Sisters 1

»Somehow, I doubt that this will be a recreation holiday!«

Isabelle Marceau tried to find a more convenient position on her seat, but despite her petite figure and her height of just 5`3``, she found that flying economy class was giving the passengers an impression of how sardines felt in their cans. At least, the flight would last for just some two hours.

»Nervous, Coeur de Soeur?«

A hand grabbed hers and Isabelle forced a smile on her face when she looked to her right.

»Oh, after all those holidays with you, what should I be nervous about?«

It had sounded like a good idea when her mother had proposed that Isabelle should accompany her younger sister on her trip to Malta, to celebrate her passed high school diploma. After all, she had definitely earned a few days off!

During the weeks after she had participated in getting a high ranking criminal arrested, things had been quite straining. Isabelle had been able to keep some of the more raunchy details of the affair that included kidnapping and human trafficking out of the records, but of course, she knew all too well that she had been stripped naked, bound and gagged by the criminals of whom now at least three were under arrest.

Isabelle had made her testimonies at court and at the same time, she had submitted a transfer request; too many memories were connected with the small village where she had been a veritable Capitaine de Police, though only by rank, not by salary.

Finally, one day before the verdict against Prince Ahmed, his chauffeur and another human trafficker, a Vietnamese called Linh Nguyen, she had been successful: in one month, she could start at Marseille. Of course, it would be a subordinate post, but it would be the complete new start she wanted. Too much had happened!

Since she had had some holiday entitlement left, Isabelle had decided to take her time to find to herself until she had to start in Marseille. That was when her mother had phoned her: Samantha had passed her exams and as a reward, she would be given a one week trip to Malta. Since the divorced father of the two sisters also paid his share, she had decided to invite Isabelle, too.

»When you passed your exams, I could only afford that silver brooch! Just consider it a belated present!«

However, she knew that her mother actually wanted her to be her sister`s chaperone. And though she had agreed and also loved her sibling, she had mixed feelings about the trip.

Samantha (she hated abbreviations like »Sam« or »Sammy« and always insisted that foreigners pronounced her name the French way) was as outgoing as Isabelle was shy. She had been premature and adventurous all her life and when she had reached puberty, it had seemed that she had sworn to compensate Isabelle`s reluctance in encountering with the other sex. Sometimes, Isabelle considered it a minor miracle that she had lost her virginity before Samantha.

But of course, she loved her younger sister and when she had arrived at her house at Saint-Martin-dans-les-Alps, her joy had not been faked. After all, Samantha was charming and warmhearted and Isabelle sometimes felt a bit envious about her being able to take life that easy.

»Come on, Coeur de Soeur, tonight, when the party`s on its peak, you will be off the hook!«

Isabelle sighed. Tomorrow, Samantha would become 18 and of course, she wanted to party into her birthday.

»Off the hook! According to Maman, I will be responsible for you until you are at least married for five years!«

In a mixture of sisterly concern, the maturity of her four year`s age advantage and slight envy, she asked:

»Anyway, I am not sure what you are anticipating! There aren`t that many experiences that you have left for reaching legal age!«

»You forget about driving!«

Samantha cuddled closer to Isabelle and whispered into her ear:

»Besides, you seem to have forgotten that repetitions can be quite entertaining, too!«

»Samantha!«

Isabelle sat up and looked with concern at the gentlemen sitting right to her sister, but it seemed that he was either not understanding French or very good in pretending not to listen to their conversation. Samantha tried to look lascivious, but her lips trembled and after a few seconds, Isabelle had to smile, too. She put her arm around Samantha and pulled her closer.

»All I want is that you are save!«

Samantha cuddled and nestled her head against Isabelle`s chest.

»I know, Maman – eh, sorry, I mean Isabelle!«

Isabelle playfully pulled on Samantha`s earlobe, but at the same time, she felt overwhelmed by her love for her fun-loving and uncomplicated younger sister. She wished that her own life could be less complicated, too.

Her thoughts wandered to the last evening when she and Samantha had talked for hours whilst emptying the half bottle of Mirabelle Isabelle had had in her shelves. The conversation had started at Samantha´s exams, of course, shortly touched their mother`s new friend and then landed at the criminal trial that had just ended a few days ago and in which Isabelle had played an important role. Samantha had so far only known what she had read on different news portals; in fact, it had flattered Isabelle that her sister had obviously read any article that had been online.

»It said that you were also caught by these criminals before they made their getaway. Was it – was it very hard for you?«

The look in Samantha`s eyes had told Isabelle that her sister wasn`t sensation-hungry but really concerned. However, she could not tell Samantha what had actually happened: how they had stripped her naked, gagged her with another woman`s used panties and left her with several death traps attached to her. So, she just had answered:

»It was no picnic – but I am okay!«

It was way past midnight. Both girls had changed into their pajamas and since Isabelle of course had no issues in undressing in front of her own sister, Samantha knew that her ordeal hadn`t left any scars or bruises on her. But she had taken Isabelle`s hand and asked:

»Did they – touch you? Hurt you?«

Knowing what Samantha meant, she had shaken her head. However, her sister had sensed that there was more and she had taken her into her arms. And suddenly, the feeling of love and secureness had enabled Isabelle to speak about something she had not even mentioned when she had made her testimony and had been under oath:

»There – there was someone – a man. H-he wasn`t a P-Policeman, but also no criminal. H-he – he saved my life! And then-«

»So what? Did you kiss?«

Reluctantly, Isabelle had nodded. And suddenly, Samantha had turned into the role of a mentor in matters of the heart. Despite being four years younger, she had always talked to Isabelle as if she was of her age.

»Did you – just kiss?«

Samantha`s smile had become broader as Isabelle`s cheeks had become hotter. It had always been Samantha`s greatest pleasure to find out details about Isabelle`s love live. She had never blabbed it around, but somehow, she had seen every amorous encounter of her older sister as prove that her own adventures only gradually differed from what even her prudish sister did.

»Aawww, so you have met someone!«

Samantha had kissed her cheek and though Isabelle had smiled, she had also shaken her head and sighed:

»It`s complicated!«

Of course, Samantha had then started to grill her, but Isabelle had dodged her questions. What should she tell her sister?

»Yes, there was this Mike. On our first meeting, he knocked me out, then tied me up and gagged me! And when I woke up, I found out he had stolen my panties!«

However, there had been more between her and Mike and Isabelle could vividly remember how he had touched her breasts or even her most intimate spots. In fact, the memory was so strong that if Samantha hadn`t been in the room, her hand would have found its way into her pajama bottom…

However, Mike was gone. He had left a number, but so far, Isabelle hadn`t dared to phone him or to send him a message. All she had done was to add him to her contacts and that was when she had seen that Mike had his own weird way of sending her a message:

At first, she had thought that his WhatsApp status photo was some strange kind of white flower, but when she had enlarged the picture, she had shuddered: The photo showed the three panties he had taken from her, arranged in a circle. It was a message only she would understand.

Isabelle had hummed and hawed and finally, Samantha had decided:

»Well, tomorrow at my Birthday party, we will find someone for you as well!«

Samantha had risen from the couch and raised her hand whilst she had slightly staggered and taken another sip from her glass. Then she had solemnly announced:

»I swear that I won`t let my beloved sister die an old, unbanged hag!«

Giggling involuntarily, Isabelle had shaken her head.

»How can you and me be related?«

Samantha had thrown herself upon her and placed a wet kiss on Isabelle´s cheek.

»Because we complement each other so well!«

As she had cuddled against her, Isabelle`s righteous outrage had melted away like an ice cube in the desert. She just could not be angry at her little sister for longer than a few minutes.

***

Malta`s international airport was located outside of both the capital and the tourist areas at the beach and so, Isabelle and Samantha had to take a bus to their hotel. When they were approaching the bus terminal, Isabelle suddenly heard a voice from behind.

»Isabelle?«

She spun around and her eyes fell on a brunette woman wearing a light, knee-length dress.

»Cordelia! What a surprise!«

Not quite sure of how to greet each other, both women took their luggage as an excuse to just exchange a rather casual hug. In fact, Cordelia had hesitated when she had recognized the elder of the two redheads as the Policewoman from Saint-Martin-dans-les-Alps. She liked Isabelle, but she also was a reminder of her ordeal.

A few weeks ago, Cordelia had been kidnapped by White Slavers and ended up at the chalet of Guylène Delacroix who had bought her as her personal »pet«. A few days later, she and her fellow captive had been freed by the Police, but before, they had endured some humiliating treatment and their rescuers had seen her completely nude.

Luckily, the judge had not insisted on Cordelia giving her testimony in person and had instead ordered Isabelle to question her. The Policewoman had also spent some time in the criminals` clutches and somehow, the fact that she and Cordelia had seen each other naked, bound and gagged had caused some mutual understanding between the two women, though it would have been too much to call it friendship. However, after the trial, Cordelia had said goodbye to Isabelle to return to Britain, but had never set a foot on British soil yet.

When in Paris, she had spontaneously taken her remaining two weeks of annual holiday and decided to collect some strength before she returned to work. She had not wanted to see anyone she knew and since she had always ranted that Malta was an evil mixture of the worst British and Mediterranean customs, she had thought that the island was the least place where anyone would assume her.

And yet, she had now bumped into someone involved in her nightmarish kidnapping after she had just set foot on Malta. She had seen the two girls and had assumed that they were sisters. They had the same height and since the younger one wore a tight top and a miniskirt, Cordelia, who had seen Isabelle in the nude, could also tell that they had similar measurements. Their faces, however, showed little resemblance and unlike Isabelle`s, the other`s red hair was straight.

Isabelle just wanted to introduce her sister to Cordelia when Samantha suddenly let out a high-pitched yell and stormed forward. She jumped upon another girl and they hugged before Samantha grabbed the other`s hand and pulled her with her towards Isabelle and Cordelia.

Samantha`s friend looked like an Asian copy of Harley Quinn or as if someone had tried to mix the words »cute« and »Punk«. The girl, obviously a Chinese or Japanese, was about Samantha`s height and also slender. She wore her long black hair in two braids at the sides of her head and had also dyed two broad strands, one pink and one blue. She wore a sleeveless yellow top with a pink »Anarchy«-sign on it and a broad studded belt to a short checkered skirt. Despite the heat, she was sporting black Doc Marten`s and when she approached, her many bracelets jingled.

»That`s Crêpe!«, Samantha introduced the girl. Cordelia raised an eyebrow at the rather strange name when the girl put her hands to the hem of her skirt and dropped a curtsey that contrasted oddly with her appearance.

»It`s Akiko, actually! However, when I was in my French class in Kyoto, everyone had to pick a French name from a list and I got ›Suzette‹!«

It took Cordelia and Isabelle a few seconds to get the pun and Akiko shook each woman`s hand. Isabelle said:

»That`s Dr. White from England. We – know each other from a previous encounter.«

Cordelia feared that the girls wanted to know more about that, but Akiko, who, according to her name, was Japanese, but showed none of the reservedness so typical of her people, asked her:

»Dr. White? Are you a medical doctor or a philosopher?«

»Economics«, Cordelia replied and that seemed to disappoint Akiko a little.

»I will start with History of Arts next autumn«, she explained, her subtext telling Cordelia that she considered that superior to Economics. Their bus now arrived and during the trip to St. Julian`s, it turned out that Cordelia would reside in a hotel close to that of the Marceau sisters and »Crêpe«. Though the two girls were quite charming, Cordelia thanked God that the two lively girls would not be around her every day.

In light speed, Akiko had told them that she had been in Samantha`s class for the last year at the Lyceum and that she was actually living with her older sister who worked at the Japanese embassy in Valetta, but would of course spend every hour of the next week with her bff Samantha.

»I will just send Michiko a message that I will stay with you for the night!«

Whilst texting on her cell phone, she and Samantha began to plan their trip through the clubs for Samantha`s »great night« and Isabelle looked a bit exhausted already. The girls also invited Cordelia to join the party, but she excused herself by being tired and obviously, her being 15 years older than the two girls acted as an explanation. She was sure that Samantha had muttered something like »old people need their sleep«, but she knew that even the 22 years old Isabelle would have preferred to join the old Ladies` club for the night.

***

»Prrt! Prrt!«

The vibration announced the arrival of a new text message, but though the owner of the cell phone was very aware of that fact, she could do nothing about it. In fact, there was very little she could do in her current predicament.

Michiko Ihara`s day had started quite usual that morning. Living in Valetta, she had, as usual, walked the half a mile from her flat to the Japanese embassy where she worked as the ambassador`s personal assistant. Actually, it was a euphemism for her being a better secretary, but with 23 and having just finished University, Michiko was at the very beginning of her diplomatic career. In addition, the job left her lots of free time and was paid considerably well.

When Michiko had left, her younger sister Akiko had still be sleeping. Michiko had sighed: Akiko obviously intended to become the family`s black sheep and a part of her already counted the hours until Akiko would leave again. The love between the two sisters had never been very cordially and now that Michiko considered herself a grown up woman, she despised Akiko`s girlish and slightly inappropriate behavior.

After a day`s work, Michiko was on her way home at the early evening. She had been deeply in her thoughts when she had passed the narrow gap between the wall and a parked van and hadn`t noticed that the side door had opened the very moment she was walking beside it.

Strong arms had grabbed her and pulled her inside and a gloved hand had clamped her mouth shut. It had happened so quick that the van`s door had already closed again before Michiko even uttered her first muffled scream.

»Uuuhhmmph!«

Now, something cold had been pressed under her chin and a shiver had ran down Michiko`s spine when she had realized it was the barrel of a gun. The man had kept his hand over her mouth and in enforced silence, Michiko had endured as his accomplice, who was wearing a black mask,  tied her up, using strong duct tape. He wrapped her legs at ankles and knees and then, he grabbed her arms and taped her wrists behind her back. More tape pinned her arms to her upper body and then, Michiko whose eyes had adjusted to the darkness saw him crumple up a cloth rag.

»Nnnnngg! Mmhhmmph!«

Her resistance was futile, as the other man now withdrew her hand, but before Michiko could scream, the rag was forced into her mouth and shoved deep into her oral cavity before some tight rounds of tape secured it there. Then, a tight and totally opaque hood was pulled over her head, rendering her blind.

Panting heavily, Michiko now heard some rustling and then, the side door was opened and closed again; obviously, one of the men had left the car, for the other one still held her by his arm and pressed the gun to her ribs. Still, none of her captors had spoken a single word.

»Mmhrrrmmm! Uuhmmmm!«

Michiko tried to fight it when she felt that her skirt was pushed upwards, but the pressure of the gun painfully increased and so, the fear for her life made her hold still. Restless fingers grabbed for the waistband of her pantyhose and then, something was shoved into her panties, pressing against her pubic mound. Michiko moaned, but the man withdrew and after a few seconds, the car drove off.

The trip seemed to last for hours, though in reality, Michiko guessed it was just some 30 minutes. But in her state of fear and blindfolded as she was, she had lost all sense of time and in addition, she soon realized that what had been shoved into her panties had been a cell phone, probably her own. Repeatedly, the phone vibrated when she got a call or a text message and both felt very irritating, given the fact where it was located.

Finally, the car stopped and Michiko was grabbed by her arm and forced to get out of the van. When she staggered, she heard an unwilling grunt and then, someone loaded her over his shoulder. She had squirmed and moaned through her gag, only to be rewarded by a hard slap on her butt. Two more slaps followed and then, she was carried inside a building where she was dumped on a mattress. Then, she heard the sound of a door falling shut, followed by the rattling of a chain.

»Mmhrrrrmmmm! Uuhhhmmmmm!«

Michiko`s muffled screams echoed in her prison and nobody answered to the helpless woman`s attempts to raise attention. The only thing she heard was when the van drove off little later.

***

The fact that she and Samantha had separate rooms offered Isabelle a little break from her lovely, but also straining sister and after packing her clothes into the cupboard, she had taken a quick shower and then decided what to wear for Samantha`s big event.

She put on a pair of white panties and as usual when she did so, she had to think of Mike. How he had taken them from her. And how he-

Isabelle shook her head and put on a matching bra, followed by an off white tunic dress together with a broad brown belt and matching sandals. When she did her hair, she again thought of Mike who had always preferred her hair open. Finally, she let her long curls flow and just used two hairpins to keep it from her face.

When she was finished with putting up some makeup and jewelry, Isabelle could hear from the giggling next door that Samantha and Akiko obviously still were busy getting dressed. So, she grabbed her handbag, told the girls through the open door that she would wait in the lobby and went downstairs.

The hotel »New Dolmen« owed its name an old dolmen that was standing in the hotel´s garden, just beside the swimming pool. It looked rather kitschy than impressive, especially as it was illuminated by colored lights. But somehow, it also looked cute and suddenly, Isabelle had an idea.

Before her concerns could stop her, she took a picture of the dolmen. Then, she opened WhatsApp and sent the picture to Mike. No additional text, just the picture.

Isabelle´s heart bumped when she had sent the message. The two hooks were still grey and she put away her phone, knowing that she would look at it repeatedly during the evening.

She was sure that he would recognize who had sent the message: Mike sure wouldn`t have posted her panties as a status photo if others could see it. Or would he?

»Now, he has got a sign from me! He now can react to it and I can decide what to do if he does!«

Sure, he would ask where she was and then, they could start some small talk where she could decide which direction the conversation would take. She was about to look if Mike had read – or even answered – her message during the last 37 seconds, but then, she saw Samantha and Akiko approach.

Akiko, who had brought no additional clothing with her, still wore her outfit from when they had met at the airport and had only refreshed her makeup and put a knot into her top so her belly showed off, allowing Isabelle to admire her belly piercing. Beside her, Samantha wore a tight black tube dress that left her shoulders bare and emphasized her ample chest. A silver chain around her waist completed the simple, but stunning outfit.

»Shall I send Maman a picture of you in that ensemble? She will take the first plane here and teach you manners with her rolling pin!«

»Kawaii!«, Akiko said in a high-pitched voice. Isabelle knew it was Japanese for »sweet« or »cute«, but it took her a few seconds until she understood that she was the reason for »Crêpe`s« enthusiasm. The Japanese grabbed her hand and said:

»You are so much like my own elder sister! Actually, I don`t like her that much because she`s a terrible philistine – but Samantha says you are cool!«

Isabelle scoffed at the back-handed compliment and mustered Akiko.

»Call me racist, but you are the most un-Japanese Japanese I`ve ever met!«

Not the least insulted, Akiko again dropped a gracious curtsey.

»Thanks for the compliment, Isabelle-san!«

She smiled, but Isabelle knew so much about Japanese that »san« was quite formal whilst she would have addressed a female friend as »chan«.

»Am I really an old ossified bluestocking?«, she thought by herself. Samantha saved the situation by hugging her and announcing:

»At least, I have the most beautiful chaperone for my last two and a half hours as a girl! Now, we better go or my first drink of the evening will already be legal!«

Samantha´s breath indicated that obviously, the two girls had already preheated in Samantha`s room. Without a word, she opened her handbag, offering her sister a Tic-tac.

»Oh, good idea!«

Akiko bent forward and pursed her lips and after some hesitation, Isabelle fed her another Tic-tac. Samantha giggled and looked at Akiko`s thrust out butt.

»Crêpe, you naughty girl! That old man over there is looking underneath your skirt!«

She hadn`t lowered her voice and the old man, in fact a man in his 40ies, quickly turned his head. Akiko lifted her skirt for the fraction of a second before she straightened up and said towards Samantha:

»Don`t forget, I am 18 for 117 days now! If I choose a Sugar Daddy, it would be just creepy, but nothing more. You will have to wait another two hours and 28 minutes to be that privileged!«

Isabelle rolled her eyes, anticipating the further course of the evening. However, when the two girls linked her arms from both sides and led her towards the exit, she followed willingly and even felt some growing joy: at least, spending the night with these two girls would definitely help her not to think of Mike the whole time!

***

Mike looked up from his book when the phone vibrated. It was his other phone – the one to which only one person had the number: Isabelle.

»Perhaps, she will just wish me luck since she is now engaged to some douchebag from the SWAT team that stormed the chalet and saved the day!«

He had forced himself not to ask his contact at the French Police if Isabelle still worked at Saint-Martin-dans-les-Alps and had decided to wait for her call. Of course, he had looked for her at Google, but only found two pictures that showed her: a graduation photo from her Lyceum and another one that had come together with an article about Isabelle having performed at a local ballet show.

»I should have taken some pictures if I had the opportunity!«

One of Mike`s qualities was that he usually could remain calm even under fire, but now, he would have preferred being under attack or defusing a bomb to just opening WhatsApp.

Laughing at himself, he finally took the phone. Isabelle had sent him a photo. No additional text, just a single picture of a big, colorfully illuminated stone that seemed to stand in some garden or park.

»Now, is that your strange way of telling me that I rock, Belle?«

Of course, he could just text her and ask where she was. But somehow, this didn`t feel right.

»For God`s sake, I am a secret agent, though a retired one!«

He enlarged the picture, looking for any further hint and finally, he detected something: close to the foot of the rock, he saw a small plaque. He could not read anything since the photo`s resolution was too bad, but he could recognize the flag: white and red, with a small cross on the white side.

»Malta! Well, that narrows it down to a few dozen hotels!«

***

When Cordelia stepped from the shower, her eyes fell on her body in the bathroom`s mirror and she gulped, though she had got used to the view over the last few weeks. However, in a way, it was like a scar from her ordeal, though it didn`t hurt the slightest.

At the chalet, her captor Linh and the mean Lady`s maid of her buyer, Aminata, had humiliated her by removing her pubic hair that had previously earned her the hatred nickname »Curly«. First, Cordelia had felt as if they had stripped her who had already been stark naked even more, but then, she had gotten used to the sight and feeling. In fact, it didn`t feel unpleasant.

Just to avoid the irritation of her hair growing back, Cordelia had even thought of using the anonymity of Paris to attend a waxing studio to renew the procedure, also as a part of a self-inflicted therapy. But that had been too much and also doing so by herself had not been an option. She hoped that sooner or later, she would look like before her ordeal down there. As if this embarrassment never had happened to her. However, Cordelia knew that things would never be exactly as they had been before.

»When I am back in Britain, I will see a real therapist!«

For now, she decided to have a light dinner at the Thai restaurant she had seen opposite to her hotel and then go to bed to do some sightseeing in the capital the next morning.

»One person?«

Cordelia gasped as the waitress approached the desk where she had been waiting to be seated. Then, she forced herself to smile and followed the woman to a small table at the window.

For a second, the Asian woman had reminded her of Linh. Cordelia took her water glass and sipped from it.

»I really need to see a therapist back in England! Otherwise, I-

She looked outside and nearly dropped her glass. There, just in front of the restaurant, she saw another Asian woman, obviously busy scrolling through her cell phone, and this time, there was no doubt: this definitely was Linh, the Vietnamese woman that had kidnapped and sold her and that should currently be behind bars in a French prison!

***