It was a crisp evening in Hazeldale, but it wasn't just any evening. Tomorrow was the Lunar New Year, or Seollal as it was called in Korean. Kayla Grace was as excited as ever. Sure, the New Year was a fun time of food and celebration, but more importantly her family was coming to town, namely Chloe and her mother Hana. This time, she hoped to keep them away from her usual antics of getting tied up and gagged, and to help with that she'd decided to take a week off from work just in case. She hated to leave work, but she knew it was for the best.

It came at a terrible time too, well at least in Kayla's eyes. In keeping with the holiday spirit, Kayla was working on a story featuring a local tea shop. It used to operate out of a brick-and-mortar location, right in the heart of Chinatown, but had since closed its doors. The doors may have closed behind them as they left, but they opened real soon to a new set of owners who totally renovated and changed the place. It was now a trendy Hot Pot restaurant, called "Harmony Hot Pot." The prices were high, there were way too many options, and the quality of the food was pretty bad. Not to mention there were already a handful of other great Hot Pot restaurants in Chinatown already! The most offensive thing was how this place marketed themselves. They really focused on the fact that they were upscale and offered a better dining experience than your average Chinatown restaurant. Just thinking about it made Kayla angry.

Needless to say she was not a fan of this new spot, and Kayla really missed the old tea shop. The owners were some of the sweetest people she had ever met, Marvin and Evie Liu. They had first opened the shop, years ago, their home just right above the store. Rent was on the rise though, and they had divulged to Kayla that their choice to sell the store and move out was purely budgetary.

Well, as individual of a decision as it might have been for them, Kayla knew there was something else going on. She was a reporter after all. She quite literally had her sources. After doing some digging into the situation she found out some interesting things about the new store owners. They weren't just another family, buying up the store and starting their own dream restaurant. No, these folks had some big money behind them. They'd received a huge grant from the city to open this restaurant, and shockingly enough in the year following the grant the rent had gone up forcing the Liu's to close down.

The city clearly wanted the tea shop out and the Hot Pot restaurant in. In the cities defense, the new place did bring in lots of business. While that may have been true, if the city had all that money sitting around for a grant why not invest back into the store? They could have used the money to help fix their air conditioning, upgrade their kitchen appliances, etc. They totally left the Liu family out to dry, and these new Hot Pot store owners were complicit.

In fact, Kayla had reached out to them for comment, but they totally ghosted her, refusing to set up any interviews. It was a huge tragedy all around, and Kayla felt awful for Evie and Marvin. She had been utterly delighted when they'd approached her and asked her if she could do a feature story on the events that had unfolded.

Even if Kayla didn't have such a big heart for small businesses, it was the perfect story to run too, what with Lunar New Year on the way and all. The reason being was the Liu family would always make the best moon cakes and hand them out to folks until they ran out. Now, without their commercial kitchen anymore, they had no way to do such a thing. The Hot Pot shop wasn't even doing anything for the New Year!

Kayla had worked hard on a big piece detailing all of this. She really worked hard to make an appeal for why the Liu's tea shop was more than just some random business. What they built was so much bigger than that, and Kayla's hope was to spread that message as far as she could. On the day the story went live she planned a celebration get together with the Liu family at the Tribune. She had Toby get some of Kayla's favorite Chinese food in all of Hazeldale, and they all posted up in the conference room for dinner.

Kayla had even gone the extra mile too, decorating the conference room with red lanterns and other traditional Chinese New Year decorations. It was the year of the dragon, and as such Kayla had brought in some big dragon prints and hung them up as well. While the Liu's were Chinese, Kayla was Korean and wanted to also bring in some traditional Korean elements to the new year celebrations as well. She'd stayed up all night making a big batch of dduk mandu guk, a traditional Korean soup with rice cakes and dumplings. Even outside of having this dish during the New Year, it was one of Kayla's favorites anyway. 

And finally, there was Kayla's outfit for the day. She'd gone all out in the spirit of the new year, ditching her traditional reporter fit for something a bit more dressed up. The outfit in question consisted of a form fitting two piece dress in a very flattering shade of red. It hugged Kayla's every curve, and she knew it was a hit when Toby saw her and nearly passed out! No outfit for Kayla was complete without a pair of tights of some kind, and with this ensemble she'd reached for a pair of sheer nylons, 30 denier to be exact. Pulling it all together were the thin black heels she wore with thin straps around her ankles. Her raven back hair fell straight down her back like usual, she kept things pretty simple up there.

"We seriously cannot thank you enough," said Evie, grasping Kayla's hands as she and Marvin said their goodbyes.

With dinner over, and Toby furiously at work getting the conference room put back together, it was time to bid the Liu's farewell. After all, Kayla had her own Lunar New Year Celebrations to attend to.

"Hey, it's the least I could do," Kayla said, "I really am happy to help any time. Your store means so much to Chinatown."

"You mean it used to mean so much," Marvin said, still ever so bitter about everything that had happened.

"No, I meant what I said," Kayla replied confidently, "it still means a lot to everyone in town. Trust me, I think this story is going to do a lot of good for you guys. Once people hear about what happened, I'm sure we can collectively put some pressure on the city council to find a way to get you guys up and running again. I know it won't be in the same spot but..."

"Kayla, dear," Evie said, "even if our shop never opens again, what you have done is a great thing. We are forever in your debt."

"So I can come over for dinner and tea any time then, right?" Kayla said with a wink.

Evie smiled, "of course."

After saying one final goodbye, the Liu's took off and Kayla helped Toby finish clean everything up.

"You know," he said, his face already turning red, "you're really exceptional, you know that? I mean what you did for the Liu's is just...well let's just say Jennifer would never go out of her way like that."

Kayla laughed, "wow, Toby! Your after hours smack talk is brutal!"

"I'm just saying, compared to you she's not doing this for the people. If she can get an angle on something, she does. But you...you really care."

"Toby," said Kayla, with a mischievous glimmer in her eye, "if I didn't know any better I'd say you were flirting with me."

Now his face was really red, practically matching the shade of Kayla's dress.

"I'm just saying," he said, fumbling over his words, "It's just...you know what I mean."

Kayla gave him a playful nudge in the arm, "I'm messing with you. God you're so easy. Now come on, I don't have all night. I still need to meet my family at the airport, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Well hey, why don't you go do that. I'll finish up here."

"Okay, now you're really flirting."

"Oh my...Kayla Grace, you are something else."

Grabbing her bag, she stopped in the doorway before blowing Toby a kiss and a wink, popping her leg up behind her and waving her foot around playfully.

"Happy new year!" She said as she skipped off.

Before she officially left, Kayla stopped by her desk and gathered her things. Her plan for the rest of the night included going home, changing, and then driving to the airport to pick up her sister Chloe, and her mother.

As soon as her bag was all packed, Kayla finally set out. She was officially on vacation now too! She had the whole week to hang out with her family, and she was absolutely giddy with excitement. Stepping outside Kayla was met with a cool February breeze, the sun about almost all the way set at this point. The parking lot was fairly dark now, but thankfully it wasn't as dark as it had been. Kayla loved the winter time, but she was ready for a change in season. It had felt like an extra long and cold winter, but spring was just around the corner now as evidenced by the days growing ever so slightly longer.

Reaching her car, Kayla cursed as she realized her keys were in her bag. She usually kept them in her coat pocket, but with her long sleeve dress she wasn't wearing one. It was a short walk from the office to her car, and it wasn't that cold out. In any case, Kayla had to set her bag down and search around for her keys. She maintained a high level of organization usually, but her bag was a great exception. It was always messy and had random things stuffed in there. Needless to say, it was taking her a while to locate her keys.

Just when she'd found them, and thought that now she was able to open her car and go home, she was interrupted by the sound of screeching tires as a white van slid to a halt behind her. Kayla knew that sound always meant trouble, but before she could react and come up with an escape plan she was overwhelmed by a pair of men that surrounded her and grabbed her.

"Y'all have the worst timing. I cannot believe thmmmmph!

One of Kayla's assailants had maneuvered his way behind her, grabbing her waist with one hand and then shoving a damp rag into Kayla's face with the other one. The smell of chloroform immediately overwhelmed Kayla's senses, a feeling she was quite familiar with by now...

"Wrrrrmph ggggrmmmph!"

She fought with all her might to break free, but with the other man scooping up her sheer clad legs she was rendered totally helpless. They dragged her into the van, the rag smashed firmly against Kayla's face all the while.

"Nrrmrrmph hhhrrhmph ffmfmmph..."

Her muffled cries for help grew weaker and weaker by the second as her body succumbed to the chloroform. The last thing she remembered was being flipped onto her stomach as her arms and legs were tied. The feeling of coarse rope encircling her wrists and digging into her ankles through her nylons were the last things Kayla felt before everything went dark.

.   .   .   .   .

Meanwhile at the airport, Kayla's family had just touched down. They'd expected Kayla to be waiting for them at the gate, but as they exited the plane and made their way through the airport, she was nowhere to be found.

"She knows to meet us here, right?" Kayla's mother, Hana, asked her daughter Chloe.

Hana, always one to dress fashionably no matter the circumstances, was wearing a red sweater over a flowy white skirt that brushed the middle of her thighs. Her legs were wrapped in a pair of dark tights, and her feet tucked into a pair of high heeled knee high boots.

Chloe rolled her eyes, "mother, do you even know the daughter you raised? Of course she does."

Chloe, whose fashion choices differed greatly from her mother, was wearing her signature all black look consisting of a black t shirt, tucked into a pair of black high wasted shorts. Her legs were also wrapped in a pair of black tights, with black thigh high socks pulled up her legs. It was all tied together with a pair of black ankle booties.

"Hmm, and you texted her, right?" Hana said, her growing concern ever so obvious.

"Yes, mother..."

"Okay it's just...I mean don't you think it's odd?"

"I do. Hang on, let me check with Madelyn."

Chloe dialed Madelyn's number, but after speaking with her she didn't know either.

"If she was supposed to meet you but she's not there, something must have happened," Madelyn said from the other line, "let me check her location, hang on. Okay so uhhh...looks like she's at work."

"And yet she's not answering her phone?" said Chloe. "Does that seem odd to you?"

"Very odd," Madelyn said, "hang tight. I'll come get you."

Chloe and Hana waited for Madelyn to arrive, their anxiety growing with each passing minute. Well, at least for Hana. Chloe was pretty calm all things considered. Then again she was used to having to be this way on account of her mother.

"Umma, she's probably fine."

"And how do you know that, Chloe?"

"Because you're a great mother, and you raised us well, and Kayla is a fighter. You know that. I'm sure she's fine. Besides, she gets caught up in all kinds of peril every week. She can hold her own."

A short while later, Madelyn had texted them that she'd arrived. Grabbing their luggage they made their way from the gate to the loading area where Madelyn was waiting with her trunk already popped open.

"Welcome back!" She said, giving Chloe and Hana big hugs. Madelyn was dressed in her usual cozy fit, a black jean jacket over a maroon turtleneck sweater paired with white jean shorts, sheer nylons, and pair of chunky boots with fluffy socks pocking out over the tops of them.

"I'd feel a lot better if I knew why Kayla was missing," Hana said, as Madelyn helped load her bags into the trunk.

"I know Mrs. Grace, me too."

"Madelyn, dear, please you can call me Hana."

"Oh, sorry Mrs...I mean Hana. Force of habit."

"Any updates?" Chloe asked.

"Nope," said Madelyn, pulling out her phone and checking once more for good measure. "It still says her location is at the Tribune. I know she usually works late, but not this late."

"Do you think she's actually there?" Chloe asked.

"I doubt it," replied Madelyn, "but it's at least the last place she would have been. We'll start there and just see where the trail leads us."

And with that, the trio of gals headed off.

.   .   .   .   .

Madelyn's intuition was right. Kayla was far away from the Tribune by now, but as she slowly came to she had no idea where exactly that was!

"Mmmmm..."

Her vision was still super blurry even after waking up. It took her a minute to get her bearings. She was in some kind of an old warehouse...typical. It took her no time at all to realize she was tied up, and whoever had done the rigging had really done a number on her this time. She was kneeling on a mattress between two metal poles. Her legs were folded up and tied in such a way, that her nylon clad heels were pushing into her bottom and the only thing making contact with the mattress were her knees. Plenty of rope was wound all about her thighs pinning her legs together like this.

Her two piece dress had suddenly become just one piece, the bottom half missing as Kayla was left in just her nylons. They'd also discarded her shoes too, leaving her feet totally bare. Kayla was more upset about the shoes than the missing garments, really. Those shoes were nice! She cursed herself for wearing them. Then again, she was also thoroughly upset that she'd been kidnapped. She did not need this right now!

Her arms were pulled behind her back, stretched straight out behind her so that her arms were parallel with the ground. Her captors had accomplished this thanks to the two poles where rope was attached to holding her arms in place like this. In fact, Kayla's entire body was help up like this, thanks to the ropes pulled taught connecting the web of rope-work around her body to the poles on either side of her. 

Her mouth was free, thankfully, but she had a feeling that was only because she had been under the effects of chloroform. Now that she was awake, she had a feeling that would change. Which, as she looked around, that was the final burning question on her mind. Who the hell had kidnapped her? She hadn't gotten a look at her attackers really, and as she wracked her brain she honestly couldn't narrow down why anyone would be after her.

It was at this point, that the sound of heels clacking against the cold concrete floor echoed through the warehouse. A figure was approaching Kayla from the distance, and as that figure got closer, Kayla's burning question was answered as to who had captured her.

"Sasha?" She said, almost in disbelief. It had been a while since the two of them had crossed paths, but Kayla's disdain for this woman was as strong as ever.

"Hello, darling," Sasha purred, "it's good to see you again."

Initially, Kayla had just been after Peirce, the CEO of Peirce Enterprises for his corrupt real estate dealings. What she'd uncovered was a full blown conspiracy between Peirce and Sasha, a corrupt councilwoman who was helping aid and abet Peirce. She helped push the various grants and permits that Peirce needed to build his real estate empire. Had it not been for Sasha, it would have taken years before he would have been able to achieve the success he did.

With Peirce out of the picture now, Sasha was furious. Kayla had committed herself to taking Sasha down, and Sasha was just as committed to do the same to Kayla. The two of them had been locked in this struggle for over a year now, playing a game of cat and mouse trying to get the best of one another but coming up just short every time. Well, this time, Sasha had clearly gained the upper hand on Kayla.

"I hope you find those ropes most uncomfortable," Sasha said, bending down and pinching Kayla's cheek.

Kayla pulled her face from Sasha's grip, shooting her an icy glare in the process.

"What do you want from me this time?" Kayla said, her words dripping with contempt.

"My oh my," cooed Sasha, "where are your manners? You're not even going to say hello?"

Kayla rolled her eyes, "just skip the theatrics, Sasha. Tell me why you kidnapped me and let's just get on with it. I'm not in the mood for your games."

Sasha frowned. "Kayla Grace, you are just no fun!"

"Hard to have fun when you're tied up like this," Kayla quipped back.

Sasha smirked, "I'll bet. I'm sure you understand though, why I have to keep you like this. You've got a great knack for getting out of the toughest jams after all. I can't take any chances. Oh and, speaking of which these are some lovely glasses you have here."

In her hands, Sasha held Kayla's round glasses. She proceeded to drop them on the ground before smashing them under her heel.

"What the hell?!" Kayla shouted.

"Oh don't even try and act surprised," said Sasha, "I discovered your cute little GPS chip hidden in there. You should tell whoever developed it to hide it better. It was pretty obvious sticking out from the sides. Points for trying though."

There went Kayla's one hope of getting out of this mess. She was really in deep trouble now!

"Can you at least tell me why you're doing all this?" Kayla asked, her impatience growing greater by the minute, as did the tingling sensation in her arms.

Sasha sighed, "I was hoping to have you guess, but it sounds like you just can't wait now can you? I saw your little story in the paper. It's cute how you thought you might actually be able to make a difference. And yet here you are again, barking up the wrong tree and look where it's landed you."

"Wait a minute," said Kayla, "so you're in cahoots with Hot Pot Harmony?"

"Call it cahoots, call it a scandal, call it whatever you want," said Sasha, "to me it's all just business. That tea shop needed to go, let's be honest. Business was slow, the owners are getting old, and it was time for something new."

"So you just forced Marvin and Evie out? Is that it?"

"You make me sound like some kind of villain!"

"Gee, maybe that's because you are," Kayla sniped back.

"Tsk, tsk," tutted Sasha, "you really don't know when to bite your tongue now do you? You're not really in any shape to be talking back. I'd keep that in mind if I were you."

Kayla could tell Sasha's patience was wearing thin. She liked to play games with Kayla, but even she had her limits. That never stopped Kayla before though, and she wasn't about to give in now!

"Well if I were you," said Kayla, "I'd have a hard time sleeping at night knowing what I had done. You're totally heartless."

"I'm a good business woman, that's all there is to it. And for the record, I sleep great. You know why? Because unlike you I don't mix my personal feelings with my business. Maybe you should take that advice and start doing the same. It would land you in a lot less trouble perhaps."

"Oh, you mean sell my soul for money? Sure, let me get right on that."

"God, you are such a mouthy little brat! Don't worry, I have just the remedy for such things."

Sasha snapped her fingers, and from the shadows emerged one of her henchmen. He carried with him an ominous looking briefcase. After handing it to Sasha he retreated back into the shadows. Setting the briefcase down, Sasha opened it up and turned it so that Kayla could see what was inside.

"Jesus, Sasha...really?"

Sasha grinned from ear to ear, reveling in her own villainy. "Get ready to open wide, Kayla Grace."

.   .   .   .   .

Back at the Tribune, Madelyn, Hana, and Chloe had just arrived.

"There's her car," Madelyn pointed out, parking her own before hopping out and walking over to investigate.

"Yeah, and this must be her bag," Chloe said, scooping Kayla's brown bag up from the concrete. "Looks like her phone is here too."

"I think it's safe to say something has definitely happened to my daughter," said Hana with worry in her voice, "I'm calling the police."

"Wait!" said Madelyn, "before you do just...if you can hear me out for like a second."

Hana eyed Madelyn with suspicion, unsure of what Kayla's friend could possibly say that would convince her not to get the authorities involved at this point.

"Mr.s Gr...sorry, Hana, before we call the cops, I think we should try and locate Kayla on our own first. If we get the police involved now, it might spook her kidnappers. We don't want them thinking that we're onto them yet. If we're smart about this, we may be able to locate Kayla ourselves, and then like call for backup or something."

"Gee, I'll bet that's never backfired before," said Chloe, rolling her eyes.

Madelyn chuckled, "you make a good point there. Still, it's worth a shot I think."

Just then, a voice called out to the trio of gals from the front doors of the Tribune.

"Hey, is everything alright? Wait...Madelyn?"

"Hey, Toby," said Madelyn as she waved for him to come over. "Sorry, but we think Kayla's been kidnapped or something."

"What?!" Toby said with astonishment. "Well then it must have just happened, because she was just here like an hour ago."

It was then that he noticed Hana and Chloe. He hadn't recognized them at first, but it soon hit him that these were Kayla's family members that he had helped rescue last year when they'd been kidnapped by the Red Tigers, the same family members she had said she was on the way to pick up.

"I guess she never showed up at the airport, huh?"

"Great observation, captain obvious," said Madelyn, playfully punching him in the shoulder.

"Nice to see you too, Mads," he glumly replied.

"Do these parking lots have security cameras?" Chloe asked.

"Better yet, I got something else." Toby said. "Check this out."

Toby pulled out his phone, opening up a fancy looking GPS app as he did so. The girls gathered around as he brought up a map of Hazeldale.

"Whoa, what's that?" Madelyn asked.

"It's a GPS tracker we installed in Kayla's glasses," he said. "With how often she gets kidnapped and goes missing, this kind of thing comes in handy, especially when she's away from her phone. Funny enough, this is how I found Kayla the last time these two were in town. Seems like we're going two-for-two here."

"That's Kayla for you," said Madelyn.

"Do you see where she is?" Hana said, grabbing Toby's phone and nearly yanking it out of his hand as she tilted it toward her.

"Well, that's the thing. Her signal isn't coming up. Whoever kidnapped her..."

"Must have discovered the glasses," Madelyn said finishing his sentence. "Guess we better check those security cameras then, yeah?"

"That's kind of our only option at this point," Toby said, "come on, I'll lead the way."

The group headed into the Tribune as Toby led them to the main office floor and into the security closet. Pulling up the footage, he scrolled through to the window where they suspected Kayla might have been kidnapped. Sure enough, right after she was seen walking through the parking lot, a white van rolled up and a pair of men jumped out and grabbed her.

"Watch where the van goes," said Madelyn, "maybe we can figure out where they were headed."

"That's a pretty big shot in the dark there," said Chloe.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Madelyn snapped.

Chloe looked at her with surprise, taken aback by Madelyn's sudden outburst. Madelyn could feel her face grow hot with embarrassment.

"Sorry, it's just..."

Chloe put a hand on Madelyn's shoulder, sending a spark through Madelyn's body. Her touch was so reassuring and gentle, and it caught Madelyn well off guard. Despite how hardcore Chloe's appearance was, there was a subtle softness and absolute confidence to her that filled Madelyn with ease.

"It's okay," said Chloe, "I get it. We'll find her."

Madelyn swallowed hard, pushing the lump in her throat as far down as she could manage. Was she feeling what she thought she was feeling? What the hell was happening?! She always joked about how hot Chloe was with Kayla, but this was the first time it was really sinking in for her.

"Okay," said Toby, bringing Madelyn back down to earth, "the van looks like it's headed East. My guess is they're heading to the docks. I know that's a stretch, but that's all we've got."

"That's actually not a stretch at all," said Madelyn, "the docks are a pretty common spot for thugs to hang out. It would make sense that they took her there. It certainly wouldn't be the first time."

"So you're saying Kayla is at the docks," Hana finally chimed in, "then let us call the police!"

"Well, hang on Umma," said Chloe, "we don't actually know that, right?"

Madelyn nodded, "we'll need to confirm it first. If we send the cops in now, what if we're wrong and it spooks the kidnappers or something. Not a lot of time has passed since she was nabbed. If they were heading to the docks, odds are she's still being held there. Let's go check things out first."

"Agreed," said Chloe.

Hana sighed, not fully on board with their plan, but she resigned herself to follow along anyway. She'd spent too many years unsuccessfully trying to tell Chloe what to do after all. If her daughter felt like this was the right plan, she would support her in that decision.

"How can I help?" Toby asked.

"Stay here," Madelyn replied, "We'll go find Kayla. We'll call you when we're ready for backup."

"Are you sure you three can handle things on your own?"

Madelyn shot him a rather dirty look.

"You think we can't handle ourselves?" She said chiding him.

"No it's just..." Toby stopped himself, realizing Madelyn's mind was made up. "Fine, I'll hang back, but you call me the second you need me."

"Thanks, Toby. I know I'm always making fun of you and stuff, but you're one of the good ones."

"Thanks...wait you do what?"

"Byeee!" Madelyn said, scurrying off with Hana and Chloe at her heels.

As the girls drove off toward Kayla's rescue, Madelyn once again took charge and worked on devising a plan for when they arrived.

"Okay," she said, "what's the move here. How do we approach this?"

"I still think we should just call the police," Hana said from the backseat, her arms crossed as she stared out the window.

Madelyn turned to Chloe, "you got anything?"

"Let's just locate Kayla first," she said, "once we confirm where exactly they're holding her, we can call in for backup. If they catch wind of it and get spooked, we can tail them and lead the police along so they don't get away."

"Great plan," said Madelyn, "now the only hard part is...can we stay out of trouble ourselves."

Chloe and Madelyn exchanged knowing glances. They were confident in their plan, yes, but they knew the risks involved. Anything was possible.

A short while later, they arrived at the docks. Madelyn made sure to park far enough away so that they wouldn't be spotted. From there, they headed over on foot, sticking to the shadows and being as quiet as they could. It didn't take them long to locate a lone white van parked outside one of the dock buildings.

"There, you see that?" Madelyn said, "that's got to be the kidnapper's van. I mean it's the only one out here so it has to be, right?"

"That's my bet, yeah," agreed Chloe.

"That is great," said Hana, "so can we call for backup now?"

"Not yet," said Madelyn, "sure we see the van, but we need to get and keep eyes on Kayla. The van could be a decoy or something. Trust me, these kidnappers may be brutes and thugs, but they're always led by people who know a thing or two. We have to keep thinking ahead here."

"Great thinking," said Chloe, complimenting Madelyn's foresight.

Madelyn blushed. She was finding it increasingly hard to stay focused after Chloe had touched her shoulder...her mind was racing with a million thoughts a minute from rescuing Kayla to...well, she really tried hard not to dwell on her other thoughts. Kayla was more important.

Together, the three women quietly maneuvered their way toward the building. They needed some way to look inside, perhaps a window of some kind. That was their plan at least, and so they circled around the building looking for some kind of way that they could peek inside. Thankfully on the side of the building there was a window, but it was just a bit higher up than any of them could reach. In another great stroke of luck, there was a stack of crates nearby. Madelyn and Chloe pushed it over toward the window together, and it was Madelyn who eventually climbed on top of it peeking through the window into the warehouse.

"Oh fuck..." she whispered.

"What is it?" Hana asked desperately, "is it Kayla? I need to see!"

"Shhhh! Umma!" Chloe whispered, scolding her mother for being so carelessly loud. "Are you trying to alert the entire docks that we're here?!"

Madelyn hopped down from the box.

"Kayla's in there alright," she said, "and they've got her really tied up. I mean like really tied up. The good news is they probably don't plan on moving her any time soon."

"I want to see," Hana said, pushing past Chloe and Madelyn and climbing up on top of the box.

She peered through the window and sure enough, there was Kayla. She was only visible from the rear, her pantyhose clad legs pushed up into her nylon clad rear with her arms stretched out behind her.

"Umma, do you see anyone else in there?" Chloe whispered.

Hana was up on the tips of feet now, scanning the rest of the warehouse for any other signs of life. The coast seemed to be clear, but she couldn't see the entire warehouse so it was hard to say for sure. Her entire focus was dedicated to this task that she didn't realize just how delicate the crate she was standing on was. It quietly cracked beneath her feet, but by the time she noticed it was too late.

*CRRAACCK!*

She fell right through with a big thud, the sound reverberating through the empty docks.

"Shit," Madelyn muttered, rushing over with Chloe to help Hana out.

"There's no way someone didn't hear that," said Chloe.

She and Madelyn were struggling to get Hana out. Her legs had slipped through the crate, and her skirt was caught.

"We need to hurry this up," Madelyn said, "before they..."

"Hey! They're over here!"

"...find us."

The three snoops turned to see a group of men round the corner near the front of the building. They each held bundles of rope and tape in their hands, clearly ready to bag themselves some nosy snoops.

"Shit, we need to get moving!" Chloe said, picking up her efforts to try and get her mother free.

"Just leave! Go!" Hana said, pushing Madelyn and Chloe away.

"What? Are you fucking crazy?" Said Chloe, but she could see from the look in her mother's eyes that she was being totally serious.

"I hate to say it," said Madelyn, "but she's right. If we stay here, we'll all get caught. We need to get to somewhere safe first."

"But...ugh, fine!" Chloe said, finally accepting the fact that both Madelyn and her mother were right. There was no use in all three of them getting captured.

"I'll be fine," Hana said, "do not worry about me. You two get away. Call for help."

It was hard to leave her mother there, knowing she would of course be captured. But Chloe knew it was the right choice to make. Taking off with Madelyn, the two girls sprinted away. Looking back, Chloe watched as the thugs, yanked her mother up from the crate, tearing her skirt in the process.

"Watch it! That is a designer skirt you mmmmph!"

A hand was slapped over her mouth, as the two thugs took out their ropes and started binding Hana.

Chloe and Madelyn didn't stick around to watch the rest. Instead, they dipped into the warehouse, and desperately searched for a place to hide. From the shadows they could hear more thugs shuffling around, trying to come up with a plan. They'd managed to slip inside, unseen for now, but it was only a matter of time before the thugs made their rounds and discovered the two girls hiding between the rows of shelving.

"What the fuck is going on!?"

Chloe and Madelyn heard the voice of a woman shouting as she worked to round up a group of thugs.

"No idea, boss," one of them said, "we found three snoops outside."

"Shit...did you call for backup!?"

"Mrrrmmph mmmmnph nnnnmph!"

Chloe gasped, but quickly slapped her own hands over her mouth to stifle any other sounds she might make.

"Sounds like Kayla," Madelyn whispered.

They couldn't quite see her from where they were in the warehouse, but they could hear her muffled response alright.

"Nevermind," the woman spoke again, "just round them all up and bring them here. We'll keep them secured until I can figure out our next steps."

"Roger that. We've apprehended one of them already. But the other two got away."

"Well then get back to it! Find them at once."

"Yes ma'am!"

Chloe and Madelyn looked at each other, exchanging worried glances.

"Now's the time we should call for backup, eh?" Madelyn whispered.

Chloe nodded, "it's a bit overdue I think, but better late than never. Let's hurry up so we can rescue Kayla, my mother, and get the fuck out of here."

"On it," Madelyn said, taking out her phone.

There was just going to be one problem with that...

"Oh shit," she whispered, looking at the big no service sign at the top of her phone.

"Are you serious?" Chloe squeaked, pulling out her phone only to see the same exact message. "Fucking hell, what rotten luck."

"You're telling me," Madelyn said.

"Now what?" Chloe asked.

They could hear the footsteps of the thugs getting closer and closer, their flashlights sweeping through the warehouse.

"We need to get out of here somehow," said Madelyn, "and just...keep running until we can get somewhere with service. That's kind of the only play at this point."

"Right but...how do we get out of here?"

"We can go out that same door we came in from. Or rather, you can go out that way."

"Wait...what? What do you mean?"

"I'm going to stay back and whip up a distraction," said Madelyn assertively.

"Are you fucking crazy? No way!"

"Chloe, listen," said Madelyn, clasping her own hands over Chloe's. "I work as a bondage model. I'll be fine. A little bit of ropes doesn't scare me. Quite the opposite actually but...we won't get into that right now. Just trust me. If we try and sneak out together, odds are we'll both get caught."

Chloe knew Madelyn was right, and lest she waste more time by arguing she agreed to the plan. After all, Madelyn and Kayla seemed to end up in these kinds of scrapes often. She had to trust Madelyn's call here, even if she felt bad leaving her friend behind to be captured.

"Okay," Chloe whispered, "I mean I don't like the plan but...I trust you."

"Thanks," Madelyn said, "you ready?"

"Yeah, ready when you are."

With a wink and nod, Madelyn stood up and then took off running through the warehouse. She wasn't kidding about causing a distraction! It immediately drew the attention of the thugs, their flashlights illuminating her figure as she tore through the warehouse knocking boxes and other random things from the shelves in an effort to slow down her pursuers.

Chloe had been so intent on watching Madelyn's impressive display, that she'd forgotten her role in this plan was to escape! Jumping to her feet, she turned to run, but instantly found herself running into a solid wall. Well, it felt like a wall, but this was no wall!

"Going somewhere?"

Chloe fell to the ground with a thud. She looked up to find herself face to face with a masked goon. From off in the distance, she could hear that things weren't going so well for Madelyn either. Despite her best efforts, her distraction attempts were short lived as the thugs that hunted her down were able to apprehend her quite easily.

"Get your grubby hands off memmmmph!"

A pit started to form in Chloe's stomach. With her and Madelyn nabbed, it was essentially game over for the snoop troupe. They had found themselves in exactly the same predicament as Kayla, with no way out and no backup on the way.

"Let's make sure you and your friend are nice and cozy," growled the thug, pulling a length of rope taught in front of him, snapping it together with a loud crack.

.   .   .   .   .

As all of this took place, Kayla sat, or rather knelt, in the middle of the warehouse still thoroughly restrained between the two metal poles. She was completely helpless and could only sit and listen as her reinforcements were nabbed and restrained. She wasn't even able to call out and acknowledge them either thanks to the absolutely massive ballgag she was chewing on.

Sasha had informed Kayla that this particular one was a whopping two and a half inches in diameter! She'd brought along a collection of various sizes, and unfortunately for Kayla her mouth could hold quite the volume! Sasha had worked her way up and up until finally landing on the two and half inch one, maxing Kayla's mouth out. Sasha had taken great pleasure in strapping the monstrosity in, forcing the silicone ball between Kayla's teeth as it snapped into place.

"Mmmmrrmmph," Kayla moaned, her ability to speak totally rendered useless under the strain of her massive gag. It filled every inch of her mouth, and by now there was a solid amount of drool collecting at the corners of her mouth too.

From her point of view, she couldn't actually see any of the action, but she could definitely hear it. She listened closely, doing her best to try and figure out who it was that had come to her rescue. It didn't take her long to piece things together. She instantly recognized Madelyn's protests, followed by her mother and then Chloe.

She felt awful that they too were getting roped up into this mess, then again she kind of figured this would have happened anyway. Knowing her family, there would have been little stopping them from trying to save Kayla, she had just hoped they would have been a bit more successful!

About fifteen minutes later, once the sounds of struggles had all but subsided, Sasha made her way back over to Kayla, her heels quickly and angrily stomping against the floor.

"I swear, you and your friends never make this easy," she barked, "no matter. What's done is done. They barely even stood a chance.

"Dnnnmmph yymmph dddmmmph hhhmph tthhmmrrmmph," Kayla sputtered.

Sasha laughed, "if I didn't know any better, it almost sounded like you were trying to say something. Want to try that again, darling?"

"Fmmmph yyrrmph!"

"That's what I thought."

One of Sasha's henchmen jogged over to her, giving report that the other three girls had all been subdued.

"Perfect," Sasha said, "Are the vehicles ready?"

"Yes, the escape route is all set."

"Excellent, go ahead and start loading up."

The thug nodded and then hurried off. Sasha leaned in close to Kayla's face, gently stroking her cheek with her index finger.

"It's been fun," she purred, "but it's time for me to wrap things up here. Oh, and if you even think about trying to pin this on me, just keep in mind that technically I'm in the Bahamas right now. So good luck getting the charges to stick.

"Wrrrmph!? FFMMPH!"

Kayla thrashed about furiously. The nerve of this bitch was really getting to her. Sasha was just on a whole different level than Kayla, she was truly a mastermind and knew exactly how to pull off the perfect heist. Once again, Kayla had to admit that she'd been bested.

"Let this serve as a lesson, to you, and those other three snoops that decided to join the party. Don't mess with me, got it? Maybe next time before you write up a bogus little hit piece, you'll think twice before hitting publish."

"Hrrmmph mmmph." Kayla tutted back in defiance.

"Fine, suit yourself," said Sasha, standing back up. "Keep putting yourself into places where I'm forced to keep you bound and gagged like this. After all, it's enormous fun for me. Goodbye for now, Kayla Grace. Good luck getting out of this one!"

"MMMMMMMPH! FFFMMMPH!" Kayla screamed at Sasha as she strutted off, exiting the warehouse for good this time.

.   .   .   .   .

Meanwhile, off in one of the main office rooms, Chloe and Madelyn strained against their own ropes. Madelyn was cursing herself for being caught so quickly, and she felt awful that Chloe had ended up getting nabbed as well. She had thought their plan would go well, but sadly it had backfired horribly. Their plans for rescuing Kayla had gone totally out the window now.

"Mrrmmph mmmmmmph!"

Chloe wriggled about, her face inches away from Madelyn's.

"Fmmmph mmmrrmph." Madelyn sputtered in reply as she shifted around in the chair.

Their captors had tied the two snoops together, first by tying up Madelyn to an old rickety chair, and then they'd sat Chloe down in her lap and connected the two girls together with copious amounts of rope. Chloe straddled Madelyn's body, her legs spread wide with her ankle secured to the back two legs of the chair, the tips of her nylon clad feet brushing against the cold floor. Her arms were pulled firmly behind her back, her wrists and elbows cinched together as her chest was pushed out and smooshed firmly against Madelyn's.

As if that wasn't enough, their assailants had been kind enough to rid them of their clothes leaving them in just their bras and pantyhose. As a result, Madelyn's face was bright red with embarrassment, but she'd be lying if she said the feeling of Chloe's nylon clad rear squished against her thighs wasn't something she enjoyed. Madelyn cursed herself for having such thoughts, and yet as her blue eyes locked together with Chloe's she felt a very strange sense that perhaps the feeling was mutual...

"Mmmmrph!" Chloe murmured, shifting her weight in Madelyn's lap, her chest brushing up against Kayla's blonde friend. She kept reminding herself of this fact, that this was Kayla's best friend. And yet there was something that was stirring inside of her at the same time...

They'd been properly gagged too. Madelyn's maroon crew socks, pulled off during their capture, were stuffed into their mouths, one in Madelyn's and the other in Chloe's. The socks were wet with saliva, muffling her cries. Chloe's long thigh high socks had been yanked down her legs, revealing her smooth, toned thighs still wrapped in a thin layer of nylon thanks to her tights. Her socks had been used to cleave gag the two snoops, pushing Madelyn's socks deep into their mouths and rendering them totally silent save for their muffled grunts of course.

"Hrrrmph mmmph ffmph," Chloe was trying really hard to get free, twisting and turning as she squeezed Madelyn's thighs between her own.

Madelyn was doing her absolute best to stay focused, but goddamn was it growing harder to do so by the minute!

"Ffmmmph mmmrrmph!" Chloe continued to grunt, straining against the ropes.

"Mrrrmmph chllmmmph!"

Chloe finally took a break from her struggling, meeting Madelyn's gaze. Madelyn started to slowly rock her upper body back and forth, signaling to Chloe with her head to do the same. They both rocked back and forth in this way, the chair creaking ominously beneath them, threatening to collapse at any moment.

As they rocked, their bound bodies moved in tandem, pressing closer together. Madelyn could feel the heat radiating off of Chloe's skin. Her heart was racing, and it wasn't just from struggling! She could feel Chloe's breath on her neck, her quiet grunts muffled against Madelyn's damp sock in her mouth.

The chair began to shift beneath them, creaking and groaning in protest. The legs buckled, and the whole thing started to tip to the side. Madelyn and Chloe took one last look at each other before the whole chair toppled to the floor with a loud crash.

.   .   .   .   .

Not far off in the room next door, Hana was wriggling in her own restraints. She'd been tied up in a seated lotus tie, her arms tied in a box shape behind her back, and her legs folded up underneath her. She was held in this position with plenty of rope, circling her arms and her legs. Her skirt was totally ripped now, revealing the tops of her stockings help up by garter straps. Even if her dress wasn't torn, the position she'd been tied up in was revealing enough, and as she rolled around it started look like she wasn't wearing a skirt at all!

Her discarded boots lay next to her, her feet left in nothing but her pantyhose. The two socks she had been wearing were currently stuffed in her mouth with wind bands of tape pulled tight between her lips and around her head to seal it in. She had been rolling around and searching for a way free, but there was just no slack anywhere to be found.

She finally resigned to just laying on her side, praying with great earnest that Chloe and Madelyn would find a way free sooner than she could! In either an answer to prayer, or perhaps just dumb luck thanks to their rickety chair, Madelyn and Chloe eventually burst into the room and discovered Hana all tied up on the floor.

"Mrrmmph mmmrrmph!"

"Don't worry, Umma," said Chloe, "I'll get you untied just...stay still."

"I'll go find Kayla," Madelyn said, skipping off while Chloe started to undo the many ropes tied around Hana.

About thirty minutes later, all four of them were fully untied, and back to being fully clothed as well. They sat there a moment, in the warehouse, just taking a second to breathe after the events of the evening. Kayla laid down on the mattress, her head in Chloe's lap as she stretched out her arms and legs. Madelyn sat on a nearby crate, and Hana was busy trying assessing the damage done to her skirt.

"Wow, mom, Chloe, I am so sorry," Kayla said, truly feeling bad that her work had roped them into trouble again.

"Hey, we're just glad you're okay," said Chloe, "don't worry about us. We're tough. Right, Umma?"

Kayla's mother scowled, glancing up from her skirt.

"I may be tough," she said, "but that was quite unpleasant. Kayla, I cannot begin to imagine that you go through this kind of thing on a regular basis."

"Oh, trust me," Kayla said, "it's always a drag."

"You say that, Kayla Grace, but I know you're a bit kinky deep inside," Madelyn teased.

"You think everyone's kinky," Kayla shot back.

"Ugh, you always misquote me. It's that I think everyone is a little bit freaky, that's what I said."

Kayla smiled, thankful to have a friend like Madelyn. She was always showing up when it counted, tonight included.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue you guys," Kayla said, "I would have been toast without you!"

"Why did you get kidnapped?" Chloe asked.

Kayla sighed, "it's a long story involving my arch nemesis."

Chloe instantly burst out laughing.

"Hey don't laugh, it's true!" Kayla said, playfully punching Chloe in the arm.

"Whatever you say, little sis'. Look, why don't you tell us all about it tonight when we finally get home. Madelyn's car should still be nearby. Let's get out of this creepy place."

"I second that," Madelyn said as she stood up, "I'll drop you all off at Kayla's place"

With their perils now solidly behind them, the four girls left the warehouse and headed back to Kayla's house. They said their goodbyes to Madelyn, and then Kayla and her family headed up to her apartment for the night. Thankfully, the rest of her family's visit was totally bondage free.

The day after their big adventure was the big day, Seollal or the official first day of the new year! They started their morning early, despite their late night, in order to watch the sunrise on the first day of the year. The rest of the day was spent making food, Kayla's mother was the queen of homemade mandu, putting Chloe and Kayla to shame with how well hers would turn out in comparison.

The feast they shared that night was incredible, and although Kayla loved the freedom of living on her own, having her family to share such an incredible meal with was something she never grew tired of. In fact, the whole week with her family was so refreshing. Kayla took them around town a bit, but most of their time was just spent relaxing at Kayla's house and taking it easy. Hana, who couldn't help herself, even made an effort to organize and clean Kayla's apartment!

Chloe introduced Kayla to a bunch of the bands she'd been working with recently, each one more loud and vulgar than the last. Chloe always got a kick out of the face Kayla and her mother would make when she put on some of her music. At one point she went on a whole rant about the differences between metalcore, grindcore, and hardcore, showing Kayla and Hana examples of each and pointing out the distinctions. For as much as Kayla adored Chloe, she could never bring herself to enjoy Chloe's music taste. At least the photos were less loud, and looked incredible! Even over the last year Kayla could tell that Chloe was getting better and better as a photographer.

With how much Kayla was enjoying herself in the company of her family, the time for them to head back inevitably arrived. Kayla gave them unbearably long hugs at the airport, as the three of them said goodbye.

"Text me when you land," Kayla said, finally pulling herself away from Chloe.

"Always," said Chloe, giving Kayla's hand one final squeeze.

She paused for a moment, still holding onto Kayla's hand. Kayla looked up at her big sister, clearly able to tell that there was something on her mind.

"You good?" Kayla asked.

"Yeah it's just..." Chloe stumbled over her words, "I thought I should tell you this first, because I'll bet Madelyn's going to tell you anyway, and I figured it would be best to hear it from me before her but um...yeah we kinda hooked up."

Kayla was stunned into silence, frozen in place at the sentence that had just come out of Chloe's mouth.

"Oh, fuck," Chloe said in a panic, "you're not...you're not mad are you?"

"Mad?" Kayla said, "Jesus, Chloe, I would never be mad I'm just...oh my god, congrats!"

Kayla threw her arms around her sister, embracing her with a tight squeeze once again.

"Chloe," she said, finally pulling apart and grasping her sister's shoulders with her hands, "of course I'm not mad. Fuck that whole trope of like...banning your best friends from sleeping with your family. It's their life, they can do what they want. Madelyn is awesome, and you are perfect, and the two of you..."

"Okay, slowwww down. There isn't a 'two of us' yet, it was just one hookup."

"Nope, too late, I'm already planning the wedding," said Kayla, "do you think mom will let you wear a black dress?"

"Oh my god, I can't with you," Chloe said, thumping Kayla on the head. "Why don't we just have a five hour phone call about it when I get back."

"Duh," said Kayla, "I'm already adding it to my calendar."

With that, she waved goodbye to Chloe. Just then, a text came through to her phone. It was Madelyn: