LOCKED IN

by Belinda Mufford

  What was it about these dolls? Lee couldn't take his eyes off them. He didn't know if he was just bored or inquisitive but he needed a closer look. He shot a glance towards the counter and Max was swamped by women waiting to pay or just asking questions. Shelly was busy trying to squeeze into a pair of shorts so now was the perfect opportunity. Lee stood up and walked towards the mannequin.

  From a distance he was almost fooled into thinking they were actually real. Some sort of trick and they would suddenly move and make everyone jump. But the closer he got the more he noticed the eyes. There was no life behind the eyes at all and Lee found himself slightly disappointed. 'Whoever made them was bloody good' he thought..and then, before he could stop, his mind had taken a huge leap and crossed the line. I wonder if they feel real? He reached his hand out and touched her leg. Oh my God. It feels just like real skin...only colder.

  The mannequin he was stood in front of, was wearing a cropped white tee and a short ruffled skirt with stockings. Lee couldn't stop the next thought entering his head. 'I wonder..' he looked down at his shoe and stood on his left shoe lace, moving his foot the lace untied and Lee had the perfect excuse for what he was about to do. He crouched down and grabbed the lace. Another quick glance towards Max reassured him he was still busy serving customers and Lee turned back towards the mannequin, leaning forward and looking up.

  She had been placed on a knee high pedestal for all to see so Lee had the perfect line of sight from down here. Well, she was definitely wearing panties which led to his next question. Just how much detail had gone into these things?? He tied his shoe lace and stood up slowly. As his head came in line with the hem of her ruffled skirt he noticed it...

  Lee inhaled long and slow through his nose. There was a definite chemical odour but it was overpowered by another smell.. It was a familiar scent, sweet and warm and it bounced around his senses leaving a trail of confusion. Something stirred deep inside him and Lee instinctively covered his growing manhood with his hands. He stepped closer as he took in more of her scent..

  "LEE!" Shelly roared from the changing room.

  Lee panicked and grabbed the nearest item to hand. He walked back to where Shelly was stood and handed her the hanger "I thought you might wanna try this on?" he blurted. "I was looking at it and thought it would really suit you" Avoiding eye contact he returned to the stool and his magazines. Shelly held the hanger up and opened her mouth wide before glaring at Lee. "Do I look like I'm a size 22??" she squeaked through gritted teeth. "I tell you what, you just read your books and leave the shopping to me!" With a loud huff she disappeared behind the curtain.

  Lee sat staring at the magazine he had open in his hands. He read the same paragraph over and over but he couldn't get his mind off the sweet smelling mannequin stood opposite and the effect she had had on his unloved groin area..

  When he first met Shelly they were both using various drugs and were at 'it' like rabbits. As the drugs changed so did their appetites. Lee's had increased and became more adventurous whereas Shelly's had become practically non existent and on the rare occasion he was allowed to do 'the deed', he likened the whole experience to that of a roll on, roll off ferry! This recent dry spell had lasted 3 months so far and Lee was bored with his hand.

  He found himself staring at the mannequin again..or more to the point, at the thigh gap beneath the ruffles on her skirt.

  If only she were real. His mind took over and he started imagining the things he would do to her. Things she would never be able to say no to. God he was horny! Being this close to this 'girl' wasn't helping. Lee snapped back to reality with a speed that left him dizzy. What the hell was he thinking? She's not a girl, she's a dummy! There was probably a law against the things rattling around in his head right now, and if there wasn't, there should be!

  The shop was empty now and Lee wondered how long they had actually been in there? Max walked down and told Lee that he would be closing in 10 mins and then relayed the message to Shelly. He went and turned the key in the lock on the door and said "You look like you could do with a coffee" Lee gave a look of despair in return and sighed "I would kill for a coffee right now". Feeling sorry for him Max offered to go and make one and disappeared through the back door of the shop. Shelly mumbled something about not being long but Lee's attention had turned back to the mannequin.

  An empty shop, Shelly busy looking at her own reflection (the thing she loved most in the whole world) and Max busy out back making coffee...when would he get this opportunity again?? He rose from his stool without thinking and hurried towards the mannequin. Within seconds he had lifted her skirt, pulled down her panties and discovered just how real these dolls were. He buried his face deep between her legs exploring with his tongue every inch of her sweet smelling goodness, lapping up the juices as they flowed onto his taste buds...

  Lee jumped as Max's right arm reached around his throat and his left hand took hold of the side of Lee's face. Max made a swift pull back movement and Lee heard his own neck snap as his head spun round. Just before his heart stopped beating and the darkness took hold, he caught a glimpse of Shelly slumped on the floor outside the changing room.

  Max walked down to the front of the shop and pushed the button to close the shutter.

  GETTING TO KNOW YOU

  Hayley woke with a jump and immediately began to panic. Part of her hoped it had all been a bad dream but common sense told her it hadn't. She blinked, trying to take in her surroundings, but it was too dark and she couldn't make out a single thing. She wriggled and shuffled but whatever was holding her down was doing a good job. The tape across her mouth hurt. She lay, listening to the silence, until she heard a distant sound of a door closing followed by footsteps. The steps got louder and Hayley knew he was coming her way. She closed her eyes.

  The door opened and the light flicked on. Hayley wanted to look, wishing it was a neighbor, a friend, a cop.. anyone but him. Her nostrils filled with the familiar smell of his aftershave and she squeezed her eyes shut.

  Max set the tray down on the coffee table and switched the television on. Hayley almost screamed as his arm slid under her shoulders and he lifted her into a sitting position on the sofa. Before she had chance to think it through, she lurched forward with her head and caught him square on the nose. Max fell back on the floor with his hands protectively cupping his face. He caught Hayley's line of sight and for what seemed like an eternity they just sat staring at each other.

  Max broke the silence with a grunt and moved his hands, cautiously, away from his face. Hayley watched as the blood poured from his nose, leaking between his fingers and down the back of his hands. 'Good' she thought to herself 'A small taste of what your gonna get as soon as I get out of here'. Max reached for a napkin he had brought in on the tray and held it on his nose while still watching Hayley "I suppose I deserved that" he mumbled.

  Hayley didn't take her eyes off him as he slowly got up and stepped back to sit in the armchair. He wiped the blood from his face and hands and dabbed at his nose while pouring a coffee from the pot on the tray. She had noticed there were two cups and had almost laughed thinking 'I'm tied up you fucktard! If that second cup is meant for me, how the hell am I supposed to drink it?' She swallowed her laugh down hard as Max lifted his cup revealing the syringe.

  Max sat in the chair sipping slowly at his coffee and watching intently as the news began on tv. The broadcast was full of the usual bad news and weather forecasts followed by a heartwarming story of a little boy raising money for his chosen charity. Part of her was glad for the glimpse of the normal world but she couldn't take her eyes off the syringe. He must have noticed at some point because he leaned forward and gently whispered "Don't panic, its just a mild sedative. When you've calmed down I'll inject you and when it takes hold we can remove your restraints and talk..without me getting a broken nose, or worse!" He sat back in his chair, picked up the remote control and began flicking through the channels.

  Max watched a comedy sketch show, chuc
kling to himself every few minutes and acting like a normal guy sitting at home watching TV. Hayley wondered where they actually were and scanned the room for anything that would mount up to a clue or hint. Nothing. The show finished and Max stood up and walked towards her, picking up the syringe on his way.

  Fear swept over her as he came closer with each step and Hayley began shaking uncontrollably. "Calm" he said "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise". Max sat on the sofa beside her and put his hand out towards her face. Hayley flinched and pulled her head away as far as she could. She felt herself slipping and as she hit the arm of the chair, his hand reached over to hold her head down and she felt the needle enter the side of her neck.

  Hayley tried to blink away the blurred vision but failed dismally. The drugs were taking hold and there was nothing she could do about it. Her head was swimming with thoughts that she couldn't control and a warm, encompassing feeling was rising from her chest. She felt Max fiddling with the restraints around her arms and legs before untying her wrists. She shifted her weight and tried sitting up but her arms weren't strong enough to hold her and she slumped back down into the cushions on the sofa. Max grabbed at her arm and pulled her upright. Hayley's eyes flicked side to side as she tried her hardest to focus and Max poured another cup of coffee from the pot on the table. A single line of dribble escaped from the corner of her mouth and made its way down her chin as her hand swished aimlessly past her face before flopping back into her lap.

  Max sat opposite, watching. Finally, almost like he had been plucking up the courage, he started to talk.

  "I suppose you want to know why I have you here?" he began. "It was my vision to preserve the beauty of the natural woman. The real woman. To show the world that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and that being different from the monotonous stick insects, who were being paraded down the catwalks and on covers of magazines, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It all started well, I had sculpted a few prototypes of mannequins, but I just couldn't seem to capture their real beauty." Max took a sip of his coffee and continued "No matter what I tried, ultimately, they all developed that..dead look. I wanted them to come alive. To shine like the stars they were, but, I resigned myself to the fact it was never going to happen."

  Hayley didn't want to know all this. She wanted to jump up and run, run far away from here..from him. If only she could muster the energy but she knew that right now she couldn't wipe her own spit, let alone run.

  Max carried on "I sat trawling the internet one evening, typing in different words and phrases, essentially trying to find ways to keep the life in something that looks dead, when I stumbled across 'Locked In Syndrome' and I was instantly engulfed with information and research. Its a rare disorder which can occur naturally after a trauma or it can be chemically induced by the use of a mish mash of certain medications. Obviously it didn't give exact quantities needed but I did manage to find out what meds were required. The seed was planted and I just needed to help it grow."

  "After compiling a mountain of research and various meds from contacts I'd made from my days in medical college, long story, I decide I was going to try it on rats to get the quantities right. I managed to kill over 75 of the little shits before I made a breakthrough!" Max topped up his cup and looked towards Hayley who was slumped down trying to stop her head bobbing forwards and back. "I would offer you one but I think we both know you're not capable yet". He walked across and wiped the dribble from Hayley's chin, then returned to his chair.

  He watched her for a while, trying desperately to control herself and a puzzled look swept across his face "Where was I?" he asked.

  "Rrraaatttss" Hayley slurred.

  "Oh yeah" he smiled "Welcome back".

  After a few more gulps of his coffee he carried on telling Hayley how he had spent weeks enduring trial and error experiments on the rodents until he got the quantities right for the effect he craved. He went into detail about how he fought with his conscience before eventually deciding he needed a human test subject and how he walked the streets, trying to choose who the lucky lady was going to be. He told how he finally chose his subject and had stalked her for two weeks before pouncing as she walked home late one evening from a friends birthday party. He'd taken her back to his workshop and administered the meds, getting excited, which proved to be short lived as he had gone to make coffee and returned to find her almost completely black due to the meds quickly rotting every vein in her body. She had effectively decomposed right there in front of his eyes.

  He carried on, almost grateful to be able to open up to someone, and gave details of three more girls and three more deaths until he succeeded on the fourth. His face changed and a look of pride appeared. 'You sick, sick fuck' thought Hayley. Engrossed in his own tale Max continued further, telling how he had abducted six more women and now had them locked in their own minds, unable to resist his will. He had fitted cannula's to administer the meds and feeding tubes directly into their stomachs to keep them nourished and in tip top shape. His head dropped in shame as he began the next chapter of his story.

  Although Max had succeeded in his quest, he now had the problem of five dead females to dispose of. The first, the one who decomposed, wasn't much of a problem. He chopped her up and burnt her in the furnace below his house. It did the job but the smell was so distinct, it would surely attract unwanted attention. He had been watching a horror film one night when his master plan formed in his mind. He'd gone out the very next day and bought half a dozen blenders.

  As the details unfolded, Hayley found herself frozen to her seat.

  He had sliced them up. Sliced and diced, as he put it. He bagged and labelled each bundle of cuts and stored them in two chest freezers in his basement. Most of the larger bones were condemned to the furnace, but the smaller ones were stored for making stock! Each day that passed he removed a couple bags of meat from the freezer and once defrosted, he slipped them into the blenders, with various herbs and spices, and some of the stock. He squeezed them through the feeding tubes of the six live subjects he had in a makeshift ward in his house.

  Hayley fought hard to keep the vomit down that was bubbling in the back of her throat. She needed to get out..now!

  She pushed herself up from the chair, swaying like a cruise ship caught in a raging storm. The room spun violently and her legs turned to jelly. Max shot forward just in time to stop her head hitting the corner of the coffee table as her body crumpled and she headed for the floor.

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Over the next few days Max continued to tell Hayley his story while she sat on the sofa incapacitated due to the sedation. He told her how he had perfected his work and the subjects were continuing to thrive. He explained how he had moved to a new town, into a large property with an empty shop beneath it and that's were his plan had evolved. He had found a wholesaler of ladies clothing and had decided to put his work on show for all to see. He went through his worries of 'What if someone realized' but told how everyone pretty much just complimented him on his 'mannequins'.

  Until he met Lee and Shelly.

  Hayley wished he would just kill her..overdose her on meds, slit her throat from ear to ear. Anything would be better than this.

  Max told how Lee's 'indiscretion' with one of his girls had led to him coming up with the lockable screens across the back of the window displays and his invention of the glass cases covering the mannequins on show in the shop. He had tried to lock Shelly in but the recreational drugs she already had in her body had not mixed well with his cocktail of meds and she had rotted slowly from the inside out. She was now in the freezer...or parts of her were anyway. He had only had his shop for a few weeks and although it was proving to be a brilliant income for him, he had had to close and move on before anyone associated him with the now missing Lee and Shelly.

  He rented a new shop with a property attached, in a small town miles away from the last one. That's when Hayley had walked into his life.

  During the times he wasn't opening
his black heart to her or administering meds, he was feeding and bathing the girls and re-fitting his new shop. Hayley was often left for long periods of time, gagged and restrained by a set of leather cuffs hanging from a hook in the ceiling, and a similar set of cuffs attached to the skirting board close to the floor. He would feed her soups of various flavors and sometimes vegetables, but thankfully, never meat.

  Her mind often wandered to his true intentions towards her and she couldn't shake the fear that she too would soon end up as one of his mannequins, in a glass case, in the middle of his shop.

  She was right to be scared.

  Max had finished unloading his burdens and secrets to her and this had appeared to renew his confidence in the success of his plan.

  Hayley was moved to the 'ward' with the others, and was horrified to discover that Max's idea of a ward was nothing more than a glorified torture chamber.

  The other girls were dangling from similar restraints he had used on Hayley downstairs and each one had a drip feeding into a cannula on the back of their left hands. Through their flimsy, short nighties, she could see the slight bulge of the feeding tubes into each ones stomach. As Max fitted her restraints she thrashed about and struggled, but it was no good. He was surprisingly strong and had her cuffed in no time at all. Pure fright swept through her body and she hardly noticed, until it was too late, that Max had fitted the cannula into the back of her hand and was now attaching the drip.

  He leaned in close and whispered "You'll always be my special one" and then disappeared through the door closing it behind him. Hayley heard the key turn in the lock and for the first time since her abduction, a single, solitary tear, rolled down her cheek and splashed onto her chest.