In between a day of studying, Sara Phillips and Megan Marshall had decided on a shopping trip to the mall. Well, that is, Sara was pulled along by Megan who had quite the affinity for shopping specifically for shoes. It wasn't something Sara herself fancied, but Megan was quite keen on bringing her along and Sara was happy to keep her company even if she didn't totally understand this obsession of Megan's.

"Okay...which one do like more," Megan said as she sat down on a bench with two different pairs of high heeled shoes on. One was black with tall heels and the other red with tall heels. To Sara this was the only difference between the two pairs of shoes, but of course to Megan there was plenty to differentiate.

"Hard to say," Sara said, "they booth look great on you."

"Well obviously," said Megan as she flipped her hair in sarcastic fashion, "no, but really, which one?"

"The red one then," Sara said.

"Figures, you do have a thing for red."

"I really like them though!"

"I know, I'm just kidding around. I like them too. They pop a lot more than the black you know? Plus, I have this stunning red dress that they'll go perfectly with."

"Different from the one you're wearing?"

"Of course! A girl can have more than one stunning red dress you know..."

Sara smiled as Megan changed back into her own shoes and boxed up the ones she was planning to buy. Heading to the register, Megan paid for the shoes and with that the girls were off...or so they thought. At the register, Sara couldn't help but overhear a conversation that was definitely not meant for her ears. Nonetheless, she heard it anyway. She had a knack for eavesdropping, being a snoop and all.

"I'm telling you, people just can't tell the difference..."

"But what if they do..."

"They won't! Trust me...just have faith in me, yeah?"

The way the men talked in hushed tones...the urgency in their voices...Sara had heard it all before. Someone was up to no good.

"Hey, Megan...I overhead an interesting conversation happening between those two guys over there."

Sara motioned with her head to behind the counter where there was a hallway that branched off in either direction. At the fork were two men in suits. Their conversation was continuing as Megan and Sara eyed them.

"You think something's going on?" Megan asked.

"I'm not sure. I need a better listen. Can you distract the cashier for me? We might not have much time."

"On it!"

With her bag in hand, Megan skipped over to the checkout counter and called to the man standing directly behind it. After a short exchange the two of them were off and the coast was clear for Sara to snoop.

She walked up to the counter, but stood just off to the side of it where a display of shoes was. She was out of sight of the two men in the back hallway, but she could hear their conversation clearly.

"...these guys are the best in the business...the shoes they make are just like the real thing. They've done blind tests and everything. There's no way we're getting caught."

"But if we do...oh man I don't even want to think about the consequences."

"Then don't! Look, just let me handle everything, okay? Stop worrying and just let me do it all."

"Fine...but if this all blows up in our faces..."

"It won't."

And with that their conversation was over. All of the sudden, both men popped out from around the corner as Sara was standing there examining a pair of shoes.

"Oh, hello, ma'am. Finding everything you need today?"

"Yeah, I think so! I'm just browsing while I wait for my friend."

"Okay, well if there's anything you need, please feel free to let us know!"

"I will, thanks!"

Putting the shoe down Sara was holding, she skipped off toward Megan thinking she had played things off totally cool. However, her return to Megan was watched with glaring eyes...

"Hey Megan, you all finished up?"

"Yeah, I think so. This chap has been so helpful though...it'll be a shame to leave him after all!"

The worker clearly started to blush. Sara rolled her eyes.

"Well, we really should be going though. I've got that important appointment I need to be at so we should hurry!"

"Appoint...right, of course! Okay then, bye now!"

Thankfully Megan had caught on, even if it took her a little while, but the two of them were finally on their way out of the store. Sara had what she needed, but the tricky part of course was going to be proving it all. She'd figure out that part later. For now, she and Megan needed to get out of there before anyone caught on.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

An alarm sounded as Megan and Sara walked past the front entrance security barriers. Sara was perplexed as she had watched Megan pay for her shoes. The man even took the tags off as well. There was no way the alarm system should be going off…unless...

"Excuse me, you two, terribly sorry about this, but would you mind coming with me just for a moment."

It was the guy Sara had been eavesdropping on!

"There must be a misunderstanding, we didn't--"

"I'm sure it is just a misunderstanding, but I'm afraid I have to follow protocol. I don't make the rules. Just have to follow them."

"Like hell you don't," Sara thought to herself as she scowled at the man. She knew damn well that he was up to something, but there was nothing she or Megan could do about it now. Especially given the fact that the other man Sara had been eavesdropping on stepped behind them.

"Please, this will only take a moment. Follow me this way."

Megan looked at Sara with a pleading look in her eyes. Sara tried to reassure her as she returned her gaze, but even she knew they were in hot water now...

The two men escorted Sara and Megan to a small room at the back of the store. It was practically empty save for a desk along the wall and some storage boxes lying around the room here and there. Megan and Sara stepped inside first followed by the two men.

"Look, we didn't take anything. Besides you can't keep us here, we have rimmmmmmmmmmmmmph!"

Sara was grabbed from behind by one of the men as he slapped a wet sweet smelling cloth over her mouth and clamped his hand in place.

"Nmmmmmmmmmmph ggggggggnnnnmmmph!"

Sara fought back against him, but she was distracted by the sight of Megan also being grabbed and subdued as well. Whoever these guys were they hadn't come to play around...goons who came equipped with chloroform at the ready were big time baddies, and Sara had walked her and Megan right into them!

"Lmmmmmm mmmmmm ggggggmmmmmmph!" Sara furiously fought back against the man holding the chloroform soaked rag over her mouth and nose, but slowly and surely her strength began to fade as the drug did its job. Her arms began to feel tingly and weak, and her legs became wobbly and unstable. Before she knew it, her arms slumped down to her side, and her vision slowly faded until eventually everything went dark.

"Mmmmmmm..." Sara blinked her eyes open. Kneeling in front of her was one of the men who was currently busy looping rope around her ankles. This of course was not the only rope adorning Sara's body. While she had been out, the men had propped her and Megan up against the wall and using an insane amount of rope had tied the two girls in what could only be described as professional fashion.

Their arms had been pulled behind their backs and their wrists were crossed and bound. More rope had been applied above and below their chests pinning their arms down to their sides. Their legs were tied together with rope wound just above their knees and more rope wound about their ankles. Megan's heels were low enough that the man tying her had left both her shoes on, but for Sara her tall boots had been removed in order to secure rope around her ankles without the risk of her coming loose by kicking off her shoes. By removing her boots, Sara was left in her bright teal crew socks that she had on over her nylons. It was a handy trick to prevent poking holes in your tights. Sara was a tad embarrassed she hadn't chosen a pair of socks that matched her outfit better, but then again she hadn't ever expected for anyone to see them, especially not like this!

"Okay...that should do it then. These two aren't going anywhere."

"Are we just supposed to leave them here then?"

"For now...I need to figure out what we're going to do with them..."

"Oh come off it," Sara exclaimed, "do you really think you're going to get away with this? For someone who carries around chloroform and like a thousand bundles of rope you sure are dense."

"That reminds me...if we're gonna leave you two here best make sure you're kept quiet, yeah? Oi, fetch me that roll of tape, yeah?"

Riffling through their box of goodies, the one thug pulled out a large roll of clear tape and tossed it to his buddy.

"Now, all you two have to do, is just sit here and don't cause us any more trouble, got it?"

"Go to hell," Sara quipped back.

The thug rolled his eyes as he set the tape down on the ground and knelt down by her feet. Grabbing her legs he yanked her away from the wall as Sara fell backwards onto the ground. Thankfully with her arms being tied behind her back they helped cushion her fall a bit, but it still wasn’t pleasant.

“Ouch…what was that for!?”

But Sara’s question was answered as the man lifted her bound legs off the ground before peeling off both of her socks. Sara had a sinking feeling where this was going…

"Are you seriously going to gag us with those…is that really necessary? You have a whole roll of tape sitting right there." Sara attempted to bargain with the thug as he handed one of the socks to his partner.

"The way you keep running your mouth, I'd say it’s more than necessary. Now open wide!"

Sara tried to get one last word in before her mouth was inevitably stuffed, but the thug was more than prepared to gag her as promptly as he could. As she opened her mouth to utter a litany of insults, he swiftly jammed the sock into her mouth fitting as much of it as he could inside.

"Fmmmm ymmmmmm mmmmmm fffffmmmmmmmph!" Sara's speech was muted and garbled, but being gagged never quenched her fighting spirit.

Picking the roll of tape back up the thug wrapped a few layers of tape all around Sara's head completely sealing her sock inside her mouth. Well, as much as would fit in her mouth that is. It wasn’t a thin sock by any means. Sara purposely wore thick socks with her boots to not only prevent runs in her tights, but also to protect her feet from blisters. Such a thick sock was perfect for that, but Sara was now discovering that it also made for quite the effective stuff gag!

Throughout her career she had been gagged with all sorts of things from sponges, to cloths, even nylons! However, this was perhaps the first time she had been gagged by her own sock, and needless to say it was getting the job done. Her lips could hardly close over it, and her cheeks were puffed out as most of the sock filled her mouth.

She thought back to some of her snooping buddies she’d encountered over the years that had endured their own fair share of sock gags and wondered how they put up with it. Well, she knew Becky Carter didn’t put up with it! Talk about a girl with fighting spirit! It didn’t matter how many socks were crammed in her mouth, she never gave up!

With her own gag firmly in place, Sara glanced over to see how Megan was fairing. The poor girl still wasn't even gagged yet! She was clenching her jaw and fighting back as hard as she could not to have her mouth stuffed full of sock, but she wasn't really in the position to actually protest. All it took was for the goon who had just gagged Sara to hop on over, pinch Megan's cheeks so that her mouth puckered open, and then in went the sock. Megan's mouth could hardly close over the wad of sock as well, and as the clear tape was wound around her head you could still see it forcing her mouth wide open. Sara imagined she looked the same underneath her own gag.

"Finally, some peace and quiet around here."

"MMMMMMMMMGGGGGGPH!"

Sara roared through her gag refusing to let the thugs have any sort of last word.

"Well...quiet enough. Come on, let's try and figure out what the hell we're supposed to do now."

"Gggggggg bbbbbbbbph hhmmmmmmmph!" Sara shouted at the men as they took off and slammed the door behind them.

For a moment, there was truly a brief pause of silence as the men's footsteps disappeared down the hall, but it was promptly interrupted by Sara furiously beginning to struggle in her bonds. Thankfully, they hadn't taken the extra time to hogtie Sara or Megan leaving Sara plenty of room to wriggle around on the floor. She flexed her wrists and her nylon clad legs trying to see if there was any budge in the ropes, but sure enough the men had done their job well. There was hardly any give in the ropes whatsoever.

"Hmmmph," Sara huffed as she paused for a moment to collect herself and think. Stealing a glance at Megan, she checked up on her friend to see how she was fairing through all of this.

"Ymmmm gggmmmph?" Sara tried to ask to the best of her ability. By now she was fairly fluent in "gag talk," but she wasn't so sure if Megan would pick up on it. Sure enough, the best Megan could do was offer Sara a sympathetic glance as she sat fairly still against the wall occasionally shifting around grunting through her gag.

Sara truly felt bad for her friend. At the end of the day it really wasn't her fault, but she still couldn't help but feel like she invited peril wherever she went. She just hoped to get her and Megan out of this pickle as fast as she could.

Glancing around the room, Sara tried to take stalk of her options. The thugs had taken their bag with them, and all that was left now were the random boxes scattered around the room. She doubted that there would be anything of use in them. Her next idea was to try and stand herself up. If she could just get herself onto her feet, she could open the door and hop her way to help! The only risk of course was if those men caught her and subjected her and Megan to an even worse predicament...

It was a risk she needed to take though.

Sliding around on the floor, the subtle swish of her pantyhose across the cold tile sounding throughout the room, Sara tried to see if she could get herself into a standing position. No matter how hard she tried, it was just too difficult to stand up. Her nylons provided no traction, and having her arms pulled tight behind her back sure didn't help her either.

"Gmmmmmmph," Sara huffed again as a bead of sweat dripped down her forehead. She was most definitely a sight to behold. Her hair was matted down around her face thanks to the tape plastered across it. Her cream colored sweater had a healthy layer of dust covering it, and her skirt had long since ridden up. The only positive thing being that it came with a pair of built in shorts so it really wasn't that big of a deal, but still...she was a bit of a mess.

Despite all that, Sara was as determined as ever to get her and Megan out. Rotating her body toward the door, Sara had another idea. If she couldn't stand to open it, perhaps she could use her feet to get it open instead. Getting her rear as close as she could to the door, Sara swung her nylon clad legs up high toward the door handle and tried to get it open. Her pantyhose offering no grip once again. Still, this was her last shot at getting the two of them free, and so she had to give it her all.

"Gggmmmmmm mmmmmmmph!" Sara grunted through her sock stuffed mouth as she concentrated as hard as she could on getting the door open. Megan looked on with somewhat hopeful eyes, but she had long since given up and instead was concentrating her effort on her breathing. Having a massive sock in your mouth was no joke, and that alone was enough to pacify her.

Sara on the other hand was in the fight of her life trying to get her nylon clad toes to jostle the door open. She'd turn the handle a good amount, and then her feet would slip and it would be back to square one. This happened over and over and over again until finally...

click

She managed to turn the handle enough to unlock the door! Staying focused, Sara gripped the handle as hard as her pantyhose covered feet would allow her, and pulled the door back. Once the lock was clear of the frame, she let go. She had done it! The door was opened, and all that was left was for her to wriggle her way out and call for help!

”Nmmmmmph mmmmmph mmmmmph!”

Sara turned to see Megan mewing to her behind her own sock gag. Behind her back, Megan was holding her phone she had snatched from her purse. As Sara scooter her way over to Megan she saw on the screen that she’d sent a text to Alice, Lizzie, and Jaz asking for help!

Despite her look of despair Megan hadn’t given up after all! Only, Sara wished she would have called the police, but she figured their friends would be good enough!

“Nnmmmmmm jmmmmmmph!” said Sara once again trying to communicate behind her massive gag.

Megan’s eyes lit up, and even though her mouth was stuffed full of sock and wrapped with tape, Sara could tell she was trying to smile.

In no time their friends arrived, notified the police, had the men arrested, and set Megan and Sara free. The store manager was deeply sorry for what had happened and offered Sara and Megan complimentary shoes!

So in the end, things didn’t turn out too bad. As for their predicament, Sara hoped that was the last time she ever had her own socks used as a gag, but given her track record she figured it would only be a matter of time…but a snoop can dream, can’t she?

THE END