“We’re here!” 

Mia pulled her SUV up to the small isolated cabin that had been passed down in a will from her great aunt. To her knowledge, her great aunt had never actually really used the cabin, just paying a housekeeper to occasionally drive up and clean the place up, but it was relatively abandoned and a two hour drive away from home. Recruiting her best friend Cynthia Tang to accompany her, Mia wanted them to go through the cabin, see what was there, and maybe find a way to turn it into a summer cottage for their friends or an Airbnb. 

“This isn’t so bad.” Cynthia said as she got out of the car. 

Both girls were casually dressed in Converse, jeans, and tshirts with backpacks slung over their shoulders for the weekend stay. Cynthia pointed further down the trail that led from where they had parked. “Hey are those stables? Were there horses here at some point?” 

Mia saw what she meant. “Maybe? I’ll take a look later on.” 

Inside the cabin was a bit musty and the girls immediately opened the windows. It was relatively old fashioned, but a solid two story cabin out in the woods that made Mia feel like it would be very cozy in winter. Equipped with cleaning gear, the girls methodically went room to room, cleaning the surfaces, noting down things that would need replacing and talking about ideas they had for updating the cabin. To their surprise, the closets were pretty full with clothes and they did locate one full of equestrian related things which confirmed Cynthia’s suspicions that horses did live here in the past. 

Having brought cookware with them to cook meals as Mia didn’t trust whatever had been left in the cupboards all this time, but eventually the girls set up in separate bedrooms and settled in for the night. Mia lay in bed, going over all the notes that she had written that day about their plans for the cabin. It felt odd that she was now a homeowner. Not really the home she had wanted, but she at least owned some kind of property now and it felt pretty cool and at the same time, daunting. Putting her phone aside, she rolled over before hearing a strangle muffled noise from outside her room. “What was that?” She muttered to herself before throwing off the covers and padding down the hall. 

It sounded more and more like a muffled voice as she got to Cynthia’s closed door. “Cynthia?” She asked before pushing the door open. “Cyn-OH MY GOD!” 

Cynthia was indeed the source of the noise as she squirmed on the bed in her helpless state. Ropes attached to each of her limbs were secured to the four corner posts of the bed, pulling her spread eagle on top of the covers. A scarf was stuffed in her mouth and wrapped around her head, while another covered her eyes to render her both mute and blind. “Cynthia what the hell!?” 

Her friend tossed her head side to side, her black hair flying as she tried to dislodge the blindfold but it was no use. Mia only got a step into the room before something covered her mouth and she realized it was another scarf. Invisible hands seemed to grip her arms, holding her solidly in place despite her struggles and she was dragged away from Cynthia’s room back down the hall. 

Fighting against the phantom hands, Mia was brought to her own bed and pushed down on top of the sheets. Her wrists were grabbed and pulled above her head, where a rope seemingly appeared out of nowhere and bound her wrists before securing her to the headboard. Another rope wound around her ankles and was tied off to the foot of the bed tightly, ensuring that Mia was pulled between the two anchor points. She whimpered into her gag, the ropes hurt where they bit into her flesh but unless she found a way to undo the knots. There was a breeze in the air and she froze, wondering if something was passing by but the door swung shut by itself and everything was silent except for the muffled moans down the hall from Cynthia’s room. Mia squirmed and struggled, trying to find something with the wrist ropes but they were well secured and she only tired herself out. After about an hour of struggling, she gave up and as tired as she was, drifted into an uncomfortable sleep. 

The next morning, Mia awoke feeling very sore all over. “Ugh, what a dream.” She groaned, rubbing her eyes, blinking against the sunlight pouring into the room. 

Her wrists and ankles felt sore and they were red, but nothing like rope marks or anything were visible. Had she imagined the whole thing? Was it all just a dream? Mia had no idea but she wasn’t tied up now so maybe it had been all just a dream of being in a new place. She climbed out of bed and shuffled down the hall to the bathroom. On the way she passed by Cynthia’s room and saw that her friend was awake through the crack in the door. “Morning.” Mia greeted her. 

“Ugh morning.” Cynthia groaned. “I had a super weird dream last night.” 

Mia nodded. “Me too. No idea why but it’s alright. I’ll get breakfast going and we can get back to work.” 

Cynthia nodded in agreement, reaching for some clothes as Mia continued down the hall to wash up. Despite her belief it was a dream, Mia couldn’t help but wonder if it had been real after all. 

- - -

That night Mia was woken again, this time by her door creaking open. “Cynthia?” She asked groggily, switching on the lamp beside her bed. 

It was Cynthia, although to her surprise Cynthia was now fully dressed instead of her PJs in full equestrian garb in knee high riding boots, tan jodhpurs, and a white polo top. Mia had no idea where her friend would have found those clothes, possibly in one of the closets that they had not gone through, but she was more concerned about the eerie green glow emanating from Cynthia’s eyes. “Hello Mia.” She spoke, although her voice now sounded like there were two Cynthia's talking at once. “I see last night was not enough to dissuade you from staying here.” 

Mia scrambled backwards on the bed until her back pressed against the headboard. “Who are you?! What do you want!?” 

“I am Tessa.” She spoke as she stepped towards the bed, her boot heels making a very loud clopping sound on the wood with each step. “I onced lived here, peacefully and alone. Until you two arrived.” 

Mia flinched as Cynthia’s hands, clad in black leather gloves, emerged holding coils of rope that she dropped onto the bed. One remained in her hands though and she undid the coil before doubling it up. “And since you two didn’t seem to be bothered by the haunting last night, I decided to take it a step further and possess this pretty girl. If you’re intending to live under my roof, you’ll be living by my rules. And the first rule is all pretty girls are tied up at night.” 

Mia finally jolted into action as Tessa/Cynthia climbed onto the bed, a gloved hand outstretched to grab her. “No! Stay away from me!” She cried, horrified at the blank look on her friend’s face and the glowing green eyes that signified her possession. 

She scrambled backwards off the far side of the bed but she wasn’t fast enough and a gloved hand clamped down on her wrist. Her scream was cut off as some unholy strength in Cynthia’s slim body yanked her back onto the bed facedown and her face shoved into the pillow to muffle her shrieks as Tessa/Cynthia went about binding her friend. Mia continued to struggle under her friend’s weight but her hands were quickly trapped behind her and surrounded with coils of rope that were cinched off. More rope was wound around her chest above and below her breasts, pulling the tank top she had worn to bed tight as they were secured in place behind her back. Tessa/Cynthia then rotated around to turn her attention to Mia’s kicking legs, which were soon secured at the wrists and ankles. A short rope from her chest harness secured Mina to the bars of her headboard and she was rendered completely helpless. The final touch was of course a gag, as Tessa/Cynthia none too gently pulled her hair back and crammed a handkerchief into her open mouth as Mia cried out in pain. A scarf was pulled between her lips to act as a cleave gag to ensure it would not escape and Mia could only sit on her pillow and stare at her possessed friend. 

“Well now that you’re all secured, I think it’s time for my ride to join you. Shame, she was a lot of fun. I got to dress up in riding gear and I haven’t been able to feel this against a body in years. But my time is up.” 

Tessa/Cynthia slid backwards on the bed towards the foot of the bed, then the green glow in her eyes went out and Cynthia collapsed face first into the covers. Tessa must’ve unpossessed her, Mia realized before more objects floated into the room and she tensed up again. Helplessly bound, there was nothing she could do as more rope, leather straps, and a handkerchief arrived and began to methodically bind Cynthia in an identical manner to Mia. Rope at her wrists and ankles, straps above and below her breasts and at the knees, handkerchief stuffed inside her mouth and a long red scarf acting as a cleave gag to ensure it could not be spit out. Mia watched in horror as Cynthia was made helpless with a final hogtie rope that connected her wrists to her ankles and then attached itself to the end of her bed, ensuring Cynthia would not be moving from her spot at the foot of her bed.  

A couple minutes after her bondage was complete, Cynthia awoke. Her eyes slowly blinked open and Mia saw her gloved hands flex before realizing they were bound and Cynthia’s eyes snapped open. “Mrrrrrm?” She groaned, finding out about the gag before looking down at herself in surprise at the outfit she now wore. “Ish thshhh mmmnnnmmrr thrmmm?” She asked.

Mia shook her head as her eyes locked with her friend, terror evident on her face. Then above the bed, a grey mist solidified into the transparent form of a woman that Mia guessed was Tessa. “So, I offer you two a choice if you intend to stay here. Would you rather be possessed? Or haunted?”