“And after they finished tying her up, the goblins dragged poor Susie down into their underground kingdom, never to be seen again!” Rebecca said slowly in as chilling tone as she could. She looked around the small circle of girls, keeping the upturned flashlight below her chin. “Some say she’s still down there, a helpless slave to the goblins. So be careful, because you never know, there could be a goblin in your basement or under your bed or in…the closet!”

She raised her voice for that last word. As she did, the knob of the bedroom’s closet rattled and turned. A moment later, the door flew open and a short figure rushed in, screaming a fierce warcry. Rebecca turned the flashlight on it, showing a large, bulbous green head with wide bat-like ears, a big pointed nose and a wide mouth filled with sharp fangs.

The other girls shrieked in terror, at least until some noticed the ‘goblin’ was wearing ‘My Little Pony’ pajamas. “We got you good!” Rebecca’s little sister Hannah teased, giggling. Frantic denials flew up from the other girls at the slumber party.

“Alright girls, that’s enough.” Rebecca and Hannah’s mother, Ruth, called from the door, flipping on the lights. “Time for bed!” There were moans and groans from all the girls, but reluctantly, they got ready, laying out their sleeping bags on the floor and trooping to the bathroom to brush their teeth. Eventually, all nine girls were settled down.

“Kristen and I will be just down the hallway if you need anything.” Ruth said. “Now sleep tight!” She flipped off the lights, plunging the bedroom into shadowy twilight, lit only by the glow in the dark star stickers on the ceiling and a thin sliver of moonlight through the bedroom window. A few final whispered conversations filled the room, but these were slowly replaced by soft breathing as the girls drifted off to sleep…

***

In the dark, Polly’s eyes blinked open. The tomboyish brunette didn’t know what had awoken her. She lay, listening to the sounds of the other girls sleeping, waiting for the unknown noise to happen again. There! A light rattle, coming from the bedroom closet! She rolled over, peering through the darkness to where the moonlight fell on the closet door.

The knob turned, the closet door opened a crack. A short figure with a large, round head peered out, glancing around the room and its sleeping occupants. Polly held her breath, recalling the spooky story told earlier that evening, one she’d heard plenty of times from other girls in the playground and cafeteria at school. After a second, the goblin signaled to someone behind it and stepped into the bedroom. A second followed close behind.

“So!” Polly thought with a wry smile. “Beccy and Hannah want to try and get us a second time with their dumb joke, huh?” She didn’t know how they’d managed to slip back into the closet with no one noticing, but she was determined their joke wouldn’t work this time. She kept still, waiting as the two stalked over to the sleeping bag where Trisha lay, it being the only one closer to the closet then Polly’s. One of the ‘goblins’ unzipped the sleeping bag and pulled it back to expose the slumbering teen, then the two pounced, one going for Trisha’s head and shoulders, the other her legs. Trisha woke in an instant, but the only thing Polly heard was a quiet, muffled ‘mmpphh!’ She guessed some sort of gag must have been stuffed in the girl’s mouth to keep her from waking everyone else and giving the game away.

Polly watched quietly as the two ‘goblins’ quickly trussed poor Trisha up, tying her hands and feet with short cords, then lashing them together in a quick, simple, but obviously effective, hogtie. “If they want to play tie up games, I’ll show ‘em what living with three bratty brothers teaches a girl!” Polly thought, planning her surprise. She’d wait until they came over towards her, then jump up and give them a good scare! Then when everyone else was awake, it would be six on two and Rebecca and her sister could find out what being on the other end of the ropes was like.

It was a perfect plan, at least until the closet door opened again and two more goblins came out. It was then Polly noticed, as they got closer to her, these ‘goblins’ weren’t wearing pajamas but tattered and patched robes which looked black in the darkness. The hands, holding out rope and other binding materials intended for her, weren’t girls’ hands, but long and bony, ending in small, but sharp looking talons. They were real goblins!

Polly started to rise, but it was at that moment the goblins pounced on her. A wad of cloth was shoved between her lips, stifling her shriek of terror. With a wretch, Polly realized the wad was several balled up pairs of panties, likely taken from the closet the goblins had come out of. Before she could spit them out, a cord was pulled between her teeth and tied off behind her head, holding the gag in place.

Meanwhile, the other goblin had gotten Polly’s sleeping bag unzipped and grabbed the girls’ legs, holding her down with surprising strength for something so small and scrawny. The scared teen struggled for all she was worth, but in no time she lay hogtied on the floor just like Trisha, scratchy cords digging uncomfortably into her wrists.

From that position, she had a good view as the goblins moved silently from sleeping bag to sleeping bag. Polly could only watch, helplessly, as each slumbering girl was pounced on by the goblins, gagged and trussed up tight with rope. Pretty soon, all of the girls lay hogtied on the floor, squirming and ‘mmpphh-ing’ into their gags in terror.

More goblins had emerged from the closet, filling the room. They danced about their helpless captives, chittering in their strange tongue and teasing the girls, poking at their squirming figures or running talons along the girls bare feet, tickling them mercilessly. One of the goblins, who must have been the leader, barked something that had to be an order. Four of the lesser goblins promptly obeyed, creeping to the door and slipping out of the bedroom.

From down the hall came the sounds of surprise and struggle as Rebecca and Hannah’s mothers got the same treatment the girls had. Ten minutes later, Ruth and Kristen stumbled into the room. The women had their hands tied and gags between their lips. A long rope was tied around their necks, tethering them together. The rest of the rope was held by their quartet of captors, by which they dragged their prisoners along.

In the meantime, the girls had been readied the same way. Their feet were untied and ropes were used to lash them together in a long line of frightened prisoners. After the adults were added to the coffle, the goblins grabbed the lead of the first girl  and gave it a tug. She shook her head, grunting through her gag in a state of panic. More goblins piled onto the rope, giving it a mighty heave. The rest circled around their captives, poking and prodding to encourage the girls to move. Miserably, they stumbled forward towards the open closet door.

Inside, to their amazement, another door stood at the back, half hidden behind Rebecca and Hannah’s jackets and dresses and things. It was an arched stone gateway, topped by a leering gargoyle. As the goblins at the front of the party approached, the heavy wooden doors swung open. Inside, against all reason, a dark tunnel of stone walls hung with stalagmites stretched off an impossible distance.

The girls shrank back in fright as they realized that was their destination, but the pull of the ropes was unyielding, the goblins urging them along relentlessly. Slowly, one at a time, the captives shuffled through. As the last weeping girl stumbled through the gate, the doors slammed shut behind them, trapping the girls in the goblin realm…