"OK! This isn't funny anymore!"
18 year old Lucy gazed up at the three girls who stood leering down at her. She began to feel worried.
"Come on. Enough is enough."
"We say when it's enough," the tallest one said. She turned to the other two girls, a fierce look in her eyes.
"Think we should tie her feet?"
The one on the left nodded enthusiastically, laughing. The other girl seemed slightly hesitant.
"I dunno. I don't think she's..."
"She's fine! Don't be a wuss. Come on!"
The other girl stared down at Lucy, her new housemate, sitting on a kitchen chair. Her hands where tied behind her with a scarf, while another scarf had been wrapped around her torso. She was a slim, attractive girl, with long dark hair and brown eyes, dressed in jeans and a T-Shirt. She'd been just coming in from a day at Uni when they had jumped her, dragging her into the kitchen quickly and binding her to the chair. They'd clearly been planning it for a while, and it had gone like clockwork.
Lucy struggled against her hand bindings. They were very tight; far tighter than she had been expecting. She had been twisting her wrists for some time, fidgeting in the chair since they had tied her to it. At first, she had found the situation rather amusing; after all, the girls had only known each other for about a fortnight. But ten minutes later, she was starting to get worried.
"No!" she said. "Come on. A joke's a joke. Untie me now. My hands are hurting."
She strained against her bonds some more, but they held fast.
The tallest girl, Cindy, stepped towards her.
"Stop moaning. We're only having a laugh. Not like we've hurt you or anything."
She turned to the others.
"Go and get some more scarves from your rooms."
The first girl, Rebecca, laughed and rushed off out of the kitchen. The second one hesitated.
"Maybe we should untie her, Cindy. She doesn't look like she's enjoying this."
"Duh! It's a prank! She's not supposed to enjoy it. Go get some scarves, now!"
"Olivia!" cried Lucy. "Please don't. Enough's enough. I've got a lot of work to do tonight, and I have to skype my parents. Just untie me."
"Stop being soft," said Cindy. "We're at Uni. We're supposed to enjoy ourselves."
Lucy began to feel all the more worried now. Her bindings where not shifting no matter what she did, and there wasn't even that many of them at the moment! She couldn't believe her new housemates were doing this to her! They'd seemed nice enough all through fresher's week, going out together, helping each other get ready, and making sure they were all OK. Cindy had even helped straighten her hair just the previous night! So why where they doing this? Was it because she was the smallest? Cindy easily stood six feet, while Rebecca and Olivia were of average height. Lucy was quite small, something she'd always been happy about. Until now.
She decided she'd try and be reasonable once more. She forced herself to smile.
"Look guys. A joke's a joke. Haha, you got me. Next time, just hide my food or something, OK? Now can you get this bloody scarf off my hands?"
Olivia made to move forward, but Cindy blocked her way.
"What's the matter with you?" Olivia cried. "We've done the joke."
"Come on. She's only been sitting there 2 seconds. I lived in a house full of boys last year, and they always did this to me! She'll be fine."
"OK," said Lucy, trying to force bravery into her voice. In all honesty, Cindy was really starting to creep her out. "I'm serious. Get me loose now, or...
"Or what?"
Rebecca suddenly interrupted the moment, running back in carrying more scarves in her hands.
"Brilliant! said Cindy. "Help me grab her feet."
Lucy began to thrash about wildly, desperately trying to pry apart her hands by brute force. She'd never been tied up before; whenever she'd seen it in movies, she always envisioned being easily able to escape if in that situation. Now it was actually happening to her, she couldn't get out, and it frightened her. She felt tears in the corner of her eyes.
No! She would not cry.
Cindy and Rebecca grabbed her feet, cruelly tying them together. Lucy tried kicking out hard, forcing Cindy to hold her legs still. The girls then finished by tying her knees together, making it even harder for her to move.
"Let me go you crazy bitches!"
Lucy was starting to feel hysterical.
"Nasty language there," said Cindy. "Might have to do something about that mouth of yours if you keep that up. Now, calm down!"
The poor girl struggled to control her breathing, straining against the restraints.
"Please..."
"Got some manners now? Brilliant!"
Cindy turned to the other two girls. Rebecca was looking slightly hesitant, while Olivia just looked scared.
"Oh, come on guys. It's only a bit of fun. I mean, let's face it. It's raining outside, we're already snowed under with work. We need something to do."
"Why can't we just watch Breaking Bad like other normal people?" said Olivia. "Look, I'm all for jokes. But she looks scared to death. I would be, if you had done that to me!"
"We did that, not I!" spat Cindy. "And you better watch it, or it'll happen to you too!"
Olivia backed away slightly.
"Olivia! Please don't let them...!"
She looked once at Lucy, then turned and walked out of the room.
"Leave me out of this."
Lucy felt like her last hope had left her. She slumped helplessly in the chair, finally realizing she was going nowhere. She was utterly at the mercy of two girls she barley knew, one of whom was clearly deranged.
Cindy looked at her watch.
"It's getting late. I'm kind of tired. Think we should pick this up in the morning."
"WHAT? What do you mean???"
Cindy laughed.
"Well, you ain't going to be missed til Monday. We might as well make the most of it."
Lucy started struggling again, not caring that her wrists and ankles were loosing blood supply.
"Oh my God. Please don't leave me like this all night!"
"Shut up."
Cindy looked at Rebecca.
"Let's go to bed."
Rebecca glanced at Lucy, then nodded.
"I'll scream!" cried Lucy.
"No you won't!" said Cindy. She pulled another scarf off the floor, wrapping round Lucy's head in a cleave gag.
"You won't scream at all. Now, goodnight."
With that, Cindy and Rebecca left the struggling girl alone, turning the light off as they did so.
Lucy struggled with everything she had. She figured if she could just somehow get her hands free, she could untie the rest of herself. Deciding that, she applied every ounce of strength to her wrists, yet they held fast. The girls had crossed them behind her, and no matter how much her fingers probed, they couldn't find any knots to undo. Cursing inwardly, she cast her eyes around the room, hoping to find something sharp. Nothing seemed to be to hand, any knives probably in unreachable drawers. Damn it!
She actually did start to cry now, realizing that she was, truly stuck. Not only did she need the bathroom, the chair was plastic and not very comfortable. The thought of sitting there all night was horrible.
She couldn't believe this was happening to her. How long where these girls going to keep her like this? Surely they'd have to let her go eventually. Then, she'd move out faster than a whippet.
"Mmmmm!"
Suddenly, the kitchen door opened slightly, revealing the frame of Olivia from the light outside. The girl crept silently into the room. Lucy squirmed and wiggled, almost dying in relief. Clearly, Olivia was here to let her go.
"If I take that off, don't make noise, OK. Or Cindy will be here in a flash."
Lucy nodded frantically. Olivia removed the gag, causing Lucy to drool slightly.
"Thank God!" she whispered. "Untie me before Cindy comes back. That girl's a nutcase."
Olivia hesitated, then nodded, moving around to the back of the chair. She gazed at the bundle of knots, wrapped in a mess around Lucy's crossed wrists. The girl's hands were very red, her fingers clenching and unclenching to keep the blood flowing.
"Christ, that look tight."
"It is! I can't get my hands to even move! Just get it off me. Please!"
Olivia moved her hands to the scarf.
Lucy felt Olivia's fingers on the rope, and breathed a sigh of relief, which was soon cut short as the bindings felt no looser. She struggled again, and found she was still tied up.
"Hey! What are you doing back there? Come on."
Olivia sighed, then stood up, walking back round to Lucy.
"I can't let you go. She'll kill me if I do!"
"No!" Lucy thrashed, more tears coming out of her eyes. "Please don't leave me like this."
"Look," said Olivia. "I don't want her to do this to me! No... shut up and listen! I'm having a friend round tomorrow. I'll tell Cindy I can't stop them coming and that we need to let you go before they get here. She'll have to untie you."
"And what if she doesn't? You do realize you are being complicit in a crime here, don't you?"
"Don't be ridi..."
"It's a crime! Wrongful imprisonment. You're holding me against my will!"
"Shut up. Don't talk rubbish. Now look. I'm putting the gag back in. Hold in there until tomorrow. She'll have to let you go then."
"No...mmmmm!"
Olivia stuffed the gag back into Lucy's mouth, before standing up and quickly leaving the room, Lucy hopelessly struggling against her bonds.
End of Part 1