Chapter 1 - Clementina Opens a Package

"Clementina, you've got a package! Is it more of those anime books?"

As I became conscious, I struggled to free myself from the blankets of my bed. The clock next to the door showed 1:50 PM. The price to pay for a 5 AM gaming session.

My roommate Soleil had likely gotten out of bed just about when I fell asleep. And even though she didn't say anything, I'm sure she judged me from her position in the doorway. Whatever. I was used to being judged. And Soleil with her perfect body, perfect face and perfect ribboned ponytail of blonde hair couldn't possibly know how it was like for me.

Then my eyes fell on the package, and my blood froze. It was not anime books (And it's called manga, Soleil!) It was something I had waited for. And it was a an extremely sensitive secret.

Moments later, I had somehow gotten Soleil to hand over the package and gotten the door closed between us. I had managed to keep my cool, but now my hands were trembling as I clumsily tore through the wrapping and unveiled the contents. Four shiny pairs of handcuffs. State of the art with a time lock release function. Made for self-bondage.

Yeah. I'm a bondage freak. And no one could ever know about it. Especially not someone like Soleil. Hopeless, basic, vanilla Soleil. I knew her type from high school, and she would never understand something like this. It wasn't her fault. She was just exceedingly normal and, let's face it, not very bright. Me on the other hand, I'm not like other girls. I'm smart. I play FromSoft games and read sci-fi novels the size of bricks. Naturally, my tastes when it comes to pleasure is much too cerebral for something as basic as normal sex. And that's why I tie myself up.

Soleil never notices anything. In the beginning I was exceedingly careful, always waiting until she was out meeting someone, or going away for the weekend. I'd use whatever. String, rubber bands, rope or tape, wiggle around for a bit and then dispose of all the evidence long before she got home. But then I noticed exactly how oblivious Soleil was and I started tying myself up even when she was home. It was exhilarating, knowing I did something secret while she could, technically, walk in at any time. It was almost an addiction.

However, the sensation soon lost some of its luster. I wasn't very good at tying myself up and could always slip out in just a few seconds. And Soleil would never find out anyway. Which made it boring. The best scenario was obviously to have someone else tie me up, but since I wasn't in the market for being outed as a bondage freak, I had to resort to Plan B: Handcuffs.

The packaging inside the box was surprisingly simple. Just brown paper, with an instruction booklet that explained how to pair them with an app for remote control. Normally, I wouldn't care about reading instructions, but since I was about to put myself in a state of complete helplessness, I left nothing to chance. Time could be added, decreased, even paused, which made sense if you wanted to keep someone indefinitely. There were keys as well, as a failsafe. For someone like me, it was simple.

Moments later, I had put all four pairs on a five-minute timer and steeled myself for my daily dose of social interaction as I entered our shared living space.

I say shared, but it's really only Soleil who uses it. We each got our separate room, with a shared space in between that connected to a bathroom, a kitchenette and the severely overstated world outside. We rented from this nice old lady, and it was very affordable.

"Morning, babes!" Soleil said as she looked up from her magazine. Fashion no doubt. Superficial. I really had to talk to her about the "babes" thing. Some other day.

I grunted in response as I started to heat a pair of pop tarts and went to the bathroom. After seeing Soleil's sun kissed skin, I avoided looking at my own pale appearance in the mirror. I contemplated brushing through my raven black hair, but it was just going to get unruly again, so why bother. Putting that kind of effort into your appearance when you could game instead was a literal waste of time.

"I'm heading out in half an hour", Soleil said as I got my pop tarts. She was chewing a cucumber. "Will you housesit?"

I almost rolled my eyes. Of course I was staying inside. But this meant I had to move fast if I wanted to try my new toys while Soleil was still around.

Back in my room, all of my cuffs had released. As if on cue, music started blasting from Soleil's room. Basic top charts pop of course. Did she ever have a thought that was her own?

Egged on by this, I devoured my pop tarts and undressed. As in nude. Pale and freaky. I removed everything except a pillow and the white undersheet on from my bed and programmed the cuffs to release in thirty minutes. That way I could lay there as Soleil got ready and right about the same time as she went out, I'd get free. It was perfect.

My bed had a metal frame, and as I closed the metal cuff around my ankle and the solid post, I got shivers. This was so cool. And perilous. Way different than wimpy rubber bands. The second cuff closed, and my legs were now kept wide open. I planned to be spread out like an X. Spread-Eagle it was called.

My short stature meant I really had to stretch to reach the posters with my hands. With some effort the cuff around my left wrist clicked closed around the post. My breathing was getting shallow. I could feel myself getting hot.

Then, before I had time to think too much, I picked up my phone, pressed play, and stretched myself to the limit as I snapped the final cuff closed.

It was a completely different feeling from anything I had attempted before. My body was stretched so taught I could barely wiggle. I had been in similar positions, but the fact that I couldn't slip out of my bonds whenever I wanted was an absolute game changer. The unyielding embrace around my wrists and ankles. The soft clinks of the metal as the cuffs skidded against the frame. Until the timer was done, I was completely powerless. No smart plans could save me. It didn't even matter that I was a weirdo shut-in, because right now, I couldn't do a thing about it. Nothing was up to me. A sense of relief washed over me, along with waves of thrilling pleasure. I let myself be carried away into fantasy.

An upside of being smart is that I have an easy time imagining scenarios. Daydreams. What if someone found me like this? What if someone put me in this position? What if they wouldn't release me until they got what they wanted? Me just laying here, unable to refuse. I moaned. They'd be able to touch me. Anywhere. I would be completely unable to stop them. I could only beg. Maybe they'd even gag me! Or... oh, next time I could use a blindfold. I could even imagine I looked different. Something more like...

I glanced at the display on one of the cuffs. It had already been twenty minutes. Time sure flies when you're having fun.

The music from Soleil's room had died down. She was probably getting ready to head out for whatever she did for fun. Having coffee or shopping or some other basic activity. All the while completely unaware of her freaky roommate and what she was doing on the other side of that door.

Then, there was a simultaneous soft beep from all four cuffs. The numbers on the displays all stopped counting down. Pause.

Chapter 2 - Soleil Also Opens a Package

As I lowered the music, I sat down on the couch to wait.

You see, my roommate, Clementina, is really hopeless. She never goes out to meet anyone, she sleeps till way past noon, and she eats those horrible pop tarts every day. She, quite simply, isn't taking care of herself. With just a little effort, she could be so pretty, but she doesn't seem to care at all. Like she has just conceded life and decided to skip anything even remotely fun.

But what's more, Clementina has this thing where she ties herself up when she thinks no one is looking. I'm pretty sure she believes I haven't noticed, even though she's far from as sneaky as she thinks. It's all I can do to just avoid walking in on her. I suspect she sometimes does it even when I have people over.

So, when the delivery guy came with a package for her this morning, I decided to have a peak. To keep her from doing anything dangerous. And because I was really curious.

Imagine my surprise when I found four pairs of handcuffs, neatly packaged and wrapped together with a satin bow. Clearly, she wasn't putting together a Halloween sexy police costume.

Since it was still early and I knew she'd sleep forever, I spent some time reading the instruction manual. And marvel over how much she spent on these. Four of them. Apparently, they were controlled by an app, so I installed it and tried everything out.

Then I got an idea. I made sure that the app worked at a distance. Then I found a cardboard box and repackaged everything. Kept the bow though. Wrapped it around my ponytail. It looked cute!

After a couple of hours, I got tired of waiting and decided to just wake Clementina up. Then, I just dropped a fake little hint that I was heading out, went to my room and listened to some music to signal Clementina that the coast was clear.

With the app, I could track when she started. She had decided on thirty minutes, exactly as I thought. With five minutes left on the timers, I just pressed "Pause".

Now, unless Clementina asked me for help, she'd be stuck in whatever pickle she decided to put herself in.

I wonder how long it will take until her asocial shell crumbles?

Chapter 3 - Clementina Struggles

I couldn't reach my phone. I had tried about three hundred times, so I knew that for sure. It was on the sheet, and my pinky nail could just barely touch it, which made it that more infuriating.

I should have tried the system more than once. Something must have touched the pause button on my screen. Or there was some bug.

I had tried force as well, but I was careful not to make too much noise. Soleil was probably right next door. For your information, my skinny arms and legs weren't able to break through solid steel handcuffs. What a surprise.

This gave me two options.

The first option was to yell for help. For Soleil's help. And have her judge my freaky interest and laugh at me with disgust. Option one was not an option.

Option two was to lay here until I either got so malnourished that I slipped out of the cuffs, or just died. I slightly preferred that one.

Was there really no way for me to get free?

If only my bed wasn't so solid. Perhaps I could wait until Soleil went out and just break it. But the frame was all metal. I wouldn't be able to. But I wanted to at least try. Why wasn't she leaving?

At least I was more or less comfortable. A little stiff, sure, but not painful. I think.

Wait. What if it got really painful after a while? The body isn't made to hold the same position for an extended amount of time, I knew that.

I wasn't good with pain. Probably because my brain was so high functioning, it made all information coming through the nerves that much stronger. Being too smart really is a curse.

What if Soleil left and I changed my mind? What if something happened to her? Maybe some hot guy would chat her up and she would spend the night at his place, having boring vanilla sex?

But... what would she say? God, it was so embarrassing!

Then I heard the sound of someone moving out there. Soleil. She was probably putting on her boots. I had to decide. Now.

Chapter 4 - Soleil Gets a View

I was close to just pressing play on the app again and going outside. It felt a little bit cruel to sit here and listen to Clementina's fidgeting on the other side of the door. But I kept it up. This girl needed it. And at long last.

"...Solei? Are you there?"

It was a pitiful voice. So deeply full of shame.

I moved right next to the door.

"Yes, babes. Just heading out. Could I get you anything?"

Silence.

More silence.

Then.

"I need… a hand. Could you come in?"

As I opened the door, the visibility was low. Clementina always had the blinders down. Also, the air was kind of stale. But I could see enough. And it was more intense than I had expected. Clementina was stark naked, laying all spread out on her bed, with both feet and both wrists strictly cuffed to the bed posts. Completely stretched out. She was not going anywhere.

I had never seen Clementina naked before. Always with her constant baggy sweatpants and hoodies. She looked good. And absolutely terrified as she made pathetic attempts at covering herself which only emphasized her helplessness. Fingers and toe flailing.

I moved over the floor, crisps crackling under my feet, pulled the blinders from the windows, and opened them to let some fresh spring air in. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the view.

"Y-you couldn't understand..." a voice stammered behind me.

As I turned around I almost snickered. In the sunlight, I could see just how red face was. I didn't know it was possible for skin to reach such insane amounts of scarlet. I moved over. Stood at her feet with my arms crossed. I could see everything. For once, Clementina had nowhere to hide.

"Try me."

Clementina couldn't look me in the eyes. It was obvious she was terribly uncomfortable. Which wasn't that weird, considering.

Chapter 5 - Clementina is Released

This was my worst nightmare. Soleil stared me down while I lay here in all my freakiness. But it didn't seem like she was in any rush to free me.

Still, I couldn't bring myself to explain. I felt so pathetic. Just some trash who could never fit in with rest of society. Too weird, too awkward, too...

"Try me", Soleil repeated. Her face was hard to read. "Or I could always come back later?"

Something stirred in me. I became a bit annoyed. Miss Normal. Miss Perfect. She didn't know how it was to be this weird. This far outside the norms of society.

"Someone like you wouldn't understand", I said. Soleil raised an eyebrow. "I'm not normal, like you. I don't have perfect skin or hair. I don't fit in like you do. I'm weird, okay! And I like... I like b- I like bondage, okay! I tie myself up!"

Soleil shrugged.

"Okay, so what?"

My mouth opened like I was a fish. I had been prepared for ridicule. I had been prepared for disgust. I had not been prepared for casual indifference.

"S-so what!? People who like bondage are freaks! Everyone knows that! We're not like other people, we're..."

"...Special?" Soleil smiled. "Not that special babes. Like... I've lost count on how many guys that tried to tie my hands in the bedroom. And some who wished for me to tie them up instead. Girls too. They're usually better at it, F.Y.I."

Images flashed before me. Soleil. Tied up. And the way she talked about it. Like it was the most unspectacular thing in the world. Something people just did. This... it didn't make sense! Bondage was my thing, not something people like this basic vanilla girl did. My pitch-black secret, within the darkest corner of my heart. And Soleil was flooding it with light.

I wanted to run away. To hide. To creep so deep into my closet that I ended up in Narnia. But I couldn't. I was stuck here in the light, cuffed and on full display.

Then Soleil approached. Her eyes had a gleam I hadn't seen before.

"So, it seems to me that the genius Clementina has a choice to make ", she said, as she ran her finger over the metal cuff around my ankle.

"You could beg me to release you..."

She moved her finger from the cuff to tracing my ankle, moving further and further up my leg. I was not used to other people touching me. Certainly not like this. Unable to move away. Like a doll. A plaything.

Soleil's finger moved up my hips, up my side and sweaty armpit. Along my neck, before gripping my chin. Her face was close to mine. Her eyes were everywhere.

"Or. You could beg me... to play with you."

I swallowed hard.

Cuffed to my bed with heavy steel, I suddenly felt light.