The Scarlet Anniversary

by Lubowa M. Planet

  ‘That’s reassuring,’ Katie shifted her weight on the chair and glanced at her jeans. ‘So, how did they get you?’

  ‘I was coming home from a University meeting. I made the mistake of going through a quiet back road I know and the next thing I really knew was when I woke up tied up in their car.’

  ‘Yeah, they got me the same way. I had gone out for a walk and then I remember someone asking for some help. Then I was in the car.’ She looked around the cottage. ‘I wonder where the Hell we are.’

  ‘I have no idea what direction they brought us in but we are at least two hours from the city centre. We could be anywhere though – I would imagine that because we aren’t gagged anymore then they are pretty sure that no-one will hear. So I think wherever we are must be quite isolated.’ Portia paused. ‘I also don’t think that we are the first people they have done this to either.’

  ‘Shit,’ Katie nodded a little; she had drawn the same conclusion. They were too practiced. The ropes around her had been too tight and well applied and these bastards had managed to grab her from a quiet street in daylight and transport her here with what seemed like ease. ‘So, they’re murderers then? This just isn’t a kidnapping is it?’

  ‘No, I don’t think it is,’ Portia admitted. ‘The fact that we’ve seen their faces doesn’t help either – we’re not just victims now, we’re witnesses. If they had kept us gagged and blindfolded then we may have had a sliver of a chance of escaping, but as soon as we saw them, then we were, and I do hope you will excuse the expression, but we were fucked.’

  ‘I wonder who they are.’

  ‘I would say that they are a couple of bland non-entities, nothing special in their day to day lives,’ Portia mused. ‘They are married and they have an odd dynamic that I haven’t quite worked out yet.’

  ‘Are you studying psychology at University or something?’

  ‘No, I’m studying Art. I just notice things, that’s all.’ She winced as the cuffs bit into her wrists a little. ‘What do you do Katie?’

  ‘I’m an actress,’ Katie said in a low voice.

  ‘Oh, would I have seen you in anything?’

  ‘I doubt it,’ she turned and looked at Portia as much as she could. ‘I was never really very successful and most of the stuff that I did was back in Australia. That’s why I came to Britain; I thought that I’d try my luck here.’

  ‘Ah,’ Portia said in a sympathetic voice. ‘I would imagine that it’s not the easiest job in the world?’

  ‘The job’s not that difficult, don’t listen to actors who say it is, finding work is the difficult thing,’ Katie paused. ‘The last part I played was as a kidnap victim in a short student film.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Katie laughed a bit. ‘Looking back on it now, I’d say my performance wasn’t that good – I did a lot of crying in that film but I feel quite calm in reality.’

  ‘Oh, I am sure that there’s plenty of time for crying,’ Portia said. To be honest it was good that this woman was calm. It meant that she had some level of resolve and that would be something that Portia would be able to use when the time came. ‘Katie, I think that they may move us somewhere.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘This room, it’s too neat and homely to kill someone in; This is their home and I honestly think that we are just here for a while. When they move us, I suspect that the urge to try to escape might be quite strong – I would ignore any such urges and comply for the time being.’

  ‘Wait, what do you mean?’ Katie looked around as far as she could. ‘What if they tie us up again and then start – whatever the fuck it is they intend to start doing to us?’

  ‘I don’t think they will, sorry, what I mean is they will definitely tie us up again. That seems to be part of what they do, but they won’t start torturing us. Not yet. If we run, then we will end up in the darkness and we don’t know where we are. We could end up with exposure or worse – we can use tonight to rest up hopefully and then tomorrow we can think of the best way out of this mess.’

  ‘Portia, no offence but I have no idea why you want to let them tie us up again.’

  ‘If we are tied up then they’ll want to savour that,’ she snapped. ‘Look at that ludicrous pantomime they did for us, it was all about the bondage. They both like it and they’ll like the idea of having us as captives; They won’t start hurting us tonight.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘They want to savour this, that’s why they’ve brought us here Katie. They drove for hours and they’re sitting in their kitchen drinking a glass of fucking wine. This is something they want to take their time over. They want to rest and relax knowing that we are helpless nearby and then, tomorrow morning, they will get up and have breakfast and then they’ll come for us.’

  ‘You don’t know that Portia,’ Katie hissed. ‘No offence but I don’t know you and I don’t feel very much like leaving this to your guesswork. They could take us somewhere and just start torturing the shit out of us.’

  ‘They won’t,’ Portia’s voice had taken on a firm, harder edge.

  ‘They might,’ Katie said quietly. ‘If I get the chance then I’m running.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Where will you run?’

  ‘Away,’ Katie looked at the door. ‘Britain’s not big, even though we’re two hours away from the city doesn’t mean that we are far away from anywhere else.’

  ‘You do what you want Katie,’ Portia shrugged. ‘You would be better listening to me though.’

  ‘It’s all academic though, isn’t it? We don’t know if they’re going to move us.’

  Portia sat looking ahead. ‘They will, trust me on that. I just don’t know if they will keep us in this building or move us – but they won’t keep us here.’

  ‘Stop talking!’ The woman said. ‘We’ll gag you again if you don’t shut up!’

  Katie and Portia sat in silence, both making plans and working on the best way to survive and while Katie was thinking on the best way to get them both out alive, Portia’s thought process was going in a very different direction.

  *********

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  They had not waited long before Portia’s prediction had proven to be accurate. Their captives had approached them twenty or so minutes later. David had insisted that the blonde would be the first to be removed from the chair – he didn’t trust her and thought that it would be better if they were both available to ensure that she didn’t try anything that might jeopardise the weekend.

  ‘It will have her hands released and it will stand up,’ Maddy had announced. ‘Once it has stood up it will put its hands behind its back again! Does it understand?’

  ‘Of course,’ Portia had uncrossed her legs, noticing the way the woman’s eyes flickered as she did so. ‘May it just say that it has watched ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and would really rather prefer it if you used my name. It is Portia in case you have forgotten.’

  ‘It will shut up or it will be punished.’

  Portia allowed a look of excitement to flash in her eyes. It was all staged, but she could see the effect that she was having on this woman. ‘Punished?’ She repeated in a slightly breathy voice. ‘I’ll be good – you don’t have to punish me.’ The man was behind her unlocking the cuffs and she felt them open before she heard the click of the mechanism. Portia knew how to use her body and stood up in a liquid motion, making her limbs and muscles work for her; she had widened her eyes a little and had formed her mouth into a slight pout. She lowered her head, keeping her attention on the woman who was desperately trying to avoid eye contact and then she put her hands behind her back. The man wrapped rope around them and started binding her wrists together and Portia gasped and winced unnecessarily. She knew that giving them power would keep her alive a little longer and lull these stupid doltish idiots into a false sense of security. With a minute her hands were pinioned securely behind her back and she lowered
her head even further. If they wanted to dominate, then she would give them every opportunity to do so, even if it was only in their minds.

  ‘What will I do now?’ She said in a quiet little voice.

  ‘It will open its mouth,’ the woman replied and Portia complied. She felt a knotted piece of cloth being pulled against her cheeks and between her teeth. As the man gagged her she kept her attention on the woman, noticing a satisfactory flush blooming in her cheeks. ‘It will kneel down.’ The woman said the hint of a quaver in her voice and Portia slowly, sensuously knelt down, adopting what she knew to be the classic submissive pose.

  ‘Right, I am going to take your handcuffs off now and I want you to do exactly the same as the blonde one did! If you try anything at all then my colleague will stab her left eye out!’ David loomed over Katie. ‘Do you understand?’

  ‘Yes,’ Katie said her voice harsh with resentment. She followed the chain of events that had been established with Portia but every movement she made was sullen and cooperative in the loosest sense of the word. Soon she was kneeling beside Portia, her hands bound and a gag tied in her mouth. Their captors stood behind them and placed something over each of their heads. For a second, Katie began to feel panic rise in her chest as she thought she was being hooded again, but soon the material passed completely over her head and she saw that she was wearing a rain proof poncho.

  ‘On your feet, both of you!’ The man ordered and they complied. Portia had abandoned the liquid sensuality that she had adopted a moment before, the effect largely lost beneath the folds of the nylon that encased her. ‘Right, we are going to take you both outside and walk you across the yard. Do not try anything and you will remain unhurt and safe. If you make any moves that I don’t like, you will be punished!’ The man placed a hand on each of their shoulders and turned them so that they faced the main door. The woman had opened it and they could see that dusk had fallen and that the visibility outside was not that great, a summer mist had surrounded the house and Katie realised that this might help her, help them both. ‘We’re not walking far!’ The man said as he began to push them forwards.

  As soon as they were outside, Katie could feel the cool evening air against her face and legs and found that it had a revitalising effect on her. It was almost an instantaneous clearing of her head. She realised that she hadn’t had fresh air for hours now and the movement that she was being allowed, even though it was just her legs felt amazing. She glanced around and saw a dirt track to her left and realised that this was the way to the main road. She was fit. She jogged every day and she thought that she would be able to get to the main road fairly quickly, even with her hands bound. She glanced ahead and saw that the woman captor was opening the padlock of the door to the long, whitewashed building. She looked towards Portia who was in front of her and understood that if they were both taken into that building then they would not leave it alive. Katie felt her heart begin to pound as adrenaline started to surge through her body. This was it – fight or flight. She didn’t relish leaving Portia alone, there was an affinity that was caused by the fact they were both captives but she knew that she would be more help to the blonde if she managed to get some help. The male captor was focused on holding Portia more than he was with her and this gave her a window, a small window but it was worth taking. She glanced at the door, open now and revealing a dark windowless space beyond.

  She raised her leg and brought her foot down onto the man’s knee, causing his leg to buckle. She turned and ran, leaving him in agony and the female captor stuck between chasing her and making sure that Portia didn’t run too. To be honest she hadn’t really thought too much about what she was going to do. Survival instinct was an excellent motivator and she felt an elated sense of pride in the fact that as she ran, the man was still yelping in pain. Her legs pumped, her feet pounding against the rough dusty road, she had to make sure that she didn’t lose balance, her hands being tied behind her back meant that she felt in danger of toppling over as she ran and the last thing that she wanted was to fall and be recaptured. The hood of the poncho has slipped off and it was a glorious sensation feeling the wind flowing through her hair. She kept her eye on the road. It was dark and misty and she didn’t know how far she had to run, but she was determined that she would make it; She would find freedom and then she would bring people back to get these two sick bastards.

  ‘Get up David!’ Maddy screamed at him as he rolled about on his back, clutching at his knee. ‘She’s getting away!’

  ‘Jesus fucking Christ,’ he hissed through gritted teeth as he clambered to his feet. His knee was a burning ball of agony and as he stood he almost fell. ‘Shit, the bitch has fucked up my knee!’ He hissed and looked at Maddy.

  ‘Right you take this one inside,’ Maddy said in a low, dangerous sounding voice. ‘I’ll get the other one!’

  David hobbled over and grabbed Portia’s arm and pulled her towards the building. ‘Don’t you fucking move!’ He grumbled as he turned and watched Maddy making her to the house to get the car keys.

  *********

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Portia entered the building and looked around as the man flicked on light switches – the walls were painted black and there were a number of nasty looking sharp weapons and objects hanging from hooks. She turned her head to see that there were two large stainless steel tables positioned in the centre of the room, the concrete floors beneath one of them was stained but not by blood. There was also a strong, sharp aroma in the room and Portia recognized it as disinfectant and bleach. There were metal rings placed along both lengths of the table and directly beneath both were drains, on top of each of the highly polished table surfaces there was a package. On the wall at the far end of the room there were long lengths of black, metal chains and on the ceiling there were a number of cameras. This room was more like an abattoir than a torture chamber by design but in the end it didn’t really matter what it looked like, if she didn’t play this correctly then the end result would be the same. She could hear the car starting outside. She should have been angry at Katie but in fact now that she thought of it, the silly bitch had perhaps helped Portia’s cause with her stupid little bid for freedom. She had been left with the male captor and Portia had no problem dealing with men.

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards one of the tables, the one furthest from the door. His face was set with a look of simmering fury. ‘Right, I am going to take your gag out and untie your hands – don’t do anything stupid or I will kick your fucking head in! Got that?’

  She nodded her eyes wide with fear and compliance and he seemed to relax a little. He turned her away from him and pushed her into the wall. She grunted in pain, this time it was genuine and felt him untie the knot at the back of her head. The gag fell loose and then he started untying her hands.

  ‘What are you going to do to me?’ She asked, her stomach almost turning at how weak and feeble she was allowing herself to sound. ‘Please, don’t hurt me – please!’

  ‘Shut up,’ he grunted as the ropes came free. ‘Your friend won’t get far and when we get her back she’s going to be punished!’

  ‘She’s not my friend – I don’t know her.’

  ‘She’s the closest thing you have to a friend for hundreds of miles,’ the man looked at her. ‘So, if you’re thinking of running because my leg is damaged, well – we have your bag and we know where you live. We will find the people you love and we’ll kill them all – understand me?’

  ‘Yes, I won’t run, I promise.’ She looked at him, her eyes brimming with sincerity and vulnerability and this seemed to appease his immediate concerns.

  ‘That package,’ he indicated the table next to them. ‘Open it and put on what’s inside and do it quickly.’

  She moved forwards and opened the brown paper; inside there was a short white dress, white stockings and white shoes. She looked at them and then at the man. ‘My underwear might show through this dress – should I remove it?’

  He
looked at her, his tongue unconsciously wetting his lips. She knew that this was not meant to be a salacious gesture and felt a sense of satisfaction that she was making him nervous. ‘Yes, take your underwear off!’ His voice wavered a little and as she reached around to unhook her bra, he turned and picked two pairs of black cuffs from a hook on the wall. In fact as she completely stripped, she was aware of the fact that he was doing his best to keep a watchful eye on her without actually staring at her. She dressed in the clothes that had been left for her, pulling on a pair of long satin gloves as she finished and looked at him. The clothes fitted incredibly well and Portia wondered if she had been watched for some length of time before they had abducted her.

  ‘What should I do now?’ She simpered and he indicated the table.

  ‘Lie on that with your head away from the wall.’

  She nodded, widening her eyes. ‘Please don’t rape me! Please – I am getting married soon and I – I haven’t been with anyone before. Please.’

  ‘Just get on the table!’ He looked uncomfortable with the conversation and she sat on the edge of the table and slowly slid her legs around so that they were flat on the table. She gazed at him for a second before lying flat on her back. He moved towards her, gripping her wrist and raising it above her head. She stared at the ceiling as he fastened one of the cuffs around her wrist and then, submissively, raised her other hand so that he could restrain that one to.

  He looked into her eyes before limping down to the bottom of the table and grasping her ankles. She gasped a little and tensed up, making her body quiver and he paused releasing the pressure a little.

  ‘I’m not going to rape you!’ His voice was thick with emotion and she relaxed a little and felt a long leather strap being fastened tightly around her ankles. She raised his head and saw him taking a length of chain from the wall.

  ‘Can you use rope please?’ She said in a quiet voice.