimize the chance of anyone spotting the bound and gagged women as they were loaded aboard. The graphics for a Hollywood tours company had been plastered across the side, covering the windows with the semi-transparent designs. No one would be able to tell the passengers aboard were gagged and blindfolded captives during their trip to a small airstrip where a plane was waiting to take them on the next leg of their journey.

Mr. Ridley, the producer, was on his phone. “Yes…” He spoke to the person on the other end. “They’re on their way, leaving now…” The last sobbing girl had just gone up the stairs onto the bus, the doors shutting with a pneumatic hiss behind her. “All of them…well I’m glad you enjoyed their audition tapes. I’m sure you’ll like the real thing even better…why thank you very much!” He hung up and turned to Mr. Jones the director. “Well Patrick, I think we can consider your next movie fully funded!” He grinned.

The other man returned the smile. “That’s great! With that kind of money, I can finally stop making low budget trash and film something that will really dazzle them!” He laughed. “This could be my big break!”