Intersection
By Lord Corinius
Disclaimer: This is a fantasy story. It has no basis in reality. Even the names of the characters are made up and have no relevance to anyone. It is for adult readers only, of legal age, and deals graphically with themes of bondage and captivity. It is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
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The sound of labored breathing could be heard in the dark. Two bodies, blind to the world but close to each other, struggled for breath in the hot, musty attic. It was a fine summer day outside. The sun, beating against the roof of the small home, had raised the temperature in the attic to well over 100°. Anna raised her head once again, and ran her eyes over the monotonous wall in front of her. In the dim light, the wooden shelf across the small space held miscellaneous tools, old lamps, boxes of old clothes, and other stored items. The wall on which it was anchored gleamed with shiny insulation, punctuated by wooden studs.
After one more moment seeing Christmas lights, a stack of hand towels, and other miscellaneous items that she thought had been lost, her head fell forward once again in resignation as her neck muscles cramped in pain. How long had they been confined in this position; an hour or two at least? Fatigue had set in long ago, and her body was now aching with a keen pain in her back, shoulders, and knees. There was nothing she could do to ease the discomfort.
Why had her roommate, Jessica, let the damned delivery man in the house in the first place? She should have known that they hadn't ordered anything, and that the heavy box he was holding must be a mistaken delivery for someone else. But when he offered to bring it inside, she had little choice but to thank him and stand aside so that he could set the box on the hall table. That turned out to be a huge mistake.
She heard Jessica beside her, breathe now regular, but quicker than normal, as if she had just run a short race. She was suffering in the heat, too. A few hours earlier, the “delivery man” had made both women go upstairs to one of the bedrooms, undress down to their underwear, and then climb the ladder to the attic. No amount of protest mattered. He didn't say much, but the pistol in his hand spoke volumes. He clicked on the naked bulb and made them lie face down on the dirty floor of the attic, with the warning that if they moved or made a sound, he would kill them. Anna initially lay with her head turned to Jessica. Their eyes met, fear evident in her friend’s blue eyes, a lock of her blonde hair falling across her forehead.
Anna’s eyes closed as she felt her bare arms twisted cruelly around behind her back, wrists crossed. The man was not gentle, and her slender arms were easily positioned in place against the small of her back. She brought her head forward to rest on her chin, her eyes still closed with fear and apprehension. The man was fumbling for something, but she dared not move. It was a few heartbeats that she was allowed to lie there with her arms behind her back, and the absurd thought passed through her mind of the young intern at work who seemed to be more than ready to please. Coffee had appeared on her desk, report printouts were collated and put in her mailbox, and the guy was just generally and obviously trying to score some points. Small chance …
The man now straddled her, sitting down heavily on the back of her legs. She gave an exclamation of pain, but he didn't seem to care. He repositioned her wrists side-by-side. And with an involuntary moan, she finally felt the thin coarse rope as he wrapped her wrists, first one way, then crossed between her arms in a tight cinch. There was no slack in the rope, and no way for her to keep any space between her wrists. A few more turns, then the rope was knotted tightly, passed through her arms twice more and knotted again. She knew she was now bound, her fingers clenched and useless.
The man now stood, quietly observing her. Once he seemed sure that she was secure, he moved quickly to Jessica, and the same treatment was repeated. Anna turned her head and saw Jessica react the same way. Eyes closed, mouth twisted in a silent scream, hair falling in disarray in front of her face. The man now bound Jessica’s wrists in the same way, wrapping the rope first one way and then cross ways and knotting it several times. Anna saw the neat, utilitarian way that her friend was bound, with a minimum of rope used. In a useless thought, she guessed that the advantage of this restraint was that no slack could be found, and their wrists would stay tightly and securely tied until he chose to release them. That proved to be true.
One other aspect of Jessica's bondage got Anna’s full attention. Somehow the man had tied her wrists so that a long piece of the rope was left slack, lying in a pile beside her. Anna now realize that the same had been done to her, and for a reason she did not understand, a shudder went through her body. She could not guess at the purpose of this long trailing rope, but it was probably not going to be good.
Partly from fear, and partly from the heat in the attic, she started to sweat. She felt a thin covering of moisture everywhere, and it was a very uncomfortable feeling. Anna was a woman who prided herself on her looks, the shape of her body, and the youthful appearance of her skin. She didn't spend hours making herself up, but was one of those lucky people who are blessed with a “full package”, with the minimum maintenance required to exploit it. She usually wore her brown hair in a ponytail that hung part way down her back. She was also cute, if the reaction of guys around her could be trusted. And she didn't like to sweat.
Because she was expecting a relaxing evening before it was so rudely interrupted, her hair was now free and spilled all around her head, and it was stifling. As she raised her arms slightly, she felt sweat covering her back. Because she was wearing nothing more than her bra and underpants, this left quite a bit of skin exposed. Despite the lack of clothing, she had rarely been so uncomfortable, and the attic seemed to grow even hotter as her fear intensified. Her palms moved together, fingers intertwining. The rope remained tight, allowing no twisting of her wrists.
The man had moved back to her. She watched him out of the corner of her eyes. He held in his hand several additional lengths of rope, and apparently he was not done with her. It was almost like he had an unlimited supply of the hemp. She was not a religious person in general, but Anna realized that she'd begun to pray. She thought that this home invasion could only mean one thing, and that both she and Jessica were in for a long night of rape. She shuddered again as thoughts that she had been taught to suppress came bubbling to the surface. Women don't like to think of how vulnerable they really are.
But it was with some measure of relief that the man raised her feet so that her knees bent, and she felt rope once again tightly applied, this time to her ankles. With a sardonic grimace, she realized that while her legs were bound together, she couldn't be raped. She looked back over to Jessica, who was staring at her with eyes wide with fear. Strands of her hair lay wet against her forehead, and a light shiny sheen of sweat was now visible on her body as well.
The man passed the rope inside of Anna's legs, pulling it all together in a tight cinch. And with a sinking feeling, Anna suddenly thought she knew what was about to happen, and it made her choke. The loose end of the rope around her wrists, tied tightly to her bound ankles... what was this called? It was some word that did not enter normally into her vocabulary, but she had heard it before. Something dirty; not something that should be done to a lady.
And as before, the man bound Jessica’s ankles in the same way. The young woman had begun to cry, and was beginning to gasp. But the man didn't care, and didn't pay any attention to her. The house below them was empty, and they were not expecting anyone that evening. There was no one that would hear her.
Then the man spoke, the first words he had uttered in a coherent sentence, and it hit like a ton of bricks.
“Okay my darlings, I think it's time for us to have a little fun. I think I'll start with you, cutie.”
Anna drew in a breath, fear shattering her thoughts as the man came towards her. He gathered up the coil of rope lying beside her, lifted her arms and then lowered them. Anna's arms were then again raised and lowered several times in a jerking motion, as if he were enjoying controlling her. There was nothing she could do to stop him, and tears began to flow from her eyes as well.
“Why are you doing this to us? What do you want? Take whatever you want, but please let us go.” She used her best pleading voice.
He gave a brief chuckle. “Baby, this is all I need right here. I just need to make sure you two will stay put for a little while.” His gaze was directed upwards, to the apex of the roof. A strong metal pole ran the length of the attic, part of the structure of the house. The pole was just out of his reach, so he dragged over a chair standing near the shelves. Anna recognized this as one of the old living room chairs they had recycled several years ago. She thought they had gotten rid of all of them, and now for some reason she wished that they had.
The man dragged the chair over beside her and climbed up on it. Looking behind her, Anna saw the rope attached to her wrists running up to the pipe, and then the free end fall to the floor as he threw it over the pipe. The man then stepped down from the chair, grabbed the free end of the rope and pulled slightly. Anna once again felt her wrists rise from her back, and they stayed slightly elevated as the man crouched again beside her, rope in hand.
“Okay darling. Here's where it gets a little bit uncomfortable for you. I'm going to pull you up to your knees. Don't struggle, or it will hurt a lot more than it has to.”
And once again she closed her eyes, tears of fear now flowing freely. What the hell was going on? What did this asshole really want, just to torture them?
“Please, don't do this. I'll give you anything. If you want money, or jewelry, it’s all downstairs in my bedroom. I'll tell you exactly how to find it. Just please let us go.”
The man chuckled once again, as if what Anna said was in some way humorous. He bent down close to her ear.
“No, I'm not here to rob you, lady. I just want to have my way with you for a little while. Like I said, we're going to have fun. Relax; I will take good care of you.”
Anna looked back at Jessica. The other woman had started struggling, trying to move away. She wasn't getting very far. The man looked back at her.
“I'll be with you in just a minute, honey. You're not going anywhere. You might want to watch this so that you can prepare yourself for what's coming.”
Jessica’s eyes were again wide with fear, and she stopped struggling. Perspiration now sparkled on her face, mixing with her tears. The man grinned amiably at her.
“Be patient. I’ll be with you shortly."
The air in the attic was dancing with tension. Anna knew they had come to the point of no return, and she tried to steel herself for the inevitable. This man was a psycho, plain and simple. He obviously enjoyed watching them suffer, and it was only going to get worse from here. She had watched enough TV detective shows like CSI to know that people like this son of a bitch actually existed out in society, and believed that they could take whatever they wanted. The trick was not to intersect them, or it would be bad. But this man had somehow intersected their quiet, comfortable existence with terror and pain, and the day of reckoning had come.
She felt her arms beginning to rise higher than they had before. He was now exerting downward force, pulling harder and harder on the rope in his hand. As he pulled down, the rope slung over the pipe pulled her wrists up until they were fully extended behind her. Her arms were now straight up, and with a rush of panic she felt her torso beginning to lift free from the attic floor. And still he pulled on the rope, beginning to grunt slightly with his efforts.
Anna began to groan with each breath, as her shoulders felt like they wanted to dislocate. Her body was not used to this treatment, and it hurt! She pleaded with him again. "Please, oh please. Stop. You don't have to do this. Please stop." Her breath was now coming in ragged gasps. The words were a course whisper. "Please stop."
But the pressure on her wrists continued as the man pulled harder. Her torso had now lifted free from the floor, and her head hung down as her arms were pulled higher, hair falling in front of her face. Her waist lifted, and then her knees started to scrape forward.
“This was not happening!”, a voice screamed in her head. But it was happening, and her wrists were now stinging with pain. Most of her weight was now suspended on her arms, pulled up behind her in an agonizing manner. Her chest bent forward naturally to relieve some of the pressure. But there was no relief.
Her body finally came upright, with her knees resting on the floor. She continued to groan with every breath. The pain was intensifying, and muscles she didn't know she had were beginning to ache. This position was maybe okay for a gymnast or a contortionist, but for her it was agony. His voice was again close to her ear.
"Okay, you've arrived. I'm going to let your arms down a little bit."
Pressure increased on her knees until she was basically supporting all her weight on them. Her calves and bound ankles made a right angle out behind her, useless. She raised her head, and turned it towards Jessica, lying a short distance away. The younger woman had scooted her body around opposite to the way she had started, and she was still struggling, weaker now. Her breath came in ragged gasps. Anna felt sorry for her, and she was always the one who seemed to need guidance, or was in need of a strong person to support her. Anna, for her part, was always the strong one, or at least tried to be, and in a crisis usually kept her cool. Jessica needed help now or she would completely lose it.
"Jess, we'll be okay if we just do what he says. Don't struggle. We can get through this, but we need to be strong. I think he'll let us go once he finishes. You will let us go, won't you?"
She directed this at their captor. He had knelt down behind her. She felt the loose end of the rope hanging down from the pipe being threaded through her ankle bindings. Slack was taken up, and she heard knots again being tied. As she pulled on her wrists, she felt her ankles rise, and so she knew wrists and ankles were now connected by the rope looped over the pipe. This was the position that he had chosen to put her into, and the bastard couldn't have picked a more uncomfortable, exhausting bondage.
Her body was bent forward and her head hung down. Every now and then, she raised her eyes to look around her. But this position was temporary, and fatigue quickly built up in her neck and back muscles, and her head flopped forward again. Her breath now came in quick gasps. This position was insupportable, and she would not be able to maintain it for very long.
She tried to straighten her back so that she was directly above her knees, and this did remove some of the strain on her arms. But there was no relief, no way for her to get her feet under her. Because they were tied to the rope that extended her wrists, any movement caused the entire system to tighten. Exhaustion was the driving force, and down she came again to gain whatever relaxation she could achieve by hanging limply from the rope.
As she hung there, with head hanging down so that she was looking at her stomach and knees, the terrible realization of their condition was beginning to dawn on her. They were fucked!
The man had moved over and was repositioning Jessica where he wanted her, and cries of pain caused her to raise her head and look to the side at her friend. Jessica was slowly being raised up into the same position that she was in, and Anna knew the agony Jessica was feeling. Jessica's arms were fully extended behind her, with the rope securely pulling her wrists up toward the pipe. And in spite of her own pain, she called out breathless encouragement to the other.
"Jess, it will be okay. Keep weight on your arms as much as you can. Let your knees get under you and he will lower you to take the weight off. Don't struggle, honey. It will be over soon."
If only she believed that. But she really didn't. Given the position he had tied them in, he obviously planned to keep them bound for some time. She raised her head again and looked at the man. He had raised Jessica to an upright position, and was slowly lowering her arms so that Jessica bent forward at the waist. He then knelt and tied the loose end of the rope to her ankles. With a deep sigh, he finally straightened up and looked directly at Anna. Lines of sweat ran down his face.
"Well, that was a work out, but you two ladies are looking mighty fine. Very nice, if I do say so myself."
Anna's head flopped forward again. One more time, she tried to straighten her back to take pressure off her arms. Because of the slack that the man had put into the rope suspending her to the pipe, her waist tended to hang foreword, and this was a constant source of fatigue. She would remain upright as long as she could, and then inevitably her weight would draw her back down to the semi-suspended position. This put more tension on her arms and wrists, and so it became a struggle to raise herself, only to sink back down in exhaustion.
Once again she raised her head and looked over to her friend. Jessica's body was in an identical position to her own. She was quiet now, breathe coming in ragged gasps as she tried to adjust the weight on her arms. It was quite a fight that she was waging, and Anna knew that it was her battle as well. The two women were bent forward, heads hanging, sounds of their breathing filling the small attic. The man just stood there slightly behind them, his eyes roving over every inch of their bodies. And suddenly anger consumed Anna. Despite the cramping in her neck and back, she craned her head around to look directly at the man.
"You need to let us go right now, you dumb fuck. This has gone on long enough, and you need to cut us down immediately."
She was the take-charge woman, the one who could solve any problem without relying on anybody. She prided herself on her independence, and if truth be told she didn't like men very much. She had had to tell more than one to get lost, and it really didn't hurt her too much. Except for one man … Jim McDonald was somebody that she felt she could share her innermost being with. They shared a great summer together, and even talked about marriage. But Jim was now a thing of the past, having been transferred to another city in another state. They hadn't kept in touch, but at least she wasn’t a lesbian.
So essentially, she was alone in the world, a fairly good looking woman who managed to turn some heads, but didn't give it a second thought. Now, with this criminal who had basically abducted them and was holding them captive, she was in new territory. The flash of anger continued as she saw the man take on a wicked smile.
"So the big man has victimized the poor defenseless women? Does that idea fill your pants, you little shit? You need to cut us down now, and not stand there fucking us with your eyes. I don't know what this means to you, but this is no fun for us. Please let us down."
This last sentence was said as a quiet plea, and slowly she turned her head away from him and it fell forward again in exhaustion. Her hair was an unruly mop, and strands were plastered to her cheeks in a wet netting of sweaty, dark clumps. It felt hard to breathe, and she wished, not for the first time, that her hair was in its customary ponytail and kept off of her face. She knew that every inch of her exposed skin ran with beads of sweat. She could feel it on her neck, shoulders, upper torso, and across her back. It ran into her underwear, which was becoming translucent with moisture.
And for some reason, this natural process humiliated her. She didn't know why, but even as a little girl she had avoided strenuous activities, like participating on sports teams. She didn't even really like to go to the health club that she belonged to. She paid a monthly dues amount that was not insignificant, but didn't go very often. She just didn't like to perspire; it was as simple as that. But here she was, in this hot attic, bound by a madman and sweating like a bitch in heat. She was sure that whatever got the guy turned on, she and Jessica were probably fulfilling every fantasy that he ever had. Motherfucker!
She lifted her head one more time and looked over at her companion in bondage. Jessica's body was now wet and glistening, and her hair was a damp mass in front of her face. The guy had moved to a bag that he had carried up with him, something that Anna had not really noticed before. He unzipped it and dumped out the contents. Once again fear shot through her. He had duct tape, plastic zip ties, and more rope. It was an abductor’s toolkit, and episodes of her favorite CSI shows once again flitted through her mind. Her head fell forward again with a grunt.
One show, a Special Victims Unit episode she thought, had shown the actress Kathryn Erbe bound, blindfolded and gagged in a basement, with her wrists fully extended above her to a hook in the ceiling. Her body was stretched so that she was on her toes. At the time, Anna hadn't really thought much of it, watching it one night with Jessica and a boyfriend. The scene was unusually graphic and violent for a TV show; that was all she thought. The situation was desperate for the female detective, and the sweat that poured off her body proved that.
It was a scene that meant nothing to Anna, except as a typical suspense plot. Erbe escaped (as they always do) by turning on her toes to unscrew the hook from the ceiling. Ingenious, but unfortunately Kathryn Erbe wasn't bound with them in this attic. If she was, maybe she would figure out how to get them free. But that was doubtful.
Anna was quickly coming to the conclusion that the bondage they were in was inescapable. When she pulled down on her arms, this raised her ankles and brought her weight down on her knees. If she tried to lower her ankles to somehow get her legs up under her to stand so that she could take weight off her wrists and maybe work the binding loose (ha ha, fat chance), her wrists and arms raised up and she slumped forward even more. It was an impossible situation. They would have to be freed by someone, and it didn't really look like it would be the abductor. She once again raised her head and turned it to the man.
"Please, hasn't this gone on long enough? Haven't you got everything that you wanted?"
Jessica chimed in, her voice barely above a breathless whisper now. "Yeah, cut us down. I really can't take much more of this."
The guy stood up, the roll of silver duct tape in his hand. From her vantage point, Anna knew with certainty that this meant only one thing. Up to now, they had been allowed to speak. There had been no screaming, and so there really didn't seem to be a need to keep them quiet. But she had watched enough TV to know that duct tape was used to gag someone. It looked like it worked with remarkable efficiency, and that was obviously what he intended to do. She didn't have much time.
"Hey man, there’s no need for that! I know what you intend to do with that duct tape, but there is no need to gag us. We'll be quiet, we promise. Just cut us down, and this whole situation will be over."
She was desperate now. If she was gagged, she would not be able to call for help or negotiate with him. They would be truly alone and totally in this man's control. That was something that she wanted to avoid at all costs. He was moving over to Jessica, slowly peeling tape off the spool. Anna’s voice was rising, and, try as she might to stay calm, she was panicking. Her neck cramped with pain, but she had to make eye contact with him.
"Please look at me. Please hear me, and let us go! We have people that are expecting us to contact them for an engagement this evening. If we don't call them, they'll get concerned and come over to find us. Then you'll be in deep shit. Please let me know you are listening. I mean, we can work this out. You really haven't done anything that can't be excused."
She got no responses, and with another groan her head once again fell forward, and in desperation she knew she had lost. He was going to do whatever he wanted to do to them. She didn't even want to look at Jessica; her ears were all she needed. The other girl was pleading for her life, begging the abductor to let her go. Her voice was rapid, and punctuated by moans. Most of what she said was not coherent, and Anna knew that fear had completely enveloped her. The begging became a muffled sound of unintelligible grunts. Anna knew that Jessica had been gagged.
She rolled her head to the side and peered through the wet hair that fell before her face. The abductor (that is what she knew him as now) was standing in front of Jessica. One hand was enmeshed in her hair to raise her face so that he could see it. Her eyes were opened wide, pleading with him. Duct tape now covered her mouth, and he was smoothing it down with his free hand almost gently. Anna could see the outline of her friend’s mouth under the tape. It's covered Jessica's face almost from ear to ear. He held her head erect for a moment more, no doubt drinking in the sight before him. The mat of Jessica's hair had been pushed back so that he could apply the tape to her mouth.
Anna wondered what the hell he was looking for. This man had invaded their home, made them strip to their underwear, and bound them in a hellish way. If this was some kind of sexual fantasy, he was fully engulfed in it. Jessica was a beautiful young woman of twenty-five, with long hair and a pretty face. And this man was now gloating over her, able to see every inch of her discomfort and fear. Sweat beaded Jessica's face, and her strained neck shined with wet skin, her muscles articulated by the moisture.
He finally let her head drop forward to hang once again toward the floor. Anna suspected that Jessica was close to utter exhaustion, and had no fight left in her. The abductor then turned to her. This was probably the moment of greatest fear for Anna. She did not want to be gagged. He was close to her, and stood directly in front of her. She raised her head and tried one final time to reason with him.
"I beg you to reconsider and please let us go. We have nothing to give you of any value. We are just two women trying to get by the best we can. We have boyfriends and jobs and families that we want to see again. Please!"
And then her head dropped before him, bowed in resignation. After a few seconds, she felt his hand in her hair, and an inexorable pull drew her face erect. She looked directly into his face. He was controlling her, and there was nothing she could do about it. She stood there suspended, her body sparkling with her sweat. Her underwear and her bra had become entirely translucent, and all details under them could be clearly seen. He smiled at her.
"I don't know what your name is, darling, but I understand that you have a life. I have intercepted that life, and I'm afraid you will never be the same again."
His free hand came up and smoothed away the wet strands of hair stuck to her face. His eyes drank her in. She was beautiful, that was to be sure. In his look, she felt an admiration that she had never experienced before. And as fucked up as it was, a small part of her appreciated his attention.
And then immediately, reason spoke up and reminded her of the
tendency for captives to attach themselves to their captors. Nothing more than that was happening here. She felt once again the throbbing ache in her
arms and shoulders, and the sweat that seemed to pour out of her in a limitless
quantity. And he had done it to her.
"Anna, this is nuts. This guy is a fucking lunatic." The voice of reason allowed no argument.
In that searing moment, Anna McIntyre flipped a bit in her brain that normally controlled her actions. This may have been a genetic thing because her father had been a fighter, or it may have been her fierce independence from the time she was a young girl. But in that moment, with her wet, sweaty face raised by his hand entangled in her hair, knowing that a piece of duct tape was ready to be slapped on her mouth, the only thing she could think of was to raise a wad of phlegm into her mouth, and spit as hard as she could onto his face.
Her spit hit his forehead, and he grimaced as with pain. It seemed to take him aback, and it was definitely not something he expected. He wrapped his hand tighter into her hair, pulling out hair follicles and causing her to wince. He increased the pressure on her head, pulling it back even further. Her neck was taut, and her mouth fell open. A gasp of pain squeaked out. She had made him angry, and there was nothing she could do to stop his attack.
The slap was delivered to her right cheek. It was hard, and the smack was loud in the enclosed attic. She was momentarily dazed, but her gaze remained steady into his eyes. The pain of the blow was really not that intense, and she blinked away the tears, praying that she wouldn't cry in front of this monster.
The agonizing hold that he had on her continued for a few heartbeats longer, and then he let go of her hair. Her head fell weakly forward, and in that moment she knew she was done. She had no more strength left to defy him. Her body felt broken, and pain seared through every joint. Her wrists were in agony, and her hands were numb. She was truly done.
The ripping sound of duct tape, and then the tearing of a piece from the spool, prepared her for what was coming. Once again, she felt his strong fingers twine into her hair, and this time with a yank, he pulled her head erect once again. There was no warmth in his face. Her spit remained on his face. His free hand slammed a piece of tape against her mouth, and, that easily, she was gagged.
Most of a person's breath is expelled and inhaled through the mouth, especially in moments where breathing is labored as hers was. But when the mouth is sealed shut, all air must be sucked in and blown out through the nose. Anna made the muffled grunting sounds that she’d heard from Jessica when the abductor had gagged her, and they sounded exactly like what Anna had heard in movies and on TV. It almost seemed like a stereotype; the abducted woman, bound painfully and then gagged. It was all the same, and Anna knew she fit the part perfectly.
He took his other hand and smoothed the tape so that it adhered tightly to her face. Because her lips had been closed when he pressed the tape on, they were now glued shut. He smoothed the edges of the tape once more to seal it completely, and looked again at her clear face. She had no blemish, and her eyes were full of expression, right now of pain. But she was a good-looking woman. He would be sorry to let her go. Beads of perspiration spread smoothly across her forehead, nose and cheeks; an image to remember, to be sure. The hair on the back of her neck swirled in wet eddies, and sweat dripped down her neck onto her upper torso, between her breasts under her bra to her stomach.
But all good things come to an end, and he was about done with these two young ladies. This time, he gently lowered her head until it was hanging again, and pulled his hand carefully from her wet hair.
He stepped back away from them, and only could see the tops of their heads, bowed almost to their knees. Their hair was a mass of wet curls. They were both breathing heavily now, and their bodies slowly rose and fell with each breath. It was an amazing sight. Their arms were pulled up behind them by their bound wrists, and he could see the two ropes that disappeared over the pipe and then descended to their bound ankles. He moved slowly towards the trap door and turned. They were both bowed, slim bodies shining with sweat. This had been quite an experience that he would not soon forget.
But the abductor always leaves the scene at the right time.
"Well, my darlings. You've given me everything that I wanted from you. When I saw you both in the food store several weeks ago, I knew that I had to have you. You are two lovely women, and I hope you will be found soon. I will make sure that happens.”
Anna and Jessica remained bowed, quietly suffering.
“We will not meet again, so there's no point in giving my description to the police. I'm sure you will, but they will not find me. So ladies, I bid you adieu, and I truly hope that you have a long and prosperous life. It's not easy for single women in this world, so find good men that will take care of you."
Still, the two women remained bowed, heads hanging, faces hidden by a cascade of wet hair. He reached up and pulled on the chain to turn off the lights. The attic was plunged into darkness, and when he pulled the trap door shut, there was no sound but labored breathing in the musty, hot air.
*****************
Gentle reader, you've been through an agonizing
experience. Anna McIntyre and Jessica
Sheridan were found later that evening when an anonymous phone call was placed
to the local police department. When the
police arrived, they were stunned to find the ladies bound in a high strappado, and overcome with fatigue. Their story made national headlines; they
were featured on
And Anna McIntyre? She looked for the man she called simply the Abductor. She knew he was out there somewhere, and she was keenly aware of what he had taken from her. Initially, she wanted to kill him. But eventually, she simply forgot about him, and the case officially became “cold”. Other women would fall prey to him, but it was no matter to her. She never saw him again.
THE END