THE ADVENTURES OF JANE WOODSTONE: THE AXEMAN

By Mike Lee

PART 1

Jane Woodstone, ace reporter, was hot, tired and uncomfortable but that was hardly surprising as that she was bound, gagged and locked into a large packing case that was bouncing around the back of a panel van. She reflected with grim humour that at least she wasn’t pretzeled up in the back of a Japanese compact.

It had all started earlier that evening when Jane had been investigating a lead about the supposed use of a print shop as a front for running insurance scams. A careless individual had neglected to secure the back door and the intrepid redhead had wandered in looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth as she set about looking for evidence of scams.

She had found an unattended desktop computer and a quick perusal of the email revealed a string of emails relating to fraudulent activity. Jane was so busy congratulating herself as she scrolled through the messages that she failed to hear the stealthy arrival of one of the scammers.

“Help you with something, Miss?”

Jane spun around to be confronted with a gorilla in an ill-fitting suit.

“Uh yeah, I just wondered when I could pick up my new business cards.” She said innocently.

“Right,” the gorilla replied with a thin smile that let Jane know he didn’t buy her story for an instant.

“Oooookay,” Jane said. She blew her cheeks out and tried to look nonchalant and then she made her move. She tried to dart around the gorilla but he moved fast for a big man and he soon had her in a firm hold.

“Not so fast, sweetheart. I think you’ve got some explaining to do.” He grunted as he struggled to contain the squirming reporter.

A second henchman with slicked back hair arrived to see his partner struggling with the redhead.

“Louie, what should I do?” He shouted.

“Gee I dunno. Maybe get something to tie her up with you idiot!” Louie replied.

Jane struggled to get free from the thug but he was much stronger than her. “Let me go, you can’t tie me up. That’s false imprisonment, this is kidnapping!”

“Shut up lady, you was trespassing. For all we know, you’re a thief. I am making citizen’s arrest.”

“So call the police then.” Jane replied hopefully.

“Maybe later.” Louie said with a harsh chuckle.

At that moment Slick arrived with some rope and a couple of scraps of cloth.

Between them the two men bundled Jane onto the floor and sat on her while they tied her up. She fought like a wildcat and the thugs were surprised at what a struggle the slender young woman was able to put it.

“Hold her still, sit on her ankles.” Louie shouted as he tried to control her wrists.

Slick groaned as one of her knees connected with a delicate area.

“Get the hell off me.” Jane growled.

“Feisty little thing ain’t ya.” Louie wheezed, he had managed to secure both her wrists over her head in one huge paw.

“Open wide.” Slick said, holded a wadded up ball of cloth next to Jane’s mouth.

She clenched her jaw shut defiantly and shook her head but when Louie pinched her nose shut she had to open her mouth and Slick forced the dry cloth between her lips. He then folded another piece of cloth into a long strip and used that to tied the wadded up ball in place.

“You ever tie up a woman before, Louie?”

“Nah but I saw these movies once on the internet and I’ve been dying to try it. Looks like this is my lucky day.”

With Jane gagged, they wrestled her onto her stomach and crossed her wrists and wound a coil of rope around them in an ‘X’ formation before tying it off with a granny knot. They managed to ignore her muffled threats and profanities.

This kind of situation was becoming depressingly familiar for the young reporter and she found herself silently critiquing their roping technique. Amateurs!

The switched their attention to her legs next and debated whether to pull her boots off. In the end they settled for next winding another coil of rope over her jeans just above her knees. Another coil was looped several times around her ankles, snugging them together.

The two thugs used more rope than was strictly necessary and they took their sweet time doing it, grinning lecherously while Jane fumed quietly on the floor.

Louie then grasped her under the armpits and lifted her into a standing position but with her knees and ankles bound she tottered precariously. Louie steered her into a straight backed chair and sat her down. Her arms went over the back of the chair then took another coil rope and wound it around her slender waist and over her bound arms cinching her to the back of the chair. The ropes around her waist were nice and tight and Jane hoped she didn’t have to breathe in or she might have problems.

As Louie wound the rope around her middle, her back began to arch and her shirt was stretched tight across her chest.

“Make it nice and tight,” Slick grinned. “See if you can make a button or two pop open.”

“Man oh man,” Louie grinned, “doing it for real beats the hell out of watching some other guy have all the fun on the internet.”

Slick meanwhile had picked up Jane’s bag and was rummaging through the contents. “It seems we caught ourselves Miss Jane Woodstone, and get this, she’s a reporter.” He held up her business card to emphasise the point.

“I hate reporters.” Louie muttered, pulling out a cellphone. “I’ll call the boss and see what he wants us to do.”

Jane watched with impotent indignation as Slick continued to go through her belongings. He pulled our her cellphone.

“Hey do you have Angry Birds on here? I love that game.”

Jane rolled her eyes and huffed.

Louie walked back in with a knowing grin. “Let’s get Miss Pulitzer Prize loaded up here. The boss don’t like reporters either and wants her to have a little talk with the Axeman.”

Axeman? That did not sound good at all. Jane’s heart started to pound and her head swam with visions of the hulking yet stealthy bad guys from B-grade slasher movies, dispatching pretty co-eds with an arsenal sourced from Home Depot.

Slick wheeled a packing case into the small office. “Your carriage awaits my lady.” He said in a mocking tone.

Jane couldn’t believe it. Were they going to send her by courier? Contents: one bound damsel, this way up, handle with care.

“Great, now we gotta untie her from the chair again.” Louie muttered, eyeing the coils of rope he had carefully tied around her waist.”

“One sec,” Slick said. He pulled out his own cellphone and snapped off a few pictures of the furious Jane. “Heh, I wanna remember this.”

The two men carefully untied Jane from the chair and lifted her over to the packing case.

The bound reporter struggled and mewled into her gag as she was bundled into the case and then she felt herself being loaded up into the back of a van. She kicked at her captors, she kicked at the sides of the van and her crate but it was all to no avail. She blew air out of her nostrils to dislodge a few strands of red hair that had fallen across her face.

She tried to make herself as comfortable as possible in preparation for her meeting with the Axeman. She really hoped there was nothing to that nickname.

At some point they would have to stop the van to move her and then she would make her move. Jane started trying to pick at the knots around her knees and ankles. Annoyingly the rope was strong but also quite thin and they had pulled the knots very tight and she couldn’t slip a nail between them. They had obviously planned on removing the ropes by cutting them off.

The van slowed and the relatively smooth surface of the road gave way to a slightly rougher texture. Jane guessed they had turned off onto a driveway or access road and had driven into a garage or loading bay.

She felt her pulse quicken and her heart thumped in her chest.

Her two captors wrestled her temporary prison out of the van and loaded it up onto a trolley. She heard a third set of footsteps arrive. The Axeman.

“Here she is, all wrapped up for you. Enjoy, she’s quite a honey.” Louie said.

The newcomer said nothing but Jane felt herself moving as the trolley was wheeled away. She was nearly frantic inside the crate and she wished to hell she hadn’t stayed up to watch a Texas Chainsaw Massacre double bill the other weekend. She tried to remember how Jessica Biel had escaped from Leatherface and tried not to think about Jordana Brewster in the prequel.

Jane started kicking the sides of the crate and mmphing into her gag. She was sure the Axeman could hear her but he continued to wheel her along at his own measured pace.

Finally they came to a halt and Jane felt the crate move off the trolley. There was a scratching sound as the Axeman worked at the locks on the crate. Jane suddenly preferred she was much happier being wheeled around.

The last lock was opened and the lid swung open. Jane was stuck in the crate with her back to the lid. Two strong hands reached in and grasped her under the arms, she was swung out of the crate and deposited onto the floor on her back.

She blinked at the sudden light and found herself looking straight up at the Axeman.

He looked her up and down and then he smiled. “Hello Jane. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Let’s get to know each other.”

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