“Emily! It’s good to see you!” Amanda said, stepping forward to embrace her friend. “It’s been far too long!” The two women had been inseparable all the way through college. Then, not long after they graduated Emily had gotten married and moved to a new city with her husband Mike. The two had still kept in touch through a steady correspondence and occasional trips together. Amanda had decided to take advantage of a recent business trip to Emily’s hometown for a reunion.
Amanda Jenkins was a tall woman of 38, a brunette with wavy, shoulder length hair. She was dressed for a nice evening in the classic little black dress, hose and pumps. Emily Baker, also 38 was a gorgeous blonde, still with the knockout figure Amanda remembered from college and with which she’d managed to land a hot-shot paralegal. Like her friend, Emily wore a dress, a ruffled gown of striking blue which set off her golden hair quite nicely.
“Well, welcome to the old homestead.” Emily said, ushering Amanda into the entry hall. It was a gorgeous colonial-revival house, sitting in the center of well-kept grounds. Emily’s husband Mike must be doing quite well, Amanda thought, his career as a public prosecutor had finally taken off. Speaking of…
“Is Mike home?” Amanda asked. It was late Saturday, an ornate grandfather clock in the hall was just chiming 4:30.
Emily turned from the paintings she was showing her friend, bought from their last trip to Italy. “Not at the moment, I’m afraid, but he said he would join us for dinner.” She said with a noticeable sigh. “He’s been wrapped up in his most recent case, working day and night it seems sometimes. They’ll be going to trial soon, but hopefully after that we’ll have a couple free weeks as a family, just the three of us.”
As she was saying this, a figure appeared at the top of the stairs. It was a teenage girl, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. She peered down, raising the headphones she was wearing as she asked her mother who it was. Mike and Emily’s daughter, Katherine, was just 18 as of two months ago. Amanda recalled sending a card for the occasion. In looks, the teen favored her mother, so closely in fact, Amanda found herself recalling the good old days back in High School. Her pale blonde hair was cut short and curly.
“Katie! Come and say hello to Amanda! Amanda is an old friend of your mother’s!” Emily said, waving to her daughter. The teen came down the stairs and politely greeted the older woman. “Now, run upstairs and get changed. We’ll be meeting your father for dinner in an hour…” The girl nodded and hurried back up to her room. Meanwhile, the two women continued the tour of the house.
“And I’m thinking of remodeling the kitchen…” Emily was saying to Amanda as they left the spacious and, apparently, not-quite-modern enough kitchen towards the formal dining room. “Just a comple-Aah!” Her sentence ended in a startled yelp as a thick hand grabbed the woman and pulled her around the corner and into a tight embrace. As Amanda came forward, startled by what had happened, a second arm grabbed her, wrapping her in a similar, tight grip. She started to struggle, but suddenly felt the barrel of a gun jab uncomfortable into her side.
“If you scream…or struggle…or try to resist you’re dead…” A man said as Amanda and Emily were dragged into the next room. He was tall and broad shouldered, dressed in a loose jacket, jeans and tennis shoes. A black ski mask obscured his face and he wore black leather gloves. Held in one hand was a large pistol, its barrel further lengthened by a long silencer. “Understand ladies?”
Terrified, they nodded. He snapped a finger with his free hand. The goons holding the two released the women. “Now, both of you stand over there, backs to the wall, with your hands raised, please.” The man ordered, waving the pistol to a free spot along the back wall of the dining room, next to an ornate hutch displaying a set of antique china. His two henchmen gave their captives a rough push in the same direction. Trembling, they did as they were told and stood side by side. Amanda glanced at her friend. She guessed this had something to do with Mike’s work. Emily looked back, a terrified expression on her face.
As they turned, they saw the other two intruders were dressed much like the first. Both also had pistols, which they drew and pointed at the ladies, and one of them had a small duffel bag slung over one shoulder. This man was addressed by the first man, who was clearly the leader of the trio.
“There’s also a daughter.” He said, “Go fetch her. Look upstairs, her room is on the left side.” They had obviously come prepared, working out the layout of the house and its occupants before breaking in. As Amanda saw, they had come prepared in another way…
Before leaving, the second man unslung the bag. Unzipping the top, he turned it out over the dining room table. Tumbling onto the smoothly polished surface were more than a dozen neat coils of thin white nylon rope, mixed in with a number of multicolored clothes, some wadded into balls, others rolled into long strips, tied in the center. Grabbing some of the rope and cloth, the man turned and started in the direction of the staircase.
“No! Please!” Filled with maternal concern for her daughter, Emily started forward but before she’d taken more then a few steps, she was intercepted by the other good who roughly pushed her back against the wall beside Amanda.
“Don’t worry mom. Your gal will be fine…provided you all cooperate!” The lead intruder said. “And the two of you can start by removing all your clothing right now.” He added with a leer.
“What!?! Why?” Amanda gasped in scandalized disbelief.
“Because I have two pretty captives and I want to see them naked…” The man told her, still grinning. “And because I have a gun…” He turned it slightly and pulled the trigger. One of the china dishes in the hutch exploded into shattered pieces of ceramic. “And I’ll use it if you don’t do what I say. Got it?” He threatened.
For a moment, the two women were too stunned to react. Though the pistol had a silencer on, it had not made the quiet ‘pfft’ of a Hollywood silenced gun. It had been more like a firecracker going off, echoing in the closed room. Less than an unsuppressed shot, true, and unlikely to be noticed by anyone outside the house, but it still startled the women and left their ears ringing for a moment.
“I asked if you got it!” The man repeated his threat, turning the barrel of the gun towards the two of them. With a yelp of fright, Emily began to disrobe. Amanda followed her friend’s example a moment later. As they were stripping, they heard a frightened shriek from upstairs, which terminated with a muffled thump. Emily gave a wail of fright, realizing what the sound meant, but it was manifestly impossible for her to rush to her daughter’s aid.
The two were out of their dresses now, clad in just panties and bras, reluctant to go any further. Their captor, however, was unrelenting. After some further threats, the two women removed their underwear and stood completely naked, faces bright red with shame as they tried to cover themselves with their hands.
That lasted until the next order was given. “Turn to face the wall. Hands behind your backs.” Having seen the pile of rope, it was obvious the captors intended to tie up the women, but the command still made Emily and Amanda tremble with fright. Once trussed up, they would be helpless to resist whatever the intruders planned to do with them. Unfortunately, the guns the men had meant Emily and Amanda had no choice. Wordlessly, they rotated to face the wall, steeling themselves for what came next.
The leader intruder stood back, keeping their captives covered with his gun while the other man grabbed a hank of rope from the table and advanced on the women. He went to Emily first, unfurling the rope, and ordered her to cross her hands behind her back. Stuck facing the wall, Amanda could only listen as Emily’s protests ended in muffled groans as she was gagged.
Then it was Amanda’s turn. The woman felt gloved hands grab her own and place them together, wrists crossed. Rope was looped around them with surprising skill and speed. Amanda winced as the binding was cinched and knotted off.
There was a pause as the man returned to the table for more materials. Then a gloved hand came around into her vision. It held a balled up wad of cloth. When Amanda instinctively closed her mouth, realizing the man’s intentions, he grabbed a fistful of her hair with his free hand and pulled, yanking her head back. As Amanda opened her mouth to scream, the cloth was forced between her lips, filling her mouth and stifling her cry. She struggled not to gag on it as the man took another cloth, this one tied in a long band, knotted in the middle, and pulled it between her lips and tied tightly, securing the gag in place.
Amanda was spun in place once more, so her back and bound wrists were towards the wall. Looking over, she saw Emily was in the same state as her, arms pulled behind her back, wrists crossed and tied. A cloth muzzle was tied between her teeth and beneath, her cheeks bulged from the cloth that had been packed there.
Just then, two figures came into the room. The first was Katie, being marched in at gunpoint by the intruder who had been sent to collect her. Like the two women, the girl was stripped naked, had her hands behind her back and a cloth gag tied between her teeth. Seeing her daughter, Emily let out a muffled wail. Katie cried out as well, running forward to her mother’s side. The two stood together, watching their captors with frightened expressions.
Katie had been in her room, listening to music, when Amanda and Emily were initially grabbed. The sound of the gunshot had finally gotten her attention and she’d left her room, not knowing what had caused the muffled sound. No sooner had she stepped outside, then she ran into the masked man who grabbed the teen, cutting off her scream with a hand over her mouth and pushed her up against the wall. At gunpoint, she’d been ordered to strip naked, then turn and cross her wrists so he could bind and gag her.
“Our apologies for putting you to this inconvenience.” The lead intruder said with insincere sympathy. “Out issue is with your husband, Mrs. Knolls, and the case he had been working on. I’m sure he’ll see reason and drop it, though, and the two of you will shortly be reunited. In the meantime, though, we’ll be holding onto you two.”
The Knoll’s women wailed in terror as they were made ready to go. Their ankles were tied with rope and blindfolds bound over their eyes. Then, each was hoisted over the shoulder of one of the men and carried, sobbing and struggling, out of the room. Meanwhile, the remaining kidnapper addressed Amanda.
“Sorry you got involved in this.” He said in the same faux polite tone. “We didn’t know anyone but those two would be here today, until we arrived and saw your car. However, since you are here, there’s something you can do for us…”
One of the two men returned a minute later, the second having stayed to watch over the Knolls. The remainder of the rope was used on Amanda. Her ankles were bound, as were her knees. Her elbows were tied and another cord wrapped around arms and chest, pinning them all together tightly. She was lifted off her feet and set on the table, lying with her naked breasts and belly pressed against the smooth, polished wood. Finally, the last bit of rope was tied off to the coils already encircling Amanda’s ankles. The man pulled on this rope, forcing Amanda to bend her legs back till they were pointed straight up.
“You’re going to serve as our messenger. When you see him, you tell Michael Knolls if he ever wants to see his wife and girl alive again, he’ll drop his case. If he doesn’t, well, he knows how our organization can make pretty women disappear.” The leader threatened. His goon, meanwhile, slipped the end of the rope around Amanda’s neck. It was tied off in a slip knot. With horror, Amanda realized that, with her legs arched back at the moment, the cord was slack, but if she let her legs fall and straighten out, as would inevitably happen when she tired, the cord would go taut, pulling the noose around her neck tighter and tighter until it strangled her.
“If you don’t last that long…” The man taunted. “I’m sure he’ll still get the message!” The two men laughed. Frantically, Amanda pleased into her gag, begging for her life. To her horror, the men walked out of the room, out of the house entirely, leaving her alone in the house, trapped in the peril they had placed her in.
She started to struggle, hoping she could free herself from the ropes, but almost immediately she was forced to stop when her legs slipped too far back, causing the slip knot to dig dangerously into her throat. Desperately, she arced her legs back and tensed her neck muscles and managed to somehow loosen it enough to permit her to breath unimpeded once more, but it was a terrifying foretaste of what might soon be her end.
Worse, the brief momentary struggling had convinced her of what she already knew: her bonds were tied too well for her to have any hope of slipping free, unaided. The coils dug into her skin with agonizing tightness. Her hands had already fallen asleep. Even if she could reach the knots, she’d have no chance of picking them loose.
Amanda’s only hope was to hang on as long as she could, and pray Mike came home and found her before it was too late. But how long would that be? She recalled that the big clock in the entry hall had struck 4:30 not long after her arrival. With all that had happened since then, it must be getting towards 5:00 at the earliest. Mike was expecting the three ladies at the restaurant at 5:30. How long would he wait for them? And what would he do once he realized they weren’t coming? If he came straight home, she might have a chance…
Amanda groaned as her legs unconsciously drifted back, trying to ease the strain in her thighs and knees, inadvertently pulling the nose tighter once more. She forced herself to bend back, loosening the choking cord once more. Eventually, she wouldn’t have the strength to do so, and it would be the end for her. Moaning, Amanda prayed rescue would come soon…