
Laura was running quickly through the streets of her village, her long chestnut brown hair fluttering behind her. She was heading for the abandoned mansion in a small forest near the outskirts of the village.
“Hey, Laura!” She was stopped by a voice calling for her.
Turning around, Laura recognized the face of a boy from her class. His name was Tom. They had been friends since junior high school. Because she was in a hurry, and because it was already getting dark, she hadn't noticed him.
“Where are you going at this hour?” Clearly worried, he turned around his bicycle and walked up to her. “I've heard there's a burglar running around. You shouldn't be outside all by yourself.”
“Aren't you by yourself as well?” Laura didn't have time for this. She liked Tom a lot. In fact, she even had a crush on him, but that was exactly why she didn't want to involve him in this.
“Well...” The boy was slightly taken aback by Laura's snappy response. “I had to run a quick errand for my mom to the store before it closed.” He showed the plastic bag he was carrying. “So where are you going?”
Laura didn't know what to say. If she spoke the truth, he would be even more worried. However, she didn't know a good lie to come up with. The one she told her mother, that she was going to stay the night with a friend from school, wouldn't work on him. After all, the 'friend' she had mentioned to her mother was Jennifer, a girl one year her senior. Tom would know that something was up, since he knew that she and Jennifer weren't on best terms. She finally settled on just trying to brush him off.
“That's none of your business.” She had said it a bit harsher than she intended and she wanted to apologize, but Tom already shook his head.
“You're right. Just be careful, okay?”
“Of course.” Laura waved goodbye and continued on her way.
The forest with the mansion was only a fifteen-minute-walk from her house. She got there in ten minutes, not counting her short conversation with Tom. Following the path between the trees, she soon reached the old building. She shivered. The place looked really creepy at night. It was a lot different from when she had played there as a little kid.
The gate made an eery, creaking sound when Laura opened it. It was getting so dark that she could barely see where she was walking. She regretted not bringing a flashlight. There was no time to go back, though. Jennifer had told her to come immediately, or else she wouldn't get her diary back.
There wasn't any light shining behind the windows. Laura carefully approached the front door. It might be some kind of trap, she thought, but she didn't have much of a choice. As soon as she stepped inside, her fears turned out to be true. The doors suddenly closed. Someone blinded her with a flashlight. At the same time, her arms were roughly pulled behind her back. She tried to kick her assailant. The only result she got from this, was that the girl holding the light put it down and grabbed her leg.
Laura clumsily hopped around a bit before finally falling on the floor with two girls on top of her. One of them was indeed Jennifer. The other one was Kirsten, a shorter girl with raven-colored hair who always hung around with Jennifer. The latter was the one who had been holding the flashlight. Now she was holding a piece of rope. Both girls were grinning devilishly.
Realizing what was going on, Laura struggled to break Jennifer's grip. It didn't work. She was too strong. While the girl restrained her arms, the other girl bound them together by wrapping the cord several times both horizontally and vertically around her wrists. When Laura started protesting too loudly, the two bullies shoved an old sock in her mouth and stuck it in place with a long piece of duct tape. Only then did Jennifer let go of Laura's back.
“Good, looks like you came here alone like I asked.”
Laura didn't pay any attention to what Jennifer was saying. Who knows what they might do to her now that they had her at their mercy. Before it would come to that, she had to escape. Laura quickly got up on her knees, ready to jump upright and flee. However, Jennifer didn't let her go that easily.
“So were do you think you're going?” she said while grabbing Laura's shoulder. “Didn't you come here for your diary?”
Laura looked her defiantly in the eyes.
“Jenn, I think she really needs to learn a lesson,” the other girl said.
“I think so, too.”
Ignoring their victim's muffled protests, they guided her through the hall, down some stairs, until they reached the basement. It was really cold in there.
“We dropped your dear diary over here. Since we're so nice, we'll leave you here to look for it. We won't even lock the door.” The bully snapped her fingers. Kirsten took some more rope out of a bag she had with her. “Of course, we don't want to make this too easy for you...”
With her hands bound behind her back, Laura couldn't offer much resistance when the two girls went for her legs. They tied together both her ankles and her thighs. Then, because they just couldn't get enough of it, they taped together her fingers and sneakers as well. Still not satisfied, they wrapped some more duct tape around her shoulders, pressing them against her back. To finish their job, they also connected the bonds around her wrists to the ones around her ankles, pulling her legs down until her fingers almost touched her shoes.
“I read that you've always dreamed of something like this. Aren't we nice? We're letting you live out your fantasies!”
Kirsten giggled. “Wasn't there something about wanting to be kidnapped together with that boy in her class?”
Laura turned deep red. They had even read that part of her diary. She had been right not to bring Tom with her. She would have to get out of this mess by herself.
“Yeah, that guy she has a crush on. She broke Paul's heart because she likes that guy.”
So that's what this was about, Laura thought. Paul was a guy in the same year as Kirsten and Jennifer. He was really popular with the girls for some reason, but he turned down all confessions and presents he received. However, one day he had suddenly proclaimed his love for Laura. She had promptly shot him down. The girls vying for Paul's attention hadn't taken this well. Coincidentally, that had been about the time when Jennifer had started bullying her.
The two bullies giggled a bit and whispered between themselves. Jennifer then turned back to Laura.
“I guess we'll leave you here now. I'm sure you'll make it back home eventually. If not, well... that just means you'll be spending the night here like this. I've already made sure to call your house to tell them you're having a blast at my 'sleepover party'.”
And just like that, the two girls went back upstairs. Laura was left all alone and helpless in the dark, struggling desperately in a tight hogtie. They had done a way too good job tying her. Would she really be able to escape this predicament?
What will Laura do and will the bullies get away with it?
To be continued when I write the next part.
